Not all girls liked Yuto Saito, and Sha Ying was certainly one of them.
The night before, Sha Ying had learned the devastating news: her brother had been killed by Yuto Saito. Grief-stricken and fueled by a burning desire for vengeance, she swore she would bring her brother's killer to justice.
Today, as she woke up, the village was in chaos. A horde of zombies had overtaken a nearby settlement, and while the others fled, Sha Ying did the opposite—she went straight toward the danger.
With her strength at only one star, she knew she couldn't take on the entire zombie horde head-on. But she was resourceful. Using her earth element ability, Sha Ying manipulated the ground, forming a massive pit—five meters long, three meters wide, and three meters deep.
She made enough noise to attract the undead, leading them into her trap. The zombies, unable to jump, were helpless in the pit. They snarled and reached out toward her, but Sha Ying, with cold determination, sharpened a long wooden stick into a spear. One by one, she speared the zombies, showing no emotion as she exterminated them.
Driven by the need to avenge her brother, Sha Ying's strikes became fiercer with each kill. Her fighting skills improved as she leveled up, her strength growing to match her unwavering resolve. She cleared the first wave of zombies, and with each victory, her character level increased by two. Her earth element powers also strengthened.
Moving deeper into the village, she used the same method to eliminate wave after wave of zombies, her experience and power growing in tandem. By the time she had wiped out the entire village, Sha Ying had reached level three with two-star combat power. But her mission wasn't over.
After a brief meal, she learned of another nearby village overrun by the undead. Without hesitation, she rushed to the new battleground. By sunset, her power had surged to three stars, but it still wasn't enough. Exhausted and drenched in sweat, she returned home, her mind focused on one thought: three stars were not nearly enough.
As she caught her breath, Sha Ying vowed silently to herself, "Yuto Saito is at least six-star combat power. He can kill fifth-order giant zombies. I need to rise to seven stars or more before I can face him."
The thought of Yuto Saito became her sole motivation. Her desire for revenge was consuming. She would surpass him, grow stronger than he could ever imagine, and when the time came, she would make him pay for her brother's death.
Meanwhile, in Beijing…
Zhang Bafeng sat comfortably in his luxurious suburban villa. Ever since he moved there, he had felt secure. No one could find him here. Today, he had sent two snipers on a mission. He believed they had a good chance of killing either Yuto Saito or Ni Shuang—or perhaps even both.
Confident, he called for his loyal housekeeper, Li Qiang. "What's the situation?" Zhang asked.
"Master, don't worry," Li Qiang replied calmly. "They're still tracking Yuto Saito and Ni Shuang. It's not easy to find them, but the assassins will contact us by ten tonight."
"Very well. We'll wait." Zhang Bafeng's expression remained cold and detached.
On a floating island far away…
Hu Tuan'er was the first to complete her awakening. Beads of sweat dripped from her face as she looked at her personal stats panel with a smile of satisfaction. "I've already reached five stars," she said, her voice brimming with excitement.
"Congratulations," Ruoruo replied, while Natto looked on enviously.
"I've been with the team for so long and still only have five-star combat power. But you just got here, and you're already at five stars! Amazing!" Natto exclaimed.
Hu Tuan'er explained, "I awakened my teleportation talent, which increased my stats by 60 points."
"Sixty points?! Each attribute gets a 15-point boost? That's incredible!" Yu Qi said, feeling a mix of awe and hope that her own talents might awaken someday.
Yuto Saito, watching from the sidelines, observed the reactions of his teammates, especially Yu Qi and Natto. They were the only ones without talents, while everyone else had already awakened theirs.
Yuto thought for a moment and asked his system, "Is there a way for ordinary people to awaken talents?"
The system responded: "There are two methods. First, you can become a sixth-grade pharmacist and refine the Awakening Pill, which can randomly grant a talent upon consumption. Second, once your character reaches level six, you can unlock inheritance talents and transfer them to teammates using copy cards."
Yuto was surprised by the system's response. Copy cards can be used to transfer talents? He hadn't known this in his previous life. And the Awakening Pill…he hadn't heard about it either. Perhaps it had been kept a secret or no one had ever reached the level necessary to refine one. After all, in his past life, the highest anyone had achieved was fifth-grade pharmacist.
Being a pharmacist was no easy task. Most alchemists spent their time in the lab, focusing on their craft rather than combat. That made leveling up a long and difficult process.
But if I can master it, I can refine Awakening Pills and pass talents on to my team. Yuto smiled at the thought. This could change everything.
He glanced at the two copy cards in his storage ring and felt the weight of the challenge ahead. Leveling up was slow, but the system's promise of experience pills after reaching level five was tempting. These pills would allow him to gain double experience after every battle, and the higher the multiplier, the faster he could rise.
Reaching level six and becoming a sixth-grade pharmacist suddenly seemed within reach. It's just a matter of time.
By this time, Mi Nian Xian had also completed her awakening.
"How did it go?" Hu Tuan'er asked.
"I only gained 40 attributes, but I'm still at five-star combat power," Mi Nian Xian replied.
Seeing the two women dripping with sweat, Yuto turned to Ruoruo. "Take them upstairs to rest and show them to rooms 304 and 305."
Ruoruo nodded eagerly. "Come on, let's get you two cleaned up. You've been through a lot."
Before long, the group was heading toward the bath, with laughter and talk of hot springs in the air. But behind the smiles, Yuto's mind was racing with plans for the future—plans that would take his team to unimaginable heights of power.