Wayne remained silent, swallowing hard to calm his nerves. He held his breath, focusing on William's palm. A fleeting light flashed and vanished so quickly that he almost thought it was an illusion.
When he first heard urban legends, Wayne had a premonition that the world wasn't as simple as it seemed on the surface.
The recent scene undoubtedly confirmed his suspicion.
This wasn't good. As an ordinary person, Wayne sensed the malevolence emanating from the world. Instead of the unknown magical atmosphere, he wished everyone were as ordinary as him.
Unless... he wasn't ordinary either.
The Book of Greed!
In that moment, Wayne felt an unprecedented desire to open the book.
"Who left the mark on you?" William demanded.
Facing William's question, Abe's expression grew even more confused. After a moment, he remembered something, but as he began to speak, the mark of the Death Cultist on the back of his hand suddenly changed.
The inverted triangle symbol extended four tendrils on each side, resembling a simplified black spider with fangs and claws.
The symbol was deeply ingrained into his bones and even his soul, far more than a superficial tattoo. The venom-like toxin from the eight spider legs spread rapidly along his veins, visibly expanding and occupying his entire arm.
Abe groaned in pain, seemingly engaged in some form of struggle and resistance. His features contorted, and the more he struggled, the more agony he endured. At this moment, he found it difficult to even breathe, let alone speak.
William tightened his grip with five fingers, clamping down on Abe's wrist like a vice. The warm light surged once again, dispelling the darkness and driving back the eight spider legs.
Abe's groans immediately became more comfortable, and at the same time, the Book of Greed expressed its desire again, making Wayne salivate.
This wasn't good, especially since William was the target.
Thanks to William's help, Abe's pain greatly diminished, returning him to a state of dementia. He babbled, recounting a gathering in the warehouse district.
Abe didn't know much; he was unfamiliar with the Death Cult and could barely be considered an outsider. Due to his long hours of labor, his footsteps were aimless, his eyes vacant. His emaciated form seemed lifeless, attracting the attention of nearby Death Cultists, who mistakenly recruited him into the warehouse district stronghold.
The information Abe provided was of little value, except for the warehouse district stronghold, which was worth investigating further. Under William's questioning, Abe recounted a few names.
Among them, the name of dockworker Brutus caught the attention of several people.
Madame Laina, Abe, Brutus—these three were connected. The deathly aura emanating from Madame Laina was highly likely connected to Brutus. Even if he wasn't a true Death Cultist, he would still be an important lead.
"Let's go, to the warehouse district!" Veronica made a decisive decision, carrying the black cat as she walked out of the house.
William knocked out Abe, covered him with a blanket, and then turned to follow.
Wayne stood still for a moment, his intuition telling him that this was dangerous. He knew he would regret going, but not going...
Would lead to even greater regret!
Thinking about this dangerous world and the Book of Greed that he couldn't open, he gritted his teeth and followed.
"Are we going to the warehouse district now?" Wayne asked, looking at his watch. "It's getting late, and it'll be dark in the warehouse district."
From the docks to Abe's apartment and then back to the warehouse district near the docks, it had taken quite a bit of time. Wayne didn't admit it verbally, but deep down, he was very averse to the nights in Lunden. If possible, he preferred to set out in the morning.
William sensed Wayne's thoughts and patted him on the shoulder with a big, warm hand. "You've probably figured it out by now. Yes, both Veronica and I are magicians, so while the night is scary, the moonlight will guide us. Nothing will happen."
"Just talk, why do you have to be so handsy?" Veronica interjected coldly.
"I know, but Wayne is already involved. He has a strong aura of death, and the Death Cultists have already targeted him..." William retorted, his voice growing quieter as he spoke.
It was clear he was afraid of Veronica.
Wayne widened his eyes, not understanding what "strong aura of death" meant or why the Death Cultists had targeted him. When discussing life and death, it would be nice if they could make themselves clear.
"Don't worry, once we've eradicated the Death Cultist stronghold in the warehouse district, you'll be safe," William reassured Wayne, patting his shoulder again. When Veronica wasn't looking, he infused a bit of light into Wayne's body.
Veronica glanced at William but didn't say anything.
In the taxi, Wayne remained silent, seemingly resting with his eyes closed. Unnoticed by the others, he flipped through the Book of Greed.
The book opened!
William hadn't taught Wayne what magic was, but he had cast a defensive spell on Wayne—a simple use of magic and belief. It wasn't complicated, but it protected Wayne from the threat of death when it was crucial.
Wayne didn't know any of this; he didn't have time to learn. In the moment the light entered his body, the Book of Greed swallowed him whole, like obtaining a key to unlock its contents. This allowed Wayne to browse through the book's contents.
There wasn't much to see; it was almost all blank pages.
The good news was that Wayne's name was written on the first page of the Book of Greed. The bad news was that the book was too unfamiliar, completely different from Wayne's original intentions when writing the code.
Wayne was puzzled and could only complain about Jose mixing in his own stuff, or maybe a bunch of bugs had produced new features.
When Wayne wrote the Book of Greed, he added a lot of settings: title bonuses, attribute doubling, total immunity to all attributes, outer god, and so on.
Among them was a setting called "Sacrifice," which allowed sacrificing one player to obtain all items in their inventory and freeze their account for seven days.
It was blunt and unreasonable, severely affecting game balance, but as an administrator's exclusive artifact, it was understandable to be strong. Otherwise, they would be played like a soft bone full of righteousness.
Now, most of the Book of Greed's settings were blank, whether temporarily inaccessible or permanently deleted. Even if there were any overlooked fish, the effects couldn't compare to the original, like Sacrifice. From sacrificing a living being to making a contract with one.
Wayne tried; he first tried Veronica, but failed. His plan to enslave the magical girl failed.
Then he reluctantly tried William, still failing. Even Monica, the black cat, couldn't succeed.
Unable to make a contract with magicians and their pets, Wayne could understand—he was too incompetent and didn't have the qualifications. But why couldn't he make a contract with a taxi driver or a passerby on the street?
Just when he finally activated his cheat, ready to make a big move, it turned out to be no different from not activating it at all—he even lost some magic!
Did the cheat get too nerfed, or was the user too weak?
The more Wayne thought about it, the more he felt he was losing out. At that moment, the Book of Greed successfully captured a spirit that could make a contract.
No, it was a vengeful spirit!
A series of blood-red codes appeared on the blank pages of the book, generating a contract, awaiting Wayne's signature.
Without hesitation, Wayne left his name on the contract.
[Lowly petitioner, vengeful soul, I hear your lament...
Under the witness of the sacred contract, all of you belongs to me, you may retain the past but will lose the future...
You have been given a chance of rebirth, you will become a spirit of vengeance, wielding your blade for your master, your god, and me]
Wayne: (⊙_⊙)
This thing, how should I put it, doesn't sound like a good guy!