Current Currencies: 38421 Spirit Fragments, 200 Vision Slivers. So in total, the tree creature netted him 2400 Spirit Fragments and 18 Vision Slivers, three times as much as the first time he defeated the creature in the house. Maybe this time it counted as a “first kill” as well? It would be great if it actually did not - though dangerous, the reward was just too good for a repeatable, sustainable “farm”. Though - the once trusted Rusted Grim Enchanted Sword was damaged and rendered unusable, it would probably take him a lot of effort to actually repair it.
Experience wise, he was at level 15 with around 65% of the experience bar filled - before tonight he was around half, so these hardened battles were more than helpful in his quest to get stronger.
He checked his own body up and down - the attacks from the tree creature dealt a lot of damage to him, and the pain lingered in his body even till now. And yes, though lessened by an extent, his injuries did not simply disappear just by him exiting the limbo. His ribs were still bruised, and they hurt if he took deep breaths. There were three puncture wounds on his torso - two on his chest and one on his abdomen, they were no longer bleeding, but he would still get debilitating sharp pain shooting through his entire body if he touched them.
With heavy steps he moved towards the parking lot where the office buildings were - on top of the further one from him, there was a jump point that should allow him to jump to other regions, including the house of the bear-obsessed has-been star Tom Barracuda.
He walked and stopped, then walked and stopped. The injuries were simply too heavy, and even with his Qi coursing through his meridians, mending his injuries and easing his pain, he still could not walk very far before having to stop and take a break. The strain on his physical and mental capacity and energy simply would not allow him to traverse the land as easily as before.
At last, he stopped at the wall enclosing the entire parking lot. It was not a long way - in fact, if not for the injuries it would not take him more than one or two minutes. But with the need to constantly stop and breathe, he was almost at his wit’s end as to how to proceed further - the wall itself was not hard to climb or jump over - if he was not injured.
“Fuck.” Wu Xiaoming cursed at himself and smacked himself on the head, then finally conceded that he was in no condition to do anything else. So, the only option was to exit.
The time was still early when he woke up on the bed - 4:53 AM, the sky was still dark. He checked the canister surrounded by salt and talisman in the bathtub - no change at all. He washed up, then checked his own torso just in case any injuries “followed” him here in the physical realm - none of them did.
He did not have the heart to go back to sleep again. Next time he would go into the ethereal realm, it would probably be a good idea to have the skill points assigned before doing so. And - he still needed to decide which skills would be better for him.
Yawning and stretching - Wu Xiaoming left his room and walked up the stairs with some fire talismans in his pockets. It was a perfect time to check out the eighth floor, even if the security camera would catch him doing so, it could all be attributed to him being curious.
The door to the eighth floor was still locked, he pushed a few times - if he had pushed harder, the door would surely open, but with him already on thin ice, it would be best if he did not cause any trouble for now.
He fixed his eyes through the gap along the frame of the door - no dark smoke or fog leaking out. At least for now, the place seemed safe enough.
Then he went and checked out the three rooms he had lived in when shooting the first episode of Unwise Encounters (final title still pending). They were Room 304, 404 and 127. All those rooms were locked, so he just stopped in front of them for very brief moments to not be too creepy - everything checked out so far.
It was now 5:37 AM, the sky was slightly brighter than before. He walked out of the hotel front door just to look around. To be precise, he had one target location to check out - the parking lot, where two unfortunate souls had met their ends.
Nobody was in the security post beside the entrance, so he just walked in without any trouble.
The chalk outline was still there, though almost completely faded. And inside the circle there was still some very thin traces of black smoke coming from the ground. He went over, walked around the outline and knelt down with his right palm glowing. The black smoke was burned off in just a few seconds. Just to be safe, he shone his golden light upon the ground for a few more seconds.
It was finally past 6 AM, which meant the coffee shop on the opposite side of the street, a place he visited often in both realms, would be open for business. His stomach growled, and his limbs were slightly sore and fatigued - he needed to eat, a lot, preferably something sweet.
He was definitely the first customer of the shop today. The barista was yawning and trying to straighten her hair as he came in. The coffee was not even brewing. The baked goods were barely laid out, and Wu Xiaoming could easily clean out all of them just right now.
“I’d like a large coffee, two chocolate muffins, one cheesecake and one donut.” The barista raised an eyebrow at Wu Xiaoming’s order.
“Sure, but - I have to get started on the coffee, can you wait a bit?” The barista asked: “I’m sorry, it’s just really early.”
“No problem.” Wu Xiaoming paid with his own credit card: “I can just have the - the baked goods first.”
He ended up spending two and a half hours inside the coffee shop, consuming three orders of coffee and ten orders of various pastries. When he got up and left, the barista waved at him with a wide grin, visibly amused by how much he ate.
What a cliche’, when one got enhanced physical capabilities, their appetite would also grow. Though it made perfect sense, it still would be a bit annoying. He once had had a discussion with a former colleague about this over team lunch, and the conclusion they had reached had been that there should be a balance between the person’s intake (appetite) and their ability to absorb more energy and nutrients from the food. This meant that their appetite would not grow to an unsustainable level, while they would still have normal bowel movements, which were quite important for a healthy body. Their discussion had not progressed further, and he did not remember why.
Just as he went into the lounge of the Sproutlinger Hotel, his phone rang. It was a text from Douglass Kirkland, his agent and a good friend of his father.
“Xiaoming, call me when you get this - I just heard from the studio - it’s about your show.”
Wu Xiaoming called back, without hesitation.
“Hey! Xiaoming! Didn’t think you’d be up this early.”
“Well yeah, I have a busy day today, so I need to start early. ” Wu Xiaoming let out a silent breath of relief as Douglass Kirkland did not sound like he knew about the situation at his home yet.
“Okay then, I have a meeting in a bit so I’ll get straight to the point - the studio told me that for the next episode, they are going to do the filming in an actual haunted house in some woods in Monterey. And - it’s actually a cabin in the woods.”
“Okay.” Wu Xiaoming nodded. This was expected, since the director had already asked him what his thoughts had been about shooting outside of Los Angeles. “That sounds - not too surprising, I guess.”
“Well, I’m glad you are okay with that.” Douglass Kirkland sighed: “But - here’s the thing. There’s always risks to kind of shoot, so I pushed them to get you some insurance. They - uh - they’re only willing to get you some basic stuff, like death, severe injuries, severe illnesses. And they were willing to get you additional staff to help with everything - including emergency response, communication, first aid, all the related deals.”
“Oh? So - one more crew member?” Wu Xiaoming scratched his jaw.
“Yes, apparently the director also requested this - so I just want you to know, you’ll have someone professional on site.”
“That’s - very good news, thank you Douglass.” Wu Xiaoming looked up at the receptionist desk, just in time to see the same receptionist waving her hand at him: “Did they say when it will happen?”
“Probably just these couple of days. Exact time TBD, so don’t go anywhere.” Douglass Kirkland sounded like he was in a good mood: “And - I’ll let you know when I have more details confirmed. Just hang in there, okay?”
“Mr. Wu, we heard back from management.” The receptionist answered Wu Xiaoming with a smile: “We’re offering you two weeks worth of premium stay - this means that under your name, you can stay up to 14 nights at our hotel, breakfast included.”
“Huh?” Wu Xiaoming was stunned for a brief moment, not letting his question of “only two weeks?” slip.