It was already seven o'clock when he returned to the dorm. Surprisingly, John, a roommate who only existed in legends and was rarely seen, had actually returned!
John was sitting on his bed, looking dejected and smoking a cigarette. His dog, Polly, was excitedly jumping on his bed, frantically licking his face.
Zhou Ning silently watched this heartwarming scene of a loving father and son, but ultimately couldn't bring himself to tell him:
His son had just eaten poop.
Seeing Zhou Ning enter, John melancholically extinguished his cigarette: "What should I do, Wayne? My dad might beat me to Death."
In his memory, John's family was very wealthy. His father was the foremost businessman in Daklan City, and an entire red-light district near Old Town was owned by his family.
The original owner had wanted to ask John to treat him to experience life several times but never dared to open his mouth.
Zhou Ning:?
He put the bread on the table, a little curious.
"It can't be that serious, can it? You're his only son. He shouldn't be so righteous as to disown you."
...You didn't commit a crime, did you?
John shook his head melancholically: "If it were just a crime, it would be simple. As long as it's not a serious offense, my dad could somehow get me out."
After speaking, he sighed again: "Remember that store I invested in? It's about to go bankrupt, and I'll lose everything."
Zhou Ning immediately lost interest. He had thought he would hear some dramatic ethical plot like brothers fighting over a sister-in-law's temptation.
"It's just an investment failure. It shouldn't be a big deal for your family, right?"
John: "My dad gave me ten thousand vikta..."
Zhou Ning:...In his memory, John started his business in July, investing in a high-end pharmacy outside of school. At the end of July, he disliked that it wasn't profitable, so he tore it down and rebuilt it as a high-end weapons shop.
According to him, if you're going to do something, do it high-end.
And now it was September 2nd... If he were his dad, he'd probably really beat him to Death.
"There's no hope. Just wait for Death! Remember to send me a dream during your funeral."
From John, Zhou Ning once again felt the disparity in life. He silently hugged his clothes and entered the bathroom, not wanting to interact with such an evil rich person at all.
By the time he came out after showering, John was already asleep. A few minutes later, there was another knock at the door.
It was the staff who came to collect coins from the gas meters in each dorm room. When they took the gas fees, they looked at him as if he were a big spender, a rich landlord's Stupid Son.
He didn't know until he looked, and when he did, he was shocked. In three days, his gas consumption had already exceeded 4 currency.
Poor! Zhou Ning sighed.
The sound of pattering rain came from outside the window. The rain was getting heavier. Zhou Ning closed the window, jumped onto his bed, and sat down cross-legged. The urgent need for Alchemy had come to an end, and now that he had some free time, it was a good opportunity to sort out his abilities.
Zhou Ning opened his panel. After a few days of accumulation, his available experience had reached over 23,000. Some of it was from practicing Alchemy, and the rest was from reading.
Currently, Zhou Ning had a total of 7 ordinary skills that could be fused: English Mastery (Expert), Pickpocketing (Intermediate), Shooting Mastery (Advanced), Flirting Mastery (Expert), Ripple Breathing Technique (Beginner), Mozambique Drill (Beginner), C.A.R Shooting Method (Intermediate).
To upgrade Ripple Breathing Technique from Beginner to Intermediate required 10 Spirit. Zhou Ning currently had 9. Fortunately, he had saved one free attribute point, which he added to Spirit, bringing it to 10. He finally reached the standard of a normal person.
After his attributes met the standard, Zhou Ning didn't hesitate and first upgraded Ripple Breathing Technique (Beginner) to Intermediate.
[Ripple Breathing Technique (Intermediate): A highly effective breathing technique that additionally increases Strength by 4 and Agility by 4.]
The Strength and Agility bonuses increased by one point, and the description changed from 'effective' to 'highly effective.' The improvement wasn't significant.
Next, Zhou Ning selected Shooting Mastery (Advanced) and Ripple Breathing Technique (Intermediate) and clicked on Skill Fusion.
[Do you want to fuse Shooting Mastery (Advanced) and Ripple Breathing Technique (Intermediate)? This fusion will consume 8000 experience. Success rate is 70%]
The success rate was lower than in the game, probably because Ripple Breathing Technique was not a skill from the game.
Zhou Ning unhesitatingly chose yes. The experience for Ripple Breathing Technique and Shooting Mastery was cleared, and they both reverted to Beginner level.
[Fusion successful. You have obtained the skill: [Ripple Shot].]
[Ripple Shot (Beginner): A shooting method that infuses Ripple power into bullets, causing immense damage to dark creatures. When using this skill, Strength and Agility checks +3.]
Zhou Ning's eyes lit up. He had envisioned many combinations for the fusion of Ripple Breathing Technique and Shooting Mastery, but currently, Ripple Shot was the best effect he had anticipated. Although it didn't incorporate the accuracy bonus of Advanced Shooting Mastery, it integrated Ripple power into the bullets and additionally increased Strength and Agility checks by 3 points, maximizing destructive power.
He had about 8000 experience left. After a quick glance at the skill list, he then upgraded Mozambique Drill (Beginner) to Intermediate.
[Mozambique Drill (Intermediate): A close-quarters Gunfight Technique, rapidly firing two shots at the target's body, followed by a headshot. Damage is increased compared to the Beginner skill.]
[Do you want to fuse Mozambique Drill (Intermediate) and C.A.R Shooting Method (Intermediate)? This fusion will consume 8000 experience. Success rate is 48%]
[Fusion successful. You have obtained the skill: [Rapid Pursuit].]
[Rapid Pursuit (Beginner): A deadly Gunfight Technique combining long-range and close-quarters combat, allowing you to enter a special combat state and passively increasing your combat power.]
"It actually succeeded?"
Even Zhou Ning himself could hardly believe his luck this time. However, judging by the description, he had no idea how powerful this skill was. It was as abstract as the specialty he learned from John Wick: Lethal Rhythm.
After finishing his skills, he read for a while under the cover of night. His reading progress successfully reached 547/1000. He checked the time; it was just past eleven.
He looked at his remaining 9 Crossing Coin balance. Zhou Ning, who had endured for two days, finally couldn't resist. He opened the simulator and chose to Crossing.
[Preparing for Crossing...Crossing Coin - 5]
[Please select Crossingmode...]
[1. Direct Crossing.]
[2. Use a parallel world template for Crossing.]
As usual, he first checked which templates had been refreshed in the second option!
The previous 3 templates—Extreme Hacker, Mad Clown, and God of Gamblers—had already been cycled through. Three new templates appeared.
The first was Zhou Ning, wearing glasses and looking refined, with a shrewd personality, a Research Genius talent (blue), and skills in Architectural Design (Expert) and Accounting (Intermediate).
The title was Architect Zhou Ning, and the Crossingprice was 3 Crossing Coin.
The second was himself, wearing a black mage robe, with three large fireballs floating in his hand. His personality was irritable. His talents were Fire Magic Genius (purple), Magic Affinity (purple), and Magic Focus (purple). His skill was Fire Magic Omniscience (God-level).
The title was Blazing City-Burner Zhou Ning, and the Crossingprice was an astonishing 250 Crossing Coin, a sky-high price!
When he saw the third one, Zhou Ning couldn't help but exclaim. The image showed himself with a weathered gaze, wearing a black suit, half his body hidden in shadow. His personality was wise and calm. His talents were Research Genius (purple), Sports Genius (blue), Vampire Physique (purple), Daywalker (purple), and Rapid Recovery (purple). His skills included Ripple Breathing Technique (Expert), Painting (Expert), Writing (Master), Shooting Mastery (Expert)... a dense list of skills.
The title was Legendary Vampire Zhou Ning, and the Crossingprice was actually 0.
Zhou Ning was stunned for a long time before he realized. After completing lost in the mist he had received a hint: Legendary Vampire Zhou Ning has become a hidden template and can be selected under extremely lucky circumstances.
Could today be his Lucky Day?
There was no need to choose. Zhou Ning unhesitatingly selected 1 and then chose Legendary Vampire Zhou Ning for Crossing.
[Match successful. In this parallel world, you are the greatest scientist of the 20th century, the greatest writer of the 20th century, a physicist. You have won the Nobel Prize twice and represented the Allies in winning World War II. You are a legend, a living myth, and also a Vampire who can live in daylight. The stone mask gave you the Vampire's talents and body, but your body, already initially modified by the stone mask and the Aja Red Stone, also gave you the ability to walk in daylight. What changes will you bring to this world? We await with anticipation.]
[Current world exploration progress is 56.8%. When world exploration progress reaches 66.7%, you will gain permission to unlock the next map.]
[When you die in the simulation, the game ends.]
[Riding the time machine... 1%... 33%... 65%... 95%... Swoosh...Crossingcomplete.]