A new side quest

After practicing all afternoon, Xiahou could now hit a stationary target every time. The improved reflexes from his agility and the increased mental acuity from his intelligence deserved a great deal of credit. He found that whenever he fixed his eyes on a target, his attention became intensely focused, directly improving his accuracy.

As he practiced, he also gradually mastered the handgun shooting techniques in his mind. For many movements and techniques, his hands responded automatically almost as soon as the thought entered his head. He was no longer as awkward as he had been that morning. It was no longer a case of his brain saying, "I get it!" while his hands asked, "What are you talking about?"

He saw Blade and the other two returning, so he put away his gun and walked over to greet them. "You're back! Did you find anything?"

"Yeah, we found out about someone called Dr. Vance today. We came back to gather some information, and we'll go find him tomorrow. Your shooting's coming along nicely! Want to come with us tomorrow?" Hannibal replied with a smile, inviting Xiahou along.

Xiahou was just about to agree when a notification appeared on his panel.

Side story triggered: Capture Dr. Vance

Quest objective: Accompany Hannibal and the others to capture Dr. Vance without any casualties.

Quest reward: 300 energy points, 1 random draw

Seeing that he had triggered another quest, Xiahou had even less reason to hesitate. After accepting it, he answered, "Sure, I'll go with you tomorrow. I seem to remember you ran into Drake there too! I'll come along and see if we can take him out while we're at it."

Hearing that they might encounter Drake, all three immediately grew serious. Blade asked outright, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I remember it especially well because I think Hannibal got hurt by him! The thing is, Drake's ability to survive anything is just unfair. You're both vampires, but your combat strength is only about the same as Captain America's. Apart from stronger recovery, you don't have any special abilities! You're so weak!" As Xiahou confirmed it, he took the opportunity to look down on Blade, without giving a thought to how he had been beaten that morning.

Blade ignored Xiahou's comments and began thinking about how to deal with Drake. Abigail and Hannibal also started considering whether to bring more equipment tomorrow.

Hannibal in particular, upon hearing that he would be injured, could only think about whether he should wear a few more bulletproof vests and all sorts of protective gear.

Seeing them like this, Xiahou tried to reassure them. "Actually, there's no need to worry too much. From what I saw in the story, Blade could still fight him evenly! It seems a little unreliable, but there probably won't be a problem. Worst comes to worst, I'll cover the rear myself!"

The three of them still weren't at ease after hearing Xiahou's reassurance, but they nodded anyway. They really could only take things one step at a time. The four of them walked back inside the base together.

After everyone had finished eating, they began discussing a battle plan for when they encountered Drake tomorrow.

Abigail spoke first. "Field, how is your development of Daystar coming along?"

"It's basically finished, but there's no guarantee it can deal with Drake. It would be best to wait until you get his blood and let me do some targeted research on it. Only then can I guarantee nothing will go wrong," Feld replied, facing the direction Abigail's voice had come from.

Abigail nodded. "Then we won't use it tomorrow. We'll wait until the final version is ready. Otherwise, we'd also put Drake on guard."

She then looked at Xiahou. "Do you know if he has any weaknesses?"

"I don't think so! Anyway, until Daystar destroys his immortality, he won't die no matter how you attack him. But he seemed a little interested in Blade! At the end, he could have turned the tables and killed him, but he still held back." As Xiahou spoke, he gave Blade a strange look.

Everyone else turned to look at Blade too. Hannibal went so far as to wiggle his eyebrows and click his tongue.

Blade looked at Xiahou sitting there spreading rumors about him, his palm itching with the urge to draw his sword and hack him to death. Although he had learned from the others that Xiahou was special, his personality...

All Blade could say was that they didn't get along at all. He already loved showing off and striking cool poses, but this guy kept making him lose face!

Seeing that Blade wasn't saying anything, Abigail stepped in to ease the situation. "All right, Xiahou will come with us tomorrow, and everyone should be careful. Check your equipment thoroughly in a little while. If there's nothing else, let's all get back to our own business!"

Everyone voiced their agreement and went their separate ways. Xiahou went up to the roof.

He planned to practice his unarmed combat skills, starting by getting comfortable with the various moves in his memory. In any case, ever since his intelligence had increased, he felt he could go two or three days without sleep and be fine.

He would spend some extra time practicing and try to get a little stronger.

Blade had been planning to go up to the roof for some fresh air. When he saw Xiahou training there, he didn't disturb him. He turned around and left to find another place.

Time flowed quietly onward, from the stillness of night beneath the darkening sky to the morning of a new day, as the first light of dawn appeared.

After checking their equipment once more in the main hall, Xiahou and the other three prepared to leave for Doctor Vance's office building, which they had located the night before. (Xiahou: I didn't check anything. I was just watching them.)

The four sat in the car. As Hannibal drove, he chatted with Xiahou. "By the way, Xiahou, what was your original world like?"

Xiahou thought for a moment before answering, "There weren't any supernatural powers or vampires or anything like that. Everyone lived an ordinary life, and my country was especially safe! It wasn't like here, where you could run into just about anyone and get shot! Though the United States in our world was pretty much the same as here."

Abigail spoke up. "Then it must be hard for you to get used to being here, right?"

Xiahou paused, then replied, "It's all right. I was playing a game in the first place! I just had a little trouble accepting that I'd suddenly been trapped inside it."

"Then... have you ever considered that maybe our world isn't a game?" Abigail asked quietly.

"How could that be? This is a game! How could it not be?" Xiahou said agitatedly.

Hannibal hurriedly tried to smooth things over. "Calm down, Xiahou! She only said maybe! Who knows, right?"

Abigail also realized she might have said something she shouldn't have and apologized. "I'm sorry! I just thought that our world might be a real world too! I didn't mean anything else!"

Xiahou now realized that he really had gotten too worked up just now.

But if he wasn't playing a game, that meant he might have transmigrated. And that meant he might not be able to return to his original world. He couldn't accept that no matter what.

Besides, who transmigrated and was forbidden from taking off their pants? Wasn't that basically turning him into a eunuch? He couldn't even take matters into his own hands, let alone find a girlfriend! They might as well kill him!

Was he supposed to rely on his personal charm to have a platonic relationship with a girl?

But then he thought about how they hadn't gotten worked up upon learning they were characters in a movie and a game. His own reaction seemed to make him look pretty lame.

He apologized at once. "I'm sorry! I just got too worked up. I still have family in my original world. Whenever I think about not being able to go back, I get really emotional! Sorry about that!"

"It's okay! I was at fault too!" Abigail quickly replied, secretly letting out a sigh of relief.

Blade silently watched the drama from the side, expressing that he was just watching and had nothing to say ╰(￣ω￣ｏ)!