Chapter of Gloom

Riding in a Xia Kingdom Special Administration Bureau vehicle and chatting with He Qianqian along the way, Wang Zhifan and Chu Wei soon arrived outside a suburban building bearing the Dongjiang Second Bureau sign, then went inside to make a record of the Ash Domain incident.

Chu Wei was the name of the short-haired girl who made the report alongside Wang Zhifan. He had learned it during their conversation in the car, when He Qianqian had chatted with them about some personal information.

And when He Qianqian learned that Chu Wei's player class was the relatively rare Spirit Mage, she immediately displayed extraordinary enthusiasm. The look in her eyes practically said she wanted to recruit Chu Wei into the Special Administration Bureau.

In contrast, when He Qianqian learned that Wang Zhifan's class was Blademaster, she merely nodded politely at him, clearly unwilling to spare him much thought.

About an hour later, after Wang Zhifan had completed the reporting process in Dongjiang Second Bureau Building and was allowed to leave, he happened to see Chu Wei still talking with several Administration personnel, including He Qianqian, as he passed an office door. He vaguely caught words like "benefits," "personal development," "Fine Tier rewards," and "Rare Tier rewards," making him realize that Chu Wei apparently wasn't as fortunate as he was and couldn't leave so quickly.

"Discrimination! This is outright discrimination against the Blademaster class! When will us melee physical players finally rise up?!"

Though it felt great to be released so quickly after being taken in, Wang Zhifan still couldn't help wanting to complain.

This time, he had further experienced the misery of being a melee physical class. Not only did he look like an idiot in dungeons and struggle to contend with ranged opponents in reality, even official organizations treated him as someone dispensable. His treatment was completely different from that of Chu Wei, a Spirit Mage.

"This is so damn frustrating... When I get the chance, I'm definitely changing classes!"

At that moment, Wang Zhifan's desire to change his class flared up once more. There was no helping it—no one wanted to be beneath others.

Still feeling somewhat displeased, Wang Zhifan soon took a bus back to his rented apartment.

Come to think of it, this trip had gone rather smoothly. Not only had he successfully sold most of the Fine Tier bullets, damaged short blades, and other items in his possession, earning forty-five thousand in survival funds and solving his short-term living problems, but he had also seemingly received a reward for free.

This brought up why Wang Zhifan had suddenly looked surprised while hiding beneath the bus seat earlier. It was because a reward selection panel had suddenly appeared before him! It was very similar to the one he saw after clearing a dungeon, except this one had appeared in reality! And to avoid drawing attention, Wang Zhifan had ignored it until now, dragging it into his blind spot and leaving it there. Only now did he intend to make his selection.

Please choose your reward independently (maximum of 2 items)

Normal Tier (70% drop chance):

Ghoul Dagger (Normal) X0~2, Ghoul Truncheon (Normal) X0~2, Ghoul Fangblade (Normal) X0~2...

Ghoul Bone Shield (Normal) X0~2, Ghoul Belt (Normal) X0~2, Ghoul Greaves (Normal) X0~2...

Ghoul Toxin (Normal) X0~2, Ghoul Explosive (Normal) X0~2, Ghoul Dust (Normal) X0~2...

Ghoul's Cursed Ring (Normal) X0~2, Ghoul's Misfortune Ring (Normal) X0~2, Ghoul's Agony Ring (Normal) X0~2...

Warrior Skill Upgrade Scroll (Normal) X0~2, Mage Skill Upgrade Scroll (Normal) X0~2, Gunner Skill Upgrade Scroll (Normal) X0~2...

...

Fine Tier (29% drop chance):

Ghoul Dagger (Fine Tier) X0~2, Ghoul Truncheon (Fine Tier) X0~2, Ghoul Fangblade (Fine Tier) X0~2...

Ghoul Bone Shield (Fine Tier) X0~2, Ghoul Belt (Fine Tier) X0~2, Ghoul Greaves (Fine Tier) X0~2...

Ghoul Toxin (Fine Tier) X0~2, Ghoul Explosive (Fine Tier) X0~2, Ghoul Dust (Fine Tier) X0~2...

Ghoul's Cursed Ring (Fine Tier) X0~2, Ghoul's Misfortune Ring (Fine Tier) X0~2, Ghoul's Agony Ring (Fine Tier) X0~2...

Warrior Skill Upgrade Scroll (Fine Tier) X0~2, Mage Skill Upgrade Scroll (Fine Tier) X0~2, Gunner Skill Upgrade Scroll (Fine Tier) X0~2...

...

Rare Tier (0.01% drop chance):

Chapter of Gloom (Rare) X0~1

As the contents before him showed, the panel Wang Zhifan was looking at was highly similar to the reward selection panel that appeared after he cleared a dungeon. The difference was that most of the rewards contained the word "Ghoul," and the drop rates for rewards of each tier differed from those in dungeons. But such differences meant nothing to someone who could freely choose his rewards.

Just as when choosing dungeon rewards before, once Wang Zhifan noticed there was only one Rare Tier reward and that he could only choose one of it, he decided he would definitely select it. Rare Tier items were relatively valuable. Even if it didn't suit his personal use, he could find a way to sell it for money or trade it for other equipment.

As for the remaining choice, Wang Zhifan had to give it some serious thought. He had actually done that work earlier; now, he merely needed to make the final decision.

"Too bad there aren't any firearms among these weapon rewards. Otherwise, I'd definitely choose another Fine Tier gun."

"Things like Ghoul Belt and Ghoul Greaves add poison damage to attacks, but they also come with a negative effect that weakens the player's physique. No need to choose them. Eliminated."

"Ghoul's Cursed Ring can give attacks a chance to blind enemies, Ghoul's Misfortune Ring stuns enemies, and Ghoul's Agony Ring corrodes enemies. Their effects are all pretty good, but their targets can't exceed Lv3. That's way too limiting. Eliminated."

"The other miscellaneous things, like Ghoul Toxin and Ghoul Explosive, seem pretty disgusting too, and they don't look very powerful..."

"Forget it. I'll gamble once. At my current level, if I want my blade techniques to improve further, I'll have to take this gamble sooner or later."

After only a brief hesitation, Wang Zhifan used his mind to make his choice on the reward panel before him in his rented apartment.

In an instant, two items popped into existence out of thin air in the space before him. One was a dull, weathered brass emblem pendant, while the other was an inconspicuous pale-yellow little scroll. They were precisely the Rare Tier reward Chapter of Gloom and the Fine Tier reward Warrior Skill Upgrade Scroll that he had selected.

The properties of Chapter of Gloom were as follows: Chapter of Gloom (Rare Tier)

United in Evil: While wearing this pendant, you will be regarded as one of their kind by non-boss evil creatures. They will not take the initiative to attack you.

Gloom: All damage enemies within 13 meters of you receive from you is increased by 7%.