Chapter 66 66 - Nourishment (Part 1)



Sorry for the delay, i will post another chapter after 2h as for now enjoy the chap*^

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Bang!

After smashing the head of a tainted corpse in front of him, Renji quickly shifted his position, hiding in the shadow of a corridor corner. His body was covered in blood, all from the tainted corpses. In his right hand, he clenched his only weapon: a broken water pipe he had torn off.

After distancing himself from Suthia, the contract indeed no longer counteracted him on a mental level, but he also couldn't restrain the nun's actions. These crazed tainted corpses roaming the sewers in search of him were Suthia's doing.

Suthia was smart and well-understood the principle of the "Contract"; after all, she was his "first" contractor.

Instead of coming to capture him directly, the nun continuously used the tainted corpses, employing a "third party" to exhaust his already limited strength.

When he would first give in, lose consciousness, the contract would be of no use.

Renji was aware of this, so he changed his strategy. He deliberately gave Suthia the impression that he was trying to escape, but in reality, at the next corridor turn, Renji quietly changed his path. He had no intention of heading toward the exit. He wanted to use the complex layout of the sewers to continually conceal his whereabouts, engaging in guerrilla warfare with Suthia.

Note: [Guerrilla warfare is waged by civilians who are not members of a traditional military unit, such as a nation's standing army or police force. In many cases, guerrilla combatants are fighting to overthrow or weaken a ruling government or regime.

This type of warfare is typified by sabotage, ambushes, and surprise raids on unsuspecting military targets. Often fighting in their own homeland, guerrilla combatants (also referred to as rebels or insurgents) use their familiarity with the local landscape and terrain to their advantage.]

The purpose of this delaying tactic and guerrilla warfare...

Taking advantage of the moment to catch his breath, Renji flipped his palm, and the two Brands, as relics of the 'Emperor,' appeared.

'So it was this, huh?'

From the start, upon seeing the special evolutionary method of the mutated tainted corpses, Renji had guessed what the Brands unearthed by Priest Gralon were.

[[Raise a Glass!]

[Type: Brand]

[Set Quantity: Two]

[Position: Upper, Lower]

[Rank: Danger]

[Single Effect: +10% Attack Power (Upper), +7% Critical Hit Rate (Lower)]

[Set Effect: 'Infinite Infusion' — When releasing 'continuous' skills, each unit killed during the skill duration grants an additional 1% attack power boost to oneself, with no upper limit. This enhancement effect resets after the skill duration ends]

(Here's to those who wish to kill us!)Th1s chapter is updated by n)ovel/\bin/\

This set of Brands, at the "Danger Rank" level, had decent single-item stats, and the "Critical Hit Rate" attribute in the [Lower] piece was still a rare one. However, it was still considered a white elephant by Renji in the game, mainly due to the set effect it pulled down.

As a "Infusion" type Brand, the single-time bonus of 1% additional attack power was simply too low, and the value was pitiful. Moreover, to trigger the set effect, the wearer had to possess a "continuous" skill.

In short, it warmed up too slowly and started too slowly. In most cases, either all the enemies were killed before it really started, or the skill duration ended, resetting the bonus.

His contract Eclipse from the game.

Yes.

In a cultivation game, how could the protagonist have only five Eclipse? Whenever the protagonist reached a multiple of five level(Gained 5 more level), they would gain additional contract slots, and as they progressed further, it wouldn't just be one by one but in increasing tiers.

When Renji Finished the game, his protagonist level had reached LV150, and you can imagine how many contract slots he had—a whopping hundreds.

However, why did Renji rarely mention the other Eclipse, and why did it seem like he only had five Eclipse?

Because in Renji's eyes, only those five were considered "nurturing" characters.

As for the rest of the Eclipses...

They were merely tools for Renji, disposable after use.

They were just...

Tools...

....

....

The Tainted Miasma quivered, bringing to life the scenes Suthia had experienced.

It was a young man who was desperately begging.

"Sister Thia, can you please... please beg Lord Ashen for me? I'll do my best! I'll try to do better in the next battle! Please beg Lord Ashen not to take away my contract, not to take back my power. I don't want to become a normal person again. I don't want to lose everything."

"I... I want to continue fighting with everyone!"

Watching the boy in the red mist, Renji recognized him from the memories buried in the corners of his mind, memories that Suthia's recitation had stirred.

He recognized him; this boy was the first name in the list of names that Suthia had just recited, Pire. He was one of the Eclipse contracted by Renji during the early stages of the game, a [Vanguard]-class Eclipse with only two stars. His skill set was also quite poor. However, the reason why Renji had contracted him and brought him under his wing was because Pire had a powerful talent.

[Experience Gain Efficiency +15%]

This meant that Renji could level up a two-star "Common" class character with fewer resources during the early stages.

However, as the difficulty increased later on, "Common" class characters became less and less effective, especially a [Vanguard]-class character as overpowered as Pire. He was quickly phased out and, thanks to Renji's ability to "reset," the resources he had invested in Pire were reclaimed.

At the time, Renji in the game didn't feel anything was amiss, nor did he hesitate. After all, it was a common practice for many players, especially in the early stages when resources were extremely scarce.

But the Renji of the present moment, through the images that Suthia was showing him, fell into silence.

He watched Pire's tears, he saw the longing in Pire's eyes to continue fighting, he witnessed Pire's desperate pleas, and even his humble figure kneeling before Suthia, begging the nun to speak well of him in front of the emperor.

It was at this moment that Renji realized that, for him, it was just a virtual game, but for the characters in the game, his casual actions could determine their entire lives.

And the [Reset], in a world filled with monsters and dangers, was akin to a death sentence, an end to their existence.