Volume 4 Chapter 43: Tally

“Master, would you like a meal?” A faint light appeared in the dark room. Didi’s small head peeked through the crack of the door.

“No!” The figure by the window, who looked like a marble statue, turned slightly. His voice was low.

“Oh!” Getting a reply, Didi secretly sighed in relief. He closed the door as he left.

Qin Lun had been in the room for a whole day. Although in the past, after returning from the Other World, the master would sleep for most of the day, this time felt different to Didi. Centered around that room, the place seemed to have become a tomb. A lifeless atmosphere filled the entire villa.

“Click!” As the door closed again, Qin Lun put down the wine glass in his hand. He pulled open the curtains sharply. The soft, yellowish light from outside the window streamed in. Even without the sun, one could tell it was the evening sunset scene.

Qin Lun sat in the armchair by the window. He lowered his head, holding his forehead, and shook his head with a bitter smile. He was skilled in psychological analysis. A whole day of thinking was enough for him to examine himself thoroughly.

Qin Lun had been in the Shattered Starry Sky for nearly two months. The time spent in the Other World was several months. During this period, he had dealt with more people than in the previous twenty-plus years combined. Although he had handed over the strongly stimulating emotions to Joey, the subtle changes could not be completely filtered out.

Life in a social group was seeping into his heart like poison. It was gradually eroding his psychological defenses. He was different from serial killers like Clown Grant and Shepherd Hill. Those serial killers were used to maintaining their true colors within the big melting pot of society. Because he had lived in seclusion, he was like a blank sheet of paper, unable to resist the invasion of dye.

His vast knowledge allowed Qin Lun to distinguish what was beneficial to him and what would harm him. However, even when it came to emotions that were beneficial to him, he still lacked the ability to accept them. He would always unconsciously respond incorrectly.

“Joey, if we want to survive, we must join a team in the future!” Qin Lun closed his eyes and muttered to himself. “You are right. People like us cannot handle too many emotions. Blending into an ordinary team and being influenced by various emotions would make us more likely to lose ourselves than ordinary people. The final outcome would surely be death!”

“Those prisoners are the best candidates for a team. I believe they will slowly realize this too!” Qin Lun suddenly opened his eyes. A flash of light passed through his pupils. “We don’t need to look for a team anymore. After a few more Quest Worlds, the prisoners will inevitably form a ready-made team with the serial killers as the core!”

“However, in such a team, even for us, we still need a helper we can trust!” Qin Lun’s eyes flashed. He took out a spherical object from his Storage Space. Looking at the Maiar Crystal Ball glowing with colorful light on its surface, Qin Lun covered his face and whispered, “Frank, it feels… it feels like a very long time has passed…”

He stared at the crystal ball for a long time. Then, Qin Lun looked up and let out a breath. He put away the crystal ball and checked the other items in his Storage Space. Before entering the last world, he had prepared many recovery items, but now there were very few left.

Among the items that could restore Health Points, only the Phantom Demon Tenderloin remained. He had used the two Healing Bandages and the Self-Healing Crystal in the deadly fight with Kathleen. The World Tree Dew was used on the armored train. The other recovery food items were completely used up, leaving only the low-concentration Holy Water and two bottles of the concentrated Silvermycin for restoring Stamina Points.

In fact, among the three Other World experiences Qin Lun had so far, only the fight with Kathleen could be considered a true, complete duel. The fight with the witch in the Orphan World was actually at the tail end; he had just taken advantage of the Demon Hunter’s efforts. In the Phantom Demon World, he played the role of observer to the extreme, hardly experiencing any intense combat.

This combat experience made Qin Lun realize his lack of preparation. The recovery items he had previously thought were sufficient could only handle about one and a half intense battles. If he ever had to fight two deadly battles in a row, he would likely die due to insufficient preparation.

Although many ordinary Apostles died in Quest Worlds because they lacked recovery items, they were not as wealthy as Qin Lun and simply lacked the funds to buy recovery items.

Qin Lun examined his Law Body attributes. After this round of strengthening, Perception was still the highest attribute. However, Agility and Explosive Power had both exceeded 20 points. Compared to the data of a normal adult male, this was about three to four times higher.

350 Health Points and 475 Stamina Points also seemed much sturdier, but his 17 Constitution was a bit weak. Qin Lun understood Constitution as resistance to abnormal statuses, ability to withstand blows, and recovery ability. The higher the Constitution, the stronger the physical defense.

Thinking of this, Qin Lun took off the Shahbakh Ring from his finger and frowned slightly. Currently, the only thing he had for defense was this Shahbakh Ring. In fact, the Shahbakh Wall composed of flame energy had been useful in the last world. When the Allied Forces armored train exploded, the passively activated Shahbakh Wall had spared him a lot of suffering.

However, the battle with Kathleen also revealed the Shahbakh Ring’s flaw: the distribution of flame energy was too uniform, and it responded too slowly to powerful close-quarters attacks from enemies. The 500-scale flame defense barrier was pierced as easily as a piece of cloth by Kathleen’s final strike.

It was important to note that Kathleen only had an ordinary alloy dagger in her hand at that time, yet she stabbed it straight through Joey’s abdomen. If it had been another powerful weapon, the consequences would have been unimaginable. If it weren’t for the Shahbakh Ring also having a burst-type Flame Circle skill, Qin Lun would have already thrown it into the Auction House.

Looking at all the Apostle equipment Qin Lun possessed, the Dagger of Sin was the most sharp weapon for close combat. The Combat Gauge was also highly significant for collecting intelligence on the Combat Model.

Even the Leather Army Boots had served their purpose. When he used the Crystal Mirror Magic Array, these boots protected his feet from Elemental Burst damage. The passive skill “Sturdy Soles” made his ankles stronger and his movements and dodges more precise. Although they had no other functions, these boots were only dark blue quality, so one couldn’t ask for more.

As for the Dark Gold weapon FN-500, which Qin Lun had previously considered useless, it had now become his most indispensable trump card, making great contributions to completing his missions. Although, due to his Basic Swordplay only being at the beginner level, he couldn’t use the passive skill “Sharpness” of the FN-500 Narnia Rapier, this seemingly unremarkable and useless weapon still demonstrated the value of Dark Gold Equipment.

Only the Shahbakh Ring, an item with a quality second only to Dark Gold, seemed worthless. In the Phantom Demon World, it didn’t conform to the World Law and couldn’t even be used. In this Quest World, it showed its weakness in close combat. What Qin Lun originally felt was the most valuable item now seemed more like trash.

However, this couldn’t really be blamed on Qin Lun’s lack of judgment. He himself wasn’t very familiar with Apostle equipment and could only guess its value from the item’s own description. Apart from those high-level Apostles who had experienced dozens of Quest Worlds, low-level Apostles generally lacked practical experience with Apostle equipment, just like Qin Lun.

Qin Lun resisted the impulse to discard the Shahbakh Ring and put the ring back on his finger. He vaguely had a thought: perhaps he was thinking about how to use this ring incorrectly. Although the Shahbakh Ring had weak physical defense, it might have extremely high magic defense.

So far, the enemies he had encountered were mostly not Magicians. So, it was somewhat understandable that the Shahbakh Ring seemed rather useless. Whether the Shahbakh Ring had value or not needed further observation. He would definitely encounter a real Magician someday.

After tallying his equipment and recovery items, Qin Lun finally turned his attention to the other few items in his Storage Space. Now, there was only one low-level Skill Scroll, one random Skill Scroll, and three small glowing orbs left inside.

Qin Lun had long decided to use this low-level Skill Scroll on Basic Swordplay. Originally, after Basic Swordplay reached the beginner level, he had used one low-level Skill Scroll, but due to insufficient proficiency, it didn’t level up to Intermediate Swordplay. Now, adding this Skill Scroll, it should reach Intermediate Swordplay, allowing him to use the FN-500 Narnia Rapier.

The other random Skill Scroll was no longer random. It was an earth-based magic skill — Earth Spike. Qin Lun could learn this spell, but he didn’t plan to learn it himself. The Moon Night Elf Bloodline had an affinity for wind and wood element spells. For earth spells, it was the same as for ordinary people. He intended to exchange it for a wood or wind spell when he had the chance.

Finally, Qin Lun took out the three small glowing orbs from his Storage Space. These were the rewards for the chained quest “Grimm Foe”. After being taken out, the three small orbs slowly twisted and changed shape. The light on their surfaces faded away, revealing their true forms. They were three ancient-looking Skill Scrolls: two bronze scrolls and one silver scroll.

Qin Lun carefully read the descriptions on the scrolls. A faint smile appeared on his face. Just as he expected, these three scrolls came from the two Grimms, Kathleen and David. They contained the combat skills they possessed.

The bronze Skill Scroll from Kathleen was a close combat skill called “Combat Gunmanship”.

Combat Gunmanship (D-Rank Active Skill): After learning this Skill Scroll, the Apostle gains illustrated memory of the entire set of Combat Gunmanship from the Grimm Academy. Combat Gunmanship includes two sets: long gun and short gun. This is the illustrated memory for short gun combat, comprising thirty-two close combat movements. This combat skill’s rank will increase as the Apostle’s proficiency improves, up to a maximum of B+ rank.

Skill Description: This Combat Gunmanship is a fighting technique developed by the Grimm Academy during long-term battles with dark creatures. It integrates shooting into close combat. Referencing the world’s most concise and effective close combat techniques, it uses agile and nimble movements to block enemy attacks and utilizes firearms for precise counterattacks during the blocks. It is an extremely powerful combat skill.