These people were dressed like thugs. They seemed to be loafing around nearby when they saw Lin Yunyun's figure from a distance and immediately rushed over.
"Brothers, we're in luck today! The Lin family's girl is at home today. Let's get some money from her!"
"Brother Ying, I heard she was accepted by a martial arts hall..." Someone nearby whispered.
"What are you afraid of?! We're not stealing or robbing her—don't tell me that the martial arts hall can even meddle in other people's business? Besides, you guys don't know this: this little girl can't take a beating."
"Heh heh! That's true. It's the first time I've seen a martial artist who fears pain so much."
This group of people chatted as they walked over. Gu Nan, who was nearby, heard them and secretly snickered.
It was natural for Lin Yunyun to fear pain. Once her body received a hard hit, the internal energy hidden inside her body would continuously escape, causing severe pain.
Furthermore, this pain would continue to flow alongside her internal energy and spread throughout the rest of her body… This kind of pain wasn't something that could be dealt with through willpower alone.
Lin Yunyun noticed their arrival. Her face suddenly lost all color, and she turned to run away.
Even the group of gangsters were stunned.
Brother Ying, the leader, quickly shouted, "Quick, chase her! Don't let her get away!"
In fact, these gangsters couldn't even be considered martial artists, while Lin Yunyun was still an Acquired Realm martial artist. Just because she was "afraid of pain", she had to run from them.
Gu Nan shook his head slightly from his hiding spot, but a trace of doubt emerged in his heart.
'This Lin Yunyun can't even fight, so how did she qualify for the Martial Arts Competition?'
Lin Yunyun's home was in the slums. Many of the roads led to dead ends. In a panic, the girl ran into a dead end and was cornered.
"Run! Why don't you run some more?!" Brother Ying said viciously as he gasped for breath.
These ordinary people couldn't compare with Lin Yunyun's stamina; they were already tired from running.
Lin Yunyun pressed her back against the wall and tried to shout calmly, "Don't... Don't come over! Or else I'll hit someone!"
This sounded a little laughable, but as the strongest person here, Lin Yunyun was qualified to say this. Even if she was surrounded, as long as she caught someone and gave them a beating, she could still beat them half to death.
"What are you shouting for?!" Brother Ying snorted coldly. "If you dare to attack, I'll tell your father and older sister about everything!"
"D-Don't..." Lin Yunyun's voice suddenly weakened.
A cold smile appeared on Brother Ying's face. He took out a large bag of white powder from his pocket and waved it lightly in front of him. "The goods just arrived today. I left it all for you. Aren't I nice?"
"Why would you… give it to me? I don't need it anymore!" Lin Yunyun's gaze stared at that bag for a long time, but she still said through gritted teeth, "Plus, I don't have money anymore…"
"You joined a martial arts hall. How can you not have any money?" Brother Ying continued to sneer. "All Martial Arts Competition participants have a signing bonus. You want to fool us?"
Lin Yunyun gradually clenched her fist and breathed heavily. "I need money… I need money to keep fighting in the competition… You guys are the ones who forced me…"
Her voice gradually lowered, carrying a strange sense of gloom that made Brother Ying feel uneasy.
He wanted to say something, but Lin Yunyun suddenly looked up, her eyes filled with red.
"You…" Brother Ying only had time to say one word before Lin Yunyun rushed at him and punched him on the bridge of his nose, while her other hand grabbed the bag of white powder.
Then she ate the powder like a vicious dog gnawing on food, even eating the packaging.
"Damn it! You druggie bitch!" Brother Ying stood up while covering his bloody nose with a hand. He said angrily, "Just you wait. In less than two days, you'll be famous! Everyone will know about this!"
"Brother Ying, something's wrong..."
"What's wrong?" Brother Ying turned his head and looked at Lin Yunyun calmly. His expression changed slightly. "She ate it all… Will she die…"
The current Lin Yunyun had messy hair. The bag in her hand was already empty. Her cheeks were still stained with residual powder, and a strong emotion flashed through her eyes.
Even someone like Brother Ying could read that look. That was called madness.
"Run!" Brother Ying shouted suddenly. He was the first to turn around and run, but he suddenly felt a cold breeze behind him, and then a pain in his neck.
Like a nimble monkey, Lin Yunyun jumped onto his back in an instant and bit down on his neck!
"Ah!" The sharp pain in his neck made Brother Ying scream wildly. He kept beating Lin Yunyun, but the latter seemed to feel nothing.
'Why isn't she afraid of pain anymore…?'
The doubt didn't reverberate through his mind for too long, because his consciousness soon ceased to exist.
After biting off Brother Ying's neck, Lin Yunyun threw him aside and continued to pounce on the others.
Two short minutes later, the gangsters' corpses had been thrown together. They were all bitten on the neck without exception.
Yet Lin Yunyun still seemed to be in a state of madness. She began to crazily bite, punch, and slam her head against everything in her sight.
The morning in the slum was quiet and peaceful. Nobody knew what had happened in this alley.
Except…
Gu Nan stood quietly, like a ghost, watching all this calmly from the side.
...
A person.
A person in white.
A person who looks very familiar and likes to wear white clothes.
Lin Yunyun didn't know when this person appeared. Although she still had strength left, her instincts were warning her that this person could kill her easily.
She began to lie feebly on the ground, her eyes tightly shut. She didn't even care in the slightest that she was showing a lot of skin—most of her clothes had either been torn up or eaten by her.
But that person seemed entirely unaware of it.
"I ask, you answer. I'll kill you if you don't answer."
"...Okay."
"How old?"
"Thirteen."
"Why lie about your age?"
"To enter the martial arts hall, to buy better drugs, to win the competition, to make money."
Lin Yunyun's voice was very low, but her pronunciation was very clear. She used clear logic to tell Gu Nan what she wanted.
Gu Nan didn't continue to ask questions. Instead, he bent down and took the wrinkled plastic bag from her hand. "When did you start eating this?"
"Last month." Lin Yunyun didn't even blink. She looked lifeless. "Hui Ying drugged me and a classmate. Only then did I discover that the pain would go away if I ate this."
Gu Nan swiped a little powder and tasted it– 'Yup, a kind of shoddy stimulant. They probably provided it to people in the slums to satisfy the cravings of some down and out drug addicts.'
These kinds of drugs were often effective, but they were extremely addictive and had adverse effects on the body.
Of course, for someone like Lin Yunyun, her internal energy was so vast that no drug could hurt her.
For Lin Yunyun, who had been surrounded by severe pain ever since childhood and tortured every single second, this thing was akin to an immortal pill that held a fatal attraction to her.
'As long as the pain stops, even death is nothing.'
Gu Nan looked down at the dull 13-year-old girl and started smiling.
Devotee's Game System Inspired Note
» This section of the chapter is a Fan based created system to mock-up or simulate the 'Status Information' of our MC - Gu Nan. This implies that you are free to skip reading this and continue your journey onto the next chapter.
» All catalog data below is a summary of various information achieved by Gu Nan that corresponds till the end of the related chapter and is compiled into a singular 'Status Screen.' Additionally, the invented system below would continue to evolve as we progress and learn more about the novel itself.
MC's Status Information
Name: Gu Nan
Current Location: At a slum somewhere in Ruby Fish Star
Current Soul Location: N/A
Status: ⟪ Evil God ⟫
Advancement Direction: Agility Type
Current Evil God Rank: Tier 3
Equivalent/Current Martial Art: Prodigious Realm
◈ Comprehension of Innate ability: Infinitesimal Stage
Chosen Core Skill: The Law of Shadow
Current Evil God Temple Quest:
→ Main Mission Objective/s:
-— Evil Event: Ruby Fish Star's Martial Arts Competition. - Evil God Temple Issued
◈ Status: On Going
→ Side Quest Objective:
-— None. - N/A
◈ Status: N/A
Current Evil Points: 1500
Overall Evil Points: 3775, Overall Evil Value: 97
Core Skill Acquired
— Shadow. ｢Also known precisely as 'The law of Shadow' - its one of the highest-ranked laws in the game. Skill 'Power of Shadows' LVL +1｣
Normal Skills Acquired:
— Locked ｢N/A｣
— Locked ｢N/A｣
— Locked ｢N/A｣
Exclusive Skills Acquired:
— Deceitful Steps. [ Passive Ability ] ｢Movement Speed increased by 30%. Attack Speed increased by 50%｣
— Power of Shadows. [ LVL 2 ] ｢Allows the players to activate the skill "Hidden Shadows" at LVL 1 and unlocks the skill "Shadow Form" at LVL 2..｣
▸Hidden Shadows. ｢The power to manipulate shadows to a fine degree.｣
▸Shadow Form. ｢An incomparable handy skill that allows the player to manipulate shadows to create things, like weapons and armor. At the highest level of mastery, it could even create a humanoid clone.｣
Equipment being worn
→ Armor
-— Dawn Sage's Robe. ｢Basic level defense. If you are not attacked within 3 seconds, you will receive the "Praise of Dawn" effect.｣
→ Weapon
-— Four Element Crossbow. ｢A Tier 2 crossbow weapon that can generate four types of elemental arrows—earth, water, wind, and fire—based on the user's needs and does not need to load arrows.｣
→ Accessories - Facial Accessories, Necklace, Earrings
-— Observer Eyepiece. ｢An eyepiece that have a fixed Tier 2 magic 'Insight' inscribe in it.｣
-— Dragon Heart Pendant. ｢Allows players to activate the skill "Dragon Power". This skill cannot be upgraded｣
-— Shadow Earrings. ｢Skill 'Power of Shadows' LVL +1｣
Equipment Skills Acquired:
-— Insight. [ Passive Ability ] ｢Ability to obtain high-precision data analysis when looking at people or objects.｣
-— Dragon Power. ｢Greatly enhances the player's strength and physique. Duration: 5 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes｣
-— Praise of Dawn. [ Passive Ability ] ｢Increases self-healing ability by 300%｣
Item/s owned:
→ None.