The Stalker

Zhou Kai was not 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 exhaustion.

He felt even better than after a full night's sleep.

Relevant search results soon appeared on the webpage.

[Evelyn Soraka]

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

He clicked on her encyclopedia entry and skimmed through it.

Useless information.

He quickly filtered for the next result.

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

This was it.

With a light tap of his fingertip, the link redirected several times before a three-minute-twenty-second video player popped up.

The image quality was poor, carrying the unmistakable air of an amateur exploration team.

An overexcited narrator spoke 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 past several freshly renovated wooden cabins, gleaming with the artificial atmosphere 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 through history by word of mouth, 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 town we see today is actually the result of modern scenic-area restoration work..."

The sunny "Soraka" in the video had nothing in common with the decaying, oppressive dead zone swallowed by darkness in his Nightmare, aside from the name.

He watched it again.

Then a third time.

Nothing. Not a single shot matched.

He snapped his laptop shut with a frustrated look.

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

This time, he focused on bizarre and obscure forums.

An unpopular antique forum caught his attention.

Zhou Kai made a post there.

He received a reply almost immediately, along with a friend request.

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

Zhou Kai narrowed his eyes.

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

What does he want from me?

My 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, skillfully steering the man's boasting in the direction he needed.

Finally, he got to the point.

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

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

A file transfer window popped up.

[Soraka Swordsmanship.mp4]

Zhou Kai stared at the filename, stunned.

That simple?

No strings attached?

He carefully considered his wording before slowly typing, "This... is incredibly generous. Thanks, brother."

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

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.

Such a rare creature 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 forms on the screen.

The video was real. The movements were precise, vicious, and deadly.

But his body was like a rusted machine, every movement awkward and stiff.

Nothing happened.

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

There was only an idiot swinging a broomstick around in the living room.

The problem did not seem to be with the software, but the hardware.

Maybe he needed a real Two-Handed Sword.

Another expense.

He tossed the broomstick aside.

If he could truly learn it, that would be wonderful. 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 alternated between throwing punches and practicing sliding steps.

At dawn, 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 Points: 4]

[Erosion Progress: 3/9]

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

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

Zhou Kai had noticed it long ago, but he had always lacked experience points.

The only upgradeable items had been the axe and the Chef Knife. Now, there were also the seed and the oil lamp.

The seed.

Based on the description in that letter paper, it might be worth upgrading.

He focused his mind on the item panel.

Zhou Kai immediately found it rather interesting.

The upgrade paths were not fixed. They were customized.

From [Withered] to [Plump] cost 1 experience point.

Upgrading it into a [Luminous Sunflower Seed], however, required an expensive 59 points.

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

A thought suddenly surfaced.

If items could be upgraded, what about [home]?

The twisted, terrifying monster silhouette outside the window instantly flashed through his mind.

A safe Sanctuary...

Was worth far more than a flashy axe.

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

Universal Experience Points would never be enough.

He would forever struggle along the poverty line.

Increasing income would always be 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 completely recovered.

Then he went out and headed for Falcon Wing Boxing Gym.

As he walked down the street, his gaze swept over every recruitment poster pasted onto utility poles and shop windows.

He needed a job, one that could bring in money quickly.

Zhou Kai planned out his current situation in his mind.

He could not keep living off his sister.

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

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

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

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

A black sedan silently pulled away from the roadside and followed behind him at a measured distance.

It was not intuition.

It was keen 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 in the window of a closed bakery.

What amateurs.

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

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

Yet such a disguise still failed to deceive 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 a hundred meters away.

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

A classic pincer encirclement.

Soon, three of them closed in on an emergency stairwell.

The lead man reached out and patted the shoulder of a young man in front of him.

"Mr. Zhou? Can we have a chat? We mean no harm."

"Ah? 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 some easy target... If you try anything, I'll call the police immediately!"

The man froze awkwardly in place, his hand suspended in midair.

"Sorry, wrong person..."

After the young man walked away while cursing under his breath, the man leaned against the fire door and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Fuck, how does some kid who just graduated from college have such ridiculous counter-surveillance awareness?"

"Damn it, we lost him!"

He pressed his earpiece.

But in the next instant, the man felt the air shift behind him.

Before he could turn around, an arm like an iron clamp had already locked across his throat.

Crack.

An overwhelming force instantly constricted his throat, silently dragging his entire body into the darkness of the emergency stairwell.