Chapter 5: Sacrifice
The sudden appearance of the vampire left Zhou Ning at a loss.
If my thoughts could appear above my head, he mused, they'd be a string of question marks right now.
One moment, he was on top of the world, feeling like his life was about to take off. The next, he was having his blood drained by a vampire and dying just like that?
Wait, Zhou Ning thought, his expression turning strange. Late 19th-century London, England… vampires. He speculated, Could I have traveled to the world of Underworld or Bram Stoker's Dracula? It seems very likely!
[Simulation ends. Host, please make a choice as soon as possible.]
[1. Randomly obtain three skills and specialties acquired during your journey.]
[2. Randomly obtain three items you acquired during your journey.]
There wasn't much to think about. Although he had gained a high-level specialization in the simulation—Advanced Writing—survival was the priority. An Advanced Writing Specialization was completely useless for solving his current predicament. What was he supposed to do? Summon a pen and write his enemies to death, like in some fantasy novel?
This isn't a fantasy novel, is it?
As for items, he could reliably obtain guns and daggers.
"Wait, if I draw an item, where will it be stored?"
A fatal flaw in his plan suddenly occurred to him. His hands were tied behind his back. If the items appeared on his body or dropped to the ground, he was doomed.
He didn't expect the simulator to answer, but surprisingly, the damn thing actually replied: [After receiving the items, they will be stored in your inventory, and you can use them at any time.]
"Where is the inventory? How do I get things out of it?"
The simulator didn't answer this time. Instead, a white-gloved hand appeared on the interface, with an arrow pointing to the right of the achievements tab.
Zhou Ning was baffled.
Only then did he notice a red dot on the [Achievements] tab and an inconspicuous right-pointing triangle next to it. He clicked it, and the interface immediately switched to a second page. Two new tabs popped up: [Items] and [Quests]. Two more tabs after those were grayed out, clearly not yet unlocked.
Holy crap! Which genius designed this UI?
Naturally, he chose the second option.
[You have chosen Option 2.]
[You have obtained a rare weapon: Ivory-handled Colt M1873 revolver.]
[You have obtained a rare weapon: Swedish Sjögren semi-automatic shotgun.]
There were only two items, not a third.
Zhou Ning was stunned at first, but then it dawned on him. In the game Apocalypse, item rarity was ranked in order: Poor (gray), Normal (white), Good (green), Rare (blue), Exotic (purple), Epic (pink), Legendary (orange), and Artifact (red).
It seemed that for the system to recognize something as an "item," it had to be at least Rare quality. Otherwise, the pool of potential items would be far too large.
No wonder his simulated self went out of his way to collect expensive firearms. The daggers he'd collected simply weren't rare enough to count.
What a pity.
But this confirmed that he should be able to control the direction of the simulation to a certain extent.
He opened the item menu. Sure enough, two new items were there: an ivory-handled revolver and a shotgun that looked very cool.
Focusing his thoughts on the two guns, a description soon popped up for each:
[Ivory-handled Colt M1873 revolver]: God created man, Samuel Colt made them equal.
[Swedish Sjögren semi-automatic shotgun]: 12-gauge. A real man-stopper.
Seeing the two guns in his inventory finally set Zhou Ning's mind at ease. There wasn't enough time for another simulation. Though he hadn't gained any supernatural powers, he now had the means to fight back.
The time for a counterattack had finally arrived. His plan was to use his Basic Pickpocketing skill and Flexible Hands expertise to untie the rope behind his back, then free the others. The four of them could then ambush the Curse Cult members together. It would be like a four-man party tackling a dungeon—difficult, but not impossible.
But reality had other plans. He got stuck on the very first step. Ever since acquiring the pickpocketing skill, Zhou Ning had been trying to untie the rope, but he'd had no success. In fact, it only seemed to be getting tighter.
This is ridiculous! So much for 'Flexible Hands.' My fingers feel as clumsy as feet.
Zhou Ning took a deep breath and continued to struggle with the rope while checking his panel again.
A red dot was flashing above the [Achievements] tab. Anyone who had played a game knew that meant there was something to be claimed.
He quickly clicked on it and found that he had unknowingly unlocked a series of achievements.
[Oliver Twist] (No attribute bonus)
[Sense and Sensibility] (No attribute bonus)
[An Ordinary Life] (No attribute bonus)
[Pride and Prejudice] (No attribute bonus)
[The achievement "Literary Classics I" has been collected. You have gained 1 skill point. You have discovered a hidden quest.]
[Redeemable hidden quest: A Literary Life (Yes/No)]
After choosing to redeem it, the "Literary Classics" entry in his achievement list vanished, and a hidden quest appeared under the [Quests] tab.
Hidden Quests: (Can be triggered under special circumstances)
[A Literary Life]: You have always harbored a literary dream in your heart. Please pursue this dream in the future and complete the reading of 1,000 books in the real and simulated worlds. (0/1000)
Quest Tip: Read a thousand books, and you will write like a god. This mission is definitely harder than you think, so persevere, future great writer!
Quest Reward: Unknown
The future great writer Zhou Ning was speechless.
He never knew he'd been hiding a literary dream, and this simulator was clearly a liar. What happened to the apocalypse we were promised?
Heavy footsteps sounded from outside the door again. It was obvious that a new round of sacrifices was about to begin.
The room was filled with the sound of weeping. Zhou Ning was the sole audience member for three crying captives.
And what a performance it was. The three of them cried with the force of thirty people.
The loudest of all was the fat boy, Alan. He was bawling his eyes out while the other two whimpered in harmony, like some sorrowful, rhythmic symphony. The crying blended perfectly with the gloomy atmosphere. If you recorded it and played it at a funeral, it would have the whole room in tears.
Zhou Ning felt a pang of panic. The sacrifices were nearing their end, and with only four people left in the room, there was a fifty percent chance he would be next.
The door creaked open, and three members of the Curse Cult walked in. The leader pointed first at the little fat boy who was crying the hardest.
"You. Come with me."
"No, not me!" the boy cried, scooting backward on his bottom, his face a mask of terror.
Then the cultist pointed at Zhou Ning. "You, come over here too."
Of course. Probability didn't lie, and neither did Murphy's Law. If something can go wrong, it will.
This is trouble…
Zhou Ning and Alan were dragged up from the ground, stumbling after the three cultists.
Just as in the simulation, a long, deep corridor lay outside the door. There were six rooms in total, three on each side, with another door at the far end. If he remembered correctly, beyond that door and to the right was the living room where the sacrifices took place.
The more desperate the situation, the calmer Zhou Ning became—a product of his Extreme Calmness trait. Jason Nat's haunted house was a typical European-style mansion. The corridor was approximately seventeen meters long. At their current slow pace, it would take about twenty-five seconds to cross. There was no way he could untie the rope in that time.
The only way out is to use the skill point from "Literary Classics I" on Basic Pickpocketing! Then I just have to do my best and leave the rest to fate.
Having decided, Zhou Ning didn't hesitate. He immediately opened the game panel and upgraded Basic Pickpocketing to the intermediate level. In a situation like this, every second of hesitation was a crime. Skill points were valuable, but they could be earned again. You only get one life.
A moment later, Zhou Ning flexed his fingers and tried again. With his improved skill, he soon felt a difference. The rope binding him was tied in what seemed to be a sailor's knot. He estimated it would now take him about thirty-two seconds to untie it.
The closer they got to the sacrificial chamber, the stronger the smell of sulfur and blood became. It sounded as if a huge monster was hidden behind the door at the end of the hall. Zhou Ning could vaguely hear heavy, ragged breathing—ho… ho…—that grew steadily louder.
He glanced at the others. He couldn't see the expressions of the cultists in front, but the two walking beside him had fanatical looks on their faces. The little fat boy seemed dazed, as if he were hearing some evil whispers.
My Perception must be too low to hear the monster's whispers.
Zhou Ning made a quick judgment and sped up his movements. With a soft click, the main loop of the sailor's knot quietly came loose.
Just then, the lead cultist pushed open the door to the sacrificial chamber.