Chapter 62: The Bell Ringer Devoured by Decay

Li Nanke silently lay back down among the corpses, holding his breath and calming his mind as he disguised himself as one of the dead, making not a single sound.

The enormous monster had not yet approached, but already the dim glow of sunset cast from the end of the canyon was stretching its shadow, drawing it ever closer. As the tremors in the ground grew more distinct, many of the carrion birds perching on the corpses took fright, beating their wings into the air and crying out with mournful calls.

What kind of monster was that? It was a towering humanoid creature with a twisted face, its upper body clad in tattered vestments, bulging muscles laid bare, and on its shoulder, it bore a massive bell entwined with blood-red thorns.

The so-called "Blessing of Pain" had descended upon this church follower in the most horrifying manner, transforming a once-fervent bell-ringer into such a mutated form.

The creature, known as the "Carrion Bell-Ringer," advanced and, with a casual motion, snatched a corpse from the heaps on either side, opening its mawed jaws to tear off a leg—metal greaves and all.

The metal armor grated with a sickening crunch, shattering in its mouth as blood and flesh splattered and bones snapped with brittle pops. The monster chewed its way through the rotten flesh until, by the time it passed by, it had devoured an entire corpse.

It spat out the metal remnants of the armor and reached out again with a massive hand—so large it was nearly the size of half a man—grabbing directly for Li Nanke!

Li Nanke’s entire body broke out in goosebumps, his gaze sharpening as he prepared to act—

But then, the corpse beside him was hoisted upside-down and shoved into that fanged maw.

The monster took no notice of him whatsoever, continuing to wander forward along the path, devouring flesh as it went.

At that moment, a synchronized prompt sounded.

[Key Node One: Proceed to the “Licker’s Relief Society” in Solos Village.]

According to Edward’s memories, Solos Village lay not far from the canyon battlefield. The “Licker’s Relief Society” was likewise a sect that worshipped the Blessing of Pain, but their doctrine was to alleviate others’ suffering by enduring pain themselves.

The “Licker’s Relief Society” was a neutral, compassionate order, not considered heretical by the Penitent Synod’s standards…

As for the “Carrion Bell-Ringer,” its overwhelming strength made it clear that it was not the target for the first key node—if one simply lay quietly among the dead, pretending to be a corpse, it could be avoided.

Li Nanke slowly sat up, watching the monster’s massive figure recede into the distance, as the “Linear Laser Cannon” materialized in his hand.

His finger squeezed the trigger, and the energy from the high-powered battery surged into the cannon’s barrel, transforming into light within the high-output laser array. The thick gun barrel began to heat, dazzling white light gathering in a torrent…

Through the official dream “Project Flare” and the guiding dream “Abyssal Sea,” Li Nanke had gradually uncovered some of the hidden rules of the Far Shore.

Official dreams, unlike initial guiding dreams, differed in the rewards at each node.

In “Abyssal Sea,” all three mainline node rewards and the hidden node rewards were primary traits.

But in “Project Flare,” only one of four mainline nodes rewarded him with the trait “Magnetostorm”; the other two, “Blood Pact” and “Blood Moon,” were acquired from two hidden nodes.

This meant that the generous rewards in guiding dreams were likely a benefit for newcomers.

But in official dreams, merely completing mainline nodes would only yield basic rewards; to gain primary traits, the most direct and fundamental supernatural power, one had to dig into hidden nodes or trigger extra events.

Of course, “Project Flare” had shown that these were either extremely difficult in themselves or greatly increased the overall challenge of the dream…

In short: high risk, high reward—if you’re not made of steel, don’t try to juggle porcelain.

The body of the linear laser cannon gave off a low hum, the power-up indicator lighting up segment by segment, the hum becoming sharper and more piercing, while the light at the muzzle became almost blinding.

The monster’s stomping ceased abruptly, its chewing also coming to a halt. Only the cries of birds wheeling above the canyon remained.

Suddenly, the Carrion Bell-Ringer spun around and spotted the short heretic standing atop the pile of corpses.

The sunset’s shadows were banished by the blinding white light. The instant it turned, Li Nanke let out a cold laugh and released the trigger—

A searing beam of light exploded forth!

The raging energy condensed into a thick beam of death, crossing the distance in an instant and blasting into the monster.

Superheated laser scorched its flesh, melting meat with a sizzle. Its hide cracked and smoked.

The monster’s agonized roar echoed through the canyon. Before the laser could burn completely through its chest, a giant bell was raised before it.

The laser turned the bell red-hot, nearly melting through, when two massive hands pressed against the thorny vines that wrapped the bell.

Rather than weaken it, the agony of the thorns piercing flesh sent the monster into a greater frenzy. It charged forward, bell braced, against the pillar of light.

Li Nanke wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but the thorns seemed not only to make the monster stronger and more frenzied, but also to reinforce the bell, so much so that the laser cannon, capable of melting metal armor, couldn’t quickly burn through it.

The annihilating beam faded, and the monster charged in at terrifying speed, like a massive armored juggernaut.

“Damn, throwing this at me right at the start of the dream?”

He saw the monster’s chest—flesh scorched and mangled, with a huge, pounding heart faintly visible within.

With a flick of his wrist, the cannon vanished.

He leapt down from the pile of corpses, whirled around, and ran.

Behind him, the monster’s footsteps thundered closer and closer…

Li Nanke’s eyes flashed. His armor suddenly transformed, becoming a full-body “Powered Protective Suit” gleaming with a cold sheen.

His body was sheathed in soft, resilient nanofiber, with a layer of indestructible alloy plating on the outside.

The armor provided not just formidable defense, but a powerful mobility system!

With the suit’s support, each stride propelled him forward at greater and greater speed.

The monster, nearly on his heels before, now began to fall behind.

Suddenly, Li Nanke’s skin crawled with warning. Without thinking, he kicked off the ground.

Boom!

The giant bell, thrown from afar, crashed down from the sky, smashing into the earth and sending stones flying. It rang out with a resonant shockwave.

Li Nanke dodged in time, avoiding being crushed, and the shockwave was completely absorbed by his powered armor, leaving him unharmed.

His gaze turned cold. Instead of fleeing, he abruptly spun and charged straight at the unarmed monster!

As he ran, a double-barreled weapon appeared in his hand, unleashing a concentrated shockwave that made the monster, just about to strike, pause for a moment.

Li Nanke slammed a foot into the ground, vaulting high with the suit’s power.

The shrill whine of spinning sawteeth filled the air as the armor’s back thrusters flared with blue fire!

Focusing all his strength, he drove the chainsaw blade into the monster’s chest, plunging it into the scorched, mangled wound. The teeth tore into the throbbing heart, sending blood gushing everywhere.

With a savage twist of the blade, the huge heart was shredded to pulp.

He kicked off the monster’s chest, using the recoil to leap back.

The Carrion Bell-Ringer’s enormous body crashed to the ground, twitched a few times, and then lay still as blood pooled beneath it.

With the monster’s death, a surge of energy poured into his body.

Li Nanke focused his will, channeling the source energy into his main trait, “Blood Moon.”

[Main Trait: Blood Moon]
[Level: 0 (88%) → 1 (79%)]

Although Li Nanke hadn’t spent much time each day practicing his meditation technique, he’d stuck to it for a week, and the Blood Moon trait had risen only five percent.

This rate of advancement was nothing compared to slaying monsters in the dream.

Now, after killing a powerful monster, his Blood Moon trait had nearly risen a full level.

With the monster dead, he sensed something and turned to the bell embedded in the earth.

He saw the blood-red thorns entwining it withering away, finally transforming into a whip-like branch about the thickness of a finger and the length of an arm.

Its barbs were sharp, with a faint crimson glow.

Li Nanke raised an eyebrow, realizing this was likely the reward for the risk he’d just taken.