adventurers in the sewers

At first, Louis wondered how to fuse the Hero's Codex and what the conditions for fusion were.

We can't wait until all the stats are maxed out before we can fuse them.

But as he focused all his attention on the red gem, he suddenly felt something.

Louis drew his sword and lightly sliced ​​it across his palm, drawing out bright red blood—despite the harsh surroundings, he possessed the passive skill 'Sewer Creature' and was immune to infection.

Blood stained the Hero's Tome, and the next second, the gem seemed to come alive, turning into a red light that burrowed into Louis's body through the wound.

The red light, somewhere between reality and illusion, rose upwards until it merged into Louis's heart, where it finally stopped moving.

Immediately afterwards, Louis felt that the Hero's Codex was constantly releasing certain information to him.

Regardless of race or language, everyone can fully and clearly understand the meaning of the message.

He organized this information.

Simply put, it means that Louis has gained the recognition of the secret manual, but has not yet met the requirements for job advancement.

To truly become a Warrior, you must first have at least five ability stats that reach 10 points.

And... we must also accomplish the great task of saving a thousand humans.

Only after changing jobs can the hero's various special abilities be truly unlocked.

Louis can understand the requirement of having at least five ability values ​​reach 10 points.

After all, as far as he knew, the top-tier initial professions generally had four main attributes.

In comparison, the Hero class, where all attributes are primary, only requires maxing out any five stats to advance, which isn't too unreasonable.

But the feat of saving a thousand people is somewhat difficult to accomplish.

I'm just a poor kid from the slums myself, how am I supposed to save a thousand people?

He was hoping to be saved, perhaps by some rich young girl who would take pity on him and give him dozens or hundreds of gold coins.

I only coveted the hero's strength; I didn't really want to shoulder the hero's responsibilities.

Can I return the Hero's Codex after it has been fused?

What? I can retreat? I can retreat once I become like the previous hero?

That's fine.

Louis was internally ranting and raving.

Even if he could return the goods without giving a reason, he would probably still be reluctant to do so.

Even before fusing with the Hero's Codex, he had a vague feeling that power and duty were inseparable.

Uncle Ben from heaven once said something quite apt: With great power comes great responsibility.

Louis didn't want to be a hero who worked so hard that he couldn't even take care of his family, but he was happy to help others as much as he could, or if helping others would also benefit him.

For example, the job change requirements he had to face.

He studied the information in the secret manual carefully and discovered that the great task of saving a thousand people could not be accomplished one by one, but could also be accomplished in groups.

For example, if a village is being harassed by monsters, and some villagers are bitten or even killed by the monsters, then killing the monsters is equivalent to saving the entire village.

A village has at least dozens or hundreds of people, and larger villages may even have four or five hundred people.

If you calculate it that way, the difficulty of saving a thousand people isn't so great after all.

"Wait, eliminate monsters, save villagers... Why does this scenario feel so much like an adventurer's guild quest? No wonder it feels so familiar."

Louis suddenly discovered the blind spot.

Moreover, saving a village requires leaving the city.

In a border fortress like Blackrock City, even if fierce monsters manage to sneak in, patrol teams and militia can handle them, leaving him no room to maneuver.

"Sigh, I was planning to become a professional in the sewers, then find a comfortable job and live like a nobleman, but in the end I still have to go out of the city to risk my life."

Louis's mood suddenly soured.

It's all my fault for being too greedy.

It's like a college student buying a computer. They originally just wanted to buy a laptop that cost three or four thousand yuan to make do, but in the process of repeatedly comparing computer configurations and various subsidies and cost-effectiveness, the more they compared, the more expensive it became. In the end, they went for the high-end model that cost seven or eight thousand yuan.

He didn't initially intend to become that strong.

But since things have come to this, let's go out of the city and take a look.

Anyway, I am not what I used to be. Most adventurers below the professional level are not as good as me.

As long as you are careful and only accept simpler commissions, and run away if things go wrong, you will definitely be able to come back safely.

Of course, the most important point is to choose a few trustworthy teammates.

If you encounter a terrible teammate like Daina, even if you manage to turn the tide and get a kill, you'll still feel mentally exhausted from constantly having to be on guard against them while traveling with them.

"As for teammates, I have two ready-made ones by my side."

Louis's heart skipped a beat.

The two ready-made teammates he was referring to were, of course, Dana and Nora.

Nora is very capable, and the two have cooperated twice, so there is a foundation of mutual trust. Dina can completely entrust her back to her.

They are much better than those teammates they met by chance.

"To be on the safe side, I'll wait until Daina has recovered from her injury before I leave the city to carry out the commission."

Louis thought to himself.

After looting the wealth of three professional apprentices from the Black Scorpion Gang, he could easily go a month or two without working.

I'll take this opportunity to move and improve my life, and also familiarize myself with the surge in stats and skills so I won't be caught off guard in an emergency.

In addition, Louis also had to find a way to conceal the fact that he had become a hero.

With the example of the Fourth Hero still fresh in his mind, Louis didn't want to reveal his hero identity too early and follow in his predecessor's footsteps.

"From now on, I'll pretend to be a shield-guarding professional. It's harmless and popular."

"When I'm close to meeting the requirements for job advancement, I'll need to buy a Shield Guardian class tome."

Louis felt a pang of heartache at the thought of all this.

The price of the Shield Guardian class tome is a full ten gold coins.

But in order to conceal his identity, he had no choice but to pay the money.

While making various plans, Louis carried the hero's body ashore and climbed up himself.

The stench of sewage wouldn't be cleaned up anytime soon, so Louis quickly dried himself off and put his shirt on.

After you get out of the sewer, go to a public bathhouse and take a good shower.

Once I have the money, I can afford this amount of spending.

Shortly after getting dressed, Nora also woke up from her coma.

She subconsciously touched her neck, her beautiful brows furrowing slightly, as if recalling what happened before she lost consciousness.

"You're awake. If you're alright, let's leave here."

A familiar voice sounded from beside her.

Nora turned her head and saw Louis, who was still wet and smelled of sewage.

However, she didn't seem disgusted, and asked blankly:

"I remember being ambushed by the hero's corpse and strangled unconscious. What happened after that?"

Louis pointed to the hero's corpse lying to the side and explained what had happened.

Of course, Louis didn't mention that he had lost and then found the Hero's Manual; he only said that it had fallen into a polluted river and had been washed away somewhere.

After hearing all this, Nora slowly stood up and nodded to Louis:

"Thanks."

She hesitated for a moment, then said:

"I was very wary of you before, worried that you would try to take advantage of me for your own benefit. Now it seems that I was overthinking it. I'm sorry."

Louis waved his hand magnanimously, making no mention of the fact that he had also been wary of her.

Nora walked up to the hero's corpse and asked Louis:

"The hero said he wished for his body to be properly buried?"

Louis nodded and advised:

"Although it's a bit of a pity, I think it's better to respect his last wishes, otherwise I'm afraid he might come back to life."

Nora paused for a few seconds, touched her bruised neck, and slowly said:

"Alright, let's bury him then, but before that, there are some grudges we need to settle."

Before she could finish speaking, the girl's right foot, clad in a small leather boot, suddenly shot out and kicked the hero's corpse hard in the neck.

Gaba --

The hero's neck twisted 180 degrees in a bizarre way, his skin and flesh bursting open; he was just a hair's breadth away from cosplaying Louis XVI.