5 Chapter 5: The Gunslinger's Mastery

[Your non-class active skill: Gunslinger has reached 25% mastery!]

[You have successfully killed a Tier 0 - Level 0 Vampiric Bat!]

[You have successfully killed 200x Tier 0 - Level 0 Vampiric Bat!]

…

Deep in the basement of the Luminous Sky Lounge, the dim light flickered weakly.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of blood and death, which seemed to cling to every surface.

Weary, Jin sat on the cold, hard ground, propping his back against the bed.

The room before him was a mess - spent shotgun shells scattered across the floor and blood from the Vampiric Bats stained the once pristine sheets of the bed behind him.

The entrance, narrowed to fit only one person descending at a time, was now blocked by a gruesome pile of bat corpses, their decaying flesh emitting a nauseating stench.

As Jin took a deep breath, the foul air filled his nostrils, causing his face to contort in disgust.

However, despite the unpleasant experiences, the notification that flashed before his eyes seemed more important.

"Mastery? Kinda like proficiency?" Jin raised one eyebrow in confusion.

A proficiency or game proficiency was an indicator of how skilled a player was in using a skill or how often they used the same skill.

The proficiency was kinda like a little power-up - the higher the proficiency, the higher or better the skill would become.

"Well, if it has the same feature under a different name, let's just check that later," Jin thought inwardly as he patted his clothes and stood up, glancing back at his shotgun.

The metal on the barrel had turned a bluish tint from overheating after being fired continuously for more than 30 minutes.

"Kinda normal, I guess?" Jin muttered.

Shifting his attention to the pile of corpses, he began the manual labor of sorting and collecting the magic crystals.

His nose kept twitching and the nausea of vomiting kept urging him to stop.

"This game is too realistic!"

...

Several minutes had passed since Jin began his manual labor.

By now, a pile of magic crystals sat before him.

The bat corpses had also been moved to a corner of the room and concealed in the shadows of a nearby shelf.

In addition, Jin experimented with the skill several times.

The result was there was no cooldown, as in the game; as long as he had enough stamina or mana, he could activate the skill repeatedly.

But the problem was, after using it more than three times, he felt all his energy vanish in an instant.

"Only three times...that's my limit for now."

After taking a short break, Jin finally approached a metal lever made of steel with a long string handle attached to the wall.

The plain brick walls around him, without any decorations, seemed built solely for keeping something safe or hidden.

CRACK-!

He easily pulled down the steel lever with both hands.

In the next moment, the narrow stairs leading to the basement entrance suddenly began to rise.

As the stairs rose, some of the bricks in the wall appeared to be the mechanism that slowly closed off the entrance, preventing the colorful mixed light from the disco from entering.

Once the entrance was sealed, his mouth twitched at the sight of an open shelf with ten ammo pouches lined up, seemingly hidden beneath or blocked by the stair until someone closed the basement, where it would remain hidden.

"In the first place, how dire the situation for them to stack this many ammunition," Jin wondered.

First, there was a firearm, which was already rare for a high-class nightclub, let alone the hundreds of nightclubs in Shanghai.

And now, there was a secret basement.

Although it could be considered a preventive measure, the shelf filled with ammo pouches made it seem more like a hidden armory.

It seems the gang fights were more ruthless and vicious than he thought.

...

With the safe point secured, Jin finally could lay on the bed, relieving his aching back and staring at the plain brick ceiling.

However, his attention was elsewhere.

[Your non-class active skill: Gunslinger has reached 25% mastery!]

[Gunslinger(Active): When activated, the user gains a temporary increase in firearm accuracy and reload speed by 10% for 20 seconds. Additionally, any critical hits dealt during the duration of the skill deal an additional 75% damage (25% Mastery)]

"It's really the same mechanic with just a different name..."

Previously, with zero or so he thought mastery, the skill could kill five bats in one shot, and to kill all of the bats, in total it consumed 40 shotgun shells.

However, with this new enhancement, he could probably kill seven or more bats with just one shot.

Just thinking of this, he smiled faintly before proceeding to check the passive skills he had acquired, the most important of all things.

He already suspected that some of the abnormal conditions he was experiencing were related to the skills he had obtained.

"Especially the information about 'possessing the being of a tiger'," he mumbled to himself.

The next moment, four transparent screens appeared before him at the same time.

[Uncrowned King(Passive): You possess the bearing of a tiger, making you immune to most charisma-based skills and more resistant to mental attacks]

[Resilience of the Tiger(Passive): The user's bloodline can be traced back to the primordial times, when humans and animals coexisted in harmony, increases damage output by 5%, critical hit chance by 2%, maximum health by 3%, and movement speed by 5%]

[Bloodthirst(Passive): When the user takes damage, their bloodlust can cause them to become more aggressive, increasing their attack power but decreasing their defense by 25%]

[Feral Hunger(Passive): When the user goes too long without food, their hunger becomes overwhelming and they may attack anything nearby, even if it's not food]

All of these skills were great, however, the anticipation on his face slowly turned into a deep frown, marred by dark lines highlighting the veins.

Rather, only the first two skills were great enough, as the rest of them...

"I see, no wonder I feel like my body suddenly became weak." His eyes narrowed, especially at the transparent screen displaying the Bloodthirst passive skill.

From the moment the iron door fell on him to where his hands were sliced by the glass shards, these two injuries had caused him to lose 3/4 of his health and seemed to have triggered the Bloodthirst passive skill.

"It's like a double-edged sword. I guess all of these skills are related to my answer, choosing the tiger as the animal, especially the Feral Hunger."

Even though he had the power of the tiger, their traits also affected his humanity. Among these passive skills, the most dangerous was the last one.

GRRR-!

As expected, the moment the growling sound from his stomach sounded, he suddenly felt an overwhelming wave of emotions.

His mouth slightly opening as he gritted his teeth, exhibiting an animalistic characteristic.

Sadly, despite inheriting the Tiger Blood, he didn't have the tiger stomach that can preserve or sustain a hunger for a longer time compared to a human stomach.

But the next moment caught him completely off guard.

In his vision, suddenly everything was tinged with a red vignette, limiting his sight and some kind of influence starting to control his mind.

The brick he stared at, the bed sheet beneath him, all of the objects transformed into something edible.

But these objects were not alluring - the strong odor of bat corpses transformed into the scent of crispy and juicy meat in the air.

His slit pupils and amber iris eyes emitted a faint glow as he glanced towards the corner of the room, where the bat corpses looked delicious and appetizing.

A droll already dropping from his agape mouth that was showing his teeth.

SLAP-!

However, before his hunger could take control, Jin forcefully resisted the unbearable hunger and regained his senses, instantly slapping his cheeks so hard.

His world trembled for a moment.

But thanks to this, it brought him back to his senses.

He widened his eyes, his breathing rough and drenching the clothes he wore.

"That was really dangerous," Jin muttered, his eyes darting right and left, searching for any kind of possibilities that could store or hold goods.

Luckily, there were a couple shelves lining up before him.

Several moments later, to his disappointment, when he opened the first shelf, he found only rows of bottles of water.

He opened the next shelf beside it, which was filled with a collection of snacks.

And soon seeing this, he smiled and began eagerly eating the snacks, unknowingly consuming them all like a famished man.

...

After some time, all the snacks were gone and empty chip bags were scattered across the floor.

However, despite eating his fill, an uneasy look remained on his face.

"This isn't enough," he muttered as the sound of growling quietly echoed from his stomach again.

He sighed and smiled wryly, unsure if his current situation was a blessing or a curse.

"Never mind, I'll try using the magic crystals. Hopefully, it will work." Sitting on the bed with his shotgun leaning against the wall, he began grinding and crushing the magic crystals one by one.

[You have destroyed a Tier 0 magic crystal!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You have destroyed a Tier 0 magic crystal!]

[Your high Luck has begun to take effect!]

[You have absorbed +0.10 Agility!]

[You have destroyed a Tie…]

….

The refreshed feeling began to wash away all of his fatigue and heal his minor injuries. However, despite that, there was no excitement in his expression.

"The hunger still lingers..." he muttered in a low voice.

All 200 magic crystals had been crushed, yet the hunger remained.

The only thing keeping him going was the hope that his high luck would take effect.

With a thought, a status screen appeared before him.

[

• Name: Jin Tianyi

• Class: -

• Level: 7

• Race: Human

• Health: 102.38/102.38

• Mana/Stamina: 93/93

]

"What wonderful stats and a great boost!" His once sluggish and dead eyes had been reborn like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Not only had his HP and MP increased tenfold, but his attributes had also experienced a significant increase.

It was a very pleasant feeling to have such high stats indeed.

"Ah, I need to remain calm..." Although his stats had increased tremendously, he didn't feel any different, perhaps because the effects would become more apparent during battle.

Based on the result of his stats, crushing all 200 magic crystals had leveled him up to level 7.

Additionally, he assumed due to his high luck, he had a 50% chance of receiving random attribute rewards.

As a result, he received +3.5 to his STR, +1.5 to his AGI, +1.5 to his INT, and +3.5 to his DEX.

With the changes in his attributes and level, his HP and MP also appeared to have their own set of rules.

Furthermore, he received an additional buff of +3% to his maximum health from his Resilience of the Tiger passive skill, bringing his HP beyond the cap of 100!

"Now, what's left is to check my weapon."

Examining his Mossberg 930, which had cooled down, he found five small ammo pouches left, containing only 81 shotgun shells.

When combined with the additional ammo pouch on the shelf, each pouch could carry a maximum of 25 shotgun shells, leaving him with a total of 331 shotgun shells.

He could kill at least 1,655 level 0 Vampiric Bats!

"But I still can't understand how many magic crystals are needed to level up."

Jin tilted his head slightly and crossed his arms behind his head.

Based on his previous calculation, he needed at least six magic crystals to level up to level 1. Then, 200 magic crystals to level up to level 7?

It was a huge gap, and since there was no visible experience bar or exact amount needed, it would confuse not only him but all humans.

As he was about to continue his analysis, a sense of drowsiness attacked his mind, relaxing his body.

Before the darkness filled his vision, he glanced at the entrance, noticing it was still closed, and nodded as if accepting the embrace of shadows.

...

Countless images flashed through his mind, from entering the nightclub to chatting with that woman, and finally, a tense fight between the colony of bats.

All of this happened in one long midnight, and the exhaustion from his mental strain finally couldn't bear the inner tiredness.

However, just as he wanted to enjoy this comfortable feeling longer, an irresistible hunger attacked his mind.

"Ah."

…

Jin's eyes suddenly opened, his red and slit pupils scanning the surrounding basement.

With fierce, narrowed eyes, he stood up and grabbed the shotgun, taking a few ammo pouches and attaching them to his belt.

CRACK-!

He needed food, and this hunger annoyed him to his very core; he had even caught himself chewing on bricks upon waking.

He pushed the lever up, opening the entrance to the outside of the basement.

GRRR-!

Rumbling sounds came from his stomach, and by now Jin, looking almost maniacal, climbed out.

Piles of corpses filled the entire first floor nightclub, and the thick smell of blood saturated the air.

Sunlight seeped in through gaps in the curtains.

Some corpses were strangely twitching as if alive, but Jin, consumed by an irresistible hunger, couldn't think straight and didn't bother to examine them closely.

Strangely, despite the ravenous hunger, his animal instincts did not recognize the human corpses as food in the same way as the bat corpses before.

Holding the Mossberg 930 in his right hand, he instantly jumped into action, wrecking the place in his search for sustenance.

...

Ten minutes later, all of the open shelves lay in pieces on the ground, their contents scattered. Yet still, he was unable to find any food.

Moving on pure instinct, he headed to the second floor.

Step by step, Jin walked with his animal nature in control, yet he still managed to move bipedally as a human.

However, when he arrived at the second floor, the sight before him stunned him for a brief moment, causing the irresistible hunger's effects to vanish and his consciousness to return to normal.

"Damn!" he cursed, the first thing he did upon regaining control.

Black lines of a deep frown and glaring eyes marked his face, dripping with blood from his efforts to regain dominance over his faculties.

A moment later, he finally focused his attention on the scene in front of him.

The second floor was similar to the first, with a counter bar located in the center behind the dancer platform.

It was even larger, with numerous sofas and tables grouped around.

However, the strange thing was there were no signs of living bats—only corpses of humans and bats, with some bat wings detached from their bodies.

Clearly someone else had been here first!

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