Upon hearing the question, Li Minkai's face darkened, a hint of embarrassment creeping across his features. "Level 1..."
Qino, bewildered, inquired, "How many tasks have you completed?"
"Six."
"Six tasks, and you're still at Level 1? What criteria are used to assess a team's rank?"
Li Minkai sighed. "The rank of a team is determined by the number of reward points spent—these points are earned upon completing tasks and can be exchanged for weapons, armor, bloodlines, and so forth."
It's reminiscent of the respect value in the Triple Shackles system, Qino mused.
Li Minkai continued, "The more reward points you use, the higher your team's rank, and thus, the more challenging the tasks you receive. Normally, a team that has completed six tasks should be at Level 2 or 3. However, our team is somewhat unique. In order to control the difficulty of the missions, I never let my team squander reward points. Instead, I allocate them wisely, using them for key purposes to complete tasks in a cost-effective manner."
Qino, intrigued, replied, "Exchanging a minimal amount of reward points for the local currency of the target world, and then leveraging local forces to complete the mission, is indeed a very efficient method. But I must say, you aren't a competent leader. Attempting to keep the difficulty low and completing tasks leisurely is merely a trick of convenience."
Li Minkai attempted to counter, "But all six of our tasks were completed without a single injury! Other teams had casualty rates of over 70% in their early missions!"
Qino raised an eyebrow. "You completed six tasks without injury, only to nearly obliterate your team on the seventh. What does that demonstrate?"
Seeing Li Minkai fall silent, Qino refrained from pressing further but instead posed a crucial question: "Do the items and abilities available to reincarnators differ from those available to rejecters?"
Li Minkai, on the verge of tears, responded, "How would I know? As I said, you're the first rejecter I've encountered."
Qino pulled a ring from his pocket. "This item—was it exchanged by your team?"
Li Minkai glanced at it and nodded. "Yes, it's the lowest-tier D-grade space ring. It can be exchanged for one D-grade reward point."
Qino briefly searched the respect system and soon found a similar ring, requiring 1,000 points of respect.
Qino asked, "Can low-level reward points be combined into higher-level ones?"
Li Minkai nodded. "Yes, it's a 10:1 ratio. For example, ten D-grade reward points can be combined into one C-grade reward point, and ten C's make one B-grade, and so on. Higher-grade reward points can also be broken down and used in the same way."
Qino nodded thoughtfully. It seemed that the items available for exchange using the respect system were also accessible to reincarnators via reward points—just the medium of exchange differed.
One D-grade reward point equaled 1,000 respect points, and the same applied in a straightforward multiplication.
In the ensuing conversation, Qino learned that reincarnators could also gain "evolution points" in addition to reward points.
Reward points were obtained by completing tasks and could be exchanged for various items.
Evolution points, on the other hand, were earned through intense combat and personal awakening, used to evolve one's genes.
In other words, the former was given by others, while the latter was earned through one's own efforts.
Reward points caused the team's rank to rise, resulting in more difficult missions.
Evolution points, however, did not affect rankings, as they were not accounted for in the evaluation system.
The effects of evolution points were similar to the "fear system" in the Triple Shackles, and Qino had initially intended to calculate their proportional relationship.
However, Li Minkai explained that, since his team relied on local forces to complete missions and rarely fought directly, he had never accumulated evolution points and could not offer further insight.
Qino decided to let that go.
By this point, Li Minkai was visibly uncomfortable. "I've already told you so much. You must be willing to let me go now, right?"
Qino couldn't help but smile. "It seems you really wish to survive. How much time is left on your mission's countdown?"
"Three hours and twelve minutes. The mission ends at 18:21, local time."
"Even if I don't kill you, once the countdown ends, and you haven't completed the mission, won't you be erased?"
"Failure doesn't lead to immediate erasure. Instead, the surplus reward points are deducted first. If the surplus is insufficient, any exchanged equipment is confiscated, and the bloodline is forcibly degraded. Only if the penalty is still insufficient will erasure occur. Since I've been careful in controlling my team's rank, I have a large amount of unused reward points, meaning I could fail the mission ten more times without issue. They can just deduct more points."
"Well, there's no rush. Three hours is plenty of time. Let's sit and chat. Why did you enter the reincarnation world?"
Li Minkai clenched his fists, a somber expression taking over his face. "My father was a gambler. He racked up massive debts. Debt collectors came to our house, humiliated my mother, and I killed one of them with a knife. The rest of them beat me to death."
Qino nodded. "You signed the contract driven by hatred, hoping to grow stronger and take revenge. But after completing your first task, you realized that none of the exchange options offered a way to return to your past life. From that moment, the desire for revenge faded, and you chose instead to simply survive. That's why you opted for this cautious, strategic approach."
Li Minkai shuddered, his gaze turning fearful as he looked at Qino.
He had only spoken of his past, yet Qino had deduced a crucial truth: "Reincarnators cannot return to their past lives."
It was as though the man before him could read his very thoughts—there were no secrets left between them.
Qino, maintaining his usual smile, continued, his eyes gleaming as if they could pierce the soul. "While waiting for the mission, where were you?"
Li Minkai mumbled, "An independent dimension. You probably won't find it..."
"What kind of entertainment did you have?" Qino asked.
Li Minkai snorted bitterly. "There are plenty of entertainment options. Eat, drink, watch movies, play games... For a small amount of reward points, you can create a beach, a jungle, a snow mountain, and take a vacation. But after a while, it gets boring. It's no different from being a hamster in a cage."
Qino pressed further, "While waiting for the mission, do you know the destination and relevant details of the next task?"
Li Minkai nodded. "We get some details, like the destination and mission objectives. For example, this time, the 'Cube' provided us with detailed information about the location: the Kingdom of Doguland, the province of Flamewatch, the town of Shilin under the city of Twilight. It also outlined the mission's target: the local civil official, Qino Van Helsing."
Qino looked intently into Li Minkai's eyes, studying every shift in expression. "Before the mission, could your team exchange information with other reincarnation squads?"
Li Minkai shook his head. "No, that's prohibited. You can only speak within the mission world. Communication isn't allowed in the reincarnation space."
Qino continued to gaze at him, his eyes growing deeper and more intense.
Li Minkai swallowed nervously, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
Fortunately, Qino soon shifted the topic to a lighter matter. "Enough about the reincarnation world. Let's talk about something else. Do you listen to music?"
"Yes."
"What do you listen to?"
"Black rap."
"Do you like Beethoven?"
Li Minkai blinked. "I don't know. I've never listened to him."
Qino furrowed his brow in disbelief. "You've never heard Beethoven's music?" He shook his head in disbelief. "Impossible. You must have heard it. Symphony No. 5 in C minor, haven't you heard it? Dun dun dun dun! Dun dun dun dun—"
Qino hummed the melody, his hands moving gracefully in the air, as if conducting the music itself. The rhythm and melody fused perfectly with his movements, creating an almost magical harmony.
Li Minkai stared at him in confusion, thinking the man was mad.
After finishing the melody, Qino lowered his hands. "Well? You recognize it, don't you? You've heard it before, just didn't know the name."
Li Minkai shook his head. "No, I've never heard it."
Qino's smile faltered, replaced by an expression of rare fury. "You...?"
Li Minkai, baffled, asked, "What's wrong with me?"
With a blank expression, Kino's facial muscles twitched slightly as he coldly remarked, "You've never heard of Beethoven? What, then, is the meaning of your existence?"
Li Minkai was utterly stunned. "I haven't heard of Beethoven, and now I can't even live? I'm not the only one who hasn't heard of him. There are plenty of people who haven't, like… like the beggars on the street! They haven't heard of him either. Does that mean they shouldn't live either?"
Kino's gaze hardened. "You've confused two concepts. To be 'alive' and to be 'living' are two entirely different things. A person can be 'alive' as long as they have food to eat and water to drink. But if they've never heard of Beethoven, if they cannot comprehend his struggle against fate, if they can't learn to break free from their shackles and express their innermost thoughts, then they may be 'alive,' but they are not truly 'living.'"
Li Minkai smiled bitterly, a deep sadness in his expression. "I don't care. I don't have those lofty aspirations. You're amazing, you're incredible, you're a great artist, fine? I'm just an ordinary person, as long as I'm alive, that's enough. I don't need to truly live."
"The problem lies here," Kino's amber eyes glistened with a faint smile. "I don't like people who have never heard of Beethoven."
Li Minkai froze, his remaining sense of reason quickly dissipating. With wild desperation, he shouted, "Screw your Beethoven! Screw you!! You've had no intention of letting me go from the beginning, have you?! Now you're just making up these disgusting excuses to kill me, aren't you?! I'll curse your whole family for Beethoven!!"
Kino shrugged innocently, his hands raised. "I had planned to let you go. But then, you said you've never heard of Beethoven. I changed my mind."
Li Minkai's teeth were nearly grinding through his bottom lip, blood dripping from his mouth as he gasped for air. With a voice thick with desperation, he pleaded, "Alright… I'm sorry… It was my fault, I haven't heard of Beethoven. I swear, I'll listen to his music when I get back, okay?"
Kino raised an elegant brow, visibly repulsed. "Your phrasing is incorrect. Beethoven didn't create 'songs,' he created 'classical music.' The composition techniques of classical music are far more intricate, and its meaning is much more profound."
Li Minkai was nearly losing his mind. His hands, shackled to the table, were struggling violently, leaving streaks of blood as he screamed in agony, "Fine! Classical music! Is that better?! When I get back, I'll listen to every piece of his music... no! I'll listen to it a hundred times! A thousand times! Is that better?! Let me go!"
Kino shook his head, a soft smile on his lips. "You're only trying to flatter me now, to beg me to spare you. It's not that you actually want to appreciate classical music. So, I'm sorry. I can't let you go."
In the midst of Li Minkai's cries, Kino called in Paladin, signaling for him to take the prisoner away for execution. With a touch of pity, Kino added, "Don't take it too hard. I've freed you from this 'alive' shell, giving you a chance to be reborn as someone who is truly 'living.'"
Li Minkai's screams echoed behind Kino as he turned away. "Wait! Wait! Spare me! I'll give you whatever you want! I'll give you everything!!!"
Kino raised a hand, signaling Paladin to leave the room for a moment. He then slowly closed the door and, without a trace of emotion on his face, turned to face Li Minkai. "Did you just lie to me?"
Li Minkai's eyes widened in fear, his gaze shifting erratically. "I… I…"
Kino pressed further. "I asked you earlier if it was possible for different reincarnation squads to exchange information before a mission, and you said no. But you also mentioned this was your first invasion mission. If that's true, you should know nothing about the world I'm in. So how did you already have Silver Moon ready for exchange at the Cube and then use it to bribe the Desert Marauders? Clearly, you had prior information about this world, knew the Marauders' obsession with money, and prepared accordingly."
Li Minkai closed his eyes, consumed by despair. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… please forgive me…"
Kino's voice was a quiet mockery. "It seems you've already become a traitor to the Reincarnation world."
At this point, Li Minkai cared nothing for his own dignity. His voice raw, he screamed, "Surviving is the most important thing! All these damn rules—let someone else follow them! I just want to live. Is that wrong? Anyway, no one else knows I betrayed them!"
Kino's piercing gaze fixed on his eyes. "Is there anything else you've lied about?"
Li Minkai's defenses had already been shattered, and he shook his head frantically. "No! Absolutely not! Everything I've said before is true! I haven't lied to you! Please, spare me… please…"
Kino's eyes glimmered with amusement. "I have one last question. If you answer it, I will let you go. I swear, I won't harm you."
Li Minkai, like a drowning man clinging to a straw, stared at Kino with wide, desperate eyes, clinging to the hope of survival.
Kino's lips curled into a smile, his amber eyes gleaming with mirth. "How would you evaluate the place of Johann Strauss Jr.'s 'The Blue Danube' in the history of world music?"
Hope shattered, or perhaps it had never existed at all.
"Ah!! Ah!!! Ah!!!!" The tormenting question drove Li Minkai to complete madness. His voice cracked, and froth began to spill from his mouth as he screamed uncontrollably, his entire body writhing in a frenzy like a rabid dog.
Kino shook his head, turning to leave. "You can't even answer such a simple question? Unbelievable."