Kneeling down, Luo Jie gathered the scattered beer cans and stashed them in an out-of-the-way corner. With a casual flick of his wrist, he killed the overhead light, leaving the room in near-total darkness save for the single candle he lit on the nightstand.
It was an ordinary candle, yes, but the flame that danced atop its wick was anything but.
[Campfire]
Type: Arcane
Rarity: E (White)
Level: --
Effect: Conjures an arcane campfire. Within its light, friendly units receive a significant boost to Stamina and Mana regeneration, a minor increase to Defense and Accuracy, and instills a mental deterrence against lesser creatures. The strength of this deterrence is proportional to the caster's Intelligence.
Description: For the weary traveler, nothing lifts the spirits like a crackling campfire.
Despite being an arcane spell, [Campfire] couldn't burn ex nihilo. It required fuel, just like any mundane flame. The size of the flame didn't affect the spell's efficacy; the only variation was the radius of its comforting glow.
The outbreak of the Necro-Virus had turned the world into a breeding ground for flies and insects. For Luo Jie, lighting this [Campfire]-enhanced candle was secondary for restoring the Stamina drained by daytime battles; its primary purpose was to ward off the incessant, buzzing pests that infested the room.
Taking stock of his spoils after resting was a habit forged over seven long years in his previous life, and it remained unbroken in this new one.
His main interface displayed a total of 11,065 Points. Subtracting the 1,700 Points he'd carried into the Illusion, that left him with 9,365 Points earned in the current scenario. This catapulted him to the very top of the Points Ranking, leaving the second place trailing by a whopping 5,000 Points.
Luo Jie hadn't intended to be so ostentatious, but the combination of the E-Gold weapon [Meito: Fugu Poison] and the unique title [Zombie Slayer] was simply too overpowered. It was like coating his blade with an instant-death poison; any corpse creature, be it a zombie or otherwise, would perish with the merest scratch, succumbing instantly upon contact.
Had his top priority not been the protection of Marikawa Shizuka, that Point total could easily have doubled.
Beyond these Points, Luo Jie's most significant gain was the Player Treasure Chests dropped by the two Japanese Players he'd eliminated.
Only Players killed by other Players dropped such chests, which contained a random selection of Points and equipment the deceased Player had possessed in life.
It was rather like a lottery. With luck, one might score the opponent's primary weapon or signature skill; with misfortune, a handful of trivial junk items might be the only reward.
[You have opened Player Taier's Chest. You have obtained the following items:]
[420 Points]
[Pistol Modification Kit]
Type: Item
Rarity: F
Description: A personal treasure of Officer Aya from the NYPD. Can randomly increase the quality of F-Grade (Green) or lower pistols by 1-3 ranks and bestow a weapon skill.
Luo Jie pursed his lips noncommittally at the system notification. Players rarely hoarded Points, preferring to immediately invest them in purchasing or upgrading equipment and skills to boost their combat power. Thus, Player Chests rarely yielded large sums of Points.
The [Pistol Modification Kit], however, was a decent find. He wondered why this 'Taier' hadn't sold it or used it himself, but the reason was now irrelevant.
Luo Jie then opened the other Player Chest.
[You have opened Player Daito's Chest. You have obtained the following items:]
[150 Points]
[Cloud-Patterned Cross Spear]
Type: Polearm
Rarity: F (Blue)
Level: --
Power: 90
Skill 1: Cloth-Ripper – Against armor type "Cloth", reduces Defense by 20 points.
Description: A spear crafted by an unknown artisan, named for the beautiful cloud patterns adorning its shaft.
Luo Jie had to admit his luck was holding. This [Cloud-Patterned Cross Spear] was clearly the main weapon of that Japanese Player 'Daito', and it was even fully upgraded. It was likely the most valuable item he'd had.
Stowing the [Cloud-Patterned Cross Spear] into his Storage Space, Luo Jie retrieved his [Red M92F Pistol] and placed it alongside the [Pistol Modification Kit].
[Your weapon meets the modification criteria. Modify? Yes/No]
"Modify."
As Luo Jie confirmed in the system prompt, the [Red M92F Pistol] and [Pistol Modification Kit] rapidly dissolved into streams of blue-white, digitized particles, losing their original forms and merging into a spherical cluster of light.
After a few seconds, a soft white radiance bloomed, and the spherical cluster contracted inward, reconfiguring itself into the shape of a pistol.
Though it retained the M92F's silhouette, its finish had transformed from red to a pristine white, with only the grip featuring delicate splotches of crimson, reminiscent of bloodstains.
[Bloody Bride M92F Custom]
Type: Pistol
Rarity: F (Blue)
Level: Lv.1
Power: 80
Skill 1: Illegal Modification – Can use large-caliber Magnum rounds, dealing an additional 10 damage. Rate of Fire -50%.
Description: A modified M92F pistol. The red patterns on the gun seem to be dyed with real blood.
Clearly, Luo Jie wasn't blessed with the luck of the "Emperor" (a term for someone extremely lucky). The modification, which could potentially boost the weapon to Gold Rarity, had only granted him the minimum possible upgrade.
While the pistol's rarity hadn't increased significantly, Luo Jie's eyes lit up when he read the attached skill. He immediately dumped Points into it, maxing out its level.
As expected, when [Bloody Bride M92F Custom] reached Level MAX, its Power increased from 80 to 160. But the most significant change was to its skill:
Illegal Modification – Can use large-caliber Magnum rounds, dealing an additional 100 damage. Rate of Fire -50%.
160 base Power plus 100 additional damage from Magnum rounds meant that, in terms of sheer firepower, this [Bloody Bride M92F Custom] now matched a max-level F-Rarity (Purple) pistol.
The "-50% Rate of Fire" was a nuisance, but the passive skill "Special Forces Elite" from Luo Jie's [USS Biohazard Special Forces Training Manual], which granted "+50% Rate of Fire", perfectly negated this drawback.
If there was a downside to this new weapon, it was undoubtedly its ammunition consumption. Regular pistol rounds cost 5 Points each, while Magnum rounds were a steep 50 Points apiece. Using the weapon's skill to mow down run-of-the-mill corpses would be a financial disaster.
Thankfully, the pistol could still fire regular rounds when not loaded with a Magnum magazine. Otherwise, Luo Jie would have been forced to either mothball it or reserve it as a secondary weapon for boss fights only.
Just as he was about to close his Storage Space and turn his attention to the "Surprise Boxes" dropped by the corpses, a faint but hurried shuffling of footsteps echoed from behind the closed door.
Crash!
The door was suddenly wrenched open from the outside, and a soft, fragrant body—still damp from the shower and smelling of shower gel—collided with his back. Two supple orbs pressed firmly against his shoulders.