Chapter Forty-Four: Soul Equipment

Luo Hanya slipped on the pair of red running shoes with delight. Taking a few steps, he felt as if a breeze carried him forward, an inexplicable power swirling around his feet, making him feel light as a swallow. He couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

He glanced casually at the special effect attributed to these running shoes, and the description left him utterly dumbfounded.

Name: Spring Launch
Skill Type: Active
Skill Grade:
Effect: Allows you to leap six feet high. This skill has a cooldown of 1n.
Note: Not kidding, you really can jump six feet—six feet, no exaggeration! Genuine, guaranteed six-foot leap!

Clearly, this skill was immensely powerful! What did it mean to leap six feet high? Three feet was already 100 centimeters, so six feet was two meters. Even the world’s top vertical jumpers, the so-called “spring men,” were said to manage just over a meter at most.

It was safe to say this skill was perfect for all circumstances—travel, burglary, you name it. Forgot your keys at home? Just jump inside. Don’t want to pay for tickets at a tourist site? Jump in. Have an enemy you want to mess with? Leap up at midnight to tap on his window. Being chased with nowhere to run? Jump over the wall—perfect.

After trying out the new shoes, Luo Hanya’s gaze turned to the turtle shell on the ground, a full meter high. He’d always been curious about such things when watching Dragon Ball, and now, seeing one in reality, he couldn’t help but feel a bit excited.

He noticed a box on the turtle shell marked "20," which made him suspect it was some sort of fitness equipment. “Could there be ones marked 40, 60, 100? A chain of turtle shell fitness gear?” Luo Hanya looked at the shell with a pained expression, unable to stop himself from mentally complaining.

As expected, something weighing 20 was rather heavy; though the impact wasn’t immediate, he could clearly feel he couldn’t run anymore.

“What an obvious effect—so this is sluggishness?” Luo Hanya checked his skill list, but nothing new appeared. It seemed like he’d acquired something else, leaving him with a strange look on his face.

“Skills like this exist? This game really is shameless and without bottom lines.”

He finished trying all the equipment.

The vagabond’s ragged clothes seemed to weep: What about me? Haven’t I been tried yet? Heartless author, how could you ignore my existence?

Honestly, who would try you on unless they had peculiar tastes?

Only then did Luo Hanya remember the system voice prompt telling him he still had a super reward to claim. He licked his lips, eyes sparkling with anticipation, ready to continue his streak of good luck.

Before him appeared a brand-new set of options:

Please choose your super reward:
1. Randomly draw a soul equipment corresponding to your level.
2. A large amount of game coins and experience.

He immediately felt this was a no-brainer. Who would choose the second option? It was a total waste—a useless choice! Soul equipment sounded overwhelmingly powerful.

Without hesitation, he selected soul equipment.

Congratulations, you have obtained the Soul Equipment: Xuan Ice Stone.

Name: Xuan Ice Stone
Type: Weapon
Quality: Excellent
Attack: None
Attribute: Ice
Special Effect 1: Frozen Seal—locks the target in a block of ice, preventing movement and attacks but allowing skill use. Duration is directly related to the user’s spiritual power. Can be used every five minutes.
Special Effect 2: Frost Nova—unleashes a freezing explosion, striking the target and surrounding units, inflicting sluggishness and damage; both effects scale with the user’s spiritual power. Can be used every three minutes.
Special Effect 3: Absolute Zero Domain—creates a blizzard-filled domain, causing great damage to all units within; damage scales with the user’s spiritual power. Cannot be used if spiritual power is insufficient; when used, consumes all spiritual power.
Note: A piece of ten-thousand-year-old magic ice, origin unknown.

Undoubtedly, soul equipment was designed to accompany players for a very long time. As growth-type items, their attributes and effects would evolve alongside the player’s spiritual power, sometimes even mutating into overwhelming divine skills.

Another key trait of soul equipment was its uniqueness. There was only one of each in the entire game, and once acquired, a soul weapon must be bound to the player’s soul—non-transferable, indestructible, and only one could ever be obtained.

Such a system existed because soul equipment was truly rare, obtainable only through high scores or certain special quests. Ordinary players rarely got their hands on them, and if experts could obtain multiple, the game’s balance would be destroyed. Hence, the rules of uniqueness and non-trade.

In essence, the soul equipment you bind determines your path of growth in the game. For someone like Luo Hanya, he was clearly destined for the spiritual path—the skill-caster’s route. If the soul equipment were a sword, that usually meant the warrior’s path, though there were always the rare violent mages who wielded swords.

After claiming all the rewards from the previous scenario, Luo Hanya felt a surge of pride and contentment. He exited the login space and stood quietly on Ghost Street, watching the bustling crowd of players around him, unable to suppress a sigh.

Since he’d started playing this game, he’d changed a great deal—he’d gained courage and a new outlook on life. He used to be a sheltered rich kid, and though he had a good personality and a quick mind, most of his friends had always indulged him, handling things he couldn’t deal with himself.

But now, at least in this game, he had to do many things himself. The complexity of human nature within the game had exposed him, in just a single day, to things he’d only ever read about in books. He was finally coming into contact with the darker side of the world, no longer just a boy basking in the sun, lost in adolescent fantasy.

After this sudden bout of sentimentality, Luo Hanya checked his friends list and saw that they were all in-game. Feeling he still had energy to keep playing, he decided to queue up for another round—this time, planning to match with strangers and experience team cooperation with unknown companions.

Luo Hanya, Level 11

Please choose your game mode.

You have selected: Multiplayer Survival Mode (Normal). Please confirm.

Confirmed. Establishing mental link. Generating scenario.

Please select a title. Title selected: Game Explorer.

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