18: Chapter 18 Who gave you the courage? I'll send you back to the spring!

Qin Ji's palm clenched hard in the Void Realm, as if he could already feel the sensation of this grand city crumbling within his grasp.

The voices of the players around him pointing and whispering grew noisy, like a swarm of flies courting death. Qin Ji frowned in disgust, ignoring these "ants" whose attribute panels only showed double digits. Instead, he turned into a relatively secluded alleyway and casually opened the loot list from the recent slaughter.

As the first Area-level BOSS in the entire server to be killed, although Newbie Village Chief Li Qingshan had a despicable character, his "legacy" was outrageously abundant.

A series of pleasant System notification tones exploded in his ears like the most beautiful symphony.

“Ding! You have opened the BOSS drop list.”

“Ding! You have obtained Universal Skill Book ×45.”

“Ding! You have obtained Gold-Grade Equipment ×65 (automatically added to your backpack).”

“Ding! You have obtained Gold Coins +5000.”

“Ding! You have completed the first kill of a Hidden BOSS, obtaining Free Attribute Points +100 (extra reward).”

“Ding! You have obtained Special Quest Scroll ×1.”

“Ding! You have obtained Mysterious Key ×1.”

Looking at his stuffed backpack, a playful arc curled at the corner of Qin Ji's mouth. This old geezer had extorted the people while alive, but after death, he had actually acted as a wealth-giving boy.

His purple-gold pupils quickly scanned the pile of skill books. For someone with Greedy Grasp, ordinary skills simply didn't catch his eye. Skills were about quality, not quantity. In his past life, many so-called "top-tier experts" had bitten off more than they could chew, eventually training themselves into useless jack-of-all-trades.

“Trash, trash, still trash...”

Qin Ji's fingers slid quickly across the virtual panel, swiping aside skill books that ordinary players would consider priceless as if they were waste paper.

Until his gaze rested on two books glowing with a faint blue light.

The first one: "Wind Walk."

【Wind Walk (1-Star): Upon activation, movement speed increases by 0.5 m/s for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes. Cost: 10 MP.】

Qin Ji curled his lip.

A fixed value increase?

For ordinary players, this might be a god-tier skill in the early stages. But for a cheater like him who aimed to grind his Agility to the speed of light, a 0.5-meter increase was practically an insult. Moreover, such active skills would take up the global cooldown and might even cause a delay at critical moments.

“Keep it to sell later.” Qin Ji casually tossed it into the for-sale tab.

His gaze fell upon the second skill book, and his pupils contracted slightly.

【Invincible Golden Body (1-Star): Upon activation, enter an absolute invincible state, immune to all damage and control effects for 0.5 seconds. Cooldown: 24 hours. Cost: 100 MP. Proficiency: 0/10.】

“Interesting.”

Qin Ji's fingers lightly tapped on the book's cover.

A 0.5-second invincibility sounded short, but in a duel between experts, it was enough to decide life and death. More importantly, this was only the 1-star state; as proficiency increased, the duration would inevitably grow.

But this 100-point mana cost...

Qin Ji glanced at his pitiful mana bar.

As an "unspecialized" player who hadn't yet changed classes to a magic-based one, his current Intelligence attribute wasn't high, and his maximum mana was an awkward 80 points.

Learning a skill he couldn't cast?

It was like buying a Bugatti Veyron only to find that the money in his pocket couldn't even afford a single liter of gas.

“Anyone else would probably be worried to death.”

Qin Ji sneered, his will directly mobilizing the 500 free attribute points just rewarded by the System.

Ordinary players only got 5 attribute points per level and were desperate to make every bit count. But who was Qin Ji?

He was a man who drank attribute points like water!

“Adding mana? That's thinking too small.”

Qin Ji didn't hesitate and dumped 50 free attribute points directly into [Intelligence].

As a warm current surged through his brain, his maximum MP instantly skyrocketed to 580 points.

“Clack.”

The skill book turned into a streak of golden light and entered the space between his eyebrows.

Qin Ji casually activated [Invincible Golden Body] once, and a faint golden light flashed across his body.

“Proficiency +1.”

Done.

After organizing his gains, Qin Ji turned and walked toward the northern exit of the city. While the City of Origin was good, the NPC guards here were strict; how could they be as lovely as the free-roaming monster mobs in the wild? Although his current attributes were high, he still needed a lot of actual combat to stack his passives.

Just a short distance outside the city gates, passing by the ruins of an abandoned Roman-style coliseum, Qin Ji's footsteps suddenly halted.

The surrounding air seemed to thicken, and a cold sensation, like being stared at by a venomous snake, crawled up his spine.

“Come out.”

Qin Ji didn't even turn his head; his voice was as flat as if he were talking to the air.

Behind a broken wall of the ruins, the air distorted.

A man wearing tight night-clothes and holding a pitch-black dagger slowly revealed himself. He wore a half-mask, and the lower half of his face carried a somewhat cynical smile.

“As expected of the Great God who got the server's first kill. Such perception, I'm impressed.”

The man toyed with the dagger in his hand, his movements fancy and skilled.

Qin Ji turned around, his gaze lingering on the dagger for a moment before landing on the man's ID—[Shadow Killer].

A world-renowned god-tier assassin from his past life, the ace of the Dragon Country War Department's special squad.

It was said that in reality, this guy was a cold-blooded mercenary who was later recruited by the state. In the Late Stages of "God's Domain," he relied on his god-tier talent and eerie movement techniques to firmly hold a spot in the top three of the assassin rankings.

Unfortunately...

Qin Ji sneered inwardly. Although this guy's skills were top-notch, his luck was too poor; he only awakened a Saint-Grade hidden class and ultimately failed to cross the threshold into godhood.

“Something the matter?” Qin Ji's tone remained cold.

Shadow Killer put away his dagger and stood straight, adopting a business-like attitude: “Let me introduce myself. I am an external member of the Dragon Country War Department. The higher-ups have taken an interest in your potential and want to invite you to join the soon-to-be-formed 'Dragon Soul Special Operations Regiment'.”

“This is the national team,” Shadow Killer paused, seemingly observing Qin Ji's reaction. “In this world that is about to fall into chaos, it means absolute safety and a tilt in resources.”

Qin Ji naturally knew about this special operations regiment.

In his past life, when the Great Cataclysm arrived and the game invaded reality, it was this very regiment that stood at the forefront, building Dragon Country's first line of defense with their own flesh and blood. Qin Ji respected these soldiers.

But that didn't mean he was willing to be someone's dog.

“Not interested.” Qin Ji turned to leave.

“Wait!”

Shadow Killer blurred, blocking Qin Ji's path like a ghost, his brow furrowing slightly. “Don't you want to ask about the benefits? Annual salary, power, even privileges in reality...”

“I said, I'm not interested.”

Qin Ji stopped, a hint of impatience flashing in his purple-gold pupils. “Unless you make me the regiment commander, there's nothing to talk about.”

Shadow Killer was stunned for a moment, then laughed in spite of himself. “Buddy, your appetite is a bit too large. Even if you were lucky enough to get the first kill, the War Department is full of hidden talents...”

“Since you can't do it, then get lost.”

Qin Ji interrupted him, his voice suddenly dropping to freezing point.

The smile on Shadow Killer's face gradually vanished. As a top-tier expert, he also had his own pride.

“Snow Emperor... oh wait, Qin Ji. I originally came here with sincerity. But your attitude makes things very difficult for me.”

“Back in the Newbie Village, I already had my eyes on that Village Chief BOSS, only for you to beat me to it. Now I'm advising you nicely and you won't listen. Do you really think getting a first kill makes you invincible?”

Qin Ji tilted his head, looking at this assassin who was considered a figure in his past life, a trace of mockery curling at the corner of his mouth.

“So, you want to make a move?”

“It's not that I want to make a move.”

Shadow Killer crouched slightly, entering an attack stance, his entire body like a fully drawn bow. “It's that I want you to know that in this game, there are some organizations you can't afford to offend. Today, consider it a lesson. I'll send you back to the village for free to clear your head!”

Before his voice even faded, Shadow Killer's figure instantly vanished from the spot.

【Stealth】!

In the next second, a sharp cold light appeared out of thin air at the back of Qin Ji's neck, fast as a lightning bolt!

This strike, whether in angle or timing, was a textbook-level assassination. If it were an ordinary mage, they probably wouldn't even have a chance to react before being slit across the throat.

But Qin Ji didn't even blink.

“Too slow.”

The moment the dagger was about to touch his skin, Qin Ji simply raised his right hand casually, swatting backward as if shooing a fly.

He didn't use any earth-shattering skills; it was merely the pure physical explosion brought about by his terrifying Strength attribute, which was in the thousands.

“Bang!”

A dull explosion sounded.

Shadow Killer felt as if his dagger had struck a high-speed colliding train. An irresistible and terrifying force traveled through his arm and instantly spread through his entire body; he even heard the crisp sound of his arm bone shattering.

“What?!”

Shadow Killer was terrified beyond belief, flying backward like a kite with a broken string.

While still in mid-air, Qin Ji had already reached back and drawn the dragon slaying sword.

The rusted blade drew a dark red afterimage under the setting sun.

“Whoosh!”

No skill effects, only pure speed and power.

The Sword Qi tore through the air, letting out a piercing shriek, instantly piercing through Shadow Killer's body while he was still in the air.

Pfft!

Blood splattered.

A staggering red number floated above Shadow Killer's head.

【-12800! (Critical)】

Shadow Killer's health bar was instantly emptied. His corpse slammed heavily onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. His eyes remained wide open even in death, as if he couldn't believe he had been instantly killed by a single normal attack.

“Be more careful in your next life. Don't block the way.”

Qin Ji casually flicked the blood droplets off the blade, not even glancing at the corpse as he walked over to pick up the items that had dropped on the ground.

Besides a few pieces of trash equipment, an ancient-looking parchment scroll caught his attention.

This was the quest scroll that had dropped from Village Chief Li Qingshan earlier. He hadn't had time to look at it closely then, but now was a good time to study it.

Qin Ji unfurled the scroll, and lines of blood-red ancient characters met his eyes.

【Ancient Secret: The Yellow Emperor's Son "Hanba"】

【Description: In ancient times, after the son of the Yellow Emperor died in battle, his resentment did not dissipate, and he transformed into Hanba. He once fought for the Yellow Emperor against the Demon God Chi You, achieving great military merits. However, after the war, because everywhere he went turned into a thousand miles of parched earth, he was seen as an ill omen. Ultimately, he was jointly sealed deep underground in Novice Village No. 9527 by the remnants of Chi You's faction.】

【Quest Requirement: Break the Seal and release the imprisoned son of the Yellow Emperor—Hanba.】

【Quest Penalty: If you accept and then abandon or fail the quest, you will receive "Hanba's Curse." All fire resistance will be forcibly reduced to zero, and fire damage received will be doubled.】

【Quest Reward: Unknown (Extremely Dangerous).】

Qin Ji narrowed his eyes, his fingers lightly stroking the rough edges of the scroll.

Now this was interesting.

The quest scroll dropped from killing the Nine-Headed Serpent Cypress earlier required "Destroying the Newbie Village" to prevent Hanba from breaking the Seal.

But this scroll dropped from the village chief was to "Release Hanba."

The two quests seemed opposing, but in reality...

A crazed smile curled at the corner of Qin Ji's mouth.

The Nine-Headed Serpent Cypress quest only required "killing NPCs" and "destroying the altar"; it didn't say the Seal must be reinforced.

And this quest required releasing Hanba.

“In other words...”

Qin Ji turned to look toward the Newbie Village, which, although already in ruins, still had its underground structure intact. The red light in his eyes grew more intense.

“I can slaughter the village first to complete the first quest, and then release the thing underground to complete the second quest.”

“Only children make choices. As an adult... I want them all.”

A sudden gust of wind blew.

Qin Ji put away the scroll, his black trench coat fluttering in the wind. He was in no hurry to execute the quest. Instead, carrying his sword, he walked step by step toward the gloomy Dark Forest in the distance.

There, countless fresh, lively attribute points were waiting for his favor.

The setting sun was like blood, casting his elongated shadow onto the desolate earth, like a Demon God about to devour the world, walking with elegant yet cruel steps toward his hunting ground.