Infinity, The Arcade Age-Chapter 397: Anxious Nightmare Space

With flashes of light, five boxes were opened one after another, and items began to appear before Qin Ming.

In Cai Baojian's box, an utterly useless B-rank skill book was revealed.

In the box belonging to Chui Quan Chong, however, something of value appeared. He actually opened a signature move of Chui Quan Chong—eating steamed buns!

[Name: Meat Bun]

[Grade: B]

[Effect 1: Consumes 5 mental power to inject energy into food and eat it, recovering 30% of the body's health, ineffective for severed limb injuries.]

[Effect 2: 10% chance to directly restore 50% of the body's health.]

[Effect 3: 10% chance to choke, reducing health by 10%.]

[Description: The title of 'Bun King' is no empty title!]

Meat Bun! The only recovery skill in King of Fighters '96! Although it's only B-rank, it's a powerful skill!

The best part is—there's no cooldown! As long as your mental power is sufficient, you can use it infinitely!

Although there's a chance to choke, it still can't hide its practicality. With it, you essentially have infinite recovery items, making it a god-tier skill that adventurers dream of.

Of course, that's for other adventurers. For Qin Ming, this skill is utterly useless.

Eating steamed buns? Why would he eat buns when he can absorb faster than he eats?

The nutritional value of your meat bun can't compare to milk!

He casually set aside the two skill books and rubbed his hands. Finally, he retrieved the highlight of this loot—top-tier items from the three legendary chests.

First up! The item from the Fighting King Rugal! He actually got two items at once!

[Name: Incomplete Killing Intent Wave]

[Quality: A]

[Effect: After activation, choose one attribute to amplify, with a 100% amplification effect.]

[Description: Either master the power, or be mastered by the power—this is the true essence of Killing Intent Wave.]

[Name: Rugal's Imperial Hand]

[Category: Arm (Brilliant Golden Plot)]

[Equipment Requirement: All attributes 25]

[Effect 1: Strength +15]

[Effect 2: Constitution +15]

[Effect 3: Imperial Mimicry (Can copy a skill and perform it using the gloves, but the skill's level cannot exceed B-rank.)]

[Description: I, Rugal, will one day rule the world!]

The highest martial art in the Street Fighter world—Killing Intent Wave—has been obtained!

And he also got a superb pair of gloves! Perfectly compensating for the loss of his previous gloves!

Unfortunately, the Killing Intent Wave skill is only a broken version, but for Qin Ming, that's no problem.

A broken version? Even if you gave him a steering wheel, he could use his innate skills to turn it into a car!

For him, the grade isn't an issue—as long as the foundation is good, he can make it work.

But...

Looking at the Killing Intent Wave skill book in his hand, then glancing at his already learned "Wave of Qi," Qin Ming's expression suddenly became conflicted.

Both were A-rank, which meant that if Qin Ming wanted, he could easily merge the two and create a third S-rank skill of his own—an ultimate legendary power.

But the problem was, the last person who tried to merge Killing Intent Wave ended up being blown into minced meat right before his eyes!

The Steel Body and Blood Absorption skills had been leveled up slowly from the bottom, so they were relatively gentle in nature.

But Killing Intent Wave is notorious for its massive side effects. It couldn't possibly be gentle! Look at how violent Gouki is! Does he seem gentle?

Once it enters the body, it would clash with the other two powers, and Qin Ming would probably not even know how he died!

Moreover, Qin Ming was sure that, given Killing Intent Wave's aggression, it would definitely try to take control.

With a grim expression, Qin Ming quickly put the skill book away without strengthening it recklessly.

Even if he was inclined to strengthen it, he would have to wait until he returned to the Nightmare Space. Hopefully, the Nightmare Space could protect him.

Turning his gaze, Qin Ming, now wearing the gloves, focused on the other two treasures.

They were Goenitz's key and the final reward from the King of Fighters tournament.

Among the loot, one was a scale, and the other was a book!

Legendary Item! Orochi's God Fragment!

And Legendary Item! King of Fighters Manual!

The ultimate reward from Goenitz's camp had enticed countless adventurers to risk their lives, leading to the death of hundreds of mid-level adventurers. And now, by pure luck, Qin Ming had obtained the ultimate loot!

The King of Fighters Manual also had excellent properties.

[Name: Orochi Fragment - Frenzy]

[Category: Consumable (Faint Legendary)]

[Effect: Upon use, you will obtain the Bloodline of the Hakkesshu – Madness, and upon death, reincarnate in The King of Fighters world as a member of the Hakkesshu, completely breaking free from the Nightmare Space's constraints.]

[Description: Congratulations on escaping the shackles of the Nightmare Space. But are you ready to embrace the shackles of the Serpent's mission?]

[Name: King of Fighters Handbook]

[Category: Special Equipment (Dim Legendary Grade)]

[Effect: Allows story characters to sign and register their names. Once registered, they can be summoned in other worlds. In each world, one randomly selected member from the list can be summoned to assist in battle. (Current number: 0/24)]

[Description: As a recognized King of Fighters, you now have the qualifications to host your own KOF tournament. So work hard to assemble eight teams! Engage in a fierce battle that belongs to you alone!]

A King of Fighters Handbook capable of recording and summoning characters, and a Serpent Fragment that can break the chains of Nightmare Space and restore freedom.

Looking at the two top-tier items in his hands, Qin Ming couldn't help but break into a radiant smile.

But before he could enjoy that smile for more than a few seconds, a sharp, piercing alarm from Nightmare Space suddenly rang in his ears.

No! That eerie noise could no longer be called a notification! It was more like an air raid siren!

[Ding! Detected a special-type item in possession of No. 441985! Nightmare Space requests item recovery! Does No. 441985 agree to the recovery?]

[Ding! Warning! If recovery is refused, your overall evaluation within Nightmare Space will decrease! You will be disqualified from participating in the Final Trial of Nightmare Space!]

[Ding! Warning! If the adventurer chooses to fuse with the special item, Nightmare Space will remove you from its cultivation list! You will be permanently barred from advancing to Top-Tier Adventurer status and remain forever at Advanced rank!]

[Ding! Warning! No. 441985 has immense potential and is currently on the priority cultivation list! Therefore, Nightmare Space strongly urges you to accept item recovery! Nightmare Space is willing to offer additional compensation! One of your items can be upgraded to Legendary level, with a custom improvement tailored to your needs—satisfaction guaranteed!]

The endless ding-ding-ding echoed in his ears like a string of death bells, the noise so loud that Qin Ming's head throbbed.

After being stunned for a long while, Qin Ming finally snapped out of his shock.

Seeing that Nightmare Space was still going ding-ding-ding because of his inaction, a fed-up Qin Ming quickly threw the Serpent Fragment away.

"Alright, alright, take it! You're chasing me like debt collectors! What are you so damn anxious for?! I wasn't planning to use it anyway!"

Clearly, Nightmare Space was in a panic this time—otherwise, it wouldn't have gone this crazy.

And as for its request, Qin Ming directly agreed.

After all, from the very beginning, he never intended to fuse with that thing and become a so-called Hakkesshu member.

Sure, the ability to escape Nightmare Space and reincarnate infinitely in the KOF world sounds wonderful—practically immortality, right?

But the problem is, you're only seeing the thief enjoying the loot! What about when the thief gets beaten?

Do you have any idea how high the death rate is among the Hakkesshu?! In the current generation, six members died in battle! One was killed by their own ally! Only one survived—and that's only because they never activated their Heavenly Bloodline!

Let alone past generations—they basically all failed, and a whole bunch died.

Damn it, even Nightmare Space doesn't have that high of a death rate!

And even if you do beat your enemies and revive your god...

That god is going to wipe the floor with the world the moment they wake up! Then you're back to reincarnation again—stuck in an endless cycle!

This whole thing is a loop with no exit! Whether you succeed or not, you die. The only difference is how you die!

And most importantly—after reincarnation, would that Qin Ming still be him?

At best, it'd just be a newborn with his memories. Just look at Mature and Vice—who knows, maybe in their past lives they were loyal men, and now they've turned into seductive femme fatales!

Not to mention reincarnation—even with a resurrection coin, Qin Ming was afraid that the one coming back wouldn't be himself but a clone! That's why he never dared use that trump card!

So, in Qin Ming's eyes, the so-called Hakkesshu identity was just a trap—especially with how fiercely Nightmare Space was rejecting it.

Qin Ming was a simple, straightforward man, and his thinking was just as direct.

He figured, if you're going to work for Nightmare Space, then commit fully.

You're working for one company during the day and job hunting for another one after hours—of course your boss is going to be pissed! Anyone would be!

If the day ever came when he really wanted to switch sides, he wouldn't hesitate—make the decision on Day 1, find the path on Day 2, and run for it on Day 3.

Because the longer you drag things out, the more likely something will go wrong. What if one day Nightmare Space got annoyed and tossed him into some death trap just to get rid of him? Not impossible at all!

Qin Ming liked the thrilling life within Nightmare Space—plus, the benefits were honestly pretty damn good.

So why abandon that and go work under the Serpent? What, the Serpent is more impressive than Nightmare Space?

Then how come it got sealed up in the first place? Why is Nightmare Space sending people to mess with it, not the other way around?

The bosses on both sides aren't on equal footing, neither are their benefits. Qin Ming, now a mid-level staffer at Nightmare Ltd. with hopes of climbing to senior management, had no reason to jump ship to a small-time startup.

Startup my ass! That shabby little company only had one boss and eight employees! Where are the "lower ranks" even coming from?! They don't even have basic insurance and benefits! Everything's just slogans and empty promises, luring people to work for scraps!

So unless a better opportunity comes along, Nightmare Ltd. was Qin Ming's job for now.

And becoming a Senior Staffer, even a Top Staffer—or better yet, a shareholder!—that was Comrade Qin Ming's life-long ambition!

He would climb, step by step, to the top!

He would become Zhao... no—Qin Gao!

(End of Chapter)