Chapter 1: Demon Hunter

  A flash of the knife, a head flew high into the air, and the fresh blood from the chest cavity splashed onto Ye Qi's face. The originally young and handsome face of the demon hunter became extremely ferocious. He glanced at the lifeless corpse on the ground, then casually grabbed a nearby tablecloth to wipe his face and the short knife in his hand. He bent down to carefully examine the head on the ground.

  "Damn it! That son of a bitch cheated me again! He's just a low-level blood slave!" Ye Qi cursed under his breath as he pried open the deceased's mouth, revealing rows of razor-sharp fangs. Then, with swift and precise movements, Ye Qi pulled out all the fangs using pliers and stored them in the inner pocket of his jacket.

  He stood up, and after searching the entire room, Ye Qi picked up a bucket of gasoline that had been prepared long ago and poured it around. Then he turned around and walked out. At the moment he left the door, a lit match flew through the air, fell to the ground full of gasoline, and instantly the sparks and gasoline collided, bringing a dazzling light to the dark room.

  Walking out of the stuffy underground warehouse, Ye Qi took two comfortable breaths of the humid air and left the place where he had been squatting for nearly three days with a relaxed pace, disappearing into the fog-shrouded streets.

  The night was getting darker, and most people had fallen asleep, but "Old Dad's Bar" was just getting hot. Countless rebels or thrill-seekers were having their own parties here.

  His robust and upright physique, combined with the delicate facial features typical of Eastern people, made Ye Qigang attract attention from many as soon as he entered Old Dad's Bar. However, without intending to stay long, Ye Qigang directly pushed away two provocatively dressed blonde beauties who had automatically come over, avoided several black guys who came up to peddle marijuana, and amidst their **you** voices, walked up to the second floor of Old Dad's Bar.

  After passing through two black men in black suits, about two meters tall, like door gods, Ye Qi walked into the only room on the second floor. He pushed open the door and walked in, and at the moment the door closed, the noise from downstairs suddenly disappeared. Although it was not the first time he had experienced this feeling, the demon hunter still felt extremely awkward. Moreover, the white-haired old man in front of him, who once again sold fake news as real news to Ye Qi, made his mood even worse.

  "Damn it, God, never opens his eyes! Why is this old peddler of fake news still alive?! Are you licking his toes every day, Old Ward?!" First, he exclaimed with a face full of surprise and cursed the treacherous Old Ward loudly. Then Ye Qichao threw the Blood Slave's fang that he had pulled out earlier in front of him.

  "I'm alive for you little rascals, more terrifying than vampires! If I were to die, it should be in hell, under the care of my beloved Satan. It has nothing to do with that long-dead God! And what I sell is absolutely genuine news, you just happened to miss the main event due to bad luck!" The nimble and cunning merchant carefully examined the fangs, then quickly put them away in a drawer beside the counter. He snapped his fingers twice, "Pap, pap", turned around and looked at Ye Qi: "My dear Ye, do you want to exchange something or pay cash?"

  Just as the merchant retracted his bloody fangs, a light that no one else could see flashed across Ye Qi's body. The familiar synthesized voice once again appeared in Ye Qi's ears: "Congratulations, your character level has been upgraded to four. Your injuries and energy have been fully restored, you have obtained a free attribute point; You have received seven skill proficiency points, which can be allocated arbitrarily." Moreover, this time the synthesized voice did not disappear after pausing for a moment, but instead sounded again: "Congratulations, your character level has been upgraded to four, you have gained an opportunity to choose a specialty, please make a choice!"

  The synthesized sound in his ear made Ye Qi's mood a lot better - after days and nights of continuous struggle, he finally reached level 4, and the goal of level 5 was just one step away. Of course, now is not the time to check these things - the transaction with the merchant in front of him still needs to be completed. To be honest, if it weren't for worrying that killing the other party would interrupt his task, Ye Qi really wanted to pull out the M500 revolver from his waist and shoot a bullet into the head of this human-shaped vampire merchant. Glancing at the merchant who was staring at him with a smile, Ye Qi said in an extremely unpleasant tone: "Of course, we need to exchange things! I need ten ounces of holy water, the real thing! Don't even think about diluting it! Otherwise, I won't guarantee what uncontrollable behavior I'll exhibit!"

  Adding to the previous message, this is already the third time this month that the other party has given him false information about the task. Although each time the cunning merchant in front of him always shows an innocent look, looking for excuses such as "maybe there was a mistake with the timing" or "you didn't meet up" to shirk responsibility and guarantee that the next message will be true. But Ye Qi, who has been deceived by the merchant three times in a row, is not a fool, how could he be deceived again by the merchant's words? Ignoring the cunning merchant's clever words, Ye Qi lowered his head and began to inspect the holy water handed over by the other party.

  A row of ten test tubes, neatly placed on the counter. The light golden liquid in the glass test tubes was rippling with layer upon layer of dazzling light. One by one, he opened the stoppers and smelled the fragrance inside the test tubes, and Ye Qi even carefully drew out two test tubes, pouring out a little to try. When he felt that warmth rising from within his body, Ye Qi's tense face finally relaxed a bit. However, when the merchant quoted the price, this relaxation immediately froze on Ye Qi's young face.

  "Thanks for your patronage, that's a total of 110 gold pounds! If we subtract the 20 gold pounds worth of Blood Slave Fang you brought in earlier, you owe us 90 gold pounds. Will you be paying cash or using credit?" Old Ward's face was now radiating a warm and comforting smile, much like the image of the Holy Mother on the wall painting at that church down the street from Old Dad's Tavern - a stark contrast to Ye Qi's stiff expression.

  Ye Qi stared at the smiling merchant with an unblinking gaze, his words squeezed out from between his teeth: "Why has the price gone up again?! This is the second time in a week that the price has risen, and both times it was when I was bartering! Moreover, the increase in price just happens to offset the value of the goods I'm trying to sell! Isn't this a bit too coincidental?"

  The demon hunter spoke as he put his previous thoughts into action.

  0.50-inch caliber, firing .50 Magnum powerful handgun bullets that can kill an African elephant with one shot, the M500 revolver had a silver body and black muzzle aimed directly at Old Ward's forehead. As soon as Ye Qi's finger moved, Old Ward's head and even his upper body would instantly turn into a puddle of flesh.

  "How heartbreaking! If John saw his disciple, whom he had always taught and helped in every crucial moment, pointing a gun at his old friend, what would be his expression?" Old Ward stood facing Ye Qi's gun muzzle without any tension or fear, but instead with a sorrowful expression, muttering to himself, and even pretended to wipe away non-existent tears from the corner of his eyes.

  Lao Ward's performance would be considered third-rate or even worse by children, let alone Ye Qi! In the other person's words, the gun muzzle not only didn't drop, but also moved closer, directly pointing at the forehead of the swindler.

  "Alright, alright! Ye, we're good friends, don't be so impulsive! This... this... holy water I'll give you a discount - 70 gold pounds is fine. Consider it my reward for completing nine consecutive tasks. By the way, here's your new task, hurry up and take it, quickly put away your gun..." Just as Ye Qi's finger slightly tightened on the trigger, Old Ward compromised.

  He put away the gun, Ye Qi threw the money on the counter, and casually stuffed ten test tubes and a note with the next task into his pocket, and walked out without looking back.

  Looking at Ye Qi disappearing behind the door, Old Ward immediately changed back to his usual sly expression. Sitting behind the counter, he stroked his chin and chuckled: "Hehe, that little guy is getting more and more formidable, and he's almost got his own aura now! When he pulled out the gun just now, it really gave me a fright! It seems like I'll have to treat him better from now on... Hmm, from now on, I'll try to give him one or two real tips every month, but the price for these real tips will have to be 20% higher. Yeah, Old Ward's heart is really kind! God would be moved too... Who cares if that illegitimate child is moved or not!"

  The originally cheerful swindler couldn't help but fiercely spit a mouthful of thick phlegm to the side when he said this.

  ……

  Out of the old dad's bar, Ye Qi walked on the foggy street at night with his hands in his pockets. Just now facing the clumsy acting of the swindler, Ye Qi pulled out a gun in anger, but unexpectedly had an unexpected effect. Ye Qi just didn't dare to fire because Old Ward was now his mission issuer!

  This is a world similar to the original, yet not quite - it has TVs, phones, and cars, but no countries that are identical to those in the original world. Although it retains various similar traditions, etiquette, and culture, it's a much larger world. Of course, the most peculiar thing is Ye Qi, an apprentice demon hunter with what seems like a game system.

  As Ye Qi's silent thoughts emerged, a twenty-inch tall, pale blue figure appeared before him. The image clearly showed Ye Qi's current status:

  Name: Ye Qi

  Title: Apprentice Demon Hunter

  Rank: 4

  Occupation: None

  Attributes: Strength: 15 (+1)

  Agility: 14

  Body: 14

  Perception: 16 (+2)

  Charisma: 14

  Unallocated attribute points: 1

  Specialty: Beast Instinct

  Number of unselected specialties: 1

  Skills: Appraisal 5, Deception 5, Concentration 8, Trapmaking 4, Medicine 2, Hide 18, Listen 15, Medicine 2, Rumors 2, Open Locks 10, Pick Pockets 2, Search 10, Firearm 20, Melee 18.

  Unallocated skill points: 7

  With the gunpowder weapon leveled up to 25 and the cold weapon leveled up to 20, Ye Qi closed the status bar. Those attribute points and specialties, Ye Qi didn't rush to distribute them. Because Ye Qi hadn't thought through his next step - at level 5, he could officially choose a profession. Ye Qi didn't want to make a choice without understanding it well, only to regret it later; another important reason was that Ye Qi believed his current strength was enough to handle the dangers of Old Ward's tasks. After all, every attribute point for Ye Qi was a earth-shattering change, and he couldn't afford to waste them.

  The existence on Ye Qi's body, similar to a game system, does not calculate attribute points in the usual way. Taking Ye Qi's current 14-point strength as an example, if one point is added, it should normally increase by one-fourteenth of the strength. However, if this one point of strength is actually added, the actual effect will be to increase by half on the original basis! In other words, as long as Ye Qi uses this free attribute point, any one of his current five attributes: strength, agility, physique, perception, and charm will immediately increase by half.

  As for specialties, there are three options in the selection column: one is the artistic temperament specialty that can increase its own rumor skills and counter-detection skills, another is the vigilant heart specialty that can increase hiding and listening skills, and the last one is the double-handed hand specialty that increases the power of using weapons with both hands. The three specialties are good, either increasing their own skills or granting special abilities. But it's also too good, which makes it even harder for Ye Qi to choose.

  "Let's wait until we reach level 5 and see what occupations are available then!"

  After the fifth level, Ye Qi's heart decided on an unknown profession brought by the system.

  ……

  Four years ago, Ye Qi also had a family and dreams. However, just as he was about to embark on his journey in society, a sudden car accident ended his life. But after death, Ye Qi found himself transported to another world, where he was reborn as a young boy.

  But before Ye Qi could be shocked, a bat wing with full of symbol tattoos on its back and a vampire with a scar under his eye suddenly appeared in front of him, baring his fangs. Fortunately, just as the vampire was about to deliver the fatal blow, demon hunter John appeared. After another round of fighting with the vampire, John managed to drive him off with injuries on both sides.

  In later conversations with John, Ye Qi played the role of a teenager who suffered amnesia due to an unexpected encounter. As expected, John took in "homeless and past-less" Ye Qi and began training him to have self-defense skills in the "dangerous" world. So, for Ye Qi, John can be considered both a lifesaver and a mentor. In simpler terms, it's like being reborn from the same womb. Therefore, when the scoundrel used John to act again earlier, Ye Qi directly pulled out his gun in anger.

  Originally, Ye Qi thought he would become an ordinary person with some self-defense skills or a third-rate demon hunter under John's training, and then live a mediocre life. As an ordinary earthling, Ye Qi's physical fitness was average, and his body after reincarnation into this young man was also average, or even worse to say strictly. Especially in a series of trainings, he did not show any exceptional combat talent. However, when John announced that he would give Ye Qi a tailing task as an exercise, a turning point appeared.

  "System startup, fusion..."

  "Optimizing system characters..."

  "Character randomly acquires expertise in Beast Instinct; 100 skill points..."

  Beast Instinct: Having grown up among animals since childhood, prolonged contact with various beasts has granted you a heightened sense of danger. Effect: Perception +2

  After a series of synthesized sounds, Ye Qi discovered that he had changed. His body was stronger, his speed faster, his eyes could see further, and the sounds he heard were clearer. Moreover, there was also a game-like system added. After simply familiarizing himself with the suddenly appearing system, just when Ye Qi thought he could dominate the world and look down on others, he was struck again. Although his strength, speed, and physical quality had been optimized by the system to be several times that of before, compared to John, he still fell short.

  If it was just a matter of Ye Qi being depressed, then when he found out that killing monsters didn't give experience and that experience could only be gained from individual tasks, with an attribute point available every four levels, Ye Qi completely lost heart - one skill point every four levels, according to his calculations, if he wanted to catch up with John, he would have to reach level 20 and accumulate five attribute points to fully upgrade himself again. And according to John, in the Hunter's Guild, his strength was only average, with countless people surpassing him. Just thinking about those countless people stronger than John made Ye Qi even more aware of his weakness - even with the existence of this system on his body, he still needed sufficient effort.

  Yeqi, who had woken up to the cruel reality, quietly started doing his tasks and diligently accumulated strength.

  Four years, a young man grew into a youth. Compared to the tender age of his first arrival in Guizhou, Ye Qi had obviously added a touch of maturity. In these four years, Ye Qi spent most of his time training and doing some insignificant small tasks. It was precisely these small tasks that allowed Ye Qi to gradually mature. Although he had only raised his level to three two months ago when he left John, making Ye Qi anxious to upgrade, he did not regret it. Because Ye Qi knew that the seemingly simple small tasks published by John were the capital for him to live a better life.

  Moreover, after leaving John and being introduced to Old Ward by John, Ye Qi finally had an upgraded flying feeling, while facing one task with increasing difficulty after another, he felt more and more the benefits of the small tasks that John had previously released, and was even more grateful to John. If it weren't for John's small tasks as trials, even if he had been strengthened by the system and had several times the strength of a normal person, Ye Qi thought that he wouldn't have been able to complete these tasks safely.

  The difficulty of the tasks released by the system is divided into six major levels: S, A, B, C, D, and E. Each major level has three sub-levels. For example, if a task is not difficult enough to be classified as D-level but more difficult than E-level, it will be classified as E+ level. Conversely, it would be classified as E- level. If normal, it would be classified as E level.

  Like the small tasks John posted earlier, they were all non-life-threatening E- or E-grade, while Old Ward here is mostly E+ and D-, with only one D-grade.

  "C+ Rank Mission: Sinister Expansion. Investigate the reason behind 'Mad Dog' Noki, the big shot of Fischer Street, rapidly expanding his turf and resolve the hidden danger."

  "Awesome!"

  As soon as he reopened the note, the prompt for this task level immediately sounded in Ye Qi's ear, causing him to blurt out a curse. When he first met Old Ward, the system directly issued the tasks "Complete ten consecutive tasks released by Old Ward" and "Character level upgraded to five". The former was C+ grade difficulty, while the latter was E grade. Originally, Ye Qi had always wondered why the tasks with a C+ grade difficulty rating were all E+ grade and D- grade, except for one D-grade task. It turned out that this was what he had been waiting for! The previous tasks didn't count, and this last one was the real deal!

  The increase in task difficulty will make the experience richer, but the danger level is also proportional. For example, the lowest E-level tasks can almost be completed without fighting. By the time it reaches D-level, it must be fought, although among many levels of tasks, Ye Qi's highest level of completion was only D-level difficulty, but this does not prevent Ye Qi from inferring the C+ level task difficulty. To know that during the last D-level task, Ye Qi directly killed into a blood slave lair, facing the fierce attack of ten blood slaves. If it wasn't for Ye Qi's good luck, using the terrain to break them one by one, he would have been torn apart as a midnight snack!

  The D-level task is so difficult, then the C+ level task, which is almost two levels higher than the D-level task, what kind of situation will it be? Ye Qi naturally knows in his heart.

  "It seems like I need to make good preparations!"

  Yeqi quickly disappeared at the end of the street after tightening his leather jacket and making a preliminary plan.

  ……

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