In his past life, Julian Thorne had joined the game relatively late, missing the first version when the Curse Cult was at its peak. Nevertheless, he had heard of their infamous reputation.
Spreading plagues, performing random sacrifices... and that was just the tip of the iceberg.
The leader of the Curse Cult seemed particularly enthusiastic about destroying the world and wiping out humanity. To achieve this goal, they had allied with the Death Cult, the Plague Cult, the Goddess of War, and various other Ancient Gods.
They changed allegiances faster than even the infamous Lu Bu, earning them the title of the "Three-Surnamed Bastard" of this world.
Even after repeated failures, they remained steadfast in their "noble" ambition of world destruction.
Eventually, even the Players were moved by their persistence.
They had never seen such a motivated group of villains.
However, the transmigrator Julian expressed indifference. They obviously haven't met Big Big Wolf and Brilliance Joe. When it comes to being motivated, those two are the real deal.
Julian searched the bodies of the Curse Cult members, finding nearly 7 Viktars and 50 Roschens. Other than that, he found some addictive drugs and a few weather forecasting sticks.
Weather forecasting sticks were used to predict the weather, although they weren't always accurate.
According to the laws of the Kingdom of Bryston, all inns and dormitories were required to provide guests with a free weather forecasting stick each day. They worked similarly to pregnancy tests: after scraping, one red line within 10 minutes indicated sunny weather for the foreseeable future, two red lines indicated rain, and one red line with a faint red line indicated cloudy or special weather.
These poor bastards!
Julian pocketed the money and weather forecasting sticks he had looted from the Curse Cult members and opened the game interface.
Killing Marien and the cultists had netted him a total of 9,500 experience points. Adding the 500 points he already had, his experience points officially exceeded 10,000.
In the early stages of the game, this was a small fortune.
In Apocalypse, experience points could be used to level up both class levels and normal skills. Life skills like Alchemy and Enchanting could only be leveled up by accumulating proficiency.
Julian's current class was Student, and his secondary class was Linguist, neither of which were combat-oriented. Therefore, he didn't need to spend experience points on leveling up his classes for now. Experience points in Apocalypse were like money in real life - you could never have enough. In his past life, Julian had seen many Players who squandered their experience points, only to find themselves lacking when it mattered most.
Therefore, after careful consideration, Julian spent 5,000 experience points to upgrade his Basic Shooting Proficiency from Basic to Advanced, finally increasing his combat power somewhat. It would also be useful when fusing skills later.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
The interface changed again.
Name: Julian Thorne/Wayne Stilwell
Race: Human
Template: NPC [Beta Testing Countdown: 47 days, 23 hours, 58 minutes]
Level: 2
Class: Student/Assistant Instructor [1/10]
Secondary Class: Linguist [2/10]
Natural Force Affinity: 0
Arcane Affinity: 0
Talents: Hidden
Attributes: Strength 7, Dexterity 10, Constitution 8, Willpower 9, Intelligence 9, Charisma 98
HP: 46/80
Stamina: 36/96
Willpower (Stat): 7/9
Mana: 0
Life Skills: Basic Alchemy
Normal Skills: Expert French Fluency, Intermediate Pickpocketing, Advanced Shooting Proficiency
Other: Omitted for brevity.
"Bro, could you help me untie this rope?" Alan Vester, the chubby young man, asked weakly.
Although he hadn't been of any help during the whole ordeal, Alan had watched everything unfold with a growing sense of awe toward the person before him.
While this awe had diminished slightly as he was tied up like a pig waiting to be slaughtered and left alone for a full five minutes, it returned when Julian untied him. Alan grasped Julian's hand, tears welling up in his eyes. "You're a good man!"
"While I appreciate the sentiment, I'm not interested in physical repayment, especially from men."
Julian winked at Alan, cracking a lighthearted joke.
"I wasn't planning on repaying you with my body," Alan quickly retracted his hand, as if electrocuted. He realized that Julian was trying to ease his tension with humor, and he felt a surge of gratitude.
Before Julian could speak, Alan quickly added, "I will definitely repay you, I promise! You will also have the friendship of House Vester, especially my personal friendship!"
[You have unlocked a new faction's reputation!]
[House Vester's favorability towards you has increased by 1,500 points!]
[House Vester: Friendly (1,500/3,000)]
"It's okay."
Julian smiled, not dwelling on the repayment. Even without it, gaining House Vester's favorability was already worth it. As a transmigrator, he had countless ways to make money, but opportunities to unlock new faction reputations were rare and valuable.
In Apocalypse, the concepts of monarchy, theocracy, and family were paramount.
Theocracy held the highest authority, monarchy was the most powerful, but the emergence of the supernatural power known as Family Motto made the concept of family incredibly important. Through continuous development, nobles with Family Motto grew increasingly powerful, their influence permeating the military, political, and commercial sectors of their respective countries.
For Players, maintaining good relations with such factions could lead to opportunities to purchase rare items and skills, and even a slim chance to become a member of a noble family with a Family Motto.
Take House Vester, for example. This family controlled the Alchemy Association. Being on good terms with them was like having a backer in the Alchemy Association, which would be extremely beneficial for his future development.
After Julian's well-timed joke, the atmosphere between them became much more relaxed. However, the D-rank quest [House Vester's Gratitude] remained uncompleted, likely requiring him to escort Alan out of The Jasonath Haunted Mansion.
Might as well go all the way. Julian took Alan back to the previous cell, where two other survivors were huddled, trembling with fear. When they saw Julian and Alan, they nearly burst into tears of gratitude.
After some conversation, by the time the four of them reached the entrance of The Jasonath Haunted Mansion, they had a general understanding of each other's identities. Besides Julian and Alan, one was named Richard Pesa, whose family ran a sizable herbal medicine shop. The other was named Luke, whose father was a tax official in Dakeland City.
Julian pushed open the door. It was around midnight, and a chilling 50°F (10°C) breeze made him instinctively shrink his neck. So this is the game world?
Just like in the game, The Jasonath Haunted Mansion was located in the dock area. Nearby was a tavern called The Bull and Clover, where Julian had previously set a respawn point in the game. Not far from the mansion was a long street.
At one end of the street was an area frequented by prostitutes. Even now, a few were still soliciting customers emerging from the bars.
As the four of them crossed the street, heading towards the nearest police station, a luxurious carriage stopped in front of them.