Chapter 2 The Corpse Collector?

"You really are a stingy lot, your family. Even if he did look hopeless before, there's no need to revoke his VIP privileges." Glancing at the data on the crystal ball, the old man let out a snort.

Liu Zhi froze. He noticed that the attribute panel on the crystal ball seemed somewhat different from what he could see himself. At the very least, both name fields—Sandru Elants and Liu Zhi—were hidden. But in his own attribute panel, both name fields were still there. Sandru Elants's name was merely stamped with a void mark, as if it could no longer be used, yet Liu Zhi's name field remained intact.

Something seemed off here.

By then, the old man had finished recording the data. He took out a badge that appeared to be formed by a pair of skeletal hands clasped together and handed it to Liu Zhi.

"Alright, with this you've graduated. All game permissions have been unlocked for you. Handle things on your own. Also, when you have time, drop by the academy registrar's office to pick up your graduation pack—that's the last thing the academy has to give you."

Liu Zhi thanked the old man, took the badge, and prepared to leave.

But the old man waved his hand. "I thought you'd take the path of a neutral death servant, but it turns out you ended up as a corpse keeper. If that was going to be the case, why did you and your family fight against it all those years? You wasted your grandfather's last favor. Forget it, forget it—now get out of here."

Liu Zhi had no confusion about this. Clutching the badge, he simply walked out of the small hut.

He hadn't gone far when the man who had confronted him at the pier earlier also returned, followed by several warriors clad in full bone armor.

The man pointed at Liu Zhi. "That's him! He went there this time because he heard a piece of news pointing to a certain deity in the game who is famous for blood sacrifice. He needed one last chance to successfully take his class, so he chose to offer a blood sacrifice to this deity. Even though we can't control what happens in the game, one blood sacrifice means blood sacrifice every time—he'll carry that habit into the real world. He's a blood servant."

Seeing how agitated the man was, Liu Zhi couldn't help but wonder whether Sandru had done something truly abhorrent in the past. He had only just returned, and already he was running into something like this.

The bone-armored warriors behind the man stepped forward. "Hello, Classmate Sandru. We need to check whether you're a blood servant."

Liu Zhi hesitated, suppressing the urge to draw his sword. Staring at the bone-armored warriors, he said, "Of course you can check me. But if I'm not a blood servant, then what are you going to do about it? You can't just say 'wrong person' and walk off without a care."

The bone-armored warriors exchanged glances. Finally, the leader spoke. "Then what do you propose?"

"Simple. However you would deal with a blood servant, deal with the false accuser the same way. I want to see it with my own eyes."

Liu Zhi spoke each word deliberately.

The bone-armored warriors exchanged another round of glances. Finally, the leader nodded, glanced at the man who had led them there, and said, "Agreed."

The moment the agreement was made, one warrior positioned himself behind the man, appearing to protect him but really preventing him from leaving.

The man was startled by this turn of events. But he quickly calmed himself. The information about the game had been passed through several hands before secretly reaching Sandru. From his knowledge of Sandru, he knew exactly how Sandru would choose within the game world. Although he didn't know why this Sandru was currently so confident, he had enough faith that he could make Sandru suffer one serious setback.

Liu Zhi, meanwhile, took a step forward. "What do I need to do to prove myself? Show my attribute panel?"

"No, that must be kept confidential. Just show the three-piece set you obtained upon successfully taking your class."

The bone-armored leader said this while pulling out some items, and his subordinates raised their swords and shields, ready to prevent Liu Zhi from suddenly attacking.

Liu Zhi wasn't that bored. He reached out and produced the staff of death, then tapped his head to reveal the crystal skull, and finally displayed the Nether Palace altar hanging at his waist.

"A corpse keeper?" The bone-armored leader had already realized Liu Zhi's class the moment he saw the Nether Palace altar at his waist. "It seems you've chosen a path of order. May the wind of order always be at your side. Men—arrest this false accuser."

Watching the man's astonished expression, watching the bone-armored warriors seize him as easily as if they were grabbing a chick, Liu Zhi smiled. "Remember—however you deal with a blood servant, you deal with him the same way. I want to see it happen."

"You will see it," said the bone-armored leader. His subordinates promptly hung the man upside down beneath a nearby streetlamp, slit his veins open, and let his blood drip into the muddy ground beneath.

"He'll hang here for seven hours. If he survives after seven hours, he's lucky. If he doesn't, he just had bad luck."

The bone-armored leader explained, then asked, "By the way, have you chosen your posting location yet?"

Posting? What was that about? Liu Zhi knew nothing about it, but he couldn't show that he was completely clueless. In the end, he could only shake his head. "Not yet. I might have to return to my family to check, or find others to ask around."

"Right, some things are better asked about. After all, a fifty-year posting isn't a simple matter. Also, if possible, it's better to choose a large city. That way, when you go into the game, someone can take your shifts. Unlike in a small village, where you'd be the only corpse keeper and might not be able to play the game for a year or two."

"Understood." Liu Zhi knew the bone-armored warrior was reminding him of what kind of choice to make, and when it came to other people's goodwill, Liu Zhi was happy to accept it.

The bone-armored warriors glanced at the upside-down man one more time before slowly departing.

Once they were far away, Liu Zhi walked over to the man, smiled, and said, "So, blood servant—how does it feel to be hung up?"

Seeing that the bone-armored warriors were far gone, the man stopped struggling. He shouted at Liu Zhi, "Sandru! Let me down right now, or I'll make you regret it!"

Liu Zhi paid no attention to the man's curses. He stood before him, calmly watching him. Behind him, Videnina's figure slowly materialized, and then a flash of sword light—the man's head was severed clean off.