Mu You was stunned.
According to the opening backstory of "Fool," cracks had appeared in the "wall," allowing the Fools' consciousness avatars to pass through it into the Star Spirit World.
If Fools could slip through the wall by a stroke of luck, it made perfect sense that some creatures from the Star Spirit World could also slip through in the opposite direction and arrive on Earth.
Mu You hurried to translate the rest.
"I could not understand what it meant at all, so I kept asking what sort of place it was in. But it could not explain either. It only said that many Fools had chased it away, and it had finally escaped into an empty factory building. There was a lot of timber piled around it, and a huge circular wheel nearby. Beside the wheel stood a lighthouse that flashed at night..."
"I still did not understand and wanted to ask more, but the voice suddenly began to weaken again, becoming intermittent as though something was interfering with it. At the very end, it pleaded with me to go to the Red Rose Magic Academy in the imperial capital, find Miss Chris Fua, and tell her about its situation. It promised a generous reward..."
"The voice stopped there. Afterward, I never heard any more muttering in my ears, as though everything I had experienced had been nothing but a hallucination."
"After much deliberation, I decided to head to the imperial capital and report this news to that noble young lady. Perhaps this is my chance to change my fate... Pray that I arrive safely..."
The diary ended abruptly there.
Mu You let out a breath.
Clearly, this Night Watchman had not succeeded. He had most likely met with misfortune shortly after leaving the village, leaving behind only this diary and his other possessions, all of which had ultimately fallen into Mu You's hands.
Mu You looked back at the diary, focusing on one particular passage: "Escaped into an empty factory building, with a lot of timber piled around it. There was a huge circular wheel nearby, and beside the wheel stood a lighthouse that flashed at night..."
This was the only sentence in the entire diary that described the otherworldly creature's location.
"A huge circular wheel... Could that mean a Ferris wheel? This factory was built near an amusement park..."
"A lighthouse that flashes at night... That should mean a communications tower..."
"Lots of timber piled around... So this is a Timber Factory..."
Mu You analyzed it word by word.
"Come to think of it, locations in the Star Spirit World correspond to the real world. Since the Night Watchman heard the voice near the village, this creature's location on Earth shouldn't be too far from me..."
With that thought, Mu You opened the map on his phone and tried searching for three keywords: "Amusement park, Timber Factory, communications tower."
He actually found a location!
It was a place called Mufeng Lumber Mill in the northern suburbs, twenty kilometers away.
The Timber Factory had announced its closure six months ago. No one had taken it over since, and it had fallen into complete disuse.
An outdoor amusement park stood right beside the mill, and there was indeed a communications tower inside the park. It matched the diary's description perfectly!
"Looks like I'll have to go there myself."
Mu You opened Fool.
Ten hours had passed. His weapon should have been finished by now.
Sure enough, a notification popped up as soon as he opened the game.
[Forging complete.] [You have obtained the Mithril Bow.] [Mithril Bow: A longbow forged from mithril and thunder snake tendon. Drawing the bowstring automatically forms an energy arrow. Energy arrows inflict paralysis, slowing enemies to a certain degree upon impact.]
"A bow that doesn't need arrows?"
Mu You stared in surprise, then tapped the text for the Mithril Bow.
An old-fashioned silver longbow appeared in his hand. Its silvery body was covered in symmetrical patterns, with both ends curling upward like eagle horns to form two graceful arcs. Faint sparks flickered along its milky-white bowstring.
Mu You tried gripping the bow in his left hand and holding it level.
He pinched the bowstring with his right hand, bent his arm, and pulled hard.
Sure enough, an arrow emitting a faint, eerie glow appeared on the bow without warning.
Amazed, Mu You kept the bow drawn and extended a finger toward the arrow.
It felt cold and tingling to the touch. The longbow's description said it automatically formed an "energy arrow," but the arrow actually had a physical form. He could see and touch it; he simply could not remove it. Once separated from the bow, it would quickly disappear.
"A bow with unlimited light arrows built in. Awesome!"
Mu You relaxed the bowstring and watched the arrow vanish on its own, nodding in satisfaction.
All he had to do was draw the bow to shoot, skipping the steps of pulling out and nocking an arrow entirely. That would drastically increase an archer's firing rate. In actual combat, it would be a turret capable of firing endlessly!
With such an incredible bow, combined with the Sure Shot spell, surely he could now beat those minor wild monsters like spiders and venomous snakes?
Unfortunately, he had already used up all his action points for the day. Otherwise, Mu You would have wanted to test it right away.
For now, finding that otherworldly creature took priority.
"If I can capture this creature and train it into a pet, I'll have another source of combat power in the real world. I might even learn something about the Star Spirit World..."
No matter how he looked at it, making contact with this creature was absolutely necessary.
Mu You immediately began preparing the items he would need that night.
"Phone, power bank, flashlight, fruit knife, veterinary tranquilizer syringes, climbing rope... Hmm, I don't have any at home. Looks like I'll have to visit an outdoor supply store... And knives. I'd better buy professional throwing knives. They can benefit from Sure Shot, and they're much easier to carry and conceal than a bow. If I run into danger, I can throw one at a moment's notice..."
Mu You took stock of everything useful he had on hand and tossed it all into the Night Watchman's Backpack.
Finally, he set the Night Watchman's Backpack to look like an ordinary shoulder bag, zipped it shut, and headed out.
When he came downstairs, all the customers had left, and Xiao Ya was cleaning by the entrance.
"Huh? Boss, are you going on a long trip?" Xiao Ya asked, looking at his outfit in confusion.
"Yeah, I'm heading out to take care of something... Oh, right, Xiao Ya. Tomorrow and the day after are the weekend, so we won't be opening. Go home and get two good days of rest. I'll send you a cash bonus later!" Mu You told her.
There had been quite a few customers that day, yet he had never gone downstairs. Xiao Ya had handled everything herself. It would be a lie to say she was not tired.
Besides, he had no idea what he might encounter on his outing that night, so Mu You simply decided to close the shop for two days and let her get some proper rest.
"Oh..."
Xiao Ya nodded blankly and watched Mu You dash out the door, a trace of confusion crossing her face.
"Why has the boss been acting so strange these past couple of days...?"
After leaving, Mu You took a taxi straight to the largest outdoor supply store in the entire development zone, where he bought climbing rope, binoculars, an entrenching tool, and a set of throwing knives.
He also made a point of buying a stab-resistant suit. After all, he had no idea what that otherworldly magical pet looked like, whether it had sharp fangs and claws, or how big it was. It could not hurt to be better prepared.
Only after stuffing everything into his backpack did Mu You hail another taxi and head for the northern suburbs.
Before you continue