Chapter 43: Legendary Grade, The Hunt

Chapter 43: Legendary Grade, The Hunt

Ji Yan gazed at the silver needle in his hand as an information panel appeared in his vision.

"Congratulations, Player, for obtaining the Supernatural Artifact—[Grandmother's Embroidery Needle], Grade: [Legendary]."

"Artifact Description: This is an embroidery needle steeped in jealousy and hatred. The elder sister was once the sole object of her parents' doting—until the day her younger brother arrived, stealing nearly everything that belonged to her. She noticed that whenever the brother cried, their parents would shower him with even more affection. One night, she took an embroidery needle and sealed his mouth shut. From then on, his cries were never heard again. How wonderful."

"Hidden Description: This is a needle that kills only supernatural entities, not humans. After piercing 10 supernatural skins, the needle will ascend in grade, gaining enhanced resilience and an additional 'Molting' effect."

So this was a [Legendary Grade] Supernatural Artifact?

Even the description was far more elaborate.

For Ji Yan, who had never held such high-grade equipment before, his eyes couldn't help but gleam.

Yet, he grew even more puzzled.

With just a simple interaction, he had obtained a [Legendary Grade] embroidery needle.

Where, then, lay the true difficulty of this Main Storyline Task?

As he exited the room, Liu Yitong had also acquired equipment, her face alight with excitement. "The Mother Supernatural Entity actually gave me a [Collector's Grade Equipment]!"

In her hand, she held a blood-dripping kitchen knife.

This was none other than the Mother's Chef Knife.

Whenever disputes arose among neighbors, the Mother would step out with this knife in hand, resolving conflicts with utmost "kindness." It was clear just how precious this blade was to her.

Liu Yitong had initially assumed she’d need to raise the Mother's favorability to over 90% to obtain it. Never had she imagined she’d acquire it through a Main Storyline Task.

Ji Yan mused, "In other words, the Main Storyline Task is advancing the game's progression."

"After all, if this mission fails, these Supernatural Residents will cease to exist."

"At a time like this, rather than hoarding their treasures, it makes more sense for them to hand everything over."

Liu Yitong nodded, then suddenly remembered something. "Oh, check the chat group! A player just exposed the Thief's current location!"

Hearing this, Ji Yan opened the chat window.

Sure enough, a player had posted the Thief's whereabouts. But Ji Yan remained unfazed, calmly stating, "Now that everyone knows the Thief's fatal weakness, they're all scrambling to hunt it down."

"Why would anyone be so selfless as to reveal its location in the group?"

Liu Yitong arched an eyebrow. "You're saying the location is fake?"

"It might be real."

"But the purpose of revealing it is likely because they lack confidence in taking down the Thief themselves. They're looking for cannon fodder to wear it down first."

Ji Yan's analysis was straightforward. In a survival scenario like this, such tactics were obvious.

"But now that we have lethal weapons and know the Thief's fatal weakness, how could anyone still lack confidence in killing it?" Liu Yitong asked, perplexed.

Ji Yan countered, "If you had a steel spear and knew stabbing a tiger through the heart would kill it, would you be confident in taking it down alone?"

Liu Yitong's eyes widened in realization.

She smacked her forehead, feeling as though her intelligence had plummeted at this critical moment.

"Should we go over there?"

"Let's go. Just like the guy who exposed its location in the group chat, we’ll hide in the shadows."

Ji Yan closed the panel and spoke.

...

First-floor lobby of the apartment.

Dense swarms of Supernatural Insects spread like a black tide, flooding the surroundings. The Thief paused here, as if surveying the area.

Then, it turned toward the load-bearing wall, stretched out its hands, and dug its shovel-like fingers into a crevice, slowly tearing the wall apart.

Blood gushed out, and the squirming flesh within the concrete wall pulsed with grotesque vitality. After a moment of contemplation, the Thief mercilessly ripped open the flesh, ignoring the silent wails from within the wall, and stuffed the Original Residents' flesh into its mouth, devouring it greedily!

"Warning! The Main Storyline Task Boss has currently caused 23% damage to the Instance Apartment. All players participating in the Main Storyline Task must stop the malicious Supernatural Entity's destructive actions as soon as possible!"

"At this rate, the apartment instance will collapse before dawn tomorrow!"

As they moved toward the exposed location, the instance's warning rang out again.

Liu Yitong's pretty face showed clear anxiety.

Ji Yan remained calm. "Panicking won’t help."

"Look at it this way—it’s the Supernatural Entities who should be panicking. If the apartment is gone, we players will just be sent to the next instance. But for them, it’s the end of the world. They’ll be left homeless."

Liu Yitong forced a hollow smile.

She realized this guy could stay composed no matter what. Was this really his first time playing?

Soon, they reached the first-floor lobby.

As expected, the scene was already chaotic.

Some players had already begun surrounding and attacking the Thief.

Faced with the new wave of players, the Thief’s back writhed, revealing two horrifying Supernatural Faces that intercepted and slaughtered those who approached.

The scene was gruesomely brutal—scattered skin fragments and dismembered corpses littered the ground!

Liu Yitong finally understood.

Every time the Thief revealed a new Supernatural Face, it activated another Hunting Rule, indiscriminately slaughtering players.

How terrifying was that?

Even worse— No one even knew how many Supernatural Faces that thing had!

She took a deep breath and said to Ji Yan, "You’re right. Even if we know its weakness, killing it won’t be easy!"

Ji Yan didn’t respond, his eyes narrowing as he stared ahead.

In a hidden corner across the lobby, he spotted Long Yuan’s familiar face.

The man was also observing from the shadows.

That message exposing the Thief’s location had probably come from him—using other players as bait while he waited for an opportunity.

But things weren’t going as planned.

The players in the lobby were dropping dead before they could even touch the Thief, let alone kill it.

However, Ji Yan was soon proven wrong.

A piercing scream suddenly echoed through the lobby!

A sound like a gunshot—or perhaps a Supernatural Entity’s wail—rang out as a bizarre bullet pierced through one of the Thief’s Supernatural Faces, tearing straight through its body!

The Supernatural Face fell to the ground and withered instantly.

The Thief lowered its head, touching the gaping hole in its chest. Its fingers dug inside and pulled out the bullet— A segment of finger bone.

The moment it was grasped, it crumbled into dust.

It turned its head, and the next bullet followed closely, shattering its second supernatural face!

The thief staggered, and some of the supernatural insects covering its body died and fell off.

This scene shocked the players present.

Ji Yan turned his head and saw Huang Ran from before, still holding that supernatural pistol, but now wrapped in black energy—clearly upgraded in quality.

"It works! The thief lost two supernatural faces and is clearly injured!"

"Does this damn thing have no defense against long-range supernatural artifacts?"

"So its hunting rules actually have distance limitations?"

"Damn! Should’ve said so earlier—I’ve got plenty of long-range supernatural artifacts!"

The staggering thief was clearly wounded.

This excited the players who had been observing in the shadows, and they began switching to long-range attacks.

Strangely, even in this state, the thief still refused to flee, continuing to tear apart the walls and devour the flesh inside.

Yet, more supernatural faces sprouted across its body, each wailing in agony as they resisted the players’ relentless assaults...

Liu Yitong’s delicate expression shifted. "It’d rather stand there and endure the attacks than stop destroying the apartment. Does this malicious supernatural entity really hate the residents that much?"

"It’d rather perish than retreat!"

Ji Yan remained silent.

He stared at the shattered faces, still faintly pulsing with life, and knew his opportunity had come...