Chapter 62: Special Reward

【Quest 《Dawn of the Killer》 complete】

 【Time consumed: S】

 【Investigation efficiency: S】

 【Impact: S】

 【Overall evaluation: SSS】

For this evaluation, Levi was not surprised.

If he had chosen to run away or cower at that time, the quest evaluation might have dropped.

But since he had gone all in—and won—there was no way the system would give him a low rating.

【Reward obtained】

【Lifespan +100, extra +50】

Hmm, very normal.

Levi glanced at it without surprise.

With this, he had gained more than half a year of life.

Although during the battle with that Evil Spirit Knight, Levi had used 【Shadow Step】 and 【Eye of the Reaper】 several times in a row, while keeping 【Soul Sight】 active the entire time—burning away days of his lifespan in one breath—now it seemed that the return on investment was still quite large.

Next came the main point.

【Special reward: Skill level +1】

Levi had delayed claiming the reward precisely because of this.

Skill level.

The phrase might sound ordinary, but when it came into play, it was truly useful.

At present, Levi had four skills: 【Soul Sight (LV1)】, 【Eye of the Reaper (LV1)】, 【Shadow Step (LV1)】, and 【Puppeteer (LV1)】.

And naturally, these skills also had proficiency.

Levi had calculated that the more lifespan a skill consumed, the faster its proficiency improved.

For example, with 【Shadow Step】, using it once increased proficiency by about 3%.

In contrast, 【Soul Sight】, a basic skill, only gained 0.5% proficiency per use—almost like “time consumed = proficiency gained.”

That was quite reasonable.

If different skills had the same proficiency requirements despite vastly different costs, that would clearly be unfair.

After all, this was burning life, not MP—there had to be some kind of bonus.

Thus, although 【Shadow Step】 was the most recent skill Levi had acquired, its proficiency had already climbed to 55%.

【Eye of the Reaper】 was at 50%, while 【Soul Sight】 had not even reached 40%.

Now Levi faced one dilemma: …………should he use this special reward to raise 【Puppeteer】 directly to LV2, or wait until 【Shadow Step】 reached LV2 on its own, and then boost it to LV3?

Items that could directly raise a skill’s level were ultimate treasures even in games.

Every player knew that skills were easy to level up early on, but got progressively harder later.

Compared to 【Soul Sight】, 【Puppeteer】 advanced even slower—probably because it did not consume lifespan.

Levi couldn’t even measure its proficiency increase accurately, but it was definitely lower than 【Soul Sight】.

That was what made him hesitate.

【Puppeteer】 was undeniably useful.

After upgrading, Levi could imagine his control range and puppet size expanding further.

Judging from this last battle, 【Puppeteer】 had indeed proved its worth.

With a bigger range, Levi could even create a low-altitude drone for scouting.

But 【Shadow Step】 was just as important as a life-saving skill.

This time, the enemy had luckily been a melee profession with limited attack range, making kiting possible.

But if ranged enemies appeared in the future, the ability to instantly move a hundred or two hundred meters would eliminate all fear.

Similarly, to assassinate a target, he could prepare from a hundred meters away, step in, strike, and step back out.

Cleaner than a locked room murder.

It seemed simple, but in essence, this determined Levi’s current development path.

In game terms, he had to choose between the Hunter-with-pets skill tree, or the Stealth-Assassin skill tree.

“Hmm……………”

Levi stared at the system interface before him, hesitated for a while, and finally decided………to raise 【Puppeteer】 directly to 【LV2】.

Soon, the system notified him that his control range had increased to 150 meters, and he could simultaneously control two puppets.

He had long considered creating a reconnaissance drone—especially with 【Soul Sight】 assisting, it would be like having infrared scanning on a drone.

For a detective, that was incredibly convenient.

A cat puppet could crawl through sewers, but it could never fly.

If Levi created a flying puppet, he could cover both land and air without flaws.

After all, the regulated height for low-altitude drones was only about 100 meters—that would suffice.

He would discuss this further with Irene when he got back.

Having settled on a direction, Levi let out a breath of relief.

Irene truly had talent and skill in this field.

She could even make small toys out of spare parts.

According to Irene, she had once dreamed of opening a steam machine shop like her father, mainly selling interesting steam toys.

She had spent much time honing this craft since childhood.

And indeed, she seemed very gifted.

With his path decided, Levi relaxed and began checking the other rewards.

Special Skills: 【Basic Swordsmanship / Horsemanship / Combat Techniques】

Hmm, no need to guess—those must be from the Evil Spirit Knight.

A brute.

Levi cursed inwardly.

He didn’t want any of the three.

Swordsmanship? What use was that? Horsemanship? What use was that? Combat Techniques? What use was that?

With his pitiful strength, was he supposed to polish the opponent’s boots?

As for horsemanship, that was even more useless.

He had a supercar waiting for him—far more comfortable than riding a horse.

But the system seemed to sense Levi’s dissatisfaction, and soon another prompt appeared.

【User may choose random selection, with skill level +1】

Oh, so this was like buying a set meal and getting a free bottle of cooking oil—the system knew how to do business.

Levi rolled his eyes and silently tapped 【Random】.

At once, the skill icons in front of him began spinning rapidly, like a pachinko machine.

Then they stopped abruptly.

【Combat Techniques (Level 2)】

As the system displayed the result, Levi suddenly felt an endless flood of knowledge pour into his brain.

It was packed with every kind of melee technique this warrior had used—from “Monkey Steals the Peach” to “Dragon-Grabbing Hand,” from throwing sand to crotch strikes to smashing with bricks……………

So dirty.

Levi shrank his head back, glad he hadn’t been foolish enough to fight the Evil Spirit Knight hand-to-hand.

With such filthy tricks, if he had gone up close, he would have been floored instantly.

This… this could be called combat?

Levi already felt regret.

【LV2 Combat Techniques】 felt like pollution in his mind.

But looking on the bright side, at least he could now defend against such eye-pokes, crotch grabs, sand-throwing, and brick-smashing tricks from enemies.

Then came the final reward……………

Levi pushed aside his irritation and focused on the last task reward.

【Soul Fragment +1】

Just a simple line of text, with no explanation—as if the system implied, “I’ve already told you what this is.” Levi was left speechless.

He guessed that the so-called Soul Fragment was the part the ring had absorbed from the little girl’s body.

If so, then why not from the big-headed doll earlier………oh, right, he hadn’t acquired the ring yet back then.

That explained it.

Now the question was—whose soul was this fragment? The Evil Spirit Knight’s?

Or……………

Levi thought of the glowing red point in the Evil Spirit Knight’s head.

He still did not know what that was.

But at least, this particular matter was settled.

As for what use the Soul Fragments had—once he collected more, perhaps………he would find out?

After confirming his rewards, Levi dusted himself off and returned to Mist City, leaving the others behind to dig.

As for the inn, it would later reopen, but its manager and staff would all be replaced by MI7 personnel, tasked with monitoring the ruins and surrounding area.

A retirement post, really—sending unpopular or elderly agents there to live out their days seemed a fine arrangement.

And if more people died, it would be easier to cover up.

Back in Mist City, Levi rested for one night.

The very next morning, just after getting up, the communicator rang impatiently.

Levi picked it up, and soon heard Inspector Lestrade’s voice.

“You still remember that innkeeper, don’t you?”

“Mm.”

Levi confirmed he remembered very clearly.

The man’s office and person had shown no clues.

Both MI7 and Inspector Lestrade had been investigating his identity, trying to find out who he really was.

“I’ve already found out.

This guy’s name is Alexander Braton, a Mist City native, a small-time businessman.”

At this, Inspector Lestrade took a breath.

“And here’s the problem………according to my investigation, this man died three years ago!”

“……………Hm?”

Admittedly, this answer was beyond Levi’s expectations.

“Died?”

“Yes, dead for three years. Supposedly died of illness.”

“What about his family?”

“I’ll need to check that, but the identity is certain—it’s definitely him.”

Even Inspector Lestrade’s voice carried a trace of unease.

Understandably so: someone who had just been talking to them had in fact been dead for years.

It sounded exactly like a ghost story.

“Then please investigate further—mainly about him personally.”

“No problem.

Once I find anything, I’ll let you know immediately.”

Inspector Lestrade cut the call, while Levi narrowed his eyes, lost in thought.

This matter, it seemed, was not simple at all.

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