004 Sweet Mei Mei's surprise

But just as Li Qingming closed his eyes and took a deep breath, ready to truly savor the familiar air of his hometown, his head suddenly began to itch.

"Secret Realm Radiation has reached the threshold..."

"Process has been triggered..."

"The process is now assessing your status, please remain calm, Mr. Li Qingming."]

This series of unhandsome characters appeared before Li Qingming's eyes, making him feel somewhat nauseous.

Who made this crappy thing?

Could it be an element of this Secret Realm?

Li Qingming couldn't help but glance at the others out of the corner of his eye.

If these characters were also appearing before their eyes, at least half of them would be stunned, their eyeballs inevitably rolling upward.

But without exception, they were all still in the midst of the initial wave of panic, with quite a few already crying.

Good, as shoddy as it was, at least it was exclusive to him.

As Li Qingming contemplated, more characters continued to pop up.

"Mr. Li Qingming, based on your innate qualities, the following talents can be defined—"

"Selective Hyperthymesia: You won't forget things you decide to remember, even if it's just a subconscious decision."

"Peculiar Venus: You have an abnormal obsession with aesthetics."

"Horror Inventor: You are keen on creating some practical little gadgets."

"Value Independence: You never delight in praise from others, thus never getting hurt by insults."]

Li Qingming only read a few lines before he grew bored and tried to ask with his thoughts:

'Do these have any meaning?'

"The process is summarizing your relatively excellent qualities to help build your confidence to face the upcoming terrifying challenge."]

Seeing the characters respond immediately, Li Qingming simply ordered, 'Not needed, skip to the next part.'

"The process cannot be terminated or rewritten and can only engage in very limited interaction."

"Currently, the process needs to summarize at least three and no more than five of your relatively excellent qualities."

"Even though the process has already raised the standard, you still have 37 talents that cannot be ignored."

"Please read patiently and build confidence—"

"Anti-Knight Spirit: You have personal preferences as your creed, swearing to prioritize loyalty to yourself. You would never choose a fair fight if you can sneak attack. Dragons and princesses are the same in your eyes; you only appreciate whichever side is more interesting, more practical... in every sense of the word 'practical.'"

"Orderly: You have great respect for rules and laws, at least... until you decide to destroy them."

"Criminal Artist: You are skilled at planning, analyzing, and appreciating various types of crime, but excluding sexual offenses and drug trafficking, which you do not consider art. As you are also an Orderly, you wouldn't physically engage in these activities within the bounds of the law. Imagination and case files are enough to bring you pleasure."

"Icarus: You are fascinated by adventure and the unknown, which gives you pleasure that completely overcomes fear, or rather, your fear totally converts into excitement. This helps you fly higher, but as you approach the sun, you are also approaching death."

"Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: This quality hardly needs mentioning, but to omit it would be an insult to the process algorithm."]

'Is that enough? Hurry it up.'

"There are still 28 left, please read patiently and build confidence."]

'...'

"Fulfiller: Beyond yourself, you are also loyal to promises and friends, and by common standards, this doesn't qualify as a talent, but it is the only positive moral quality you have."

"Messenger of a False God: You naturally attract potential fanatics within crowds, having great potential in the field of cults. Sadly, your heart isn't in it, wasting great talent."

"Anti-Heroic Spirit:..."

"..."

"The process speculates you are not quite satisfied, but sadly what comes next is the last one."

"Moral Dictator: You disregard all conventional ethics, following only your own subjective moral standard. Should you encounter a moral dilemma and be caught in a dilemma, you will quickly adjust your standard to resolve the conflict, thus keeping your spirit forever consistent."

"The above are your innate gifts; surely your confidence has significantly improved."

"However, to avoid overconfidence, the process has also summarized your 1832 flaws, 1829 of which pertain to personality. Would you like to review them for the purpose of improvement?"

'No.'

"The process strongly recommends that you listen to the most important ten personality issues, which will greatly improve your social status."]

'You're somewhat in the way, can I delete you?'

"After reassessment, the process considers these flaws insignificant. Even the best people can't avoid having a few."

"Commencing process interface loading..."

"Loading paused..."

"Subprocess has been triggered..."

"Due to your exceedingly unique combination of talents, the subprocess will assign you a role beyond what is known."]

"Itching of the head is normal during the role assignment process..."

Li Qingming didn't want to leave things to fate, but as his head started to itch again, he could only close his eyes and endure.

Just like the positions and rankings in a company, Vanguards also have roles and hierarchies.

However, these are not things Vanguards are born with; they must acquire them later on.

Especially for the freelance Vanguards, most of them are low-level temporary workers who never get to don the roles of someone significant until they die.

It's not that they don't want to, but the cost of these role cloaks is exorbitant, and only institutions and corporations can afford them.

In any case, unexpectedly donning a role cloak isn't a bad thing, as long as it's not a guide.

Anything but a guide, anything but a guide.

That's right, the process said it's a role unknown beyond current knowledge, undeveloped, and unrecognised by anyone.

Thank goodness, it's not a guide.

As his thoughts reached this point, Li Qingming's mind finally became clear.

When he opened his eyes again, looking at those screaming and crying people, he felt something extra.

Something more fierce and vigorous.

Something brimming with life, yet incredibly suffocating.

Oh...

Fear.

It's fear.

I can feel their fear.

The fear is nourishing me.

Satisfying me.

As Li Qingming indulged in these sensations, a new prompt appeared before his eyes.

[You have donned the role: Jingzhe.

[Your current rank is, Ⅰ Huan Luan: You can consume the fear of others to complete the hatching process.

[Sub-process has ended…

[The main process has taken control.

[Mr. Li Qingming, long time no see. The following process will explain the role of Jingzhe to you.

[Jingzhe, one of the traditional twenty-four solar terms…]

'Get lost.'

[The process cannot be terminated, it can only…]

'Delete.'

[The process has been paused, I wish you a pleasant adventure.]

Finally, Li Qingming's vision cleared once again.

The reason he couldn't even bother to listen to the explanation was that he sensed the presence of an extraordinary being.

It turned out that right in front of his seat, there sat a girl - so deliciously... no, outstandingly appetising.

She alone emitted fear that surpassed half the class, single-handedly dragging the fear sensitivity level of Class Four, Year Three back to kindergarten standards.

She was so petite that even the smallest size of the girls' sports uniform looked loose on her, and sitting in a chair of standard height, she could barely touch the floor with her feet.

Even her small hands clutching the desk and her puffy cheeks all indicated how tender and juicy she was.

Li Qingming couldn't resist such temptation; with his hands in pockets and chest puffed out, he took a step, another step, and another step towards her.

And Ji Xiaoxiang herself had no idea what kind of entity was creeping up on her.

She just hung her head low, staring blankly at her desk, enduring the onslaught of fear in total solitude.

'Typical me... whatever I fear always comes my way…'

'Here it comes, now everyone will come over to encourage me…'

'Maybe I should pretend to faint…'

'But that would draw even more attention…'

'They will come to wake me up… then form a team, and watch as our companions are harvested by the monsters, one by one…'

'Ahhhh... my luck will surely have me die last…'

'What if I can't cry when it's time to part through life and death...'

In the midst of her anxiety, an even greater wave of fear flowed from her being.

Li Qingming saw this fountain of sweetness before him and even hesitated to approach, choosing instead to savor from a distance.

He had to restrain himself, like a plump orange cat by the roadside, suddenly moving too close could scare her away.

Restraint is key.

The more wonderful something is, the more restraint is needed.

Come on, manage the expressions, gently, slowly draw closer, closer…