0047-Mousey Me, Really

"That's a huge increase from just one go!"

"Looks like 20,000 points won't be so hard to get after all." Chen Jue read the new prompt, then glanced at the long upgrade progress bar for [Hidden Weapon Throwing].

He'd thought he'd be stuck at Lv. 5—the Master level—for a year or so. He hadn't expected to find a shortcut to improving so quickly. This was a pleasant surprise.

But after one of their companions had been nailed to the ground, the rats had grown wary.

He waited nearly five minutes before he finally heard squeaking from the trash cans.

Chen Jue narrowed his eyes and watched. It was still that slightly larger, bolder Rat Vanguard from earlier.

It went over to the Broken-Tail Rat that had been nailed down. As it inspected the situation, it squeaked as if calling out to its dead companion, while also covering for the "Food-Crime Gang" hiding in the shadows behind the trash cans.

But not even two seconds later, another deadly iron nail whistled through the air.

"Pfft!" The bold Rat Vanguard was struck in the head by a nail too, dying beside the trash cans.

Chen Jue, still holding his throwing-dart pose, gained another 100 points of [Hidden Weapon Throwing] proficiency.

"They probably won't come out again, right?"

Chen Jue stayed where he was and continued watching.

He'd thought he might have to find another spot or come back later.

But he hadn't expected another one to actually show up, unafraid of death!

Another ratty-looking fellow poked its head out from behind the trash cans. It was probably there to scout the situation.

Unfortunately, this second Rat Vanguard was out of the loop. It had only just emerged halfway into the dim light at the end of the alley when—

"Pfft!" An iron nail flew through the air and struck it in the body. Its claws scrabbled wildly, making the plastic trash cans rattle as it scraped across the ground. After a few frantic flails, its health bar hit zero.

[Hidden Weapon Throwing] proficiency +100 again!

"Not bad. This trip wasn't for nothing!"

Chen Jue smiled faintly, feeling quite satisfied.

Compared with gaming with friends, hunting in the real world was more fun.

And since he was eliminating a public nuisance, it gave him a real sense of accomplishment, too.

After waiting more than five minutes without another rat showing up, Chen Jue temporarily left the dark alley.

With three of their accomplices caught, he figured he'd probably scared the Food-Crime Gang into hiding.

Chen Jue first went to wander around Laxi Street, where he bought a cup of lemon water from Mixue Ice Cream & Tea to quench his thirst.

Street snacks tended to be heavily seasoned, and all those additives left his mouth dry.

Worried about gaining the weight back, he ordered his lemon water with no sugar.

"Milk tea is high in calories, but even this isn't something I should overdo." Chen Jue thought to himself that he ought to buy a decent thermos to take along.

That way, he could drink a few sips whenever he wanted and stay hydrated.

He hadn't paid much attention to his health before. He usually bought bottled water or drinks from convenience stores and small supermarkets, and sometimes joined his coworkers for afternoon tea.

Since awakening the Attribute Panel, he'd paid more and more attention to these little everyday habits.

With hemorrhoids, he should eat less greasy, strongly flavored food and especially avoid spicy dishes.

With gallstones, he should eat at regular times and never skip breakfast.

As for his thinning hair, he still didn't have a solution. All Chen Jue could do for now was pay attention to personal hygiene, wash his hair often, and change his pillowcases and bedding regularly.

His skin was oily, so after a busy day he'd be greasy from head to toe. That made it easy for mites and bacteria to grow in his bedding.

After finishing his lemon water and watching the stage show for a while, Chen Jue returned to the alley under cover of darkness about half an hour later.

It looked like a sanitation worker had gone in to clean up. The large trash cans used for kitchen waste were all empty, and even the scene of the earlier massacre had been cleared away.

With no leftovers to eat, the remaining Food-Crime Gang members naturally wouldn't risk coming out.

"There should be a large waste-transfer station around here, right?" Chen Jue thought to himself. He went out to look and really did spot a green garbage truck.

It was a specialized vehicle for collecting kitchen waste. It was clearing the small trash cans outside the food court, and the whole process was automated. A mechanical arm extended from the truck, clamped onto a standard trash can, lifted it, and tipped it out. The cans were emptied cleanly and efficiently. It was very advanced.

As soon as Chen Jue saw it, he hurried to the parking lot and got his car. Then he followed the kitchen-waste truck.

After following it for more than ten minutes, he still hadn't reached a transfer station. Instead, he found several more dark corners filled with flowing wastewater. They were small waste-transfer sites serving the food streets near the university town.

He marked them on his navigation app, then continued following the truck.

After another twenty minutes or so, he finally arrived at his destination.

Before him was Binjiang Industrial Park's centralized waste-treatment plant. It was surrounded by fences and high walls, with a large waste-processing facility inside.

Kitchen waste was rich in oil and organic matter. After being sorted at facilities like this, it could be turned into fertilizer, animal feed, or even biogas for generating electricity.

Chen Jue realized he couldn't get inside. Besides, a specialized treatment plant like this surely had its own sanitation standards. There probably wouldn't be any rats or cockroaches nearby.

He had no choice but to drive back to the transfer sites he'd passed and sweep through them one by one.

After all, he'd come out hunting!

Who focused on just one spot and kept farming it?

That was hardly any profit!

And wild monsters had cooldowns before they respawned, didn't they?

Roaming cleverly and waiting in different patches of grass to ambush people... No, to ambush rats—that was essential training for any proper jungler.

He spent two hours clearing out all the small waste-transfer sites he'd marked.

Using flying nails, Chen Jue killed a total of 24 rats.

Over the course of the night, he earned 2,410 points of [Hidden Weapon Throwing] proficiency and used 30 nails in all, for an astonishing hit rate of 83%.

It was his first time going out to hunt rats, but his efficiency was already excellent.

However, after he wiped out a group of Food-Crime Gang members at the last site, the Attribute Panel gave him a different prompt:

[ Ding~ ]

[After completing a perfect night-time hidden-weapon training session, your hand muscles and joints received an effective workout, improving your hands' explosive power.]

[Strength attribute +0.01]

[ Ding~ ]

[After spending a long time searching for targets in the dark, you have gradually grown accustomed to dimly lit environments. Your night vision has improved slightly, your hearing has improved a little, and your ability to concentrate has grown stronger.]

[Constitution attribute +0.01]

[Mental attribute +0.01]

[ Ding~ ]

[After spending a long time observing rats, you have gained a deeper understanding of the anatomy and habits of these small rodents. The next time you use a hidden weapon against one, you will find its weak points more easily.]

[Title acquired: Rat Hunter]

[Title effect: Makes it easier to spot small rodents, find their weak points, and catch them.]

[Title description: Mousey me... really got the short end of the stick!]

"Another critical hit!"

"Not bad!"

Chen Jue put away the round nails and excitedly glanced at the Attribute Panel.

Practicing his throwing at night was certainly hard on the eyes, especially since he frequently used his little life hack and deliberately adjusted the angle of his glasses.

That temporarily changed the angle of the lenses and improved their corrective effect. But staring at distant objects for too long tired his eyes and might even worsen his nearsightedness.

Still, the results were excellent!

After staring at moving rats for so long, Chen Jue had gradually adapted to the darkness of streets and alleys. His body had also started getting used to the high-intensity motion of throwing with all his strength.

Most importantly, this was the first time he'd seen a prompt saying his hearing had improved.

"Is it because I've been hearing so many faint rat squeaks?"

"The area's so noisy, with traffic coming and going. Hearing rats squeak really isn't easy." Chen Jue thought to himself.

Previously, with the help of [Eye Health Exercises] and exposure to the red light of the sun, he'd stumbled across a way to train his eyes, and his vision had improved day by day.

Now he'd triggered an improvement in his hearing, too. Chen Jue was growing more and more interested in the Attribute Panel's prompts, and was beginning to look forward to them.

It was already ten o'clock. Chen Jue drove back to the talent apartment.

He left the remaining nails in the trunk so they'd be convenient to take along the next time he went rat hunting at night.

He also planned to leave the filming equipment and face mask he'd bought in the car, ready to take out and use when he got the chance.

One way or another, he had to slowly build up the Master of Unique Skills account and create a little side income for himself.

After returning to his room, he washed up and went to bed.

He reviewed the day's gains, then recorded the attribute increases and some key information from the Attribute Panel in his app.

If a stranger or the app's operators saw those notes, they'd probably think Chen Jue was playing some kind of MUD text game and making a schedule for his daily quests.

Only Chen Jue himself knew how much the Attribute Panel had changed him during this time!

"Night vision... and hearing..."

After recording everything, Chen Jue muttered to himself and searched online for some related information.

Night vision was classified as a visual ability, and he couldn't find any specific ways to improve it online. But Chen Jue already knew how to improve his eyesight with [Eye Health Exercises] and three minutes of red-light therapy.

However, when he came across information about night blindness, Chen Jue's eyes lit up.

There were three known causes of night blindness: temporary night blindness, acquired night blindness, and congenital night blindness.

The root cause of night blindness was a lack of the raw materials needed for rod cells in the retina to produce rhodopsin, or a disease affecting the rod cells themselves.

The internet listed several ways to treat or improve it.

"Eat more vitamin A and beta-carotene?"

"Animal liver, carrots, cod liver oil... Those all work." Chen Jue didn't have night blindness, but he knew those foods could improve eyesight, too, so there was no reason not to try.

He searched Taobao and ordered some of the top-selling cod liver oil. It wasn't expensive—just over 160 yuan a bottle, and imported. He planned to try taking supplements.

If he tried it for a while and checked whether the Attribute Panel gave him a prompt, he'd have a rough idea whether this dietary approach could improve his vision.

As for training an adult's hearing, there weren't any well-developed methods on the market. Most of them were simple exercises to improve hearing sensitivity in newborns.

"Looks like I'll have to keep getting practical experience, or find a teacher who knows eye and ear training." Chen Jue thought to himself.

He checked the time on his phone. It was almost half past ten.

He had to get up early tomorrow to catch the sunrise and train. After a whole evening of running around, he was exhausted, so Chen Jue turned off his phone and went to sleep early.

But less than an hour after he'd fallen peacefully asleep, several sanitation workers on night duty at Binjiang's centralized waste-treatment plant were huddled together, puzzling over the strange events of the night.

"Old Wu, you found dead rats too?"

"Yeah! Something weird happened on my route tonight. I found seven or eight dead rats beside trash cans in a single night, all nailed to death! It's eerie!"

"Huh?"

"You found rats killed by nails too? I found a few as well!"

Finding dead rats wasn't unusual. They'd been handling kitchen waste for years and were used to seeing all kinds of small animal carcasses.

Sometimes they'd open a trash can and find a few stray cats or dogs drowned inside. That happened all the time.

They'd seen so much that they were numb to it.

But this was the first time they'd seen rats nailed to death!

And when the sanitation workers compared notes, they found that they'd come across more than twenty rats killed the same way that night. No matter how they looked at it, something was wrong.

So they reported the situation directly to the waste-treatment plant's duty manager.

The manager, whose hair had thinned from staying up late, came over. When he saw the rats laid out in a row, each pierced by a nail, he stared in shock.

Unlike the carcasses of other stray animals, rat carcasses had to be collected and burned after they were found. If they weren't handled properly, they could easily cause a serious disaster, such as an outbreak of plague.

"Could someone have deliberately left these dead rats here?"

The duty manager quickly realized the situation could be serious. He immediately called Binjiang District's Center for Disease Control and Prevention and asked them to send someone to collect the rats for testing. Then he called the local police station to report the incident.

After all, plague was no joke. In China, it was a Category A infectious disease, alongside cholera. It had to be reported to the epidemic-prevention authorities within the legally mandated time frame, and it couldn't be taken too seriously.

Second update~

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