Chapter 50: Purchase and Upgrade

Su Yeye noticed Bai Ming’s movement, yet she made no attempt to stop him, nor did she shift her posture even in the slightest. A strange, cryptic curve simply played at the corners of her lips.

Naturally, Bai Ming caught her reaction, but having already made his move, there was no turning back halfway through.

To his surprise, as his five fingers closed, they grasped only empty air.

Refusing to believe it, he tried once more, but his fingertips failed to brush even a single strand of hair.

Still, he caught nothing.

Bai Ming frowned, asking, "Are your hair extensions fake? Is this an illusion?"

Su Yeye gathered the loose strands falling over her shoulders, smoothing them down with unhurried grace. "No, it's real. You simply cannot touch it."

A flash of interest crossed Bai Ming's eyes. "How fascinating. Does that mean your body can dematerialize as well?"

"No, it's strictly limited to my hair."

"And your clothes?"

"They cannot be damaged," Su Yeye stroked the lace trim of her Lolita dress. "If the defense threshold is exceeded, they dematerialize automatically. When caught or tugged, they can also dematerialize within a certain range to slip away. That specific range corresponds to the boundary of clothing I can wear without hindering my mobility."

Bai Ming was momentarily stunned. "This..."

Su Yeye smiled. "That's right, exactly what you're thinking—fashion items and appearances from video games!"

Bai Ming sighed with emotion. "The Twilight Game truly lives up to its name."

Following that, everything proceeded without any twists or turns.

Neither Ding Zhijian's home nor Tang Ping's residential compound showed any abnormalities. As for Ding Zhijian, paralyzed by the terror and shock of the ghost, he had fallen unconscious and was sent to a specialized hospital for recuperation and recovery.

Backed by the Special Talent Introduction Ordinance and a prior precedent, Bai Ming's process of joining the relevant department went smoothly.

The branch captain, who arrived fashionably late, was a man in his forties.

Named Wang Chongshan, he warmly welcomed a talent with an S-grade evaluation like Bai Ming into the Dongcheng branch department.

He even took the initiative to host a lively welcome gathering.

...

"Sigh, why is everything so peaceful and quiet ever since I joined the relevant department?"

Inside the training base, Bai Ming swung the Type-I Longstaff, letting out a helpless sigh.

"GAIA claims there are over twelve thousand cases every half-year, and that's globally."

"Even though GAIA's data is inaccurate since they can't obtain precise intelligence from every nation, the domestic total is only around five thousand cases every six months. Averaged out across various cities, it's actually very few."

"As a provincial capital, Dongcheng only has twenty-nine cases."

"Most of the time, our personnel are still dealing with player-related crimes."

Su Yeye twirled her sword through a flurry of blossoms as she chimed in.

True to form, she was dressed in an intricate Lolita gown today, the flashing arc of her longsword casting a biting, frigid gleam through the lace of her sleeves.

"By the way, don't you have any field missions today?"

Bai Ming lowered his staff to rest, seizing the opportunity to ask.

Su Yeye cast a sidelong glance at him. "Am I not allowed to take a day off?"

Dongcheng only possessed three players with an S-grade evaluation: Branch Captain Wang Chongshan, Su Yeye, and Bai Ming.

Consequently, even though Bai Ming had entered through the special talent channel, Su Yeye's attitude toward him remained favorable—not to mention the fact that he had single-handedly resolved the Ghost Domain incident.

Having worked together for twenty days, the two had long since grown familiar with one another.

Bai Ming had also come to learn that Su Yeye's set of equipment had not been acquired easily.

Tradable equipment was already scarce on a nationwide scale; even after officially joining the relevant department, one still had to wait in line.

Among those waiting were plenty of S-grade players as well as individuals with extraordinary merits.

For the latter group of people who constantly flirted with death, the state would guarantee their clearance of instances at all costs, even if their initial evaluations were low.

Besides, instance evaluations were not set in stone; an initial S-grade didn't guarantee it would stay that way forever, just as an initial F-grade didn't mean it couldn't eventually become S-grade.

Therefore, individuals of this caliber were also treasured assets of the nation.

The reason Su Yeye was able to secure her gear was because of her father. As the descendant of an A-grade player who had fallen in duty, coupled with her own S-grade evaluation and a dash of good fortune, she naturally enjoyed high-tier privileges right from the start.

Throughout history, the finest soldiers have always been the sons of good families, because such men know their sacrifices will not be in vain, enabling them to march forward without a single trace of hesitation.

Bai Ming remarked, "If I recall correctly, you just returned from an instance not long ago. Do you only get a vacation after coming back from an instance?"

Clang—!

Su Yeye sheathed her sword, strands of hair glued by sweat to her fair cheeks. "No, we get time off regularly as well. Bai Ming, do you have any free time after training? Let's go grab a bite together this afternoon."

Bai Ming had no objections. "Are we eating at the cafeteria? As expected of the relevant department, the food here is truly delicious, and the variety is so rich—they have everything..."

"Especially that braised pork belly; it's cooked exceptionally well. The charred parts are done just right, and the meat is so tender it falls right off the bone. It's truly amazing."

Su Yeye didn't reply immediately. After a brief pause, she said, "Alright, let's eat at the cafeteria."

Ring, ring, ring—!

Su Yeye picked up her phone. "Sister Li, is something the matter?"

As she listened, Su Yeye's expression grew serious. After hanging up, she told Bai Ming, "I'm sorry, there's an emergency mission today. Let's reschedule for another day."

Bai Ming replied, "It's fine, missions take priority."

Once the sound of Su Yeye's footsteps had faded away completely, Bai Xiao Zhi suddenly poked her head out from Bai Ming's chest.

Today she was wearing a pristine white dress, right down to her snow-white stockings. Barefoot, she floated lightly in the air, her stockinged feet faintly visible, revealing a delicate, flesh-toned hue beneath.

"Why were you planning to eat with her?"

Bai Ming answered with a straight face, "We're all colleagues. What's wrong with having a meal together?"

Bai Xiao Zhi pouted unhappily. "But you haven't been coming home for dinner lately."

Bai Ming explained, "That's because I was worried you'd find cooking too tiring and didn't want to overwork you."

*Besides, I wanted a change of pace too.*

Bai Ming believed human nature was inherently fickle; no matter how delicious a dish might be, eating it day after day would eventually breed boredom, sparking a desire to try something fresh.

And those old dishes would only grow more wonderful in memory before one eventually returned to them.

Naturally, thoughts of that sort didn't need to be voiced to Bai Xiao Zhi.

Bai Xiao Zhi grievance-laden voice chimed in, "But I want to cook for you."

Bai Ming instantly realized that Bai Xiao Zhi's dependent personality disorder was acting up again and she needed companionship.

From a practical standpoint, Bai Xiao Zhi's emotions certainly needed to be maintained; otherwise, what would happen if the backlash occurred while using [Specter Possession]?

From an emotional standpoint, Bai Ming now lacked the heart to cause Bai Xiao Zhi any distress.

"Alright, then I won't eat at the cafeteria today. Once training is over, I'll pick up some groceries on the way home."

"Okay!"

Bai Xiao Zhi's face instantly lit up with a bright, happy smile.

...

Just like that, a month passed in the blink of an eye.

During this period, Bai Ming received yet another system prompt.

[Through continuous training, the player has obtained partial information regarding the Bloodline Weapon Mastery: "Blunt Weapons"]

According to the data of the relevant department, upon receiving three prompts, a player could master the corresponding specialty.

However, acquiring the third prompt was notoriously difficult—far exceeding the time interval between the first and second prompts, to the extent that one might potentially get stuck there for a lifetime.

Still, Bai Ming had a feeling he might not share that fate.

Earlier on, he had already obtained a prompt for [Weapon Mastery: "Blunt Weapons"].

The two specialties were closely related—or rather, [Bloodline Weapon Mastery: "Blunt Weapons"] was fundamentally evolved from [Weapon Mastery: "Blunt Weapons"].

Consequently, he held a premonition deep within his heart that acquiring [Bloodline Weapon Mastery: "Blunt Weapons"] was not far off.

As for his 1965 game coins, Bai Ming had spent 1900 of them to purchase the [Ogre's Power Gauntlets] when the system store refreshed one day.

(Game Coins: 60 remaining from [Doomsday Bus] + 720 from clearing the instance + 50x3 from offerings + 360 reward + 300 reward + 375 from square dancing = 1965)

[Ogre's Power Gauntlets]

[Type: Equipment (Gloves)]

[Grade: D+]

[Material: Thick leather lining, outer layer reinforced with embedded metallic plates]

[Hardness: 5]

[Toughness: 9]

[Durability: 20]

[Effect: Upon wearing, the player's Strength receives a +2 enhancement bonus]

[Weight: 500 grams]

[Usage Requirement: Strength ≥ 10, Willpower ≥ 1]

[Remarks: Forged and enchanted by an ogre shaman, bearing crude tribal runes carved upon its surface—a pair of gloves that drifted into an otherworldly realm]

Following the purchase, Bai Ming was left with only 65 game coins and 50 underworld banknotes.

However, considering that underworld banknotes could be exchanged for game coins while game coins could not buy underworld banknotes, Bai Ming held onto them without converting them.

Aside from that, throughout a month of rigorous training, Bai Ming's base attributes had also increased.

[Through continuous training, the player's Constitution attribute has increased: 14 → 15]

[Through continuous training, the player's Agility attribute has increased: 13 → 14]

————————————

[Player ID: Wutian]

[Age: 23 years old]

[Race: Human]

[Level: LV4]

[Experience Value: 995 / 1000]

[Strength: 15 + 2]

[Agility: 14]

[Constitution: 15]

[Intelligence: 14]

[Perception: 14 + 2]

[Charm: 12]

[Willpower: 4]

[Willpower Value: 300]

[Skills: Specter Possession]

[Background Specialties: Rebel, Coward]

[Bloodline Specialties: Bloodline Resilience, Bloodline Instant Combat Preparation]

[Game Coins: 65]

[Skill Points: 3]

[Specialty Points: 0]

[Equipment: Type-I Longstaff, Ogre's Power Gauntlets]

[Special Item: Bai Xiao Zhi's Exercise Notebook]

————————————

Then, while playing a video game at night, Bai Ming ushered in his fourth Twilight Game.

[Welcome to the "Twilight Game"]

[The grade of the game you are about to enter is: E+]

[May you witness the burial of daylight amidst the twilight]

[Mission Name: Midnight Library]

[Main Quest: Survive until dawn inside the midnight library]

[Mission Time Limit: 24 hours]

[Failure Penalty: Eradication (crossed out) / None]

[Mission Reward 1: 800 basic experience points]

[Mission Reward 2: 800 basic game coins]

[Note: Experience value and game coin rewards will fluctuate based on the player's mission performance]

[Note: Any injuries sustained by the player will be fully healed upon return]

[Note: Upon initiating the mission, the appearance from the previous role-playing mode will be adopted by default. Players may spend 100 game coins to modify it, though body proportions cannot be changed]