Chapter 46: Escape to Life

【Name: Insect Lord Divine Corruption Crystal · Small】

【Type: Consumable】

【Quality: Fine】

[Effect: Celestial Evolution. Carbon-based life forms with a life essence lower than that of the Divine Corruption Crystal, upon contact, will be infected and assimilated, transforming into a Divine Corruption form; this process is irreversible and cannot be halted]

【Consumption: None】

【Usage Condition: Carbon-based life form】

【Note: Infection, assimilation, evolution. I am the swarm, the swarm is I】

【Note: “Who promoted the theory of evolution?” “Darwin.” “Isn’t Darwin the one who discovered light scattering?” “That’s Tyndall!” “Isn’t Tyndall the one who invented dynamite?” “That’s Nobel!” “Isn’t Nobel the one who does wilderness survival?” “That’s Bear Grylls!”】

Above were the item details visible to Li Cheng regarding the blood amber.

According to the system description and player forum explanations, item quality ranks from low to high as 【Damaged】, 【Common】, 【Rare】, 【Fine】, 【Perfect】, 【Epic】. It is said there is an even higher 【Legendary】 tier.

This quality relates solely to the item’s supernatural level and current state, not its functionality.

For example, a hundred-year-old peach wood sword capable of wounding demons and spirits has a quality of 【Rare】, while a modern main battle tank with no supernatural elements has a quality of 【Common】.

“If an item has multiple notes, the earlier ones are usually serious, while the later ones are often bizarre. Moreover, item effects never lie or set textual traps—you can fully trust them.”

Li Cheng examined the wording of the effect: “Carbon-based life forms with life essence lower than the Divine Corruption Crystal will be infected and assimilated upon contact. Here, ‘life essence’ may be similar to player level?”

“That explains many things. If the Divine Corruption Crystal could affect any carbon-based life form, it could easily be used as a weapon—sneakily infecting high-level players or transcendent beings. That would be way too broken.”

He focused his intent on the blood amber; the next instant, it vanished into thin air, and in his player inventory, 【Insect Lord Divine Corruption Crystal · Small】 appeared clearly.

The player inventory has a limit of 20 slots; each slot can hold only one non-living object no larger than 60 cubic meters, and items can be added or removed at any time without delay or cost.

If one wishes to store more than 20 items, they may use a nesting method—placing space devices inside other space devices inside other space devices—but retrieving and storing becomes cumbersome.

Furthermore, the ability to store and retrieve items applies only to items belonging to the player themselves.

One cannot steal another person’s private property and instantly stash it into their inventory through petty theft.

“Items stored in the inventory have their time flow halted and do not interact with the outside world. Even if you store stinky tofu, herring cans, durian, or rotting corpses inside, no odor will leak out. This saves the trouble of storing the blood amber.”

Li Cheng nodded and turned his gaze to the second item.

【Name: The Painful Golden Arrow of the Hunted Legion】

【Type: Consumable】

【Quality: Damaged】

【Effect: Inflict Pain (now obsolete). Wounds inflicted by this golden arrow cause the victim to experience intense hallucinatory pain, duration dependent on wound size and depth. Even those physiologically incapable of pain will temporarily feel it】

【Consumption: 100 Spirit Points (now obsolete)】

【Cooldown: 30 seconds (now obsolete)】

【Usage Condition: Soaked in the user’s blood for over a month (now obsolete)】

【Note: This item was originally of Fine quality but has been downgraded to Damaged due to consumption. It may be restored through professional craftsmanship】

【Note: The hunter Heern insisted that true hunters often appear as their prey—until he, disguised in lion skin and hidden among the pride, was shot through the knee by another hunter】

This golden arrow was seized from the corpse of the Ink-Weaver Spider; retrieving it had taken considerable effort.

He kept the arrow not only because it was striking in appearance, but also because it reminded him of the bounty poster he had seen earlier in Changsun Yao’s world-nuking room.

【Eugene, male, 30 years old, Lv10, former member of Zhong Lou, defected after stealing seven golden arrows from the guild; currently may be hiding in Yin City】

Could this be the golden arrow mentioned in the bounty? Given the item’s name, the likelihood is high.

A Damaged-quality item is worth little before repair. Li Cheng stowed it in his inventory, planning to bring it along the next time he met Changsun Yao.

Having dealt with these two items, Li Cheng rummaged through the boxes and drawers, stuffing all conventional gear—nightwear, deodorant, disposable phones, binding tape and ropes, fuel and bleach for corpse disposal—into his inventory, ready for emergencies.

As he busied himself, a voice suddenly sounded in his mind:

【Task Type: Scripted Task (Solo)】

【Task Name: Escape to Life】

【Objective: Survive until escaping the dark chamber】

【Time Limit: 1 hour】

【Reward 1: 100 Experience Points】

【Reward 2: 200 Game Currency】

【Reward 3: 1 Rare-quality Skill Scroll】

【Failure Penalty: Next task becomes a Punishment Task】

【Transportation in 10 minutes. Proceed immediately?】

Here it comes. Li Cheng’s gaze sharpened. A Scripted Task meant players were deployed into parallel-world timelines, assuming the role of themselves or others.

The Killing Ground periodically assigned tasks to players; completion granted rewards, failure brought penalties.

Common failure penalties included, but were not limited to: reducing current level, deducting attribute points, randomly destroying one highest-quality item, or annihilation.

Annihilation was bad enough—but a Punishment Task could be worse.

For instance, being dumped into a world of a hundred demons at night, required to survive 300 nights; or starting with only a wooden stick, ordered to hunt deep-sea Gorgon that fed on whales.

“So the phrase on the player forum’s homepage—‘In honor of the dead and those heading to death’—had already spelled out this truth. Player aptitude is both a transcendent blessing and an inescapable curse.”

Li Cheng calmly tapped his fingers on the desk, slowly closed his laptop, and clicked the transport option in his vision.

The next instant, he vanished. When he opened his eyes again, a grotesque wax statue, molded from a rotting corpse, stood grinning before him.

(End of Chapter)