Two hours had passed by the time Jeremy was done.
In the room, Emma's face was flushed, her fair skin covered in glistening sweat, as she had already fallen deeply asleep.
Jeremy kissed her forehead before leaving the room.
By then, the sky had completely darkened.
The campus was almost deserted, with very few people or creatures around, most having retired for the night.
Jeremy headed downstairs towards the stadium.
He planned to take advantage of the darkness to fulfill the conditions for triggering the golden chest on the track.
Why not during the day?
Mainly to avoid embarrassment.
After all, anyone seeing a person crawling forward on a sports field full of monsters would likely think him insane.
Arriving at the stadium and ensuring no one was around, Jeremy got down on his belly, stretched out his legs, and started crawling forward with his right hand, executing a perfect crawling posture.
Jeremy was somewhat speechless. These hidden tasks provided by The Eye of Omniscience were hardly ever normal, making him wonder which deranged game designer came up with such hidden mechanisms.
Fortunately, it was deserted now. Otherwise, he figured he might die of social embarrassment on the spot.
Despite this, Jeremy kept his eyes peeled, wary of any inopportune soul who might venture out for a late-night bathroom break and ruin his reputation forever.
At the school's public restroom, Ritchie, munching on a chicken leg, walked out looking sullen.
Jeremy's romance with the class monitor had dealt a great blow to his tender heart.
More importantly, his prospects for a girlfriend seemed to vanish.
He couldn't possibly ask Emma for a girl's contact information.
Even though Emma undoubtedly had many, giving Ritchie even a thousand chances, he wouldn't dare ask.
After spending a year under Emma's watch, his legs would tremble at the sight of her.
Not just him, few in their class weren't intimidated by Emma.
Ritchie felt indignant.
No wonder Jeremy could skip classes every day without consequence, while he got criticized school-wide for merely glancing at a risque magazine during class.
He made up his mind to find a teacher to be his wife in the future.
Then, not only would he skip classes daily, but he'd also have her write his homework every day!
With these bitter thoughts, as he passed by the sports field, something on the track caught Ritchie's eye under the moonlight.
A dark figure was moving across the ground at an astonishing speed, swift as lightning.
Ritchie tensed, thinking he had encountered a monster.
But when he got a clear view of the figure's appearance, he gasped in shock.
"Holy shit, Jeremy!" Ritchie was stunned.
On the track, Jeremy's body instantly froze.
He slowly turned his head to glance at Ritchie beside him.
In that moment, Jeremy had already figured out where he could bury Ritchie.
What a miscalculation!
Despite all his planning, he had somehow overlooked Ritchie.
Although Ritchie couldn't even defeat a zombie with an attack power of 5, his skill in concealing his presence was so adept that even Jeremy could hardly detect it.
Ritchie hadn't noticed anything odd about Jeremy.
He approached, standing beside Jeremy, and asked with bewilderment, "Why are you lying on the ground in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"
"Working out." Jeremy replied, continuing to crawl forward with a blank expression.
Ritchie paused, then a look of realization dawned on him as he said, "Oh, Jeremy, while everyone else is asleep, you're out here exercising in the middle of the night. Are you trying to secretly work harder than everyone else?"
Jeremy was speechless.
He truly wanted to crack open Ritchie's skull to see what kind of dog brain could come up with such an idea.
Seeing Jeremy's silence, Ritchie became even more convinced of his guess.
He angrily said, "I knew it! How come you skip classes every day but still do so well in studies? You must have been secretly working hard. This time, I won't let you get away with it!"
After saying that, Ritchie also got down and started crawling, his speed surprisingly faster than Jeremy's.
Watching Ritchie rapidly crawling on the track, the corner of Jeremy's mouth twitched.
He must have been out of his mind to become friends with an idiot like Ritchie.
"I'm heading back." Jeremy said, standing up and walking toward the teacher's building.
He had achieved his goal and didn't need to crawl anymore.
Watching Jeremy leave, Ritchie sneered, "You sneaky dog, Jeremy. You must be trying to trick me into going back to rest and then continue to exercise in secret. If I believe you again, I'm the fool!" After that, he crawled even faster.
Jeremy rolled his eyes, too tired to deal with this idiot anymore.
He headed straight back to the teacher's building, found a quiet room, and took out a golden chest and a tier-4 energy crystal.
[Do you want to use 1 tier-4 energy crystal to open the chest?]
Jeremy chose yes.
The next moment, the golden chest slowly opened, and a golden light instantly illuminated the entire room.
[Ding! You have opened the golden chest!]
[Due to triggering the hidden mechanism, you receive 3 times the rewards!]
[You received: Random Golden Equipment*3, Intermediate Strength Potion*3, Tier-5 Energy Crystal*3]
[You received Golden Equipment: Blaze Sword, Frost Wind Sword, Crimson Gold Mask!]
The golden light flashed and disappeared, and a series of notifications appeared.
Once Jeremy came to his senses, he found three pieces of equipment, three Intermediate Strength Potions, and three apple-sized energy crystals in front of him.
Looking at the red and blue swords before him, Jeremy's eyes brightened, for they were exactly what he needed.
The Wolf Fang Dagger was no longer sufficient for his strength. Moreover, with the "Person of No Way" skill, Jeremy could gain the attribute bonuses of two weapons, making these two swords perfectly suitable for him.
Jeremy checked the attributes of the three pieces of equipment.
[Equipment]: Blaze Sword
[Level]: Golden
[Quality]: Blue (Common)
[Attributes]: Strength +60, Stamina +60
[Skill]: None
...
[Equipment]: Frost Wind Sword
[Level]: Golden
[Quality]: Blue (Common)
[Attributes]: Spirit +60, Agility +60
[Skill]: None
...
[Equipment]: Concealment Mask
[Level]: Golden
[Quality]: Purple (Fine)
[Attributes]: All Attributes +50
[Skill]: Concealment
[Description]: Upon using this skill, you can conceal your presence and blend into the environment, lasting for 1 hour with a cooldown of 24 hours.
...
The two swords were of common quality, with fairly average attributes.
However, the Concealment Mask was of purple quality, not only boosting all attributes by 50 points but also equipped with a skill.
Jeremy's eyes sparkled as he read the description of the "Concealment" skill.
It was simply a divine technique essential for committing crimes undetected!
In addition to these, Jeremy also obtained 3 Intermediate Strength Potions and 3 tier-5 energy crystals.
The Intermediate Strength Potion could increase his strength attribute by 50 points, while the tier-5 energy crystals could grant him 100 random attribute points each.
Jeremy used one Intermediate Strength Potion, instantly boosting his strength by 50 points.
He kept one energy crystal as a reserve and used the other two to enhance his skill levels.
Naturally, his priority was his class skills.
"Person of No Way" was a core skill and had to be upgraded.
"Seven Sins - Wrath" was seldom used, so Jeremy had to choose between "Sin Fire" and "Disaster Blade".
Ultimately, he chose Disaster Blade as it provided the greatest enhancement for his frequent close combat.
[Ding! You have used a tier-5 energy crystal, "Person of No Way" skill level has increased to level 2!]
[Ding! You have used a tier-5 energy crystal, "Disaster Blade" skill level has increased to level 5!]
The higher the skill tier and level, the more terrifying the number of energy crystals required for an upgrade.
A tier-5 energy crystal, corresponding to super-tier skills, could only increase "Person of No Way" by one level, but it could directly boost the high-tier skill "Disaster Blade" by four levels.
Jeremy checked the two skills.
He found that the damage and attribute enhancement effect of "Person of No Way" had increased from 20% to 40%, while "Disaster Blade" had its damage boost increased to 60%, and its cooldown reduced by 10 minutes.
Although high-level skills are difficult to enhance, each level up significantly increases the skill's effect.
Moreover, compared to low-level skills, high-level skills have a higher cap and more room for improvement.
Afterward, Jeremy put on the Concealment Mask, held the Blaze Sword and Frost Wind Sword, and checked his panel.
[Name]: Jeremy
[Level]: lv10
[Class]: Blasphemer
[Ability]: Moonlight City (SSS)
[Attributes]: Strength 777, Spirit 727, Stamina 600, Agility 600
[Skills]: Person of No Way lv2, Seven Sins - Wrath lv1, Disaster Blade lv5, Sin Fire lv1, Shadow Step lv3, Wind Slash lv3, Concealment (Equipment)...
...
Looking at his panel, feeling the power coursing through his body.
Jeremy smiled.
From now on, he is unstoppable in this dilapidated school.