novelraw Chapter 211-2: Fruit of Malice, Rare Seafood Market Stall (2)
Chapter 211-2: Fruit of Malice, Rare Seafood Market Stall (2)
[The silent night was drenched in gloom. The hazy moonlight was smothered by heavy clouds. From alleys and street corners came the occasional wailing cries of stray cats, sounding almost like children weeping, making the darkness all the more eerie and unsettling.]
Halfway there, Lin Xun encountered another group of wandering ronin gathered around a burning Karmic Fire.
Even though the Chunin shell couldn’t control the Karmic Fire, it was still more than enough to deal with these small fry.
The Chunin, driven by malice, slaughtered all the ronin, finally venting the malicious urges.
[The Karmic Fire in the corner still burns fiercely. Will you leave immediately or attempt to extinguish it?]
“If I don’t put out the Karmic Fire, every time I pass this way, I’ll have to kill monsters again to vent malice.”
Killing monsters earned experience and Spirit Essence drops, which was good, but these trash mobs could only respawn up to three times.
After that, if he encountered the fire again with no targets to vent on, wouldn’t he be forced to commit suicide?
Passing by the Karmic Fire would mean dying over and over. That was practically the same as being hard-stuck at a checkpoint.
“Tch… So this is where the game’s trap was waiting!”Lin Xun suddenly understood and selected the option to extinguish the fire.
[The burning pitch-black flames locked your gaze in place, making it impossible to look away.]
[You even tried closing your eyes to avoid seeing the Karmic Fire, but you still couldn’t stop the malice from rising. It felt as if just being illuminated by the firelight was enough to drag you into the swamp of malice.]
[You opened your eyes and spotted a ronin’s corpse. Raising your foot, you kicked it into the flames…]
[The fire dimmed, and just as you thought you had extinguished it, the flames suddenly flared up brighter than before!]
[The Karmic Fire used the corpse as fuel, burning even more fiercely!]
[Endless malice surged from the depths of your heart…]
[Uncontrollably, you searched all around, but could not find any outlet to release the malice…]
[You raised your raptor claws…]
“Damn it, don’t tell me I have to die again?”
Lin Xun frantically tried to switch shells, but the cursed game still displayed unable to switch.
[…]
[You have died!]
He drew in a long breath, feeling his blood pressure quietly rising.
This wretched game was as infernal as ever.
After reshaping the Chunin shell, he decided this time to try using the attendant shell.
Instead of heading for the Fish Market road, he went toward the Pleasure Quarter route.
The Karmic Fire locations on the two routes were different. If he failed and got stuck in a death loop, he could still try the other path.
This time, the monster-killing went smoothly, but he still couldn’t extinguish the fire.
He tried every method he could think of, only to discover that the pitch-black flames could not be put out by any ordinary means.
At this point, the only approach was to kill enemies to vent the malice and then leave quickly before it gathered again.
If he lingered too long watching the fire, the malice would come surging back like a tide.
[Your powerful wandering soul is reborn in the lifeless port…]
“This basically sets a fixed number of ‘challenge attempts’ in the game.”
If every route had Karmic Fire partway along, that meant each path only allowed three tries.
Because on the fourth attempt, with no monsters left to kill, you would inevitably have to commit suicide.
The game had once given him a hint: he couldn’t resist malice because his accumulated Karmic Fire stacks were too low.
For now, his Karmic Fire stacks were rising very slowly, and he still hadn’t figured out how to control it.
“How do I master the Karmic Fire…?”
For a moment, he thought back to the massive Karmic Fire statue in the Pleasure Quarter’s depths, Ancient Heavenly Enma’s idol.
One of the options when encountering that statue had been to swear an oath and join the faction of Ancient Heavenly Enma.
He suspected that to obtain the means of controlling Karmic Fire, he might have to swear allegiance to that faction first.
“So the game is basically forcing Apostles to pick sides.”
Lin Xun shook his head. He wasn’t willing to dance on the game’s strings.
Besides, he hadn’t yet confirmed what the Evil God faction really entailed. If he rushed to join and then later betrayed them, he’d probably end up hunted as an Oathbreaker.
“Heh… You think this will limit me?”
While considering all this, he already thought of a way to bypass the challenge limit.
He set out once more toward the Fish Market.
This time, after killing the ronin, he ignored the Karmic Fire. While the fresh malice had yet to gather, he slipped away.
[…]
[The narrow alley suddenly opened up, and a pungent reek of fish flooded your nose…]
[Before you stretched a dense cluster of stalls. Ramshackle canvas canopies sagged atop four rotten wooden posts, forming rows of crude, temporary booths.]
[It was already deep into the night. Only a few stalls still had people moving about.]
[You strode forward to one of the stalls.]
[This stall was somewhat different. In truth, it wasn’t really a stall but a wooden pushcart, bearing a sign unlike any other nearby: Rare Seafood Market Stall.]
[A layer of greasy canvas was draped over the goods, hiding whatever treasures lay beneath.]
[The Fire-Worshipping Special Fishmonger lifted his pitch-black eyes. When he saw the twin magatama painted on your mask, he perked up at once.]
[He hurriedly pulled the canvas aside, revealing a pile of rotten fish and stinking shrimp, and began introducing them one by one.]
[Fanged Tigerfish: A deep-sea carnivorous species with sharp fangs. Though small in size, it is extremely aggressive. Consuming it will temporarily grant a small boost to the shell’s Strength attribute. Spirit Essence cost: 1,000. Remaining quantity: 5.]
[Saltwater Eelfin: A shallow-water carnivore with highly developed fins and extraordinary speed. Consuming it will temporarily grant a small boost to the shell’s Agility attribute. Spirit Essence cost: 1,000. Remaining quantity: 5.]
[Armored Shieldfish: A deep-sea predator with a bullet-shaped cranial plate. Its skeleton is remarkably dense. Consuming it will temporarily grant a small boost to the shell’s Defense attribute. Spirit Essence cost: 1,000. Remaining quantity: 5.]
[Sharp-Rudder Purplefin Skipjack: A mid-ocean migratory fish that must swim at speed throughout its life due to unique physiology, making it exceptionally robust. Consuming it will temporarily grant a small boost to the shell’s Vitality attribute. Spirit Essence cost: 1,000. Remaining quantity: 5.]
[Cartilaginous Vertebra Shark: …]
[…]
Lin Xun finished reading over the fish being sold at the stall, and for a moment his eyes shone brightly.
“This is one of those ‘benefit episodes’ the cursed game sometimes hands out!”
By now, he was no longer a clueless rookie. He knew that certain chapters contained unique ‘specialty items.’
These specialty items didn’t exist everywhere; they were only sold in specific chapters and in limited quantities.
And right now, the fish on this stall were exactly such specialty items.
Although these items weren’t particularly useful to him personally, once he brought them back to the Library and put them up for sale, he could make a handsome profit.
The only problem was that this type of merchant NPC was hard to rob clean…
For a moment, Lin Xun felt the itch to simply kill and plunder.
[The Fire-Worshipping Special Fishmonger seemed to read your mind. Smiling pleasantly, he reminded you that while he was more than happy to sell seafood to you, Chunin Lord, if you tried to steal without paying, the Fish Market would forever close its doors to you.]
[And the next time the fishermen brought back their catches, you would never be able to buy these rare fish again.]
Lin Xun thought it over and decided to temporarily abandon the idea of robbing him.
The merchandise here seemed able to refresh over time. If he stole everything once, he’d lose the chance to buy them in the future.
For renewable specialty items, slow and steady trade was the real path to wealth.
Besides, he had plenty of Spirit Essence in his pouch to buy out the whole stall.
For once, he cheerfully paid up and cleared out all the fish in stock.
[The Fire-Worshipping Special Fishmonger beamed as he bundled everything up and handed it over.]
[Seeing that his inventory was sold out and he was about to pack up for the night, he seemed in excellent spirits. As a parting gift, he shared a secret with you.]
[His was the only stall in the Fish Market selling rare seafood. All the others peddled nothing but rotten fish and shrimp, so you shouldn’t let yourself be deceived by black-hearted merchants.]
[Of course, this wasn’t really a secret, anyone who frequented the Fish Market would know it.]
[The true secret was that deep within the market there was a special merchant whose wares were extraordinarily valuable, but who would only sell to nobles. That was why ordinary commoners had no idea there was a hidden shop back there.]
[If you hadn’t been so generous, and of no small standing, he never would have told you this.]
[The Fire-Worshipping Special Fishmonger quietly leaned close to your ear and whispered the hidden shop’s location…]
[Before leaving, he pressed a wooden talisman into your hand, waved farewell, and departed.]
[You have obtained Communication Talisman (Item).]
[The pushcart of the Rare Seafood Market Stall quickly disappeared around a corner of the market…]
“Is this what they call ‘good deeds bring good rewards’?”
Lin Xun chuckled and shook his head, then opened his inventory to look over the new item.
[Communication Talisman (Item): A special talisman crafted by an onmyoji, inscribed with tadpole-like runes. While carrying this item, you will receive a notification when the Rare Seafood Market Stall restocks.]
Both the Communication Talisman and the hidden shop’s location were probably rewards for spending a certain amount.
Stealing had its advantages, but honest trade apparently brought some pretty good benefits too.
Lin Xun eyed the dozen or so fish in his inventory. Once he put these specialty items up for sale in the Library, he would at least double or triple his investment.