Chapter 457: The Reader
[A Literary Life (IV)]: Deep down, you've always harbored a literary dream. After accumulating vast literary knowledge, write at least one bestselling book in both the real world and the simulation. (Current Progress: 2/2)
Mission Hint: Read ten thousand books, and your pen will flow effortlessly. This is the fourth step of a long journey—keep going, future great writer.
Mission Reward: Unknown Reward ×1, 12 million experience (dynamic).
For this mission, Zhou Ning had burned through countless brain cells, and now the moment of payoff had finally arrived.
When he clicked to claim the reward, the game panel popped up again:
[You claimed the Unknown Reward. You have gained a new secondary profession: Reader.]
[A related profession branch has been detected.]
[Your secondary profession Linguist has transitioned into the hidden secondary profession: Reader. Current Level: 7/30.]
[This profession cannot be leveled up with experience. It can only be improved by accumulating "small amounts" of reading and writing.]
[You gained +7 Spirit and +7 Will.]
[You learned a new specialization: Immersion.]
[You learned a new passive skill: Language Insight.]
[Immersion (Elite Specialization): When reading or studying (increasing skill proficiency), you become fully absorbed, free of distraction. Reading and learning efficiency increases by 25%.]
[Language Insight: Allows you to roughly infer and decipher most written languages based on glyph shapes. Success rate depends on Reader level.]
As the string of notifications flashed past, Zhou Ning saw that the Linguist profession had vanished from his panel, replaced by the new Reader class, along with the new specialization and skill.
Even if the new specialization was only elite level and offered no combat enhancement, the boost to reading and learning efficiency fit his family motto perfectly. It was, in many ways, even stronger than some legendary specializations.
As for Language Insight… it was decent, and well-suited to him. If he guessed correctly, the old lady Granny Molly he carried with him should also be a Reader who possessed this skill. Judging from the description, no wonder she always relied on guesswork when interpreting ancient texts.
Zhou Ning took a deep breath, an inexplicable sense of fate stirring within him. He had just been thinking about how interpreting the Temple Kingdom's treasure map required an experienced Reader to "enter" the text and explore it—and now, just after completing a mission, he had become a Reader himself.
What a coincidence—almost too perfect.
Although he still hadn't seen any sign of that "infiltration" skill, he believed that as his Reader level increased, he would eventually learn it.
This, however, raised an issue. The level cap for transcendent profession holders was still 90, and he was already at Level 78. If he wasn't careful, he'd hit a bottleneck. This only made his goal of becoming half-human, half-god even more urgent.
Pressure, yes—but also motivation.
Naturally, along with completing this chain mission, the next stage had unlocked.
Hidden Mission: (Triggerable under special conditions)
[A Literary Life (V): Deep down, you've always harbored a literary dream. After accumulating vast literary knowledge, write at least three bestselling books in both the real and simulated worlds. (Current Progress: 1/3)]
Mission Hint: Read ten thousand books, and your pen will flow effortlessly. This is the fifth step of your long journey—keep going, future great writer.
Zhou Ning was already numb to this type of mission. Not only did he need to write three books himself, he had to do it in both the simulation and the real world. What else could he say? Just take it slow.
Unknowingly, the carriage had already reached the western outskirts of Nathaniell. After traveling a bit farther, a small port—slightly shabby compared to the city—came into view.
Bantuen Port.
"Stop here," Ignatius Woods instructed as they reached a three-way fork. He jumped down with his heavy suitcase.
He stood at the fork, scanning their surroundings with caution. Then he pointed at a narrow path leading west. "Go this way."
Zhou Ning understood, smiled faintly, and stepped into the narrow path with his umbrella.
It was deep into the night, the rain still falling, the ground muddy. After about ten minutes, a white three-story building appeared in his field of view. It was dark, shrouded in shadow.
Ignatius Woods took out a box of matches, lit a torch under the cover of his robe, and swung it three times toward the building to signal.
But strangely, although the torch ignited, its glow remained dim and hazy, barely illuminating anything, as if something were smothering the light.
That was…
According to his observation haki, three hostile presences lurked in the area—two around his own power level, and one approaching demi-god level. As long as he stayed cautious, there shouldn't be major danger.
Zhou Ning inhaled sharply. A silver-and-black glove materialized on his right hand as he clenched his fist.
Beowulf!
Suddenly, an image flashed in his mind—a bullet shooting from the darkness toward Ignatius Woods' head. Without hesitation, he reacted. In an instant, the falling raindrops before Ignatius Woods froze and reversed, forming a wall of water that blocked him.
Almost simultaneously, a bullet pierced the rain wall, shattering it—but the rain quickly filled the gap once more.
Ignatius Woods gasped sharply and looked at Zhou Ning with deep gratitude. A moment later and his head would have burst like a melon.
Right then, the panel pinged:
[B-Rank Mission: Escort II progress has changed.]
[You gained 450,000 experience. Ignatius Woods' favorability +30.]
[You have triggered the Emergency Mission: Protect Ignatius Woods.]
[Mission Description: For certain reasons, the executioners of the Alchemy and Craftsman Church have marked Ignatius Woods—and you have become a side target. You may abandon him and leave; no one can stop you. But you may also choose to protect him. Protection will bring generous rewards.]
[Mission Objective: Repel all attackers. Protect Ignatius Woods.]
[Reward: 1,200,000 experience, 5,000 Vecktas, one random extraordinary item.]
Well now—5,000 Vecktas. The reward had increased again. Zhou Ning was very pleased. It seemed Ignatius Woods still had plenty of value left in him. What started as a simple escort to Bantuen Port had been milked three times in a row—a triple harvest.
Since the mission required that Ignatius Woods must not die, he would have to give his all.
He lifted his right arm sharply and poured spiritual power into Beowulf. Brilliant holy light surged across the glove. The revolver "Retribution" materialized in his hand. He aimed at an empty patch of land and pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three bullets blazing with holy light curved through the air, forming a triangular pattern that locked down the area, each striking a separate point.
Two enemies had been clustered together; they were exposed at once, their bodies ignited with radiant holy flames as they screamed. Off to the side, a bald man in a black robe emerged from the void—then collapsed as his form dissolved, reappearing on the ground elsewhere.
A puppet-substitute type ability.