"I can search here for some time and then head back to the train station to get the next train in a couple of hours."
Liam arrived at the place and saw that the size of the land was like a football ground or perhaps double that. It wouldn't be physically possible for him to comb through it to find if anything was hidden.
He took one look at the place and decided to go with the alternative. "No one is here. It should be fine." He summoned his soul minions and sat on the side, watching them do the job busily.
However, even this did not yield any results. After about an hour and a half, Liam had nothing to show for the effort. "What a waste of time." There was still only half an hour more left.
"Was there really nothing important here? Hmmm…" Liam looked at the place silently and then realized there was one other person he could add to the search party.
"Violet. See if you find anything interesting here." He called out the rabbit. She seemed to like collecting loot, so he decided to give this a try.
The rabbit as well excitedly ran around after nodding her head.
Fifteen more minutes passed by with stardust twinkling here and there. It was nighttime at the moment, so the whole field looked like a small paradise of fireflies.
Liam almost regretted his decision to let the troublesome rabbit out when suddenly the creature popped up in front of him.
Chik Chik Chik
She dropped an object on his lap and then dove inside him, disappearing on her own. Liam dazedly stared, almost unable to believe what he was seeing.
A small crystal was lying on his lap. This crystal was very similar to the crystal he had obtained inside the game. Even that was picked up by the same rabbit.
"What is this?" He lifted it closer to his eye and looked at it carefully. "No, it is not the same."
The crystal in his hand actually had some differences when compared to the other crystal inside the game. To put it shortly, this one seemed low quality. Perhaps it was nothing? Just some trinket?
"Well, whatever." He pocketed it silently and dismissed the other soul minions, effectively calling off the entire search party. Nothing else seemed to be here.
So instead of fishing in the middle of nowhere, he hurried back to the station to reach the destination where he actually knew something existed.
Once again, he stared at the nothingness as the train chugged along to the small town.
This wasn't too complicated. When the train arrived at the small town, he went to one of the dilapidated wells near a monastery and immediately received the notification.
[Ding. Initializing underway. The dungeon is currently not available. Please try again later.]
[Ding. A dungeon has been discovered]
[Ding. Rewarded 10 extra stat points and 10 extra skill points for first discovery]
[Ding. All experience points gained and dungeon drops are double for the next 12 hours]
[Ding. Error]
[Ding. Error]
[Ding. Error]
[Ding. Rewards are momentarily paused]
The screen again flickered and completely disappeared before Liam could even read it properly, but it was enough for confirmation.
"Ok, my job here is done." He did not linger around and headed back to the station. This was already time-consuming, so he tried to get in and out as fast as possible.
If the whole team could have received bonus points, this trip would have been worth a lot more, but only one person can receive the discovery bonus, so it was just him. Even so, it was still quite a sweet bump.
Liam hopped onto the train and took out his phone to check his personally made map again. However, a frown immediately appeared on his face.
"I guess my next destination won't be so simple?"
Unlike the remote village and the small town he had visited, this visit was going to be smack dab in the middle of the city.
Moreover, the item he was interested in… was exhibited in one of the city's popular museums.
Stealing from deserted places where no one was there around to catch him was a piece of cake but stealing from an actual museum with cameras, security guards, and police was definitely going to be troublesome.
But Liam had a plan. When he stepped out of the train at the next stop, he had fully fleshed out everything from A to Z.
"Well, if this doesn't work, things will get tricky." He chuckled and hailed a cab to the museum.
He was already at the last phase, so a few risks here and there needed to be taken. There was simply no way around it.
When the cab arrived at the destination, Liam sighed as he adjusted his clothes and entered the museum.
The city used to be very crowded, especially this museum, but now that everyone was engrossed in the game, very few people were around. This only made his work so much more difficult.
However, Liam continued with his plan. He first walked around the museum casually, leisurely strolling around and taking a look at the exhibits.
He soon spotted what he had come here for, an old bell with a gem studded onto it. He didn't care about the bell so much. It was the gem that he wanted.
The red-colored gem was a precious item that buffed one's strength and defense by a whole 50 points each. If one possessed this item, they could almost be invincible at the beginning stages. So how could he let this go?
Liam only glanced once at the item of interest and continued walking by as though he was just looking around absent-mindedly. He did not even return to the section.
He finished his lap, went inside the restroom, and walked out of the museum calmly.
However, just as he walked out… suddenly loud alarms blared, emergency lights lit up, and the whole museum began to be swarmed by the security guards.
The local authorities also arrived within seconds. So much chaos and commotion descended onto the museum, and no one was allowed inside or outside any longer.
Only the people who were already out were walking away quickly, and among this crowd, there was Liam as well, with a small smile on his face.
He again did not turn back and went to the park bench nearby. He sat down and closed his eyes, feeling the fresh night air.
Five minutes later, he stood up and walked over to one of the bushes near the entrance of the museum. He then bent down to pick up the item and calmly tossed it into his bag.
"Hey! Who is that over there? You can't stand here. The museum is closed today. Get lost." One of the policemen shouted at him, and Liam nodded, quickly walking away.
Behind him, he could still hear the conversation clearly.
"What was that? I have never seen anything like that."
"That was a ghost, I am telling you. Perhaps for the first time in our entire world's history, we actually captured a ghost on a camera. Isn't that more valuable than that random bell?"
"Idiot. What the hell are you talking about? How can a ghost selectively break open a display case and steal an item? That was just a person in a costume."
"Oh… what you are saying is also not wrong. Nowadays, thieves have started dressing up in different styles and robbing. Come, let's keep searching. We sealed all the exits, so the guy must be here somewhere."
"Ya. We need to catch this guy today." The two policemen continued talking as they checked out the entrance one more time.
Only Liam knew that they wouldn't be able to find the culprit no matter where they searched because he had already dismissed Crawford. In reality, it had been a lot easier than he had expected.
Crawford's speed and strength were extraordinary. He had finished the task before anyone could blink. With this, even if he had to steal from the real higher-ups, it should be a piece of cake.
With the bell now in his possession, Liam did not hang around anymore and swiftly returned to the train station. On his route, he hit up a couple more places, and with that, all the low-level dungeons that he knew were taken care of.
He had also obtained a chunk of 60 stats points and 60 skill points in total. Or rather, he would obtain it when the apocalypse officially commences.
"Ok. Not bad for a day's work." He yawned and stretched his limbs, sleeping through the return journey. The next day morning, he was back at home again.
When he walked in, the first thing he saw was the TV loudly reporting the news of the museum theft. Everything these days had been about the recent mysterious video game, so the robbery became a hot topic quickly.
However, they surprisingly announced that no suspect had been found yet. Apparently, the police were embarrassed to release information about the ghost suspect.
Liam chuckled and quickly went into his room to get refreshed.
Meanwhile…
Somewhere else in the world…
A person stood up in shock, staring at the same piece of news. What he had dreamt about had actually come to fruition!
This means…
