The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 272: Charisma

Ten minutes later, Qilin, Vermilion Bird, and Gao Yang left the underground sixth floor of the Millenium Tower and got into Vermilion Bird’s car.

She drove, while Qilin and Gao Yang took the backseat.

Gao Yang’s home was closest to the Millennium Tower, so that would be their first stop.

After the car started, there was a moment where none of them said anything, still going through the exchanges having taken place and decisions made during the meeting.

A few minutes later, Qilin said, “Take this, Seven Shadow.”

Gao Yang looked aside to see the Time-Space Rune Circuit pop into existence in Qilin’s raised right hand.

Regarding how Qilin conjured Rune Circuits into existence like magic, Gao Yang had at first speculated that the man had a Time-Space-type Talent, but now he knew Qilin’s Talent was Eidos, Psyche-type, which mainly granted him the ability to use eye technique and influence the target’s mind.

While psychic influence elicited a strong feeling, eye technique could be activated discreetly.

Gao Yang would be affected by the localized illusion Qilin conjured as long as his eyes were open, sensing no abnormality. For example, Qilin could create a blindspot in Gao Yang’s vision and did the little magic trick of conjuring the Rune Circuit.

At level 7, the serial number 2 Talent reached a height one couldn’t fathom.

Gao Yang didn’t take the Rune Circuit from Qilin. It wasn’t that he didn’t want it. He wanted it dearly, in fact.

But it was too great a risk to bear.

What did it mean to carry two Rune Circuits with him? Yellow Butterfly had shown her hand as the traitor the moment they acquired two Rune Circuits.

Who knew if the fact that Gao Yang had two Rune Circuits with him would get out, and if it would make him a target to powerful awakeners hiding in the dark?

“I already have the Knowledge Rune Circuit with me. I’ll exchange it for the Time-Space one after my Knowledge-type Talent levels up.” Gao Yang voiced his true feelings. “It’s too much pressure to have both on me at the same time.”

“Extreme situations call for extreme measures. We don’t have time to take it slow,” Qilin said. “Carry both. Better to level up two Talents than one if possible.”

“But...”

“Have some faith in yourself, Seven Shadow.” Vermilion Bird, while driving, chuckled. “You’re now an awakener with four Talents, and you’re quite experienced in battles with a quick mind. You’ll be fine.”

“How about this?” Gao Yang smiled wryly and glanced at Vermilion Bird through the rearview mirror. “Sister Xia, please keep the Time-Space Rune Circuit safe for me. Give it to me once we meet up in Naldives. I’ll feel a little more at ease with more of our people around.”

Vermilion Bird shook her head. “Your only flaw, Seven Shadow, is being overly cautious. That makes you less attractive as a man.”

Qilin shuckled and looked at Vermilion Bird. “If Seven Shadow hadn’t been cautious, you would be talking to his corpse now.”

You get me, Guildmaster!

Vermilion Bird snorted. “Fine. We’ll do it your way.”

...

Past midnight, Gao Yang went home to find his family having gone to bed. Gao Yang didn’t turn on the light, but instead carefully made his way through the living room in the dark and opened the door to his room. His chest tightened suddenly.

Someone was on his bed!

He almost went into battle mode on instinct, but he stopped himself in time and found the light switch on the wall.

The room lit up. Gao Yang realized it was a false alert.

The one on his bed was Gao Xinxin. His sister had fallen asleep in a white, dreamy lolita dress and a pillow in her arms. When the light went on, her eyelashes fluttered, and her brows furrowed.

“Hm...” She opened her bleary eyes involuntarily and saw Gao Yang by the bed.

“Whoa!” Gao Xinxin sat up suddenly. “How, how did I fall asleep?!”

There was a patch of reddened impression on her baby fat face. She patted herself on the cheeks. “Ahhhh I fell asleep! My face is all swollen!”

Gao Yang snorted. “What are you doing in my room?”

“It’s all your fault!” Gao Xinxin jumped up and punched Gao Yang in the shoulder. “Why didn’t you come back home earlier? I waited til evening so that my face wasn’t so puffy. I was gonna show you my new dress...”

“It’s okay. You still look good now.” Gao Yang assured her while taking her punches.

“No I don’t!” she yelled. “My face is swollen like a pig’s head!”

“Alright, alright. Go back to your room and sleep.” Gao Yang ruffled her hair. “Your brother is dead tired and ready to go to bed.”

“What’s the rush? You’ve been all mysterious recently.” Gao Xinxin gave him a doubtful look. “You aren’t doing something bad behind my back, are you?”

“Of course not.” Gao Yang smiled guiltily. “What else can I be doing? I was just hanging out with Wang Zikai.”

Gao Xinxin shot him a glare and let him off the hook. Then she smiled again. “Hey, brother, what do you say if I wear this dress in Naldives?”

“Huh?” Gao Yang didn’t get it. “Shouldn’t you bring swimsuits to Naldives?”

“You...delinquent!” Gao Xinxin flushed red.

Gao Yang didn’t get it. “Come on, it’s gonna be scorching hot. Sunlight, sandy beach, ocean. Aren’t you worried about getting a heatstroke if you dress like this?”

“I’m not going to keep this on all day! I just want to bring it with me for some pictures.”

Gao Yang sighed in relief. “Oh, right.”

“You’re taking the pictures for me!”

“Alright.”

“There are a lot of photography tutorials on the Little Red Brooch[1]. You should study the techniques, brother...” Gao Xinxin yawned.

“Fine, I get it. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Gao Yang pushed her out of his room and locked the door.

Soon, her footsteps quieted. Gao Yang put on pajamas and turned off the light, sitting cross-legged on the bed. He planned to take some time to go through what had happened today.

In the morning, he attended Ghost Horse’s funeral with a heavy heart.

Without the time to properly mourn, he was asked to go to the Sea View Tower by Surnamed Li, and she announced the premature arrival of the Crimson Tide.

Then he learned about the Tides from Vermilion Bird.

After that was the internal meeting of core members in the Guild. Qilin opted for the extreme interrogation method with Eidos, testing Gao Yang’s loyalty and allegiance. It was thanks to his system that Gao Yang narrowly escaped.

The day had been eventful enough as it was, but then the three major organizations had a meeting in the evening.

Surnamed Li dropped the bomb that everyone would die when the Crimson Tide came, pushing the day to its climax. That was the moment Gao Yang felt true despair and looming dread; what had happened before paled in comparison.

Worse yet, Surnamed Li saw clearly that Gao Yang would have his heart carved out by a monster.

Without his heart, he would die for sure. Even resurrection would be out of question.

Can fate really be changed?

Gao Yang’s determination wavered, and he felt consumed by depressive thoughts.

No, he had to stay strong.

If there was even a one in a hundred million chance for him to survive, he had to give his all and fight til the end.

Gao Yang accessed his system.

[Access granted.]

[You have a total of 434 Luck points.]

—It’s been three days since Black Tortoise was dealt with. Added to that the points I had left after comprehending Teleportation, I would’ve accumulated less than 100 points without bonuses.

—During the half a minute I killed Black Tortoise, I would’ve gotten about 50 Luck points.

—Then I fought five monsters in the illusory realm Qilin created. That would give me less than 30 points.

—After that, Qilin dominated my mind and tortured me for close to two minutes, during which my Luck acquisition rate was 7000 to 9000 per hour. That should give me roughly 260 points.

—Alright, the math makes sense.

[The system does not make mistakes. There is no need to double check the number every time.]

—But I want to!

[Do whatever you want.]

—Although I want to put points into my Luck, without the Miracle Rune Circuit, I can’t level Lucky to level 4 at the moment.

—Speaking of which, level 7 Eidos grants 3000 points in Willpower and Charisma.

—Can you tell me what Charisma does now? That should count as me having inspected the stat, right?

[Charisma increases the power of Talents regarding illusions, control, sounds, charm, and emotional manipulation.]

[It also increases resistance to aforementioned Talents.]

—Oh! So I couldn’t sense Qilin using his eye technique on me because my Charisma is too low!

[In addition, the higher the charisma, the more attractive, graceful, dignified one will seem. However, the appearance will not change.]

—Got it. So I’ll look less terrible on a bad day, but my max attraction level will stay the same.

[Yes.]

—Increase my Charisma to the current ceiling.

1. A reference to the Little Red Book, a Chinese social network platform. ?