The rumbling footsteps shook the ground behind Chun; the supervisor's speed exceeded Chun's expectations. And maintaining full speed with a load of two hundred already didn't just exhaust Physical Strength but consumed three times the physical effort!
But there's the mushroom! This mushroom won't make you full; as long as you keep eating, it's equivalent to infinite Physical Strength! With infinite Physical Strength, then… you can practice running skills, not only increasing speed but also saving physical energy.
Chun quickly ate another mushroom.
—— System Reminder: Warning! You ate another toxic mushroom, intensifying the hallucination effect. The "Whale's Power" can no longer fully resist the toxins; you will receive 1 point of toxic damage every 1 to 5 seconds! Your Illusion Value +1. Your hunger level abnormally increased.
Holy shit, poison defense broke!
Chun forced himself to stay calm; food itself has the ability to restore Life, negating 1 point of poison damage is no problem, but the abnormal hunger level—Chun suddenly realized that not only did the hunger level not decrease, but it slightly increased!
Holy shit, this isn't just about not getting full; this is like a parasite; the more you eat, the hungrier you get?
The pursuit sounds were tightening, he could even feel the flames and golden light approaching from behind.
Such a sacred golden light… these illusions are ridiculous! Chun was curious about what the supervisor looked like, but with such fake imagery, it wasn't worth looking.
Chun had no choice; he continued eating without looking back!
Finally, it came:
—— System Reminder: Congratulations! You mastered Basic Running Level 1, gaining achievement reward: Physical Strength +1, Load Capacity +1.
Great, slightly increasing the distance, now just need to keep leveling up…
The mushrooms didn't disappoint Chun; Running Level 2, 3, 4, 5 increased like speeding, and the poison damage increased rapidly; the -1 life drop prompts formed a chain of red lines; this life drop and healing formed a wave-like balance at half Life, showing that drinking poison to quench thirst wasn't entirely unreasonable.
Finally, after circling the field a dozen times, Chun achieved Intermediate Running.
At this point, speed had a noticeable qualitative increase, skill effects became like wind with running, Chun gradually couldn't hear the roars from behind anymore, did he shake them off?
Uncertain. What is certain is that the entire mining area seems to have only one supervisor.
Ordinarily, one should stop and rest. But if it's about rushing the running skill, resting must not be interrupted. Running, commonly seen in public beta tournaments, has been thoroughly researched by masters; one has to complete it in one go, or all previous efforts would be wasted, and upgrading would be impossible.
Chun deliberated for a moment: Must not stop, rush the skill; with this momentum, maybe he could reach Expert level! Compared to the clueless trials, it's better to have a defensive skill.
Skills continued to level up, mushrooms kept being eaten, then the most troublesome problem finally appeared:
—— System Reminder: Warning! Your hunger level reached 50, your Attributes declined in all aspects! Your "Whale's Power" immunity to toxins weakened, you will receive 2 points of toxic damage per second.
Holy shit! The balance of drinking poison to quench thirst was broken!
Meanwhile, Chun's speed visibly slowed.
Rationality told him to stop now, not to eat mushrooms, eat the remaining dry food, heal and clear the hunger level. But the successful experience of practicing Artistic Swimming had told him this was the unreliable moment when miracles occur in "Hunger Flow" and "Dying Flow"!
Since he chose from the beginning not to stop, then don't stop—this is Chun's style, pursuing to the death, regardless of the right or wrong of decisions.
Soon, the life line fell to around 60 points of Life, leaving Chun only a little over a minute. This minute seemed increasingly unlikely to bring any breakthroughs, not even close to Advanced level. And hunger made the already hallucination-filled game screen more blurred and confused.
Chun felt somewhat regretful but more unwilling; was this game scene this difficult? To the point of dying without knowing what trial it was?
As he dashed through a passage, Chun vaguely saw something like a golden doorframe flickering past him.
Chun froze; was that another hallucination?
But the speed seemed off; it floated by, and it clearly had the complete shape of a door! Other scenarios only appeared as fleeting afterimages.
Chun suddenly realized that wasn't it similar to filming animation movies? Twenty-four frames zipped by at high speed, forming a continuous moving image to the human eye.
Here, it's him speeding past; in the passage, key points formed continuous images, creating the complete shape of a door—so entering that door is the breakthrough point!
Immediately turn back? No, slowing down to turn may cause him to miss seeing the door! That door is definitely related to the hallucinations.
So will there be another door ahead in the passage?
There must be!
The basis is that the discovery of this door explained Chun's previous doubts, like what if Little Demons' pickaxes wear out? There must be a forge or a pickaxe warehouse, and this door hidden so obscurely couldn't rule out being a Mineral Crystal warehouse. The seven mines spaced so far apart must have seven warehouses!
Chun rushed past a mine at full speed and entered the next passage.
Chun focused completely on the passage ahead. He had only half a minute left; success must come, failure was not an option!
A metallic light emitted in front, is it a door? It must be!
Saw it, it truly is!
Chun was nervously excited as if on a train speeding at high velocity, seeing an oncoming train opened its golden door—I'm jumping!!
The scene changed; Chun saw a golden extra-glittering hall filled with Mineral Crystals and various sundries.
Chun didn't have time to check, nor did he pause his running pace; he was racing on a straight path, and at the end of the road was something glowing; Chun assumed that was the end point of the trial task—if not, he wouldn't have many seconds left to live, either poisoned to death or crash.
Saw it, it's a glowing, fluctuating Teleportation Gate!
The closer Chun got to the Teleportation Gate, the stronger the immense suction force he felt, and his running speed suddenly increased—it felt like he was flying, no, it felt like his legs were no longer his own, his whole body being sucked into the gate, becoming a mere afterimage! An illusion, it must all be an illusion...
A white light flashed before Chun's eyes!
——System Message: Congratulations! You have broken through the speed limit, with your Intermediate Running Level 6 successfully advancing to Expert Running Level 1! Achievement rewards obtained: Load Capacity +21, Physical Strength +21, Speed +1. You have gained the "Three Days of Newcomer's Discount Blessing" achievement reward: Wisdom +2.
——System Message: Congratulations! You have broken through the Physical Strength limit, successfully comprehending the hidden skill: Basic Marathon Level 10, and received achievement rewards: Load Capacity +10, Physical Strength +10.
——System Message: You have completed the Trial of Layer 1, please await the evaluation results.
...
Holy shit… skipped directly past Advanced to become an Expert!! No need to wait for an evaluation, this reward alone is a huge profit!
Chun's tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and he collapsed onto the seat, panting heavily.
Have to say... forget it, I'm too tired to talk about it... not going to think about anything.
After a while, the white light before Chun's eyes dissipated, and the screen became splendidly golden again. Chun found himself in a hall shrouded in clouds and mist, like the Celestial Realm.
What is this? Chun found himself walking quite briskly.
Chun hurriedly checked his attributes, only to find there were only two: Wisdom Value 8, Illusion Value 57.
Holy shit! Where are my other attributes?
An ethereal yet charming voice sounded: "Warrior, you are now in a soul state."
Am I dead? Chun hurriedly turned his head to see a golden-haired angel in radiant white clothes and gleaming wings approaching through the mist. Looking closer, her clothing was the most fashionable drape, covering what should be covered and revealing what should be revealed, just barely passing as proper due to strategic censorship—could this be an illusion created by a Banshee?
Chun hurriedly asked, "Is this Heaven?"
The angel smiled and said, "As long as there is Heaven in your heart, any place can be Heaven."
Chun was stunned, "Even being in Hell is Heaven?"
The angel laughed, "As long as there is evil in your heart, any place can be Hell?"
Chun asked again, "How should I address you?"
The angel laughed merrily, "You can call me Maria!"
Holy shit, a real angel using that name?
Chun got straight to the point, "Actually, I just completed a trial in a Hell Lava Mine, and I want to know the result."
The angel kindly asked, "What result do you think you should obtain? Power, wealth, or influence? Or all three?"
Chun felt like this was an interview, so he had to think carefully.
However, his trouble was snatching resources from the consortium bigwigs. What good is dominating in the game if, once they trace him, some unidentified people might burst into the internet cafe? Want to switch internet cafes to hide? These days it's hard to find a free spot!
Besides, now there are a few more masters in mining, expert runners, and advanced collectors. After midnight when the rankings are updated, his rank might jump into the top 1000. Such a leap is sure to attract attention!
So, he must not want any of the three; he needs something to lower his ranking and dramatically reduce his reputation, or something that can conceal his identity—like her illusion disguise, a basic skill of Demons!
Chun carefully considered his words to make a good impression: "The most laughable folly of mortals is offering insignificant tributes to the Gods in exchange for wishes worth millions. Although I completed the trial, I don't think I displayed anything noteworthy, and I do not deserve power, wealth, or influence."
The angel was surprised, "Then what do you want?"
Chun replied, "To pursue the ultimate evil!"
The angel was startled and laughed, "A mere mortal talking about the ultimate evil in front of me?"
A bit like showing off one's limited skills before an expert.
Chun responded, "In my view, the evil of killing, looting, and deceiving is easily anticipated and eradicated, causing limited harm. But the ultimate evil is that which is kind, weak, never suspected, and does good deeds, yet causes unimaginable destruction without being blamed or doubted."
The angel was stunned for a moment, "So you actually want me!"
Holy shit, what kind of logic is that? Although a Banshee might do such things, it's not what I want!
Chun became anxious, "Don't misunderstand me, ma'am, I just want to be weak, to disguise myself, so I don't rank high on the list!"
The angel laughed heartedly, "You really suit my taste! Becoming weak is much easier than becoming strong, consider it done!"
Upon finishing her words, Chun's world was filled with a pink light!
——System Message: You have initiated the Soul Stripping ritual, which is expected to be completed in 2 hours. You will exit the game and await the update of the operation mode. Please log in again after 2 hours and enjoy your game.
Uh!!
Chun was shocked, Soul Stripping? Could it be the rumored consciousness upload? But this is an ordinary machine without a brain-computer interface! But from the pink light, it's certain she's a Banshee!
As long as the ranking issue is solved, that's fine. Two hours is also a rare rest opportunity, might as well take a nap.