Simulation Management

Holding the Ice Badger's corpse in his hand, Linsey blinked.

Only then did he react and begin checking the changes on his Game Player panel.

Game Player module unlocked: Simulation Management

Simulation Management Level: 1

Simulation Management ability: Goods

Goods: All items held by or touched by the player gain basic product information.

Note: Food, medicine, antiques, real estate, even slaves.

In the eyes of a mature businessman, everything in the world could become a commodity.

Like the previous two Game Modules.

Once Simulation Management had been unlocked, it came with a basic ability as well.

But Linsey thought of much more.

The first time, he had fought bravely and escaped death, activating the RPG Module. The second time, he had followed a hunt and was ultimately rescued, activating Hunting Simulation. Now Finn had died, he had inherited Teacher Finn's Plant Hut, and after killing the Ice Badgers that had caused Finn's corpse to become undead tonight, Simulation Management had activated.

All three module activations had, in fact, been connected to his real experiences.

"When I have time, I should test this out."

"But the attribute panel showed a Task Completed notification. Simply doing related work probably isn't enough to unlock a Game Module. Only experiences involving something like a task can unlock new modules."

After briefly analyzing the situation, Linsey shifted his gaze to the Ice Badger corpse in his hand.

"Still, this Goods ability came at just the right time."

Hunting Simulation → Simulation Management

After stopping Trace Tracking, Linsey's Life Source Material recovered at a decent pace.

He quickly had enough source material to switch modules, and the appraisal ability of Goods took effect on the corpse in his hand.

Corpse: Ice Badger

The corpse of a magical beast that lived in cold regions.

The corpse seemed to contain some sort of unusual change. If he found the right buyer, it should sell for a good price.

"An unusual change..."

Linsey murmured under his breath, then hurriedly picked up the other two Ice Badger corpses for inspection.

Sure enough.

All three Ice Badgers had the same product description.

The phrase "unusual change" was not unique to the Ice Badger in his hand.

"..."

Without saying a word, Linsey silently put all three Ice Badger corpses into his bag.

Then, instead of heading toward town,

he waited for his source material to recover, switched modules again, and reactivated Hunting Simulation's ability.

In the pitch-black forest, Linsey carefully inspected the surrounding area.

There were plenty of traces of animal activity in the forest.

But judging from the colors and shapes of the footprints, there were no suspicious targets.

He persisted for half an hour.

Only after confirming that he could find no clues here did Linsey briefly tend to his arrowheads and head deeper into the woods.

Twang—! Two hours later.

The sound of a bowstring echoed through the forest as another icy arrow flew out, sending chills down the spine.

On the branch of a pine tree beneath the moonlight,

an Emerald-tailed Snowy Owl that had been resting there fell to the ground.

Linsey emerged from the darkness and picked up the Emerald-tailed Snowy Owl by one hind leg.

He had spent two hours finding this magical beast in the forest, one that had awakened source material. Now that the prey was in hand, he immediately switched modules and checked its product attributes.

Corpse: Emerald-tailed Snowy Owl

The corpse of a magical beast that lived in cold regions.

Its plucked feathers, meat, and claws might be something people would be willing to buy.

"..."

After reading the simple description,

Linsey closed his eyes and raised his head, drawing in a deep breath.

"Phew—"

"As expected, the descriptions are completely different."

The Emerald-tailed Snowy Owl and the Ice Badger were both lowest-tier magical beasts. Yet the final lines of their product descriptions were entirely different.

This discovery

finally confirmed Linsey's suspicions.

—There was indeed something wrong with the Ice Badgers.

Now, he needed to figure out how to find the true culprit behind it all.

As he pondered the problem, Linsey put the Emerald-tailed Snowy Owl's corpse into his bag before setting off back toward town.

His first destination was naturally the Graveyard Church.

The cause behind the corpse's animation had been confirmed.

There was no reason for Linsey to leave Finn's corpse lying on the church floor any longer. Whether they continued mourning him or buried him, it needed to be dealt with immediately.

Beneath the starry night sky, he returned to the church entrance.

Linsey raised an eyebrow slightly.

The church doors, which had been closed a few hours ago, now stood open, and lamplight could be seen inside the chapel.

"Other people?"

Linsey muttered quietly.

He first took the three Ice Badgers out of his bag, casually tied them together with rope, and then walked toward the church doors.

"Nun...?"

The moment he entered, Linsey saw Red Moon.

Finn's corpse had already been moved into the chapel. Red Moon was praying over him, and when she saw Linsey return, she merely gave a slight nod.

But farther back in the chapel, Dan and several other townsfolk were already standing there.

Linsey glanced at them and immediately understood.

These people all lived near Finn's cabin.

In the end, they had not listened to Linsey's reassurance. After hearing the commotion, they had come out to investigate. When they discovered Finn's cabin standing empty, they woke Dan, who lived nearby, and then all came together to the church on the eastern side of town.

Dan was the leader of this group of townsfolk.

When she saw Linsey and the prey in his hands, she immediately walked over.

"Linsey, what exactly is going on?"

Linsey directly handed one of the three Ice Badgers to Dan. "Tonight, these things were lurking around the cabin. They animated Teacher Finn's corpse."

"Huh? What?" Dan's eyes filled with surprise. She clearly found Linsey's claim hard to believe. "Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"

As a professional hunter, Dan's familiarity with magical beasts was practically the greatest in town.

If it were some powerful magical beast that had gained intelligence after awakening, then it might be capable of doing something like this.

But Ice Badgers... they were merely magical beasts barely comparable to first-stage Awakened.

At least, in Dan's eyes as a hunter,

these things, only slightly stronger than ordinary beasts, were absolutely incapable of doing such a thing!

Linsey immediately stressed in a serious tone, "I'm certain. Their behavior was abnormal. They must have been influenced by some external factor."

"These Ice Badgers passed straight through the fields, yet they didn't damage the crops at all. Instead, they ran all the way to the cabin, animated Teacher's corpse, and then turned around and fled back toward the forest. When I found them, those beasts were fighting over pinecones on the ground because they were hungry!"

With Linsey's explanation, Dan realized the gravity of the situation as well, and her tone immediately grew tense.

"Linsey, tell me. Where did you find them?"

Linsey immediately answered, "In the forest south of town, about an hour's walk from here."

Dan nodded and headed straight out of the church.

At the same time, she instructed Linsey,

"Don't wait until dawn, Linsey. Take the other two Ice Badger corpses and tell Anrui about this immediately."

Linsey chased after her out of the church.

"Dan, what are you planning to do? I didn't find any other traces in the forest."

Dan turned her head. Naked killing intent flashed in her eyes, and a confident, coldly vicious smile appeared on the Female Hunter's lips.

"Kid, don't underestimate me."

"Since you've put the clues right in front of my face, I can't possibly let them go to waste!"