Chapter 9: The Transformation and the Bloodbath

In a towering 23-story edifice, the intermittent sunrays partially obscured the rooftops, momentarily casting the world below into shadow.

The hooded figure crouched in a place shrouded by darkness, staring intently at a specific building.

"It seems you made it, Jin" the figure remarked with a captivating and pleasing chuckle. Her smile matched the joy on her face, suggesting that she was truly content.

The hooded figure narrowed her eyes at the structure below, but then arched her eyebrows and curled the corners of her mouth in astonishment.

She spoke with determination, "Oh, I forgot to tell you there are still more of them, but I believe you can handle it. Good luck."

The hooded figure vanished, and her measured words and playful tone gradually dissipated.

…

On the second floor of Luminous Sky Lounge, the entire surface behind the dancer's platform was charred like burnt wood.

Jin was seen crouching down near the long bar counter, his tattered clothes revealed his muscular and well-maintained legs, which were partially exposed.

He didn't seem to mind as he gazed at the shard of mirror before him.

His expression was one of shock, with his pupils widening in disbelief as he observed the gradual transformation that was healing his scars.

A mysterious and soothing feeling spread through his body like a gentle tickle, eradicating the ugly-looking scars and reforming the layers of his skin.

The once bald head that shone under the slip of sun rays was now slowly growing familiar, messy strands of hair, shielding his scalp from the sun's warm rays.

"This is..." Jin muttered in a moment of shock. His eyes couldn't believe that his ugly-looking cheek was now healed, let alone his bald head regrowing his old hair!

Within seconds, the transformation was complete, and the once-ugly, monk-like appearance had been replaced by that of a handsome young man.

As he gazed into the mirror, he noticed his sharper jawline and the bold eyebrows that replaced his thin ones, giving him an intimidating and mysterious aura.

He felt as though he had been reborn completely.

"I can't believe this is real," he said, touching his jawline and eyebrows to confirm their presence. He couldn't help but feel happy, and a big grin spread across his face.

His slit pupils and amber eyes shifted to the hovering screen beside him, which plainly displayed the culprit's information.

[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]

"Damn! The passive skill is awesome!" he exclaimed, retracting his previous opinion about passive skills being useless and unclickable. This was even more incredible than his Gunslinger skill!

After relishing in his transformation, Jin's confidence and combat prowess increased. "With my strength already at 20 points, and coupled with this regeneration skill, I could easily fight in hand-to-hand combat!"

Did all of this happen because of her, or was it just his high luck? He wasn't sure.

At least his opinion towards her was no longer hostile, but he wouldn't go as far as to regard her as a comrade either.

"A strategic partnership," he mused to himself, where they both used each other for mutual gain. There were no hard feelings, nor any involvement of personal emotions.

Jin shuddered as he felt a sudden chill and a warm breeze slip between his muscular stomach. It was only then that he remembered his clothes were in tatters.

He reached for his shotgun, reattaching the ammo pouch to his worn-looking belt that had many holes in it, and began to scan the surrounding area.

As Jin stood up from the bar counter, he locked eyes with the ferocious red creature he recognized.

Its complexion was pale and translucent, with dark circles under its eyes, and it growled like an animal before lunging towards him with lightning speed.

"Looks like you still have friends coming over for breakfast," he said, a devilish smile forming on his lips instead of fear and panic.

Grabbing the end of the table, he easily cracked it into several long wooden sections, each the size of a human hand. The human standard couldn't measure his strength, which was over 20 points.

"Not bad," he said, examining the wooden sections. "It's as strong as a bear's grip, probably better than her claws."

As the first Blood Slave jumped towards him, it almost reached the ceiling.

But the moment its body landed in the sunlight, the familiar fire began burning its skin and it let out a scream of agony and growled in pain.

"Stupid as usual," Jin sneered. Taking advantage of the Blood Slaves' momentary distraction, he jumped over the counter and charged towards them while holding the wooden checking.

Whosp!

A gust of wind passed through the counter, and with the speed of an athlete times two, the shadow beneath him vanished into the darkness where the Blood Slaves sought refuge.

With the strength of a charging bull, he swung his hands, targeting the Blood Slaves struggling on the floor with unknown fire.

SLAP!

The wooden checking couldn't withstand the impact of colliding with the Blood Slaves and was destroyed in the process.

"GRRR!" With the sound of humans, the Blood Slaves, still being roasted alive, gnashed their teeth at Jin.

Jin's attack caused the Blood Slave's forehead to bleed, which extinguished the fire and revealed its ferocious-looking, gigantic fangs.

"Ho? Do you think that's all?" Jin sneered. His hands, which were holding several wooden chips, gripped the Blood Slaves' faces.

Shards of wood inserted into each skin, and with the strong strength of his twenty-point attributes, he slammed their heads to the floor.

Splash!

The sound of a cracked skull echoed, and the head burst open like a watermelon. Blood splattered onto Jin's face, staining his once handsome features with a dark red war paint.

[You have successfully killed a Tier 0 - Level 0 Blood Slaves!]

"Hahaha! Hahaha!" The long-accumulated frustration from being burned alive, the anger of feeling his near-death experience, and the complicated thoughts about Li Mei all finally released.

He laughed maniacally for a moment before abruptly stopping as his mind began to calm again.

"Huff," he took a long deep breath, his inner devil already satisfied, and what was left was rational thinking. The heavy weight in his heart had been released.

But suddenly, several pairs of similar red eyes looked at him from afar. The surging power as he easily crushed the human's head began to intoxicate and stir his inner heart again.

"Come," Jin said calmly, but he failed to conceal the crazy smile on his lips.

Yet, those Blood Slaves, not knowing he was a crazy man, didn't have the same brains as their old selves, driven by lust and charging at him simultaneously.

"Grrr!" A Blood Slave jumped at Jin, but with his increased dexterity, the Blood Slave's body was slowly frozen in mid-air, giving him a chance to initiate an attack.

Swoosh!

The slit amber eyes shone in the darkness as Jin bent his left arm and positioned his leg to the front, dodging the sharp nails to the side as the attack passed his chest.

Bang!

Taking a short moment and using the rear of his hand from above, Jin threw an Overhand punch as the Blood Slave's body passed him, hitting accurately at the abdomen of the Blood Slave.

Splash!

Another blood came out from the Blood Slave's mouth and landed on Jin's face, tinting his vision dark red as he blinked. The Blood Slave that was hit was thrown backwards and collided with its kin.

While Jin was still recovering from his punch, suddenly another gigantic vampire-like fang appeared from his left, but the slit amber eyes rotated, catching its movement as his body moved on instinct.

His waist rotated as his legs raised as high as above his head. Jin's body hovered in mid-air and without needing a moment, a spinning kick was delivered to the ambushing Blood Slaves.

Bang!

The twenty points of attributes were no joke; the moment his leg's temples hit the head of the Blood Slaves, it instantly slammed down and buried to the floor, breaking the hard cement floor into spider-like cracks.

Jin's mind was too calm. The combat training as a security guard kicked in, added with his monstrous power, he was basically almost invincible among the Lvl 0 Blood Slaves.

Jin, who just landed on the ground, immediately stomped on the injured Blood Slaves, delivering their soul back into hell.

[You have successfully killed a Tier 0 - Level 0 Blood Slaves!]

Splash!

Blood exploded and stained the whole floor. One dead, one injured. Jin's slit amber eyes narrowed at the remaining Blood Slaves - there were more than ten left.

"Huff," he took a deep breath, his skin pores sucking in the surrounding air, providing another energy reserve.

Similar to Vampiric Bats, these creatures also gained intelligence the moment they realized they couldn't defeat him in raw strength.

The Blood Slaves began circling him in the darkness, despite the broken glass light providing only low visibility. But Jin wasn't afraid.

"Heh," Jin sneered, wiping the blood from his eyes, face, and legs with a casual and relaxed action that seemed to trigger some of the Blood Slaves.

He saw a blurry figure with a pair of red eyes charging at him.

Taking a stance and bending both of his legs, he caught the Blood Slaves in mid-air with both hands.

His feet slightly pushed back from the impact as the creature struggled fiercely, trying to bite his arms. But Jin managed to restrain it for a couple of seconds.

Holding the Blood Slaves with both hands, a cold glint flashed in his amber eyes as he exerted his full strength. Veins appeared on his forehead and connected down to his arms.

"GRARA!" The Blood Slave suddenly let out a horrifying shriek as its human body was slowly torn apart, with many pink-colored flesh fibers forming a spiderweb-like net that disconnected each part of the body.

Eyeballs rolled on the ground and teeth were flung into the air, while the long human tongue rolled into the puddle of blood.

Clatter!

[You have successfully killed a Tier 0 - Level 0 Blood Slaves!]

The Blood Slaves were being split apart by the raw strength of Jin, and when the game screen flashed before him, a crazy devilish smile grew wider as his slit pupils twitched, trying to adjust to the darkness.

"Hiss," The surrounding Blood Slaves, crawling like four-legged animals, looked at Jin and let out a hissing sound as if trying to scare him away.

Their furious and killing intent was reflected in their red human-like eyes, which began to flicker with fear.

"If you won't come, I will come to you," he spoke with a chuckle and the next moment a gust of wind pushed his body as he instantly arrived at one of the shining red eyes in the darkness.

Continuous wailing and screams could be heard, but his screen was busy as there were many notifications flashing before his eyes.

[Your body has been injured by the Blood Slaves and infected by an unknown parasite!]

[Your wounds have been healed!]

[The parasite has been eliminated!]

Jin, who was crazily killing the Blood Slaves, became even more fierce and laughed maniacally upon seeing the notification screen flash before his eyes.

His guess was right! These Blood Slaves carried parasites from the Vampiric Bats, but now it seemed he didn't have to worry about being infected by them.

Simultaneously, Jin also felt his attacks dealing more damage. It seemed another of his passive skills had begun to take effect!

…

Jin emerged from the darkness covered in blood, after an unknown period of time. As the sunlight shone directly on him, it burned some of the wet cloth and parts of his body that were stained with blood.

However, the burning stopped as soon as all the blood had vaporized, unlike before.

Surprisingly, his mind, mental health, and body were relaxed after the gruesome massacre.

Killing a creature that resembled humans did not haunt him with panic or guilt.

It seemed his mind had already accepted that these creatures were the same as animals, and killing them wouldn't affect his principles or sanity.

Opening his eyes, which were greeted by the blinding light, Jin looked down at the magic crystals he had acquired.

He had killed 15 Blood Slaves and obtained 15 magic crystals. However, an unfamiliar notification flashed before his eyes amid the killing process.

"Hmm, I should check this right now," he thought to himself, sitting on the floor and scrolling through the game notification. Finally, the unfamiliar notification revealed itself.

[You have acquired another 1x Tier 0 Magic Crystals!]

[You have acquired anothe….]

[An item has dropped!]

"An item!" Jin's eyes lit up with excitement. This was the first time he had obtained a dropped item.

He hastily scanned the surroundings and spotted a glimmer among the disgusting Blood Slave corpses. Jin quickly picked it up and stepped into the light to see the game screen flash before his eyes.

[

Name: Vest of the Dark Knight

Type: Armor

Rarity: Uncommon

Effect: Increases wearer's physical defense by 15%. Adds +5 to Strength stat. When hit by a critical attack, the Vest will release a shockwave, dealing 10% damage to all nearby enemies.

Requirements: Minimum trength attribute score of 20 or higher.

Description: The vest's inner lining is made of a special material that can absorb the impact of critical hits, allowing the wearer to counterattack with a devastating shockwave.

[

"What good armor!" Jin's eyes lit up with excitement as he read the armor description.

The armor was impressive, not only increasing his strength attribute, but also having a special effect of releasing a shock wave. Luckily, his strength had reached the requirement to wear it.

The Vest was a black leather armor piece with blue trimmings along its edges. The leather looked worn, suggesting it had been used in battles before.

On the back of the vest was an emblem of a roaring tiger, symbolizing strength and courage. The vest's inner lining was made of glossy black material, indicating its high quality.

Jin eagerly put on the armor and felt a surge of tremendous power enter his body. The armor only weighed 5kg and didn't hinder his movement at all.

After wearing it, Jin immediately checked his stats.

[

Name: Jin Tianyi

Class: -

Level: 8

Race: Human

Health: 90/119.4

Mana/Stamina: 93/93

Attributes: Strength: 25.9| Agility: 8.6 | Intelligence: 6.5 | Dexterity: 11.5 | Luck: 20 | Charisma: 20

]

[Free Attribute: 6]

+25 points of strength! 6 free attributes! And his health was continuously regenerating!

"Ugh! Calm down, I cannot become overconfident or else I might die due to the things I underestimate,"

He breathed heavily and his bulging eyes showed his excitement as he looked at the tremendous boots he got after wearing the armor.

Of course, any dedicated gamer would be agitated like him! After all, the boots not only looked cool but also provided a necessary boost in this early phase of survival!