My Avatar Is Becoming the Final Boss-Chapter 41: Travel

July 11, early morning, Guyimai Neighborhood.
Ji Minghuan’s consciousness soared like a sea swallow, departing from Tokyo, Japan, spreading its wings across the vast East China Sea, and finally diving into an apartment in Lijing, China.
Controlling his first game character—Gu Wenyu—he woke up in bed and opened his eyes.
Right in front of his retina hovered a red-and-black notification panel.
[Main Quest 3 completed: Investigate what your “younger sister” Su Zimai is hiding.]
[Reward: 1 Split Point, 1 Skill Point, 1 Attribute Point]
[Main Quest 3 updated: Form a cooperative relationship with “Ghost Train Brigade” member—Exorcist “Su Zimai,” and expand your social network within the Reality-altering Esper Association.]
Ji Minghuan tilted his head, unable to suppress a slight chuckle: “So I used my second game character to complete my first character’s main quest. Guess that works.”
He had originally considered having Black Cocoon tail Su Zimai or something, but things had coincidentally skipped that step altogether.
Turning his head, he glanced at the clock on the wall. The time difference between China and Japan was one hour; it was 9:15 a.m. in Japan, so it was 8:15 a.m. here in China.
Today was July 11, which meant there were still 10 days until the White Crow Brigade launched their operation on Tokyo’s underground auction.
Ji Minghuan yawned, his eyes watering from drowsiness. He raised his hand, tapped the Gear Icon, brought up the personal panel, and allocated the newly obtained attribute point to Speed.
[Character #1 “Black Cocoon” Speed attribute updated: C++ → B level]
[Current Attributes for “Black Cocoon”: Strength: C++ / Speed: B / Spirit: C]
Next, he opened the Skill Tree and checked the progress of each branch.
“Let’s go ahead and learn Binding Restraint Suppression.”
With that thought, Ji Minghuan raised his finger and long-pressed the skill name. The text brightened from dim to clear, and a red-and-black notification box slowly popped up in front of him.
[1 Skill Point consumed. Successfully learned Branch “Fury” Skill—“Binding Restraint Suppression” (After using Binding Restraints to bind an Aberration, you can temporarily suppress its extraordinary power).]
[Next skill in Branch ‘Fury’ is now available for learning.]
Ji Minghuan glanced at the newly unlocked skill in that branch, his eyes lighting up slightly, “Should’ve unlocked this branch earlier.”
[Esper Theft: After binding an Esper using Binding Restraints, you can temporarily steal and store their ability. The ability can be used once and will disappear after use. (Stolen abilities retain only 50% power, and effectiveness depends on Black Cocoon’s attributes) (Maximum storage time: 24 hours)]
“If you steal a destructive power, it’ll be weak, which is kind of dumb—but if it’s a utility ability, that’s a whole different story,” he thought. “That’s the next skill I’ll go for.”
Ji Minghuan closed the Character Skill Tree, scrolled to the final page, and brought up the Create New Game Character panel.
[Split progress incomplete. Unable to create a new game character.]
[Note: Creating a new game character in the real world requires 9 Split Points. (You currently have 2 Split Points. Once you collect all 9, you can create your next ‘Game Character.’)]
“Nine Split Points for the next one?” he thought. “That’s quite a jump. What, are they worried I’ll develop dissociative identity disorder from juggling too many characters?”
As he was thinking, he suddenly noticed a new option had appeared in the System Panel—an option labeled Event Cards, so he tapped it to give it a try.
[You have stayed in the same city (Lijing, China) for three days. Event Cards for this city have been unlocked. Periodically, an Event Card may appear somewhere in the city. Completing the Event triggers will reward you with an Event Card.]
[Tip: You can spot Event Cards by the “!” symbol in the city sky. Head to the area below the symbol to find the Event Trigger Point and enter the Card Event.]
“A city exploration system, huh… feels like one of those copy-paste Ubisoft games,” Ji Minghuan thought. “But Lijing’s way too big. No way I’m running all over the place for this system. At most, I’ll hang around downtown and see if any Card Events spawn nearby.”
Just then, he heard a knock at the door.
“Coming, coming.”
Putting on an impatient tone, Ji Minghuan hopped out of bed, turned the doorknob, and opened the door—revealing Gu Qiye’s face. Today, he wore a blue T-shirt with an animated Blue Arc print—it looked like a fan edition.
“What is it?” Ji Minghuan asked.
Gu Qiye leaned against the doorframe with arms folded, smiled at him, and asked, “I’m thinking of taking a trip to Japan next week. Want to come with me?”
Wait, you’re going to Japan too? Ji Minghuan thought for a moment. “I wouldn’t mind a trip to Japan. Which city are you thinking? Hokkaido?”
“Tokyo, Japan’s biggest city. It’s fun.”
“Okay, book me a ticket too.”
Gu Qiye nodded, then hesitated a bit before saying, “Also, could you ask Little Mai if she wants to go to Tokyo? If she does, tell her to come home first.”
“Got it.” Ji Minghuan lowered his head and sent a message to Su Zimai on his phone.
Ding—a quick reply. Just one word: Scram.
“Little Mai said no.”
Ji Minghuan looked up at Gu Qiye and thought sarcastically: Good brother, your little sister is already in Japan. Who needs your plane ticket?
“Well then, text her and tell her to be careful at her friend’s place, stay safe, and eat three meals a day.”
Gu Qiye fell silent for a moment, hesitating before adding, “Also… ask Dad if he wants to come to Japan with us.”
“Come on…” Ji Minghuan sighed, “Can’t you ask him yourself? Why do I have to do everything?”
“I’m taking you to Tokyo, aren’t I? Can’t you do me this tiny favor?” Gu Qiye said, ruffling Ji Minghuan’s hair.
His thoughts were elsewhere. In his mind, he was mulling over: “The UN sent Rainbow Wing to hunt Ghost Bell. It should be fine for me to leave this city for a while… even though I’m not too thrilled about it, it’s the Association’s call. And honestly, if Rainbow Wing’s on the job, Ghost Bell probably won’t escape this time. By the time Wenyu and I get back from Japan… I’ll likely be hearing news of his death.”
“Dad says he wants to go too,” Ji Minghuan glanced at the received text and said without looking up.
Gu Qiye froze for a moment. “Alright. I’ll book the tickets.”
Dad’s coming too? he thought.
To be honest, Gu Qiye hadn’t expected Gu Zhuo’an to agree. He just felt it’d be kind of messed up to go to Japan behind his back, so he asked Wenyu to send a message out of courtesy—just so their old man wouldn’t spiral into another meltdown and vanish for a few years again.
“Whatever… bringing him along doesn’t make much difference. Let’s just hope he doesn’t interfere with my work. I still have to coordinate with Japan’s Reality-altering Esper Association to ensure the auction goes smoothly.”
With that thought, Gu Qiye turned and slowly walked toward the staircase on the second floor.