Ch. 45 - Underworld Plant: Ghostflame Wall-nut

After a short wait, a system notification rang out.

[Congratulations, hybridization successful! New plant obtained: Ghostflame Wall-nut]

In Bai Wan’s mind, a new image slowly materialized—a Wall-nut crowned with flickering blue flames.

Its detailed stats followed shortly after:

[Plant Name: Ghostflame Wall-nut

Description: A new hybrid plant born from the fusion of Ghostflame from an unknown dungeon and the Wall-nut. Honestly, the system still has serious reservations about calling a burning thing like this a “walnut.”

Effect: Any Peashooter that enters within ten meters of the Ghostflame Wall-nut will be ignited, transforming into a Ghostflame Peashooter. Ghostflame Peashooters deal double damage and apply one stack of Ghostflame to their targets.

Once a target reaches ten stacks, a Ghostflame Explosion is triggered.

Sunlight Cost: Medium]

Bai Wan stared at the plant, now wearing a fiery new skin, and grinned in delight.

Ghostflame Wall-nut. What an infernal monstrosity.

It could turn Peashooters into Ghostflame Peashooters? That was brutally amazing. 

Even better, it could stack debuffs—ten layers to trigger a massive explosion.

Just imagining a whole mob of paranormal entities getting blown sky-high made Bai Wan feel immensely satisfied.

The only downside? It required a medium amount of sunlight—and most of his sunlight had already been used up in the earlier battle. There likely wasn’t enough left to summon it again during this dungeon run.

After grabbing the essentials, Bai Wan also picked up one cheap common-grade paranormal item, a Ghost Hand, for just 100 coins. Not a bad haul.

Su Yuening also chose an item that caught her eye—a blood-grade paranormal artifact for 200 Paranormal Coins. A solid deal too.

“Finally… I’ve got my own paranormal gear.” Su Yuening beamed with joy.

“You’ve got a relative who’s a mid-level Craftsman, right?” Bai Wan asked, a little puzzled. “Shouldn’t you already have stuff like this? Why didn’t they buy you one?”

Su Yuening rolled her eyes. “I guess even the strongest rookie is still a rookie. You’re really lacking some basic common sense. You don’t actually think anyone can just use any paranormal artifact, do you?”

She continued, “If you use a paranormal item you didn’t personally earn through dungeon completion, you’ll be hit with a curse. Not only will it consume extra coins, it’ll even harm you. After your first game clear, you should’ve gotten a black six-pointed star on your arm, right?”

“Oh yeah…” Bai Wan recalled the mysterious black hexagram that appeared after his first clear.

Su Yuening nodded. “That’s our rank. Each cleared dungeon gives one black star. Once you accumulate enough, they protect you from artifact curses. That’s how veteran players can use items they didn’t earn themselves—their star count blocks the backlash.”

“But for us rookies, that’s a no-go. Honestly though, those top players are already so strong they don’t need to borrow other people’s stuff.”

Now it clicked for Bai Wan. To use paranormal gear safely, you had to earn it yourself. Otherwise, you’d be cursed—unless you had a high enough star rank to resist it.

That also meant… reselling artifacts for profit was basically useless.

By now, the shop interior had grown dim. With the Ghostflame removed, the blue flames that once lit the shelves had vanished, leaving the once-grand boutique looking more like a bankrupt corner store.

Bai Wan stared at the darkened space and fell into thought.

Sure, the Ghostflame was great—but his Skelly Bro had risked death to get that thing from a forbidden zone. And he’d just taken it for zero coins. 

Wasn’t that kind of shady? Even if the system bug had let him do it… it still felt off. 

His father used to say: Don’t be too calculating with friends. Sometimes a little loss can buy lasting trust. He’d always thought those were wise words. He and the Skeleton Merchant got along well—it’d be a shame to mess that up over something like this.

Sometimes, logic and sentiment don’t divide so cleanly. There are feelings to consider too.

With that in mind, Bai Wan flicked one Paranormal Coin onto the counter and resumed browsing.

…

A short while later, the two of them made another round through the store.

Su Yuening suddenly stopped in a corner, eyes widening.

“Wait… is that… an Awakening Crystal Shard?!” she blurted. “Damn this game system—hiding it that well!”

It was tucked in such an obscure corner that anyone less observant might’ve missed it entirely.

“Awakening Crystal Shard? What’s that?” Bai Wan asked, impressed again by how much more she knew.

Su Yuening’s eyes sparkled. “Gather four of these, and you unlock a latent ability—a super powerful Awakened Skill. You know how most of our current character skills are kinda meh? …Okay, yours doesn’t count. But the rest of us? Trash. But if you gather enough shards, you can unlock a true Awakening.”

Bai Wan nodded. “So basically—an ultimate move?”

“Exactly. I’ve only heard about them from my sister. They’re extremely rare. Can’t believe I actually found one here. And once you buy it, it can’t be traded—the moment you purchase, it fuses with your body. Anyone who gathers four shards… easily qualifies as vice-captain of an S-rank squad.”

She was clearly tempted. The price was 100 Paranormal Coins—steep, but not impossible.

There was a note: Limit one per player.

Su Yuening bought it.

The moment she did, the shard floated toward her and merged into her body.

Her mind went blank.

Then—a vision appeared.

A city. A ghost attacking an elderly woman. And in the distance, Su Yuening, standing amidst the streets, lit up by brilliant blue light. 

A beam of that light shot toward the old woman—connecting them. Then Su Yuening vanished, reappearing instantly at the woman’s side.

The ghost lunged, but another beam connected her to a nearby civilian. 

She grabbed the woman and blinked again, teleporting both of them to the new target’s side.

More people in need lit up like beacons, and Su Yuening blinked between them endlessly. The ghost couldn’t even get close.

The vision faded.

Su Yuening slowly opened her eyes, still wrapped in awe.

“So that’s… my Awakened Skill?” 

She looked stunned—she clearly wanted it badly. 

The ability to instantly teleport to anyone in danger and bring them along with her? 

A powerful, practical skill—and she’d just unlocked the first piece. Only three more shards to go.

“And you can see what your future skill is when you absorb a shard?” she gasped. “Bai Wan! Quick! Check yours!”

She turned toward him with burning curiosity. This rookie was already freakishly strong—what kind of absurd skill would he awaken?

Bai Wan, intrigued, bought one shard for himself. It merged into his body.

And a vision formed in his mind.

A city. Already fallen.

Paranormal entities filled the streets.

And in the middle of it all—stood Bai Wan. Alone.

The entities swarmed, surrounding him completely.

And then, the Bai Wan in the vision moved.

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