Fixed Talent

"Phew—"

Jiang Qiao let out a long breath.

Luckily, a group of Human Head Lanterns had appeared out of nowhere halfway through. Otherwise, he would have become the second Faceless Bro.

Just thinking about it was terrifying.

But how had perfectly normal lanterns turned into Vicious Ghosts?

Dual Pupils could even see curses, yet he had not noticed anything unusual about the lanterns during the day.

That meant the lanterns really were normal during the day, and only became paranormal at night.

These Vicious Ghosts were each more sinister than the last.

This was fucking bullshit!

Thinking about having to face them again in six days gave Jiang Qiao a pounding headache.

"The Pregnant Female Ghost was very weak on the fourth day. I punched her in the stomach, and she couldn't even catch up to me."

"I don't know whether she was only weak on the fourth day, or whether she had been weak during the previous days as well."

"I haven't seen the Human Head Lanterns anywhere else. Since they floated on water, they should only be in the Eastern Suburbs for now. After all, only the Eastern Suburbs has a river."

"So I have to stay away from the Eastern Suburbs."

"The Awakened aren't very strong, and their abilities don't come from Vicious Ghosts either. But after they die, they mutate, becoming stronger than they were in life."

"To kill them, I have to be ready to finish them off at any time. It would be best to grind their bones to dust."

"And the Braided Girl's curse is way too wicked."

"I need to figure out a way to deal with it."

Jiang Qiao analyzed everything point by point.

No matter what, the foreknowledge brought by the Simulator allowed him to prepare countermeasures in reality.

As long as he could kill them in the simulation, he might be able to replicate it in reality!

That was even more badass than reincarnation.

Reincarnation only meant living once more, while the Simulator, in a sense, meant living countless lives and testing every possibility.

After finishing his analysis, Jiang Qiao began fixing his talents.

He had three slots every day. He had already fixed Lightning Thunder Fist, and for the remaining two, he planned to fix Dual Pupils and Invincible Body.

His other talents were not entirely useless either.

For example, Mason.

Give me a wall, and I'll give you a miracle!

I can brick up people, ghosts, and even myself!

It was ridiculously flashy!

Unfortunately, its level was too low, making it ineffective against Vicious Ghosts with high paranormal levels.

"I wonder whether these low-level talents have upgraded versions?"

Jiang Qiao was a little curious.

"System, can you offer Pro Max versions of talents?"

There was no response at all.

This System was not the intelligent kind that could flirt with its host. Everything it did was rather mechanical.

Jiang Qiao felt a little regretful.

Otherwise, having the System take on Rem's appearance would have been pretty exciting!

[Would you like to permanently fix "Invincible Body" (A)?]

"Yes!"

[Fixing—]

[Fixing successful!]

[Would you like to permanently fix "Dual Pupils" (SSR)?]

"Yes, yes, yes!"

[Fixing—]

[Fixing successful!]

It was still over in just a few seconds—absurdly fast!

At that moment, Jiang Qiao felt a suffocating, oppressive aura enveloping him, as though he had been locked in a dark little room.

At the same time, he discovered that he had developed floaters, with countless drifting shadows appearing in his vision.

"So... this is Invincible Body!"

"This is Dual Pupils!"

Jiang Qiao murmured softly. Beside the original pupil in each of his eyes, a new gray pupil had appeared.

The two pupils were connected, resembling a horizontally laid number eight!

His vision had turned gray and hazy, as if an Underworld Filter had been applied.

Under this underworld vision, everything was reduced to outlines and shapes formed from black lines.

Walls were no longer obstacles.

Jiang Qiao could see people passing through the corridor outside, while two figures in the neighboring room repeatedly overlapped.

But everything looked like a black-and-white sketch, devoid of color.

This was the vision of Dual Pupils, completely different from what ordinary eyes could see.

Only Vicious Ghosts and places contaminated by paranormal forces would display color!

"Crack, crack, crack."

Along with the sound of bones grinding, Invincible Body activated as well.

Large bluish-green markings surfaced across Jiang Qiao's face, and his body temperature began to plummet.

Soon, the markings spread across his entire body.

Looking at his bare hands, Jiang Qiao felt something profoundly strange.

The bluish-green color reminded him of corpse photos he had seen online in the past.

At that thought, Jiang Qiao grabbed the Fruit Knife beside him and viciously stabbed it into his Left Hand.

Bang—

A frigid aura flowed out, and the blade snapped clean off.

"Awesome!"

Giving himself a thumbs-up, Jiang Qiao prepared to carefully experience the changes in his body.

Seeing that no one was outside, he leaped straight out of the third-floor window.

Nothing happened.

After dusting himself off, Jiang Qiao left the alley, found an abandoned construction site nearby, and walked in.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Inside the unfinished building, every heavy punch Jiang Qiao threw left a huge cracked indentation in the walls.

"So this is the physical strength of Invincible Body?

"Terrifying indeed!"

Jiang Qiao muttered.

After the bluish-green markings covered his body, he felt that his strength had not increased much, but his physical toughness was downright horrifying.

He subjected himself to all kinds of violent tests.

Knives, iron nails, glass, scissors, jumping off buildings...

There was not the slightest sign of injury on his body.

Jiang Qiao did not know whether Invincible Body could withstand firearms, but ordinary melee weapons had probably become useless against him.

"Worthy of a talent that can resist paranormal damage."

"This is fucking incredible!"

Half an hour later, Jiang Qiao happily retracted his talent.

The gray vision before him vanished, and the bluish-green markings receded from his body.

His body returned to normal.

After returning to the inn for a shower, Jiang Qiao changed into the shorts and tank top he had just bought from a street stall. In high spirits, he lay on the bed playing with his phone while planning his future schedule.

During that time, a warmhearted auntie knocked on his door and said she wanted to give Jiang Qiao something to eat downstairs.

Jiang Qiao thought of the beef noodle soup he had often eaten before transmigrating, and his feelings became complicated.

I can never go back, can I?

Feeling a little down, Jiang Qiao told the auntie that he had already eaten and that the meat cutter's knife skills were incredible.

Then he shut the door.

He vaguely heard the auntie telling someone in the corridor that she had met a lunatic today.

Jiang Qiao felt that the auntie lacked vision.

What kind of business forced customers to buy things?

Only hard work could make you rich!

Take Jiang Qiao, for example. Before transmigrating, he had owned ten apartment buildings that he rented out. He had long since achieved financial freedom.

But he had not become lazy because of it.

Every summer night, he would set up a barbecue stall beneath his rental buildings.

Most of his customers were his tenants.

His tenants all praised Boss Jiang for having grand vision. Not only did he collect rent, he also made money from late-night snacks.

Watching the boring programs on TV and thinking about his future plans, Jiang Qiao gradually grew sleepy and fell into Deep Sleep.

In his daze, he seemed to hear a cat meowing outside the window.