Seeing Ye Chuan completely unharmed, Niya's gaze lingered on him for a long moment before she struggled to her feet.
"You're actually fine... I clearly hit you earlier."
"What could possibly happen to me? It's just a ghost." Ye Chuan had already dealt with plenty of them back in the Fierce Ghost Dormitory. Noticing Niya swaying unsteadily, he casually cast a healing spell, and her wounds instantly vanished.
"Thank you..." Feeling no pain at all, Niya looked up at Ye Chuan.
"One hundred silver coins."
"You charge for this?!"
"Obviously?"
After their exchange, Ye Chuan suddenly noticed an eerie wind sweeping through the arena, followed by the appearance of more and more crimson wraiths, one after another, giving him the surreal feeling of returning to the nightmare world.
"There really are a lot of them." Ye Chuan pulled out a Soul Banner and waved it. Thick smoke billowed out as dozens of chains shot forth.
"Tell it to my Holy Light Magic—Soul Purification!"
The chains pierced through the crimson wraiths one by one, dragging them into the banner. The wails were incessant as the wraiths screamed mindlessly, unable to break free. Once inside the banner, their bodies seemed to melt away.
"Is this Holy Light Magic?" Niya gulped involuntarily.
"Obviously?"
"Then why does it look so... sinister?"
"Oh, it’s just a bit discolored from overuse." Ye Chuan pointed at the Soul Banner. "This is a holy relic of the light attribute. See?"
As if responding to Niya, the skull on the banner opened its mouth, emitting a violet glow.
"Whose light-attribute artifact has a skull on it?!"
"It’s for warding off evil, of course. You need a demon’s skull for intimidation."
Niya felt there was some logic to his words but couldn’t decide where to start criticizing.
"Tch, such a measly power boost. These wraiths are too weak." Ye Chuan shook his head.
"..." Niya remained silent.
This was even less convincing. He looked like a full-blown dark priest.
"These wraiths... they must be the adventurers who died here before. Their grudges festered without purification." Niya said.
"I don’t think so."
"What do you mean?"
"I sense something interesting in this arena."
"Interesting...?" Niya glanced around at the dilapidated surroundings. What could possibly be interesting here?
Ye Chuan tapped the floor with his foot. "Underneath."
"Underneath?"
"Yeah, there’s something underground. I can feel it." His spiritual sense wasn’t mistaken—there was indeed a strange presence beneath them.
Niya crossed her arms. "How do you plan to locate it?"
"I have my ways." Ye Chuan rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a pair of glasses, putting them on.
[Item: Mana Goggles
Function: X-ray vision, capable of seeing through illusions.]
With the glasses on, Ye Chuan scanned the area, then his gaze landed on Niya. "You’re not wearing anything?"
"What do you mean not wearing—" Niya froze, then immediately covered herself and stumbled back.
"Won’t help. Your hands are transparent too."
"You bastard! What are you trying to do?!"
"Just demonstrating its function." Truthfully, Ye Chuan had zero interest in Niya’s underwhelming figure. He lowered his head and peered into the ground.
Soon, he locked onto a violet orb deep underground.
"Huh, there really is something. And it’s buried deep." He tried to get a clearer look and realized it was a sword...
A sword?
Ye Chuan was certain—the hazy silhouette inside the orb was a massive black blade. The sword was pitch-black, but not a dull matte. Instead, it looked like solidified ink wrapped in a layer of shifting dark light. Twisted crimson veins coiled along the spine, pulsing faintly like tiny blood vessels.
It looked downright evil.
"A sword... Oh?"
As Ye Chuan muttered in surprise, Niya seemed to recall something. "That adventurer who went berserk and killed people... it was because of a sword, wasn’t it?"
"After that, the sword vanished. Some said it was taken away, others said it was destroyed." Niya’s eyes widened. "Could it have been here all along?"
"A sword that drives people mad?" Ye Chuan was intrigued. He also wondered why it was buried here.
"Let’s dig it out."
"Wait! We should report this to the guild first." Niya grabbed his arm. "That weapon is too dangerous."
Ye Chuan knew she doubted his ability to control it, but he just shrugged.
"Actually, I’m a swordsman."
"Aren’t you a mage?" Niya frowned.
"Exactly. So you get how strong I am now?" He spread his hands. "It’s just a puny sword."
Niya: "..."
She had no idea how powerful Ye Chuan really was, but her tone turned somber. "Be careful."
Ye Chuan noticed her shift in mood but didn’t comment.
Now, how to retrieve it?
"Phasing through?"
"Hmm... probably won’t work with all that earth pressing down."
"Digging?" That seemed like a solid plan. "Let’s just dig."
"Dig?" Niya pointed at him, then herself, her neck stiffening.
"Us?"
"Why not?"
"No way." She refused outright. "Tch, we’d die before we dug it out."
Ye Chuan laughed—he was only joking.
The next second, black mist swirled at his feet, and one monstrous figure after another emerged under Niya’s stunned gaze.
"M-monsters?!" Her jaw dropped.
"I’m a summoner. Problem?"
"Summoners can only call one or two contracted beasts..." Niya felt her worldview crumbling yet again. Before she could process it, dozens of monsters around Ye Chuan were already clawing at the floor.
Clank, clank, clank. The sound of metal scraping echoed as Della, wreathed in violet flames, joined in with her tiny hammer, smashing the ground apart.
As the Rider of the End, a few strikes from Della shattered the earth completely.
"Faster, faster."
Ye Chuan urged his summons on, and soon, a massive pit was dug out.
He could’ve just blasted the ground apart with magic, but he worried it might affect the sword.
Finally, the blade came into view.
Violet light flickered ominously, radiating an aura of pure malevolence.
iemie, male, Race: Moon. Hobby: Collecting anomalies. At first, he thought he possessed two systems: the Crimson Rainbow Moon and the Clear Cold Frost Moon. One day, he discovered that he himself could also become a system for others, holding the chessboard of fate. The Eighth Epoch, also known as the Eternal Moon Epoch. Humans, witches, elves, bloodline descendants, specters, demons, and spirits together compose a new history. Walking the path on behalf of the moon, before he knew it, Chen Miemie's footsteps were followed by all manner of strange and wondrous anomalies. As time passed, many titles circulated about him—The King in Yellow, Lord of Anomalies, Heart of the Eternal Moon, and more. "Me? I'm just a traveler who enjoys collecting interesting creatures," Chen Miemie said.
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
