The man regained his energy and suddenly jumped up from the ground, cautiously sizing up Brian Carter as he asked, “You... who are you? How do you have so many copies of 'Martial Qi'?”

Brian Carter gave a bitter laugh or two. How could he explain to this man that he had crossed over from an online game? Would he even understand the term “online game”? Probably even if he explained it for a lifetime, it would be pointless.

The man carefully observed the silent Brian Carter, and the wariness in his eyes was gradually replaced by excitement, with a faint smile slowly appearing at the corners of his mouth. As a martial artist, he could tell that Brian Carter had never practiced any martial arts, nor was his body particularly strong—in his eyes, he was no different from a useless weakling.

Yet such a useless person actually had so many manuals of 'Martial Qi', and also possessed a miraculous potion that could bring someone on the brink of death back to life?

The man glanced around once more, and this time, not only was there a smile at the corner of his mouth, but even his eyes were filled with glee. In such a desolate place, to kill a powerless weakling and seize the Martial Qi and the miraculous potion—what a wonderful thing that would be!

As someone who often watched TV dramas, Brian Carter had frequently seen almost the exact same expression on the faces of villains in those shows as he now saw on this man.

“You... what are you trying to do...?”

Brian Carter cautiously took a step back, his right hand with the ring secretly moving behind his back.

“Trying to do?” The man’s fleshy face squeezed together as he lightly waved the knife in his hand. “Nothing much. I just think your potion was pretty miraculous—could you give it to me? And those 'Martial Qi' manuals, hand them all over obediently. Otherwise—hmph hmph!”

Brian Carter shivered, and the ruby on the ring on his middle finger behind his back emitted a faint fiery glow. “Repaying kindness with ingratitude? Were you a bandit before?”

“Bandit?” The man raised his eyebrows, sneering with utter disdain. “That was just one of the jobs I’ve done! Robbery, murder, rape! I’ve done it all! If you don’t hand over your stuff quickly, I’ll do you in next!”

“So you’re a bad guy then?” Brian Carter asked very seriously.

“Bad guy?” The man bared his row of yellowing teeth. “I’m a villain!”

“Oh~~” Brian Carter propped his chin with one hand. “Even though I already know this is a real world, I’ll just treat you as an NPC.”

“What’s an NPC? What are you muttering about?” The man swung his knife, chopping off the head of a nearby corpse as he shouted, “Hurry up and hand over the potion! The 'Martial Qi'! And whatever that NPC thing is! Or I’ll kill you!”

“Sigh!” Brian Carter shook his head and raised his finger, a flicker of red light dancing at his fingertip as fire-elemental magic instantly filled the air around him. “In this desolate wilderness, I try to do a good deed and still get repaid with betrayal. I’ve never killed anyone, but I don’t want to die either...”

“You...” For the first time, panic appeared on the man’s face as he stumbled backward. “You... you’re a fire mage...”

“Fire mage?” Brian Carter showed a hint of interest. “So, there really are mages in this world? Tell me, where exactly is this place?”

Seeing Brian Carter talking nonsense, the man had already begun to suspect he was a lunatic—after all, what normal person would enter such a terrifying forest alone?

Normal people wouldn’t risk their lives against a madman, so the man didn’t bother answering Brian Carter’s question and turned to run away.

Brian Carter had finally met a living person and wanted to ask about this place—how could he let the man just run off? He hurriedly chased after him, shouting, “Don’t run!”

Back when the man was a thief, he’d been chased plenty of times. Hearing the words “don’t run,” he instinctively turned and threw his knife, then ran even faster.

After spending the past two days in the forest, Brian Carter had developed the habit of immediately counterattacking when attacked. Seeing the man throw his knife, he reflexively raised his hand and shouted, “Fireball!”

The lively fire elements joyfully gathered together and shot out at high speed from the magic ring. Only then did Brian Carter realize he’d made a mistake, but it was already too late.

Hearing the words “Fireball,” the man running ahead suddenly felt as if he’d fallen into a furnace. Flames burned not only on the outside of his body, but countless fire elements surged into him through his hair follicles, setting his internal organs ablaze.

“He really is a lunatic...” The man let out a final miserable scream and, in the blink of an eye, turned into a dried corpse.

A faint warm current once again began to circulate within Brian Carter’s body. If one paid close attention, it was a bit stronger than the warm current he’d gained after killing the wolf last time.

Brian Carter didn’t have time to pay attention to this—he had just killed a living person, and it left him a bit dazed.

“I really killed someone?”

Looking at the dried corpse on the ground, Brian Carter realized that after killing someone, he didn’t feel much fear or guilt. It was as if the person who died by his hand wasn’t a living human, but a deer, or maybe a wolf.

“Could I be a born killer?” Brian Carter scratched his head, but quickly dismissed the thought. Back on Earth, when he’d seen the corpse of someone who’d jumped to their death and shattered into pieces, he’d felt uncomfortable for an entire day.