Li Ang shook his head, casting his jumbled thoughts aside. Accompanied by the class bell, he continued to slip into sleep.
In the afternoon, the school leaders once again gathered the students for a lecture, essentially urging everyone to focus on their studies and not get distracted by various trivial matters. However, as with all previous lectures, the leaders' earnest advice had little impact on the majority of teenagers in the throes of adolescence.
While sitting in the meeting on the sports field, Li Ang's keen hearing allowed him to overhear many classmates quietly discussing news about a brutal game. Some even played the role of "informed uncles," discussing outdated news that had clearly cycled through who knows how many hands from player forums. After all, who wouldn't want to possess extraordinary abilities, become a superhero who could pluck stars from the sky or move mountains, and be worshipped by millions? Even if one could only muster a small flame at their fingertips or freeze water into ice, it would still distinguish them from billions of other people.
Li Ang listened silently to his peers' aspirations for supernatural powers. Thanks to the school's military-style physical education curriculum and the special nutritional supplements provided by the cafeteria, the students' physical fitness had significantly improved, giving everyone more confidence.
Training more is always good. Even if one doesn't become a player, in the potentially chaotic global situation of the future, it could give someone an edge.
Li Ang stretched broadly, crossed his arms, and ducked his head, getting through the school leader's lecture unnoticed.
After school, like the other students, he took the school bus home. He greeted Miss Chai, who had completely turned into a salted fish, and then entered the Alchemy Workshop in the adjoining room.
The previous afternoon, he had thrown the Osiris Bronze Sickle Sword and the damaged Triangular Bone Tipped Spear into the Forging Furnace. The compatibility between the two was as high as 85%, making it seem quite possible to craft new equipment.
As Li Ang pressed the button on the Forging Furnace, an item dropped out from the compartment below.
It was a giant scythe, as tall as a person. The handle, pale and slender, was almost identical to the shaft of the Triangular Bone Tipped Spear. A glowing, dark-blue crystal block was inlaid at its base. At the top, a scythe blade was secured with a metal ring. The blade was quite wide with a slight curve. It appeared to be made of bronze, with an overall dark-gold color. However, the new blade seemed to have incorporated part of the Bonetip Spear, making it sturdier than before. The overall design resembled the Grim Reaper's scythe from Western literary works.
[Name: Soul Reaping Bronze Scythe]
[Type: Weapon]
[Quality: Rare]
[Attack Power: Medium]
[Special Effect: Soul Reaping. When the user kills a living being or a Spiritual Body possessing a soul with the Soul Reaping Bronze Scythe, its soul is bound within the crystal block at the end of the scythe. The user can choose to completely consume the soul, converting it into Soul Fragments and negative energy. The user cannot control the bound soul. Only one soul can be reaped at a time. Extracting the soul from the crystal block or directly consuming it will deplete the user's Spirit Energy Value and Sanity Value. The life essence of the captured soul cannot exceed the quality of the scythe itself.]
[Consumption: 10 Spirit Energy Value and 5 Sanity Value per second]
[Cooldown Time: None]
[Equipment Requirement: Perception Attribute ≥ 10 points]
[Note: You destroyed a sacred artifact of Osiris. He will not be pleased.]
[Note: Beautiful faces are a dime a dozen, but an interesting soul is one in a million.]
"Hmm..." Li Ang mused, looking at the new equipment forged from the Osiris Bronze Sickle Sword and the Triangular Bone Tipped Spear, lost in thought.
This scythe, much like Virulent Poison, seems to be a piece of functional equipment that only reaches its full potential in specific circumstances.
Li Ang swung the scythe a few times and flicked the blade with his fingertip. But it's still pretty sturdy and durable, no worse than the original Bonetip Spear. It can even be used as a standard weapon without its special effects.
However, if this special effect means it can grind reaped souls into Yin energy, that would be quite excellent. It could serve as a device to provide Chaichai with Yin energy.
Amid his musings, the long-absent System notification chimed.
[Task trigger conditions met.]
[Task Type: Script Mission (Team)]
[Task Name: Twisted Fairy Tales]
[Task Objective: By 21:00 tonight, possess two books of any edition of Andersen's Fairy Tales and Grimms' Fairy Tales. Remain alone in a closed room and await teleportation.]
[Task Reward: Will be announced upon receiving the next mission prompt.]
[Failure Penalty: Player's current level will decrease by one. All attributes will drop by 4 points for 168 hours.]
After he was prepared, Li Ang's current player panel was:
[Flesh Cutter • Li Rising]
[Lv. 13 | Experience: 113/1,300]
[Strength: 11]
[Agility: 11]
[Intelligence: 10]
[Constitution: 11]
[Perception: 11 (Carefully Cautious +1, Bone Tracing +1)]
[Charm: 4]
[Equipment: Strange Eye, Face-Changing Mask, Soul Conductor Banner, Phase Boots, Virulent Poison, Bloodworm Crowbar, Dusk Cloak, Roanoke God Seal, Mirage Dragon Red Mane Coat, Soul Reaping Bronze Scythe]
[Backpack: Ruitu Military Knife 300, Damaged Alchemy Magic Box, Origin of Life, Automated Pet Box, Miniature Life Potion x1, SCAR-H, Barrett M18A1, Shotgun, Machine Gun, Conscienceless Cannon, Stone Necklace, Special Worms x5, Beehive x3]
[Skills: Adrenaline Activation Method, Ripple Breathing Method, Fragment Scatter, Mocking Taunt x1, No One Can Defeat Me In My BGM, Drown in Misfortune Assassination Method, Necromancy Technique (Junior), Electric Afterimage x1]
[Game Currency: 5,406]
[Spirit Energy Value: 670]
[Sanity Value: 488]
[Swamp God Power: 603/1,000]
As 9:00 PM approached, Li Ang, fully armed, stood quietly in his bedroom, flipping through the fairy tale books in his hands as he waited for the teleportation.