Chapter 22: Perfectionist

It seemed like a choice among three, but in truth there was only one option.

150,000 experience, 500,000 Corrupted Silver Coins—Wu Chang couldn't possibly afford them.

The game system kindly offered an installment plan, but the interest was even darker than a mortgage: twenty-four payments, totaling 400,000 experience and 1,330,000 Corrupted Silver Coins.

Even a mortgage slave didn't face this much pressure; Lyman lost to him in the instance, yet after exiting, he forced Wu Chang into slavery with just one eye—what kind of joke is this?

Compensation Option One was eliminated first.

Among the remaining drop items in the Moonlight Sanatorium, not even one with value close to the Anti-Magic Crossbow Arrow existed, let alone the Eye of the Demigod.

Failing to seize an advantage is equivalent to suffering a loss; for Wu Chang, Compensation Option Three was even less acceptable than Option One.

The only remaining option was Compensation Option Two.

He took the Corrosion Core from his inventory and selected Compensation Option Two.

Under the influence of an invisible force, the Poison of the Mortal passed through the Corrosion Core's shell and entered its deep, black-hole-like darkness.

The optimization process lasted five minutes; as the Corrosion Core vanished, the Poison of the Mortal returned to Wu Chang's hand.

The Eye of the Demigod on the pendant remained shut, but upon close observation, its eyelid twitched slightly, as if ready to open at any moment.

"Item Name: Poison of the Mortal"

"Item Rank: S"

"Item Description: The supreme masterpiece of the Mystic Knights Order, uniting black and white magic, the pinnacle of magical item craftsmanship. Designer Old Anderson intended to use this item to reverse-levy the Demigod Lyman's essence, using divine power to cultivate the Mystic Knights Order and free the kingdom from all Demigod threats."

"Item Description: The repaired Poison of the Mortal requires sufficient energy source to activate."

"Energy can be accumulated by clearing instances or absorbing Corrosion Cores; the amount varies with instance difficulty."

"Current Accumulated Energy: 0/10."

"Note: To a god, mortals are ants; yet even an ant's sting can make a god bleed."

After reading the Poison of the Mortal's description, Wu Chang was at a loss for words.

The Mystic Knights Order were indeed ruthless—they didn't just pluck out Lyman's eye, they tried to drain him entirely through it.

No wonder Lyman cursed them and targeted their descendants.

Anyone would lose their temper.

Beyond the Mystic Knights Order's grand scheme, what surprised him most was the item's rank.

Many seasoned players had died in the Moonlight Sanatorium, including experts like "The Doctor" and "The Stealth."

Even they possessed no item more valuable than around C-rank.

D-rank "Silver Dawn" and C-rank "Whispers of the Nameless" were already powerful enough in the instance; he couldn't even imagine how strong an S-rank item would be.

An innocent man bears no guilt, yet possessing a treasure invites disaster.

The more valuable it was, the more careful he had to be—if anyone discovered this item, it would bring great calamity.

The S-rank item's acquisition already satisfied him, but the instance settlement was not yet over.

Although the Poison of the Mortal was valuable, it was merely a reward from the S-rank completion bonus.

"Player's instance rating reached Perfect Level: select one rare item from the current instance dimension as a reward."

After the prompt, three items appeared before Wu Chang:

"Detailed Explanation of Exorcism Array."

"Wolfe's Alchemy Notes."

"Mystic Knights Order New Recruit Rules."

None of the three items were combat-oriented; from their names alone, their specific effects could not be discerned.

Yet as rewards for a Perfect rating, none could possibly be trash.

Wu Chang asked: "Can you display their item descriptions?"

"…"

Apparently not.

Judging solely by their names, the three items corresponded to three fields of knowledge: magical array construction, alchemy, and combat.

The magical arrays in the Moonlight Sanatorium dimension were powerful, but too clumsy and heavy, with overly complicated preparation—impractical.

Wolfe's alchemical process was still fresh in his mind; that method was far too advanced for humans, and he had no intention of learning it.

"I choose 'Mystic Knights Order New Recruit Rules.'"

The other two items vanished; a small booklet bearing the Mystic Knights Order emblem landed in his hand.

"Item Name: Mystic Knights Order New Recruit Rules."

"Item Effect: When player's attributes reach Strength: 30; Agility: 20; Endurance: 20; Energy: 30; Inspiration: 20; Willpower: 20, unlock the class transformation quest. Completing the quest allows transformation into the hidden class: Mystic Knight."

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow, his face lighting up with excitement.

As a player, no one could resist the word "hidden" before a class.

Though he had little expectation for this order that had destroyed itself, they had once slain a Demigod avatar with mortal strength—and it was a hidden class, so it shouldn't be too weak.

Just as he thought settlement was over, the electronic voice spoke again.

!

"Player achieved Perfect Clearance in a rampaging instance with difficulty greater than or equal to character level (instance contamination value > 85), received one random Title Chest."

"Player will only draw titles already met or with no acquisition requirements."

A circular wheel appeared before Wu Chang, divided into dozens of small sections, each flashing one of four colors: blue, green, red, gold.

After Wu Chang clicked to draw, the wheel spun rapidly, turning ten full rotations before slowing to a stop.

A chest dropped before Wu Chang, trembled slightly, then burst open with blinding light.

Wow! Golden Legend!

When the light faded, he noticed a colorful title hovering above his head.

Title: Perfectionist

Title Acquisition Requirement: The player achieves a perfect resolution on their first completion of the instance.

Title Effect: While wearing this title, an additional hidden side quest becomes available within the instance, and the instance completion rate increases by 5% upon settlement.

Note: Colorful titles can stack with other titles.

This time, the instance settlement was truly over.

With the familiar transition effect, Wu Chang blinked and appeared before Wanghai University.

He glanced at his phone; less than three hours had passed since he entered the instance.

Everything felt like a dream—only the still-visible attribute panel proved that everything in the Abyss Game had been real.

Player Nickname: NoBeefEater

Player Level: 8 (500/1900)

(6000/100) — (5900/300) — (5600/500) — (5100/700) — (4400/1000) — (3400/1300) — (2100/1600) — (500/1900)

Title: Perfectionist

Life: 9

Strength: 9

Agility: 9

Endurance: 8

Energy: 0

Inspiration: 84

Willpower: 62

Free Attribute Points: 35

Rotten Silver Coins: 15000

Skills: Mamba Iron Elbow, Firearms Use (Proficient).

Items: Silver Dawn, Favor of the Goddess of Luck, Whisperer's Echo ×1, Poison of the Commoner, Novice Code of the Secret Art Knights.

Talent: Transcendence.

The massive experience granted him seven level-ups and 35 free attribute points.

How to allocate the points could wait; during his time at Moonlight Sanatorium, his mind had been tightly wound, and he hadn't slept soundly once. His immediate priority was returning to his dorm to get a proper sleep.

Walking across campus, he quickly sensed something was off.

The campus was too empty.

He saw not a single student on the path—even the basketball court, usually packed with people, was utterly deserted.

What's going on? Had he just left Moonlight Sanatorium and been pulled into a new instance?

(End of Chapter)