Chapter 37: A Chance Encounter with Little Gui (Patreon)

Guinaifen had many siblings, and several of her younger brothers and sisters were still minors.

To lessen the burden on her family, Guinaifen had run off to become an internet celebrity, hoping to earn money through street performances and live streaming.

Despite her lively and cheerful demeanor, always wearing a smile as bright as the sun, the burden on her shoulders was incredibly heavy.

Just as Victor was spacing out, a group of people in deep red uniforms arrived—they were from the Ground-Balancing Commission.

The Ground-Balancing Commission had duties similar to city management, and Guinaifen, who was performing on the street, fell right into their jurisdiction.

"Little girl, you again!?"

The leader, a man with a full beard, frowned the moment he saw Guinaifen in the crowd.

"Sorry! So sorry! Uncle, I'll leave right now!"

Guinaifen quickly stopped her acrobatics, pressing her hands together and apologizing profusely.

"How many times has it been? If you keep setting up a stall without a license, we're going to have to confiscate your equipment."

The bearded man spoke with a mix of helplessness and annoyance.

"My permit is being processed, it just hasn't come through yet..."

"Then wait until it comes through before you come out! Can't you even wait a few days!"

Xianzhou natives have long lives and aren't very competitive, so their administrative efficiency was naturally low.

But Guinaifen was a short-life species, and with her family short on cash, she couldn't afford to wait. So, hoping for the best, she had run out to perform without a license, only to be caught by the Ground-Balancing Commission several times.

Fortunately, the people from the Ground-Balancing Commission weren't completely unreasonable. After giving Guinaifen a stern lecture, they let her off with a warning and didn't confiscate her streaming equipment.

The crowd, figuring the show was over, gradually dispersed.

Victor left along with the crowd.

Having watched the spectacle, he didn't give it much thought, only finding it a bit of a coincidence.

Aurum Alley was not small; it was at least a thousand times larger than it appeared in the game.

He had only come to buy something, yet he'd still managed to run into a familiar character. The thought made Victor sigh with some emotion.

After getting home, Victor immediately prepared to commit suicide with the cutting machine he'd bought.

To prevent his blood from spraying everywhere, this time he went straight into the bathroom.

Speaking of which, bathroom, cutting machine, corpse... why did these keywords sound so much like the scene of a murder and dismemberment?

Victor quickly banished the stray thoughts from his mind and flipped the switch on the cutter.

Bzzz~!

The edge of the high-frequency vibrating blade quickly began to glow, like a red-hot branding iron.

Victor took a deep breath and pressed his neck against it...

An unknown amount of time passed before Victor awoke again.

He flexed his somewhat stiff body. Once he was loosened up, he picked up the cutting machine again, turned it on, and brought the back of his hand directly to the blade.

This time, the result was completely different.

The cutting blade first shot out a shower of sparks, then shattered on the spot.

Seeing this exaggerated scene, Victor could no longer suppress the smile on his face.

Now, the weapons of ordinary Cloud Knights could no longer pose a threat to him.

The 'Indestructible Lapis Body' truly lived up to its Gold-tier status; its growth potential was terrifying.

If a Gold-tier trait was this strong, he wondered how powerful a higher-tier Red trait would be.

It was something to look forward to.

Ordinary Cloud Knights were basically no longer a threat to him. The next step should be to find a way to have Pathstriders help evolve his golden body.

Victor was willing to bet that plenty of people wanted to kill him right now, such as the darkened yandere swordswoman or the carefree, regretless, and invincible General of Great Victory.

However, both of them were too powerful. Their attacks exceeded the tolerance limit of his golden body; one hit would likely obliterate him completely—the kind where not even a corpse is left.

Among the people he currently knew, only Qingque's power level met his requirements.

But he was a bit hesitant.

Qingque might seem like a natural airhead, but she was actually the type to feign foolishness to hide her intelligence. Moreover, her background was a bit sensitive, and one wrong move could attract Fu Xuan's attention.

Fu Xuan was the head of the Divination Commission and could use its Shackling Prison to perform calculations. If she found out anything, he would be screwed.

Until he was strong enough, Victor didn't want too much contact with the Xianzhou's top brass.

It seemed this matter couldn't be rushed.

Since it had come to this, he might as well run a simulation first to increase his strength.

So, Victor lay down on the sofa in what he felt was the most comfortable position.

First, Victor opened his attribute panel—

He now had a total of five traits: Steady Accumulation (Blue), Slaughter Expert (Blue), Natural-Born Villain (Blue), I am Sword-Boned (White), and Indestructible Lapis Body (Gold).

It looked much better than his initial penniless state.

However, he still wasn't confident he could clear an intermediate-difficulty scenario, especially Feixiao's. Its base difficulty was the highest among the three scenarios he had unlocked.

So, Victor decisively chose to draw a new scenario.

After a familiar card-pulling animation, a bright, orange-red-haired girl waving a red baton appeared before Victor. It was actually Guinaifen.

Victor raised an eyebrow.

Once is a coincidence; twice, three times... happening every time couldn't possibly be a coincidence.

The system once said that the probability of drawing characters in his current location was increased. Now it seemed that the characters he encountered for the first time also had an increased probability.

This rule was... well, it was useful. For example, in a small and densely populated place like the Herta Space Station, he could use this rule to quickly draw all the characters related to the station.

After leaving the space station, he could grind to his heart's content.

The others were fine, but the one the space station was named after was not to be trifled with.

That's right, he was talking about Lady Herta.

What with her 'kick a man when he's down,' 'always press the advantage,' 'go for the face,' 'never hold back insults,' 'no one in the world can wrong me'...

She shouldn't be called Herta; she should be called Black Mengde instead, or just stick the three words 'petty-minded' on her forehead.

He didn't know if you could get away with offending an abbot, but you definitely couldn't get away with offending Lady Herta.

The topic had strayed. Victor quickly reined in his thoughts and began preparing to select the traits needed for the simulation.

【Do you wish to select this scenario for simulation? (Scenario Difficulty: Beginner)】

'Yes.'

【Please select two initial traits. After the scenario simulation ends, one may be retained for free as a permanent trait.】

Only two initial traits? Looks like this scenario's difficulty isn't high.

Victor then looked at the trait options listed by the system:

【Twelve Knights of the Round Table (Gold): A special ability born from the influence of Arthurian legend, allowing the user to borrow the power of the Twelve Knights of the Round Table. Fulfilling hidden conditions allows borrowing the power of King Arthur or the Knight of Treachery, 'Mordred'.】(This trait is a beginner-difficulty bonus and cannot be selected upon completion.)