The next two days passed strangely… extremely calm.
As if the forest, with all its monsters and hidden eyes, had decided to grant him a short break before returning to its usual madness.
Nothing massive appeared.
He heard no footsteps tearing up the ground.
Nor did he glimpse a shadow watching him from between the trees.
This calm was a blessing… and a curse.
Because in this forest, silence was not a sign of safety—
it was a sign of waiting.
Even so, he did not stop.
He lived the two days at the same pace he had imposed on himself.
Hunting… training… sleeping.
The trinity of survival he knew nothing beyond now… with the addition of masturbation.
While moving between the trees, he hunted two foxes in the morning, then a third fox in the evening.
The foxes were small and fast, but Renji had become accurate enough to hit them from a medium distance.
The system notification appeared each time:
[Target eliminated: Wild Fox]
+7 Vital Points
Then, three hours later, he managed to hunt two wild rabbits:
[Target eliminated: Wild Rabbit]
+5 Vital Points
A small gain… but a necessary one.
He didn't get anything worth celebrating…
Until he saw that small black boar.
It was somewhat heavy and aggressive, but the shot was perfect.
[Target eliminated: Small Forest Boar]
+20 Vital Points
Rewarding—much better than a rabbit.
And on the second day… a large bird appeared near the stream.
Green-blue feathers, a long tail shimmering under the sun.
A peacock.
Renji smiled faintly.
Not because it was the most beautiful prey…
But because it was still, as if fate had placed it directly in his line of fire.
One single shot—light and distant—dropped it.
[Target eliminated: Peacock]
+15 Vital Points
Excellent… very excellent.
After he finished cleaning and organizing the hunt, the notification he had been waiting for for days finally appeared:
[Experience Complete]
Level increased to 4.
Renji stopped.
He felt something like relief… then excitement… then anxiety.
This was what he worked for.
What he hunted for.
What he risked his life for every day.
The point system…
Levels…
Rewards…
He pressed the notification.
────────────────────────
Personal Data (After Level Up)
────────────────────────
■ Name: Yosukawa Renji
■ Talent: B+
■ Level: 4 (150/31)
■ Wealth: 30 Coins
■ Core Attributes:
• Accuracy ... B
• Stability ... D
• Focus ... C-
• Perception .... F+
• Motion Reading ... D-
• Readiness ..... D
• Endurance ..... C-
• Discipline .... F
────────────────────────
The rewards appeared:
[Obtained: 30 Coins]
[Obtained: Discipline Elixir (Grade C)]
He frowned.
"One elixir only? I expected at least two… or one for stability."
But the system wasn't finished.
Two additional notifications appeared:
[Obtained: Bronze Bullet – 1 Round]
[Obtained: Bronze Lottery Ticket]
Renji slowly raised his head.
"Hmmm…"
The bullet alone made his heart flutter.
Then he looked at the second reward…
And remembered something inside him… something old:
His obsession with games of chance and spinning wheels.
The rings, the lights, the sounds, the probabilities…
Something in his mind ignited every time he saw a wheel spinning.
He sat on the ground, opened the system, and then—
"All right… let's see what we got."
He opened the arsenal.
It was completely empty after his bow broke… except for the two items he had just obtained.
He read the specifications of the bronze bullet:
● Advanced Trajectory Correction: 15% target tracking after firing
● Higher Penetration: Capable of killing a buffalo with a single shot if it hits a lethal spot
● Increased Reward Rate: +10%
● Effective against fast monsters
His eyes widened.
He wondered: what if he got silver… or gold?
Then he pulled himself together.
"No… keep your feet on the ground."
He closed the bullet tab and moved to the ticket.
It was long and glossy, drawn with thin golden lines, as if the system were turning it into an important tutorial event.
When he pressed it, a colorful lottery wheel appeared before him—huge, filling half the cabin.
Hundreds of rewards spun rapidly:
Different ammunition
Strange firearms
Skills
Clothing and food
Upgrade materials
Unknown slots
More lottery tickets
And even tools he had never seen before
The wheel's design was stunning.
Colorful. Vibrant.
It entered the mind… then numbed it.
Renji, who had once been obsessed with casinos…
Felt the heat rising in his chest.
"Damn… I love this kind of thing…"
He inserted the ticket.
The wheel spun fast.
Then faster.
Then faster until all details vanished into a single band of light.
The entire cabin became a blur of colors.
Then… it slowed.
Damn it… don't slow down… faster… faster…
But the system didn't listen.
It stopped.
First reward:
Skill — Wind Master.
He expected something related to reading the wind or improving bullet trajectory.
But… something in him didn't trust the first reward.
"Hmmm… let's try one more time."
He spun the wheel again.
It spun.
Accelerated.
Slowed.
Then—
Second reward:
Duplicator Bullet.
His mouth opened slightly.
"This… is confusing."
A skill versus a bullet.
A skill that could change his future…
Or a bullet that could save him from certain death, like what happened with the orangutan.
He sat on the ground, placed his elbows on his knees, and interlocked his fingers.
"All right… let's look at the properties of each one… before I decide."
He pressed the details button.
A translucent window in a faint blue color appeared, softly glowing before his face.
He started by reading Wind Master's attributes.
[Skill: Wind Master — Bronze Grade]
● Ability to sense wind movement within a 180-degree angle
● Automatic 25% prediction of wind trajectory changes within 1.5 seconds
● +10% increase in trajectory reading accuracy
● Effective against:
– Moving targets
– Long distances
– Irregular winds
● Type: Passive Skill
────────────────────────
He read it twice… then a third time.
"Hah… exactly as I expected."
Perception: F+
Motion Reading: D-
The wind always slapped him in the face and laughed…
This skill…
Was effectively a permanent crutch for two of his weakest traits.
And on top of that… it wasn't a bullet.
Not something used once and gone.
"This… makes sense. Logic says take it. One bullet? In exchange for a permanent skill?"
He shook his head.
The decision was almost settled.
But curiosity rules humans…
And Renji's curiosity was closer to a disease.
"All right… let's just see what the Duplicator Bullet offers. Just a look… then I'll choose Wind Master."
He pressed the second bullet.
A new window appeared.
A small square… but it felt different.
Thin golden lines framed it, and the text glowed like sparks.
He read the first line. Unmoved.
He read the second line. His eyes began to widen.
Then he reached the final line—
And suddenly—
He gasped.
An audible gasp, so sharp he unconsciously put his hands on his head.
[Special Bullet: Duplicator Bullet]
● Single-use only
● Upon killing any target with this bullet:
→ The hunting reward is randomly multiplied by one of the following values:
• 10×
• 100×
• 1,000×
• 10,000×
• 1,000,000× (Extremely Rare)
● Applies to:
– Vital Points
– Coins
– Special Rewards
– Rare Drops
● The result cannot be influenced.
● The bullet can be used only once.
────────────────────────
His eyes stopped at the last number:
One million.
His lips parted slightly.
It felt as if the bones of his face wanted to smile against his will… then froze.
"M… million?"
He said it very slowly, as if afraid the system might hear his objection.
He repeated it again:
"Million…!?"
The word was an electric slap.
He struck his head with his palm, unable to believe it.
This number could…
Flip the game.
Flip the forest.
Flip his entire life.
Not just a level.
Not a new rifle.
Not a better camp.
But… an entirely new life.
"No… wait… impossible… something like this… exists? Just like that?!"
All his old calculations began to shatter.
The choice that had been "obvious" a minute ago…
Was now a joke.
A permanent skill?
Nice.
Useful.
But…
One number…
One single bullet…
Could equal a million times the reward of any hunt?
He felt dizzy.
The cabin felt too small.
Or maybe…
This was just a reflection of a dangerous feeling he had loved for a long time:
The feeling of gambling.
The tiny chance.
The impossible possibility.
The probability that burns the blood.
"Damn it…"
He muttered slowly.
His eyes were fixed on the final line:
1,000,000×
Time stopped there.
And just like that… all his calculations ended.
His decision shifted from "easy" to a deadly riddle.
Now he had to choose between:
Safety
Or
Madness.