Chapter 8: Burning Hunger

Fire...

The world was ablaze, with searing heat permeated every inch of his body and the acrid stench of burnt flesh invading his senses.

Jin's eyes gradually opened, revealing narrow pupils reminiscent of those of a wild animal. They shone like amber in the flickering light of the flames dancing around him.

As he surveyed his surroundings, he saw a shadowy meadow filled with quivering objects that emitted a soothing warmth. He was astonished.

He noticed that not only was he surrounded by the shadowy meadow, but also a horrifying face with lifeless eyes staring directly at him.

…

The sun had risen, casting its penetrating gaze upon every living creature on earth. The warm radiance of the sun filtered through the tattered curtains, casting a golden glow across the second floor of the Luminous Sky Lounge.

As the golden light seeped in, the photocatalytic air purification process commenced. The thick, pungent air, reeking of blood, seemed to be combusting, giving way to the rejuvenating freshness of the sun.

The sun's rays touched the blood puddle, sparking minuscule flames. The flames quickly engulfed the surroundings, setting the entire floor ablaze.

Iridescent ash particles cascaded from above, resembling a gentle rainfall, as the humanoid corpse underwent a strange combustion, revealing glimmering crystal formations within.

As the flames raged on, the sun's rays incinerated piles of human corpses scattered across the ground, amidst the chaos. Among the corpses lay a young man in his twenties, absent-mindedly looking at his surroundings.

The young man was Jin. As he saw the raging fire around him, his eyes blinked several times. It was only when the intense heat finally burned a part of his skin that his senses kicked in.

"Damn it! You burned me alive!" A hostile and grudging gaze emitted from his narrow pupils. Jin, whose body was buried among these burning Blood Slaves, was filled with anger towards the culprit.

Realizing he was in a grave situation, he mustered all his slumbering strength. But just as he thought it would be easy to lift, the sheer power felt like it was being drained by something.

Jin was confused and looked at his hands that were suppressed by many bodies. He tried to lift his fingers, but somehow his nails pierced something soft and springy.

Despite the strange sensation in his fingers, he once again mustered his strength, only to feel his muscles suddenly ache in pain, as if pleading for him to stop.

The excruciating burning had already consumed a part of Jin's body. Sensing his weakened strength, despair filled his mind. But the glint in his eyes slowly turned colder.

"This passive skill!"Jin tried to convince himself that his guess was correct. Because of the side effect of the skill, the irresistible hunger, had disappeared, and he regained full consciousness.

However, his stomach kept rumbling, and he still felt the endless hunger, meaning he had not eaten in a long time. The side effect was gone, but it weakened his body.

His muscles needed energy, but he lacked a source of energy. Just as Jin found the source of the problem, searing pain spread throughout his entire body. The skin on his body was being peeled off.

The pain almost caused Jin to faint. He was barely holding onto his consciousness. His body was in shock, and he became numb due to this endless torture.

Jin let out a groan of agony. He wanted to give up, but then the memories of her flashed in his mind.

Just imagining the scene where the culprit is laughing at my miserable condition right now ignites the depths of my pride.

"I cannot die," Jin muttered inwardly and summoned his courage, raising his weak body.

Eyes filled with determination and sheer willpower rose from his heart. He bit his lower lip, trying to keep his consciousness alive.

At that moment, the game screen appeared before his view.

[

Name: Jin Tianyi

Class: -

Level: 7

Race: Human

Health: 7.00/102.38

Mana/Stamina: 93/93

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

]

[Free Attribute: 14]

As expected, his health had dropped to a critical stage! In a game, the green health bar would have turned red and flashed urgently.

However, Jin barely held onto his focus and shifted his attention to the lower information panel.

Until this point, the free attribute points would be the biggest advantage of every player in a critical situation.

"Increase strength by 10 points!" Jin shouted inwardly.

With his health dangerously low, Jin had no choice but to use his free attribute points to increase his strength and survive. He didn't hesitate, but saved a little in case of an emergency.

[Free Attribute: 14 -> 4]

[Strength: 9.7 -> 19.7]

[

Name: Jin Tianyi

Class: -

Level: 7

Race: Human

Health: 6.00/119.4

Mana/Stamina: 93/93

Attributes: Strength: 19.7| Agility: 8.6 | Intelligence: 6.5 | Dexterity: 11.5 | Luck: 20 | Charisma: 20

]

[Free Attribute: 4]

Looking at the game screen before him, he felt anxious. He was not yet completely familiar with this entity.

But based on his gaming experiences, strength attributes should be related to health points, physical damage, and endurance!

Time was ticking like a death scythe hanging an inch from his neck, but Jin could not feel any changes.

However, the fire had already touched his face, his ears were twitching, and he barely looked with two opened eyes.

The aura of death and threat was already ringing in his inner instinct. If the changes didn't appear in the next few seconds, he would be roasted alive.

However, he still didn't give up and looked at the remaining free attributes.

Just as he wanted to assign the remaining attributes, a surging wave of energy coursed through his body, and his weak muscles suddenly gained power.

It was like a drug intoxicating and pumping his body, and the hint of despair in his eyes vanished, replaced by a narrowed and dangerous glint.

"Argh!" Jin roared, his mouth foaming with saliva, as he put all his strength into his body and the corpses surrounding him instantly blasted, but that only gave him more space to move.

"But this is enough!" With just a short moment, he continued to punch the corpses, creating a long path that led him back into the view of the second-floor nightclub.

Light shone upon his bald head, and the burnt mark had already peeled off half the skin on his face.

However, he didn't care as he tried to enjoy the warm sunlight. "Finally, I'm out!" Jin screamed with excitement and laughed with happiness.

The next moment, he didn't hesitate and jumped, avoiding the raging fire behind him. He turned around and watched as the corpses slowly burned and turned into white ashes.

The raging fire was extinguished, but the fire inside him was still flaming with anger. "That fucking bitch, really!" he cursed and looked around. Of course, the culprit was already gone.

Seeing that the culprit was gone and he had nowhere to vent his anger, Jin tried to calm his mind. He took a seat on the floor while waiting for all the fire on the second floor to extinguish.

…

A few minutes had passed and the once luxurious and grand night club was now an abandoned building.

The ceiling was broken, leaving a dark space that led up to the attic and the structure that held the roof.

The expensive-looking glass lights had melted in the fire while the long counter bar had been turned into a dark, burnt wooden table.

Jin was now sitting on the floor, looking at the remaining shards of mirror that reflected his appearance.

"I look like a monster," Jin sighed as he touched the burn marks on his face.

He used to be a normal-looking guy, not too ugly or handsome, but now his entire image and being would make others mistake him for the same monster, the Blood Salves.

Not to mention his bald head. Although he didn't care too much about his appearance since he was used to being treated like a mob and a normal-looking guy, it still hurt him a bit.

"Wait, is it just me hallucinating or have my jaws become sharper and my eyebrows thickened?" he pondered, grabbing the mirror and ignoring the sharp tips.

He looked closer. "It seems so, my jaws have really become sharper and my eyebrows have thickened."

The only fortunate aspect was that his right cheek had only suffered a third-degree burn.

The skin appeared blackened like a scar, swollen as if he had been punched repeatedly, and the most prominent feature was the blood that was currently flowing down from the flesh.

Although this sudden change was good, the feeling of joy was different from leveling up or acquiring a skill.

He still remembered their last conversation, which was about discussing their gains. Looking at the surrounding situation, where there were only white ashes, it seemed like all the gains were already picked up by her.

"Including two skill scrolls," he mumbled, and a hint of regret resurfaced in his mind.

If he could control his sanity a little bit longer and learned the skills before his instincts took control, he would not be feeling so depressed now.

But as his eyes wandered around the white ashes, a glimmering and shining thing caught his attention.

Due to its color being the same as the ashes, he only noticed it when he focused his full attention on it.

With a glimmer of hope that waved away his frustration, Jin crawled and immediately wiped away the white ashes.

"A magic crystal!" Jin shouted in joy. The next moment, he easily crushed the magic crystal, and it turned into ashes. Simultaneously, a game screen appeared in his view.

[You have destroyed a Tier 0 magic crystal!]

[Your high Luck has begun to take effect!]

[You have absorbed +0.10 Strength!]

His eyes shone like glittering stars as he noticed his high luck beginning to take effect.

Without wasting any more time, his swift body turned around, and his slit pupil scanned the surrounding white ashes only to find that the majority of them had the same glimmer.

"This…" Jin was speechless. He was not dumb enough to not realize that all of this was that woman's doing. Who would have thought that she still had a shred of kindness in her evil heart?

His expression conflicted. Before, he regarded her as a complete leech, a selfish bastard, and a mastermind. But now, seeing that she still gave him his rightful share...

"No, she's still a bitch and a slut. This is my right, and it's normal for me to have it," he thought, but his inner voice was contradictory.

If the other party took all of the loot, they were not in the wrong.

In this situation where the power structure of the world had already broken down, the strong ruled the weak, and the law of the jungle applied.

There were no rules for the strong, spoken or unspoken. If he were in her position, after burning her alive, he would not have given her a chance to seek revenge.

"This...It's as if she was expecting or confident that I could survive, but why did she bury me with that corpse?" Jin was confused and turned to look at the side.

The curtains were wide open, clearly indicating her involvement. But Jin believed that if she were an enemy, she would have killed him quickly instead of piling corpses to roast him alive.

"Could it be?" Jin pondered, his stomach rumbling as if trying to confirm his suspicions. It seemed that she did all of this just to restrain him!

"So, I was strong enough to make her resort to such a time-consuming trick?" While Jin was speculating, his hands were not idle, and he was collecting the remaining magic crystals.

…

A couple of minutes later, all of the magic crystals were stacked before him.

It was a fair and exact number of how many he should have had after they killed 50 Blood Slaves, a total of 24 magic crystals, while 1 was already used by him before.

Without waiting, Jin crushed the magic crystals one by one.

[You have destroyed a Tier 0 magic crystal!]

[Your high Luck has begun to take effect!]

[You have absorbed +0.10 Strength!]

[You have destroyed a Tier 0 magic crystal!]

[Your high Luck has begun to take effect!]

[You have absorbe….]

…

Each time a magic crystal entered his body, something inside him grew stronger, but not to the same extent as when he used the free attributes.

As time passed, a new notification screen appeared before him, doubling his joy.

[You have leveled up!]

[You gained 2 points to freely distribute between your attributes!]

[

Name: Jin Tianyi

Class: -

Level: 8

Race: Human

Health: 122.9/122.9

Mana/Stamina: 93/93

Attributes: Strength: 20.9| Agility: 8.6 | Intelligence: 6.5 | Dexterity: 11.5 | Luck: 20 | Charisma: 20

]

[Free Attribute: 6]

A gust of familiar feeling washed over his entire body, healing the pain in his muscles and some scratches.

He was filled with joy. He immediately checked his appearance, but to his disappointment, the burn marks and his bald head were still there.

"Sigh, it seems that I will remain like this for a moment." Although it was quite tragic and saddening, the gains this time were not too bad.

In addition to leveling up, he received a random attribute reward that boosted his Strength by 20 points.

"A 1.2 increase, how pleasing!" he thought, feeling great about his high luck.

Out of the 24 magic crystals, 12 of them brought random attribute rewards. Though he couldn't control which attributes he would get, it was still a pleasant experience.

"Now with six free attributes, at least I have another trump card!"

…

After sorting through all of his gains, Jin was ready to prepare to leave. Although he had lost miserably, it was due to his passive skill and the woman was not on the wrong side.

"She just…" Cutting his words halfway, he shook his head. Women were complicated creatures, and it was easier to deal with Blood Slaves than with them.

Rumble, rumble The sound of his stomach ringing, and each time it sounded, it brought a sense of weakness and sleepiness to him.

"Sigh, it seems I need to handle this insatiable hunger," with his shoulders slightly lowered, he walked towards the wooden burned counter, hoping to find something to eat.

However, as he opened the drawer, what shocked him was what lay on the floor behind the counter, blocked by the view of the long counter bar.

It was a familiar wooden stock and forend with a checkered grip pattern. The receiver and barrel were made of steel, and the familiar shape and look of it...

"My shotgun," Jin squatted and took a look at the Mosberg 398. Beside the shotgun were his five ammo pouches that contained the remaining 25 shotgun shells.

Suddenly, as he was examining his weapons and ammo pouch, Jin's pupils dilated and his mouth fell open slightly at the sight of a golden parchment lying right next to the ammo pouch.

"The scroll skill!" Jin grabbed the parchment with trembling hands and slowly unfolded it. The game screen in front of him was a sight for sore eyes.

[Congratulations, you have learned a passive skill!]

[New passive skill acquired: Regeneration!]

[Regeneration(Passive): The user's wounds heal faster, allowing them to recover from injuries more quickly. The user regenerates 5% of their maximum health every 10 seconds, allowing them to sustain themselves in battle]

As Jin was processing the astounding news of acquiring the new passive skill, he was abruptly seized with a titillating sensation in his head.

His raven tresses were in the process of resprouting while his cheeks contorted with spasms of pain, as the remainder of his burn scars appeared to be writhing in a fervent wriggle akin to worms locked in a desperate struggle.

Gradually, his scars began to heal.