Without hesitation, Lin Xun was ready to use his last soul strength point to reshape the knight's shell.
[Warning! Your current soul strength is 1/2. When your soul strength is exhausted, the body of the Apostle will die.]
[Do you want to consume 1 point of soul strength to reshape the shell of the 'Guardian Knight'?]
Bright red enlarged text was trembling non-stop, and a strange sense of fear enveloped Lin Xun.
Sweat was instantly seeping out of his forehead and spine.
The intense fear made it difficult for him to breathe, his mind went blank.
Lin Xun did not doubt that if he used up the last point of soul strength now, he would die for sure!
"I mustn't click 'yes', I mustn't click 'yes'." He struggled to move his finger and clicked on 'no'.
The bloody text disappeared and the terrifying fear faded away.
He sighed a breath of relief, his back drenched with cold sweat.
He put down his phone and hurried to the bathroom.
He turned on the faucet, lowered his head, washed his face with cold water, forcing himself to calm down.
After a long while, Lin Xun wiped his face, took out a cigarette, and after three tries with a lighter, he finally managed to light it.
"Whew…" He exhaled a puff of smoke, looking at his finally calm hands and gave a bitter smile.
"As expected, this game is not so simple. Opportunities are often accompanied by risks."
Lin Xun smoked an entire cigarette before he calmed down and began to rationally analyse.
"Depletion of soul strength signifies death, as long as I don't use the last point of soul strength, there should be no threat to my life."
"Looking at it this way, compared to the benefits of materializing game props, the risk seems bearable."
This text game seemed to have a magical power that addictively lures people into unconsciously playing it.
Lin Xun decided to continue the game.
[A weak Wandering Soul possesses the body of the 'Choir Nun'].]
[This shell has lost its ability to act temporarily due to excessive use of skills, it needs 12 hours of rest to recover.]
[Do you want to leave this body?]
In helplessness, he had no choice but to leave the body.
The exploration of the church was complete, and he needed a 12-hour recovery before he could continue the game.
Lin Xun closed the game to find it was already two in the morning.
After setting a 12-hour alarm clock, he hurriedly washed up and went to sleep.
...
The next day, at 10 a.m., at the mutton restaurant.
"Can I have a bowl of sticky rice and a bowl of soy milk, please?"
"Ok."
The mutton restaurant downstairs of Lin Xun's house didn't originally serve breakfast, they mainly offered mutton soup, hand-held mutton, and roast mutton dishes.
However, due to the recent epidemic affecting business, they added a breakfast service. The mutton wasn't that great, but their locally made sticky rice breakfast was the absolute best.
It probably won't be long before this mutton restaurant changes to a breakfast eatery.
Before long, a waiter from the mutton restaurant brought over a steaming ceramic bowl.
In the bowl was freshly steamed sticky rice, the translucent and grainy white sticky rice was still emitting heat, topped with bright yellow crispy fried dough sticks and soft, aromatic minced pork belly.
Pouring a scoop of mushroom and ground meat soup, sprinkling some pork floss and chopped chives, it was so appetising.
Lin Xun took a small ceramic spoonful of the sticky rice drenched in the soup and put it in his mouth.
The sticky rice grains were clear and chewy, the meat soup was salty and rich, paired with the crunchy taste of the fried dough sticks, every bite was a delight.
A mouthful of sticky rice, a sip of hot soy milk, it was a great start to a day.
Feeling full and satisfied, Lin Xun was ready to go home and type.
There were still four hours left for his soul strength to recover.
Just getting up, he coincidentally met the owner of the mutton restaurant, who had just returned from the farmer's market.
The middle-aged owner was pushing a little cart with a freshly slaughtered lamb on it.
Lin Xun often comes here for breakfast, being a regular customer. The middle-aged boss gave him a gentle smile, a form of greeting.
Lin Xun nodded in acknowledgment, his gaze sweeping over the bloody body of a small lamb on a trolley.
[Thousand Faces and Million Forms talent, activated.]
[Shell of a small-tailed Han lamb, freshly slaughtered lamb that was supposed to be suckling but tragically fell under the butcher's blade. Compatibility: 48% (+15%)]
[Apostle, do you want to possess this shell?]
Several lines of text suddenly appeared in his vision.
Lin Xun's pupils constricted sharply, nearly letting out a gasp of surprise.
Feigning calm, he finished greeting the owner of the mutton shop and hurriedly left the place.
"The spiritual talent from the game has materialized in reality!"
To confirm this theory, Lin Xun took a taxi to the market.
Sure enough, at a stall which slaughtered live poultry, the game text appeared again in his vision.
[Thousand Faces and Million Forms talent, activated.]
[Shell of a white-feathered chicken, a mature male chicken, appearing clean and white, with a strangely captivating beauty after undergoing processes such as throat-cutting, bloodletting, scalding, plucking, and gutting. Compatibility: 37% (+15%)]
After some research, Lin Xun found that only shells of those already dead and whose flesh was well-preserved displayed the option to possess.
"If my talent can possess the shells of poultry in reality, could it also possess the shells of humans? And if so, what would happen to my own shell after I possess someone else's?"
He dared not continue this line of thought.
Hurrying back home, Lin Xun began his daily task of writing.
There won't be a Doomsday if the author keeps updating.
Soon, it was two in the afternoon.
Lin Xun opened the game.
The beautifully-decorated cover of "Book of Salvation" opened up; on the yellowed sheepskin paper pages, familiar game text dawned before his eyes.
[You have entered the Doomsday chapter]
[Chapter 323]
[Inside the familiar church, the crimson sunlight pours in through the hole in the vaulted ceiling, forming a ring of distorted bloody halo. The red light shines directly onto scattered body fragments. The flesh on these decomposing limbs squirms, as though undergoing a degenerate metamorphosis...]
[A feeble Wandering Soul awakens in the church.]
[You cautiously avoid the direct sunlight.]
The game setting has changed to daytime?
Lin Xun got a bad feeling about this. He hurriedly clicked on "Shell Reshaping".
[You consumed 1 spirit strength to reshape the 'Guardian Knight' shell.]
[Current spirit strength 1/2]
[The light of the soul condenses into the knight's shell, the weak Wandering Soul possesses it.]
[You clench your fists; surging power billows in your shell, making you feel invincible.]
[A piercing cry echoes in the church.]
[Under the direct sunlight of the Blood Sun, the remaining upper body of the corpse underwent a horrifying mutation. A monster, covered in tumours and flailing its segmented limbs, lunges at you.]
[You manage to take control of the knight's powerful shell in time, wielding the 'Rusty Church Cross Sword' with 'Retribution Swordsmanship', you face the monster...]
[You easily defeat the 'Fallen White Moon Follower'; experience slightly increased.]
[The power inside the shell begins to surge; the 'Guardian Knight's shell' level increases. Current shell level: 2]
[You've become more powerful!]
"Monsters can spawn even in the safe house. This game is basically hellish. Good thing I possessed the shell in time, or I would probably have been done for."
"What would happen if I were slightly slower to react and was killed in the Wandering Soul form?"
Lin Xun's intuition tells him that it's probably best not to die in the state of a Wandering Soul, or something terrible might happen.
Upon opening the shell panel, the knight's panel was exactly the same as before, except that the shell level had become 2.
[Apostle, do you want to push open the church door and continue exploring.]