Chapter 30: Mysterious Assassin

Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Mysterious Assassin

The days passed, one by one.

Gu Qing’s daily schedule was packed.

Mornings were for studying with Yang Yuntong.

At noon, he would search the campus for rats.

Afternoons were for practicing martial arts with Xia Shuran.

Evenings were for playing basketball with Gao Fei.

Maybe it was because they had such a good time gaming together, but over the past few days, the PhD student with the "Biochemical Madman" tag had been actively messaging Gu Qing to team up for several days straight.

Gu Qing wanted to get familiar with him as quickly as possible to satisfy the requirements for acquiring an Attribute from his tag.

So, Gu Qing was always available, using his incredible gaming skills to carry the guy to one victory after another.

Before he knew it...

...it was Saturday morning.

Gu Qing woke up early, but instead of rushing to get out of bed, he summoned his panel with a thought and checked his Attributes for the first time in a while.

[Name: Gu Qing]

[Age: 21]

[Devouring (Upgradeable or Fusible): Your Digestion Ability is greatly enhanced.]

[Lightning Reflexes (Upgradeable or Fusible): Your Reaction Speed is greatly enhanced.]

[Extraordinary Comprehension Acquisition Progress: 58/100]

[Muscle Knots Acquisition Progress: 74/100]

[Essence Blood Enslavement Acquisition Progress: 2/100]

Gu Qing’s heart stirred as he glanced over the Attribute data.

’My Physical Strength has accumulated to +74.’

’Only 26 more points, and I’ll unlock Muscle Knots.’

’If I can grind for thirteen hours a day, I can get Muscle Knots this week.’

’Gao Fei has to hang out with his girlfriend this weekend, so he barely has time to play basketball with me.’

’Hmm, looks like I’ll have to put the squeeze on my little junior. I’ll have her practice martial arts with me all day.’

Gu Qing picked up his phone, opened WeChat, and sent a message to Xia Shuran.

[Gu Qing: Hey, junior. You awake? Want to head to the field and practice?]

He waited for over ten minutes.

No reply from Xia Shuran.

It was just past seven in the morning. Gu Qing figured his junior probably wasn’t awake yet.

’Since I’m up early and can’t find anyone to grind Attributes with, I might as well go look for rats.’

’I’ll see if I can gather any useful information and root out that twisted Cannibal Giant sooner rather than later.’

Just as he was thinking this,

a red dot suddenly appeared on his WeChat icon. Someone had sent him a message.

He thought his junior had finally replied and quickly tapped it open.

But as it turned out, it wasn’t the junior he’d been waiting for, but the PhD student, the "Biochemical Madman."

[Zhou Yuan: Hey, junior. Wanna team up?]

’Good grief. This guy’s a PhD student, but instead of heading to the lab first thing in the morning, he’s hitting me up to play games. His addiction is the real deal...’

Gu Qing didn’t overthink it and quickly replied.

[Gu Qing: I’m down, but we can only duo queue. My roommates are still asleep.]

[Zhou Yuan: Duo queue works.]

[Gu Qing: Alright, give me a minute. I’ll head to an internet cafe so I don’t make too much noise and wake my roommates.]

[Zhou Yuan: Which internet cafe?]

[Gu Qing: Probably the Tianqi Internet Cafe across from the school.]

[Zhou Yuan: Perfect, I’m actually not on campus right now either. Let’s meet up at the Tianqi Internet Cafe.]

[Gu Qing: OK, I’m heading out now.]

After sending the last message,

Gu Qing got out of bed, washed up, put on his shoes, and headed straight off campus.

He arrived at the Tianqi Internet Cafe after about a fifteen-minute walk.

There, he found Zhou Yuan—the "Biochemical Madman" tag hovering over his head—already waiting for him by the entrance.

"Brother Yuan, you got here fast!"

"Yeah, I was right nearby. It was just a short walk."

"I see..."

Gu Qing nodded, then smiled. "Let’s go, Brother Yuan. Time to team up."

"Let’s do this!"

Zhou Yuan was itching to play.

With Gu Qing leading the way these past few days, he’d hardly lost a single match, and he was loving it.

He was even willing to sacrifice sleep, crawling out of bed bright and early just to play a few rounds with Gu Qing.

"Hey, junior, I can’t play for too long. Two hours, max."

"No problem, Brother Yuan. Just keep an eye on the time. I’m good with whatever."

Gu Qing was very accommodating toward his friends, especially friends who could help him grind for Attributes.

He had been coveting the "Biochemical Madman" tag on Zhou Yuan’s head for a long time.

’I have to get familiar with Zhou Yuan as soon as possible. That’s the only way to trigger the tag’s Attribute acquisition mechanism.’

As the two chatted and walked into the internet cafe,

a burly, middle-aged man walked in with them and sat down at a station across from theirs.

The moment the man entered his sight, Gu Qing’s gaze was immediately drawn to his tag.

—[Assassin]

’An Assassin?’

Gu Qing was puzzled.

’He couldn’t figure it out. Why on earth would an assassin come to an internet cafe?’

’To play games and relax?’

’But logically, an assassin trying to cover their tracks would never come to a public place like an internet cafe to unwind.’

’So what’s this guy’s deal?’

Before Gu Qing could dwell on it, the game started.

But he couldn’t focus on the game at all. His peripheral vision remained locked on the middle-aged man across from him.

He watched him for almost an hour.

The man was completely absorbed in his game the entire time, with no strange movements whatsoever. It seemed he really was just there to relax.

His own tense nerves finally relaxed a little.

Still, he didn’t let his guard down completely, always keeping the man in a corner of his eye and monitoring his every move.

"Awesome!"

"Junior, your plays are insane!"

"Holy shit, a solo kill with a sliver of health left!"

"You have to teach me!"

"The enemy Malphite is such an idiot. It’s true what they say: all Malphite players share a single brain!"

"The other team is getting steamrolled!"

Amidst a series of happy shouts,

two hours flew by.

They had played a total of six games, securing a six-game winning streak and absolutely crushing their opponents every single time.

Zhou Yuan was on cloud nine. He couldn’t stop smiling, even as he took off his headset.

"Junior, that was awesome! I’ve got to run, I have some things to take care of. Let’s play again soon."

As he was leaving, he added,

"Oh, right! Junior, you mentioned you were interested in the lab. There might be an opportunity tomorrow afternoon. I’ll hit you up then and sneak you in for a tour."

"Alright, I’ll wait for your message tomorrow, Brother Yuan."

Gu Qing said with a smile.

’After teaming up with this "Biochemical Madman" PhD student so many times, it was finally time for the payoff.’

’When I go for that lab tour tomorrow, I have to make sure I do at least an hour of "scientific experiments" with him.’

’Hopefully, by then, our familiarity level will be high enough to satisfy the tag’s Attribute acquisition requirements.’

’Then I’ll finally find out what kind of Attribute the "Biochemical Madman" tag gives.’

"Well, junior, you can keep playing. I’ve got to run."

Zhou Yuan said, standing up from his gaming chair.

Seeing this, Gu Qing took off his headset and stood up as well.

"I’ve had about enough, too. Time to head back to campus. Let’s walk out together."

And so, the two of them got up and left the internet cafe together.

As they left, Gu Qing intentionally glanced over at the man with the "Assassin" tag.

Seeing him still sitting at his computer, engrossed in his game, Gu Qing didn’t think much of it and headed straight for the exit.

They stepped out of the internet cafe.

Gu Qing turned left to head back to campus, while Zhou Yuan turned right, heading to some unknown destination.

When he reached the intersection up ahead,

Gu Qing silently waited for the light to change.

Suddenly,

he caught a glimpse of something in his peripheral vision. The man with the "Assassin" tag was walking briskly out of the internet cafe, following closely behind Zhou Yuan.

...