The Final Reward

The entire Bloodstained City is strictly divided into five concentric circles, with the outermost being the slum area. Each zone is further divided into four major parts. The eastern section, predominantly inhabited by Chinese, is hence known as the East or China Zone. The southern section is the Asian Zone, excluding China. The western part is the Europe-America Zone, and the north encompasses other regions. This division, while questionable in terms of global dynamics, is apt considering the population distribution. In Bloodstained City, national strength is irrelevant; it's all about the people. Thus, China, being the most populous, is the only area designated as a separate zone.

The raised platform on the small hill in the East is where newcomers inevitably appear after completing their tasks, earning it the nickname 'Rookie Birth Zone'. Many seasoned adventurers take turns extorting newcomers here, including Hong Lang, who himself was once extorted.

Sitting on the hill, Shen Yi takes out the last three boxes he earned in the Van Helsing world, opening the blue boxes dropped by Verona and Aleera first. A message appears: "For your basic performance in the battle against Aleera and Verona, you receive the basic mission reward, with a small additional reward for killing extra vampire brides."

First, he gets two notifications of "Acquired one vampire fang," followed by:

"Acquired Aleera's Reminiscence: A Crystal Tear Pendant. The young and beautiful Aleera, in love with a man, turned her longing into this crystal tear, symbolizing their eternal love. This tear can record important friends' information, providing their location wherever they are. Usable once per mission world, applicable to only one person at a time."

"Acquired Verona's Cunning: A Crystal Tear Pendant. Intelligent, suspicious, and calm, Verona, unlike her sisters, became a vampire willingly for her love for Count Dracula. Her feelings for Dracula are encapsulated in this crystal tear, helping him find potential enemies and guard against deceit. This tear records information of specified strangers, revealing their intentions towards you, protecting you from deception. Usable thrice per mission world, applicable to only one person at a time."

"You've received three vampire brides' Crystal Tear Pendants. Do you wish to merge them? The merged pendant will have the basic functions of all three tears."

He decides to merge them. The three crystal tears in his palm emit a light and automatically fuse into one, forming a pendant with three crescent-shaped crystals.

"The Crystal Tear Pendant, capable of finding friends, guarding against enemies, and discerning friend from foe. It may not grant direct, formidable combat power, but it can protect you from harm. Treasure it as you would your life."

Shen Yi smiles at the message and tucks the pendant back into his emblem.

In Bloodstained City, there are strict rules for equipment. Theoretically, one could wear countless necklaces, but only one would be effective. The advantage of the Crystal Tear Pendant is that it's a non-combat item, usable even if not worn, acting like a continuously usable item. However, its functions like guarding against surprise attacks only work when equipped.

Besides these basic rewards, the vampire brides also granted him two additional items: a low-quality, level-less assassin's dagger and a pair of boots that increase running speed. The boots have no attributes but come with a 'Sprint' skill.

Skill Sprint: Activates to double movement speed for one minute, with a ten-minute cooldown, consuming 2 spirit points. Limited to beginner difficulty areas.

After opening the vampire brides' boxes, Shen Yi opens the purple box dropped by Dracula. As expected, the message informs him that his rewards are affected due to significant assistance from a plot character in killing Dracula. With a contribution of 38%, Shen Yi only receives basic item rewards.

"Basic Reward: Vampire's Touch - a superior D-grade dagger with 15-20 attack, vampiric effect converting 9% of attack damage into health, and a 50% chance to cause a bleeding effect on the target, losing 2 health points per second for 10 seconds. Mergeable with vampire fangs, upgradable and rank-ascendable. Skill effect priority 18."

Thinking quickly, Shen Yi places the three fangs from the vampire brides on the Vampire's Touch. The emblem asks if he wants to merge the fangs with the dagger for 600 Blood Points.

"Damn it," he curses softly, surprised by the cost. The merge of the Crystal Tears was free, but merging the Vampire's Touch requires 600 Blood Points. He agrees immediately.

The three fangs slowly fuse into the dagger. A red light flashes, and the emblem notifies him: "As these fangs are from the wives of Vampire Dracula, they perfectly merge with the Vampire's Touch. 100% success rate, full efficiency. Vampire's Touch: a superior D-grade dagger with 15-20 attack, vampiric effect converting 15% of attack damage into health, and a 50% chance to cause a bleeding effect on the target, losing 3 health points per second for 10 seconds. Mergeable with vampire fangs, upgradable and rank-ascendable. Skill effect priority 30."

This Vampire's Touch is a standard melee weapon. With Hong Lang's guidance, Shen Yi understands that if the Bloodstained Emblem doesn't assign Blood Points to an item, it's not for sale in the city. Despite being a D-grade weapon, it's value far exceeds that standard. The Vampire's Touch is essentially a D-grade weapon with double D-grade power, not to mention its potential for upgrade and rank ascension.

Rank ascension refers to elevating a D-grade weapon to double D-grade or C-grade, while upgrading enhances the weapon's attached attack power.

In addition to the weapon, Shen Yi received three other items:

"Dracula's Blood: Grants mid-level vampire lineage upon use. Requires 9000 Blood Points for adventurers. This lineage is incompatible with others and can be upgraded to a higher vampire lineage."

"Undying Emblem: Worn on the chest. A token of having killed a high-level undead. Wearing it bestows the title of Undead Hunter, granting a 10% attack bonus against undead creatures. The emblem also has a display feature, intimidating undead and weakening their defenses, but it may attract the ire of powerful undead, making you a priority target. The Undying Emblem automatically records your undead kills, enhancing your title's abilities with outstanding achievements. This item is a title-class item and cannot be transferred or sold."

"Three Medium Health Recovery Potions: Combat-type recovery items, restoring 200 health points upon use, effective against all types of damage. Valued at 500 Blood Points per bottle."

After reviewing these items, Shen Yi lets out a long sigh. This was his final and total haul from the mission. Even with his limited understanding of the Bloodstained City, he knew his rewards from this novice mission were quite generous. He couldn't help feeling a bit nostalgic, knowing such high reward rates were unlikely in the future.

For Shen Yi, the Bloodstained City had become a place of great anticipation. He wasn't afraid of the potential threats of death; rather, he was intrigued by the sweet temptations that lay on the edge of danger. A world that could make him stronger, with various special abilities and even the possibility of fulfilling a special wish...

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but get excited. "Qing Qing... wait for me!" he whispered the name to himself. Regardless of whether the rumors about ultimate missions and wish fulfillment were true, Shen Yi knew he had found his purpose and goals in this place.

Suddenly, a pleasant female voice spoke from behind him: "Hey, is this the Bloodstained City?"

A newcomer? Shen Yi turned to see the big-eyed beauty who had approached him quietly before he entered his novice mission. Lucky for her, no one was extorting newcomers at the moment, probably because of Shen Yi.

She had a submachine gun slung over her shoulder.

"Did you just come from the novice mission?" Shen Yi asked.

The woman nodded, recognizing him as well.

Shen Yi smiled, "Nice, you even got a submachine gun."

She frowned slightly, "I was in a Resident Evil scenario. This gun was one of the rewards I got after narrowly surviving."

"I see," Shen Yi replied, lying back down.

"Hey, can you tell me about this place?"

"For 50 Blood Points," Shen Yi responded lazily.

The woman's eyes widened. "Are you extorting me?"

Shen Yi smiled, "You can walk out of this hill and find a bar where you might get information cheaper. Oh, and a reminder: in the Bloodstained City, you can't attack each other. Even if someone puts an atomic bomb on your head, you won't die."