CHAPTER 23: CHAPTER 22: LOOT BOX

The box was covered in some strange red slimy stuff and smelled like blood from a rotten corpse.

"I’m not taking this stuff anywhere near my bed... yuck!"

He placed the box on the wooden floor before slowly lifting the lid. The moment Zaen opened the box, it let out a bright flash, not that he could see that. For him, everything remained as it was... until the moment the box vanished into thin air.

"...did I just get scammed?"

Apparently, that wasn’t the case, because a moment later, notifications flooded in.

[You have gained 1 spin point(s) from the loot box.]

[You have gained 1400 shop coins from the loot box.]

[You have gained 1 skill point(s) from the loot box.]

[You have gained the Rotten Recovery skill book from the loot box.]

[You have gained Hell’s Chef’s Heart from the loot box.]

[All items have been deposited in the Rewards tab.]

The box had disappeared, leaving the rewards for him to claim from a secondary tab. It was a good thing because he didn’t have enough space in his inventory to store everything.

"Wait, this tab wasn’t there before, or was it? I can’t remember."

Zaen shrugged and opened the said tab and was met with another notification.

[Two similar functions hearts found.]

[Do you wish to combine them?]

"Two hearts? Is it from the waitress?"

[Ghoul’s Heart and Hell’s Chef’s Heart can be combined to produce a superior quality product. Do you wish to proceed?]

"I guess?"

[Combination in progress...]

[Combination success!]

[Item Anomalous Heart has been created.]

—x—

[Item: Anomalous Heart]

[Type: Consumable / Biological organ]

[Rarity: Rare]

Effects:

— Upon integration, boosts player’s HP by 1,000 every 10 levels.

— Grants the user Adrenaline Junky skill.

Skill:

— Adrenaline Junky (Passive): After integration, boosts all the player’s primary stats by 1% for every level difference between them and an anomaly.

[Duration: 10 minutes.]

[Cooldown: 5 minutes.]

—x—

[Do you wish to equip it?]

"1,000 HP increase? Why wouldn’t I want it?"

[Integration in progress.]

As soon as he said that, a fleshy mass ejected straight towards him from the system interface. Before Zaen could think or do anything, it latched onto his chest and began ripping through the flesh.

He could see blood dripping out of the open wound as the ’heart’ crawled into his body, but strangely enough, he didn’t feel any pain. Instead, a warm feeling spread all around his body like a ripple in a lake before contracting around his heart.

The wound in his chest healed by itself, even the blood drops that had fallen on the ground retraced their path back into his body.

[Anomalous Heart absorbed!]

[HP +1,000]

"...that’s good, but why don’t I feel any different?"

There were no irregular heartbeats or even a second one. It was like his head and became one with the anomalous heart, or one of the hearts had consumed the other.

"My sanity didn’t drop, so it should be fine... right?"

With the hearts taken care of, he turned his attention to the skill book he received from the box.

—x—

[Item: Rotten Recovery]

[Type: Consumable / Skill Book]

[Rarity: Uncommon+]

[Uses: 1/1]

Effects:

— Grants the user Rotten Recovery skill.

Skill:

— Rotten Recovery (Passive): The skill turned rot into a friend of sorts. Consuming rot can recover health at the cost of the player’s sanity.

[Scale: 1 sanity = 30 HP regain.]

[Cooldown: None]

[Duration: Infinite]

Note: Upgrading the skill will offer better regeneration rates.

—x—

"Consume... rot? You want me to eat anomalies or the dead, or is it a figure of speech?"

Well, there was no reply this time either. It was another question Zaen would have to wait to get an answer from Beep-Boop. Either way, it wasn’t a bad thing since HP recovery was a thorn in his side. With this, that problem would be solved... somewhat.

[Do you wish to learn this skill?]

"Yes."

The other rewards were known to him. Skill points could be used to upgrade the skills he possessed. Spin points were spin points, and those coins he got could be used to buy things from within the shop.

So, Zaen immediately went to the shop.

What he needed most from there was healing and slots increase for his inventory. Thankfully, both were present there. However, he could only buy one thing. It wasn’t a restriction from the system, but the lack of coins.

"1,200 coins for 3 slots!? 400 coins for a blood sealant, and 500 for a single bandage? Who the hell sets these prices?"

These prices were at the lower end. Even common skill books were priced at two thousand coins or more. Zaen quickly checked the skill books for skills he already had and, to his surprise, those were locked behind level 30.

He couldn’t see their prices, but the fact that they were locked behind level 30 wall was enough to let him know their worth.

Suddenly, he remembered about refining the sword. Since he didn’t know when or where he’d get the materials, the shop was his only choice.

"...ten thousand for a small refining stone with only a 10% success rate. What the hell!?"

"What if... I sell some stuff? No, there’s no option for selling things. It doesn’t look like I can use real-world money to exchange coins either."

With a click of his tongue, Zaen closed the shop menu. He could obtain better things from the wheel and by completing tasks. Spending money on the shop wasn’t worth it in the slightest.

"Hm... can I accept more tasks?"

Upon navigating to the task tab, he saw a timer locking both [Tasks] pages. It seemed his plan to abuse the tasks to increase his perception was a failure because he could only complete one task from both pages per day.

"Then what’s the point of calling it tasks? Just rename it to daily quests. I guess there’s nothing left to do for the night."

Unbeknownst to Zaen, his little adventure out into the anomalous realm had shocked a few people. Namely, those who deemed him useless.

"...sir, someone destroyed the restaurant," Zoey mumbled, fiddling with her black case. "Karloff is checking the surveillance footage, but it seems unlikely we’d find something."

"Keep on it. We must find the perpetrator at once!" a child’s voice boomed through the other end.