novelraw Chapter 18: A Terrifying Talent
Chapter 18: A Terrifying Talent
Li Xingyue quickly explained, “Your soul talent affects the organization’s rating of your personal potential, as well as how much support and resources you receive.”
“If your talent is outstanding, the organization will heavily invest in your growth—not just with a higher salary, but also with abundant item rewards. So, please don’t hold anything back.”
Seeing Lin Xun hesitate, Ye Xiaoqi pursed her lips and spoke up first, directly revealing her own soul talent—True Sight.
True Sight allows her to discover hidden items and branch options in the game.
In reality, it also enables her to perceive the nature of a person’s soul—whether it’s unusual or not.
“We’ll all be working together going forward. Being transparent is key to teamwork,” she said, showing no sign of treating Lin Xun as an outsider.
Lin Xun frowned slightly, his mind spinning rapidly.
Soul talent determined his salary and the organization’s resource allocation.
If he lowballed his talent, they might assume he was useless and give him a measly three-thousand-yuan salary, like they were hiring some factory line worker.
But if he exposed everything—laid all his cards on the table—that didn’t sit well either.It was just like being asked for your education background by a boss setting your pay rate.
After his time spent in the game, Lin Xun had come to sense something. His talent, Thousand Faces, Ten Thousand Forms, didn’t just increase Shell Slots for the sake of more disguises. Not really.
Its true core was Compatibility, not just having more Shell Slots.
Higher Compatibility allowed him to possess boss-grade shells that were otherwise unpossessable—a direct violation of the game’s balance.
Think about it—if he leveled this talent up a few more times, Compatibility would become high enough that any boss he encountered could be possessed, regardless of how high their compatibility rating originally was.
The extra Shell Slots were just a supporting feature, enabling him to store all the boss shells he’d take over.
A player who could possess powerful boss shells was far more overpowered than one who just had several weak alternate ones.
Having thought it through, Lin Xun decided to conceal the Compatibility aspect and only reveal the Shell Slot increase. That way, the organization would still see his value and invest in him—without him showing all his cards.
“My soul talent is called Thousand Faces, Ten Thousand Forms. It lets me carry additional Shells.”
He deliberately left out the part about it boosting Compatibility.
“Wait! Did you say Shell Slots?” Ye Xiaoqi looked up, her expression as if she’d just seen a ghost. She even forgot to keep typing.
Li Xingyue wasn’t much better off, also staring in disbelief.
The two exchanged glances and read the shock in each other’s eyes.
“That’s right. I can carry multiple Shells at once,” Lin Xun said. Then, something occurred to him: “Wait… don’t you guys have Shell Slots too?”
The short-haired girl completely lost her composure. “I knew it! I knew it! That powerful soul of yours… the talent of course must be completely monstrous…”
Lin Xun had suspected his talent was abnormal—but without comparison, he didn’t realize just how overpowered it really was. Not knowing what other Apostles were capable of, he hadn’t considered himself special.
Li Xingyue explained, “Whenever we get a new shell in the game, we have to abandon the current one. There’s no such thing as a Shell Slot. We can only reshape the active shell.”
Ye Xiaoqi nodded vigorously. “When we ditch a shell, we can only keep its items and equipment. Level and skills are not retained. So even if we find a new shell, we have to think really hard about whether it’s worth giving up the old one.”
“Lin Xun,” Li Xingyue said, voice now steadier, “your soul talent has tremendous potential. I need to report this to the organization and fight to get you the best treatment. Don’t worry—they’ll take good care of you.”
She straightened her posture, no longer leaning back against the sofa, but sitting upright with her chest out.
The sheer curves of her body were accentuated as her skirt clung to the smooth line of her black-stocking-clad thighs—irresistibly alluring.
All I did was tell them about the extra Shell Slot… and they’re this excited? Lin Xun thought. If I’d revealed the Compatibility part too, would they have just flown into the air in joy?
The sultry, black-silk-clad superior summoned a softly glowing bookmark out of thin air and handed it to him.
[Anchor Bookmark (Item): Use this to anchor your current chapter. When returning to the Library, you may choose to proceed directly to the next segment of the anchored chapter.]
“This bookmark is extremely rare and valuable. Don’t use it lightly,” she warned.
Then she picked up the landline and dialed a number. Her voice turned icy.
“Until I give word, no one is to approach any other team. Block them outside the building if you have to.”
She hung up and turned to Lin Xun with a warm smile.
“Xiaoqi, take Lin Xun to the conference room to rest. Wait for my instructions…”