The Faceless One

"He said that after nine o'clock, it counted as a late-night snack, so this wasn't dinner time."

"Ah?"

"What he meant was, weren't you betting with the Assistant Teacher before, Kiana? He specifically saved these dishes for you."

"After all, your bet was about dinner. It didn't say you couldn't have a midnight snack."

"?!"

Kiana froze for a moment, then suddenly turned to look at the few dishes on the dining table.

The Assistant Teacher specifically saved those for me?

For a moment, her feelings became complicated, and she did not speak for a long while.

Tap—tap tap.

Mei ignored Kiana and continued chopping ingredients on the cutting board, though the smile on her lips never faded.

Actually, she had told a tiny lie.

Ren Yu had never said such a thing. She had merely interpreted his intentions for Kiana.

Meanwhile.

After eating and drinking his fill, Ren Yu set off for home in high spirits.

The bright moon hung high in the sky, surrounded by sparse stars.

Along both sides of the road, the streetlamps steadily provided light, illuminating the surroundings as brightly as day.

After taking only two steps, Ren Yu sensed that something was off.

—It seemed someone was following him.

The moment the thought arose, a handsome man with short black hair and a black suit appeared not far from him.

"Yo, isn't that Old Yang? Why are you disguised like this?"

Ren Yu waved at the man and quickly walked over.

The newcomer was none other than his nominal superior, Anti-Entropy's leader, and the inheritor of the First Herrscher Core, Miss Wa...deline.

Although Ren Yu had long known that Wadeline could disguise herself, he had not expected her to take on "his" appearance.

The handsome man answered speechlessly.

"Didn't you say that in another world, I looked like this?"

"If you're not used to it, I'll change back."

A flash of blue light passed, and Wadeline returned to her original appearance.

—She had shoulder-length brown hair, cool and aloof features, and an indescribably heroic air.

Ren Yu looked her over from head to toe before commenting.

"As expected, I still think you look more pleasing this way."

"Is that so?"

Wadeline waved a hand.

"Never mind that. What are you planning to do next?"

Ren Yu gave her a strange look. "Me? Wasn't I helping you draw aggro so you could build the Moonlight Throne underground?"

"That's not what I meant."

Wadeline neither confirmed nor denied it, asking again, "Are you planning to leave Anti-Entropy next?"

Ren Yu smiled and answered.

"Not anytime soon. Probably after you finish making the 'Blink Crystal' and the 'Apocalypse Greatsword' for me."

The Faceless One

The Blink Crystal's full name was—Sil's Blink Crystal.

It was a special piece of equipment from Bouncy Bouncy. Its benefit was that it allowed someone to enter stealth, greatly increased their movement speed, and greatly boosted the damage of their first attack when breaking stealth.

Coincidentally, Ren Yu had another Emblem that paired perfectly with it—the Faceless One.

Its effect was:

Wait for an opportunity

Increases damage taken by enemies currently above 55% health by 200%; when the character is in stealth or invisibility, this effect is additionally increased by 130%

(World Adjustment: When using the crystal to enter asynchronous space, Imaginary Energy will be enhanced.)

That made things interesting.

A single Hound of the Baskervilles had already granted him such high physical-stat bonuses. After being infused with Emblem Energy, it even allowed him to contend with an A-rank Valkyrie wearing Valkyrie armor.

The Faceless One, combined with the crystal, could be considered a small but complete setup. As long as Ren Yu picked up any decent weapon, his strength definitely would not be lacking.

Shaking his head, Ren Yu set that thought aside for now.

It was not finished yet!

Although the crystal's restoration progress had reached over eighty percent, it would still take time before it was truly complete.

As for the greatsword...

Its progress lagged even further behind. The half-finished product Anti-Entropy had manufactured according to the blueprint looked like a toy and was basically useless.

That left Wadeline deeply puzzled as well.

Clearly, the manufacturing methods were identical, yet once they left the blueprint, they could not make anything at all.