Chapter 9

“Reality”

“Sheng Year 741, June 17th, 18:45”

“Evaluation: Combat! Thrilling!”

“By striking down two adult males stronger than you and a quasi-extraordinary being in a desperate situation without giving them any time to prepare, you unleashed power beyond your own imagination!”

“Take it. You deserve this based on your performance.”

“Rewards: Mortality Points*20, [First Sight Vision Lv.1], [Calm Mind Lv.1]”

“Mortality Points: 24”

“Hoo—”

On the tattered iron bed, a red-haired girl sat up suddenly as if suffocating in a dream, clutching her chest and taking deep breaths.

Xia’er greedily breathed in the fresh air, slowly recovering from the previous feeling of cold suffocation.

Compared to the instant death she had experienced before, the gradual loss of body heat and mind brought by the ability “Reversal of Death” felt like an inescapable despair.

Not having rested long, Xia’er looked up at the flickering silver-white screen before her.

“20 points…”

Seeing the Mortality Points she had earned, Xia’er sighed in relief and rubbed her temples.

The points she earned from this simulation were twice as much as the previous two combined, indicating that her desperate action was not wrong.

Confirming that she had enough points for the next simulation, Xia’er turned her attention to the skills she had acquired.

Skills like [Agility] and [Reversal of Death] had greatly helped her before.

Without Agility, she might not have been able to kill even the first stalker, let alone face subsequent battles.

The skill Reversal of Death also provided benefits; without it, she would have been consumed long ago and wouldn’t have obtained the vial of medicine and notebook from the black-robed person, or the peculiar tentacle.

Under Xia’er’s gaze, the descriptions of the new abilities appeared before her.

“First Sight Vision Lv.1: Passive skill. Allows you to see the state of all things one second ahead.”

“Calm Mind Lv.1: You can remain calm and think clearly even in extreme situations.”

Looking at the two new skills, Xia’er nodded slightly.

These skills were all based on her performance in the simulation, directly or indirectly related to what she did in it.

As the system had said initially, running in the first simulation gave her [Agility]; facing death without fear for the first time gave her [Reversal of Death].

In the last simulation, she had somehow predicted the black-robed person’s actions, earning her [First Sight Vision].

[Calm Mind], like [Agility], seemed to be a reward.

No matter which new ability she gained, it was immensely useful. [Calm Mind] could reduce the influence of the hypnotic-like voice of the black-robed person, and [First Sight Vision] could help her avoid threats in advance.

Xia’er withdrew her gaze from the system screen and looked at her right hand. As soon as she thought about raising her hand, she saw a faint shadow lifting slightly.

Once she retracted this thought, the shadow dissipated, and a slight dizziness, akin to motion sickness, appeared in her mind.

It seemed she still wasn’t fully accustomed to this passive ability, which couldn’t be turned off. She could only adapt gradually over time.

She looked back at the system interface again, this time opening the store interface.

The system’s store had added many items, including clothing like cloaks, as well as things she wanted from the previous simulation.

“[Thomas’s Diary]”

“Mortality Points: 1”

“[Duwen’s Research Notes]”

“Mortality Points: 2”

“[Replication Potion of the Avenger]”

“Mortality Points: 100”

“[Spiritual Material of the Instigator]”

“Mortality Points: 50”

Two notebooks, a vial containing black fog, and the so-called spiritual material tentacle.

What is the “Avenger”? And what is the “Instigator”?

Previously, during her conversation with the black-robed person,

It seemed he had mistaken himself for someone performing a “replication ritual.” The system said he was quasi-extraordinary, so was he the one conducting the replication ritual?

A series of questions flooded Xia’er’s mind, accompanied by a surge of drowsiness.

In the previous simulation, she had exhausted too much spirit power, especially when using the skill 【Death Reversal】, where her spirit power seemed to flow out endlessly like water being pumped out.

However, she hadn’t reached the point of complete depletion of spirit power as in the simulation. Xia’er still had some energy left to do other things, though she felt more lethargic than usual.

Xia’er was certain that during the last simulation, she had touched upon extraordinary powers beyond the norm. To resolve her current doubts, it was necessary to redeem those two notebooks.

This was to help her better understand the world she had never seen before.

Xia’er redeemed the two notebooks, consuming 2 Mortality Points.

「Redemption of 【Thomas’ Diary】 and 【Duwen’s Research Notes】 successful. The spiritual marks in 【Duwen’s Research Notes】 have been cleared.」

「Remaining Mortality Points: 21」

The research notes cost 1 more Mortality Point than the diary, was it to clear the spiritual marks inside?

A cheap notebook similar to her own and a finely crafted black leather-bound notebook appeared beside Xia’er.

She placed the seemingly ordinary diary aside and, after a moment’s thought, directly opened the black leather notebook.

A line of somewhat square handwriting appeared before Xia’er.

[Replication Research Notes — Duwen Fawali — Salvation Goddess Church]

The cover page didn’t have any other words. Xia’er continued flipping through the pages.

[Just like other priests, I started writing spiritual notes, hoping to accelerate my reformed monk’s practice. I never thought that a believer could become a servant of God. I will dedicate myself entirely to the church, practicing asceticism in every corner of life. May the goddess bless me and allow me to pass the trials and become a priest.]

Flip.

[High Priest Yulis saw me writing a spiritual note and scolded me privately, saying I shouldn’t be ambitious… But I want to offer everything to the goddess as soon as possible. Is there anything wrong with that?]

[I went to the black market to get my handwriting marked with spiritual marks, so no one would see what I was writing. However, the merchant’s gaze made me feel quite uncomfortable.]

From here on, the originally somewhat lazy handwriting became more forceful. Xia’er continued flipping through the pages.

[I’ve done everything that other reformed monks have done, and I’ve suffered even more! Why hasn’t High Priest Yulis recognized me yet?!]

[The goddess said that as long as we bear more suffering, the world will have less pain. But I’ve already done more than others, why won’t they let me perform the replication ritual?!]

Replication ritual?

Xia’er’s interest was finally piqued. She continued flipping through a few more pages.

[Yulis was promoted to Grand Priest. It seems there was some urgent matter, and she was finally transferred away from this church. The new high priest easily passed me the priest examination. I knew my efforts would pay off.]

[The new high priest taught me how to mark spiritual marks, so I no longer have to secretly write my spiritual notes.]

Flip.

[I obtained the reformed monk’s replication potion. It’s time for the goddess to see my results.]

Flip.

[Why… did it fail?]

Flip, flip, flip. The handwriting became increasingly messy. Xia’er was starting to find it difficult to read the words.

Flip.

[It turns out the doctrine was wrong… It’s not my fault.]

[If the world’s suffering is fixed, then killing those who cause pain to others would suffice. Something is missing in the potion… I know… The goddess told me… The new path is called “Avenger”…]

[They don’t understand me… I must find another place to complete my ritual.]