Chapter 2 Steel Rose
"Open the gift pack! Open the gift pack!!"
After a brief moment of stunned silence, Zhou Yuan, grasping at the last straw, hurriedly opened the novice gift pack.
[You have opened the novice gift pack and obtained: Mini Life Potion*3, Mini Spirituality Potion*3, Star Coins*1000, common quality Skill Scroll*1, common quality Item Pack*3, Fine Quality Item Pack*1, Weapon Pool Lottery Ticket*1, Universal 20% Off Coupon*1, Lucky Spin Ten-Draw Ticket*1.]
With a thought, a round glass bottle an inch long appeared in Zhou Yuan's hand, containing half a bottle of bright red liquid.
[Name: Mini Life Potion]
[Quality: Fine]
[Special Effect: After drinking, immediately recovers 150 points of health and continually recovers a total of 50 health points over 15 seconds.]
[Note: A magician, who intended to make a bottle of dynamite disguised as red wine to send his cheating wife and her lover to heaven, accidentally concocted this panacea for recovery instead, and thus reached the pinnacle of his life.]
As the item description popped up before his eyes, Zhou Yuan didn't hesitate to pull out the cork and drank it all in one gulp.
In an instant, the pain across his body dissipated, his broken left leg snapped back into place with a "crack," bones healed, and flesh regenerated.
Bang!
Not far away, a massive piece of steel-reinforced concrete was flung into the air, and the black wolf stood up from under the ruins—it clearly wasn't an ordinary creature, as it was completely unharmed.
The black wolf shook off the dust from its fur and let out a low howl at Zhou Yuan, baring its bloodstained fangs.
"Skill Scrolls, Item Packs..."
Zhou Yuan swiftly got up from the ground, heart racing, body tensed, his mind rapidly scanning the items in his backpack before finally landing on the Weapon Pool Lottery Ticket.
—Use it!
At the same time, the black wolf charged at him.
And in the backpack, where the lottery ticket once was, a flash of light appeared, and a silver revolver with exquisite and ornate rose patterns engraved on it materialized.
[Name: Steel Rose]
[Quality: Rare]
[Special Effect: Requires using one's own spirituality to create bullets. There are 12 types of bullets to choose from, with the cylinder holding a maximum of 6 bullets.]
[Bullet Types: Ordinary revolver bullets, explosive bullets, armor-piercing bullets, ice bullets, electric shock bullets, flame bullets, paralysis bullets, healing bullets, sonic boom bullets, anti-magic bullets, flash bullets, 100% headshot bullets.]
[Note: Twelve wishes, fulfilled at once.]
The black wolf leaped into the air, opening its gaping maw, lunging at Zhou Yuan.
He decisively pulled out the revolver, aiming at the wolf's head.
When he joined the Stars Network, he went through a month of professional training, learning skills such as firearms shooting, combat grappling, and counter-surveillance at the training camp.
His marksmanship wasn't great, but at such a close distance, there was no reason to miss.
Adrenaline surged wildly, and Zhou Yuan's concentration reached an unprecedented peak in that moment, as if time itself had slowed down.
The swirling dust, the short-circuiting wires, the burst pipes, and even the dancing hairs on the black wolf's body—all were frozen in the blink of an eye.
A great amount of spirituality was drawn, congealing into explosive bullets in the chamber. As the trigger was pulled, the hammer struck, a faint spark ignited, and the spirituality bullets spiraled out of the barrel.
Bang!
The gunshot roared, and the black wolf's head burst open like a watermelon, splattering flesh and blood.
Zhou Yuan dodged to the side, and the headless wolf's body flew past him, sliding on the ground for a distance before coming to a stop.
"Huff... Huff..."
Zhou Yuan gasped for breath, feeling his head throb and swell as if lacking oxygen, his vision growing dark. His limbs were even weaker, trembling uncontrollably.
Spirituality points were akin to mana bars, and the amount of mana required for a burst round almost drained his spirituality, but the power was extremely considerable, killing the black wolf instantly.
He quickly took out a Mini Spirituality Potion and drank it. Its effects were similar to the Mini Life Potion, restoring 150 spirituality points and continuing to recover a total of 50 spirituality points over the next 15 seconds.
As his mind gradually cleared, he hurried to find an exit and soon spotted a fire escape in the distance.
After running a few steps in that direction, Zhou Yuan suddenly thought of something and turned back to the black wolf's corpse.
"Pick up."
The headless black wolf's body promptly disappeared from sight, stored in his backpack, revealing the item information.
[Name: Headless Corpse of the Netherworld Wolf]
[Note: A lower-level Netherworld Wolf from the Monster Breeding Farm. It rose, was shot, and died instantly. Nothing more to say.]
[Selling Price: 100 Star Coins]
"I can really collect it, just like the function demonstrated in the 'Child of Stardust' trailer..."
Zhou Yuan's mind was a mess, too many unbelievable things had happened tonight, and he was unable to sort through his thoughts at the moment.
"Let's get out of here first."
Zhou Yuan sprinted down the fire stairs, and in no time, he burst out of the office building. Outside, many employees who had escaped gathered, each with faces filled with fear, still in shock.
[Mission "Survive" completed]
[Performance Evaluation: B (Experience points and Star Coin rewards increased to 110%)]
[Comment: The best way to deal with a threat is to kill it. Congratulations on surviving.]
[Mission Reward 1: Experience Points * 110]
[Mission Reward 2: Star Coins * 550]
[Mission Reward 3: Random Quality Item Pack * 1]
[LV0→LV1!]
A series of system prompt sounds rang in his ears, and Zhou Yuan finally let out a sigh of relief, feeling a sense of fortunate survival. He also couldn't help shaking in fright for a moment.
He looked up to see the building being devoured by fierce flames, the fire reddening half of the night sky, thick smoke billowing into the heavens.
Suddenly, the sound of helicopter rotors came from the sky, as three armed helicopters came roaring in, arriving overhead the building, and several figures leapt down.
A few seconds later, boom!
A terrifying explosion occurred inside the building, a wave of flames gushing out from the middle of the structure.
People screamed and retreated in terror when someone noticed a convoy of a dozen black armored vehicles approaching from the end of the street, followed by several buses, and in the sky, more armed helicopters carrying giant searchlights flew in, all of them equipped with weapons.
The faces of many showed fear. Was this the onset of war?
Zhou Yuan blended into the crowd of survivors, watching the approaching armored convoy.
If supernatural powers existed in the world, there must be organizations dealing with them. These people must be them.
So the question was, would the "Child of Stardust Player System" he had just obtained be detected?
"Hm? What's this function?"
As Zhou Yuan fretted, he suddenly spotted an "Invisibility Mode" option in the system settings.
Once this mode was activated, all means of detection, spiritual communication, divination, prophecy, etc., against the "Player System" would become ineffective.
"Activate!"
Zhou Yuan decisively opened the option and then looked at his personal panel.
[Name: Zhou Yuan]
[Level: LV1]
[Experience: 60/100]
[Spirituality Value: 900]
[Title: None]
[Buff: None]
[Aoneng Power: Unawakened]
[Skill: None]
[Equipment: Steel Rose]
[Backpack: Headless corpse of a Nether Wolf, Mini Life Potion*2, Mini Spirituality Potion*2...]
[Attributes:
Strength: 5
Agility: 5
Constitution: 5
Intelligence: 3]
Perception: 6
Charm: 7]
[Available Attribute Points: 1]
[Star Coins Balance: 1550]
Zhou Yuan's expression became strange. His intelligence was only at 3 points, so low…
Well, who made him drop out after junior high to work, and after so many years as a security guard, his brain had already rusted, spending all day only knowing how to swipe his phone and watch videos. Even zombies would shake their heads at that.
However, he had not expected his perception to be so high, second only to the charm that brought him the fluke of turning his luck around.
A moment later, the armored convoy arrived nearby, and fully armed soldiers jumped out of the vehicles, bypassing the crowd and rushing toward the building.
"Everyone get on the bus and cooperate with the follow-up investigation."
A long-haired woman wearing a bulletproof vest came to the crowd. Her plain voice seemed to contain some magic power, and suddenly everyone followed the magic, their eyes losing their sparkle, and queued up like puppets to board the bus.
On the bus, Zhou Yuan had just sat down when he jolted awake in a daze, his consciousness immediately snapping back into clarity. He was utterly astonished.
"Another Transcendent, is that mind control ability?
How convenient, not only can it make the survivors evacuate quickly and in an orderly manner, but it can also help with subsequent investigations.
But why was I able to break free of the mind control? Is it because of my high perception, or for some other reason?"
Zhou Yuan sat quietly on his seat like everyone else, showing no sign of breaking free from the control, not wanting to cause trouble.
Ten minutes later, the bus brought the people to an office building. Zhou Yuan knew this place; it was an internet company that dealt with social media, but now it seemed that was just a front.
The group was led into the lobby, then taken down to the basement in batches by the elevator. Those with injuries were sent to the medical department, while the uninjured were taken to a room dedicated to interrogation.
[Detecting an event occurrence, generating quest…]
[Quest Name: "Defend Memory"]
[Quest Objective: Use any means to protect your own memory.]
[Quest Reward 1: Experience Points*50]
[Quest Reward 2: Star Coins*500]
[Quest Reward 3: Common Quality Item Pack*1]
"Defend memory?"
Upon seeing the quest, Zhou Yuan's heart stirred, and he quietly opened the system shop.
It didn't take long for him to find a suitable item and he immediately spent 500 Star Coins to purchase it, as his interrogation began.
The questions were nothing more than "What did you see?" and "What do you know?" Playing dumb was relatively easy. Zhou Yuan responded dully to the questions posed by the staff member opposite him, claiming that he had encountered a collapse while on patrol and had almost been buried alive, struggling mightily to escape.
After recording everything, the staff member took out a pair of sunglasses and put them on, then took out a metal rod and flashed Zhou Yuan with a red light. In a calm tone, he said:
"The Stars Network accident was caused by a gas leak. After returning home, you, who narrowly escaped death, will feel tired and sleepy, so you'll fall asleep as soon as you lie down, and when you wake up, you'll forget everything that happened here."
Zhou Yuan nodded blankly.
·
Late at night.
Zhou Yuan and the other survivors were gradually sent back home. He did as instructed by the staff, not even changing clothes before falling asleep, until he naturally woke up the next morning.
"Hm?"
Zhou Yuan rubbed his eyes, thinking he was seeing things, because strange things appeared in his line of sight.
"Damn, the system!"
A few seconds later, he realized this was the legendary system!
And as he delved further into his research, something in the backpack called "One-Time Super Dream Chip" piqued his curiosity.
[Name: One-Time Super Dream Chip]
[Quality: Common]
[Special Effect: Store a memory less than two hours long. Once used, you will retrieve the memory stored within.]
[Remark: In the year 2077, using Super Dream to experience what others have is already a well-known form of entertainment. From the high society elites to the poor streets and alleys, everyone is chasing the fleeting yet vivid, colorful fantasy that Super Dream brings.]
"What's this? Click it."
In an instant, the erased memory returned like a flood, and a series of system prompts sounded in his ears.
[Quest "Defend Memory" complete]
[Task Evaluation: C (Experience Points and Star Coins rewards remain unchanged)]
[Comment: Your performance was nothing extraordinary.]
[Reward 1: Experience Points*50]
[Reward 2: Star Coins*500]
[Reward 3: Common Quality Item Pack*1]
[LV1→LV2!]
[Experience: 10/150]
[Available Attribute Points: 2]