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Chapter 95 - Chapter 95: Strange Firearms

Fate couldn't be altered by metaphysics, nor could luck be bought with cash. Once again, reality proved Rokuro had absolutely no talent when it came to gambling on luck. The newly synthesized weapon glaringly remained that same vivid purple.

[Feathered Serpent's Repeating Crossbow]

Type: Crossbow

Quality: F (Purple)

Level: LV.1

Power: 200

Skill 1: Rapid Volley – Fires all five bolts in the magazine in an extremely short time. Each subsequent bolt deals 10% less damage than the previous.

Skill 2: Divine Hunter – Inflicts non-regenerating, continuous bleeding damage on targets of the "Beast" type. Bolt trajectory is unaffected by minor environmental or weather conditions.

Description: A modern, modified crossbow perfectly inheriting the blessing of the Feathered Serpent.

Though it wasn't the coveted F-rank Gold quality he'd hoped for, the attributes of this new crossbow left Rokuro mostly satisfied. Its raw power was slightly less than his old [Bailey Wildcat C5 Crossbow], but Skill 1, "Rapid Volley," could unleash a total of 800 points of damage if all bolts hit their mark. This significantly alleviated the awkward lack of firepower he'd faced with his previous two weapons.

Skill 2, "Divine Hunter," could be seen as an enhanced version of the old "Beast Hunter" skill. The crucial addition, "bolt trajectory is unaffected by minor environmental or weather conditions," drastically increased the crossbow's usability in complex environments like jungles or during adverse weather like rain.

The only regret was that the incredibly practical "Silent String" skill from the [Feathered Serpent's Indian Hunting Bow] hadn't carried over. Rokuro, however, wasn't overly dismayed. Before a player's Spirit attribute reached 500 points and awakened the passive skill [Hyper Intuition], any long-range sniper attack was virtually impossible to defend against. And by the time players commonly reached 500 Spirit, their equipment quality would typically be E-rank or even D-rank. A mere sneak attack from an F-rank weapon would be largely ineffective by then.

In essence, the "Silent String" skill was tragically born at the wrong time. If it had appeared on a higher-quality weapon, it would have been a truly god-tier ability.

Beyond the three firearms and the crossbow, Rokuro also found a car key inside the safe. If his guess was correct, it should belong to the vehicle that had accompanied the protagonist, Takashi Komuro, and his group the longest in the original story, leaving the deepest impression – the modified Hummer H1 Military Edition.

Holding the key, Rokuro didn't rush out to inspect the angular, steel beast parked in the yard. Instead, he turned and headed straight down the stairs to the storage room Saeko had mentioned. After clearing away some piled debris, he carefully pried up a section of the floorboards with a crowbar. Sure enough, a long, buried safe lay beneath.

He instinctively wiped a bead of cold sweat from his brow. This damn thing contains a full three kilograms of TNT! If it blew, it could take the entire house sky-high... Pull out the slip of paper Saeko had given him, he meticulously input the 26-digit alphanumeric code, checking it three times over before finally, nervously, pressing the confirmation button.

It didn't explode!

Seeing the safe door pop open slightly, Rokuro realized his first emotion wasn't anticipation for the hidden treasure, but rather a profound sense of relief and survival euphoria.

Inside the safe lay only one uniquely shaped gun. The rear half looked utterly ordinary, like a standard stock-equipped automatic rifle. The front half, however, featured six thin, rotating barrels reminiscent of a mini-Gatling gun. The design strangely reminded Rokuro of a famous automatic rifle from his past life: the [M1L1 Triple Pulse Gun] from the Deep Freeze instance. That one had five barrels, though; this one had an extra barrel and seemed longer overall.

[Shinju: Six Paths of Samsara]

Type: Sniper Rifle

Quality: E (Gold)

Level: LV.1

Power: 500

Skill 1: Spirit Manifestation – Converts the user's Spirit Power into ammunition.

Skill 2: Six Paths of Samsara – Each shot randomly triggers one of three effects: 66% chance for normal power, 17% chance for double power, 17% chance for quadruple power. If quadruple power triggers, the gun body cannot withstand the stress and explodes on the spot, dealing damage equal to the shot to the wielder.

Description: An imitation crafted by the Emperor of a foreign empire, modeled after the "Imperial Arms" forged by the First Emperor. While its power is diminished compared to the originals, it remains a formidable weapon. Its prototype Imperial Arm is [Romantic Cannon: Pumpkin]. Due to insufficient material strength, spontaneous explosions are not uncommon. Legend has it more Shinju wielders have died from accidental detonations than this gun has killed enemies.

E-rank Gold?!

Seeing the projected attributes and description of this gun, Rokuro couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath. He never imagined the hidden reward for Saeko's quest would be an E-Gold quality sniper rifle!

Although the reward was so rich it felt almost unbelievable, Rokuro had to admit he hadn't obtained it through trickery; the quest had been genuinely arduous. The unlock condition for Saeko's villa treasure trove was simply assisting her in searching for someone at the supermarket, and ensuring her escape via helicopter from the roof, regardless of the search's success.

To access this further hidden treasure within the treasure trove, however, required not only meeting the previous conditions but also maxing out Saeko's favorability at 100 points. Saeko was a character who never physically appeared in the main storyline of the original work. Even with minor alterations in this instance world, her appearance was still confined to that single night at the Minami Shopping District Complex.

To raise her favorability to 100 points within such a short window, the only feasible method was to kill the mutated Sawaki and ensure the survival and escape of the entire SAT squad. The catch was, ordinary players stood almost no chance of accomplishing this alone. If done as a team, Saeko's favorability would be distributed among members, making it impossible for any single player to reach the 100-point maximum.

Rokuro's success in completing all objectives and obtaining this rare E-Gold sniper rifle involved a significant amount of luck. The [Umbrella Enemy] title, granting a +30 favorability boost upon first meeting, was undoubtedly the crucial linchpin.

In his past life, his mediocre strength meant that even if he accidentally triggered special quests from NPCs, he lacked the capability to complete them. Consequently, he hadn't fully grasped the importance of the favorability metric. Now, however, Rokuro experienced firsthand how critical NPC favorability truly was. If a background character like Saeko could yield an E-Gold weapon, what treasures might lie with the major story characters if their favorability reached 100?

Hmm... probably a quick and messy death.

Alright, joking aside. The system's restrictions on romantic favorability with multiple characters inherently prevented collecting them all simultaneously. So, that particular fantasy remained just that – a fantasy.

After stowing the [Shinju: Six Paths of Samsara] into his storage space, Rokuro didn't leave the three kilograms of TNT behind either; he packed it all up. Saeko's promised "reward" clearly hadn't included these explosives, so Rokuro paid a hefty 6000 points for these F-rank Blue quality items – a steep 2000 points per kilogram.

Though expensive, Rokuro parted with the points willingly. High-yield explosives like this were contraband in any world; you simply couldn't buy them, points or not.

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