After dividing the sleeping quarters for the 5 Half-human children, warm goodnight wishes followed one after another, echoing through the quiet space of the apartment. Chen Luo smiled in return and walked to his own room, not forgetting to carefully double-lock it from the inside.
Confirming his surroundings were completely private, the smile on Chen Luo's face instantly transformed—from the image of a steady big brother into a grin that split from ear to ear. His eyes gleamed with unmistakable fervor and obsession.
Pulling a mysterious item from his inventory, Chen Luo swallowed thickly. It was none other than those [Safes]! All day today he had been busy sweeping the shopping center and then caring for the children, so he'd had to set aside this indulgence. But now, with the night growing late, the sacred ritual moment of a "gacha addict" had finally arrived!
Chen Luo pressed his palms together before his chest and began murmuring prayers to "Sir RN" — the supreme god of fortune in the hearts of every boosting player. Though he knew full well all stats operated on probability algorithms, for those obsessed with the thrill of red-and-black gambling, claiming there was no spiritual element at all would be a complete lie!
A total of 50 Safes harvested! Chen Luo absolutely refused to use the system's "Mass Quick-Open" function. Opening them by hand, peeling the seals with his own fingers—that was the pinnacle of the experience! This addictive chest-opening mechanic was itself the masterpiece refined by the three genius founders of the game after studying countless famous MMORPGs over hundreds of years.
Chen Luo rubbed his hands together to warm them, eyes gleaming at the pile of Safes, and spoke in a reverent whisper:
-"50 Safes... Sir RN, show your divine power and bless me to open what I need..."
After a proper prayer session, Chen Luo took a deep breath and began his "box-smashing" endeavor.
*Clank! Clank! Clank!*
Still the familiar flashes of white [Common] light bursting up and dying out. Most contained nothing more than industrial junk worth only their scrap value, selling for a few fragments of Ether Crystal. Occasionally a hint of Lime Green [Uncommon] light flickered from a few basic weapons, which earned a sigh as Chen Luo swept them into his inventory.
After all, the whole group was currently in a "broke" state—having a bit of spare gear for the kids was still better than nothing. For whatever was still missing, he could forge it himself later with his Crafting skill. Anyway, once you're in this gambling game, no one can predict what the system will spit out.
After over ten minutes of diligently clicking chests open in the system's spatial interface, Chen Luo finally reached one bitter, undeniable conclusion: that 5-point Luck stat of his was purely for show, with absolutely zero effect! Having opened all 50 Safes clean, aside from a few dozen pieces of low-tier gear for the kids, all he got was miscellaneous food and drink, plus a pile of basic 9mm and 7.62x39mm ammunition.
And most importantly... NOT A SINGLE 5.56mm BULLET!
Chen Luo clutched his head, the corner of his mouth twitching repeatedly. He was truly beginning to suspect that his Luck stat on the Status Panel was displayed incorrectly... It wasn't 5—it was clearly supposed to be negative 1 (-1)!
After a period of fiddling with the Safes in utter disappointment and frustration, Chen Luo sighed, closed the interface, and crawled into bed to sleep.
This time, he dreamed of the beautiful days of his past life. The place where each day he merely took boosting orders and, together with old Wang, Fudo Myoo, and Little Goblin, freely waged war in the world of Infinite Jobholders.
In that dream, Chen Luo longed for this moment to freeze forever. He was only afraid that as time passed, he would gradually forget the faces of those who had once fought shoulder to shoulder beside him... even though he knew it was inevitable. Before waking, Chen Luo could only whisper a blessing from the bottom of his heart:
-"Everyone... live well."
-"We're still waiting for you, Brother Chen."
A vague voice answered back. Chen Luo slowly opened his eyes. Dawn had barely broken, but the corners of his eyes were already stingingly red. An indescribable sadness surged up like a tide, leaving him staring blankly at the dusty ceiling in silence.
Wiping the trace of dampness from the corner of his eye, Chen Luo sprang up and shook himself back to his senses, setting about preparing the gear for the hunting trip. He opened his inventory and took some time to reorganize last night's "junk" haul. Although it was all low-tier, the quantity of resource items collected was by no means small.
After selling off what wasn't needed, he spent a sum to pick up a few more sets of full leather armor and basic materials. This time, Chen Luo genuinely wanted to test his hand at the 「Crafting & Repair - Forging Technology and Blueprints」 branch. After all, with the boosting experience of countless accounts under his belt, he had always been curious to experience the feeling of personally forging as a true Craftsman.
However, the moment he opened the Alvibion Tome of Knowledge, Chen Luo froze. He'd only read the very first line when he went "SLAM" — snapping the book shut immediately!
Only now did he realize why all those Crafters in the game back then were richer than Croesus... Simply because without a mountain of money to back you, no one could survive this profession!
Rough estimates showed that the entry phase alone required 15 basic workbench sets across 2 sub-branches: 6 benches for 「Crafting & Design」, 4 benches for the 「Blueprint Assembly」 branch, and 5 benches for the 「Repair & Upgrade」 branch. That didn't even include the mandatory 「Forge Furnace」 needed to smelt metals or alloys, accompanied by dozens of miscellaneous tools from anvils, whetstones, splitting stones, to refining water troughs...
Chen Luo massaged his temples, feeling his freshly-harvested wallet trembling and weeping! Just crafting them was already a whole problem, and on top of that he'd later have to upgrade them—he couldn't just leave them at their base level. No wonder so many NPCs and Players in Infinite Jobholders he had known were irrationally obsessed with money.
Despite the sting to his wallet, Chen Luo couldn't bear to let the children go hunting empty-handed. He gritted his teeth and sank his crafting resources into making a few of the most basic workbenches. With operating assistance from the System, as the moonlight of the night receded to make way for dawn, Chen Luo happened to finish the entire batch of basic equipment.
Strolling out of his private room, the space outside was still quiet and still. The children seemed to still be buried in their warm blankets. Checking the interface clock, it was only 6:30 AM. Chen Luo decided to let them sleep 30 more minutes, while he used the time to check in and claim the daily reward.
-[Ding! Congratulations, Host, on successfully receiving Day 6 login reward: Passive skill 「Enhanced Analysis」!]
A golden light appeared and shot straight into Chen Luo's body, catching him somewhat by surprise. Though he knew he could receive NPC skills, the one he'd just received was in the mental category rather than direct combat skills.
-"Hmm, an NPC skill? Just in time, I need it..." — Chen Luo smirked — "I hope you won't be too useless."
After personally preparing a warm breakfast in the kitchen, Chen Luo knocked on each door to wake the children. Each one was a bit sluggish, unaccustomed to waking so early. Only Chris was the exception—when Chen Luo stepped in, Chris had already been ready for some time.
Chen Luo didn't say much. Food fuels everything—each portion of crispy meat sandwiches slathered with hot butter wasn't fine dining, but it certainly was enough to fill the whole group's energy before departure.
Right before heading out to hunt, Chen Luo distributed all the necessary equipment to everyone. When they put it on, everyone was surprised—while not custom-made, the fit was eerily perfect.
Chris was somewhat stunned when he saw the pair of daggers. Though he knew Chen Luo had recognized what that gesture meant, he hadn't expected to receive two daggers instead of one. Those two daggers, while not rare items like the Venom Fang Wolf Dagger, had quality and bonus damage that were far from shabby.
-"Jezz, you really want to play it that way, Chris?" — Aaron couldn't help but tease when he saw Chris's smooth handling of the twin daggers — "I recall the last time you used that style, you weren't quite proficient yet, were you?"
-"Same goes for you." — Chris fired back without backing down, a vein on his forehead subtly bulging, yet still responding in a fairly mild tone — "The side effects of Beastkin transformation aren't minor, you know, but you still love transforming anyway."
Just as the two were about to break into a full-blown argument, a crisp clap of hands cut through the tense atmosphere. Chen Luo leaned against the doorframe, smiling as he spoke in a steady voice:
-"Alright, alright. Now then... how about we go hunting, kids? Keep arguing and there'll be nothing left!"