Upgrade

“Brother, this little b*tch is too dangerous; let’s just kill her first!” The short, fat man wiped cold sweat from his forehead, his face full of vigilance.

“Hmm, though a corpse offers less fun, it’s better to be cautious.”

“…”

My body could barely move; I could only watch helplessly as the tall, thin man lunged at me, thrusting an iron sword toward my throat.

The next moment, the world seemed to freeze.

The sword was barely a dozen centimeters from my throat; I could even see the trajectory of the iron sword cutting through the air.
In less than a second, that cold, gleaming iron sword would plunge into my delicate neck.

At this moment, my mood was unexpectedly calm.
Even facing death, there wasn’t a ripple in my heart.

I don’t understand why I feel this way.
It’s as if ever since Liv’s memories merged with mine, my actions and thoughts have been constantly changing.

Who exactly am I now?

See, thinking about such a trivial question at this critical moment of life and death, my brain must be abnormal.

“I’ve had enough fun; now, all of you, die.” It was a voice as indifferent as water, even I found it somewhat unfamiliar.
Why did my own voice have such a strange feeling?

“What in the world is happening!” The tall, thin man was suspended in mid-air, unable to move.
The tip of his sword, which only needed to advance a dozen centimeters to kill me, would never reach its destination.

“Why can’t I move!” The short, fat man maintained his standing posture, his expression unusually twisted, as if struggling fiercely.

At the same time.

Shadows writhed—the tall, thin man’s shadow, the short, fat man’s shadow, the shadows of the trees, and even my own shadow writhed, twisting and deforming.

Finally, they transformed into countless dark spears, shooting out in all directions!

A violent tearing sound erupted in the forest.

In an instant, a chaotic scene composed of black spears replaced the surrounding scenery and appeared before me.

Crimson blood dripped down the spears; the tall-thin and short-fat duo were skewered like hedgehogs, dead beyond all doubt.

I think I might have overdone it a little.

The power of Shadow Volley somewhat exceeded my expectations, and the mana cost was even more incredible; my MP had gone from zero to negative one hundred.

I was extremely uneasy about this odd skill that could only be used under special circumstances, especially since near-death counted as a special circumstance.

If that dagger’s attack power had been greater than my HP, I would have really been done for.

When I first learned about this skill’s characteristics, I dismissed it as a useless ability, but I never expected it to actually trigger automatic mode and save my life just now.

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding ding ding!

A familiar music suddenly echoed in my mind—it was the character level-up music from ‘Grand Adventure’!

I immediately checked my character status.
Indeed, I had leveled up to 2, and all my stats had received a certain boost.
However, my HP and MP hadn’t recovered, which was consistent with the game.

It’s time to collect the spoils of war.

My gaze fell upon a ring on the hand of one of the riddled, bloodied corpses.
It was a space ring meant for beginners.

I took the ring off his hand and lightly rubbed the white gem on it.
A pile of items instantly shot out from the ring’s space, landing on the ground.

This kind of elementary space ring couldn’t allow items to be selected by consciousness; every time something needed to be retrieved, everything had to be taken out at once.
The design was not user-friendly at all.

“Two broke losers.” A bottle of cheap wine, a large pile of black bread, a few low-level red and blue potions, and a small amount of coins were all their worldly possessions.

I picked up a red potion and poured it into my mouth.
A strong medicinal taste spread in my mouth.

So bitter!

It tasted completely different from what I imagined.
This strange taste was somewhat similar to the traditional Chinese medicine soup I drank as a child in the countryside—equally bitter.

My HP was slowly refilling.
Then, I drank three more blue potions, and my magic was finally replenished.

“So unappetizing!” They say an empty stomach is the best seasoning, but this black bread clearly exceeded that category.
Its dry, hard texture and sawdust-like taste were truly difficult to swallow.

But to restore my stamina and remove the hunger status, I still gnawed on several pieces with the wine.

After eating, I reconfirmed my status.

‘Liv Shadowsong
Race: Demon
Life Level: 2
HP: 20
MP: 20
Strength: 10
Defense: 0
Equipment Level: 0
Luck: ???
Skills: True Sight, Shadow Spear, Shadow Volley, Shift and Replace, Transformation.
Minion: Flora (Imp Race)
Note: 303 days, 7 hours, 42 minutes, 36 seconds until the Demon Slaying Convention.’

The stamina and hunger values had disappeared, and various stats had improved.
Congratulations are in order.

As for the luck value, it was still invisible, just like before, and checking it showed that the level had not been reached, so it couldn’t be unlocked.

I don’t care.

Before dark, I must get out of this forest as soon as possible; I don’t want to spend another night in this gloomy place.

Casually picking up the iron sword before me, the character status bar immediately showed an additional value of ‘Attack Power: 15.’ It seemed this was an equipable weapon.

If only I had a spear, there’s no better weapon to unleash the Shadow Archdemon King’s power, but for now, I’ll make do.

After packing everything up, I followed the path the duo had come from.

Because traces of their passage still remained, I walked for about two hours and finally successfully exited the forest.

After walking another fifteen minutes or so, traversing a stretch of grassland, a wide flagstone road came into view.

The spacious road, not inferior to a four-lane highway in my previous life, was completely devoid of any sign of life.

Do I still have to keep walking?

My heart sank involuntarily.
My legs were already “playing the pipa” (trembling) from extreme fatigue.
It felt like I had walked all the roads I would ever walk in this lifetime over the past few days; I truly didn’t want to move another inch.

I decided to rest on the spot and sat down, immediately inhaling the fresh scent emanating from the soft grass.

Ah, I really want to lie down and sleep.

This thought was just a fleeting one.

What a joke.
Falling asleep in this perilous wilderness, I might never wake up again.

I vigilantly scanned my surroundings, my iron sword held tightly in my hand, anticipating any potential danger.

My mind had been constantly tense these past few days.
Now, if I relaxed even a little, it would probably be difficult to concentrate again.

I’ll rest for half an hour and then continue on my way, I decided in my heart.

It was the third day since I arrived in this world, and the situation was still unclear.
How did I transmigrate here, who resurrected me, and why was I reincarnated specifically as Liv?
Everything was a mystery.

“You know, don’t you?”

“…” As expected, System sis ignored me.

Rumble rumble rumble!

Suddenly.

A strange sound came from afar, and I looked up.

A black dot grew larger and larger, rushing rapidly toward me.

Before long, a huge unicorn pulling a carriage appeared.

This type of unicorn was different from the legendary horse-like sacred beast.
In ‘Grand Adventure’, this unicorn was called a Gamma Beast, a herbivorous magic beast, possessing immense strength and incredible speed, but its temperament was exceptionally docile.
It was one of the game’s mount beasts.

For just ten silver coins, one could travel from one town to a nearby town.
During the beginner phase, it was a very cost-effective mount.

I quickly stood up and waved vigorously to get the coachman’s attention.

If I missed this beast carriage, which might not appear again for who knows how long, I might really have to spend the night here!