Era of Mist

Chapter 172: Chapter 171: Novice on the Road, Paying to Level Up

Shi Tiexin wanted to laugh out loud, to shout with wild abandon, to howl like a wolf. He glanced at the dashboard. His current speed was—forty kilometers per hour...

”Driving so slow and still blocking the road? You psycho!”

A car sped past, the curse shouted in familiar Chinese. ’Hmm, seems like there’s an unusual number of folks from back home living in this foreign land... in this particular world line.’

Shi Tiexin quickly pulled over. ’Sorry, sorry, my apologies for blocking your way. Really, my bad for driving so slow... Huh? Wait a minute. Something’s not right about this! This is all wrong!’

’Look at this uniform—I’m a traffic cop! How can everyone be so arrogant? One after another, they’re so damn brazen. Don’t they have any respect for me? I mean, I could forgive them for not avoiding me, but they actually roll down the window just to curse me out? Aren’t you speed-demons afraid of the goddamn iron fist of the law?’

’What the hell is going on in this world line?’

No matter what was going on with the world, I, Shi Tiexin, as a traffic cop, have decided to remain true to my calling and fulfill my mission.

And what is my mission?

’Busting violations! Nailing speeders! Docking points! Slapping on fines! I’m going to teach these delinquent drivers a profound lesson and make them understand that while there are a thousand roads to take, speeding will leave you with a river of tears!’

’My trusty police bike, let’s ride, my partner!’

He gunned the engine. A powerful force threw him back—no, it was more of a butt-shoving sensation. The roar of the wind intensified as Shi Tiexin charged menacingly after the speeding cars. ’Huh? How are they getting farther away?’ He glanced down at his speedometer. Sixty kph.

’Not good enough! Faster, faster!’

’Let’s fly, partner!’

The butt-shoving sensation returned, the wind howled louder, and the tires began to shudder on the pavement. A glance down at his speed: eighty kph. ’Hmm, I’ve already hit the speed limit for this road. That’s fast enough, definitely fast enough.’

But how were those speeding cars still pulling away?

’Tch, what a stupid question. That’s why they call it *speeding*!’

”Boss! What the hell are you doing!” Ah Fei’s voice crackled over the radio. ”The OMG is about to get away! Where’s your usual fire? Go! Get ’em!”

BEEP. Another voice came through the radio, this one sounding thick and honest. ”Is something wrong with your bike, Boss? It’s looking a little wobbly. Everything okay?”

’So I have a team?’

Shi Tiexin pressed the talk button on his radio, his voice steady. ”No issues.”

’Right now, telling the truth is my only option. These guys make their living on the road; they’re bound to know more about motorcycles than I do. If I lie and say the bike has a problem, they might take it for a check-up, find nothing wrong, and then *I’d* be the one with the problem.’

’There’s still so much I don’t know about my new identity, and this world line doesn’t seem very safe. I need to be careful and stay hidden, to not act too differently from the ’me’ they’re used to.’

Ah Fei sounded confused. ”No issues? Then what are you waiting for? Taking a leisurely stroll after dinner?”

’Eighty kph is a leisurely stroll? Looks like my counterpart here had some serious driving skills.’

”Boss is probably still obsessing over his new bike,” the honest-sounding voice added. As his memories continued to thaw, Shi Tiexin suddenly realized this voice belonged to a guy named Guo Bing—one of his crew.

”Don’t worry about the new bike, Mai Ba’s work is flawless. But if you don’t step on it, the OMG will get away!”

Just then, a third voice cut in, as loud and explosive as a string of firecrackers: ”BOSS!!! CRUSH ’EM! SHRED ’EM! LET ’ER ROAR! FULL THROTTLE, BABY~~!!”

Fine!

’With so many eyes on me, I guess I have no choice. I have to catch that OMG today, one way or another.’

’But with my ”Unqualified” level Basic Driving Skill, that’s practically impossible... Huh? In the blink of an eye, my Basic Driving Skill progress bar is almost at ”Qualified”?’

’This Basic Driving Skill is leveling up so fast!’

’That makes sense. Basic Driving isn’t a particularly difficult skill, and application-type skills level up faster than Fundamental Heart Skills anyway. Plus, this body seems very familiar with motorcycles; it has an instinct for driving.’

Because he hadn’t completed his fated mission, the block of consciousness was thawing very slowly. However, most of the memories that melted away were related to driving. Every so often, a string of stars would unexpectedly fly over and crash into his Driving Skill’s progress bar.

Right before his eyes, the progress bar shot up, and with a final POP, it changed from ”Unqualified” to ”Qualified.” His trembling hands immediately felt a little steadier, and the slight wobble in the front tire diminished noticeably.

What’s more, with the increase in his driving skill, a tachometer and a speedometer suddenly materialized on his driving HUD, allowing Shi Tiexin to check his status at any time without looking down.

The more stable ride gave Shi Tiexin greater confidence. He continued to twist the throttle with his right hand, and the speedometer on his HUD kept climbing, soon reaching 110 kph. The bike’s frame bucked and vibrated, the noise was piercing, and the road surface, which had seemed smooth before, now felt distinctly pitted and uneven at this speed.

He hit a bump that sent his butt flying off the seat for half a second before he slammed back down. If he hadn’t been gripping the handlebars and hugging the frame with his legs for dear life, he felt like he would have been sent flying.

Once you get thrown off, it’s a fatal crash.

Dangerous!

But... it was also a hell of a thrill!

’A thrill like nothing I’ve ever felt before!’

’Just how fast can you ride? It’s a question of skill, a question of luck, and more than anything, a question of guts. As long as you’re brave enough, some puny OMG doing one-forty, one-fifty kph is nothing. I could take you any minute—POP! POP! POP! The Celestial Golden Light flashed three times on the Basic Driving Skill’s progress bar—I could just top up my driving skill any minute now and leave you in the dust!’

’...Heh heh... What can I do?... There’s that old saying: ”A twist of the wrist puts your life at risk.” When it’s time to chicken out, you chicken out. For normal, law-abiding driving, I obviously don’t need to top up. A ”Qualified” skill level is more than enough for me to mess around below the speed limit.’

’But the problem is, this isn’t my daily commute! I’m chasing a fugitive right now!’

’Yeah, speeding this badly, posing a serious threat to life and property, with a complete disregard for safety... Calling a guy like that a fugitive isn’t an exaggeration, right?’

’Besides, my reserves of Celestial Golden Light are pretty full right now. And since the first tier of all my subjects is already perfected, there’s nothing else that urgently needs a top-up.’

’It’s like they say: money buys happiness. No money? Then what the fuck are you even playing for? If I don’t pay up, how am I supposed to get stronger?’

’My top priority is to blend in, so I need to get my skills up to my counterpart’s level as quickly as possible. At the very, very least, I need to catch this OMG and get past this hurdle first.’

Basic Driving Skill isn’t that hard to train in the first place, which means the Celestial Golden Light requirement for a top-up is also relatively low.

’Once I’ve paid to upgrade it, I can even use it for making deliveries in the future. It’s a great value, a real bargain. So, let’s do it.’

’Using Celestial Golden Light to ”charge gold”... now *this* is what I call paying to win!’