On the street, accompanied by the sound of footsteps, Qin Ming was moving forward aimlessly, with two figures following beside him.
One of them was his golden partner: Kasamoto Eiri.
The other was someone he had summoned this time using the King of Fighters manual—a stunning, white-haired girl with a shocking body weight: Angel!
Wearing a bold outfit that bared her midriff, hips, and upper thighs, she now stood with her hands on her waist, looking around with a disdainful expression.
"Hey, boss, how come when other people get summoned, they get to enjoy fine cuisine or live in luxury, but when it's my turn, I end up in a dump like this? Don't tell me they secretly bribed you behind my back?"
Hearing Angel's words, Qin Ming couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"You're just unlucky, that's all."
"Ugh, why am I always so unlucky? I was just playing arcade games with Yuri Sakazaki and about to win, and then bam—I'm yanked into this filthy place to work. Seriously!"
Ignoring her complaints, Qin Ming didn't bother replying. He simply glanced at her with a blank expression.
After sizing her up and down, he suddenly spoke.
"You should really start exercising again. You've gotten fat."
The moment those words left his mouth, Angel, who had just been fanning herself with a sulky look, froze stiff.
A second later, she exploded like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on.
"I've gotten fat? Where exactly have I gotten fat?! I've always been this weight, okay? Ever since I had that surgery, I haven't gained a single pound!"
"But you haven't lost any either."
"BOSS!!!"
Her weight had always been a sore spot for Angel. Ever since the NESTS organization performed their genetic modification surgery on her, her weight had skyrocketed to over 300 jin (approximately 150 kg).
Even if she didn't look it on the outside, in essence, she was basically a heavy assault tank.
And that so-called 300 jin was a number Angel had reported herself. Qin Ming, who had once performed a suplex on her, highly suspected she had fudged the figures.
Based on how she felt to lift and throw, 300 jin? Try 300 kilograms!
The girl was basically a human cannonball made of solid iron!
Faced with Angel's outburst, Qin Ming didn't respond, nor did he feel like responding.
Instead, Kasamoto Eiri saw a perfect opportunity and quickly scurried over with a big smile, starting to comfort her with sweet talk.
Watching Kasamoto Eiri throw out warm flattery with that clearly scheming glint in her eyes, Qin Ming couldn't help but purse his lips.
This woman's getting more shameless by the day, more insatiable too. Every time she sees a pretty girl, she just can't help herself.
Fine, go ahead and flirt—just don't get crushed to death by Angel this time.
Last time, when she tried to take advantage of things, she ended up getting tag-teamed by Mature and Vice. Apparently, she had already forgotten that little incident. What a forgetful idiot.
Retracting his gaze, Qin Ming turned his attention to the title missions under his current faction.
The factions in this world were a bit unusual—there was no way to join the villains this time. You were locked into a hero role from the start.
As such, all available title missions were tied to the righteous side.
[Title Mission 1: Vanquish Evil, Uphold the Dao]
Mission Requirement: Slay over 10,000 evil monsters
Current Progress: 13/10,000
Reward Upon Completion: Silver Title — Night Assassin (Upon entering future worlds, you'll be directly assigned to the hero faction with high status.)
Title Description: Even on the side of justice... assassins are indispensable!
[Title Mission 2: Raise the Banner of Justice]
Mission Requirement: Participate in slaying at least 5 boss-level story characters
Reward Upon Completion: Silver Title — Ally of Justice (Upon entering future worlds, you'll start as a protagonist's companion and gain 500 favor points with that protagonist.)
Title Description: I… am a true ally of justice!
[Title Mission 3: Evil Shall Never Prevail]
[Mission Requirement: Personally seal the Gate of Darkness and bring an end to the age of chaos]
[Mission Completion Reward: Gold Title – Protagonist (Upon entering the world, appear directly as the main character, automatically become friends with other protagonists, and gain 400 Favorability Points with them)]
[Title Description: All evil... shall eventually be brought to justice!]
Two silver titles and one gold—this time, the title ranks were all extremely high, and their effects were incredibly powerful.
All the titles were tied to starting identities. Especially that last one—it would directly make you part of the main character's team, allowing you to join in all of their future actions.
But while the title effects were powerful, the difficulty in completing them was anything but ordinary.
Especially the last one—it actually required sealing the Gate of Darkness. You had to understand, this so-called Gate of Darkness was the very source of the endless monster outbreaks in this world. Monsters continuously poured out from it.
Shutting it down single-handedly, and not just one but two of them, was a task of unimaginable difficulty.
Just as Qin Ming was staring at his title missions, deep in thought, his steps suddenly halted.
Next to him, Kasamoto Eri, who had gotten handsy while trying to comfort Angel and now had her neck locked by Angel, also abruptly looked up, as did Angel, who was applying the hold with increasing force.
The three of them raised their heads in unison, eyes fixed ahead, completely still.
From the shattered and silent street in front of them, a chaotic noise suddenly erupted.
The next second, a flood of black shadows surged out from around the corner, rushing toward Qin Ming and the others like a tidal wave.
Zombies. A massive horde of zombies.
The walking dead—revived by the power of darkness after dying as humans!
A chorus of howls filled the air as the dense swarm of corpses surged toward them in a frenzied stampede.
Seeing the vast number of monsters ahead, both Angel and Kasamoto Eiri shuddered in fear. Angel couldn't help but let out a shriek.
After all, her skills lay purely in melee combat; she had no way to handle large groups.
Sure, she could take on a boss, but you expected her to handle a zombie horde? She'd get buried alive in seconds!
Among the trio, only Qin Ming remained calm. His abilities were arguably the least threatened by numbers.
He raised a hand to stop Kasamoto Eri, who had been about to open fire, signaling for her to back up slightly.
Wearing a NESTS combat uniform that had just leveled up thanks to recent profits from item sales—and now boasting nearly all attributes capped at 60 points due to gear boosts—Qin Ming suddenly raised his right hand.
As his hand shifted into a claw, a spinning sphere of blood began to condense in his palm. In the next moment, it shot out a barrage of blood droplets that howled through the air toward the oncoming swarm.
With a gust of wind, the charging zombies were instantly riddled with holes as the blood droplets pierced straight through them.
Before the corpses even had a chance to fall, blood gushed out of their backs and transformed into more droplets, which surged toward new targets.
Blood swirled around Qin Ming and the others at high speed, forming a miniature crimson storm.
Any zombies that approached from any direction were immediately shredded into a bloody sieve before they could even touch him.
Numerous but low-statted zombies simply posed no threat to Qin Ming whatsoever.
Only a handful of elite monsters could barely break through the bloodstorm and reach him.
These elites varied—some were werewolves, some were blood thralls (lower-tier vampire offspring), and some were humans driven insane and mutated by the power of darkness.
Each had their own special abilities: some had tough hides and immense durability, some could manipulate blood, and others were like crazed slasher villains from horror films with freakish regeneration.
But despite their variety, their actual combat effectiveness was still limited.
If Qin Ming had encountered them back when he was still weak, he might've had to call them "big bro" just to survive.
But now? They were the ones who should be calling him "big daddy."
With a raise of his hand—he drew the Muramasa Demon Blade!
Wielding this blood-manipulating cursed blade, Qin Ming slashed decisively!
The werewolf who had been trying to brute-force a close-range attack had his outstretched arm cleanly severed.
Even the blood gushing from the wound was instantly sucked in and absorbed by the Muramasa Blade.
With a single slash and a casual flick, this werewolf—whose strength definitely wouldn't be considered weak and could easily serve as a mini-boss in another world—was obliterated in an instant.
(End of Chapter)