Chapter 1 Decision

Sullen made a decision and walked onto the altar with a look of indifference.

Hesitation had never been in his nature.

From the moment he decided to follow the route, he had already made up his mind.

Coming to such an interesting fantasy world, being timid would be truly boring.

...

Sullen stood on the altar, his feet on the intricately engraved runes, observing carefully.

He had seen Baldy use this kind of "alchemy array" before. That guy used a six-pointed star magic array to create a set of metal scale armor.

But clearly, the array engraved on this altar was much more complex.

"Blood soaks the ouroboros, the array opens..."

He followed the information on his retina, tearing off the simple bandage on his palm. Then, with a slight squeeze, the wound tore open, and blood flowed down his fingers, dripping onto the "ouroboros" carving of the magic array.

The blood soaked the ouroboros, and the bloody color spread automatically.

The stone-carved snake body gradually became as red and bright as a ruby.

In the blink of an eye, the runes on the altar lit up, emitting a dazzling golden light that almost blinded him.

"The array is functioning normally..."

Sullen muttered to himself with a hint of joy.

This was a good sign.

The fact that the array could operate meant that the method deciphered in the [Isaac Alchemy Manuscript] was likely correct. After all, probably no one would create such a complex prank.

With the array lit, the next step was the "sacrifice" part.

The information on his retina stated that all alchemy in this world followed the "principle of equivalent exchange." To obtain that talent, one had to sacrifice an equivalent price.

What he had to pay now was his own eyeball.

"Huff..."

Sullen exhaled slowly, raised his right hand, and dug towards his left eye, mockingly complaining in his heart, "As expected, the body is excited about pain. Even if it's gouging out its own eye..."

Gouging out an eye might be bloody for others, but it wasn't unfamiliar to Sullen.

In his first year in juvenile detention, when he had an attack, he had done something like that. The target was a prison bully who bullied him. After that, the inmates called him "Madman."

Later, after thoroughly studying "Human Anatomy" in juvenile detention, he learned how to accurately kill, injure, and beat people...

Fear comes from the unknown. Sullen knew very well what he would face when gouging out his eye, so he was very calm.

He acted without hesitation, as if he wasn't the one enduring the pain.

...

Stinging, heart-wrenching stinging...

And the fear of monocular blindness.

Blood dripped from his eye socket, falling on the altar.

The pain made Sullen's forehead covered in cold sweat, his face frighteningly pale.

After a few breaths, he took the scarlet object and placed it in the left basket of the "scales" stone carving.

At that moment, as if a certain condition had been activated, the scales in the center of the altar suddenly emitted a dazzling red light, swallowing the eyeball. At the same time, the stone statue with the "ꧧ" symbol among the five stone statues also surrounded by a layer of spiritual light, a wisp of green aura like a small snake, quietly poured into Sullen's bleeding left eye...

This was a very complex alchemy conversion ritual.

This extremely high-standard altar, sealed for thousands of years, seemed to connect different time and space under the urging of the medium... An ancient and majestic aura descended into the secret room.

Sullen was unaware, but his limited perception also allowed him to touch a few mysteries of this magical alchemy. It was like traveling in the endless starry sky, and then casually picking a brilliant star from the starry sky and integrating it into the body.

The process was smoother than expected, without any unexpected events.

Sullen didn't know what happened, his eyes were full of blood.

Soon, he clearly felt the pain in his eye disappearing, and the light in his left eye was recovering.

"Success..."

Sullen guessed what was happening and breathed a sigh of relief.

That tingling sensation was the phenomenon of muscle tissue regeneration, so fast it was unbelievable.

The whole process lasted about three minutes, and the red light of the magic array on the altar completely dimmed.

And the moment the red light disappeared, the statue with the "ꧧ" symbol also cracked.

Sullen's left eye slowly focused, clear and bright, glittering with spiritual light, like a newborn infant. On closer inspection, in the golden pupil, there was also a silver "moon." The luster flashed, and the moon shadow disappeared into the depths of the pupil.

This was a very wonderful experience. The altar in front of him was still the same, but it looked like a strange "new world." All objects became extremely clear, like a high-definition original photo with the filter turned off, visible to the smallest detail. Even the dense, spiderweb-like cracks on the statue were clearly visible.

...

"So... what kind of extraordinary ability did I awaken? Is it [Enhanced Vision]?"

Confirming that the ritual was complete, Sullen looked around and then looked down at his body.

His appearance didn't seem to have changed much. His vision seemed to have improved a lot. Even in dim light, his vision was incredibly clear.

If that was all, he thought it was much worse than Baldy’s [Tempered Bones]...

But just as Sullen complained in his heart, a strange feeling appeared.

He carefully looked at his body, staring with a gaze that wanted to see the truth through the fog, and a strange text appeared in his eyes.

Sullen (Fick Regaudi)

Dark Spiritual Power Value: 233/1130

Charm: 9

Strength: 6

Agility: 6

Constitution: 5

Perception: 4

Skill: 8

Mental Strength: 26

Talent: [Talent S-018 - Omniscient Eye]

Skills: [Haggem Breathing Method], [Elementary Firearm Proficiency], [Advanced Fighting Introduction]

Comprehensive Combat Evaluation: B+ (For ordinary people who have not yet taken up an extraordinary profession, you are very weak in combat besides being handsome. But having awakened the S-level talent 'Omniscient Eye', you have unlimited possibilities in the future.)

Seeing this, time seemed to stand still for a moment.

Sullen said in surprise, "Data Panel?"

When he saw this string of data appearing on his retina, he felt like he was playing a game again.

But when he saw the [Talent S-018 - Omniscient Eye] on the panel, he suddenly understood.

"So, the extraordinary talent awakened by this sacrificial ritual is this ability? It doesn't seem very powerful..."

Sullen muttered to himself, understanding why the thing that needed to be sacrificed was his own eyeball.

So this "directional awakening" meant this, exchanging an eye for an eye.

Sullen's thinking was very jumpy. He wouldn't dwell on things that couldn't be changed, but instead complained about the evaluations on the panel.

His fighting skills, which allowed him to fight ten people on Earth, were only an "Advanced Introduction"?

That was fine...

But the sharpshooting skills he had honed at the shooting range with most of his savings were only "Elementary Proficiency"?

What would Advanced Proficiency in firearms be like? Could he make bullets turn corners?

And!

Comprehensive evaluation, weakling?

Not very harmful, but extremely insulting...

"Heh... Compared to that Baldy, I can only be considered a 'weakling'."

Sullen looked at it and smiled wryly, but he also had a rough idea of the combat power system of this world.

And the inexplicable [Haggem Breathing Method] should be the "passive skill" that the original owner had learned.

Sullen had previously felt a strange energy flowing in his body, and his breathing naturally followed a certain rhythm. It was something like "muscle memory," almost instinctive.

And Dark Spiritual Power should be something similar to the "internal energy" of his previous life.

But he looked at his attribute panel again, and a hint of doubt appeared. The other items were fine, but the value of "26 points" for mental strength was too conspicuous.

"Could it be because of multiple personalities?"

Sullen pondered, holding his chin, but before he could think about it in detail...

At this moment, an unexpected situation suddenly occurred!

At this moment, the altar, which had already dissipated its light, lit up again.

This time it wasn't golden light, but a gray mist shrouded in cold light. It was as if a passage to hell had been opened, and he felt a trembling aura from his soul.

"What's going on, the alchemy array started again?!"

Sullen was greatly puzzled, because the information on his retina did not record that such a strange situation would occur during the ritual.

But he didn't move, because this scene was very similar to the previous awakening.

After the light of the magic array flashed, the statue with the "☽" symbol on its cloak lit up with fluorescence, and a faint black light overflowed from the statue.

This time, the conversion process was much faster than before.

"The talent has already been awakened, why is it happening again? I didn't sacrifice anything..."

Sullen watched this familiar process, greatly puzzled.

At the same time, he felt as if something invisible had been drawn from his body, and he felt much lighter for no reason.

Before long, the light of the eight-pointed star dissipated, and the statue cracked again.

Now, none of the five statues were intact.

Sullen also clearly felt that the sense of mystery and awe that these statues had given him before suddenly disappeared, turning into five ordinary stone statues.

...

Sullen looked at the panel again, wanting to know what had happened to his body.

Then, he saw that something had been added to the talent column—[Talent S-004 - Death Reaper].