Exchanging for a Meditation Method

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So much had happened in the Kaster City-State during the days he had stayed indoors?

Wasn't this setting him up?

But how did the Liaison Officer on the other end know?

Could there be other Intelligence Officers in Kaster?

Wei En guessed as much, but put on a bitter, remorseful expression. "Honorable Liaison Officer, please forgive my incompetence and grant me another chance..."

"Actually, I've also realized how limited my intelligence sources are. So today, I successfully passed an interview and joined a newspaper agency, hoping to serve the Specter School better."

The figure paused. "You joined a newspaper? Which newspaper?"

"...A small one."

"The name!"

Why was she digging so deeply into this?

Wei En lied, "The Kaster Union Gazette, a newspaper specializing in serving union organizations..."

Crack!

The Liaison Officer nearly ground her teeth to pieces. "Union Gazette? You really came up with that? What useful intelligence could such a trash newspaper possibly have? At the very least, it should be the City-State Council Gazette or Church Weekly."

"Well, their reviews are too strict..." Wei En muttered.

The ghostly blue flames suddenly erupted, and bone-chilling cold spread through the room. He had nearly frozen to death.

"Enough!"

Wei En hurriedly lowered his head. The sweat on his body had already frozen into ice, leaving a layer of white frost across his forehead.

What now?

This Liaison Officer looked like she wanted to slaughter him.

What he did not know was that the same question had appeared in the Liaison Officer's mind.

The mood had reached this point. If she did nothing, it seemed hard to justify...

After a long while, she finally made up her mind. "Ahem. Given your recent terrible performance, I've decided to punish you!"

A punishment?

That was fine. A punishment was better than losing his life.

"You haven't become an Apprentice within the school yet, have you?"

Wei En had been waiting for the punishment, not expecting her to ask that. He answered carefully, "My lady, I was just preparing to exchange for the Basic Meditation Method... provided you don't dock my wages."

"Dock your wages?"

The Liaison Officer froze for a moment, then glared at him. "You think I would deduct your 6 Pennies?"

"Of course not. I believe someone as wise as you would certainly give me a profound lesson rather than deducting a mere 6 Pennies."

The Liaison Officer took a deep breath. If this continued, she feared she would not be able to stop herself from using a spell.

"To make sure you remember this lesson, I've decided to assign you a special task!"

A task?

Wei En struggled to raise his head and look at the figure in the flames. "Please tell me. No matter the task, I will gladly accept it and do my utmost to complete it."

"I need you to investigate the disappearances in the Slums three days ago. The time limit... hm, I'll give you two days! Two days from now, I expect to see the results of your investigation!"

Investigate the Slums?

Wei En thought of what he had encountered in the Slums two days ago, along with the System Panel notifications afterward... He could not help shivering, his eyes filled with lingering fear.

"M-My lady, could I change to another task?"

"You don't want to accept this task?"

"No, no..."

The Liaison Officer said impatiently, "Whether you want to or not, this is your punishment. Either accept the task, or I'll make you disappear just like those people right now!"

"...No, I'll accept your punishment," Wei En said helplessly.

He would muddle through this first.

"Remember, you only have two days."

With that, the figure vanished instantly, and the ghostly blue flames went out.

The "Telephone" returned to standby mode. The blue flame engraving on its cup-shaped body blinked rhythmically, while visible streams of light flowed toward the gemstone switch at its waist as though gathering energy.

Clang.

Several Coins fell with a clatter.

Wei En came back to his senses, slowly straightened up, and moved his body, which had nearly frozen stiff.

Then he frowned, stepped forward, opened a blue-and-white box beside the "Telephone," and took out the 6 Pennies inside.

"One piece of good news, one piece of bad news..."

The good news was that he had saved enough money. He could exchange for the Basic Meditation Method.

The bad news was that his slacking had been discovered by his superior. He had no choice but to leave his room and actively seek out intelligence.

At the thought of going outside, Wei En looked utterly despondent.

In truth, after absorbing the memories of the body's original owner, he had gone outside before.

The first few days had been perfectly normal. But ever since he gained that System Panel, everything had become strange...

That was two days ago, the day after he peered at the Abyssal Hound. He had gone to the Slums two streets away—the Laos District.

There was a bakery workshop there. He spent 3 Pennies to buy a pound of Black Bread, then stopped by an open-air circus in the middle of the district to watch a performance for a while.

Everything had looked the same as before.

But after returning home, he received several notifications.

[You have been corroded by the power of the Nightmare Realm. Mental Level permanently decreased by 1. Evaluation: You won't be so lucky next time! Special Reward: Resilience Level +1.]

[You have gained the affection of an Abyssal Creature—the Bone-Eroding Mother Insect. It eagerly desires to reproduce on your body! Evaluation: It does not mind having a cross-species romance with you. Reward: Survival Points +2.]

[Because your Resilience Level is greater than Level 8, the Bone-Eroding Insect's invasion has failed! Special Reward: Resilience Level +1.]

[You have been targeted by Mitch Sorenson's killing intent. Evaluation: A parasitic host infested by Bone-Eroding Insects. He longs to capture you and offer you to the Bone-Eroding Mother Insect. Reward: Survival Points +1.]

[You have been targeted by Zamir Tapa's killing intent. Evaluation: A fanatical believer of the Abyss Cult. He only wishes to sacrifice your body and soul. Reward: Survival Points +1.]

[Bone-Eroding Mother Insect: The most loving race in the Abyssal world. It can release "seeds of affection"—Bone-Eroding Insects—into any creature. Creatures successfully invaded by Bone-Eroding Insects will lose all their bones within a short time.

The Bone-Eroding Mother Insect enjoys properly preserving its targets' skins as eternal collectibles.]

At the time, Wei En had stared dumbfounded at the long string of notifications, especially the description of the Bone-Eroding Mother Insect. Was this a case of pretty bones are everywhere, but interesting skins are one in ten thousand?

What the hell!

Who the fuck wanted a cross-species romance with that thing?

And those parasitic hosts, Abyss Cult fanatics... He had never imagined that such a tiny Slums district could hide so many "ambitious individuals."

In less than two hours, he had received six notifications.

If he went for another walk, who knew how many more freaks he would encounter?

If he had not been corroded by some Nightmare Realm power and gained a level of Resilience, he probably would have died two days ago.

Therefore,

before he had the ability to protect himself, Wei En truly did not want to leave this safe house.

And the intelligence he had submitted these past few days had all been copied from newspapers—specifically, the Kaster Union Gazette he had just mentioned.

As for joining a newspaper agency, that had merely been a well-intentioned lie he had fabricated for self-preservation!

In fact, he had a safer place to go.

But now, the plan seemed to have gone slightly off course.

Wei En took a deep breath, forcing away those terrible memories. For now, he needed to work hard to increase his strength and stay alive!

With that in mind, he opened his wallet, poured all his money onto the table, and counted it again.

One banknote worth 1 Gold Pound, fifteen silver Coins worth 1 Shilling each, and sixty copper Coins worth 1 Penny each, totaling exactly 2 Gold Pounds!

Next, he pulled a blank application form from the blue-and-white striped box and began writing a Trade Contract according to the instructions for the "Self-Service Exchange Machine."

Though it was difficult to understand the principles behind the "Typewriter," "Telephone," and "Self-Service Exchange Machine," his broad knowledge from his previous life allowed him to readily accept these magical objects.

Like this box he called the "Self-Service Exchange Machine"—it was a machine capable of remotely transporting items.

Whenever he submitted intelligence, his wages would appear inside the box.

Likewise, if he wanted to exchange for items from the Specter School, he also had to use this box.

Just like now—

"To the honorable Kedirhan Harrison of the Specter School Item Management Office! Your humble Intelligence Officer Wei En Loft of the Kaster City-State requests to exchange for the Basic Meditation Method..."

Damn it, the format requirements for this Trade Contract were strict.

Other than the name and the item he wished to exchange for, everything else had already been printed on the application form. He could not change any of it even if he wanted to.

Humble?

Humble my ass!

However,

Wei En could only complain furiously in his heart. If he truly questioned it in person, he feared he would not have enough lives to survive.

According to the original owner's memories, he knew that the head of the Item Management Office was already a Formal Wizard. The Liaison Officer from earlier was probably only at the Apprentice level.

But Apprentices differed from one another.

Generally speaking, anyone who learned a Meditation Method could be called an Apprentice, also known as a Junior Apprentice.

As for that Liaison Officer, Wei En guessed that she was at least an Advanced Apprentice, perhaps even on the verge of advancing to a Formal Wizard.

He did not know the exact difference between them, but it was definitely beyond imagination.

Sigh, money...

If he had money, he could exchange for everything on the exchange list in one go.

Besides the basic Meditation Method, there were all kinds of knowledge available for exchange, including Introduction to Magic, Introduction to Runic Studies, Introduction to Alchemy, Introduction to Potion Studies, and more.

He had not expected that even after transmigrating, he would still have to worry about money.

After finishing the application form, Wei En carefully checked it once more before cautiously placing it into the box, along with all his worldly possessions—2 Gold Pounds.

After doing this, he closed the box and pressed the activation switch on top.

Buzz!

Following a faint vibration, the white stripes on the box flashed.

Wei En stared at the box nervously without blinking.

Please don't let anything go wrong. That money had not come easily.

The original owner had saved for more than a hundred days to gather it...

If something truly went wrong, where would he get so much money again?

Fortunately, after several minutes, the blue stripe indicating unclaimed items lit up on the box, and Wei En finally relaxed.

He quickly opened the box and took out the items inside—a letter and three rolls of Parchment.

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