Mysterious Tale Author's Delayed Update Diary

[Triggered Subline Ghost Story —— I Am a Collector]

[Badge Collection Completed: Cold-calling birds (Death)]

[Note: One of the park's themed activities, collect any four badges and you can exchange for rewards at Sweetheart House.]

As Yu Liang stepped out of the mist, three pointers appeared in front of his eyes. The second one was orange, seemingly with a secondary page that could be clicked for further viewing.

With a move of thought, Yu Liang saw a more detailed explanation given by the badge of the cold-calling birds.

[Cold-calling birds: Enter "Cold Howling" state: Stamina +2, Speed +40%, body temperature drops 1℃ per minute, lose 200 ml of blood per minute, significantly increased sense of excitement.]

Cold howling?

He immediately thought of the macabre sight of Lv Xing drilled with a large hole in his body. It looked incredibly weak and agitated, yet his physical capabilities had leaped substantially.

Wu Yong, as the captain, was suppressed by Lv Xing, which was evident here.

However, even in such a state, Lv Xing didn't dare to provoke Old Du. When he sensed Du's intention to kill, he quickly fled.

Still, losing 1℃ of body temperature and 200 ml of blood per minute was indeed harmful. Generally speaking, when a person's body temperature drops below 33℃, it poses a risk to life, and losing more than 1000 ml of blood could result in shock. In this regard, it's best to control the duration of this "Cold Howling" state within three minutes, absolutely no more than five minutes.

Overall, it's a useful ability, effective for fighting or fleeing. A slow death is better than a direct one.

Completing the ghost story to get the badge, each badge seems to come with its power. Collecting four badges for a reward seems good, but I'll need to get involved with three more ghost stories to get it.

Getting involved in a ghost story, risking your life, solving it, and earning rewards - this is the surface logic of a "collector".

The rewards do not seem to match the price paid, as each ghost story is dangerous for common people like him, who have no power to resist.

However, the actual situation is different. For example, the monkey ghost story he carries, he has no way to solve it. The ghost story does not mention the monkey having the ability to kill a crocodile, so all he can do is to run away passively.

No, that's not right.

Earlier, in the woods, Lv Xing was the host of the ghost story, but I was still able to get the badge by solving the story. This means I just need to pass on the disaster of the ghost story to someone else.

Yu Liang's eyes shone brightly, as if he had found the correct path.

Eh, still not right. It's indeed about helping unfortunate visitors who are troubled by ghost stories.

He corrected his wording and made up his mind.

"Old Du, aren't you going to the visitor center?" Wu Yong, clutching his wounded shoulder, stared in surprise at Old Du and his group, who had chosen a different road.

Old Du just shook his head and said, "We have other matters to attend to. We'll meet again if we're meant to."

"We'll meet again if we're meant to."

The group split up at this intersection. They really couldn't speak of any friendship. Yu Liang hadn't even bothered to remember their names, which was typical among tourists.

Turning around, Yu Liang can see that the Bird Garden was left behind. Because of the heavy fog, he hadn't seen any other birds after encountering the cold-calling bird, which in a way was a blessing. One cold-calling bird had already caused casualties in this group. A few more ghostly creatures would definitely be unbearable.

If it weren't for his ability to see through the illusions created by the cold-calling bird and detect clues, even if only Old Du was left among those people just now, it wouldn't have been surprising at all.

The average visitor has no means of fighting back when faced with monsters from a ghost story.

"Boom——"

"Boom——"

The rumble of the ground came from a faraway direction, one after another, pounding in Yu Liang's heart. He felt uneasy but couldn't understand why, like ants before an earthquake, frantic and helpless, having no choice but to scurry about everywhere.

He looked in that direction, but trees and buildings obstructed everything, and he couldn't see anything.

No, there's something there.

In just an instant, this thought popped up in Yu Liang's mind.

It was strange. He was very sure that the scene his eyes saw was no different from before, but his brain was telling him that there was something there.

It was like a "concept" entering his vision, with no color, no shape, no weight. It appeared in reality, yet it was indescribably abstract.

No, that's not right.

When Yu Liang stared closely in that direction, he seemed to perceive something.

Bizarre colors shimmered on "that concept" like soap bubbles under the afternoon sun. The shape of the bubble was not fixed, as big as a building, with the wings of an eagle, the head of a leopard, and the ears of a cattail leaf. Tentacles grew arbitrarily, leaving a large lump of mucus with each step, various animal features appeared on its body, but all were in the wrong places. It looked like a monster haphazardly assembled.

On the second look, it had changed again, not at all related to its previous state, as if it was constantly refreshing its form every second.

Unspeakable.

This word naturally popped into Yu Liang's mind. He had read some Cthulhu novels before, but he had always been immune to the so-called unspeakable terror in them. Now, however, he believed he was laying his eyes on it.

Only this term could describe the monstrous entity before him.

"What is it? What on earth is that?" Yu Liang looked to Old Du, hoping to find an answer from his mouth.

Old Du looked toward the rumbling earth. The constant indifferent gaze in his eyes seemed to have been expelled by that thing. He gasped violently, took about ten seconds to calm the severe fluctuation in his chest: "Indeed, no matter how many times I see this thing, I can't help but be awe-stricken."

His pace was a bit quicker than before, and the huge backpack at his back, as tall as an adult, was rhythmically shaking too. He shouted back at the two people who were still stuck in place: "Quick, it's very fast. If it catches up, it's over."

"What? Wait for me!" Xiao Zhize was shocked awake. He hurried to catch up with Old Du's pace, his voice unconsciously changing due to fear, "What in hell is that?!"

"When I approached it earlier and used my identification skill, I was able to see that its name is 'Elephant'." Old Du was carrying the bag, yet his pace was unhesitant. It appeared his bag was filled with many metal objects, giving off a clanging sound as they clashed, "Different people see different things, and it frequently changes its appearance."

"Like a soul or ghost?" Yu Liang continued the inquiry.

"No, it's corporeal." Old Du shook his head, "You can imagine it like a massive rolling mass of ooze, probably the size of a building. It crushes everything in its set path. People on the ground will be trampled to death, but hiding in a building can save you."

As if remembering something, he added: "It's better if it's a large building since it steals a significant amount of oxygen when passing by, which can lead to the threat of suffocation."

"I see." Yu Liang gestured that he understood, looking at the building not far away, recalling the map he studied earlier.

The first building north of Bird Garden should be…the Exposition Hall.

An animal performance?

He noticed the building, flat and resembling a sports hall, with exterior decoration and overall color scheme in the consistently cute and childish style of the zoo.

"It's getting closer! It's so fast!" Xiao Zhize looked back and was astonished, not knowing what he saw. His face turned ugly, and he opened his mouth, retching.

"Moo."

"Hiss."

"Roar."

The "Elephant" behind them was constantly making animal noises, almost without repetition. Yu Liang heard a hint of excitement in the noises, a malicious kind of excitement, like finding a new toy.

As the "Elephant" got closer, there was gradually an earth-shaking vibration from behind. Yu Liang could feel the earthquake disrupting his footing and causing dizziness in his head.

Lack of oxygen!

The thing behind them is stealing the oxygen from the air!

I can't run anymore!

Yu Liang felt even worse. As someone who normally spends most of his time at home writing and not exercising, he wasn't lagging behind too much in a short sprint, but he was already feeling heavy throughout his body with a long time of running.

He saw Xiao Zhize and Old Du, who were three or four body lengths ahead of him, and his vision started to blur. He gritted his teeth, and his mind suddenly cleared up. He was about to activate Cold-calling birds on the page that just popped up.

"Damn it! Hurry!" Xiao Zhize noticed that Yu Liang was falling behind. He quickly turned back and put his hands behind Yu Liang's back, rushing him forward.

Yu Liang felt a push from behind, suddenly making it easier for him to move forward. He hesitated for a moment but finally decided not to proceed with the page in his vision.

Old Du also turned back. He glanced at the two behind him who were only five or six meters away, slightly frowned, then immediately went back to his former direction. He reached for the bag on his back, pulled out a considerable number of metal spoons that were connected by something like an iron wire, which looked like a set of keys.

He removed three spoons. Nobody knew what he did, but the spoons flashed a white light then lost their metallic silvery glow, and a trapping device suddenly appeared in his hand.

"You guys go first, I'll be right behind you." Old Du told Yu Liang. His hand did not slow down and quickly set up the trapping device. Then he set up a second one and a third.

That is...

Yu Liang kept this scene in his mind. He was sure those two trapping devices could not be obtained through text rules. They were more like results of some kind of trade, such as trading three pieces of metal for one trapping device!

Considering the constant clanging of metal he heard when Old Du was running, who knows how many items Old Du had stored.

So in this world, besides text rules, there were also other rules for creating things out of thin air. And since this was not mentioned in the "Understanding the World" quest, it suggested this was not a common rule that everyone can make use of.

The trapping device, the incredible speed of his move, the occupation, the mutation, all the experience in the mountains...

He had a conjecture in his mind.

Is Old Du's mutant profession a hunter?