Chapter 34: 2 More Weeks
Chapter 34: Chapter 34: 2 More Weeks
BZZZZZ!!
Mist swirled in the dark fissure of his mind.
Four masses of green light intertwined, circled, and gradually merged into one.
A brand-new Card with a cold touch appeared in Wang Xi’s hand.
「Bloody Knight (Skill Card)」
「Quality: Deep Green One Star (Upgradeable)」
「Experience Points: 8/300」
「A young noble who has mastered profound battlefield techniques, possessing formidable combat strength. Armored and on horseback, his brutal killing style will strike terror into the hearts of his enemies.」
「Upon use, you will master the various combat abilities of a Knight, such as Crossbow Skill, Equestrian, and Fighting. You will be particularly adept at Armor-Piercing, Beheading, Parry, and Counter-Defensive Swordsmanship.」
’It went from Green to Deep Green, and it even inherited some of the Experience from 「Elite Soldiers」...’
Wang Xi was quite surprised.
He remembered that 「Elite Soldiers」 originally had nearly 30 Experience Points. After synthesis, it seemed to have been distributed and diluted, becoming 8 points.
It was less, but still better than being reset to zero.
And the boost this new Card gave him was bound to be even stronger.
After all, this Card had undergone two syntheses, equivalent to merging seven Skill Cards.
’Right, there are also the two White Cards I just drew.’
Wang Xi suddenly thought of something.
He took out 「Lock Picking Mastery」 and 「Drinking and Eating Giant」 and tried to synthesize them with 「Bloody Knight」.
But the attempt was rejected.
This time, Kaos gave a clear message—
「Quality Mismatch」
Wang Xi understood immediately.
The synthesis function had many restrictions. Not only did the category have to be the same, but the Quality also had to match.
In short, White Cards could only be synthesized with White Cards, and Green Cards with Green Cards. They couldn’t be mixed.
’So the Kings can’t play with the Bronzes, huh.’
Wang Xi shook his head.
But he quickly realized the analogy wasn’t quite right. Because some people liked to smurf on new accounts.
BZZZ!
Wang Xi activated 「Bloody Knight」, making it a permanent fixture on himself.
In an instant, he felt himself grow stronger once again!
He habitually reached for his waist, but the leather-wrapped hilt of his sword was gone. He only felt his own hip bone.
Only then did Wang Xi remember he was in the Main World.
But he had a strong intuition.
If he could draw a sword, he was confident he could take on all three Iron Finger Knights in pure close combat. If he also mixed in Sugar Coating and Water Arrow Magic, he could easily slay his enemies and achieve victory in a short time.
’The feeling of getting stronger is truly wonderful—ah!’
Wang Xi took a deep breath, a smile on his face.
About twenty minutes later, around 1:30 PM, his takeout arrived.
The nurse from before had brought it for him.
"Thanks," Wang Xi said with a smile as he took it. "Want to have some? I even ordered papaya milk, sis."
"That’s not necessary!"
The nurse looked like she was about to suffocate.
She hastily refused and turned to leave.
As she walked away, she pulled out her phone and warned the nurses in her work group chat to be wary of the creep in this room.
Wang Xi watched her go with a smile in his eyes, then started unpacking the bag to eat. He had money now and wasn’t about to skimp on himself. He had ordered four dishes, a soup, three boxes of rice, and two bottles of papaya milk.
He hadn’t finished the fruit his colleagues had brought, so he took a pear to have as dessert.
Wang Xi scrolled through his phone while he ate.
There were hundreds of unread messages in the "Cleaning Department Team Two Work Group." He scrolled up to read them.
"Yu Zihan @everyone: Guys, I passed the assessment!"
The message had been sent an hour ago.
It came with a photo: a selfie of a sweaty but smiling Yu Zihan standing on a staircase.
He seemed to have just come out of the building behind him.
"Gao Fen: Congrats congrats!"
"Lei Wen: Great news haha!"
The other colleagues also sent their congratulations.
A long thread of festive stickers and emojis piled up.
"Zhu Yuhe: You passed the Amateur Hero assessment? What rank certificate did you get?"
"Yu Zihan: Didn’t do my best on the physical test, just barely passed Rank 5."
"Zhu Yuhe: ’Didn’t do my best,’ he says..."
"Zhu Yuhe: You’re such a show-off. (picks nose)"
"Yu Zihan: Who’s showing off? I’m speechless."
"Luo Xiaoliang: That’s awesome, man! Brother Lei and I only have Rank 3 certificates. Now you’re the highest-ranked Hero in our team!"
"Yu Zihan: Correction, Amateur Hero."
"Lei Wen: This calls for a celebration! Let’s all go out for a nice dinner tonight."
"Zhu Yuhe: Is Yu Zihan treating? If there’s a free feast, I’m suddenly not tired anymore, hehe."
"Yu Zihan: Fine, my treat."
"..."
Wang Xi chewed his food and watched the group chat silently. Only then did he remember that today was the day of the Amateur Hero assessment.
It seemed his dream-chasing colleague, Yu Zihan, had successfully taken his first step and had even become a Rank 5 Amateur Hero in one leap.
From now on, not only would he have a higher salary, but he would also receive preferential treatment in other areas.
Their team leader, Lei Wen, had mentioned that the leader of Cleaning Department Team Five was in poor health and about to resign. When that happened, it was highly likely that Yu Zihan would take over the position.
This immediately drew another round of envy from everyone.
"Zhu Yuhe @Wang Xi: Hey handsome, good thing you didn’t go to the assessment, otherwise you’d be the one treating us today, haha... Just kidding, don’t be mad. There’s another one at the end of the year. You can just go straight for Rank 9 then! Go go go!"
"Lei Wen: It really is a shame about Xiao Wang."
His colleagues all offered their condolences.
Even the man of the hour, Yu Zihan, chimed in:
"Sister Zhuzi told me you’re really skilled, bro. You must have a powerful Card on you. If you took the assessment, you’d definitely get a higher rank than me."
Wang Xi smiled as he read the group chat.
He recalled his workplace in his past life—all about shifting blame, forming cliques, and backstabbing. It was a toxic mess, like a dark forest.
Now, the benefits were great, and the colleagues were much more harmonious and friendly. After all, in a dangerous job like a Cleaner, they were more like comrades-in-arms than traditional coworkers.
Of course, a certain fatso was an exception.
Wang Xi picked up food with one hand while tapping out a message on his phone with the other. He replied that it was fine and congratulated Yu Zihan.
After finishing his meal, he used his phone to look up this year’s Professional Warrior assessment and found the specific date had already been announced:
June 15, 2045.
’Two more weeks...’
Wang Xi thought to himself.
...
...
「The snoring of the wild boar in the rye forest Inn.」
In a room on the second floor, a black-haired young man sitting dazed on the edge of the bed blinked, and his once-indifferent eyes regained their spirit.
Wang Xi had been studying for his exam in his hospital room in the Main World for two days. Bored out of his mind, he had eagerly descended the moment his cooldown finished.
’Another fourteen days wasted...’
Wang Xi sighed inwardly.
’And I have no idea what the projection has been doing all this time.’
Just then, Kaos suddenly sent a notification.
Wang Xi paused, then looked up in surprise.
「Projection Review」
He wasn’t sure if it was because he had gained a Legend Level, but Kaos had added a new function.
Its format was quite similar to 「Retirement Preview」, displaying a series of lantern-slide-like images. However, the content was what his projection had done during the automated period.
After reviewing the playback, Wang Xi quickly learned what the projection had been doing for the past fourteen days.
Besides the daily routine of eating and sleeping, it mostly just wandered around nearby, occasionally giving a few Silver Coins and a box of matches to the poor people begging on the roadside.
’So rigid...’
Wang Xi shook his head and sighed.
He glanced at the base of the wall by his bed. The once-bulging bag of Silver Coins was now nearly empty. The wooden basket of matches next to it was also completely bare.
Wang Xi guessed that the projection’s operational guidelines during the automated period were likely based on his own personality and previous actions, but with an overall conservative slant.
The "better to do nothing than to make a mistake" type.
’If only I could give the automated projection orders...’
The moment this thought occurred to Wang Xi, Kaos reacted in his mind and immediately provided a notification—
「Projection Command」
Wang Xi froze, then a smile touched his lips.
Well, well, Kaos, you...
So! Thoughtful!
After getting a general understanding of this function, Wang Xi was very satisfied. Before returning to the Main World next time, he could give the projection a command to have it continuously do something.
Continuously do something...
At this thought, Wang Xi’s eyes suddenly lit up.
’Awesome, it’s a power-leveler!’
Yes, he planned to have his projection grind Cards for him.
...
...
Wang Xi straightened himself up a bit and got ready to go downstairs.
THUMP-THUMP!
He felt as if he could hear a drum-like heartbeat in his ears.
Immediately after, an icy, wrenching pain shot through his heart.
"Hiss..." Wang Xi staggered, clutching his chest. His face contorted, and he sucked in a sharp breath of cold air from the pain.
’This time, the Ice Heart Curse is really acting up!’
He realized what was happening, he thought grimly.
Wang Xi leaned on the edge of the bed, panting heavily. Although it was the middle of summer, his breaths came out as frosty white mist.
This symptom lasted for quite a while.
Only when the palpitations and pain slowly subsided did he stand up again, wiping away a cold sweat.
He gritted his teeth.
Wang Xi strode out of the room.
After leaving the inn, he was about to follow the method from the 「Retirement Preview」 to find the so-called Adventurer’s Guild and check things out.
Unexpectedly, a familiar voice stopped him:
"Sir."
Wang Xi turned and saw Lillian, the young girl in the white dress who sold matches, leaning against a wall. Her head was bowed, her slightly messy golden hair spilling over her shoulders.
"You were calling me?"
Wang Xi walked over and asked.
Lillian didn’t look up, merely whispering in that cool, flat tone of hers:
"Why did you give the matches to those people?"
Wang Xi thought for a moment and understood what she meant.
It must be because his automated projection had been giving alms nearby every day, giving away the boxes of matches along with the money to the beggars, and the girl had seen him.
"I was worried they were afraid of the dark, too."
Wang Xi casually made up a reason.
The girl, Lillian, slowly raised her head and looked at him with a strange expression, but said nothing.
After a moment, she whispered:
"Are you still buying matches today?"
Wang Xi glanced at the wooden basket at the girl’s feet. Through the half-open lid, he could see that not a single box of matches had been sold.
"Yes," he said, taking out 20 Silver Coins and handing them over. "But I have something to do now. I might be back later. You can just give the matches to the inn maid later."
The girl, Lillian, said nothing.
After taking the handful of Silver Coins, she counted them carefully, then handed 10 back.
Wang Xi was confused.
"You gave me 5 extra Silver Coins last time, and you did it again this time."
Lillian whispered.
"Here, take these back."
"You figured it out after you got home?"
Wang Xi was a little surprised. ’Could it be that this girl isn’t a math idiot, just a bit slow?’
"Yes," Lillian nodded, looking as if it were a matter of course, and spoke softly.
But she quickly added with a hint of hesitation, "Sofia and Bev helped a little."
Wang Xi couldn’t help but laugh.
He could almost picture a heartwarming scene: three sisters counting Silver Coins on a table by candlelight, arguing slightly over whether the amount was too much or too little.
"Hurry on home now."
Wang Xi said with a smile, then turned to leave.
The girl lowered her gaze, staring at the tips of her toes, and said softly:
"My name is Lillian. And you, sir?"
Wang Xi faintly heard her, paused for a moment, and turned back with a smile. "Gai."