Chapter 42
Chapter 42
Under Luo Yue’s astonished gaze, Qin Lan staggered toward Matchstick Bro and raised a stylish middle finger.
Only after taking two more flame blasts head-on did he pass away peacefully.
[You became crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, giving off an irresistible aroma… Killer: (Matchstick Bro)]
[Constitution permanently increased by 2.5.]
“Now this is a 3-Star instance. The first anomaly alone gives me this many attributes?”
Qin Lan was delighted.
Again!
[You turned yourself into a sizzling barbecue on the snow. Killer: (Matchstick Bro)]
[Constitution permanently increased by 1.5.]
[Man, you’re playing with fire… Killer: (Matchstick Bro)]
[Speed permanently increased by 0.6.]
After his third resurrection, the attributes provided by this death had already declined to their minimum.
Being roasted alive was also deeply unpleasant, so Qin Lan had no intention of letting Matchstick Bro continue his rampage.
Based on the combat data, Matchstick Bro was not particularly powerful. His fireballs possessed respectable force and range, but their speed left something to be desired.
His primary attacks were elemental abilities, making him weak in close combat.
He was essentially a fragile mage.
Qin Lan’s Speed attribute was not exceptionally high, but it was more than enough to dodge the fireballs.
“Well? Do you need help?”
Despite the chaos, Luo Yue found an opportunity to interject.
She looked eager to join the fight.
Qin Lan twisted aside from another fireball, rolled awkwardly through the air, and landed.
“What do you think I’m doing? Practicing street dance?”
“If you can help, then hurry up and attack! Do I have to get on my knees and beg?”
The fireballs might not have been fast, but Matchstick Bro could launch them in rapid succession.
Even Qin Lan found them difficult to handle.
“All right!”
Luo Yue brightened. As though afraid Qin Lan might change his mind, she pulled a… smartphone from her pocket.
Qin Lan glanced back.
The moment he saw the phone in her hand, his mind nearly crashed.
Holy crap.
[Public Opinion Mouthpiece]?
It was the first cursed artifact Qin Lan had ever obtained, taken from the 3-Star instance Terror Subway. Before he could even grow attached to it, it had been honorably retired and exchanged for the Curse Codex [Talent Deepening].
“How did she get it…?”
The answer flashed through Qin Lan’s mind.
“That old man bought my cursed artifact and turned around and gave it to her? Damn…”
Comparisons truly were infuriating.
Qin Lan had died countless times and relied on Xue Chuan’s absurd Talent to create an opportunity to kill the Conductor–though the attempt had been interrupted halfway. Only then had he obtained this cursed artifact.
Luo Yue had simply received it for free.
“I hate rich people…”
Qin Lan nearly wept.
Click!
The moment Luo Yue pressed the shutter, a crowd of translucent ghosts appeared from nowhere. They surged in from every direction, wailing as they threw themselves at Matchstick Bro.
“You intend to kill me with these lowly creatures?”
“What an insult!”
Matchstick Bro roared furiously. Flames engulfed his entire body, including the wooden shaft.
“An insult to matchsticks, technically,” Qin Lan added.
The ordinary ghosts were scattered by a single simple fireball and posed no threat to Matchstick Bro.
“Hahahaha… Worthless trash!” Matchstick Bro laughed proudly.
Qin Lan was not worried.
He knew two familiar faces would arrive shortly.
Sure enough, several seconds later, two muscular figures leaped out of some impossible corner.
“Hmm?”
Matchstick Bro’s laughter stopped abruptly.
The two faceless enemies radiated a threat he could not ignore.
The subway security guards had not reached 3-Star, but they stood near the top of the 2-Star rank. They could be considered 2.5-Star.
Together, they were genuinely troublesome.
And Qin Lan was watching hungrily from the side.
At present, Qin Lan would still struggle to kill a 3-Star anomaly through physical strength alone. Even [Baton Secret Art: Three Strikes, Three Guards] would make the task extremely difficult.
Using his class ability to curse Matchstick Bro and weaken his power would resolve the fight more quickly, but it would consume a large amount of curse energy.
Besides, Qin Lan did not want to expose too many of his trump cards in front of Luo Yue.
“No… No!”
“You dare gang up on me…”
Matchstick Bro shouted in fury. Caught between the two subway security guards and Qin Lan, his pressure multiplied. Within half a minute, he had already begun to falter and taken several blows from Qin Lan’s baton.
“What are you talking about? This is a righteous group beating. Understand?”
Qin Lan replied shamelessly and struck Matchstick Bro’s… head? Or perhaps his match head.
Against an opponent slightly stronger than Qin Lan, the control effects of [Baton Secret Art: Three Strikes, Three Guards] were rather weak.
Occasionally, however, it could still make Matchstick Bro freeze or temporarily silence him so that he could not cast fireballs. That was useful enough.
“You need to hurry…”
Anxiety entered Luo Yue’s voice.
Qin Lan felt it too. The auras of the two subway security guards were growing increasingly wrong.
Curse resurgence.
Cursed artifacts were excellent tools for fighting anomalies, but prolonged use could cause them to lose control–a phenomenon known as curse resurgence.
Qin Lan had first encountered the concept when Xue Chuan produced the 4-Star cursed artifact [Embroidered Shoes].
The realization that his two old acquaintances might soon turn around and demonstrate the original Three Strikes, Three Guards on him made Qin Lan shudder. He hurriedly accelerated his attacks.
Fortunately, Luo Yue was a 2-Star Anomaly Hunter with a respectable reserve of curse energy. She could suppress them for a little longer.
“Take this!”
Before time ran out, Qin Lan brought his baton down and completely shattered Matchstick Bro’s head, scattering charred fragments across the ground.
The new weapon in his hand reached the end of its life as well, snapping with the impact.
[You have drawn strength from your enemy’s death.]
[Strength +2.5. Curse Resistance +5.]
“It broke again…”
Qin Lan regretfully studied the broken baton, reluctant to part with it.
His old crowbar had been destroyed in battle long ago, so he had spent Bureau points on a specially made alloy baton. It had been unstoppable against low-star anomalies.
He had not expected Matchstick Bro’s flames to damage it so severely, or for the final blow to burn it out completely.
Fighting anomalies smoothly required good equipment–no, a good weapon.
“Still, something worth only a few dozen Bureau points did well to survive several 2-Star anomalies. I can’t ask for too much…”
Qin Lan decided to commission a more expensive weapon after returning.
“Hmm?”
He suddenly noticed something, bent down, and picked up Matchstick Bro’s corpse.
[Hot-Tempered Stick (Corpse)]
[Description: This stick had an explosive temper while alive and possesses excellent heat resistance… Wait. Why does a stick have an “alive” period?]
[Use: Can be converted into crafting material after being removed from the instance.]
“I get a bonus like this too?”
Delight appeared on Qin Lan’s face.
Anomaly corpses were generally processed into materials for items such as [Spirit-Elevation Serum], which enhanced Talent effects, or [Curse Crystals], which assisted with studying a Curse Codex and increasing curse energy.
Certain unusual corpses could instead be used to create medicine or weapons.
The stick in Qin Lan’s hand was material suitable for crafting a weapon.
Matchstick Bro’s wooden body had burned throughout the entire battle without being destroyed.
He had also withstood repeated combined attacks from Qin Lan and the subway security guards, demonstrating exceptional toughness.
If Qin Lan could turn this thing into a baton…
The thought alone made him grin.
Luo Yue approached just then.
“About this corpse–”
Qin Lan turned to speak, but Luo Yue smiled first.
“I don’t need it.”
“I didn’t contribute very much. You did most of the work.”
“Treat it as your trophy.”
Her generosity left Qin Lan feeling somewhat embarrassed.
A corpse like this was worth two or three hundred Bureau points. Converted into money, that amounted to several thousand supply coins.
Such a fortune was enough to purchase a spacious, luxurious home in the center of a Safe Zone.
“I already said you don’t need to be so polite with me.”
Luo Yue found his hesitation amusing. She reached out, tapped his forehead with one finger, and giggled.
“Your big sister doesn’t lack a few Bureau points.”
That was probably true.
With a branch director of the Anomaly Hunter Bureau and a 4-Star Anomaly Hunter behind her, Luo Yue had no reason to compete with Qin Lan for a single 3-Star anomaly corpse.
“All right…” Qin Lan rubbed his nose awkwardly. “I really do need this. How about the next anomaly goes to you?”
Luo Yue deliberately looked surprised.
“What? You insist on keeping such careful accounts with me?”
“I thought we were friends.”
Qin Lan immediately stiffened and waved his hands, his voice awkward.
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
“I simply don’t like taking advantage of people…”
Covering her mouth, Luo Yue countered with a smile, “What if I’m willing to let you take advantage of me?”
“If I volunteer, it doesn’t count as taking advantage, does it?”
Qin Lan’s brain briefly short-circuited.
“Uh…” he answered hesitantly. “I suppose it doesn’t…”
“But why does that sound so strange?”
Luo Yue smiled and turned away.
“There’s nothing strange about it. You’re overthinking.”
Qin Lan tilted his head in confusion. His emotional intelligence was insufficient to untangle the meaning, so he abandoned the attempt and considered what came next.
“I think we can see what kind of instance this is now…”
Qin Lan rose and looked toward the distant palace with a pained expression.
“The Little Matchstick Who Sold Girls… A genie who asks others to fulfill wishes…”
“By that logic, Cinderella’s Glass Slipper might become…”
Luo Yue finished for him. “The Cinderella of the Glass Slipper?”
Qin Lan’s expression darkened.
“That would be the good outcome. I’m worried about another possibility…”
“In the original story, they carried the shoe throughout the kingdom to find the foot that fitted it.”
“Here, they might carry a foot around to find the shoe it fits.”