Chapter 5:

Chapter 5: The Gunslinger's Mastery

Tiger Blood: Blood Moon Hunter


[Your non-class active skill: Gunslinger has reached 25% mastery!]

[You have successfully killed a Tier 0 - Level 0 Vampiric Bat!]

[You have successfully killed a Tier 0 - Level 0 Vampiric Bat!]

[You have successfully killed 200x Tier 0 - Level 0 Vampiric Bat!]

Deep in the basement, the dim light flickered weakly, casting eerie shadows across the room. The air was thick with the pungent smell of blood and death, which seemed to cling to every surface.

Weary, Jin sat on the cold, hard ground, propping his back against the bed. The room was a mess - spent shotgun shells littered the floor, and blood stained the once pristine sheets.

The entrance was barricaded with a gruesome heap of bat corpses, their decaying flesh emitting a nauseating stench that made Jin's stomach churn.

As he took in a deep breath, the foul air filled his nostrils, causing his face to contort in disgust. It was a stark reminder of the horrors that had unfolded in the dark and damp basement.

Despite the unpleasant experiences, the notification that flashed before his eyes seemed more important.

He sat upright as his slit amber eyes narrowed at the top of the game screen notification before him.

"Mastery? What is that?" Jin furrowed his brows and displayed a look of uncertainty upon hearing the unfamiliar term.

As far as he knew, despite having played the game for a while, he had never heard of the term "mastery".

Though he was curious and wanted to check it out immediately, safety was his primary instinct and he had been trained to prioritize it.

"Forget it, I should secure this safe point first," Jin muttered as he patted his clothes and stood up, glancing back at his shotgun.

It was normal for this type of shotgun, or almost all firearms, to overheat after being fired continuously for more than 30 minutes.

He noticed that the metal on the barrel had turned a bluish tint, a sign of overheating.

After checking the condition of his shotgun, Jin began to do some manual labor, sorting the magic crystals that were piled up among the bat corpses.

Jin had to endure the stinky smell and slimy texture, his face contorting in disgust.

"This game-entity is too realistic!" He complained in frustration.

After several minutes had passed, a pile of magic crystals sat before Jin. The corpses of the bats had been moved to the corner of the room and concealed in the shadows of a nearby shelf.

"It's a shame my lucky point didn't activate this time," Jin muttered, looking at the corpses with disappointment.

After using the skill several times, he became more familiar with its functionality. There was no cooldown like in the game; as long as he had enough stamina or mana, he could activate the skill repeatedly.

However, after using it more than three times, he felt his energy draining rapidly.

"I was too excited, thinking I could trick this unknown entity that can even affect the human body."

After clearing the narrow entrance, Jin approached a metal lever made of steel with a long string handle attached to the wall.

The brick walls around him were plain, without any decorations, seemingly built for the sole purpose of keeping something safe or for hiding.

Crack.

Jin easily pulled down the lever with both hands. In the next moment, the narrow stairs leading to the entrance of the basement suddenly began to rise.

As the stairs rose, some of the bricks on the wall appeared to be the mechanism that slowly closed off the entrance, preventing the red light from the disco from entering.

Once the entrance was sealed, Jin saw an open shelf with ten ammo pouches lined up before him. Jin's mouth twitched at the sight.

"Why does this nightclub have something like this that I can't even imagine?" Jin wondered.

First, there was a firearm, which was already rare for a high-class nightclub, let alone the hundreds of nightclubs in Shanghai.

And now, there was a secret basement. Although it could be considered a preventive measure, the shelf filled with ammo pouches made it seem more like a hidden armory.

He sighed, massaging his forehead to ease the continuous stress. Due to the sudden and numerous dangers he had faced, it seemed his brain and mental health had deteriorated, making him more pensive and reflective.

With the safe point secured, Jin lay on the bed, staring at the plain brick ceiling, his eyes more focused on the screen before him.

As he read the description on the mastery screen, he felt so much joy that he almost punched the wall beside him.

[Your non-class active skill: Gunslinger has reached 25% mastery!]

[Gunslinger(Active): When activated, the user gains a temporary increase in firearm accuracy and reload speed by 10% for 20 seconds. Additionally, any critical hits dealt during the duration of the skill deal an additional 75% damage (25% Mastery)]

"Fantastic! The mastery mechanic turned out to be a great improvement!" Previously, with zero or so he thought mastery, the skill was already awesome - one shot could kill five bats, consuming 40 shotgun shells.

However, with this new enhancement, he could probably kill seven or more bats with just one shot! Just imagining the upcoming thrill when he used this enchanted skill made him excited.

"Uh, I should control my emotions more," Jin said, awkwardly coughing to calm down his excitement.

Due to the sudden presence of the alien entity, he found himself becoming more easily excited like a child.

This was not good for an adult like him, as being too excited or too nervous could easily affect his decision-making abilities, just as it had in the past.

It was probably related to his real hobby, gaming, which he could not fulfill due to his busy schedule. But it seemed this sudden excitement had ignited his old spirit.

He let out a sigh, then proceeded to check the passive skills he had acquired, the most important of all things.

He already suspected that some of the abnormal conditions he was experiencing were related to the skills he had obtained.

"Especially the information about 'possessing the being of a tiger,'" he mumbled to himself. The next moment, four screens appeared before him at the same time.

[Uncrowned King(Passive): You possess the bearing of a tiger, making you immune to most charisma-based skills and more resistant to mental attacks]

[Resilience of the Tiger(Passive): The user's bloodline can be traced back to the primordial times, when humans and animals coexisted in harmony, increases damage output by 5%, critical hit chance by 2%, maximum health by 3%, and movement speed by 5%]

[Bloodthirst(Passive): When the user takes damage, their bloodlust can cause them to become more aggressive, increasing their attack power but decreasing their defense by 25%]

[Feral Hunger(Passive): When the user goes too long without food, their hunger becomes overwhelming and they may attack anything nearby, even if it's not food]

However, the anticipation on his face slowly turned into a deep frown, marred by dark lines highlighting the veins. The first two skills had made him excited, but the rest of them...

"No wonder I feel like my body suddenly became weak." His eyes narrowed at the Bloodthirst passive skill, and a brief flashback of past events flashed before his eyes.

From the moment the iron door fell on him to where his hands were sliced by the glass shards, these two injuries had caused him to lose 3/4 of his health, triggering the Bloodthirst passive skill.

"It's like a double-edged sword. I guess all of these skills are related to my answer, choosing the tiger as the animal, especially the Feral Hunger."

Even though he had the power of the tiger, their traits also affected his humanity. Among these passive skills, the most dangerous was the last one.

Grrrr

As expected, the moment the growling sound from his stomach sounded, he suddenly felt an overwhelming wave of emotions.

But the next moment caught him completely off guard. In his vision, everything was tinged with a red vignette, limiting his sight and turning objects into something edible.

At the same time, the strong odor of bat corpses transformed into the scent of crispy and juicy meat in the air, and his keen sense of smell intensified.

His amber eyes emitted a faint glow as he glanced towards the corner of the room, where the bat corpses looked delicious and appetizing.

SLAP!

However, before his hunger could take control, Jin forcefully resisted the unbearable hunger and regained his senses.

He widened his eyes, his breathing rough and drenching the clothes he wore.

"That was really dangerous!" he exclaimed, his eyes darting right and left. He moved towards the closed shelves, where the contents were mysterious.

He thought this passive skill would only slightly increase his appetite and enchant his cravings for food, but who knew it would actually turn off his thinking!

To his anger, the moment he opened the first shelf, only rows of bottles of water could be found. Jin cursed, but he didn't give up.

He opened the next shelf beside it, filled with a collection of snacks, and finally his anticipation was fulfilled.

Without hesitation, he lunged over, feasting and tearing into all of the snacks like a famished man.

He didn't care about manners as his mind was barely holding the incoming hunger from taking control of his instincts!

After a while, all the snacks were gone, and empty chip bags were scattered across the floor. Jin, who had devoured them all, looked uneasy.

"This isn't enough," he muttered, his worried expression revealing the danger of his hunger, which kept growling low in his stomach.

He sighed and smiled wryly, unsure if his reward was a blessing or a curse.

"Forget it, I'll try to use the magic crystal. Hopefully, it will work." Sitting on the bed with his shotgun leaning against the wall, he began to grind the magic crystals one by one.

[You have destroyed a Tier 0 magic crystal!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You have destroyed a Tier 0 magic crystal!]

[Your high Luck has begun to take effect!]

[You have absorbed +0.10 Agility!]

[You have destroyed a Tie…]

….

The refreshed feeling began to wash away all of his fatigue and heal his small injuries. However, despite all of that, there was no sign of excitement on his expression.

"The hunger is still here..." he muttered in a low voice.

All of the 200 magic crystals had been crushed, and the only thing that kept him going was the anticipation that his high luck would take effect.

With a command from his mind, a status screen appeared before him.

[

Name: Jin Tianyi

Class: -

Level: 7

Race: Human

Health: 102.38/102.38

Mana/Stamina: 93/93

Attributes: Strength: 9.7| Agility: 8.6 | Intelligence: 6.5 | Dexterity: 11.5 | Luck: 20 | Charisma: 20

]

"The wonderful stats, what a great boost!" His once sluggish and dead eyes had been reborn like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Not only had his HP and MP increased by ten times their previous values, but his attributes had also experienced a significant increase. It was a very pleasant feeling to have such high stats indeed.

"Ah, I need to calm down…" Although his stats had increased tremendously, he didn't feel any different, perhaps because the effects would become more apparent during battle.

Based on his stats, crushing all 200 magic crystals had leveled him up to level 7. Additionally, due to his high luck, he had a 50% chance of receiving random attribute rewards.

As a result, he received +3.5 to his STR, +1.5 to his AGI, +1.5 to his INT, and +3.5 to his DEX. With the changes in his attributes and level, his HP and MP also appeared to have their own set of rules.

Furthermore, he received an additional buff of +3% to his maximum health from his Resilience of the Tiger passive skill, bringing his HP beyond the cap of 100!

"Now, what's left is my weapon." Checking his Mossberg 930, which had already cooled down, he found five small ammo pouches left, containing only 81 shotgun shells.

When combined with the additional ammo pouch on the shelf, each pouch could carry a maximum of 25 shotgun shells, leaving him with a total of 331 shotgun shells.

He could kill at least 1,655 level 0 Vampiric Bats!

"But still, I can't understand how many magic crystals I need to level up." Jin tilted his head slightly and crossed his arms to make a pillow.

Based on his previous calculation, he needed at least six magic crystals to level up to level 1. Then, 200 magic crystals to level up to level 7?

It was a huge gap. And since there was no experience bar or exact amount he needed, it would confuse not only him but all humans.

As he was about to continue his assumption, a sense of drowsiness attacked his mind, relaxing his body.

Before the darkness filled his vision, he glanced at the entrance, noticing it was closed, and nodded as if accepting the embrace of shadow.

...

Countless images flashed through his mind, from entering the nightclub, chatting with that bitch, and finally, a tense fight between the colony of bats.

All of this happened in one long midnight, and the exhaustion from his mental health finally couldn't bear the inner tiredness.

However, just as he wanted to feel this comfortable feeling for longer, an irresistible hunger attacked his mind. "Fuck."

Jin's eyes suddenly opened, his red and slit pupils scanning the surrounding basement. With fierce, narrowed eyes, he stood up and grabbed the shotgun, taking a few ammo pouches and attaching them to his belt.

Crack.

He pushed the lever up, opening the entrance to the outside of the basement.

Grrrr.

Rumbling sounds came from his stomach, and Jin, looking like a person in madness, climbed out.

Piles of corpses filled the entire first floor of the nightclub, and the thick smell of blood filled the air.

Sunlight seeped in through the gaps in the curtains. Some corpses were strangely twitching as if alive, but Jin, who had long been consumed by an irresistible hunger, couldn't think straight and didn't bother about it.

Surprisingly, despite the unbearable hunger, his animal instincts didn't recognize the human corpses as food.

Holding the Mossberg 930 in his right hand, he instantly jumped and wrecked the place, searching for a sign of food.

Ten minutes later, all of the open shelves were already toppled over, broken and messy on the ground. Jin's body, unable to find any food and moving on instinct, headed to the second floor.

Step by step, Jin walked with his animal instincts taking over, but he still managed to walk like a normal human being.

However, when he arrived at the second floor, the sight before him jolted his body, momentarily shocking him and causing the irresistible hunger effect to vanish, making his consciousness come back to normal.

"Damn!" he cursed, the first thing he did when he regained his consciousness.

Black lines of frown and glaring eyes were seen on his face, which was dripping with blood from his efforts to clench his teeth and regain control.

"I can't believe I forgot this thing is still here!" After ranting for a while, he finally realized and refocused his attention on the sight in front of him.

The second floor was similar to the first floor with a counter bar, but it was located in the center behind the dancer platform.

It was even larger than the first floor, with numerous sofas and tables in groups. However, the strange thing was that there were no signs of living bats.

Instead, the floor was filled with corpses and humans, and some of the bats had even had their wings detached from their bodies.

Clearly someone has cleared this floor!

DragonKnov
Author:
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