Infinity, The Arcade Age

Chapter 439 - 439: A World of Despair

Nearly a full day passed before Qin Ming finally sent away the large group of adventurers.

Even as they left, they kept assuring him that they would help him and do everything they could to support him.

This was mainly because Qin Ming truly thought they looked far too pitiful. It definitely wasn't because these guys could lose it at any moment and literally punch him to death on the spot—or that fighting inside the Nightmare Space was totally allowed.

And after receiving Qin Ming's definite promise, these bigshots of the Nightmare Space quickly responded in kind.

They generously gave Qin Ming a bunch of top-tier items and equipment, and even rare skill books.

How top-tier, you ask? Put it this way: Qin Ming received no fewer than thirteen S-rank skill books!

There was even one double SS-rank skill book among them!

Holding those skill books in his hands after sending everyone off, Qin Ming couldn't help but fall silent for a long time.

Looking at the skill books, he didn't feel like he was holding treasures—but rather a pile of ticking time bombs!

Good grief! If he actually strengthened himself with all these... he might just drop dead on the spot right in front of everyone!

Flipping through the books, especially that double SS-rank one, Qin Ming found his grin getting more and more twisted.

[Name: Power of the Xenomorph Queen]

[Rank: SS]

[Effect: By consuming nutrients, you can produce xenomorph eggs which parasitize a host. The strength of the resulting xenomorph depends on the host's attributes.]

[Description: "My offspring are endless."]

Double SS-rank skills—strong? Of course they were strong! In fact, they were terrifyingly powerful!

Being able to spawn endless offspring based on the attributes of the host to fight on your behalf, with no cap on numbers—it was a nightmare just imagining it. Definitely a powerhouse skill in any kind of siege warfare.

But the problem was that this kind of power was just too sinister. The very fact that someone would willingly give it away meant one thing—it had to clash violently with other skills.

If Qin Ming dared to integrate this thing, the consequences would be unthinkable.

He piled the skill books casually on the table, sat back down, and began massaging his forehead, pondering his next step.

As for his third S-rank skill, he still leaned toward enhancing Killing Intent Ripple. After all, that ability was quite well-known.

But the condition of those top-tier adventurers had sounded a loud warning in his head.

Reckless enhancement was a path straight to death. Once his body started breaking down, even if he wanted to stabilize his powers, it might already be too late.

Yet finding a special ability that could balance all his internal powers? That was no easy feat. Skills of that type—regardless of their rank—had likely already been completely monopolized by top-tier adventurers.

So now he had two choices: either work with them to get a foundational special skill—though that meant risking falling into whatever traps they might set...

Or try to figure it out on his own.

Still, there was no rush. After all, he was just a mid-level adventurer right now. He had all the time in the world to slowly plan out his power progression...

In the blink of an eye, several months passed.

Standing in his room, Qin Ming took a deep breath. A second later, he suddenly stepped forward toward the door.

As he raised his hand and pushed it open, brilliant light surged through—the beginning of Qin Ming's next adventure had officially begun.

[World Name: Midnight Massacre]

[Mission Difficulty: A-rank]

[Number of Entrants: 100]

[Main Mission Requirement: Survive 90 Days]

[Reward: 10,000 points, 10 free attribute points]

[Optional Mission: Kill a Storyline Boss]

[Reward: 10,000 points, 10 free attribute points]

[World Overview: In a single night, a hundred ghosts roam the land—countless monsters appear out of thin air, plunging the entire world into chaos. In just a few short months, humanity is pushed to the brink of extinction. And at that moment... the Night Assassins finally emerge...]

Inside a room, Qin Ming slowly opened his eyes as he sat in a chair.

Looking at the information displayed on the television in front of him, his brow furrowed slightly.

Midnight Massacre? Now that was a classic old-school arcade game, with that gory American comic book style.

The backstory could be summed up pretty simply: the apocalypse hits suddenly, humanity can't hold out, and then three heroes step up to save the world.

And the identities of those three heroes couldn't be more different—one was a monster hunter from the U.S., another a vampire hunter from Europe, and the last one was an exorcist from Huaxia.

Three totally unrelated professions haphazardly thrown together—an incredibly bizarre combo.

Especially the exorcist, who was actually a stunning beauty, proficient in martial arts and strong in Daoist magic, acting as the team's main combat force.

Qin Ming never expected he'd actually enter this world—and that its difficulty would be this high. That really caught him off guard.

But thinking more carefully about it, the high difficulty made sense. The entire human race was nearly wiped out by monsters—there was no way those creatures were going to be easy to deal with.

Just look at the mission: the main objective was simply to survive. No penalties for failure or anything.

As Qin Ming's thoughts turned, recalling the intel on this world, a thunderous crash suddenly reached his ears.

The very next moment, the front door exploded, and a flood of rotting zombies roared as they charged in from outside.

Leading the charge was a tall, fur-covered, half-man half-wolf creature—none other than the famously feared monster of Western folklore: a werewolf!

"Human! Blood!"

With a savage howl, the werewolf bared its fangs and lunged straight at Qin Ming.

Still sitting calmly in his chair, Qin Ming, sunglasses on, instantly saw through the creature's stats.

[Name: Werewolf]

[Strength: 35]

[Constitution: 40]

[Agility: 20]

[Spirit: 10]

[Skills: Bloodthirsty Slaughter (C-rank), Werewolf Bloodline (B-rank)]

[Description: Since this is a world rooted in Western legend, how could a classic like the werewolf not make an appearance?]

An elite monster that didn't even count as a mini-boss... and yet it had a whopping 40 points in one attribute! And even a B-rank passive skill!

Seeing the werewolf's stats, Qin Ming's expression changed drastically. He finally got a real taste of how difficult this world was—and realized why the mission goal was simply to stay alive.

The danger level of this world... was off the charts!

Even as his mind raced, his body remained calm and sharp.

As the werewolf pounced toward him, Qin Ming, still seated, suddenly flicked the fingers resting on the armrest.

With a spray of fresh blood, a crimson droplet shot out with a sharp whoosh, hitting the werewolf square in the chest.

Boom! The droplet pierced straight through the werewolf's torso and exploded out the back, sending a burst of blood arrows flying in all directions.

The sheer impact force sent the elite werewolf flying backward in an instant.

As his enemy was blasted away in one move, Qin Ming braced himself with both hands on the armrests and slowly stood up.

"Blood? You're right. I do need blood."

With that, he reached out with his hand—and the scattered blood on the ground surged toward his palm like a tide, condensing into a blood sphere in the blink of an eye.

Lifting the blood sphere, Qin Ming silently gazed at the werewolf lying on the ground, staring back at him in shock. The corner of his mouth slowly curled into a smirk.

"Hello, werewolf... and goodbye."

With a firm squeeze of his hand—the blood sphere exploded.

(End of Chapter)