Mo Chuan, pulling Abe no Haruko along, soon entered an empty restroom. Mo Chuan scanned the area and then closed the door.
"Ooh ooh ooh! Wanna do it again! I didn't expect you to be so impatient! What do you want? What kind of play this time?"
Abe no Haruko, her face flushed red, excitedly gripped Mo Chuan's hand.
"No... I just wanted to get you out of there. I don't want to experience that kind of chaotic situation again... By the way, I need you to help me with an experiment next." Mo Chuan pressed Abe no Haruko onto the toilet seat and thought, "System, check relationship."
"Abe no Haruko: 95% (Completely Obedient)
Evaluation: The half-soul entity before you is completely conquered by your power and has begun to develop a sense of dependency. When you are in danger, she will think of saving you before trying to escape you. Keep it up! Make her completely yours! (Psychological)"
"...What kind of bizarre standard is this? And this evaluation? Why is it so steamy?"
"Hey! What are you staring at me for? Do you want to or not?! I can barely hold it in!" Abe no Haruko said, kicking Mo Chuan with her legs.
"Since I have gained your trust..." A ball of dark green flame appeared in Mo Chuan's hand, and he asked, "Are you willing to form a contract with me?"
"Huh?" Abe no Haruko tilted her head, looking at Mo Chuan in confusion.
"After forming a contract, you will gain a portion of my power, but in return, I will be able to sense the flow of spiritual energy within you when you are close, and most importantly—once we form a contract, you will be bound to me, and we will..."
"Okay, I get it!" Abe no Haruko interrupted Mo Chuan. "How do we form the contract? What do I need to do?"
"No... Aren't you going to consider it? (When I formed a contract with Su Li back then, I had to trick and cajole her into it. Why are you so agreeable?) This isn't a joke. As the initiator of the contract, I will have a higher status than you..."
"I know! Isn't this the typical plot where the mistress NTRs successfully, bypasses the female lead, and gains status! I've seen plenty of those! Come on! I'm ready!"
"..." Mo Chuan's head buzzed hearing Abe no Haruko's words, his CPU almost frying. After a long while, he recovered and explained, "I will imprint a mark on you with this flame. Where would you like me to imprint it?"
"Here, here, here!" Abe no Haruko's eyes lit up at this, and she pointed frantically at her lower abdomen, giving Mo Chuan suggestive hints.
...
Evening.
Since there were no more troublemakers to deal with, Mo Chuan and the other two had no reason to stay at the hospital. After calling Zhang Henshui, Mo Chuan packed his things and returned home with Mo Fei.
Although the little girl kept asking about Abe no Haruko's whereabouts, Mo Chuan couldn't exactly tell her that Abe no Haruko was inside his lantern, as she would surely throw a tantrum. So, he told Mo Fei that Abe no Haruko had gone to help him investigate something.
Afterward, the little girl complained that she was hungry. Mo Chuan went into the kitchen and rummaged through the empty refrigerator, finding the last packet of instant noodles.
"I need to buy groceries tomorrow... And maybe take Mo Fei out for a stroll."
Mo Chuan cracked an egg into the pot, put the lid on, and waited for a moment before taking out the instant noodles.
He walked out of the kitchen and said to Mo Fei, who was watching a melodramatic soap opera, "Dinner is ready."
After Mo Fei finished eating, Mo Chuan washed the dishes and returned to his room.
The exciting moment had arrived.
Lying on his bed, Mo Chuan silently thought, "System, check panel and inventory."
"Ding!
Host: Mo Chuan
Age: 19
Awakened Object: Ruined Gate
Attack Power: 67 (Normal Human: 50)
Armor: 2256 (31 + 2225)
Magic Power: 2242 (17 + 2225)
Magic Resist: 86 (26 + 60)
Status: Fatigued
Hell Curse: 890 layers (130 layers remaining to be digested)
Ravenous Crow Swarm: 431 layers
Level: 8 (100%)
Gold Coins: 400
Equipment: Tear of the Goddess, Corrupting Potion, Mask of the Abyss, Null-Magic Mantle.
Skills: Hell Curse (+2), Ravenous Crow Swarm (+1), Death Pact, Judgment Pendulum, Barren, Soul Guiding Lamp, Netherworld Hell (+3)
Inventory: New Hero Card Slot * 1; Skill Enhancement Points * 3; Random Hero Skill * 2"
"Yo xi..." Mo Chuan rubbed his hands together and looked at the two random skills, saying, "Let's try my luck first! Use two Random Hero Skill Cards!"
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining the skill: [Fear]
Passive: In a non-combat state and when unseen by enemies, if you deal damage to an enemy with a skill, that enemy will be feared.
Active: Fears a target and deals magic damage equivalent to a certain percentage of the target's current health. (Reaches maximum at 40% of target's current health)
If the target has recently been feared, it will instead deal magic damage equivalent to a percentage of its current health. (Reaches maximum at 50% of target's current health)"
"Ding! Host obtained the skill: [Nightfall]
Releases dark magic to a target location, dealing magic damage and a slowing effect within a crescent-shaped area for a period of time. Enemies in the center of the crescent will also be silenced while slowed."
"Not bad..." Mo Chuan nodded. He felt like he had a lucky streak today; just [Fear] alone was a significant upgrade.
Then, with a thought, he said, "Use two Skill Enhancement Points to strengthen [Fear]."
"Ding! Enhancement successful, obtained skill [Mental Contamination]
Passive: Your skills will apply a [Contamination] mark to targets for a period of time. Each mark reduces the target's magic resistance by a certain amount, stacking up to three times. In a non-combat state and when unseen by enemies, if you deal damage to an enemy with a skill, that enemy will be applied two stacks of [Contamination]. When a target has two stacks of [Contamination], they will gain the fear effect. When a target has three stacks of [Contamination], they will enter the [Cognitive Distortion] state, which has a chance of being irreversible.
Active: Deals magic damage equivalent to a certain percentage of the target's current health and applies two stacks of [Contamination] to a target. (Reaches maximum at 40% of target's current health)
If the target has recently been feared, the damage will be doubled and they will directly enter the [Cognitive Distortion] state."
"Holy crap... What kind of Cthulhu is this? Am I becoming an eldritch god? Tsk tsk tsk... It's over, I guess I'm destined to walk further down the path of those obscure heroes... Being a sneaky player is fine then..."
Mo Chuan sighed and then turned his attention to the hero slot.
"Come on! Luck won't save you, but spending money won't change fate!"
"Use New Hero Slot Card!"