Stalker

Zhou Kai wasn't sleepy at all. Last time, it had been because of the thrill of narrowly escaping death.

This time, it was because of the Fireplace. The firelight had already cleared away his drowsiness and fatigue.

He felt even better than if he'd slept.

The webpage quickly displayed the relevant search results.

[Evelyn Soraka]

He vaguely remembered her. A few years ago, he'd watched a movie called Peeping, and she'd received a Best Actress nomination for it.

He clicked into her encyclopedia entry and skimmed it.

Useless information.

He hurriedly filtered for the next result.

[Aristocratic Residence in the Decker Mountains: Exploring the Mysterious Soraka Town].

This was it.

With a light tap of his finger, the link redirected several times before a video player with a runtime of three minutes and twenty seconds popped up.

The video quality was rough, carrying the unmistakable air of an amateur exploration team.

An overly excited narrator's voice played over cheap canned music.

"Legend has it that Soraka Town vanished half a century ago, but it was actually an aristocratic summer retreat built in 1786..."

The camera swept over several freshly renovated little wooden houses, gleaming like new and full of the artificial feel of a commercial tourist attraction.

"Centered around Villa No. 1, this place gradually became a prosperous town nestled deep in the mountains... Yet somehow, despite being passed down orally throughout history, there are no written records..."

"Local legends turned this place into a ghost village, but our investigation indicates that the town may have suffered a devastating flash flood... After half the buildings were destroyed, all the remaining residents relocated..."

"...Thus, the Soraka Town we see today is actually the result of modern restoration work at a tourist site..."

The bright, sunny "Soraka" in the video had nothing in common with the decayed, oppressive, darkness-devoured deadland from his Nightmare except the name.

He watched it again.

Then a third time.

Nothing. Not a single shot matched.

He snapped his laptop shut with a frustrated expression.

The next second, he abruptly flipped it back open and continued searching.

This time, he focused on bizarre and obscure forums.

An unpopular antiquities forum caught his attention.

Zhou Kai made a post there.

He received a reply almost immediately—practically a second later—and a friend request arrived along with it.

[Flash Dirham: Soraka? You mean that great Knight Family whose surname was bestowed by the ancient conqueror? Are you interested in that period of history?]

Zhou Kai narrowed his eyes.

A stranger who was still online at three in the morning and actively offering help.

What did he want from him?

His kidneys?

He accepted the friend request.

The guy who replied instantly was a chatterbox, with an almost fanatical admiration for that so-called "ancient conqueror."

Zhou Kai patiently guided the conversation, carefully steering the other man's boasting toward the information he needed.

At last, he got to the point.

"Soraka Swordsmanship? Sure. You can learn that at pretty much any swordsmanship club around here."

"Here, I'll send it to you."

A file transfer pop-up appeared.

[Soraka Swordsmanship.mp4]

Zhou Kai stared at the filename, stunned.

That easy?

No conditions attached?

He carefully chose his words and slowly typed, "This... is incredibly generous. Thanks, brother."

Flash Dirham: "We're brothers now. No need to say that."

Flash Dirham: "I've got quite a collection. I'll share more with you when I get the chance."

Zhou Kai suddenly felt a little moved. This guy... was practically an internet angel.

Rare creatures like this actually still existed these days.

Zhou Kai typed back, "You're a real one, brother."

An hour later.

Zhou Kai held a broomstick and imitated the sword techniques on the screen.

The video was genuine. The movements were precise and vicious.

But his body was like a rusted machine, every motion awkward and unnatural.

Nothing happened.

There was no system notification, no sudden flash of insight.

Just an idiot waving a broomstick around in the living room.

The problem didn't seem to be the software, but the hardware.

Maybe he needed a real Two-Handed Sword.

Another expense.

He tossed the broomstick aside.

If he could really learn it, that would be great. The next time he burned a corpse, he could squeeze out every last drop of experience.

He switched back to basic training.

In the dimness, he threw punches one moment and performed sliding steps the next.

At dawn, the familiar text appeared before him.

[Light Footwork Experience +1]

Unfortunately, Comprehensive Combat showed no progress.

[Character: Zhou Kai]

[Status: Erosion]

[Skills: Comprehensive Combat lv2 (0/25), Light Footwork lv2 (3/25), Occultism lv0]

[Items: Residence Permit, Blood-Stained Axe, Rusted Chef Knife, Morning Star Notes, Withered Seed, Drying Oil Lamp]

[Universal Experience: 4]

[Erosion Progress: 3/9]

(Tip: Some items can be upgraded using Universal Experience)

"Finally, it's no longer telling me to avoid dying... As for item upgrades..."

Zhou Kai had noticed it long ago, but he'd always been short on experience.

The only upgradable items had been the axe and the Chef Knife. Now, the seed and Oil Lamp had been added.

The seed.

Based on the description in that Letter Paper, it might be worth upgrading.

He focused his thoughts on the item menu.

Zhou Kai immediately found it rather interesting.

The upgrade paths weren't fixed. They were customized.

Going from [Withered] to [Plump] cost 1 experience point.

Upgrading it to [Luminous Sunflower Seed], however, required a costly 59 points.

The axe was the same. [Sharper and Less Likely to Break] required 2 points, while [Transform into a Massive Poleaxe with High Temperatures] required 30.

A thought suddenly surfaced.

If items could be upgraded, then what about [Home]?

The distorted, terrifying monster outside the window flashed through his mind.

A safe Sanctuary...

It was worth far more than a flashy axe.

Zhou Kai leaned back in his chair as a cruel reality weighed down on him.

Universal Experience would never be enough.

He would always be struggling along the poverty line.

Increasing income was always more effective than cutting expenses.

He needed a new "source of income."

Zhou Kai casually ate something, sent his sister the usual good-morning message to let her know that he was fine and had fully recovered.

Then he left home and headed for Falcon Wing Boxing Gym.

As he walked, his gaze swept over every recruitment poster pasted on utility poles and shop windows.

He needed a job. A job that could bring in quick money.

Zhou Kai mentally planned his next steps.

He couldn't keep living off his sister.

And to buy items that would make survival in the Nightmare easier, he would need a lot of money.

"Shop clerk? Seventeen an hour... Delivery rider, monthly salary six thousand plus..."

"It's him. He's out. Follow him!"

When Zhou Kai emerged from a narrow alley and headed toward the bus stop through the misty rain.

A black sedan silently pulled away from the roadside and followed behind him at a neither-too-near-nor-too-far distance.

It wasn't intuition.

It was sharp observation.

Zhou Kai saw its reflection in the glass of an advertisement board at the bus stop.

One block later, he saw the same reflection again in the window of a closed bakery.

What amateurs.

Zhou Kai boarded the bus, picked a window seat, and quietly observed.

The car disappeared, swallowed by the morning rush-hour traffic.

Even that disguise failed to fool Zhou Kai's eyes.

More than half an hour later, Zhou Kai got off the bus and entered the mall near the boxing gym.

Out of the corner of his eye, the black car appeared again, parked in a lot over a hundred meters away.

Five men got out, exchanged hand signals, split into three groups, and entered the mall through three different entrances.

A classic pincer encirclement.

Soon, three men closed in on an emergency stairwell.

The leader reached out and patted a young man ahead of him on the shoulder.

"Mr. Zhou? Could we talk? We mean no harm."

"Huh? Who are you?"

The young man turned around. He had a build similar to Zhou Kai's and wore the same boxing gym tracksuit.

But his face was completely different.

He stared at the man, his face filled with confusion and vigilance.

"It's you. You've been following me this whole time! What do you want?"

"I'm warning you... I'm not that kind of guy... If you try anything, I'll call the police immediately!"

The man froze awkwardly, his hand suspended in midair.

"Sorry, wrong person..."

After the young man walked away grumbling curses, the man leaned against the fire door and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Fuck, he's just some kid who graduated college. Why's his counter-surveillance awareness so damn sharp?"

"Damn it, we lost him!"

He pressed his earpiece.

However, the next instant, the man sensed the air moving behind him.

Before he could turn around, an arm was already clamped across his throat like an iron pincer.

Crack.

A tremendous force instantly locked down his throat, dragging his whole body silently into the darkness of the emergency stairwell.