Cheng Tian confirmed that this new set of armor was no different from the Knight Armor he had worn before. In fact, this was a feature of the original game: as long as the player killed the stage boss while unarmored, the key would directly gift them a set of armor.
Cheng Tian scattered the worthless blank-slate equipment, while decisively exchanging the three valuable items—the King Statue, money bag, and Mobi-chan Windmill—for Heaven's Chosen Coins.
First, to free up inventory space, and second, because he simply did not have the time to wait and trade with others later.
Thus, counting the reward for blowing up Red Arremer earlier, Cheng Tian now had a full 4,220 Heaven's Chosen Coins in hand.
Although he still had no idea what their purchasing power was, as a typical old-school Chinese man, Cheng was at ease the moment he saw that he had savings.
After a brief bout of rearranging, the only things left in Cheng Tian's inventory were the map and wings. His main and off hands held the Gentleman's Cane and Cyclops Head, and together with his Knight Armor, the whole ensemble looked utterly bizarre.
After a brief test, Cheng Tian confirmed that Cyclops Head also followed the construction rules of the Knight Throwing template. He could consume 5 MP or 2 Innocent Souls to condense a projectile.
The Innocent Soul cost had increased. Perhaps because the monster head serving as the template was a blue magical item, it required more fuel.
But considering that the thrown monster head had a chance of spitting out a fireball on its own, spending 2 Innocent Souls was still quite worthwhile.
With self-invested points and equipment bonuses, Cheng Tian's Strength had reached 20. Judging purely by the numbers, that was twice the strength of an ordinary adult male on Earth. Yet based on his own feelings, it clearly was not that simple a calculation—the growth curve probably became flatter as the value increased.
"Stay with me for another three hours."
Taking advantage of the dungeon's suspension caused by the main quest settlement, Cheng Tian rested for quite a while before speaking to Demon Cicada.
Demon Cicada, who understood its current situation perfectly, nodded as well and floated onto Cheng's shoulder, ready to continue following him.
"Space! I choose free exploration!"
As his voice fell, Demon Village, which had been frozen by a strange force, started up again. At the same time, the remaining three-plus hours on the main quest resumed counting down.
However, Cheng Tian did not immediately retrace his route. Instead, he first went over and touched the wide-open gate that theoretically led to the second stage of Demon Village—
Only to be firmly blocked outside by an invisible wall. He could not even see what the scene beyond the gate looked like.
"Tch~ So stingy~"
Muttering under his breath, Cheng Tian did not press the matter. He simply turned around and began retracing his route.
Three hours later, having made faster progress on the return trip because he no longer had any dead weight, Cheng Tian had accomplished everything he had set out to do.
He opened his arms and pulled Demon Cicada, which had accompanied him the entire way, into a tight embrace.
"Friend, may we meet again if fate allows."
After releasing the somewhat bewildered Demon Cicada, Cheng Tian raised his fist.
Demon Cicada did not hesitate. Its little claw met Cheng Tian's fist once again.
Then, a radiance representing teleportation out of the dungeon enveloped both man and insect, and the two of them ultimately vanished from this Demon Village dungeon at the same time.
As the white light representing the passage faded, what appeared before Cheng Tian's eyes was a pure-white space. Other than himself, nothing existed there.
At the same time, the phone tucked inside Cheng Tian's underwear gave a faint buzz, and a projected prompt box from the Chosen Evolution Space popped up.
Player ID DX233180, congratulations on passing the novice trial. You are now officially a Chosen Player. Welcome to the Chosen Evolution Space. This is your personal space on Space Island. Within certain limits, you have the right to remodel it however you wish. You may also spend a small amount of Heaven's Chosen Coins to obtain some inexpensive yet high-end experiences. You may invite other players into your personal space by inviting them through their IDs. Anyone without invitation authorization cannot enter your exclusive space. You may store your own items and equipment in your personal space without limit. You may apply at any time within your personal space to use free or paid spatial service functions, including but not limited to "Item Recycling," "Personal Restoration," and "Equipment Enhancement." Some functions, such as the "Player Quest Hall," can only be used after entering the corresponding facilities on the island. In addition, Space Island allows players to apply to open stalls and establish facilities. You may trade and interact with other players within the space. Please set your game ID before officially entering Space Island. You may avoid the risk of being doxxed and having your real-world identity exposed by changing your ID and paying to blur your appearance. Once you die in a dungeon or in reality, all your inventory and possessions will be lost along with you, and different types of "relics" will be generated according to the current rules. Friendly reminder: The Chosen Players on Space Island do not all come from the same dimension, and the values of different dimensions also vary. Please communicate with caution.
"Oh? There are otherworldly races!?"
Compared with the string of descriptions above, which contained both prompts and warnings, Cheng Tian was clearly more interested in the final friendly reminder, which explicitly stated that the Chosen Players did not all come from the same dimension.
Did that mean he might see races from other dimensions in the truest sense?
Traditional catgirls with seven mammary organs? Octopeople who loved eating brains? Or perhaps incredibly wagggh-y green mushroom monsters?
In any case, it was something to look forward to.
However, before officially entering the island, Cheng Tian still had a few things to take care of.
One part was the loot he had obtained during his three hours of free exploration.
After Cyclops and Red Arremer had both been killed by Cheng Tian, the first stage of Demon Village was left with only randomly respawning minions. Against Cheng Tian, who was alone with one insect and highly mobile, they posed no threat at all.
So he found all the Easter eggs in the first stage.
Relying on the fact that he was in the free-exploration phase, Cheng Tian decisively went to touch the negative Mobi-chan Windmill from earlier. He had even prepared himself for his entire exploration time to be deducted and for himself to be kicked out of the dungeon on the spot.
Yet the item did not take effect immediately after he obtained it. Looking at it carefully afterward, he found that it differed considerably from what he had imagined.
This Easter egg, which had originally had a purely negative effect in the game, had actually become a dual-purpose consumable. At first glance, it seemed useless, but the more he thought about it, the more it seemed capable of producing some strange tricks.
Mobi-chan Windmill — 30 seconds: Hidden Easter Egg, consumable. Capcom's official mascot, it has made cameos in various works from the same company. However, its low name recognition is a huge problem... Use on any unit to reduce one of that unit's skill cooldowns, BUFF durations, or quest time limits by 30 seconds. When the selected limit is already less than 30 seconds, its duration becomes 00/∞. This effect remains active for the duration of the current dungeon.
Before you continue