Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 23: True Attributes

At 3 in the morning, Nol, wearing a goat bone mask and holding a broken staff, stood atop the church bell tower.

Teest also wore a black cloak. He had tied his long hair into a bun, and used the Player skill “Anonymous”. Underneath his hood was complete darkness.

From this scene alone, neither of them was up to any good.

A week had passed since they discovered the truth about Margaret’s disappearance.

The City Lord, using his daughter’s name, still refused to let people leave the city. On the surface, he appeared to be working well with the Investigation Knights.

The merchant leaders complained bitterly, but they were helpless.

Only Nol knew that during this period, the City Lord was busy fabricating the works of the “Mad Monk”. He didn’t voluntarily show them to Nol, and Nol didn’t want to inquire further. He was only responsible for extracting the City Lord’s plans. Asking anything more could lead to mistakes.

Tonight was the day of the City Lord’s operation.

Not far from the church, in a dark alley, an Eternalist was transporting a skeleton wrapped in golden thread.

It was the remains of a young girl. The skeleton was pure white, bound by gold thread in a praying position. At the legs of the skeleton were ripe fruits, the ribs stuffed with blooming red roses, and the eyes were filled with balls of golden thread.

A layer of white gauze covered the top of the skull, hanging down behind the skeleton like folded wings.

The skeleton’s mouth was slightly open, as if chanting a prayer. Its teeth were wrapped in gold thread, with the ends fixed below the cheekbones, looking like a creepy smile.

Although the idea of blaming the “Mad Monk” was Nol’s, seeing this scene still made him uneasy.

“That guy, after killing people, always dismembers the bodies and then stitches them back with golden thread. He even arranges the bodies into images of followers from the scriptures and places them provocatively at the church entrance—that guy even sews a smile onto them!”

The appearance of the corpse was consistent with Mr. Kurt’s description, but…

[This isn’t exactly stitching a dismembered body back together,] Nol murmured, rubbing the goosebumps on his arm.

[Well, this represents ‘Skeleton Girl Margaret’, a follower from the Book of Life.] Teest’s thoughts came through. [The Mad Monk likes to transform bodies into images of followers. It can be said that he’s ‘staying true to the original’.]

[You still read the scriptures from the Temple of Life?] Nol scoffed.

[Don’t you ever read books?] Teest scoffed back.

Below them, more Eternalists carefully cast illusions in the shadows. The City Lord, dressed in black, watched from a distance.

With the city sealed for several days and the limited number of elites from the Eternal Church, the City Lord had to personally oversee the operation. Under Nol’s continuous hints and insinuations, he genuinely didn’t want to face failure again.

The illusion quickly took effect, and the skeleton and its transporter disappeared. According to the plan, it would be transported to the front of the church, while Nol, the “powerful external aid”, would take care of the Investigation Knights nearby.

…Like hell he would actually lift a finger!

Nol dropped a message into the communication crystal, saying “Everything’s going smoothly”, and, along with Teest, peered around to watch the action.

As expected, as soon as the body entered the church’s security perimeter, there was an anomaly.

Numerous white flames lit up around the church, illuminating its vicinity as if it were daytime.

The flames were two to three meters high, separated by just half a step, burning in the air. Under the bright light, the illusion disappeared like a bubble, exposing the transporting Eternalists.

The flames weren’t limited to the vicinity of the church. Centered on the church, there were three rings of flames, encircling the distant Eternalists.

They looked like bars of a prison.

Knight Eugene stepped out of the church’s main entrance, followed by a dozen knights in silver armor. He smiled brilliantly, his expression no different from when he met Nol.

“Good evening, dear sinners,” Eugene greeted cheerfully, pointing his sword.

Before the Eternalists could react, their heads exploded. Blood sprayed from the severed necks, staining the carefully prepared skeleton.

The decapitated body slowly fell and hit the ground heavily.

Nol stiffened with a curious expression still frozen on his face.

“As expected, it’s not the Mad Monk,” Eugene said calmly, seemingly unsurprised. “Gentlemen, it’s time for praise.”

The knights behind him scattered, rushing towards the Eternalists hiding in various corners. Flames rose into the sky as magic clashed, and the clear sound of blades piercing flesh was especially sharp.

Only one female knight lagged slightly behind—she opened her tightly closed eyes, filled with bright white light.

Afterward, she seemed to sense something and dashed straight in the direction of City Lord Swain. With a smile on his face, Eugene followed closely behind.

Lord Swain had no desire to linger in the fight. Clutching the mask on his face, shadows danced around his feet like living creatures. His silhouette grew more and more hazy, blending seamlessly with the night.

[Let’s head back,] Nol suggested.

Born in a peaceful era, he had no stomach for the bloody spectacle of battle.

[Go back now?] Teest responded in disappointment. [The show has just begun.]

[We’ve achieved our objective. Staying any longer will only put us in danger,] Nol said, sincerity evident in his voice.

By now, the Investigation Knights could ascertain that the case wasn’t the work of the Mad Monk. And without Nol, the powerful ally, the City Lord had made several blunders in his operations. Regardless of whether Swain managed to escape, having captured many Eternalist, they were sure to extract some confessions.

In this way, without any further intervention, their mission would be a success.

However, a sense of unease gnawed at Nol.

One thing still puzzled him—Margaret had falsely claimed to have seen the Mad Monk. The disappearance case had nothing to do with the Mad Monk, so why was there a requirement in the mission to “witness the Mad Monk”?

Even if the Mad Monk were in Whitebird City, the quest description shouldn’t be written like that. It could seriously mislead the Players.

It didn’t seem like the work of an AI creating and releasing quests into reality. Instead, it felt more like a system summarizing events and mechanically extracting quests.

Suddenly, a strong scent of blood wafted from behind. Instinctively turning his head, Nol was met with the cold gleam of a sword blade mere inches from his face.

Teest had drawn his blade, the “Betrayer”, in the nick of time, deflecting the incoming dagger.

The assailant, a figure in a cloak and mask, gave a whistle and gracefully jumped to the other side of the bell tower. Beside him was another tall, similarly dressed figure.

In the dim night, four cloaked figures faced each other.

Nol’s senses were instantly on high alert. The two figures had approached without him sensing them at all.

They were skilled, and they meant harm.

“To think we’d have guests. What a pleasant surprise.” The assailant laughed, sounding quite young.

Knowing that the Investigation Knights were below, it wasn’t wise to stay here long. Just as Teest was about to pull Nol to make their escape, both froze in place.

…A petrification status effect.

“Not so fast.” The assailant’s tone was teasing and sly, akin to the flick of a snake’s tongue over the skin.

His mask was made of dark gray metal with a delicate black gem embedded in its forehead. After a few seconds, Nol recognized the damn item—

[Predator’s Gaze: Consumes 1,000 MP per use, unlimited uses. The item compares the average attributes of both teams. If the user’s side is stronger, the enemy team will be petrified for 30 seconds. If the enemy is stronger, the item has no effect, and the consumed MP won’t be returned.]

‘I’m sorry, Teest. It’s my fault,’ Nol lamented inwardly.

Regardless of Teest’s exceptional attributes, being averaged with Nol’s cursed ones significantly lowered their combined strength.

Worse, the assailant drew a high-grade magic stone from his pocket, which contained 10,000 MP. With this stone alone, he could control them for over five minutes.

Suddenly, Nol sensed a presence approaching rapidly—the metallic scent of armor.

[Petrification is the effect of an item, and that item needs to be activated manually every 30 seconds.] Nol quickly relayed this thought to Teest. [If you get a chance to escape, leave without me.]

[What about you?]

[I’ll figure something out.] Was Nol’s decisive response.

Teest was silent for a few seconds. [Why?]

[That item compares the average attributes of both sides. We lost and were petrified because I dragged you down,] Nol admitted candidly.

Being a Player, perhaps Teest wouldn’t truly die, but the penalties for death were severe, and the near-death experience would be genuine pain.

Even if they were truly married, Teest had no obligation to sacrifice himself for him, especially since they really weren’t.

[I understand.] Was Teest’s response.

In the very moment of their silent exchange, the person Nol sensed rushed up to the tower.

A young Investigation Knight with his sword radiating a brilliant light, charged at the assailant holding the magic stone. In response, the magic stone emitted a milky-white glow.

Now’s the time! Nol held his breath, waiting for the moment the assailant would be too preoccupied to notice…

In the darkness of night, countless dark red light traces burst open in an instant. These were the trajectories of the short sword’s blade, blooming like abrupt flowers on the young knight.

The knight halted in his movements, seemingly unable to comprehend what had just transpired. Tiny droplets of blood oozed from his skin, slowly connecting into bloodlines. The next moment, the knight shattered on the spot into hundreds of fragments.

Blood and chunks of flesh instantly covered the ground, and the smell of iron and gore was so strong it was dizzying. Whether it was the sturdy armor or the soft skin, their edges were incredibly smooth, like cut butter.

From his appearance to his death, the knight’s end came in just a few seconds.

“Aren’t you going to say anything? Petrification shouldn’t affect your ability to speak.”

The assailant spoke with an air of casualness, as if he had just swatted a mosquito. He reached out to remove Nol’s mask, but the petrification effect kept it firmly in place, not budging.

The man grunted, suddenly lifting his short sword and plunging it into Nol’s eye socket, where a blue flame burned. The tip of the sword entered an empty cavity, but still caused damage.

[HP: 75/100]

“Interesting. A puppet? A golem? …Ah, I should ask your master.” The assailant held his sword, ready to turn to Teest—

“Are you a ‘Demon’ of the Eternal Church?” At this moment, Nol spoke in the muted tone of the undead.

This guy was dangerous. He needed to divert his attention to give Teest a chance.

“It’s actually kind of funny that you’re wearing a goat mask while asking that. Well… I can’t deny it. I suppose so.” The assailant turned back.

Nol had guessed right. This guy was quite talkative, so maybe he could gather more information. But just as Nol was about to speak—

A magic fluctuation from a communication crystal emanated from the assailant.

“My Lord!” The desperate cry of Lord Swain came through the crystal. “Please, please save me… I can’t deal with Eugene. I know you’re nearby! Please…”

“I decline,” the assailant replied cheerily. “What’s the point of this play without its main actor like you?”

“But we… You clearly…”

The assailant smirked. “Don’t you get it, Swain? Your clumsy framing has been exposed. We’re here to complete our mission. ‘Completing the mission’ and ‘helping you’ aren’t the same thing.”

“Good luck, dear Lord Swain.”

With that, he crushed the communication crystal.

He then turned to Nol and Teest, smiling as he took out a black candle from his pocket. Nol had seen this candle in the City Lord’s secret passage, and it still emanated a powerful sense of disharmony.

The assailant held it gently in his palm.

“Well, it’s time for work.” He stepped over the fragments of the knight’s body, leisurely approaching the two. “It’s an honor to be a sacrifice. You can thank me.”

“Thank you,” Teest said, naturally reaching out with his left hand and taking the black candle. The move was so smooth that it looked as if the assailant had just handed him a seasoning bottle.

Assailant: “…?”

Nol: “…???”

Before Nol could express his shock, Teest hugged his waist and leaped towards the base of the bell tower. Meanwhile, the system prompt echoed in Nol’s head—

[Your teammate has deactivated the passive skill “Camouflage”. Attributes refreshed… Enemy item in effect, recalculating average team attribute values…]

[Your team’s average attribute value is higher.]

[Petrification status has been removed.]

“Leaving alone isn’t fun,” Teest whispered in his ear amidst the howling wind.

“Let’s go together, Nol.”

---

The author has something to say:

End of free chapters! Entering VIP chapters after. Nol obtains a powerful weapon, Teest encounters a setback!

——

Preview of my next work. For details see the author’s column~

<Help!>

Recently, there’s been a terrifying legend circulating among the monsters: If, while hunting humans, you encounter a frail young man wearing a red T-shirt shouting “Help!”, you must not approach him, or else you might suffer immense psychological trauma.

Confident demons and monsters: Really? I don’t believe it. I’ll give it a try.

Later on, the monster leader, holding a cup of tea and speaking with a grave tone, said, “What exactly do you want?”

The young man in the red T-shirt shyly smiled. “I was wondering if I could join you guys. Is that alright?”

Monster leader: ?!?

A story of a clueless monster gong x peculiar-minded shou.

Pseudo-infinite flow(?) related. A bizarre adventure tale where the monsters are outrageous, but the humans are even more so.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

This is the last of the free chapters on jjwxc. If you’ve been enjoying the novel so far and are able to, please consider supporting the author by buying the raws. You can use Google Chrome with their auto translate and this guide on how to buy novels on jjwxc. Remember, only with your (financial) support can artists continue to produce more great works.

The author’s note is a summary of her next work. I look forward to it, as I love infinite/unlimited flow, and of course, anything by Nian Zhong.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>