Shen Lu: I've Mutated into Multiple Game-Breaking Abilities

Chapter 16: The First Replication!

Those two simple sentences were enough to make Ling Yi understand the situation. The faint spark of interest he’d just felt faded away. This was the first player he’d encountered in the real world since becoming a player himself; he’d originally wanted to take a closer look, but now it seemed nothing special. Just as he stood up to leave, the sudden sound of shattering glass rang out! Ling Yi and the others looked up at the sound. They saw more than a dozen large bats—with deep purple skin and black spiral patterns on their bellies—shatter the window glass and fly in with great ferocity! These large bats flapped their wings, flying while staring at the group with their green-glowing eyes; they looked quite terrifying. “Nightmare Bats! They’re Level 15 Nightmare Bats! They’ve spotted us!” “Run! Once the Dark Hour ends, it merely means no more monsters will appear—the monsters that have already appeared won’t just vanish. This group of monsters, known as Nightmare Bats, clearly hadn’t been wiped out yet. “Don’t panic, don’t panic! Nightmare Bats aren’t that strong; no one’s going to die!” “But they have a unique skill called ‘Nightmare Curse’! Do you really want to fall into a sleep you can’t wake up from in a public place like this?!” “No way! I’m a girl, after all...” As the crowd frantically surged toward the entrance, some people turned to the mushroom-haired man who had just vowed to protect everyone, hoping he could handle these monsters. “Get lost!” In a complete reversal of his earlier attitude, the mushroom-haired man rudely shook off the person’s hand and dashed toward the door at a speed so fast it was almost impossible to follow, leaping out by stepping on the shoulders of others crowded at the entrance! By the time everyone realized what was happening, his figure had already vanished at the end of the hallway. “What’s going on!? Why is he running so fast?” “He looks even more scared than we are—that doesn’t make sense.” “I just remembered! That seems to be a new member who just joined the Dark Guild! He must be afraid that other players will follow the demon bats and track him down!” “Really!? Are you sure??” “If he hadn’t run, I wouldn’t have been so sure…” While everyone stood there in shock, Ling Yi, tucked away in a corner, felt a surge of power rising within him with a look of amazement on his face. Just as the mushroom-haired man had moved, seeing how swiftly he acted, Ling Yi, thinking, “Since I have the chance, I might as well give it a try,” activated the skill [Attribute Copy]. He had copied the opponent’s Agility, which seemed to be quite high! Agility 3 → Agility 35 (↑32) “That guy’s only Level 7, yet he already has 32 Agility!? Doesn’t he put any points into other stats?” Ling Yi didn’t have the ability to check the opponent’s stats. It was only because his own Agility had increased by 32 points that he realized the opponent’s Agility was 32. Using this skill for the first time made him realize a problem. Although he could specify which attribute to copy, he had no way of knowing the exact stats of other players or monsters. He could only guess based on their performance. This was really inconvenient! So he thought to himself: ‘If I ever acquire the “Scouting” skill, maybe I can try mutating it to see if I can develop an ability that isn’t even available on the Shen Lu…’ Crackle! Another sound of shattering glass rang out! Ling Yi’s heart skipped a beat; thinking another swarm of demon bats had arrived, he hurriedly turned to look. But what he saw was a woman, her entire body engulfed in flames and her face obscured, flying in. She reached out into the void and pulled out a long whip; the flames on her body spread down her arm and onto the whip, forming a fiery whip in the blink of an eye. Under everyone’s gaze, she merely lashed the whip back and forth twice at the swarm of demon bats, and in an instant, she had wiped out all dozen or so demon bats circling in the air! Without pausing, she turned and flew back the way she came. In the blink of an eye, she vanished from everyone’s sight. Her movements were swift—she came and went like the wind! “The Fire Whip Queen! It’s the Fire Whip Queen…” As the crowd cheered in delight, Ling Yi, standing in the corner, let out a slight sigh of relief. He didn’t have the ability to deal with flying monsters inside this enclosed space; if the one known as the “Queen of the Fire Whips” hadn’t come, he really wouldn’t have known what to do. Glancing up at the shattered window, he unconsciously rubbed his chin and muttered to himself, “The Dark Hour has just ended; there are surely still monsters lurking outside. Why don’t we wait a bit before leaving?” No sooner had the words left his mouth than he felt someone grab his hand. Turning to look, he saw the girl who had been sitting across from him—now she was slumped weakly on the table, clutching his hand as if seeking help. Ling Yi froze for a moment, then quickly bent down and asked closely, “What’s wrong? Do you need help?” The girl’s face was buried in the table, and a faint voice drifted up. He couldn’t make it out clearly, so he leaned in much closer—their heads were almost touching. A rich fragrance flooded his nostrils and surged into his brain, invigorating Ling Yi and seeming to sharpen his hearing. “I’ve been struck by a nightmare curse… Take me home… My home is… in… my… pocket…” The faint, fragile female voice, coming in fits and starts, flowed into Ling Yi’s right ear like a warm current. He understood what she meant. Being struck by a nightmare curse meant she would fall into the kind of deep sleep—the one others had just mentioned—from which she couldn’t be woken. If this fragile young woman were to fall asleep in a place like this, the consequences—should any villains appear—were too dreadful to even imagine. Ling Yi let out a soft sigh and began feeling around cautiously inside her pocket. Before long, he pulled out a small package. It bore the recipient’s name, phone number, and address. [Lin Shurou, XXXXXXXXXXX No. 33, Phoenix Street, Firefly Town, Qianjiang City] It was just past 2:00 p. m. Only after the remaining monsters on the street had been completely wiped out by the players did the nearby residents emerge from their homes and resume their daily activities. By that time, Ling Yi had already carried the woman named Lin Shurou to her home. Yesterday, his Agility was 3, and his normal running speed was 6 meters per second. Now, with an Agility of 35, his normal running speed has soared to 70 meters per second! The distance from Tianxing Square to her home was about one kilometer, yet it took Ling Yi only a dozen or so seconds. This was also the first time he had personally experienced the changes brought about by high stats. Compared to casting [Starfall], this speed—far beyond that of ordinary people—allowed him to feel the presence of extraordinary power even more keenly! “Come to think of it.” Standing in front of the villa at 33 Phoenix Street, Ling Yi glanced back at the five- or six-story building with a puzzled expression: “Isn’t this right behind my temporary living quarters?” If his room had a window facing the back, he’d be able to see right into her home. But neither his room nor even his building had one. This area was deserted; he couldn’t see a single soul in either direction. Even so, Ling Yi quickly fished the key out of her bag, unlocked the front door, stepped inside, and locked it behind him. Carrying her on his back, he crossed a small garden and arrived at the front of the two-story house. He tried turning the doorknob and found it wasn’t locked. So he simply pushed the door open and walked in.