There Must Be Something Wrong With This Game!

Chapter 45: Chapter 45: Hunter and Prey

In "Abyss," attribute points are rare and valuable. Every single one is precious, an opportunity not to be missed.

Now, seeing that the doctor could actually refine attribute points, the four players grew excited at the tempting prospect.

This was especially true for Duan Fei and Darts Guest. They each had a pet, which doubled the allure.

Although this extraction couldn’t be consumed indefinitely, just reaching the usage cap would be a massive boost for them.

Sensing the four players’ eagerness, Junko pulled the doctor aside and whispered, "Who exactly are the six entities inside me?"

"No idea. Just some random vengeful souls I stuffed in there to balance out your body."

"...You’re so twisted."

"Just a little."

The four players cornered the doctor and immediately inquired about the potion’s specific formula.

Upon learning that the potion required Pseudo-men to create, it dawned on the four players.

"So that’s why we’re in this instance—to hunt Pseudo-men! Let’s go, Junko! We’re going to hunt the Pseudo-men lurking in the darkness!"

"Hey, but... my parents..."

"They wouldn’t want you to just linger by their side! Let’s go avenge them!"

"But—"

"No more buts! Let’s go!"

"Why are you all so excited?!"

"You wouldn’t understand a player’s pursuit of ’higher, faster, stronger.’"

With the four players controlling her limbs, Junko’s body scrambled out of the laboratory, gleefully charging into the night.

Out in the vast night, the reality that she was no longer human sank in deeper for Junko.

The light was faint. The streetlights cast a dim, orange-yellow glow, steeping the area in a hazy orange mist.

Despite the lack of light, Junko found her vision was perfectly sharp. She could see everything around her with crystal clarity; nothing obstructed her view.

Her hearing had also been drastically enhanced. The chirping of insects from a kilometer away was now incredibly, overwhelmingly clear.

"So I’m really not human anymore," Junko murmured.

"Look on the bright side... okay, I can’t think of a bright side," Duan Fei said.

"Duan Someone, your ability to comfort people is at a paramecium’s level," Darts Guest sighed.

They had said they were going to hunt Pseudo-men, but it was only after heading out that they realized they didn’t seem to have any way to detect them.

They sat down to rest at a 24-hour convenience store on the roadside. They ordered some fried noodles and attempted to split a pair of disposable chopsticks, then tried to eat.

All in all, not shoving the noodles up her nose would count as a success.

And definitely not in her eyes.

After wasting nearly half the noodles and getting sauce all over her clothes, they finally gave up on the chopsticks and resorted to using her hands. Only then did they manage to eat the precious noodles.

"This isn’t working. With a group of us in control, we still can’t perform delicate movements," Bystander A said with regret.

"Looks like we can only have Junko perform crude, large-scale actions."

"Could you guys not talk about that stuff inside the body of a girl in the prime of her youth?!" Junko said, exasperated, while munching on fried noodles.

Just then, Cuihua, who had been quiet the whole time, spoke up: "Duan... Bystander... Reconnaissance..."

Duan Fei mulled it over for a moment, then asked, "Are you saying we should try combining my Medical Skill with Bystander A’s Reconnaissance Skill and see what happens?"

"Right."

"Skill combos, huh? That’s a little advanced."

Despite calling it advanced, Duan Fei immediately tried to coordinate with Bystander A. They found that working together was surprisingly easy.

Since they were in the same body, as long as they used their skills at roughly the same time, both would activate simultaneously.

Duan Fei’s [Medical Skill] and Bystander A’s [Reconnaissance] were both at the Great Success Level.

In Duan Fei’s understanding, a Skill at the Beginner level was of little use. At Minor Success, it started to have a noticeable effect, and Great Success was equivalent to a real-world professional standard.

Typically, a player who had reached Level 10 and unlocked a Profession would have one or two Skills, with one honed to the Minor Success level. Having a Skill at Great Success meant you were a pretty decent player.

By that metric, Duan Fei realized all the players he knew were pretty good.

’Is this what they mean by high-level players attracting each other?’

And using [Medical Skill] and [Reconnaissance] simultaneously allowed the group to see much more interesting things.

Medical Skill normally required close range to use, but combined with Reconnaissance, it made a detailed information box appear over the head of every person nearby.

Gender, age, and general features were displayed, making the information of any passerby instantly clear.

Not only that, but underlying medical conditions and even certain physical weaknesses were also displayed in the information box, leaving the four players deep in thought.

"I didn’t expect skill combos to be this powerful," Duan Fei said earnestly.

"I don’t think anyone has posted about this on the forums yet," Bystander A replied.

"The closed beta testers never revealed this?"

"No. The forums are wiped after every closed beta. Besides, the forums are full of trolls and people just looking for a laugh. I went on there once and saw most people were just goofing off and chasing memes."

"That sounds fun!"

Bystander A: "...You’d be a Grade-A troll on there!"

With the help of the combo skill, screening the people around them became much easier.

After a short wait, they saw someone walk into the convenience store.

He looked like an exhausted office worker. His half-bald head suggested he was a programmer, and his spine was stooped, seemingly crushed under the weight of life.

He walked into the store, silently bought a beer at the counter, and then shot a meaningful glance at Junko, who was still eating her noodles.

After he left, Junko stuffed the rest of the noodles into her mouth, pushed the door open, and followed him out.

They followed the staggering office worker to a secluded spot. Suddenly, the man who had just looked so tired spun around and said to Junko, "Miss, you’ve been following me for quite a while. Have you fallen for me?"

"You’re a rather unique Pseudo-man, aren’t you? And so full of yourself, too."

"What do you mean?"

Darts Guest, from within Junko’s body, chuckled and said, "Yan Yuan, lend me your Magic Bullet for a second."

"You got it."

They had agreed earlier to practice more skill combos to see if they could discover more effective applications.

Yan Yuan lent the Magic Bullet skill directly to Darts Guest, who then raised a hand toward the office worker.

Magic Power gathered, an invisible bullet coalescing on the tip of Junko’s index finger.

With a flick of her finger, the Magic Bullet shot forth. With the penetrating power of a high-caliber round, it pierced through the man’s head, forcing him to stumble back a step.

This Pseudo-man was clearly a bit stronger than the previous one with the long, black hair.

With a hole blown through its head, black blood poured from the wound, and it let out a horrifying shriek.

"Who are you! How could you tell I was a Pseudo-man!"

Darts Guest didn’t answer, instead finishing it off with four more bullets.

Dragging the Pseudo-man’s corpse, the four players excitedly hauled it back toward the laboratory, as if it weren’t some Monster, but a great treasure.

Here come the attribute points!