[You have completed the ascendancy ritual.]
[Rank promotion in progress…]
In the pitch-black world, many data streams appeared in front of Annan’s eyes. As a result, his body became hotter and hotter at a speed visible to the naked eye.
*Cough!* He couldn’t help but cough softly.
Along with his cough, he seemed to hear hammering in his ears.
A scorching spark shot out of Annan’s throat as he coughed. When the spark hit the ground, it dimly illuminated the surrounding environment, and then it quickly went out.
The cough seemed to be some kind of prelude.
After this, Annan started coughing violently and incessantly.
Every time he coughed, the sound of hammering followed.
Countless sparks shot out from his throat, along with the impurities. He could vaguely see that what he coughed up was like iron scraps or coal slag, with their amount and size gradually increasing. In the end, he saw a thumb-sized cluster of burning coal fall to the ground.
Soon, the amount of these “impurities” increased. The ground was gradually illuminated, and the “coal slags” gathered together, creating a tiny ember to emerge in the darkened world around him.
It wasn’t until Annan coughed up “impurities” worthed a third of his size that he finally stopped.
At this time, the darkness around Annan eased up.
The soul impurities he threw away formed a small bonfire on the ground, emitting a steady and warm brilliance.
However, Annan felt an unprecedented sense of exhaustion.
It felt like he was hollowed out.
He kept his spirits high and tried to focus.
At this time, three rainbow-colored light groups gradually formed in the warm brilliance on the ground. The light groups separated from the fire and slowly floated up.
[New curses have manifested…]
The tired Annan was alerted by the system prompt. He directed his focus onto those light groups.
In the first light group, he saw an abstract green pupil like an Egyptian fresco.
[Angel’s Left Eye (Persistent Type): You will lose the vision of your left eye forever, and you cannot restore the vision of your left eye in any way.]
In the second light group, a general was guarded by friendly forces in all directions.
[Legion’s Will (Taboo Type): If there is no ally unit willing to obey your orders within your field of vision, you will become extra vulnerable (all attributes -33%).]
[Note: When an enemy, who is “not detected, blocked or attacked by your subordinates”, launches an attack on you, you will receive an additional 50% damage.]
In the third light group, a little snake was biting its tail; it had a grayish-white double ring on its body and green pupils.
[Incessant Cycle (Persistent Type): Every time you betray others, you will eventually be betrayed by them.]
This time, Annan didn’t get the curse of Resolve Type.
Like last time, the side effects of the three curses were written clearly.
Similarly, it didn’t mention the power obtained when selecting each curse.
However, it was easier to choose the curses compared to last time.
Annan had gradually understood the mechanism of these “curses”.
Transcended, who did not have the [Hunter] profession, wouldn’t need to worry whether the curse would bring them a significant advantage.
The world was fair, and everything had a price. The more you get, the more you have to pay.
Unfortunately, it was also very unfair at the same time.
Sometimes, the more you give, the less you get.
On the surface, the second curse had the greatest side effects, and it was also the kind of curse that “would jeopardize his life once the enemy found out about it”. It was equivalent to imposing a new weakness on Annan, making him weaker in assassin tactics or tactics that sought to take down the leader first.
A reduction in ? of the attributes might not seem a lot, but it was a significant nerf.
Attributes worked in a “threshold mechanism” [1] in this world.
It would be either above 10 points, 40 points, or even 50 points and above for the attribute check to activate the ability. Consecutively, there would be a significant leap in the ability performance for different thresholds.
If Annan triggered this curse, it was very likely that his attributes would be reduced below 40 points. Indeed, this would be a massive drawback in Annan’s utilization of his current two professions.
Although it was evident at a glance that the curse would supplement an aura ability that would benefit a crowd, Annan didn’t need it.
He had infinite resurrection authority for the players, which was the best aura ability for a team.
Could anyone else in this world do it?
Annan Throw His Hands Up.jpg
The third curse seemed to have the lowest cost. As long as Annan did not betray others, it would be negligible.
However, Annan still didn’t hesitate to rule this curse out from his pick immediately.
It wasn’t because he wanted to betray someone. Of course, if this action were efficient and had very few side effects, Annan would naturally do it. However, he wouldn’t purposely opt for this kind of tactic.
What Annan really did not want was to have his behavior pattern bound by a curse.
He hoped that when he chose to trust others, it was because of his morals, common sense, and relationship with others. Instead, he didn’t want the decision of not committing treachery influenced by this curse, reminding him that “if he were to betray someone, he would suffer retribution”.
Annan thought he would be secretly relieved every time he chose not to betray others because of this curse.
Sure enough, it was a sound rationale.
The outcome would be the same, where he wouldn’t commit treason.
However, he believed that this thinking pattern would undoubtedly weaken his will and the purity of his actions.
Just like Annan used to be anonymous when he donated money to the victims. His goal was the donation instead of the praises or publicity. At the same time, if he were to save someone, it wasn’t for the money. Another example from his original world would be chatting all night with netizens who tried to commit suicide and counseling them through their negative emotions. The goal wasn’t to seek something from them but to prevent a life from being lost.
Those were supposedly unconditional good deeds without ulterior purpose.
Annan preferred that he made the decision because he wanted to rather than being shackled.
Thus, he had ruled out two choices without hesitation. Therefore, there was only one curse left for Annan to pick.
That was to lose his vision in one eye. It could be troublesome, but this wasn’t a dire situation for Annan.
He still remembered that there were many eyes on his body when he entered his Truth form, and every player was his eyes.
At that time, having one left eye short didn’t mean anything.
He only needed to find a solution during his transition before reaching the Gold Rank… or the Truth rank.
“I’m a little regretful about it,” Annan muttered.
If Annan chose “Lost Eye” during his first advancement, it might negate the negative effect of that particular curse when he selects [Angel’s Left Eye] at this moment.
Of course, it was also possible that the negative effect of the [Angel’s Left Eye] grew stronger.
After all, both the curses targeted the eye.
Both were Elle’s left eye too.
Annan reached out and tapped on the first curse.
The remaining two rainbow-colored light bubbles burst immediately, turning into two light streams and merging into the first curse.
It bobbed up and down in the air, then accelerated and rushed into Annan’s left eye.
After a brief, searing, and excruciating pain, Annan suddenly lost vision in his left eye.
He couldn’t see what his left eye had become, but Annan saw new words appear in front of him.
[Angel’s Left Eye: It shall be attached to the left eye with no maintenance cost, and it can’t be removed.]
[When someone is about to betray you, he will be highlighted immediately in your field of vision. The highlight will be shown through any obstacles (so this effect can be used without opening your left eye).]
Wow, how should I put it?
“It’s quite useful…” Annan murmured with a complicated expression.
It’s just that the effect… Annan raised his head slightly.
Is this your last gift to me, Elle?