Holy crap!
Mu You stared at the string of notifications on the screen, dumbfounded. It had actually worked!!
He had already lost all hope, convinced he was doomed... Well, he really had been doomed, but who could have imagined that his last, absurd flash of inspiration would turn things around and take the Werewolf down with him!
Feeding himself to the wolf-so that was the poison's "true use"!
Mu You felt as though a door to a whole new world had opened before him.
At the same time, he had learned another way to gain lifespan: killing other creatures let him plunder the lifespan they lost!
No wonder the Werewolf keeps hunting villagers. Every villager he kills gives him a year of lifespan. In other words, hunting villagers is his job, and their lifespan is his pay, Mu You thought.
Of course, if a villager killed the Werewolf instead, they could also plunder his lifespan-and collect an extra bounty on top!
Mu You reviewed the last few entries: the Witch's poison had cost the Werewolf ten points of life, while the village's Werewolf bounty had given Mu You another five.
Even after subtracting the five years the poison had cost him, he had still netted ten years of lifespan!
What a killing!
And that was without counting the three additional kill rewards: a Werewolf Skin Fragment, Justice Faction reputation, and experience points.
Mu You first opened the entry for the Werewolf Skin Fragment.
[Werewolf Skin Fragment: Collect ten fragments to unlock the Werewolf skin. Current progress: 1/10.]
"It really is a Werewolf skin!"
Mu You was delighted. The name alone made it clear that Werewolf was a pure combat class, definitely far stronger than his current Night Watchman!
If he could assemble a complete Werewolf skin, he could use the Night Watchman's Skin normally and switch to Werewolf for fights. Unbeatable!
That thought filled Mu You with boundless anticipation for unlocking the Werewolf skin.
Still, collecting all the fragments meant killing a Werewolf nine more times. He had already tricked this Werewolf player with poison once, so fooling him again probably wouldn't be so easy.
Hmm, I wonder if there are any other wolves near the village...
The Werewolves living near the village had no idea that a frail human had quietly set his sights on them.
"Enough of that. Let's check the other rewards first."
[Justice Faction reputation: Earned by killing creatures of the Evil Faction. Can be exchanged for special items in certain situations.]
"So it's a kind of currency too..." Mu You nodded.
The text only mentioned that reputation could be exchanged for items. Where? For what? It said nothing about those things, so he would have to figure them out gradually.
Next came the last reward: experience points.
[Current experience: 7/5. Level-up requirements met. Level up now?]
"Level up!" There was no reason to hesitate.
[You have leveled up. All attributes +1. You have gained 5 free attribute points. Action point cap +1. Current character: Lamp Lighter (Level 2).]
The instant he leveled up, warmth swept through Mu You's body. He suddenly felt incredibly light, as though he had endless strength. His sight and hearing had noticeably improved too. When he looked up at the distant streetlights, he could clearly hear the tiny insects beating their wings beneath them!
Looking down again, he saw that the muscles in his arms and calves had become noticeably more developed.
Mu You threw a few experimental punches. His arms moved fast enough to leave afterimages, accompanied by sharp swishes through the air.
"Just one level makes this much difference!"
Mu You was pleasantly surprised. A single level seemed to have doubled his physical capabilities, and he still had five attribute points to allocate.
Mu You opened his panel for a look.
[Character panel. Name: Lamp Lighter. Identity: Apprentice Wizard. Title: None. Current level: 2. Experience toward next level: 2/10. Attributes- Strength: 2.2 Agility: 2.1 Intelligence: 2.4 Constitution: 1.9 Vitality: 190 Mental energy: 240 Unallocated attribute points: 5. Remaining lifespan: 57 years. Today's action points: 1/6. Learned spells: Sure Shot LV1, Beast Trap LV1, Animal Speech LV2. Owned skins: Night Watchman (complete), Werewolf (1/10). Acquired items: Time Pocket Watch, Pumpkin Lantern, Old Wand, Night Watchman's Backpack, Night Watchman's Notebook, mithril ×1, Bloodstained Police Badge.] [You currently have 5 attribute points available. Allocate them now?]
"No."
Different attribute allocations would surely affect his eventual development path. Mu You hadn't decided what build he wanted to pursue, so he couldn't rush into assigning them.
He glanced at his action points: 1/6.
Leveling up had actually raised the cap by one, bringing it to six.
Encountering the Werewolf and dying once had used up his last two action points for the day, but leveling up had given him another one.
Mu You didn't plan to use that last point just yet, though. He still needed to find the dwarf at the smithy to craft equipment, and the smithy wasn't open at night. That would have to wait until daytime.
A police badge, mithril, revenge on the Werewolf, and a level-up... Quite a haul today, Mu You thought with satisfaction. He had accomplished all that within five action points. Now that was efficiency.
"Awooo-ooo-"
Just as Mu You was happily taking stock of his gains, an utterly miserable dog howl suddenly sounded in the distance.
It was so mournful and drawn-out, its lingering echoes so wretched, that goosebumps rose all over Mu You.
"Damn, whose dog is that? It sounds so miserable, like a wolf howling..."
Mu You muttered the complaint without thinking.
But the moment he finished, he froze-a wolf howling?
No way. Where would a wolf come from in the city? It must be a dog...
Mu You frowned.
Yet the more he recalled that sound, the more he felt sweat breaking out on his head.
Having grown up in a pet shop, he was highly sensitive to animal calls. Thinking back carefully, that long, drawn-out ending really didn't sound like something an ordinary dog could produce...
He had just poisoned a Werewolf in the game, and immediately afterward, something that sounded like a wolf had howled in the real world...
Could it be...
Mu You shuddered and hurriedly shook the thought out of his head. "Impossible, impossible. There's no way it's that much of a coincidence..."
"Beep."
His phone chimed softly. Mu You checked it and found that a notification had appeared in the game "Fool."
[Today's Patrol Mission is complete. Lifespan +1. Remaining lifespan: 58 years.]
"Oh? It's done."
Mu You's tightly furrowed brow eased slightly, and a smile appeared on his face.
He checked the time on his phone. It was exactly one in the morning.
In other words, the only requirement for this so-called Patrol Mission really was going outside. Even if he slacked off and played on his phone-or slept right there in the street-he could still complete it.
Before you continue