Shadow Assault

The next day.

As he had the day before, Li Ran made breakfast for his wife and son, left them a note, and headed out.

He went downstairs without taking the elevator or using the stairwell.

Using Shadow Escape, he slipped down the shadowed side of the high-rise.

He wanted to avoid Wang Gan, the Demon King of Killing in Apartment 1304.

Yesterday, his Golden Finger had warned him that a killer had set his sights on him. He had also received a mission to eliminate the killer.

Until he had an overwhelming advantage in strength, Li Ran wouldn't risk confronting the killer head-on.

After two days, he still didn't have a thorough understanding of Happy Home.

What Su Bingyao had said last night was crucial.

It had also helped him figure out why the chubby ball of flesh had been eating so frantically and why Deng Zhiwei had turned into a monster.

He had to go to sleep before midnight!

If he was still awake at that hour, the invisible Desire Virus would invade his body. If something stimulated him or he lost control of his emotions, he would instantly turn into a monster. The more fixated his desire, the stronger the monster he would become—and he might even die outright.

In other words, the killer wasn't the strongest monster here.

There were monsters with even stronger obsessions!

After showering last night, Li Ran noticed that Su Bingyao had left the door open a little wider for him.

When he returned to his room, he'd wanted to ask Su Bingyao a few questions about the neighborhood, but his cold and beautiful wife was already lying in bed asleep. He hadn't had the nerve to go in.

So they were in the same room again, but still not in the same bed.

Perhaps because he'd been so tense all day, he fell asleep on the tatami in no time.

As for what happened after midnight, he had no idea.

"Li Ran, over here!"

Song Linjia came running over from a distance.

Compared to yesterday, she seemed to be doing pretty well.

Before nightfall, Li Ran had sent Song Linjia, Chen Jiabin, and Xiao Yi a message telling them they needed to be asleep by midnight.

As for Deng Zhiwei, he had already turned into a monster. If his obsession was strong, he might have become a very powerful one.

"I went straight to bed after I got your message yesterday," Song Linjia said.

Li Ran nodded. "Let's meet up with the others first and gather information before we do any missions."

"Okay."

At the entrance to the neighborhood.

"Xiao Yi, why didn't Chen Jiabin come? Weren't we supposed to meet up?" Song Linjia asked in annoyance.

"Forget it. Let's do the mission ourselves, then. Where was that strange old lady you mentioned yesterday?"

"I'll take you to her."

"Okay."

Li Ran could more or less guess why Xiao Yi and Chen Jiabin had stood him up.

He'd stood out too much the day before, and someone had gotten jealous.

They hadn't said anything, but Li Ran had noticed their expressions and little tells. Besides, his Golden Finger had given him a clear warning.

Li Ran also had no intention of teaming up with Xiao Yi. The man struck him as difficult to get along with.

Song Linjia, on the other hand, was kindhearted, straightforward, and open.

When a teammate did well, she sincerely congratulated them and was happy for them.

She also had principles of her own.

Teaming up with someone like that was a comfortable experience.

A frail figure came into view beside the Lotus Pond.

She shuffled along with her back slightly bent. A few strands of white streaked through her black hair, and her sunken eyes were surrounded by deep hollows. Age spots covered her wrinkled face, while veins like earthworms crawled across her hands. She swayed as she walked, looking as though every step took great effort.

"The old lady looks so pitiful. I want to go help her, but..." Song Linjia said.

Song Linjia was very kindhearted. If this had been the real world, she might already have gone to help the old lady.

They were about fifty meters away from her and didn't dare approach rashly, even though she looked pitiful.

The old lady shuffled along the edge of the Lotus Pond, swaying uneasily like a lost child who couldn't find her way home.

"I want to do this mission, but I'm worried it might be dangerous," Song Linjia said. She looked at Li Ran and asked, "I don't know if we can team up, but you're so capable."

Li Ran understood her concern. She didn't want to miss out on the mission. Clues were hard to come by, and she'd be reluctant to hand this one over, especially since she had found the old lady herself.

"Sure. You found the lead, so you've earned your share. If I complete the mission, I'll give you half the points," Li Ran said candidly.

Attribute points couldn't be transferred; they were assigned automatically when a mission was completed.

But players could trade points.

Song Linjia nodded readily. "Sounds good. You're the capable one, so I'll just take a finder's fee."

Li Ran thought that arrangement worked well. It would save him from wandering around the neighborhood like a headless fly, wasting time and effort only to come up empty-handed.

He might as well let other players provide the leads, then use his hidden prompts to complete missions quickly and build up his strength.

Li Ran liked talking with teammates like her. She said what she meant, with no need to hide anything.

Teammates like Xiao Yi gave him a different feeling. It seemed like every word carried an ulterior meaning, and he could never tell whether Xiao Yi was being sincere or putting on an act.

In short, Li Ran didn't want to team up with someone like him.

"Wait here. I'll go talk to her first," Li Ran said.

"Okay."

Li Ran slowly approached along the pebble path, his sharp gaze sweeping over the old lady.

Several lines of prompt text appeared above her head.

(Grandma Mi)

(S-rank Mental Infector)

(Mysterious Power: ???)

(Prompt: Ever since Grandma Mi's grandson went missing, her mind has grown worse by the day. She keeps imagining that her grandson is still alive.)

(Prompt: Wearing that tattered piece of clothing will bring you good luck. She'll mistake you for her grandson.)

(Prompt: You can purchase underwater breathing potions in advance.)

When Li Ran saw the prompts above the old lady's head, he sucked in a sharp breath.

He turned his steps from forward to backward.

"S-rank? Unknown Mysterious Power?"

He couldn't believe that stats like those belonged to such a frail old lady.

"Is the old lady in front of me even more terrifying than Wang Gan?" Li Ran thought in shock.

After reading the prompts, he realized his back was drenched in cold sweat.

Damn, if he hadn't had those prompts, he'd have been done for in an instant.

"So the tattered clothes I fished out of the pond yesterday belonged to her grandson. Does that mean I can put them on and pretend to be her grandson to complete the mission?"

"But... what's the underwater breathing potion for?"

Watching Li Ran walk back, Song Linjia looked puzzled. "Even you can't handle her?"

"Wait here a moment," Li Ran said, then headed toward the neighborhood.

He returned to Happiness Supermarket at the entrance.

Li Ran searched through the display cases one by one and found an underwater breathing potion in a case in the corner.

[Underwater Breathing Potion, 100 points. Purchase? Yes/No]

"Yes."

One hundred points were deducted.

Li Ran had 1,360 points left.

"Special items like this are clearly much more expensive than everyday supplies."

After buying the potion, Li Ran didn't hurry off.

He opened the Points Mall.

This mall wasn't the supermarket in front of him. It was a floating window that players could open themselves after entering the Weird World, and only they could see it.

Players could buy equipment, weapons, items, skill books, attribute cards, and the like in the Points Mall.

Li Ran skimmed through the equipment section.

He skipped straight past the ordinary and excellent equipment, focusing on the refined gear.

He was currently wearing three pieces of equipment: two refined and one excellent.

All three were top-notch, with either skills or passive effects.

In the Points Mall, a piece of refined equipment cost 1,000 points. The cheaper ones had ordinary stats and no skills or effects, while those with special effects, skills, or high stats generally cost over 2,000 points.

"I need to spend these points where they'll do the most good."

In the Weird World, no one knew whether an accident or tomorrow would come first.

The sooner he improved his strength, the better his chances of survival.

"Let's check out the skills."

Li Ran decisively left the equipment section.

With his 1,360 points, he was in an awkward spot. If he bought something, it always felt like he was missing out; if he didn't, he felt as if he might die before he could spend his savings.

It was a dilemma. He might as well see what else the mall had to offer.

The skill levels were divided the same way.

Li Ran skipped over the ordinary and excellent skills as well, going straight to the refined section.

Of course, if he had enough points, he would have looked at the rare ones.

But that clearly wasn't realistic.

He had always believed that skills should be mastered, not accumulated.

That made choosing the right skill especially important.

A good skill could give a player a huge advantage.

Before long, Li Ran had looked through them all. His gaze settled on a skill book.

[Skill Book: Shadow Assault]

[Quality: Refined]

[Requirement: Mysterious Power 160]

[Active Skill: Using this skill puts you into stealth and briefly increases your speed and strength. Hitting a target deals damage and breaks stealth. Backstabbing or slitting the target's throat doubles the damage. Stealth remains active.]

"This is perfect for me. It's like an assassin's skill, and it pairs perfectly with Shadow Escape. I can lurk and ambush, and even if I can't win, I can run. This skill is perfect for a cautious guy like me."

With that, Li Ran immediately bought Shadow Assault.

Cost: 1,300 points.

He had only 60 points left.

After the points were deducted, a wisp of dark light gathered in front of Li Ran. A skill book with a black cover appeared before him.

"Learn."

Li Ran tapped it with a finger. The black-covered skill book turned into countless strands of black energy that sank into his fingertip, then spread along his arm to every part of his body.

Suddenly, he felt a whole new set of memories rush into his mind.

They were about how to use Shadow Assault and the combat techniques it involved.

The memories flooded in as if he had been born knowing the skill. It felt perfectly natural, without the slightest discomfort.

"Great. Having this skill makes me feel a lot safer."

Satisfied, Li Ran closed the Points Mall and returned to the neighborhood.

"What took you so long?" Song Linjia asked.

"I found out a few things and went to get ready," Li Ran said.

Song Linjia eyed him suspiciously with her bright, dark eyes. "You hadn't even gone over to her yet. How did you get any information?"

"Once you've completed a few more missions and earned enough points, you can buy some skills in the mall. Then it won't seem so strange."

There was no way he could reveal his Golden Finger. The best explanation was to attribute it to the Points Mall. It wasn't surprising for someone to learn skills there and gain special abilities.

Besides, it made sense.

Song Linjia sighed. "Sigh, when will I ever have enough points to buy anything?"

"Soon," Li Ran reassured her. Then he pulled a battered blue denim jacket from his Storage Space and put it on.

Song Linjia stared at his strange behavior, dumbfounded.

"What are you doing? Dressing up like a beggar?"

"Mission item."

The denim jacket had been in his Storage Space for a day, yet somehow it had dried out. Li Ran straightened it up a little so he didn't look quite so ragged. The jacket was just a bit too small for him.

Fortunately, he was tall and well-proportioned, so he could pull off all kinds of clothes. It didn't look too out of place on him.

"That ragged old jacket is a mission item? I don't believe a word of it." Song Linjia rolled her eyes.

Li Ran walked up to the old lady and politely greeted her. "Do you need any help, Grandma?"

The old lady, who had been shuffling along, slowly raised her head and stared at Li Ran.

"Who are you... You... You're not my grandson... You can't fool me! I... I won't fall for it again."

"Grandma, I'm not—"

Li Ran had barely begun to explain when the old lady's hand suddenly stretched out and turned into a tentacle, swiftly wrapping around his neck.

"What the hell... What's going on?"