The Milk of Undoing

Bai Long took a deep breath, raised the black and white pistols in both hands, aimed at a seemingly ordinary patch of floor ahead, and slowly pulled the trigger.

“Bang! Bang!”

The gunshots were muffled.

The struck floor shattered instantly, sending rocks flying in all directions.

A moment later, a broken skeleton crawled out from the hole in the ground.

Bai Long sprinted toward the skeleton, firing both guns without pause, keeping them aimed at the target.

Both pistols had considerable recoil.

To ensure every bullet hit its mark, he deliberately slowed his firing rate, making each shot steady, accurate, and powerful.

As the distance closed, Bai Long pushed off the ground, leaped, and jumped straight off the rooftop.

In mid-air, he maintained his shooting stance, both guns trained on the skeleton, bullets pouring out.

The skeleton had just barely crawled out of the rubble pit, head tilted back, empty mouth open as if letting out a silent roar.

Before it could react, Bai Long landed from above, stomping hard on its body and pinning it to the ground.

Bai Long aimed both large-caliber pistols directly at the skull and kept pulling the trigger.

The magazines held few rounds, so they emptied in seconds.

Bai Long kept his foot firmly on the skeleton’s chest, preventing any movement.

With one hand holding the gun, he took a spare magazine from Halo with the other, reloading smoothly.

His eyes never left the skeleton, studying its condition.

After a moment, Bai Long sighed in frustration.

Though the skeleton lay still, he could see the undead curse clinging to it.

‘He would have to break the curse.’

Thinking this, the blood-red halo above his head expanded again, displaying various firearms.

His eyes scanned the weapons, occasionally firing a shot at the skeleton.

But the more he searched, the more uncertain he felt.

He hadn’t expected it to be so hard to find a weapon that could remove the curse.

Reluctantly, he repeatedly cycled through the halo, triggering the shop’s refresh function.

As light and shadow shifted, old weapons vanished and new ones appeared.

Bai Long refreshed again and again, and after several tries, he finally spotted something.

It wasn’t a weapon, but rather, a potion of sorts.

He thought he must have triggered a guaranteed drop.

[Item Name: Milk]

[Item Description: Heard you don’t want that debuff? No problem, take a gulp!]

After reading the item info, Bai Long let out a long breath.

He aimed both pistols at the joint of the skeleton’s upper and lower jaws and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

“Bang! Bang!”

Two crisp shots hit the target, punching two holes through the jaw joint.

The skeleton couldn’t close its mouth for a while, so it just stood there with its jaw hanging open.

After confirming the skeleton’s condition, Bai Long tossed aside the pistols and took the bucket of milk from the halo shop.

It was a pixelated iron bucket with strange blocky patterns, filled with a milky-white liquid that looked eerie.

Crouching down, Bai Long held the skeleton’s head steady with one hand and lifted the pixel bucket with the other, pouring the liquid directly into its open mouth.

Though the skeleton had no ability to swallow, the milky liquid turned into fine white light upon contact, seeping through the gaps in its bones.

Bai Long didn’t stop until the bucket was empty, then set it down and stood up.

After being force-fed the ‘milk’, the skeleton stopped moving entirely.

It had twitched before, but now it was completely still.

Halo: [Target’s undead curse removed. Confirmed dead.]

Hearing this, Bai Long’s tense shoulders relaxed, and he let out a long sigh.

‘What a hassle. More trouble than saving a suicidal president’s daughter.’

After his complaint, Bai Long stretched his wrists and neck, joints cracking softly.

Satisfied that the fight hadn’t left any discomfort, he turned to look not far away.

There, Xinya was being slowly lowered to the ground by a drone.

Once Xinya landed and steadied herself, Bai Long pointed at the scattered bones beside him and called out.

“I’ve removed the undead curse from this guy. He’s deader than dead now, so…”

“Can I go now?”

His tone was resigned.

Xinya was equally conflicted.

According to organizational policy, an unidentified player like Bai Long had to be registered.

But…

He hadn’t harmed her or Xiaocao, and had even helped eliminate a troublesome illegal entrant.

She should follow the rules, but he had helped them.

Of course, the most important thing was that Xinya doubted she could defeat him.

A ranged fighter who couldn’t hit their target was useless.

For a moment, Xinya didn’t know what to decide.

Just as she was hesitating, a gentle male voice came through her earpiece.

– “Xinya, let him go.”

Xinya was startled and whispered into the earpiece.

– “But…”

The voice on the other end was casual and relaxed.

– “It’s fine, it’s no big deal.”

– “If the higher-ups ask, I’ll take the heat. Just have this warrior leave a name.”

Though Xinya felt something was off, she said into the earpiece.

– “Alright.”

Xinya sighed and turned to face the fully armed Bai Long.

Her tone softened as she asked, “Sir, could you leave a name? So we have something to report.”

Bai Long paused for a moment, considering, then said flatly, “Just call me Agent Zero.”

Xinya nodded, didn’t ask further, and silently stepped aside to give him a path.

Just then, Halo’s electronic voice sounded in Bai Long’s mind.

[Master, the blockade is lifted. You can leave!]

Bai Long nodded.

Under the gaze of Xinya and Xiaocao, the blood-red halo above Bai Long suddenly broke free from his control, flew backward, and stood upright.

The halo expanded visibly, strange ripples forming in its center like disturbed water, until finally a faintly glowing door appeared.

Without hesitation, Bai Long turned and walked straight through the door created by the halo.

The door slowly shrank as he entered and disappeared, leaving nothing behind.

The sight made both of them pale, their eyes full of shock.

Especially Xinya, who stared at where the halo vanished, sensing something terrible.

“An existence that can create its own door to leave Eternal Night City… is it really enough to just register a name? Wen Jun.”

“Hahaha…”

The gentle male voice on the communicator now sounded helpless, with a hint of wry exhaustion.

– “Let… let me have a moment…”