Transforming Succubus: Almost Doomsday

Transfer station.

Lin, puffing on her cigarette, felt the fluctuation of numerous pieces of information, her gaze hazy.

"Quite an interesting newbie. Over by Midel, progress has emerged in the decisive battle with the Succubus Queen. And within the opposing faction of the Stitched Demon Lord, a powerful Hunter has appeared."

"More and more intriguing changes are cropping up."

The joy of puffing and exhaling smoke left a certain excited flush on Sister Lin's face.

Until Zhou Baiyu appeared.

The intermediary only then realized that she had been perhaps too excited, looking as if it was after the event.

"Welcome back. Here's a drink for you, on the house."

Sister Lin generously mixed a drink at the bar.

"It's about an advancement... a permanent boost or debuff. You can choose not to drink it. But you might also consider taking a gamble, hehe."

Zhou Baiyu had just come back.

After dying so many times, he, who had not yet tried being smashed to death, finally rushed off in a hurry to die.

Fortunately, a second after death, he was transferred back to the transfer station, spared from being wiped out.

Then, as soon as he came back, he saw Sister Lin staring at him with a... bad sister's smirk.

"You told me advancement requires a lot of experience... And now I've become second-tier?"

He looked at the drink, hesitating whether to drink it or not.

"For a Mutator to reach the second or even third tier, indeed requires a lot of experience. If you rely on Pathfinder points, it's hard. But if you complete challenges that are nearly impossible, then it's much easier."

"Simply put, the promotion mechanism encourages humans to advance by undertaking high-difficulty versions."

Sister Lin paused for a few seconds, then suddenly changed the topic:

"Actually, the clues you've found are insufficient to support your conclusion. How can you be sure that the disguise you chose at the end would definitely move that girl?"

"I guessed. Anyway, useless to fight, can't live, can't die, so why not take a bet?" Zhou Baiyu replied bluntly.

In a household with no children, homework papers appeared.

As the investigation progressed, it turned out that several households were the same.

At that time, Zhou Baiyu suspected that the final boss might relate to children.

Later on, the compositions provided validation, and the subjects easiest to convey information—art, music.

Words, images, sounds... These had almost handed over the entire story, the key to passing the level, the secret code to clear it.

So, in the end, Zhou Baiyu took a gamble, and obviously, his offbeat thinking paid off.

Sister Lin smiled radiantly:

"Nicely done. It's been a while since someone advanced to the second tier. Little brother, I'm growing more fond of you."

Zhou Baiyu checked his attributes and discovered that he now had as many as eleven hundred Pathfinder points.

Having money is a beautiful thing. Remembering all the horrific experiences, coupled with his advancement, Zhou Baiyu decided to self-improve.

Remembering this version's journey, the only use of his Mutator ability turned out to be lockpicking, leading him to curse the lame profession once again.

Therefore, he wanted to bring some enhancement to his Mutator ability.

Sister Lin could see this and threw cold water on him:

"Don't get too cocky. It's not every time you get so many Pathfinder points. Your version 2.21, along with the recent 1.44, are all because you saved someone."

"Simply put, the 430 Pathfinder points and a privilege you got in version 2.21 were a rescue reward. And all the rewards from versions 2.21 and 1.44 were given after the successful challenge of version 1.44."

Zhou Baiyu understood and frowned:

"So, two version challenges amount to less than a thousand Pathfinder points? Does that count what the snow demon paid me?"

It turned out that the previous 430 Pathfinder points, along with a privilege, were taken from someone else.

Consider it life-saving money from the snow demon.

"Yes. Pathfinder points are precious. Otherwise, we wouldn't be looking for ways to squeeze you, hehe."

Zhou Baiyu said,

"Second-order existences are different walkers... Compared with the first-order Mutators, what's the difference? Don't charge me for this question, otherwise I'll ask the Pioneering Voice. I believe I should be quite famous by now."

On the Pioneering Voice indeed, the name Jiang Xianwu took up much space.

During the time Zhou Baiyu was in contact with the intermediary, the entire Pioneering Voice platform was in an uproar.

The name Jiang Xianwu appeared over and over again.

Lin had not expected that this person could actually clear the challenge perfectly.

She nodded, providing the answer to Zhou Baiyu's question for free:

"There is no difference. To put it simply, your Mutated Items will more easily exhibit positive feedback. Additionally, your constitution will be enhanced."

"That's it? Just this? What a trash profession!" Zhou Baiyu was not satisfied.

Lin's smile was peculiar,

"Would you care to try this cup of free wine I'm offering you? Of course, before that, I'll tell you a secret, one that only I know, one that other Mutators wouldn't dare tell you even if they knew."

"Consider it another... branch for you as a different walker."

Zhou Baiyu didn't understand very well. He had intended to indulge himself and experience the joy of leveling up.

But Lin's suggestive words implied that this ascension held more significant information yet to be disclosed.

"What's the situation? A branch?"

Mutators, different walkers, demon manipulators... it seemed that his initial information hadn't mentioned any additional class changes.

However, Lin's words indicated that he was about to face a choice.

It was then that Zhou Baiyu remembered—indeed, the voice in his mind had hinted that he was going to face a choice.

"Different walkers, Pioneers, do you hear the difference?"

Lin threw the question out, tapped her smoking pipe, and immediately offered the answer:

"Little brother, Pioneers take the lead to obtain information, items, and power from future versions, seeking to change the world."

"But as a different walker, setting aside your identity as a Mutator, when you hear it for the first time, don't you feel... that different walkers and Pioneers might be... corresponding?"

Indeed.

Zhou Baiyu had noticed it too. If one were hearing about different walkers for the first time, they might indeed think that different walkers and Pioneers belonged to the same group.

Lin continued,

"The God of Difference and Chaos that we believe in, he really dislikes the common path."

"As the most enigmatic and unpredictable of the nine gods, his motives and stance are likewise difficult to comprehend."

"Would you be willing to walk an abberent path, to let the future that mankind is so eager to save undergo a little... divergence~"

Lin clearly anticipated Zhou Baiyu making such a choice.

She exhaled a puff of smoke.

In that moment, Zhou Baiyu envisioned a grand palace in his mind.

Inside the palace's hall, there were many statues covered in darkness, making it impossible to discern their contours and appearances.

But there were three statues whose details and the different colored light columns enveloping them could be seen clearly.

A purple light column enveloped the statue of the charm demon leader, Midel.

The statue was so lifelike that Zhou Baiyu initially thought Midel had been turned into a specimen.

He walked through the grand hall towards Midel's statue...

Only to realize, to his surprise, that all the other statues had "?" written underneath them.

Under Midel's statue, there was a short descriptive text:

[Charm Demon Leader, nobility lineage, possesses strong combat and charm abilities, with a certain probability of advancing to royal lineage. Favorability: one and a half stars.]

Zhou Baiyu was shocked, and he immediately turned to another statue bathed in golden light.

"The golden one is Ling'er? What the hell, this looks like a gacha..."