Chapter 73 - Radiance

As soon as Bai Zhi left the bone-paved path behind him, the angry rumbling sound coming from the earth began to fade away. A final backward glance revealed that everything was once more shrouded in impenetrable, silent darkness, as if all it contained was stagnant air.

Bai Zhi could not help frowning as he recalled the monstrous abyss of a mouth that he had just seen. "What monsters..."

Behind him, the bus doors slid open as the lights came back on. The flat, disinterested voice of the driver floated out from within.

"Sir, are you getting on? The time allowed for sightseeing will end in five minutes."

"Can I ask you a couple of questions?" Bai Zhi turned and caught the driver's eye as he walked toward the bus. "For example, what is this place exactly? Or—"

"This is the entrance to the Underworld. I believe I said as much, just three hours ago," said the driver, cutting Bai Zhi off. "As they say, sir, curiosity killed the cat. Being too nosy might send you to an early grave, so best learn to control your... urges. Once you've paid your fare, kindly return to your seat and prepare for imminent departure.

Narrowing his eyes, Bai Zhi swept his gaze across the interior of the bus.

The last time he had seen it, just before jumping off, the floor had been carpeted with various viscera and pieces of human flesh, while the air was suffused with the persistent metallic smell of blood.

Now, barely three hours later, the entire bus had been restored to its original pristine state. Not even a trace of the smell, not to mention the scattered mess of blood and gore, remained. However, when Bai Zhi turned his gaze toward the seat behind the driver, his pupils could not help but shrink in alarm.

Sitting in the seat behind the driver was the old woman from before, and next to her was, of course, a bulging burlap sack. As she noticed Bai Zhi looking at her, the old woman cracked a greedy smile, then reached toward the burlap sack and opened it to reveal a dark, empty space.

"That'll be three hundred Hell Dollars, sir."

"The conductor, I see... Brought back to life? Or did it not..."

As he mulled over the possibilities, Bai Zhi counted out three hundred Hell Dollars, which he fed to the sack. He then walked to the back of the bus where he took up his previous seat.

The whole journey had been filled with bizarre events, and there were certain things that deserved careful consideration.

As he walked by the burlap sack, he made an effort to get a close look—at least this one had no legs.

———

Soon, he arrived at his chosen seat at the back of the bus, and it began to move.

The journey back was what might be expected from a regular bus ride, and nothing unusual happened at all... even if the scenery was a little strange.

Everything about the bus's interior looked brand-new, and even the nicks and scratches on the window that he had made while prying it open were gone. As before, once the bus doors closed, passengers were not allowed to open the windows in any way.

Bai Zhi propped his chin up on one hand and zoned out a little as he watched the passing scenery. His thoughts eventually turned to his spoils for the day.

First and foremost were the Hell Dollars, of which he still had a tidy sum. He had initially made 890 on his own, then Lin He had offered him his 300 for a total of 1,190 Hell Dollars.

However, he had spent 400 of that on a skill card at the paper doll's pawnshop and a further 300 for the bus fare, leaving him with 490 Hell Dollars. Converting them to Coins would make him 4,900 Coins richer—quite the fortune, considering that even acing the Newbie Run and beating several waves in the Plants versus Zombies Game had only netted him about 1,000 Coins.

On the other hand, once converted to Coins, Hell Dollars could not be converted back. Bai Zhi reckoned that this was not the last he would see of the Underworld—having Hell Dollars on him might give him an advantage the next time he returned. With that, he stuffed the stacks of jade-like Dollars into his Inventory.

His Inventory contained 30 slots, just like every other Player's, which could carry anything as long as the total did not exceed ten times the Player's body weight. Bai Zhi organized his into three parts: the first ten slots were for storing important items, like the Perpetual Deed, items with special effects, and any equipment. The next ten slots were allocated for food and any essential supplies, while the last ten slots were used to carry miscellaneous items... such as the severed hand he had used to fend off Lin He's attack.

Bai Zhi placed the Hell Dollars into one of the first ten slots in his inventory, then retrieved the gleaming silver pistol.

Lin He had offered it as compensation to Bai Zhi for doing him a favor—right before attacking him anyway. Still, Bai Zhi was a man of his word, and regardless how much of what the Fallen had said was real or made-up, he was going to find Lin He's sister, as promised... even though he never learned her name.

[ Item Name: Radiance ]

[ Type: Weapon ]

[ Class: Rare ]

[ Weight: 1.8 kg ]

[ Capacity: 6 rounds ]

[ Durability: 70 / 240 ]

[ Effect 1: Radiance - Bullets fired from this weapon are imbued with Radiance and deal burning damage to supernatural creatures. ]

[ Effect 2: Precision - The first shot fired has a 100% chance to hit. ]

A quick look at tinyurl.com/37k7u89t will leave you more fulfilled.

[ Effect 3: Explosive Rounds - Automatically generate 6 special ammunitions every 8 hours, may store up to 12 rounds. Explosive Rounds do double damage. ]

[ SE Consumption: 10 / 20 SE per shot ]

[ Requirements: Strength of 10 or above ]

[ Note: My bullets can hit around corners—the legendary trick shot! ]

"Uhh..." As Bai Zhi studied the capabilities of the silver pistol, he couldn't help quirking his lips in a wry smile.

Equipment of Rare class was only one class above Normal, but that one step represented a world of difference. In terms of their market value, no Normal item would go for more than 2,000 coins, whereas even the worst Rare item could sell for at least that much.

Bai Zhi estimated that a weapon like Radiance could fetch at least 3,000 Coins at auction. After all, having three special effects was a great advantage. If it weren't for the fact that Radiance was limited to holding only six rounds at a time, it would surely be worth at least 5,000 Coins.

Naturally, none of this surprised Bai Zhi. Rather, it was the item's requirements that had caught his eye and elicited a reaction from him.

His strength stat had started at 7, but with training, he had raised it to 8—after all, it was not that hard to raise a below-average stat to average levels.

Nevertheless, he was still 2 points away from meeting Radiance's minimum requirement...