Chapter 149: Survive, A-Gan

Back at his doorstep.

A bone sword, a large food box, and a cat crouching on the food box were already sitting at the door.

Tang Luo opened the door, went inside, closed the door, and a pleasant day ended just like that.

Time slowly passed.

Xue Nianzhi contacted Tang Luo once, saying she wanted to rent for another year; after reaching a verbal agreement with Tang Luo, she directly transferred half a year's rent.

Very straightforward; at the same time, it showed just how profitable the lingerie shop was. At the very least, Xue Nianzhi's shop made a lot of money.

To think, such tiny scraps of fabric could be so expensive; converted, they couldn't even compare to a house.

No wonder countless men regard personally touching, unfastening that tiny scrap of fabric as a goal, just like many people regard buying a house as a goal.

And Tang Luo had no need for either of the two.

He lazed at home, living a salted-fish-like life; he didn't even bother to check the bonus from "Approaching Science" that had been deposited into his card — as long as daily expenses were covered, it was fine.

Occasionally performing consecration to heal injuries in exchange for healing items; it seemed superfluous, but calculated, it was still a profit.

You have to know, saving people also generates merit; unless it's the extremely rare super-villain, the merit power consumed will be replenished.

A loss? Nonexistent.

Tang Luo felt he could give himself the nickname "Tang No-Loss"; called out, it sounded quite resounding.

Of course, the current one wasn't bad either.

Master Xuanzang, Holy Monk Xuanzang, and such — also enough to make people revere him.

Tang Luo wasn't someone who liked to show off; otherwise, attending a gathering would harvest enough flattery to lift the roof off.

The Little Drill-brand steel needles in his hand had all been sold off.

As for who exactly they were sold to, Tang Luo himself wasn't too clear; many people had other Shenmo Walkers buy them on their behalf.

Whether it was "Approaching Science" or "Wulin Mythology," both had Shenmo Walkers playing a role similar to middlemen.

After lazing for a while, Tang Luo stood up, changed into a set of white monk robes dedicated for missions, and stowed the Gold Brick and Ominous in his right and left hands respectively.

The bone sword was strapped to his back; its scabbard was custom-made by the Up-Chopping Cat, a bit rough, just perfectly complementing the bone sword that exuded a rough, primitive, ferocious air.

This getup was naturally because his sixth mission was about to begin.

Once he got through this mission, Tang Luo would count as having truly passed the novice period, enough to bear the title of "Veteran."

Before six times, calling oneself a Veteran lacked that much confidence.

Xiaotian Dog jumped onto Tang Luo's shoulder, didn't lie down, crouched properly, trying hard to strike a majestic stone-lion-guarding-the-gate pose.

However, he was so cute it just made the vast majority of people want to hug him in their arms and rub his dog head.

When the time arrived, the scene before his eyes changed, as naturally as if Tang Luo had always been in this scene.

Tang Luo stood before a desk, on which lay a spread-out stack of exam papers and blank scratch paper.

Following his gaze, a passage of text emerged on the scratch paper, proceeding simultaneously with the voice surfacing in his mind:

Survive, find your five companions, ensure at least two survive.

Below was a countdown that had already started directly.

The time was thirty days.

"Another survival mission?" Tang Luo thought to himself, "Wonder if there are Shenmo Walkers from other camps coming to hunt me down."

His fourth mission was also a survival mission, the time also thirty days.

There were also Shenmo Walkers forcibly classified as Western who appeared, gave him a Destiny Fragment to heal injuries, and it was Nero's Destiny Fragment at that — estimated to be two to three fused together.

Very kind and well-meaning; wonder if I'll run into such a kind person this time too.

Below the countdown was some more information.

Tang Luo took a look; same as the last survival mission, he was also assigned an identity. Only, the way the identity was assigned this time wasn't completely the same as last time.

Without donning a perfect disguise, Tang Luo was still called Tang Luo; his appearance and such hadn't changed.

Compared to last time's total cluelessness, knowing nothing.

This time he was also told some simple information, letting Tang Luo know that the role he played in this mission world was a high school teacher named Tang Luo — quite a feeling of "another me in another world."

Tang Luo remembered he had discussed "role-play missions" with Qin Menglan.

Qin Menglan said in the information she got, role-play missions would not receive identity information; therefore sometimes the identity would become a burden.

But this time Tang Luo at least knew a bit of information — even if it was just "I am a high school teacher."

It also proved that role-play missions are not absolutely devoid of any information.

After completing the mission and returning to the real world, he could tell Qin Menglan and promptly update and correct.

It felt like pioneering and writing a guide; actually not much different — the name "Shenmo Game" wasn't made up for nothing; don't forget Shenmo Walkers have another title: "Player."

It's just that they play with their "lives," too heavy.

So many people are unwilling to use "Player" to describe themselves; it feels too frivolous.

"This mission is a bit troublesome." After "absorbing" all the mission information, Tang Luo reached out and tapped the table twice.

The troublesome part, of course, wasn't survival, but finding the other companions.

To successfully complete this mission, two people must survive — whether those two include himself was also a bit vague.

The safest scenario was for three people to survive.

But besides knowing there were five companions, whether these companions were male or female, old or young, where they were — Tang Luo knew none of it.

Even if he wanted to find someone to protect, he wouldn't know where to start looking.

Didn't know if the other five people's missions were the same as Tang Luo's.

"Is it because of this troublesome part that this role-play has me playing 'myself'?"

This possibility wasn't nonexistent either.

Thinking on the bright side, the six Shenmo Walkers wouldn't be scattered all over the mission world; at the very least they'd be in the same region.

This area wouldn't be too large either; most likely it uses cities, towns, and the like as units.

Moreover, through the arranged identity, there's a high probability of naturally coming into contact with other Shenmo Walkers.

Thinking in the worst direction, settle in and lie low, wait for the mission to fail and return.

Heaven knows what situation the others are in; they could even get hit by a car and die walking on the road.

"Even if I run into them, how would I judge whether the other party is one? It'd be great to run into an acquaintance; even a single meeting would do." Although Tang Luo wasn't good at remembering people, when needed, he could recall, and at least make it "serve my use," not "regret having too little knowledge when needed."

In short, for Tang Luo, the most troublesome part wasn't survival, but finding people.

"For now, just play the identity well. A high school teacher — what danger would they encounter. Could there still be a hidden identity?"

The place Tang Luo was at was a rental unit, several dozen square meters; entering the door, the left side was a simple kitchen stove, the right a tiny bathroom, a few steps forward, a bed, a desk.

Outside there was a small balcony too, could dry clothes, opening the door wouldn't make the room appear narrow and cramped.

Whatever the case, a residence with a private bath, kitchen, and even a balcony.

For many young people striving in big cities, it was undoubtedly a good dwelling, even able to become a shelter like a spiritual harbor.

The premise is... the rent mustn't be too expensive.

Tang Luo wasn't too clear on a high school teacher's salary, but combined with his own looks, at most he was a rookie who had just started.

The salary shouldn't be too high; renting a place like this was normal too.

As for whether it was a dormitory arranged by the school, heaven knows.

From the time Tang Luo entered the mission world until now, only a few minutes had passed; the bone sword on his body hadn't even been taken off yet.

Yes, the bone sword made from Xiao Zhuangfeng's remains, together with its scabbard, had been brought into the mission world.

Unbuttoning his chest, he removed the bone sword and set it aside; Tang Luo picked up the phone on the desk, still a keypad phone. No password was set; long-press to unlock, opened directly.

In the contacts, quite a few XX Teacher numbers were stored, also XX Principal, Director, and various names of unknown identity.

No "Dad" or "Mom" type addresses were found; don't know if it's an orphan setting, or if names were stored directly, blending into the "crowd" unseen.

Flipping through the test papers on the desk, most belonged to Tang Luo's students.

And the names on them were quite diverse in format; from a real-world perspective, they were a mix of Chinese and Western.

There was Wang Xiaoming, Jack Jones, Harano Taro, Tabuzhisky...

"What a mess." Tang Luo muttered, while rejoicing it was a Chinese language test paper, meaning he was a Chinese language teacher.

This was a good thing; if he were a high school math teacher, he'd probably be called to the principal's office for a heart-to-heart on his second day of work.

Being a Chinese language teacher, Tang Luo could start from essays and muddle through a week.

Why is it that every college entrance exam, the discussions on social media are mostly about essays?

Because essays are the only thing everyone can discuss.

Pulling aside the dark curtains, he glanced at the night outside; Tang Luo sat at the desk, casually picking up the bone sword beside him.

"Huh?"

After gripping the hilt, Tang Luo revealed a somewhat surprised expression.

A stream of information surfaced in his mind —

???

A sharp sword forged from the spine of a monster that brought calamity to one side after its death; the unwilling roars on the blade cannot be heard; it seems it died quite cleanly.

???

Two question marks, or rather blanks, waiting for Tang Luo to fill them in completely.

The former is the name, the latter is the remark.

This bone sword was actually recognized as equipment by the Shenmo! And Tang Luo, as its creator, possesses the authority to name and remark it.

Tang Luo fell into contemplation: what would be a good name?

Xiaotianquan watched Tang Luo with his thinker's pose, jumped onto the bed, and happily occupied the spot beside the pillow.

He thought for a good while, adhering to the principle of not forgetting the well-digger when drinking water.

Tang Luo named the bone sword "Zhuangfeng," and the remark: "It was once a happy little mountain-patrolling monster, until it developed one of the several great illusions of its monster life."

Counts as commemorating Xiao Zhuangfeng's "contribution."

After becoming equipment, Tang Luo could also stow away the Zhuangfeng bone sword.

A bit of convenience for Shenmo Walkers.

Tang Luo did not refine the bone sword.

Because refining it wouldn't bring more benefits; after all, this bone sword is too primitive. Many magical treasures' wonderful uses added after refining are there from the start; refining is equivalent to unlocking permissions.

The gold brick's stowing and recalling are inherent from the start.

The Zhuangfeng bone sword, sorry, has nothing at all — a pure, primitive killing weapon.