Chapter 427: A Grisly Encounter in the Replica World

Ahhh!! Ahhh…

A harrowing scream echoed through the dilapidated building.

Half of her body was pinned to the wall. A disheveled woman let out an inhuman scream as she writhed on the rough concrete floor like a suffering snake.

Chunks of skin and flesh were scraped away, leaving bright red blood staining the grimy concrete.

In her frantic struggle, her fingers bent painfully on the ground, twisting a full 180 degrees like overcooked chicken claws.

Yet, no matter how hard she fought, the piercing arrow that pinned her to the wall stayed as immovable as an anchor.

“Is that what they call a wight?”

“Seems… it really looks human…”

Standing behind Yinglong, a Third-Stage Awakened observed the woman’s struggle with keen interest.

The scene was brutal—the way they had surrounded her resembled deranged thugs torturing their victim, her screams of agony piercing the air.

That is, if you ignored the half-ripped face by her side.

Fresh tooth marks and strips of flesh, still smeared with saliva, marred her face.

When they first encountered this wight, it had been hiding in an abandoned building, greedily gnawing on a corpse like one savoring pig’s trotters.

“That’s it. This IS a wight. We must proceed with extreme caution!”

“This one seems fairly simple. She likely overindulged on human flesh in a short time, causing her behavior and mind to stray far from normal human patterns.”

“When you encounter high-level wights, they might even impersonate an army to lure survivors.”

Explaining patiently, the middle-aged man in military uniform drew a dagger from his waist and, with a soft thud, ended the wight’s life.

The woman convulsed violently before falling utterly still.

“Let’s move. Our next destination is 7th Floor, Zone B—a former shopping mall. Be careful; the wights there are at least Second-Stage fighters!”

After drawing his dagger, the man in uniform, Zhang En, sighed and looked earnestly at Yinglong and the others.

However, beneath his worried expression, he failed to notice the disdain flickering in the eyes of the companions trailing Yinglong.

“Boss, this NPC sure talks a lot.”

“Following him feels like we’re making little progress… Should we show our strength? Make him shut up?”

Trailing behind Yinglong, a Third-Stage Awakened who had been here before whispered.

On their previous visit, they hadn’t encountered an NPC like him. Maybe Yinglong’s prowess convinced the system to send a guide NPC along?

But following this guy turned out to be far slower than they had imagined.

“For now, let’s follow him.”

“He seems to have a side quest—perhaps it’ll come in handy on later floors.”

Ignoring his subordinate’s concerns, Yinglong calmly spoke, his eyes casually scanning Blood Nightingale, who was crouched on the ground ready to snap a photo.

“Miss Blood Nightingale, it seems you’re quite curious about the wight.”

“Click…”

Half-squatting, Blood Nightingale quickly snapped a photo and smiled:

“No, I’m just wondering if there’s any system reward.”

As she spoke, she sent the photo via her communication device to the suited man from earlier.

This wight was the target the suited man had once demanded they avenge. Now that the task was complete, all that remained was to send back the corpse’s photo.

Yet, she never revealed what she was truly curious about.

“That bastard still hasn’t contacted me… It’s as if he vanished into thin air.”

“What happened to the planned setup?”

Cursing silently, Blood Nightingale’s irritation grew increasingly deep.

Worrying that Yenir might not show up—and equally fearing that he might act rashly.

She was supposed to coordinate with him, yet now there was no sign of any action.

She had considered that Yenir might be trailing with extras—after all, he had once asked for coordinates. But perhaps Yinglong’s mental focus couldn’t cover the area. Still, that Third-Stage Advanced subordinate could easily compensate for his shortfall!

Clearly, Yenir was nowhere nearby. At least, no anomalies had caught her eye during her careful observation.

“Is he hiding too well, or does that bastard plan to strike on the later floors?”

“Maybe…”

“After all, it’s a coordinated assault on a Peak Third-Stage. Caution is wise…”

Lost in her thoughts, just as Blood Nightingale was about to follow Yinglong, her step suddenly faltered.

At that moment, Yinglong, who was nearby, noticed her hesitation.

“Miss Blood Nightingale?”

“Is something wrong?”

“Ah… nothing…”

“It’s just that the suited man’s reward has been transferred.”

“Transferred? Already? In Credit Points from this world? That’s fine then. Or did you get a system notification?”

Yinglong chuckled lightly, shrugging off the matter. With his status, such trivial rewards meant nothing; he intended to hand them all over to Blood Nightingale anyway.

Shaking her head, Blood Nightingale picked up her communication device and responded in a puzzled tone:

“No system alert, but… the reward does seem pretty impressive.”

“This task is offering a staggering 100,000 Credit Points…”

At his words, several Third-Stage fighters turned to stare at Blood Nightingale, who held her device aloft.

This device was part of the realm’s collection, said to be usable up to the 9th Floor.

Credit Points—the currency of the Replica World—weren’t usually of much interest. But a task offering 100,000 points was peculiar indeed.

They knew enough about the dungeon’s economy to understand its approximate value. 100,000 points was an amount the suited man could never sponsor.

“Wasn’t it supposed to be only 2,000? That man promised me 2,000 points as compensation. Why the extra amount?”

Even though they cared little for such rewards, the initial Third-Stage fighters couldn’t help but ask in astonishment.

While Credit Points had limited use, under current circumstances they could be exchanged for some of this world’s unique weapons and equipment.

“It appears there’s an extra official reward of 98,000 points—the notice said it was meant to encourage ghost hunters to slay wights. And this woman was on the list.”

“So the remaining reward is being covered by the Public Security Department.”

Opening the message, Blood Nightingale frowned slightly and showed it to everyone.

Beneath the suited man’s message, the official reward transferred by the Authorities was clearly displayed.

Yinglong glanced at it nonchalantly and, after a moment, nodded thoughtfully.

“Interesting…”

“Is this meant to encourage us to interact more with NPCs? It seems that since I arrived, the dungeon has begun to change.”

Unconcerned with reclaiming the reward—for Yinglong, even 10 million points would be trivial.

He entered this dungeon solely for a chance at a Legendary Suit; the cultural currency meant nothing to him. With his power, dispatching a few high-level NPCs to earn millions was a mere trifle.

Instinctively, he figured his overwhelming strength must have prompted the system to add extra story elements.

As if struck by inspiration, he asked a subordinate who had previously joined him:

“What can 100,000 points get us?”

Hearing Yinglong’s question, the subordinate hesitated before replying:

“Sir, 100,000 points would probably only buy some very low-end White Equipment.”

“Do you recall that shotgun hanging on the wall when we entered?”

“Equipment from this realm is transferable, with attributes much like our own—it qualifies as system gear.”

“100,000 points should be enough to purchase gear far superior to the initial freebies. Of course, it’s still rather useless.”

After a brief pause, the Third-Stage fighter managed an awkward smile and added:

“When we first came in, we thought we might cash in on it—snatch a proper gun in this realm.”

“After all, killing people is much safer than hunting wights…”

“But then we discovered that Credit Points were hard to come by. Besides, the highest equipment level in this dungeon seems capped at Blue-Grade Gear.”

“In the end, after spending millions to exchange for a pitiful piece of Blue-Grade Gear, we gave up…”

As if recalling their previous misadventures,

they remembered that during their last run, they had killed a few wealthy merchants for millions—only to find that the equipment shop’s goods were outrageously overpriced.

They considered looting for gear, but the best items were already in the hands of powerful ghost hunters. After some calculations, they realized that the gains weren’t as efficient as slaying wights.

After all, descending a few more floors would yield plenty of system rewards.

Nodding, Yinglong lost interest after his subordinate’s explanation.

For him, the highest-tier Blue Equipment was dispensable unless it possessed exceptionally unique attributes.

Rewarding Credit Points for gear?

Pointless…

Treating it as a mere side note, the group promptly departed.

Shortly after their exit, several nearly defunct cameras on Main Street suddenly swiveled.

………