Death Notice Novel Book 7: Chapter 6: Passed

The small villa before him gave Qin Lun an extrely ominous feeling. This wasn’t vague; it was a physical sensation.

Even though he was high on the hillside, hundreds of ters away, when he focused his calm mind, it felt like the building was collapsing towards him like a mountain. Qin Lun felt as if he were in the suffocating deep sea, surrounded by bone-chilling water. Everywhere in the darkness seed filled with malicious stares.

Qin Lun rarely hesitated. He didn’t know whether to move forward or wait where he was.

“Switch with ?” Joey’s consciousness asked in his mind. Joey sounded increasingly excited, clearly stimulated by the building ahead.

“No!” Qin Lun firmly refused Joey’s offer. Though entering this “Hunter” world served mainly to enhance Joey’s fighting skills, fleeing in terror from an inanimate object was a blow to his pride.

Denying Joey, Qin Lun retrieved a spherical item from his Storage Space. It was a magical item called “Gannett’s Left Eye.” Its central pupil was made of alternating black and red rings, resembling a tiny target.

Gannett’s Left Eye (Mystical Item)

Quality: Bright Gold

Material: Indecipherable Lifeform

Weight: 12 grams

Perception:

5 points; Spirit:

3 points

Item Laws: Target, Radiation

Target: This equipnt emits a shockwave similar to ultrasound. Upon hitting obstacles, the reflected waves create a concrete image in the user’s consciousness.

Radiation: Enhances certain Perception-based Eye Techniques of the Apostle. It increases perception distance by reducing perception density, or increases perception density at the cost of reducing distance.

Equipnt Note: Highly penetrating shockwaves grant excellent perspective ability. Duration depends on Mana Value stored. Reusable with energy replenishnt. A detection-image class mystical item. Due to law restrictions, only two skills are available.

Requirent: Apostle Perception above 30 points to use ‘Target.’ Must have Perception-based Eye Technique to use ‘Radiation.’

Gannett’s Left Eye was the image-detection gear Qin Lun acquired. Despite being only the lowest Bright Gold tier within Dark Gold quality, it cost him over one hundred thousand Shattered Crystals.

Simple and practical, it consud minimal Mana Value. It automatically emitted shockwaves even when Apostles rested, providing the best defense against night raids. This filled the weakest link left by the Heavenly Insight Eye and passive Detection Aura.

Its extre penetration even allowed it to spot invisible enemies with stealth skills bypassing the Detection Aura. Worth far more than one hundred thousand Shattered Crystals, it had one major flaw—it emitted sonic waves.

Activation severely interfered with the user’s senses, potentially causing hallucinations and ntal irritation. Thus, though usable constantly, almost no Apostle would endure wearing it constantly, reserving it purely for scouting. Its previous owner had discarded it in a semiplane shop after acquiring a slightly inferior item, unable to bear its flaw.

To Qin Lun, however, this offered a temporary solution. Accustod to tornting ntal illusions, he possessed strong resistance to such disturbances. He could even shield so physical senses through self-hypnosis.

Naturally, Qin Lun didn’t wear it 24/7 either. He used it situationally, relying also on other detection thods.

Pressing Gannett’s Left Eye against his eye, its liquid form lted into his left eye socket.

This equipnt could only fuse with the left eye. Using it blocked left-eye Eye Techniques, forcing him to rely solely on his right eye for the Clock Eye skill. Fortunately, as a Perception-based Eye Technique, Clock Eye didn’t affect visual distance perception.

With Gannett’s Left Eye equipped, Qin Lun left eye’s pupil manifested a small black-and-red target. Against the white sclera, it beca a deep vortex. His right eye pupil revealed a silver clock face diagram, its three hands slowly pulsing.

The contrasting eyes, paired with Qin Lun’s gentle smile, turned his otherwise plain features bizarrely enchanting.

Using Gannett’s Radiation skill, Qin Lun successfully doubled Clock Eye’s perception range, though at a significant cost to intensity. Still, extending about 150 ters, his perception finally brushed the villa’s alert zone.

Seeing the entities swirling around the villa, Qin Lun’s eyes widened. His heart raced faster. Unparalleled curiosity struck him.

“What are those? Ghost mist? Or actual ghosts?”

Around the villa, black smoke—like intelligent entities—churned violently, nearly engulfing the whole structure. At the perception line’s touch, Qin Lun felt intensified suffocation and malice, as if a malevolent spirit breathed down his neck.

Gannett’s Left Eye was unaffected by darkness. Qin Lun made out a wooden signboard before the villa. It declared the rcenary selection had started. Carry your identity insignia into the villa and pass the test to join the syndicate as a hired hand.

The sign resolved Qin Lun’s last doubt about the Guidance Mission.

The “Leave teor Street” Guidance Mission difficulty was Lieutenant Rank, aning he’d encounter high-level, second-tier Apostles. Yet its reward—only a few thousand Shattered Crystals—wasn’t proportional to its challenge.

Now, seeing the villa, he understood. This place wasn’t for ordinary people. The Lieutenant Rank difficulty made sense. With no life-threatening danger, focused purely on innate Apostle strength, compensation couldn’t help but be modest.

“Not spirits… more like so sort of… aura!” Qin Lun rubbed his nose helplessly. Although only hundreds of ters separated him from the villa, the information he perceived confird he absolutely couldn’t traverse that space.

Shattered Starry Sky never assigned an impossible Guidance Mission. Qin Lun realized now this test wasn’t designed for him—it belonged to Joey.

Instantly, the abnormality in Qin Lun’s pupils faded, replaced by vivid blood-red.

Joey calmly descended the hillside towards the villa. Thick, malevolent energy swirled around him. When the Dissector entered within 100 ters of the villa, he physically touched the churning smoke clusters.

Strangely, the aura terrifying Qin Lun encountered Joey’s brutality and lted like snow against fire. Hastily, it parted to lay a path towards the villa door for the killer.

Unbidden hunger stirred within Joey. Contemplatively, his gaze swept the black smoke.

“Hah!” The Serial Killer blinked. His tongue licked his lips hungrily. With a light step, he made a zigzagged dash towards the door, straight into the thickest smoke on purpose.

As Joey moved, the villa-enveloping smoke visibly thinned. An even more astonishing event soon followed: Joey’s previously undetectable bloodlust began materializing, transforming into a faint red smoke aura ordinary eyes couldn’t see.

“Apostle 70053, you have made initial contact with this world’s Nen Ability. The Heart of Slaughter’s killing aura has begun transforming into a Nen Ability aura. This transformation is incomplete. To form your own complete Nen Ability system, further study of this world’s Nen Ability Laws is required.”

“Nen Ability?” Joey’s eyes flashed brightly. He halted.

“Hmph, you passed. Get inside! Stop damaging the test illusion!” A furious voice erupted from the villa, clearly furious that Joey was damaging the surrounding Nen Ability aura performing as a barrier.

Simultaneously, the tightly shut villa doors creaked open. Interior light spilled out onto the entrance.

Shrugging, Joey strode towards the villa. Crossing the threshold, a lightness washed over him. Indoors, the Nen Ability aura surrounding the building was absent.

The blood-red in the killer’s eyes rapidly receded. Qin Lun regained control of their shared body. This wasn’t Joey losing interest in what followed, but the Laws governing his Homing Slaughtering Heart had demanded imnse ntal energy—so taxing it felt like fighting an epic battle. He needed rest.

As separate personalities, Qin Lun couldn’t feel Joey’s ntal fatigue. But he saw the Law Body’s Stamina/Energy Points were near empty. Even their Health Points had noticeably dropped—making Qin Lun secretly flinch.

“Sir, please present proof of identity,” greeted a beautiful, blonde maid dressed in black and white standing in the front hall. She held out a tray. After Qin Lun placed his badge inside, the reasonably attractive maid turned to lead him upstairs to the living room.

Three people already occupied the sofa: a one-eyed older man with a scar shaped like a centipede over his missing eye; an expressionless, petite teenage girl; and a blue-faced, wrinkly man whose hair and beard were entirely white.

Seeing Qin Lun enter, their eyes flickered faintly. Through individual abilities, each had plainly “witnessed” Joey’s display outside the villa.