35 Skillse

Two creatures skidded around the corner, long fingers and toes scrabbling on the polished hallway floor. They failed to react in time when Li Mei, crouched behind the wall, stabbed forward with the pointed end of her metal staff and skewered them both in one forceful thrust. The staff went through the mouth of one and erupted from the back of its skull to pierce the chest of the other, the first dying instantly and the second screaming in pain as its life drained away.

Li Mei shuddered at the horrific sounds, her grip slipping as she tried to pull the staff away from its two victims. It was easier to stab than retrieve, and the weapon seemed determined to remain firmly entrenched in the creature's bodies, wasting a precious few seconds of time.

Rows of sharp teeth bit deep into her shoulder, shredding flesh and eliciting a series of colorfully creative swears from Li Mei's mouth. The third creature clung with sharp fingers digging into her back and toes scratching at her hips. Grunting in pain, Li Mei created a barrier and flung herself backwards into it while simultaneously pulling a dagger from storage to stab into the creature's face. She managed to gouge one of its oversized eyes, covering her hand in a disgusting mix of blood and sticky green viscera.

Unlike the staff which turned the other two into a macabre kebab, the dagger was much more easily removed. Li Mei yanked it out of the third creature's skull and spun on her heel, the creature slumping to the ground while shrieking in agony. She stabbed it again and again until its long limbs stopped twitching, and only then did she spare a moment to Scan it.

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[Young Rake (Modified)]

Male

Rank 0 (62%)

An odd creature occasionally found in alpine forests that survives by scavenging corpses. Generally passive unless provoked - despite their unsettling appearance and diet. These specific Rakes have been subjected to cruel experiments and modifications that made them aggressive.

Core Location: Abdomen

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She glanced toward the corner of her vision, where a small square kept an unobtrusive log of recent EXP gains. That explained the pitiful numbers - the Rakes were lower Rank than she was!

"Got my ass kicked by some weak little nightmare fuel... Great. I only got a little cocky before, does the universe really need to keep hitting me while I'm already down? Am I just supposed to sneak around everywhere always like a stealthy little mouse or else get my own head handed to me on a silver platter?!"

Li Mei grumbled vehemently, digging miniscule 10c Cores from the Rake's bodies with a dagger. They weren't worth much, but she could absorb them in an emergency to cast a quick barrier at least.

Thinking for a moment, she surrounded herself with barriers so she could safely apply medication to her many bleeding wounds. She complained through clenched teeth to keep from focusing on the pain, occasionally interrupting herself with a series of swears.

"Is arrogance a sin in this universe, is that it? Something a god or cosmic entity deems worthy of punishing me over, or are they specifically picking on me? Don't they have anything better to do with their time?!

"Meddling Intern, if this is your fault I'm gonna slap you so hard someday! Getting knocked every which way when I try fighting head-on and only having decent victories when I'm sneaky, are you trying to say I have some sort of shady destiny?!"

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[Skillset]

★★★★★

Everyone has their own specialties and unique inborn talents. There's nothing wrong with embracing yours! But it's also important to make sure you don't have any glaring weaknesses. Versatility is key to survival.

Being a well-rounded and adaptable individual suits a clever, cunning girl like you. Set yourself up with a strong foundation for your future path, and acknowledge your own strengths. Only by understanding yourself can you move forward. Complete the following tasks:

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- Raise all base stats to 10

- Learn 1 new stealth-type Skill

- Learn Throw Lv.1

- Raise Sense to Lv.4

- Defeat 10 enemies with traps

- Defeat 10 enemies through ambush

Hint: Practice and repetition is the best way to unlock new Skills or level up old ones!

Reward: 2500000 EXP, Storage Lv.2 Upgrade, Acrobat Trait

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"Okay, you're definitely listening, and definitely messing with me." Li Mei sighed and plastered medicinal leaves over her wounds, which had antiseptic properties and served as more effective bandages than torn cloth.

She accepted the Quest only after considering it for nearly ten minutes, glaring at the holoscreen and arguing with herself about the pros and cons. Giving in to the Meddling Intern's manipulation versus ignoring it and losing out on some nice rewards just for doing things she'd probably do on her own anyway.

The massive chunk of EXP reward won her over in the end.

After a short few moments of peaceful recovery Li Mei dispelled the protective barriers and retrieved her staff. She peeked around the corner more cautiously than before, whispering under her breath to settle her nerves. "You aren't subtle, Intern. Ambush, stealth, traps... Faust gave me a book on medicine and poisons too. If you want me to be an assassin so badly, at least make me the cool ninja kind. Alright? If I don't get some sort of awesome shadow teleportation technique, I'm going to be very displeased."

Seeing no other enemies in the hallway, Li Mei inched forward toward the corpse the Rakes were snacking on. She only needed a quick glance at the map to find Lab 3, and was glad to see it wasn't too far away. 'Someone's trapped and needs help? If she's not injured too badly she can help me get out of this place once I patch her up. And even if she can't fight she'll probably have some useful information! Something bad happened here and going in blind could get me killed. Helping that person and getting info should take priority.'

The only thing on the researcher's mangled body that could be of any use was a Class-C Keycard. Li Mei sighed and stashed it away just in case. 'Maybe it'll help somewhere... I should search the rooms for supplies on my way to help that person. As a research facility, surely there's useful equipment or chemicals lying around?'

With that vague plan in mind, Li Mei tightened her grip on the metal staff and started slinking her way toward Lab 3.