Chapter 12: Super Soldier Serum
One morning, a day later.
After his morning run, Zhou Yuan walked into a breakfast shop and ordered a bowl of savory tofu pudding and two meat-filled buns.
As he sat down, he pulled out his phone to open the chat app, wanting to see if there were any funny memes or risqué pictures in the group chat. Instead, he found the company group unusually active—though he had been dismissed by Stars Network, he hadn't left any of the staff groups.
Zhou Yuan opened the group chat to scroll through messages, his expression gradually turning solemn.
—Just dozens of minutes ago, the art director's body was found in a park. The police couldn't get in touch with his family so they went to his home, but no one answered despite knocking for a very long time.
The police, sensing something was wrong, broke the lock and entered, only to be shocked to discover that the entire family of the art director had been brutally murdered!
No such massacre had occurred in Xinhu for many years, and now that it had happened, it had happened to someone Zhou Yuan knew, which explained the uproar in the group.
Group members all lamented the art director's incredibly bad luck. He had only recently escaped from a fire and hadn't rested for a few days when he encountered this misfortune, where his entire family was slaughtered. It was a true case of 'surviving a great disaster only to face further woes', and he was thoroughly jinxed.
Only Zhou Yuan, who knew part of the truth, understood that, at this critical juncture, the killer was most likely an extraordinary person targeting the Player System.
That night, including Nangong Yi, no one had found the Player System, which wasn't hard to deduce that someone else had beaten them to it.
Those extraordinary persons involved in the incident were the prime suspects, and naturally, the survivors of the fire became the second group of suspects.
Compared to the trouble of finding an extraordinary person, it was obviously easier to go after ordinary people.
The art director was one of the highest-ranking survivors that night, having been involved in the development of "Child of Stardust" from its inception, and was a key veteran in both the company and the production team.
The killer must have thought that he, with his high position and influence, had known some critical information, possibly obtaining the Player System amidst the chaos, which is why he became a target.
"Regardless of whether the killer got any clues from the art director, they definitely won't stop until they find out where the Player System is.
All the survivors that night are the killer's targets. Although the company's higher-ups are the priority, this doesn't mean the lower-level staff are safe. Who knows when they might come for me."
A strong sense of crisis emerged in Zhou Yuan's mind. If those extraordinary persons came for him, he would meet the same fate as the art director!
He must... become stronger quickly!
"It seems I can't rely on physical training alone, the effects are too slow. It would take at least half a year, and by then, the grass over my grave could be two meters high. That leaves me with only one option..."
—Drugs!
The game mall was full of all kinds of items capable of enhancing the body, like the mystical Body Refining Elixirs from fantasy sides, genetic potions from technology sides, and strengthening magic from magic sides...
Zhou Yuan had originally planned to save money and buy some powerful items, but now it seemed he couldn't afford to save his Star Coins.
Having hurriedly finished his breakfast.
Zhou Yuan went straight back home and started to sift through the mall.
[Body Refining Elixir, Common, 2,000 Star Coins, only for those below level 10. Increases Strength, Agility, and Constitution attributes by +1 after use.]
[Marrow-Cleansing Elixir, Fine Quality, 4,000 Star Coins, only for those below level 10. Provides a bone-deep transformation effect, increasing Strength, Agility, Constitution, Intelligence, and Perception by +1 after use.]
[Vajra Elixir, Fine Quality, 5,000 Star Coins, only for those below level 10. Increases Strength and Agility by +2, and Constitution by +3 after use, and entering the first level of the Golden Body Skill.]
[KW74 Enhancer Potion, Common, 2,000 Star Coins, only for those below level 10. The drug must be injected directly into the heart, enduring a bone-deep transformation process for 5-50 minutes. The longer the endurance, the more pronounced the enhancement effect.]
[Super Soldier Serum (Original Version), Rare, 8,000 Star Coins, only for those below level 10. Injection increases Strength, Agility, Constitution, Intelligence, and Perception to 12 points, comes with a side effect that infinitely amplifies one's true thoughts, making the good better and the evil worse.]
[Super Soldier Serum (Improved Version), Rare, 6,000 Star Coins, only for those below level 10. Injection increases Strength, Agility, Constitution, Intelligence, and Perception to 10 points, eliminating the side effect of infinitely magnifying inner desires.]
[T-Virus...]
[Inferior Angel Bloodline...]
[Inferior Demon Bloodline...]
[Level I Genetic Potion·Plasma...]
With a myriad of items to choose from, Zhou Yuan was dazzled. After careful consideration, he had a clear answer in mind.
—The Super Soldier Serum (Improved Version)!
This item was a major plotline in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, related to many superhero stories, the most iconic of which was Captain America, who transformed from a skinny guy to a muscular hunk after being injected with the serum and bombarded with vita-rays. That physique was something no man could resist.
The Improved Version of the serum seemed to appear in later movies and TV shows. The enhancement wasn't as astonishing as the original version, but it removed the side effects and did not amplify inner desires.
For Zhou Yuan, this was the best choice; it boosted all his attributes to 10 points except Charm, and it was great value for money.
The only problem was his current balance of Star Coins was only 5,400, which was 600 short to purchase the Super Soldier Serum.
As for selling items...
Zhou Yuan first looked at the [Healthy Apple], which could be sold for 100 Star Coins each. He had three in his backpack, which could get him 300 Star Coins—these past two days, he had been lucky with the daily free draw from the fortune wheel, winning Healthy Apples, so the three apples he got from a ten-draw before were still untouched.
I'm still short by 300.
He looked at the "Tracking Monitor" again, an item that cost 300 Star Coins to buy, but could only sell for 100 Star Coins, selling it would be too much of a loss, better to keep it for use.
Then there was the "Emergency Syrup," an item obtained from opening a chest, which could control an enemy for a while when thrown during an escape, gaining time to run for one's life, a life-saving item that would be a pity to sell.
Items like the "Mini Life Potion," "Mini Spirituality Potion," "Wingsuit Strawberry," "Ultra-Luxurious Delicious Crab Burger" couldn't be sold either, as they were considered strategic resources for battle.
The "Human Skin Score" was related to a collection quest, selling it would lead to mission failure.
"There's nothing to sell..."
Zhou Yuan was worried, only items related to Transcendents could be sold, for example, "Li Xu Tian's Diary" couldn't be sold, apart from the many items, there was nothing else in his bag that met the requirements.
"Guess I'll have to do a mission then."
He opened the mission tab and was surprised to find the first mission to be a heavyweight one.
[Mission Name: "Ghost Call"]
[Mission Objective: Answer a call received on the opple smartphone and ensure the call lasts for 3 minutes.]
[Mission Reward 1: Experience Points*500]
[Mission Reward 2: Star Coins*3000]
[Mission Reward 3: Rare Quality Item Pack*1]
[Would you like to accept?]
[Yes/No]
"Hiss..."
Zhou Yuan sucked in a breath of cold air, such rich rewards indicated a very high difficulty and not a small risk of death.
He couldn't help but remember the last time he answered a call on the opple smartphone, the Eyes of Identification hinted the caller was a person in red...
"This mission is like accepting death."
Zhou Yuan muttered to himself and then scrolled down to find, to his surprise, that the second mission was also related to the opple smartphone.
[Mission Name: "Late Night Radio"]
[Mission Objective: After midnight, listen to "1097 Tenderness Radio" for 1 hour using the opple smartphone.]
[Mission Reward 1: Experience Points*400]
[Mission Reward 2: Star Coins*2000]
[Mission Reward 3: Fine Quality Skill Scroll*1]
[Would you like to accept?]
[Yes/No]
"Another mission, this phone sure holds many secrets..."
Zhou Yuan continued to look down and shockingly, the third mission was still related to the opple smartphone, followed by the fourth, the fifth.
The longer he looked, the quieter he became.
According to the mission descriptions, this broken phone could capture ghosts just by taking a photo, and there were things like "a mysterious website hidden in the deepest part of the internet," "a cursed text message that causes trouble if not forwarded," "a dark forbidden song that has killed over a hundred people"...
It was simply a trigger for supernatural events.
"Currently, my only means of attacking supernatural entities is the steel rose's exorcism bullet, and that only works on visible spiritual bodies. If they hide and use curses or psychic attacks, I'm the one who's going to die.
Better look for some daily missions."
Daily missions don't offer much in rewards, but they are easier, like the side quests in many RPG games, generally involving tasks such as watering plants, finding people, and delivering things— the "unclogging toilets" kind of tasks.
Zhou Yuan scrolled for a while and finally found a simple daily mission nearby.
[Mission Name: "Missing Cat Notice"]
[Mission Objective: Find the cat lost by Ms Wang downstairs 0/1]
[Mission Reward 1: Experience Points*10]
[Mission Reward 2: Star Coins*100]