Here Lies The Wicked - Chapter 41

Chapter 41: Kill Record

‘Train for 12 hours at a Holy Site[1]?’

The faces of all of the rookies there suddenly changed.

They started to rub their palms together, and they thought of stepping forward to volunteer.

It was not just the rookies, even the instructors who were secure in their own higher levels of training had sparks of excitement in their eyes.

It seemed that there was great interest in this Holy Site.

However, following the stern warning from the cool man in the leather jacket, those rookies who were thinking of taking advantage of the situation and who were stepping forward were stopped short in their tracks, as though they were doused with ice-cold water. Their faces immediately paled slightly, and they all became honest with themselves.

A ripple spread across Fang Zheng’s face.

‘Holy Site?’

This was another completely new name that he had heard from the mouths of these people.

It seemed that the enticement was extremely great to the enlightened ones around him? Fang Zheng could see that even in Le Tian and the men near him, there was a glint of desire in their eyes.

However, according to the cold tone of the cool man in the leather jacket, one’s awakened power could be lost?

Even Fang Zheng got goosebumps when he heard this, and his hairs stood on end. Originally Fang Zheng thought about taking the opportunity to sign up. He had managed to lie his way through the trial at hand, but now he was hesitating again…

“Brothers, what are you waiting for? You can train at a Holy Site for 12 hours.

“One hour at a Holy Site is comparable to one to three days elsewhere. 12 hours would, therefore, be comparable to 12 to 36 days! Now everyone is on the same level, and we’ve only been training for a few days, not even ten days. If during this time, we can gain a head start of a month’s training over others. We can increase the distance between us and them. We can get more resources to enter into the virtuous cycle[2].”

Le Tian was usually very generous and happy to help, but he seemed even more anxious than Fang Zheng. He kept glaring at Fang Zheng.

Le Tian could not understand why Fang Zheng was still so indifferent.

There were less than ten days until the Blue Moon descended, and everybody had only started training a few days ago.

And the closer they were to the beginning of the game, the more they needed to accelerate their development period.

At the beginning of the game, to pick up a 98K [3]just after the drop was the difference between a normal player and a pay to win player! Pay to win players always get a rapid advantage from the beginning. The higher level they attain, the more resources they control. Nobody could steal their kills while they were leveling up, nobody would compete with them for the Boss on dungeon raids, and they could calmly farm their experience in high-level maps while idle.

All of this was clearly in front of him, and all he needed to do was reach out to grab it. Le Tian berated himself for only starting his journey of training four or five days ago. He knew his own capabilities clearly.

If that were not the case he would have been the first to volunteer.

It was not only Le Tian that felt sorry for Fan Zheng, the other three men felt the same way, and they tried to persuade Fang Zheng.

But Fang Zheng knew his own troubles.

In half a day he could gain the same benefit as training for a month, and he could not help but feel his heart move. However, he was impeded by his physical state, and he was unable to explain it clearly.

At this moment, somebody finally stood forward from the group of rookies.

He was a man who kept a long fringe and seemed to have the air of a gentle artist.

“It’s the prodigy of the rookies, Xue Xiucheng. He attained Deity Level 2 as soon as he awakened. With the combat power of a Deity Level 2, he should be able to easily handle a monster like a Sky Dog.”

Within the ranks of the rookies, there were murmurs of surprise.

“D*mn, no matter where you go, there will always be someone who’s a genius or nerd.”

“Ah, according to the instructors, we could possibly advance to Deity Level 2 after training for a month. However. Xue Xiucheng was already ahead of us by a month from the start. Furthermore, their aptitudes are superior, and their training speed is faster than ours. In the future, the distance between them and us will only grow.”

“This really is a suffocating sense of hopelessness.”

While these discussions were going on, a second man stepped forward.

He was a muscular university student in his 20s, 190cm tall, and looked like he was athletically inclined.

“Another prodigy steps forward. It’s Zhao Boyuan, he also made Deity Level 2 as soon as he awakened.”

In quick succession, a third person stepped forward. This time it was a bespectacled, bookish looking woman in her early twenties.

“Oh sh*t, it’s Liu Qing!”

“I heard that not only did Liu Qing attain second grade Awakened when she awoke, but she also came across a paranormal incident when she did. Before she awoke, Liu Qing was an author that wrote novels about paranormal incidents. On the day the Blue Moon descended, she was coincidentally alone, exploring an abandoned haunted house for creative inspiration. Therefore when she awoke she already reached the second grade and even managed to exterminate a ghost in that abandoned house. Regardless of gifting or mental strength, Liu Qing is like the female lead of a fictional world.”

After the three people stepped forward, no one else did.

A vacuum of silence ensued, and half of the three minute period passed.

Fang Zheng could not believe in the ranks of a few hundred Awakened, there were only three prodigies. However, one cannot stand on the moral high ground and laugh at another for being weak.

One never knew when someone was just hiding their potential behind laziness.

Even though the rewards for this mission were very lucrative.

However everyone needed to be aware, Jiangdi was the frontline of the battlefield and there was a risk to life.

Time ticked away.

There was only 20 seconds left in the three minute period.

Le Tian could not help but feel anxious on behalf of Fang Zheng, and, in a moment of rashness, he said, in an unintentionally loud voice, “Brother, you clearly can exterminate a monster on your own. Why don’t you train for 12 hours on the Holy Site!

“Don’t you think it’s a waste to let go of such a great opportunity!

“There’s even a 100,000 Yuan incentive!”

Le Tian’s voice was a little loud, and it immediately drew the attention of everybody. Multiple pairs of eyes turned towards Fang Zheng, including those of a few instructors.

Even the cool man in the leather jacket’s eyes rested on Fang Zheng. However, he did not speak. He only wanted volunteers for this rescue mission to Jiangdi.

Having become the center of attention, Fang Zheng felt his head swim.

However, he did not blame Le Tian, he had good intentions. Furthermore, given the circumstances, he could only rely on going down to Jiangdi to mitigate the risk, at the stake of revealing his identity. Fang Zheng broke ranks and walked toward the cool man in the leather jacket.

“What’s your number of recorded kills?” the cool man in the leather jacket asked directly.

Silence.

Fang Zheng had destroyed a Lamborghini to defeat a Hell Car.

Relying on a mouth, he had exterminated a female ghoul.

And recently he had exterminated two zombies.

When it came to exterminating ghosts, his experience could be said to be plentiful.

Fang Zheng naturally did not speak truthfully, as he did not wish to make himself conspicuous. Therefore he said humbly, “Just one.”

“And it was just a minor ghost barely reaching my hip.”

He gestured to show the height of the ghost as he spoke.

It was unclear if it was the single recorded kill or the minor ghost that did not reach Fang Zheng’s hip, but the cool man in the leather jacket frowned. He did not say anything, and instead glanced at his watch before saying in a serious tone, “Let’s go!”

Following that, a line of grim-faced people followed behind the cool man in the leather jacket.

They made ready to go to Jiangdi.

[1] This refers to geographical places, which according to Daoism are very beneficial for the practitioner to train themselves due to the coalescence of energies.

[2] A biological process where biomass is broken down to form nutrients for the soil.

[3] This is a reference to Player Unknown’s BattleGrounds. The 98K in the sentence refers to the Mauser 98K, one of the stronger weapons in the game.