My Avatar Is Becoming the Final Boss-Chapter 38: Wild Hunt

“This character’s mechanics are really fun.”
Thinking that, Ji Minghuan reached out and touched the “ring-shaped chessboard” encircling him.
Immediately, the “King,” “Queen,” “Pawn,” and “Rook” in the office all turned into beams of light, flowing to his side and merging into the black-and-white circular path.
They reverted into silent chess pieces, rotating slowly around his body.
Ji Minghuan quietly withdrew Tianqu back into his body. Everything returned to normal.
The office was now silent, with the pungent smell of blood and the faint stench of some entity being scorched still lingering. The corpse of the Work Demon was gradually dissolving into a glow, and even the blood that had been gushing on the ground was turning transparent.
Ji Minghuan looked at the corpse on the ground, then turned back to glance at the three members of the brigade sitting in the corner of the office.
He asked, “So, am I qualified to join the team?”
Arlens and Robert exchanged a glance. Origami Ayase’s face remained expressionless.
“I vote for him,” Origami Ayase said coldly. “That Tianqu is pretty fun.”
“I think he’s pretty interesting too.” Arlens shrugged. “Never seen an Exorcist like him before. Since the leader’s interested in his power, I’ll vote for him too.”
Robert thought for a moment and said in a deep mechanical voice, “Even if his ability has a lot of potential, he’s still very weak right now. Being with us… he might very well die.” He paused. “Forget it… it’s already two votes. Whether I vote or not doesn’t matter.”
Arlens patted him on the shoulder and said with a chuckle, “If we don’t let him in, won’t he die anyway?”
“Why?”
“The leader said if we’re not satisfied, just kill him.”
“You’ve got a point,” Robert said calmly.
“Anyway, it’s two to zero. The newbie officially joins the team.” With that, Origami Ayase stood up from the corner and slowly walked toward Ji Minghuan, then reached into the sleeve of her kimono. “This is a gift from the leader.”
“A gift?”
“That’s right, a gift,” Origami Ayase said, her voice cold.
In the next moment, she pulled out a jet-black crow from the russet-colored sleeve. The crow spread its wings and flew toward Ji Minghuan, landing on the back of his hand.
“Team mark. Choose any spot you like,” she said. “Mine’s on the shoulder.”
As she spoke, she lowered her eyes and pulled aside part of her russet kimono, revealing a portion of the crow tattoo on her shoulder.
Ji Minghuan stared at the crow tattoo on the girl’s shoulder, half understanding. He thought for a moment, then casually threw out an answer:
“Back of the hand?”
As soon as he said it, the crow suddenly expanded as if under intense heat, twisting, deforming, and then melting, dripping like black water onto the back of Ji Minghuan’s hand.
The black feathers turned into a crow-shaped mark tattooed on the back of Ji Minghuan’s hand;
the crimson eyes formed a number in the center of the design—“12.”
Bone-white fragments turned into two straight lines and crossed the symbol with an “X.”
“Welcome, our Number 12,” Arlens grinned. “Now the last empty spot is filled.”
He gave Ji Minghuan a one-armed hug and reminded him, “The other members aren’t as easygoing as us. You’d better be careful when dealing with them.”
Ji Minghuan nodded and quietly stared at the crow tattoo on the back of his hand.
At that moment, a mission notification popped up before his eyes.
[Main Quest 1 completed: Reach the meeting point and pass the White Crow Brigade’s recruitment trial.]
[Quest Reward: 1 Skill Point, 1 Split Point, 1 Attribute Point]
[Main Quest 1 updated: Accompany the White Crow Brigade to the heist at the Tokyo Underground Auction on July 21 and survive the mission.]
“A heist at an auction…” Ji Minghuan thought, “Doesn’t sound that dangerous. There probably aren’t many people in Japan who can stop the brigade. I’ll just tag along.”
Arlens smiled and said, “Time to head out. The rest of the team isn’t in Tokyo yet. Let’s grab a meal first, then disband for now.”
“Food,” Origami Ayase said plainly. “I’m hungry.”
“Let’s go… I left a portal to a ramen shop last time,” Robert said.
“What are you spacing out for, Number 12?” Arlens said, brushing past Ji Minghuan.
The four of them made their way back to the abandoned corridor from earlier. Ji Minghuan maintained his poker face and silently followed alongside them.
He lowered his eyes and opened the [Character Development System] panel.
[This character’s development system is—“Winter of the Hunt System.”]
[Core Rule of the Winter of the Hunt System: Kill enough Demons and Extraordinary Species to earn rewards through the development system.]
[Current Progress—Training Mission 1: Kill any one C-level or higher Demon, or one C-level or higher Extraordinary Species (Reward: 1 Attribute Point) (Mission progress based on total kills of Demons and Extraordinary Species)]
[Training Mission 1 completed. Reward received: 1 Attribute Point]
[Now advancing to Training Mission 2: Kill any 10 C-level or higher Demons, or 10 C-level or higher Extraordinary Species (Reward: 1 Attribute Point)]
“That’s easy. Just follow the brigade and kill stuff—these people are nuts anyway.” Ji Minghuan thought to himself, closed the development panel, and opened the personal character panel.
[Name: Xia Pingzhou (Rare Character)]
[Age: 19]
[Current Nickname: None (Too unknown in the real world, hasn’t made a name yet)]
“Soon, this nickname should be updated to ‘White Crow Brigade Number 12’,” Ji Minghuan thought.
[Strength: D-level (Adding points to this improves overall physical performance)]
[Speed: C++ level (Adding points improves neural response speed and the speed of “chess pieces”)]
[Spirit: C++ level (Adding points boosts mental power and the strength of “chess pieces”)]
[Available Attribute Points: 2]
[Available Split Points: 1]
[Available Skill Points: 1]
“I’ll check the Skill Tree later… Attribute points are easy to assign. This is a summoner-type character, no need for ‘Strength.’ Just focus on ‘Speed’ and ‘Spirit.’”
Following that logic, Ji Minghuan quickly allocated the 2 attribute points he had just earned.
[Character #2 “Xia Pingzhou” Speed changed: C++ → B level]
[Character #2 “Xia Pingzhou” Spirit changed: C++ → B level]
Then he closed the panel. At that moment, the office behind them suddenly echoed with the sound of footsteps.
The three brigade members beside him turned toward the noise mid-conversation, catching a glimpse of the office out of the corners of their eyes.
From the office entrance, a mixed-blood girl wearing a Rustek hat and khaki trench coat stepped in slowly. The leather boots she wore made tapping sounds as she walked.
Beside her was another girl wearing a green sports T-shirt and with medium-length hair.
Ji Minghuan was the last to turn around among the team members, but when he caught sight of the two figures at the entrance, he froze slightly.
“My little sister?” He raised an eyebrow, thinking, “And… her Exorcist teacher is with her too.”
From several dozen meters apart, he and Ke Qirui and Su Zimai exchanged glances.
“Looks like we’re not the only guests here,” Robert said.
“Shall we kill them?” Origami Ayase asked expressionlessly.
“Hmm… they saw us, so we don’t really have a choice,” Arlens said. “Kill them.”