Chapter 26

"Juege... That's so disgusting," Wang Tanzhi said.

"How is it disgusting?" Feng Jue asked, while heading towards the corpse.

"It's disgusting both in thought and action!" Wang Tanzhi exclaimed, "You can't just act on a whim because you think the rewards are insufficient..."

"Acting on a whim?" Feng Jue said, "If there were feces or aliens inside, then I would be acting on a whim." He had already squatted in front of the second corpse: "If there's nothing inside, it only proves my reasoning was wrong, not that I acted on a whim. But if there is something..." As he spoke, he had already inserted his hand into the gruesome wound on the corpse's abdomen, searching nonchalantly amidst the bloated belly.

"Brother Wang... quietly tell me, what does Brother Feng do in real life..." Long Ao Ming was so shocked by his teammate that his fear level fluctuated.

"Novelist..." Wang Tanzhi replied with a blank expression.

"Novelists are that scary?" The lonely girl, who had been listening, couldn't help but interject.

"Clearly... he's not mainstream," Wang Tanzhi added.

"Ha!" Feng Jue's laugh startled the other four.

"LOOK!" Feng Jue said smugly, holding up an item. He had actually found equipment inside the blood and feces-filled corpse, and it was even a fine piece of equipment...

【Name: Eye of Enmity】

【Type: Armor】

【Quality: Fine】

【Defense: None】

【Attributes: None】

【Special Effect: Instantly reveals the target of a monster's enmity】

【Equip Requirements: Character level 20 or below, cannot be traded after pickup】

【Can be taken out of the script: Yes】

【Note: Since you found this item, it clearly belongs to you. This visor was created by a necromancer who had many enemies and wanted to use this item to detect the murderous intent of others in a crowd. Unfortunately, this item can only observe one target at a time... When he was alive, he inscribed a line of small text on the top of the visor — 'When you see me, I am also watching you.'】

The equipment looked like the anti-wind goggles commonly worn by pilots during World War II, but the only problem was that it had been taken from inside a corpse, making it truly disgusting...

"I told you, the clues in this police station were too obvious. The entire city is empty, but there are corpses here. The other two corpses had essential items, but this one seemed unnecessary. If we could only find a police baton from this one, the system wouldn't need to place such a memorable corpse here; it could just hide the baton in some corner," Feng Jue explained.

"Alright... you win..." Wang Tanzhi said, "Time is tight, let's get going. We've recovered and searched enough, and our teammates are already shocked by you."

...

After leaving the police station, the five continued walking down the street. Their investigation of the police station had completed a task they might have needed to do next, and they had obtained many useful items. The team's morale should have improved, but Feng Jue's strange behavior was gradually noticed, and the fear he instilled in his teammates was probably more profound than the game's impact.

Even if the game's scare tactics were terrifying enough to make someone disconnect, everyone knew it was just a game. But if Feng Jue's behavior escalated... it was unimaginable. He was a real player, and the thought of it was truly frightening.

"Look ahead!" After about ten minutes, Long Ao Ming stopped and pointed ahead.

The group looked forward and saw a square, a vast area covered with pebbles. In the center was a massive door, over ten meters high and about four meters wide. One side was shrouded in dark, eerie mist, while the other was open.

As the five approached the door, the system's prompt sounded: [Current task completed, main quest updated]

Checking the menu, the previous task [Search the city, find the Demon Gate] had a checkmark, and two new tasks were added: [Find the Fire Key at the police station on East 9th Street] and [Find the Wood Key at the shopping center on South 15th Street]. The first task was already checked as soon as it appeared.

After reading the task list, Feng Jue quickly walked to the door, looked up at it for a few seconds, and said, "I see... it's not as bad as I thought. Three of the five magic arrays are lit, indicating that the keys for Gold, Water, and Earth are already in place, maintaining the seal."

Wang Tanzhi and the others also walked over and followed Feng Jue's gaze. The open door was filled with dense darkness, making it feel as though even a strong flashlight couldn't penetrate it. At the top of the door frame, there were five magic arrays of different colors, arranged in the five points of a pentagram. Each array was inscribed with cryptic divine symbols, and three of them were currently lit.

Feng Jue took out the Fire Key, placed it on his palm, and extended his arm towards the door, but after a while, there was no reaction. He put the key away and said, "Hmm... I guess we'll have to wait until we collect both keys and the quest updates to learn how to restore the seal." He paused, "Time is of the essence. The interval between the first and second darkness was about thirty minutes. It's been eighteen minutes since the second darkness, so if the intervals are consistent, we should reach the shopping center and kill the monster there within twelve minutes, otherwise..."

Long Ao Ming, hearing this, led the charge, "Quick! Follow me!" Though he lacked long-term planning, he could still make some short-term predictions. If they encountered enhanced monsters, he would be the one to face them. He had already been scared by the blood corpse and didn't want to be eliminated at this stage.

The five followed Long Ao Ming, running south. The square where the Demon Gate was located had a city map, with road signs and names in all directions, so they didn't need Feng Jue to guide them. Long Ao Ming quickly found the location of South 15th Street.

They ran a kilometer in five minutes, reaching the entrance of the shopping center. This distance was neither too long nor too short; most people with normal physical fitness could complete it, but they would need at least two minutes to catch their breath afterward.

"There's electricity..." Long Ao Ming, clearly the type who could run marathons in real life, found the kilometer easy.

Here, we need to introduce a new concept — "non-explicit attributes."

These are attributes that are omnipresent and cannot be fully quantified even in a virtual world. For example, Long Ao Ming, as a player with strong physical fitness in real life, would have different levels of energy consumption compared to other players after performing the same task. Compared to the female player with the weakest physical fitness, Long Ao Ming would consume less energy, even if the difference was only about ten points. This subtle difference would persist throughout the game.

In other words, if the maximum stamina was the same, and both players ran at the same speed until they were exhausted, Long Ao Ming would run farther. This is the difference in non-explicit attributes.

For another example, a player who knows how to use a gun in real life and a player who has never touched a gun in real life, both with shooting proficiency at level A (A: Expert, with a chance to self-learn skills and a 100% success rate for skill activation), would have slightly different damage and accuracy when using the same skill on the same target. This difference is hard for players to notice, but the system knows the exact difference.

As players progress in the game, their overall abilities become stronger, and after level 30, they will approach the level of Matrix-like acrobatics and lightning-fast punches. At that point, the differences in non-explicit attributes will become increasingly difficult to notice. If we had to define this concept, it would be that "talent" is also a resource, providing players with certain benefits.

"Like the previous police station, places related to the main quest have things that other places don't, such as lights and corpses," Feng Jue said.

"What do we do next? Wait for the monsters to attack us?" Wang Tanzhi asked.

"How boring would the system be if it always used the same methods?" Feng Jue replied, "Let's go in. Don't expect another blood corpse to break through the wall. There must be something else inside..."

He led the way to the entrance, a large sliding glass door that was continuously open. Feng Jue confidently stepped inside.

The shopping center was vast, and it was hard to estimate its size. The lighting was bright, and all the electrical equipment, including elevators, escalators, and vending machines, were functioning normally. However, many shelves had been damaged to some extent.

The main building had five floors, with two transparent cylindrical elevators and escalators on each floor. The fire escape routes appeared to be unblocked, and there should be ordinary stairs inside.

Upon entering the main entrance, they found themselves in a large supermarket with about thirty checkout counters, arranged like a wall. Each floor above had numerous other shops, including clothing, dining, KTV, and billiard rooms. If they had more time, the players would have searched the entire place thoroughly.

Without hesitation, Feng Jue stood at the entrance sign and quickly scanned the main businesses on each floor. However, since it was a shopping center, it had a wide variety of shops, which only added to the confusion.

"Where could the Wood Key be... in the furniture section? The toy section?" Loneliness was also eager to contribute ideas.

If the team had five Feng Jues, they would likely have each taken a floor and started a three-pronged search. However, there was only one Feng Jue, and there was only one Feng Jue in the world. Splitting up would not only fail to maximize benefits but could also lead to danger.

As Feng Jue was thinking about the plan, suddenly, the ground beneath them shook, and something strange happened.

Boom — Boom — Boom —

The sounds of impact came from underground. About thirty meters away, a section of the floor began to rise, forming a shape like a volcano. The tiles cracked and flew, and the surrounding shelves were pushed apart. After several impacts, a monster finally emerged from the ground, appearing before them.

"I bet five cents that killing it will get us the key," Feng Jue said, looking at "that tree."

The monster's "body" was still buried in the ground, with a charred tree trunk about two meters in diameter exposed. The top of the trunk had branches that extended like withered claws, with no leaves. The trunk also had features resembling a face, all made of wood.

Long Ao Ming wasn't in the mood for jokes. He said, "I think this thing can't move. Even if the top of the trunk can be used as a hand, its range of control is limited. As long as we stay close to it, avoid its mouth, and circle around to its back, we'll be in its blind spot."

As he spoke, Feng Jue slowly took out the "Eye of Enmity" from his inventory and put it on. Items in the inventory would be cleaned when taken out, so even if they were covered in blood and flesh, they would be clean after being put in and taken out of the inventory. Therefore, the goggles Feng Jue was wearing were clean, but others would still immediately associate...

"Hmm... let me check... its current target is..." Feng Jue's expression changed, and he slowly lifted his head, turning to look at the edge of the railing on the fifth floor of the mall.

That area was a blind spot for light, and a human-shaped black shadow was crouching on the edge of the railing. When Feng Jue and the others looked up, it seemed to realize it had been discovered and spread its bat-like wings, diving down the wall at high speed towards the ground.

"What's going on? Batman?" Wang Tanzhi said.

"I think it's more like a demon... get down!" Feng Jue suddenly shouted, being the first to crouch and cover his head.

At that moment, Feng Jue had already realized that the monster's target was not any of them but the black tree monster that had emerged from the ground.

Sure enough, the demon changed direction just before hitting the ground, turning and accelerating towards the tree monster. The tree monster opened its large mouth and let out a deep, horn-like roar.

The sound wave was so powerful that it created a strong wind, and the five, who were lying on the ground, instinctively covered their ears. For the demon, however, the sound seemed to have no effect. The demon also opened its mouth, revealing sharp fangs, and let out a scream as it continued to fly forward.

The scream was shrill and piercing, like nails on a chalkboard, making one's internal organs feel numb. The two monsters, one with a deep male voice and the other with a high female voice, produced a cacophony that was not pleasant but rather painful.