The Bloody City

Not far from the slope, there was a lively bar filled with a diverse crowd of men and women engaging in various activities, some even openly making love, while others paid no heed. As Hong Lang and his group entered with Shen Yi, a shirtless bald man shouted, "Hey, Hong Lang, caught another sucker, eh?"

"Right, how much this time? Another 300 blood points?" someone else chimed in.

"It's a ghost fish," Hong Lang replied, somewhat resignedly.

The bar erupted in surprise: "A ghost fish? That kid's not afraid of death?"

"Yeah, he even shot at us," added someone from Hong Lang's group.

The patrons looked at Shen Yi with a mix of astonishment and curiosity, even the couple engaged in love-making stopped to stare incredulously.

Shen Yi joined Hong Lang's group at a table, ordering 50 beers with 1 blood point. "Is someone like me rare?" he asked casually.

Hong Lang nodded. "How many people do you think there are who would dare to shoot back with a gun to their head? Usually, they just pay whatever blood points they're asked for. When I first came, I was extorted for hundreds. Only later did I learn that attacking each other is forbidden here. You think these fools in the bar are bold, but each of them was exploited at some point. Only a few lucky ones who arrived when no one was guarding the entry point managed to escape this fate."

"How much did you get when you first arrived?"

"800 points, but I lost 300 to extortion."

Shen Yi was surprised. He had earned 7800 blood points in his novice mission, even after deducting 1000 points for the scar-faced guide, he still had 6800 left. He had assumed most newcomers wouldn't have a huge difference in earnings, but hearing Hong Lang, he realized his earning was eight times more than others.

Hong Lang inquired about Shen Yi's situation before entering the novice mission. Shen Yi revealed he had killed seven people and severely injured sixteen, eight of whom were permanently disabled.

"That explains your ruthlessness," Hong Lang commented. "So, you were a dead man reborn. Everyone comes to the Bloody City in different ways. Before I arrived, I was an ordinary worker, arguing with my boss. In the middle of the argument, I found myself here. Others have had varied experiences, like getting hit by a car, surfing the internet, sleeping, and even one guy was brought here in the middle of lovemaking, completing his novice mission naked and earning the nickname 'The Terminator'."

Laughter filled the air, easing any initial hostility.

Hong Lang and his friends, now with beer, began to open up about the Bloody City. It was a city designed for adventurers to survive in, divided into five zones: the Slum, the Common Zone, the Apartment Zone, the Villa Zone, and the Independent Island, each corresponding to different task difficulties. They were currently in the Slum, where adventurers had no homes and usually slept outdoors, often in simple tents available for 30 blood points. Thankfully, the city had no rainy season and the bloody emblem had a storage function, making life somewhat bearable.

The rank of an adventurer determined their living zone. Ranks were based on performance in missions, graded as extremely poor, average, excellent, and perfect. Advancements required either one perfect evaluation, two excellences, or five averages. Privates could enter the Common Zone, Lieutenants the Apartment Zone, Majors the Villa Zone, and Generals the Independent Island. The highest rank was Marshal, who could access the central tower in the city, where the final mission could be challenged. Completing it granted one wish.

Each zone had different facilities. Weapon upgrades required a visit to the research facility in the Common Zone. The Apartment Zone had a mercenary camp, the Villa Zone had a luxury casino, and so on.

The Bloody City was self-sufficient with supermarkets, shops, bars, and restaurants, staffed by adventurers working for blood points. The bartender serving them was also an adventurer, earning 100 blood points per month. The scar-faced guide was also an adventurer with a side job.

Everything in the city was paid for with blood points, equivalent to about 100 real-world dollars each. The shops sold a variety of weapons, skills, and even attribute upgrades. In the Slum, 100 blood points could increase one attribute point. Enough blood points could turn anyone into a formidable entity like Count Dracula.

In mission worlds, failure often meant blood point deductions, with insufficient points leading to elimination.

After discussing the general situation of the Bloody City, Shen Yi learned more from Hong Lang.

"For example, to strengthen oneself, you must go to a specialized store. There, you can enhance an attribute for every 100 blood points. Weapons and skills can also be purchased in the store. A D-grade item costs 3000 blood points, double D 6000, C-grade 9000, double C 18000, and so on. The higher the grade, the more expensive it becomes, but of course, the more powerful it is."

"In addition to paying a hefty amount of blood points, learning various abilities requires corresponding basic abilities."

"Basic abilities include gunmanship, archery, hand-to-hand combat, swimming, mechanics, demolition, and more, each with five levels from basic to grandmaster. These abilities are the foundation for learning and using skills. While basic level abilities can be obtained by spending blood points, higher levels require strenuous training or ability scrolls."

"The Bloody City's ability system is divided into skills, talents, special powers, techniques, and bloodlines."

"Skills occupy a combat skill slot and can deal direct damage to targets. Special powers require a talent ability slot and usually can't directly harm targets."

"Bloodlines and techniques don't occupy ability slots. One needs a secret manual and blood points to learn a technique, and corresponding blood plus blood points for a bloodline."

"An adventurer can practice multiple techniques, but can only choose one bloodline, which often grants special racial abilities. For instance, possessing a mid-level vampire bloodline grants access to vampiric racial abilities."

"As for talents, they are inherent abilities of an adventurer. Having a talent in a certain area means higher efficiency in learning related skills and a greater chance of developing mutated skills. However, these can't be acquired through rewards, and their effects vary greatly from person to person."

"Thus, in the early stages, most adventurers focus on combat skills. But to truly become powerful, they must also work on special abilities, bloodlines, and techniques."

Having covered this part, Hong Lang had pretty much said everything he knew. For 50 blood points, this information exchange was quite satisfactory. Shen Yi's previously unclear and doubtful issues were now illuminated, and he gradually had a direction for his efforts.

Despite his rich gains from the novice mission, Shen Yi understood that an adventurer's enhancement had almost no limit – it all depended on one's own efforts to make it good.

Emerging from the shadow of the failed extortion, Hong Lang personally filled a glass for Shen Yi: "Brother, I haven't asked your name yet."

"I'm Shen Yi."

"What novice mission did you do? With your boldness, you must have gained a lot, right?"

"It was okay," Shen Yi replied lightly, "Van Helsing."

"Damn, you hit a fantasy world? That's rare," Hong Lang muttered. "The Slum is usually for initial difficulty worlds, mostly gunfight scenarios. Guns are always the best for us new to the city. Running into a fantasy world on your first try, I don't know if that's bad luck or good luck."

"Being alive is good luck," Shen Yi said calmly.

Someone nearby shouted, "Fantasy world missions are tougher, but the rewards are richer. This guy seems gutsy. I bet he didn't choose the 25% difficulty; it's either 50% or 100%."

"100%," Shen Yi answered.

A murmur rippled through the crowd. Everyone knew how difficult a 100% difficulty level was.

"Then you must have gained a lot. Even if you didn't kill Dracula, the benefits would be significant," someone else said.

Shen Yi turned, "How do you know I didn't kill Dracula?"

Hong Lang interjected, "No one's ever done it. The Van Helsing world's final boss, Dracula, only appears in difficulties over 50%, and at 100% he's in full strength. No novice has ever beaten him at 100% difficulty; a few have at 50%, but it's very rare. Some novices have tried and failed at 100%. Fortunately, failing that mission doesn't result in elimination, so a few have luckily escaped. Anyone who has escaped from Dracula at 100% difficulty is now a big shot in the Bloody City. It's said that Dracula has 3000 life points in his transformed state, and his skills are terrifying. Even to us now, he's a difficult foe, let alone to you newcomers."

Shen Yi nodded, "Yes."

His composed expression left Hong Lang puzzled.

"You're not going to tell me you killed Count Dracula, are you?" Hong Lang asked.

Shen Yi just smiled, not answering.

The entire bar suddenly went quiet, everyone staring at Shen Yi.

After a moment, Shen Yi said, "No matter how strong a boss is, its purpose is only one - to be killed."