‘The former should be oxygen, the latter nitrogen. Tsk tsk~ it’s as if I can see them with my own eyes—truly amazing.’ Logan Carter was a little entranced; unlike the pure power in the game, alchemy in the real world was a truly wondrous experience.

His magical alchemical talent made him forget his current predicament. He calmed his mind and focused even more intently on sensing the air around him.

Vaguely, he could sense that there were some extremely subtle components in the air. Some felt lazy, as if unwilling to move; some seemed to harbor malice toward him; others seemed to be everywhere, able to embrace everything.

“Inert gases, carbon dioxide, water vapor—the sensations are quite vague and easy to miss. Maybe the concentrations are too low, or maybe my talent isn’t strong enough. But they’re really there, just waiting for me to discover them... My god, this magical extrasensory perception is simply wonderful.”

For a moment, Logan Carter was completely immersed in his newly acquired supernatural abilities.

Very soon, he experienced the power of ‘elemental manipulation’ as well.

He discovered that when he used elemental perception to focus his attention on a specific substance—say, concentrating on oxygen—he could actually move it with his mind. Although the movement was very slight, he could indeed do it.

When he exerted all his strength to gather oxygen toward his nose, a faint airflow appeared around his face. He took a deep breath, and his mind instantly cleared—this was clearly the effect of high-concentration oxygen.

‘I wonder how far my power can reach?’

He decided to test it right away. Logan Carter tried his best to control the oxygen farther away. As the distance increased, his control gradually weakened, and at just over two meters, his elemental control finally reached its limit.

“Amazing, simply amazing.”

It felt as if an invisible hand of thought was extending from his mind—truly fascinating.

Logan Carter couldn’t help but think, “My elemental perception is even more powerful than an electron microscope, and elemental manipulation is like a mental hand that can control molecules and atoms. If these two abilities keep getting stronger, wouldn’t I be able to directly manipulate elements in battle? Wouldn’t that be elemental magic?”

“Wait, maybe I’m overthinking it. The world of ‘Pursuit’ seems to be a low-magic world. I’ve played for so long and seen quite a few mages, but most of them are basically scholars. They do know some magic, but the power is honestly mediocre.”

He had seen a fire mage in the game, said to be a fire magic master who appeared only once in a hundred years, but the fire magic he cast was about as powerful as a high-explosive grenade, and it took five or six seconds to cast—far less effective and practical than fighting with swords.

This realization left Logan Carter a bit disappointed, but that disappointment was nothing—he quickly became excited again.

‘I’m such a fool! I’m a top student in materials physics. With such an awesome superpower, and I’m still thinking about directly manipulating elements to cast magic? That’s too crude, too barbaric—only the ignorant would do that! I’m an alchemist! The game has balance restrictions to prevent people from messing around, but now this is the real world with no taboos. I should be making gunpowder, building guns and cannons... No, no, if I’m going to do it, I should make a railgun. No, that’s still too narrow! The technological fruits of Earth’s industrial world are countless—I can pick whatever I want. How can my thinking be so limited? I could build an engine, make an Apocalypse Tank... No, a tank might not be able to take on a frost giant. But I could build a plane and launch missiles from ten thousand meters up—what monster could stand against me... Wait, monsters!’

Logan Carter’s thoughts instantly snapped back from the boundless world of fantasy to reality.

No matter how much knowledge he had in his head, it was all Earth knowledge. In the world of ‘Pursuit,’ it might not apply. To truly turn it into power, he would still need a lot of practice.

Practice required money, and even more, time. But the monster was right in front of him. He was still a pampered young master with no strength to tie a chicken, still in mortal danger!

‘Upstairs on the second floor is the parlor, with three bedrooms around it—one is where I sleep, one is Logan Carter’s parents’ room, and one is the guest room... The sound seems to be coming from Logan Carter’s parents’ room.’

‘A game is a game, reality is reality. There might really be a vampire on the second floor, but it could also be some other monster. Different monsters have different powers; without investigation, I can’t prepare accordingly. First, I have to determine what kind of monster it is... I need to go upstairs and take a look.’

Although he was still very afraid, Logan Carter’s thick nerves once again came into play. He wasn’t paralyzed by fear. He gently inhaled the air, thick with the scent of blood and the musty dampness unique to wooden houses, and tiptoed toward the staircase to the second floor.

As he took a step, the wooden stairs let out a creak, the sound piercingly loud in the silent night.

‘Damn wooden stairs!’ Logan Carter’s heart skipped a beat.

He stood still, ears perked, carefully listening for any movement around him. After a while, nothing unusual happened, and the faint sounds from upstairs continued to drift down.

“The sound is too loud—I need to step on something solid.”