Chapter Twenty-Five: The Architect of the Hunting Grounds (Activated)

Unknowingly, Fang Nian began to recite the Clear Mind Formula, trying to steady himself, for the truth seemed to be gradually surfacing. Slowly, he calmed his mind, and all his thoughts became clearer.

“The clues I’ve organized point to eleven people, which means one of them doesn’t belong here. Normally, the architect of a hunting ground wouldn’t include a useless character, so in my view, the most inconspicuous person among them is the most suspicious.”

“Myself, the female police officer, the doctor, the bald boss, the girl involved in the car crash—these five are pivotal to advancing the plot, clearly not among the suspects. Of the remaining people, the one who stands out the least is...”

At this realization, Fang Nian’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“It’s that child…”

A chill crept down his spine as his memory returned to their arrival at the inn. The child first appeared when they were saving the female police officer.

“When the boyfriend on the stairs died, that man was sitting against the wall... no, his posture was more like crouching. What was it that filled his eyes with such incredulity? Wait, the angle of the knife wound... it was stabbed upward from below, meaning the killer was short in stature?”

Fang Nian was even more shocked.

“Before the blonde died, they did count the number of people. After that, I started arguing with the doctor, and the blonde went to my room. As for the child, no one paid him any attention. The manner of the blonde’s death was identical to the boyfriend’s.”

Fang Nian sensed the answer was about to be revealed.

“Then came the SUV woman—why did she drive away? Her emotions were indeed unstable, but... wait. I remember it was always the child comforting her. Did he say something that caused the girlfriend to break down? And the strong man died while trying to save him.”

A tremor ran through Fang Nian’s soul. When everything narrowed down to this point, all the illogical pieces suddenly made sense.

“That’s right, it was all orchestrated by the child—he’s the true culprit behind everyone’s demise. But why did he die in the car crash as well? What was his purpose in appearing at the hunting ground?”

At this thought, Fang Nian’s mind drifted back to reality. With his current abilities, he couldn’t yet reconstruct everything within the hunting ground. He understood his limitations—such insightful perception was not yet within his grasp.

Still, though he hadn’t deciphered the meaning of its existence, one thing was clear: the world within the hunting ground seemed to be more than just a virtual construct.

He collected his thoughts and claimed his task reward.

“Congratulations! You have acquired the Hunter Warrior skill ‘Mad Blade,’ four stages in total. Body level advanced. Five senses advanced. Unlock Hunting Ground Architect, level (novice). Architect types: Human Nature Excavation, Fear Suggestion. (Brother, you can try building your own hunting ground now.)”

“Double rewards acquired. Unlock mysterious architect ability ‘Invasion,’ initial stage. (What sparks will fly when a hunter encounters an architect in the hunting ground?)”

Fang Nian was exhilarated. Through the Clear Mind Formula and Insight, he truly grasped the importance of skills to a hunter. Although he had yet to participate in a team hunting ground, he knew he would face far more rigorous and challenging group hunts in the future. When you become a key team member of a certain profession, skills become crucial.

Fang Nian accessed the basic information of ‘Mad Blade’ in his mind. It was a poleblade technique, requiring a weapon of over thirty kilograms, divided into four stages: First, form practice; second, energy infusion; third, stone breaking; fourth, air slashing.

He wasn’t sure how powerful it could ultimately become, but he knew that mastering it would be a qualitative leap in combat ability inside the hunting ground. From now on, he would have to diligently practice the blade alongside his energy cultivation.

He put away ‘Mad Blade’ and opened the system menu again.

Host: Fang Nian
Body Level: F+ (A crucial stage before a major upgrade, a qualitative leap is imminent.)
Five Senses Level: Overall F+ (Vision: F, Smell: F, Taste: F+, Hearing: F+, Touch: F+)
Sixth Sense: None
Profession: Soul Hunter (quasi-novice), Hunting Ground Architect (novice)
Hunter Professions: Warrior (novice), Story Organizer (locked), Mechanic (locked), Codebreaker (locked)
Architect Types: Human Nature Excavation, Fear Suggestion
Skills: Clear Mind Formula, Qi Transformation from Muscle Change Classic (2/5), Eye Power ‘Insight,’ Warrior Skill ‘Mad Blade’ (1/4), ‘Invasion’ (secret)
Items: None
Achievements: None
Hunting Ground Clearance Records: ‘Buried Alive’ A+, ‘Deadly ID’ S
Self-designed Hunting Grounds: None
Hunting Ground Templates:
Horror Platform (Human Nature Template): The weakness of human nature is greed, selfishness, complaint, and vanity. Build a hunting ground cage out of the ugliness of private desires, shattering the hunter’s last shred of humanity. (Novice, unlockable; construction budget: 5000 Hope Coins)
Mirage (Mind-bending Template): Under butterfly effect, the hunter’s life trajectory will change unpredictably. Want to return to the original path to fulfill your mission? Impossible. As the architect, can you fry the hunter’s brain? Can the dead loop break the hunter’s final psychological defense? (Beginner, unlockable; 30000 Hope Coins)
System Tasks: Complete system-assigned tasks for rewards, which can improve physical attributes, unlock more professions, obtain more templates, etc.
Fate Lottery Box: Contains amazing rewards and abyssal demons. Enter at your own risk.

Other features: Pending update.
…………

Fang Nian was satisfied. His physical attributes and senses were steadily improving, his hunter level was about to break through, and his skills were becoming richer.

But what excited him most was the unlocking of the Hunting Ground Architect profession—a new field he’d long wished to explore.

However, upon learning about the mysterious ability ‘Invasion,’ Fang Nian became even more convinced that the space of the hunting ground was far from simple. ‘Invasion’ allowed his consciousness to enter a hunting ground he had constructed—a mysterious power never before seen in the hunting ground’s rules as he understood them.

“It seems the road ahead will only get harder. Strengthening myself is now the most crucial priority.”

Fang Nian opened the task list, which had updated as expected—still four options.

Commoner Difficulty: Complete a hunting ground background construction of F- or above.
Mortal Difficulty: Participate in a hunting ground construction of F or above, with personal design proportion exceeding 30%.
Hell Difficulty: (Does its existence put pressure on you? Keep searching for its traces.) Use ‘Invasion’ to enter a self-designed hunting ground of F+ or above, attempt to communicate with it, hunter clearance rate no higher than 5%. (Special task reward)
Nightmare Difficulty: Temporarily unavailable.

Fang Nian was speechless. He noticed that whether it was commoner, mortal, or hell, the task difficulty was clearly ramping up.

“All three tasks require construction techniques. If I want to independently build a themed hunting ground now, it’s obviously not possible. My best helper would naturally be my dear wife.”

“Designing a hunting ground with her—she should agree. Let’s try the mortal difficulty first, since I’m a rookie in hunting ground construction.”

Fang Nian chuckled, but felt a bit embarrassed.

“Isn’t it shameless to join someone empty-handed? In that case, I’ll buy the basic construction template—Horror Platform (Human Nature Template). I’ve just unlocked Human Nature Excavation and Fear Suggestion abilities.”

“Five thousand Hope Coins—Fatty shouldn’t be stingy, right?”

With that, Fang Nian dialed Fatty’s number.