Chapter 31: The Alchemical Phantom
As everyone knows, in games, red dots usually indicate completed tasks or rewards ready to claim.
Whenever there were benefits involved, Zhou Ning was always quick to act.
He tapped into the task menu, and sure enough, Literary Life had reached full completion—1000/1000—and was ready to be claimed. But the other B-rank task, Alchemical Phantom, which involved investigating the murder in the small grove, still left him completely clueless.
[B-Rank Task: Alchemical Phantom]
[Task Hint: From the scattered clues, you've deduced that this incident is linked to the Life Alchemy Society. They obsess over creating life through alchemy—and using life to forge more life. Three people have already died at their hands. Every second lost could mean another life. What will you choose to do?]
[Task Objective: Capture or kill the Alchemical Phantom roaming the campus]
[Task Reward: 50,000 EXP, Goethe's Alchemy Manual ×1]
In his spare time over the past few days, Zhou Ning hadn't slacked off on investigating. But all he'd uncovered was that the deceased, Sharon, had a very handsome boyfriend. Some people even thought Zhou Ning was Sharon's boyfriend, come back for revenge.
Utter nonsense.
Still, the task progress had inched forward—from 25% on day one after receiving the initial clues to 62% now. He didn't know if it was thanks to his own efforts or Sherlock's investigation. Either way, lately he kept seeing Li Tie wearing a deerstalker hat, tirelessly combing through the campus day in and day out, rain or shine.
Zhou Ning couldn't help but wonder—how much does a Watcher earn a month to be this committed, this ready to sacrifice life and limb?
He clicked to claim the Literary Life reward. A prompt popped up:
[You have completed the Hidden Task: Literary Life. You received: Epic Vampire Zhou Ning Avatar Card ×1, Skill Point ×1, 30,000 EXP. A new series of hidden tasks has been unlocked.]
[Epic Vampire Zhou Ning Avatar Card: Temporarily grants the combat abilities of Epic Vampire Zhou Ning for 15 minutes.]
A solid reward. Zhou Ning's face lit up with joy. In the simulation, Vampire Zhou Ning could win a fistfight with the Hulk. It was the perfect trump card.
[Accept Hidden Task: Literary Life (Part 2)? [Yes/No]]
After selecting "Yes," a new hidden task appeared in the task list.
Hidden Task: (Triggerable under special conditions)
[Literary Life (Part 2)]: Deep down, you've always carried a literary dream. Pursue this dream in both the simulated and real world—read 5,000 books in total (1000/5000).
Task Hint: "Read ten thousand books, and your writing will flow like a god's." This is the second step of your long journey. Keep it up, future literary master.
Reward: Random Template Reward Card ×1, Skill Point ×1, 50,000 EXP
Zhou Ning gritted his teeth. Was he locked in a lifelong feud with reading now?
Opening the achievements menu, he scrolled to the collection tab. One glance made him suck in a cold breath—terrifying.
Achievements:
Soaring Ambitions (No attribute bonuses), At the Gates of War (No attribute bonuses), Reinforcements from the Heavens (No attribute bonuses), Airborne Cavalry (No attribute bonuses), Iron Man (No attribute bonuses), Men in Black (No attribute bonuses)
Achievement: Hero Movie Saga Part I – Completed. You received 30,000 EXP. A hidden task has been unlocked.
Hidden Task: (Triggerable under special conditions)
[True Heroism]: Only great heroes can remain true to themselves. Only true talents are naturally charismatic. In over three simulated worlds, become a widely recognized hero. Task Progress: (1/3)
Task Hint: Stay true to your heart and the task won't be hard. The challenge is in perseverance. Keep going, great hero!
Reward: Unknown
Seeing this task, Zhou Ning finally breathed a sigh of relief. Compared to the others, this one seemed like a freebie. As long as he continued playing along the Lawful Neutral path, completing it should be no problem.
If only it could be completed in the real world—he'd be out on the streets of Darkland every day, doing vigilante work. One day not enough? Two days. Two not enough? A whole month. Keep at it and—
Well, he'd probably end up in jail pretty soon.
After reviewing his gains, Zhou Ning checked the map. Sure enough, after Endless War, a new map had unlocked.
Its name was even flashier: Across the Seas. Zhou Ning remembered watching a Hong Kong movie by the same name as a kid, starring Chow Yun-fat and Leslie Cheung as a pair of art thieves. It was great.
The price was flashier too: 25 Traversal Coins.
This was insane.
He had thought having 30 Traversal Coins would make him king of the hill. Now he was just stunned—barely enough to transmigrate once?
Zhou Ning sat blankly on his bed, staring at the rain outside his window, doing his best to resist the urge to strangle the damn game.
That night, he even dreamed about how to earn more Traversal Coins.
In the middle of the night, while he was fast asleep, a strange noise woke him. It came from outside.
He opened the door—John, who had been sleeping on the sofa, was gone. Moonlight from the window flooded the room in crimson. An eerie, sinister atmosphere hung in the air.
The moon outside had turned blood-red at some point!
Then, a whisper crept into his ears: "Run, pitiful little insect. But you cannot escape the shadow of death. Destruction and demise have always been watching. Everyone will die. No one can escape—not even this world..."
Zhou Ning's heart leapt. He glanced around—black tendrils suddenly poured out from the walls and floorboards, lashing wildly.
Whoosh!
He jolted upright in bed. Outside, rain was pouring, the curtains flapping in the wind. Nearby, a gas lamp flickered, and the red light on the gas meter was glowing.
Damn! He'd just burned another roshan! It was only then that he realized—he'd just had a nightmare.
He opened his status panel, only to be bombarded with a string of alerts:
[You heard whispers from an unknown presence. With Spirit 15 and Willpower 9, you failed the check. Willpower -1. Current Willpower: 8/9]
[You felt the lure of an unknown presence. With Spirit 15 and Willpower 9, you failed the check. Willpower -1. Current Willpower: 7/9]
[You heard whispers from an unknown presence. With Spirit 15 and Willpower 9, you failed the check. Willpower -1. Current Willpower: 6/9]
...Damn. So it wasn't just a nightmare. In the short time he'd been asleep, his Willpower had quietly been eroded down to 4/9 by whispers and temptations. If it dropped to zero, he could very well lose his mind.
If he were just an ordinary player, he could always commit suicide and restart. But now, he might only have this one life left—he wasn't counting on getting to transmigrate again.
Zhou Ning's face darkened. This had to be what Kien West had warned him about: he'd truly been marked by the Curse God Cult and the evil deity they worshiped. He hadn't noticed it in the past few days because his Spirit hadn't yet reached 10—below the average human threshold. But today, after injecting the Super Soldier Serum, his Spirit had hit 15.
There were temporary solutions—raising his Willpower stat, or going to Kien West or the Ascetic Church. They probably had ways to suppress the whispers.
As he pondered, the task panel flashed again:
B-Rank Task: Alchemical Phantom progress updated—now at 85.7%.
Zhou Ning: …
He glanced at the pocket watch by his bed. 3:38 AM.
He couldn't help but be stunned. Just how much do Watchers get paid a month to grind this hard?
"Hm?"
Thanks to the Super Soldier Serum, Zhou Ning's enhanced hearing picked up faint gunfire from outside, seeming to come from the direction of the Alchemy Building.
He had to check it out!
Zhou Ning made the decision instantly. The EXP reward from the B-rank task was average, but the other reward—Goethe's Alchemy Manual—could immediately boost his alchemy level by one. That was valuable to him.
He jumped out of bed, grabbed his white dress shirt, and buttoned it up.
Donning black trousers and a suit jacket, he checked the special bullets in his revolver, then added a half-height black top hat. He tucked an umbrella under his arm and opened the window.
It was still pouring, and the whole building was dark—no one would notice him.
Taking a deep breath, he began a running start, leaping from the sixth floor of the ten-meter-high apartment building. Wind roared past his ears as a gold-and-red battle suit snapped into place, its cloak unfurling like wings as he glided forward.
Seventy meters ahead, Zhou Ning landed quietly. The Alchemy Building was just up ahead. His armor disappeared, replaced by a sharp formal outfit. He pulled his hat low, opened his umbrella, and strode toward the building.
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