After parting ways with the simp at school, Jiang Lin returned to his small, dilapidated shack.
As a transmigrator with the bearing of a system-user, things like family ties were naturally not included in his factory settings.
When he first transmigrated, Jiang Lin had no money and didn't know how to cook. There were no food delivery apps in this world for him to use, so his life back then was as miserable as it could possibly be.
Fortunately, while still at the Radiant Junior Magic Academy, Jiang Lin received an orphan student subsidy distributed by the Temple, which at least kept him from starving to death.
Jiang Lin finished his dinner in short order, then opened the system again to check his remaining two quests.
One was a stage-based quest that had existed since the system first awakened—【Slaughter】.
It required him to cumulatively slaughter one hundred thousand living beings. The reward was something called a Demon Lord Seed.
Currently, based on the fact that he had killed over a dozen mosquitoes, the quest was one-ten-thousandth complete. There were only ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and something living beings left waiting for him to slaughter them.
Regarding this quest, Jiang Lin's thought was that he could try finding some ant hills or beehives to wipe out. He would complete the quest and eliminate pests for the people at the same time.
As for a certain army numbering in the hundreds of millions, Jiang Lin judged that it probably wouldn't work.
After all, those hundreds of millions couldn't really be considered lives. He had experimented while drinking hot water; not a single one of the scalded oral epithelial cells had counted toward the total.
Even when he stared specifically at the system to pressure it, it was to no avail.
Jiang Lin sighed in disappointment.
If microorganisms could be counted as living beings, he could just culture some colonies and then use light magic to disinfect them. Wouldn't his merit and demonic foundation both skyrocket?
This system was so stubborn and lacked any flexibility.
Jiang Lin sighed again. At the same time, there was the quest to join one of the Four Great Secret Cults.
This quest was even more ridiculous. There were no safety education classes in the curriculum of the Radiant Junior Magic Academy, and in history class, mentions of secret cults were shrouded in secrecy.
Thus, Jiang Lin's current understanding of secret cults was limited to knowing they were evil organizations that worshipped evil gods. As for the so-called Four Great Secret Cults, he had never even heard of them.
But to be fair, the reward for this quest was indeed tempting enough.
【Reward: Neural reflex speed will be strengthened to twice the level it was when the quest was issued.】
Neural reflex speed was basically impossible to improve through normal training.
Unless one used certain special skills or rare natural treasures, one could only rely on the strengthening of basic attributes that came with leveling up to gain any improvement.
Neural reflex speed involved one's reaction time and physical response speed, equivalent to the agility attribute of the assassin class.
However, even for the assassin profession, there was no specialized method to increase neural reflex speed; they could only rely on leveling up. It was just that an assassin's increase in neural reflex speed per level was much more exaggerated than other professions.
If it were the original Jiang Lin, he would have had to break through from Rank 0 to Rank 1 at the very least to possibly double his neural reflex speed.
But now, he only had to complete this quest to join the Four Great Secret Cults to possess the reaction speed of a Rank 1 paladin in advance.
So, it was impossible for him not to be tempted.
Unfortunately, the only problem now was how he was supposed to join these so-called Four Great Secret Cults.
Setting aside the fact that he couldn't find a way in, even if he did find a stronghold for the Four Great Secret Cults, how was he supposed to convince those cultists to let a paladin like him join...
As everyone knew, a paladin was the incarnation of justice and kindness, the spokesperson for love and peace.
If he really ran into one of the Four Great Secret Cults alone, wouldn't those cultists mince him into meat stuffing?
"Sigh."
Jiang Lin sighed softly, feeling that the possibility of completing this quest was somewhat low.
For now, he could only take it one step at a time...
...
Just as Jiang Lin was about to clear his mind and continue practicing his breathing technique, a sound suddenly came from outside his window:
"Meow~"
It was a small, pitch-black stray cat crouching on Jiang Lin's windowsill.
This little black cat had appeared a few days ago.
Jiang Lin had fed it leftovers a few times, and it had stuck to him ever since.
"Here, kitty, kitty. Come here, Little Black~"
Jiang Lin took out the cat food he had prepared in advance and placed it in front of him.
Little Black was naturally the name Jiang Lin had given it.
Little Black looked at Jiang Lin, its eyes flickering with a somewhat human-like light.
It seemed as though it was having a huge internal struggle, but in the end, under the temptation of food, it walked into Jiang Lin's room and began eating the meal he had prepared.
In this world, black cats were generally considered unlucky omens, so few people would take the initiative to feed one.
As for Jiang Lin, he didn't have such a strong sense of identity with the local folk culture, so he naturally didn't have many misgivings.
Besides, this little black cat was quite cute. Even by the standards of his previous life, its appearance would definitely be considered top-tier.
So, Jiang Lin had naturally abducted this little black cat into his home.
This little black cat didn't usually bother Jiang Lin much. During the day while Jiang Lin was in class, it would go out to play on its own and handle its business outside. It would only come to find Jiang Lin every night to ask for food.
And Jiang Lin would take the opportunity while it was eating to pet the cat.
Another thing that surprised Jiang Lin was that, as a stray cat, this little black cat was actually very clean—even cleaner than many domestic cats from his previous life.
When he used the paladin's light attribute to purify its body of dirt and small bugs, he found that it had neither.
This made Jiang Lin wonder if it was actually a stray.
However, it didn't matter if it was a pet; its owner hadn't come looking for it in several days anyway.
Little Black silently walked to the food Jiang Lin had prepared and began eating heartily. Jiang Lin, after habitually casting a Holy Light Purification on it, began to pet the cat.
As Jiang Lin's hand of fate descended, the little black cat's body visibly stiffened for a moment. A complex, human-like expression appeared in its cat eyes, but then it seemed to resign itself to its fate, allowing Jiang Lin to pet it as he pleased.
While happily petting the cat, Jiang Lin pondered his future plans.
Suddenly!
A flash of inspiration appeared out of nowhere, and a light of world-shaking wisdom shone in Jiang Lin's eyes!!
Opening the system, he confirmed the quest requirements once more:
【Join one of the Four Great Secret Cults and become a member.】
Since he couldn't find these so-called "Four Great Secret Cults"...
Then couldn't he just establish an organization himself and name it "One of the Four Great Secret Cults"?!!!
With this goddamn system's goddamn judgment mechanism, it might actually count it as meeting the requirements!!!
Rate on N.U.
