Whose world-class drama are they criticizing?

Ryan Lumin

Main Quest: Steal the Lu Ming Codex

【time left】

Six days

Lu Mingcheng, commercial street, evening.

A light rain had just fallen during the day, and it had finally stopped, but there were still scattered streams of water flowing down the eaves of the city.

The evening after the rain had stopped was clean and clear, and as night fell, the heat of the day was gone.

Night markets also sporadically opened, with vendors lighting lanterns and displaying their prepared goods in front of their stalls.

Ryan touched his neck.

The chill lingered, and the emptiness of death was far greater than the pain; no mortal's will could endure sixteen years.

As it turns out, beheading is also very uncomfortable.

Miss Jasmine said her "one-second decapitation instant killing method" tutorial was quite humane, and she even published a textbook on it, advertising that: in an instant, she could cut off the prisoner's neck, and before he could even react, his head would be beheaded.

Everyone who has tried it says it's great, and so far, no one has given her courses a bad review.

Ryan was the first human to give a bad review.

This is downright fraudulent advertising.

If he weren't able to be resurrected after death, people like Jasmine would probably continue to scam and sell courses.

Before Ryan, only dwarves and halflings had given him bad reviews.

The dwarf followed the instructions in the textbook, and with a single stroke, he severed the prisoner's ankle in an instant, leaving his head unharmed.

The person opposite her jumped and hopped around for three hours, eventually bleeding to death.

The halfling followed the instructions and with a single slash, decapitated the opponent in an instant, leaving his neck unharmed.

The person opposite him writhed for six hours while clutching their groin, and finally died from the pain.

In conclusion, beheading is a bad idea; Ryan needs to learn other, more humane ways to commit suicide.

For example, poisoning!

In that case, we have to buy poison.

“This potion shop is the most professional in all of Luming,” Miss Jasmine recommended to Ryan. “I often buy my potions here.”

"By the way, because of Lu Ming's control and surveillance..."

She emphasized to Ryan, "You can't say the name of any medicine you buy directly. You have to hint at it subtly. That's the rule in this business."

Ryan nodded confidently; he was a master riddle teller.

He followed Miss Jasmine through the night market, continuing forward, amidst a dazzling array of goods and the cries of vendors, turning a corner and slipping into an alley, entering the black market, and finally arriving at a suspicious-looking potion shop.

The shop owner was a professional old witch, wearing a hood and acting mysteriously, fiddling with a large alchemical cauldron.

What do you want to buy?

The witch glanced warily at Ryan, a stranger's face.

She had never seen Ryan before; this guy was really suspicious: "We're a legitimate pharmacy here."

"Do you have that kind of magic potion that kills without leaving a trace?"

Ryan, mimicking how he acted in movies and TV shows, lowered his voice and said in a similarly furtive tone, "It's that kind of controlled drug that kills people instantly without causing pain."

The old witch gave Ryan a suspicious look.

Ryan laid out a row of gold coins in front of the shop, and the witch's suspicion vanished.

She's a professional witch, Lu Ming's strongest alchemist. She can concoct any kind of medicine as long as she has the money.

Considering Ryan's requirements—controlled drugs, instantaneous killing, and no pain—the answer is obvious.

"Of course I have this kind of potion."

She smiled confidently.

He turned around and took out thirty 100mm alchemical bullets from the cabinet, placing them in front of Ryan, the bullets hitting the ground with a resounding thud.

"That's gunpowder!"

The old witch had a mysterious and unfathomable expression, and her words astonished everyone present.

"Indeed, very professional," Miss Jasmine praised.

Miss Jasmine wholeheartedly agreed, and with a smug grin, she put her hands on her hips and swaggered at Ryan. As expected of the potion shop recommended by this elf, it was indeed very professional.

No matter how fancy the killing techniques are, none of them are as effective as this.

The caliber is the only true measure.

Ryan was speechless... This is way too professional, isn't it?

Is that a bullet or a shell? It could blast your whole body to pieces.

With one shot, he was left with pieces scattered here and there.

No, that's not the point!

He just finished cosplaying the baffling Louis XVI tomorrow, and he doesn't want to cosplay the wildly imaginative Melancholy today!

“What I mean,” Ryan tried to explain, “is the oral kind!”

"You can shoot yourself."

The witch glanced at Ryan helplessly; this kid was really unprofessional.

He's obviously a newbie.

"It's not gunpowder."

Ryan refused firmly. Remembering Miss Jasmine's earlier warning not to mention the name of the drug, he had to describe it in different sentences: "I need poison, the kind of controlled poison that can kill, and it can't cause any pain."

"Ideally, something comfortable would be best." Ryan added at the end, "So it's all over in your sleep."

Upon hearing Ryan's words, the witch looked up at Ryan, then turned to look at Jasmine, and suddenly realized what he meant.

"You should have said so earlier."

She said, "To kill life comfortably, right? Of course I have that kind of potion."

Ryan's expression softened slightly; he finally understood.

But then the witch turned around and pulled out a box of birth control pills.

"Indeed, very professional," Miss Jasmine continued to praise.

The witch instructed Miss Jasmine: "Take this beforehand, three pills at a time, and be careful not to drink alcohol."

"...It wasn't her who wanted to eat it." Ryan said with a dark face.

The witch suddenly realized something and pulled out a box of men's products.

“This stuff kills sperm if you eat too much,” she warned Ryan. “You young people need to be moderate and not harm your bodies just for the sake of comfort.”

“This isn’t the kind of comfort we feel,” Ryan said angrily. “It’s designed to harm the body; it’s the kind of poison that will make you feel like you’re going to heaven.”

So the witch pulled out a box of poison.

"What kind of shady business is this?"

"I want poison, not drugs!"

Ryan was furious. How could this potions shop have all sorts of weird and wonderful things? The selection was too wild, ranging from gunpowder to birth control pills.

"Are you trying to cause trouble?" the witch retorted angrily. "You said it yourself that it's for sleeping. This thing works incredibly fast; it can kill sperm and eggs in an instant."

Ryan's face flushed: "What I want is sleeping pills."

"Why don't you just say your name?" the witch asked curiously.

"Because of Lu Ming's control, isn't the rule 'you can't say names directly, you have to hint at them indirectly'?"

“There’s never been such a rule.” The witch assumed Ryan was teasing her: “How come I didn’t know?”

?

“Jasmine said…”

Ryan opened his mouth halfway and realized what was happening. He turned to look at Miss Jasmine beside him.

"..." Miss Jasmine had her back to Ryan, refusing to look at his face.

She tried hard to keep it in place, but her shoulders trembled slightly. Unfortunately, she wasn't a man and couldn't hold it in at all; the trembling in her shoulders grew more and more intense.

"Are you kidding me?" Ryan was furious.

"I'm...sorry." The half-elf said apologetically, but tears were welling up in his eyes as he laughed.

"Bad woman..." Ryan was furious and glared at her fiercely.

The elves in this world are way too out of line! Teaching him fake killing techniques is one thing, but encouraging him to buy fake medicine is another.

He couldn't stand that broken world for even a second longer.

The witch was caught in the middle, completely bewildered. She glanced at Ryan, then at Jasmine, her professional mind working quickly, and finally understood: "I get it."

She slammed her hand on the table and stood up: "So, you were just trying to trick me."

"They deliberately didn't say it, just to lure me into saying it myself."

“I understand, I understand everything.” The witch looked like she was facing a formidable enemy, her finger trembling as she pointed at Ryan and Jasmine: “You two must be spies sent by Lu Ming.”

"Guards, seize them both!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a dozen burly gangsters rushed out from behind the shop, wielding fire pokers.

Although Ryan came here seeking death, being beaten to death with sticks would be very painful.

Ryan gripped the scabbard, ready to use the 'One-Second Decapitation Technique' he would learn tomorrow to sever these guys' heads. As the future Sword Saint Lu Ming, he was not someone to be trifled with.

The burly men grabbed the 100mm alchemical bullets from the desk and stuffed them into their fire pokers.

"I surrender." Sword Saint Lu Ming raised his hands in surrender.

"We've gone too far!" Miss Jasmine grabbed Ryan's hand and pulled her in front of her, dragging Ryan into the shadows. "Let's run!"

“It’s shadow magic,” the knowledgeable old witch said. “Shoot at their shadows!”

Amidst a hail of bullets and streaks of fire, Ryan's shadow and Jasmine's shadow weaved through the flames. Streams of bullets struck the ground, crackling and sparking as sparks flew everywhere.

But the ground is the shadow of the sky, and in their eyes, dazzling fireworks are burning in the sky.

Each beam was woven from thousands of shooting stars, trailing a platinum-gold tail, making the sky melt like gold leaf.

"Run, run!"

Jasmine grabbed Ryan's hand and ran quickly outside. The commotion alerted most of the black market, and more gunmen poured out, firing at the shadows on the ground. Luckily, Jasmine was agile and dodged them.

In late March, on a night in Luming, in the late spring and early summer, the girl's shadow led the boy's shadow as they fled, evading the pursuit of the entire city. Gunpowder struck the ground, and fireworks bloomed in the sky. Ryan watched the girl running ahead. The world of shadows was originally dark, but the fireworks reflected the shadow's profile, making it shine brightly.

"Huff, huff..."

Miss Jasmine took several breaths, then looked back warily: "Surely no one has caught up with us here...?"

"Luckily, I reacted quickly," she said.

She pulled Ryan along and emerged from the shadows.

"How dare you say that?" Ryan blushed at the mention of it, pinching the half-elf's pointed ears: "It's all your fault for causing trouble!"

"Ouch...it hurts! Let go! Let go, please let go!"

Jasmine felt a sharp pain when her ear was pulled; it was the most vulnerable spot on her body.

Why are you causing trouble?

Ryan questioned.

"Why buy 'sleeping pills'?" Jasmine countered. "Who do you want to give them to?"

Ryan was speechless.

Is that why Jasmine is causing trouble?