Chapter 12 – Recruitment and Manifestation

After purifying the Root of Filth, Mu Yuan swiftly departed with the thrill of a successful heist, fearing that monsters attracted by the commotion might discover him.

He had no intention of continuing his exploration.

For one, he needed to return to his territory before nightfall on the Eternal Continent. Secondly, Deadbone had expended a significant amount of energy after several intense battles.

Skeletons may be tireless and fearless, but they are not perpetual motion machines. Continuous battles or strenuous activities will cause their condition to deteriorate.

Following the path they had scouted earlier, the group of one human and four skeletons quickly made their way back.

Along the journey, Mu Yuan couldn’t resist tallying his gains.

The Root of Filth had contributed two Remnant Souls, the Wolf King had provided one earlier, and the Great Goblin had lived up to expectations as well, bringing the total to a full four Remnant Souls.

Not long ago, while browsing the forums, Mu Yuan had lamented his empty pockets and joined other players in complaining about the abysmal drop rate of Remnant Souls, how frustratingly rare they were.

“But it seems Remnant Souls aren’t that hard to obtain after all. Look, I easily got four of them.”

Well, aside from those privileged second-generation gamers and big spenders, it’s unlikely any new player at this stage could handle that Great Goblin. Even those lucky enough to start with a three-star unit wouldn’t dare confront a level 4 Great Goblin head-on. If they lost their unit, where would they go to cry about it?

Thanks to the generous drops from the Root of Filth and the previous battles, his Soul Sand had accumulated to 65.3g. He was, to some extent, among the wealthier new players now.

Of course, the Remnant Souls and potion items were even more valuable.

The Energy Potion could quickly restore stamina and was effective even on Skeleton units, though its energy restoration effect was somewhat weaker.

What Mu Yuan valued was that he could use this potion himself.

He was already prepared for all-night gaming marathons, but his body couldn’t keep up. With the Energy Potion, that was no longer a problem. One cup and his eyelids would never droop again, and his hair wouldn’t fall out either.

“Among these drops, the most precious item has to be this Amulet.”

「Amulet (Common)」

「Description: Can block three fatal attacks not exceeding Tier 0, Level 9. Current remaining uses: 3/3.」

This was a life-saving item. Mu Yuan immediately equipped it on his character.

His sense of security skyrocketed.

The Amulet was a Common-grade item, as were the Energy Potion and Crimson Blood Fruit, but their values were clearly not equivalent, just as there was a noticeable gap between a Little Skeleton and a Skeleton Soldier.

After trekking over mountains and through rivers, negative statuses like ‘Fatigue’ and ‘Muscle Soreness’ began to appear on Mu Yuan’s game character. He had finally returned to his territory.

“Going out on a trip is far too difficult.”

“Looking at the map, it doesn’t seem like I traveled very far? Oh, is it because my game character is too weak? Well, that’s fine then.”

The rugged mountain forests were hard to traverse. When he set out, his speed was still comparable to the Little Skeleton’s, but on the return trip, he couldn’t keep up at all.

He didn’t even possess the strength of one skeleton!

If he wanted to explore further in the future, he himself would be the weakest link.

This wouldn’t do.

Mu Yuan already had some ideas. The Crimson Blood Fruit could improve his physical constitution, but the improvement would be slow. If he wanted easier travel, after much thought, finding a mount seemed like a more convenient solution.

But what kind of unit would be suitable as a mount?

As he pondered, he arrived before the Altar.

“Let’s try recruiting a unit.”

Mu Yuan placed a Random Remnant Soul on the Lord Altar and lightly tapped ‘Recruit’.

「Ding!」”Prompt: Proceed with unit recruitment? This recruitment’s unit probability rates are 90%/9%/1%.”

“Prompt: You have consumed ‘1 Remnant Soul’ and ‘5g Soul Sand’. Random recruitment in progress.”

“Prompt: You have recruited the unit ‘Falcon (Common★)’.”

——

“Falcon (Common★): A flying-type unit possessing a sharp beak and keen eyes.”

It was just a common one-star unit.

This was perfectly normal.

After all, Mu Yuan was only doing a single pull. To recruit a two-star unit, he’d need at least a ten-pull, right? As for three-star units… with a 1% drop rate—higher than some gacha games but without any pity system—an unlucky player might not get one even after a hundred pulls.

Moreover,

“Other gacha games at least have rate-up banners, but this supernatural game doesn’t. There are as many common three-star unit types as there are stars in the sky. Even if I went full gambler, it’d be nearly impossible to pull the specific mount unit I want. So…”

Rather than gambling, it was more practical to save up and buy specific Unit Shards from other players.

“Actually, for newcomers, using all Random Remnant Souls for gambling isn’t a bad deal at all. Any unit recruited adds combat strength, as long as it’s not one of the very few units even worse than Little Skeleton and goblins.”

“But I’m different. I’m not suited to recruiting a bunch of random units. Only by specializing in one or a few types can I maximize the effect of Evolution Points and cultivate top-tier units that stand above the heavens.”

“Still, this newly recruited Falcon is a flying unit, so it’s definitely not a loss.”

It was a large bird with long, narrow wings, a lengthy and slender tail, and a hooked beak with sharp tooth-like projections along the edges. Its black and white feathers gave it a majestic appearance.

In terms of looks, the Falcon was much more impressive than the similarly first-tier Little Skeleton, though its actual combat capability remained unclear.

Mu Yuan silently checked the Evolution Points.

“Skeleton Evolution Points: 1.59”

“Falcon Evolution Points: 0.01”

The recent series of battles had yielded quite a few Evolution Points, especially during Deadbone’s fight with the Great Goblin. Mu Yuan had noticed several ‘+0.1’ notifications popping up above Deadbone’s head.

It seemed that while daily point generation from Deadbone was modest, intense physical clashes could trigger significant bursts.

Mu Yuan immediately evolved a third Skeleton Soldier, naming it ‘Bone Three’, and placed all skeletons under Deadbone’s training and management.

As for this sole falcon,

“Based on Little Skeleton’s previous point generation efficiency, a single falcon should produce 0.4 Evolution Points per day. At that rate, it would only take two and a half days to accumulate enough for its evolution—not too slow.”

“I don’t necessarily need to use this falcon as a combat unit. If it can handle reconnaissance duties, that would be quite valuable indeed.”

On the Eternal Continent, night gradually fell. Beyond the territory, thick white fog enveloped the area, and gradually, the roars of monsters began to rise and fall in the distance.

Night had arrived—time for dinner~

Compared to before, Mu Yuan’s territory now had three Skeleton Soldiers standing guard, significantly improving security. At the very least, ordinary wild wolves would only be delivering themselves as meals.

However, the thunderous roar echoing from afar still made his heart race with fear. Fortunately, the roaring gradually faded into the distance—perhaps it was just a powerful monster passing through the vicinity?

The waters of the Eternal Continent truly run deep.

…The night in Baijiang City deepened like water.

Mu Yuan sat before his computer, meticulously arranging the 007 work tasks. Immediately after, he controlled his character to place several Crimson Blood Fruits, Energy Potions, and a small amount of Soul Sand on the Lord Altar as if arranging offerings, praying to the heavens… bah, selecting extraction.

In the next moment, a faint, shimmering light surged from the altar, enveloping each of these items.

The extraction process lasted over ten seconds.

Soon, Mu Yuan himself seemed to see the light as well.

White light filled his vision, and he saw a vast land, a dilapidated village, an ancient altar, and dull-witted skeletons.

As the light gradually faded, several items appeared before Mu Yuan.

An Energy Potion stored in a small vial, its interior flowing with an orange liquid;

A round, translucent, vermilion fruit that looked extraordinary at a glance;

And a small amount of Soul Sand, shimmering with a magnificent luster like crushed gemstones.

Had these treasures truly manifested from the game into reality? Although Mu Yuan had long been aware of the game’s supernatural nature, this was the first time he had extracted treasures directly from the game, and he couldn’t help but feel exhilarated, gulping down three large mouthfuls of his favorite soda.

“Ding!”

“Notification: Item extraction complete. This extraction consumed 11.9g of Soul Sand.”

Mu Yuan: “…Damn!”

(End of Chapter)