After leaving his residential area, Chen Luo relaxed his body as he strolled along. Right at that moment, the cold electronic voice of the system rang out in his mind:
— "Daily Quest 2 unlocked: Unlock 30 「Safes」. Progress: 0/30. Rewards will be announced upon completion."
A task couldn't be simpler for him. However, Chen Luo wasn't so bored as to sit in the middle of the street opening chests one by one. He kept moving, keeping a alert eye on his surroundings. It wasn't until the system clock flashed past 11 PM that he decided to look for a safe place to rest.
Chen Luo stepped into a broad plaza lobby. The interior was pitch black, thick with the smell of moldy dust and cluttered with piles of debris. Looking at the shattered benches, one could guess this place had once been extremely prosperous. Sadly, when the catastrophe hit, fleeing crowds turned it into a pile of ruins. Naturally, he didn't expect to scavenge anything of value from this heap of trash.
Clack... Clack...
A series of dry, hollow sounds echoed from a distance. Chen Luo instantly held his breath and activated the skill 「Turtle Breathing」. His heart rate dropped to an absolute minimum, and his pupils narrowed slightly as he looked up toward the skylight on the second floor.
A few wobbling white figures—「Dry Bones」—were wandering around the railing. Their levels were quite low, making them no match for him at all. However, Chen Luo's eyes suddenly locked onto something. Held in the hand of one Dry Bones was... a faint halo of light characteristic of enhanced equipment.
[System Note]
In 《Infinite Vocationist》, aside from rarity tiers and acquisition methods, equipment is divided into 3 structural types: Normal Equipment, Enhanced Equipment, and Socketed Equipment.
Normal Equipment: The basic default versions with fixed stats.
Enhanced Equipment: Equipment branches that have undergone an Enhancement ritual. Players consume materials to upgrade them, unlocking new skills, passives, and stats. These attributes can be removed or lost depending on the level.
Socketed Equipment: A special branch obtained from hidden structures or through trades with high-tier NPCs from the Shura Realm. Socketed stats are permanent and extremely rare.
Having mapped out his plan, Chen Luo held his breath, took a few steps back, and carefully tiptoed up the stairs toward the second floor. He approached the group of monsters from behind like a phantom.
Once within burst range, Chen Luo launched his attack! Bolstered by terrifying speed and a surprise angle targeting the back of their necks, the Dry Bones didn't even have time to turn around before critical blows shattered their spine armor.
Crack! Crack!
— "Ding! Successfully defeated 30 「Dry Bones」. Obtained: 「Intact Skeleton (Uncommon)」 x30, 「Crude Arrow」 x81, 750 EXP."
— "Ding! Due to the effect of 「Weapon Master」, congratulations to player for unlocking the Melee branch skill: 「Fatal Weakness」!"
[Skill: Fatal Weakness]
Category: Passive/Melee Active.
Effect: When approaching a target within a certain range undetected, or when the target's HP drops below 30%, all structural weaknesses across the target's body will be exposed. Landing a perfect melee strike on these exact spots increases total damage dealt by up to 500%.
Chen Luo was caught off guard for a moment. He hadn't expected to unlock such a dominant skill so early. In his past life, this very skill was a "nightmare" that sparked countless bloody PK battles and the craziest Boss steals in gaming history.
Suppressing his excitement, Chen Luo stepped aside to push the skeletal remains away and picked up the longbow lying on the ground. When the information panel floated up, his pupils contracted in shock. This was not only a high-grade Longbow, but it actually possessed 4 Enhancement lines at the same time!
Did I burn through an entire week's worth of luck? Chen Luo mocked himself internally.
[Item Information]
Name: Hardened Brassnium Longbow
Requirements: Strength 50+, Physique 80+ (Status: Equipment conditions not met)
Max Range: 500m (+100m for every 75 points in Strength)
Durability: 465 / 4972
Arrow Velocity: 70 m/s (+15.74 m/s for every 50 points in Physique)
Bonus Stats: +40 Physical Attack (AD), -10% Attack Speed (ASPD), +15% Agility, +5% Critical Rate
Passive: Increases damage and armor penetration by 15% when striking targets below 60% HP.
Enhancement Lines:
Chain Combo V: 35% chance on hit to duplicate 5 sub-arrows that fire at nearby targets at the same velocity.
Quick Draw V: Reduces draw time by 50%.
Acceleration X: Increases arrow damage and velocity by 75%.
Tenacity VI: Reduces durability consumption speed by 50%.
Chen Luo took a deep breath. In the early game, an enhanced item with a total enhancement level between 3 and 8 was already a rare find; reaching level 12 made someone a tycoon. Yet this longbow's total enhancement level was a staggering 26!
If thrown onto the black market right now, its value would easily exceed tens of millions of Ether Crystal. Placed in an underground auction, it could easily hit $150,000 after taxes. Of course, that was the price in the first five years; later on, as Socketed equipment and Level 40+ enhanced items appeared, prices began to drop.
Carefully stashing the longbow into his inventory, Chen Luo planned to wait until he gathered enough materials to restore its durability. But before that, his stomach was growling in protest.
— "Successfully sold 「Intact Skeleton (Uncommon)」 x20. Received: 3,000 Ether Crystal."
— "Ding! Purchased 「Cold Coca-Cola」 x1. Balance: 3,190 Ether Crystal."
Pfft... Fizz...
He popped the tab and gulped down the chilled Coca-Cola in one breath. The spicy carbonation rushed straight up his nose, instanting clearing his head. Chen Luo then pulled out a few meat skewers he had grilled that morning. The system inventory was truly magical—everything stored inside remained frozen in time, so the meat came out steaming hot and fragrant.
Sprinkling on a bit of sea salt, Chen Luo tucked the skewers into a buttered roll and took a huge bite. Rich, savory juices burst out instantly, mingling with the warm butter and crispy crust to create an explosive sensory treat in this barren apocalypse. He devoured it ravenously in a matter of minutes.
With a full stomach, Chen Luo leaned back against the wall and began organizing the collected safes. He handpicked 30 that felt like his "luckiest" picks. It was worth noting that the total number of safes he raided this morning was 19 times this number. Single-handedly, he had accidentally hoarded the resource capacity of a small guild.
Inside the system interface, safe after safe popped open accompanied by flashes of light.
The first batch yielded mostly standard melee weapons, first-aid kits, and daily supplies. Chen Luo clicked his tongue in mild disappointment. But right after, his eyes lit up as sacks of various seeds spilled out. With these, half of his long-term food security was solved.
Next came apparel gear: military body armor, police uniforms... and scattered among them, a few pieces of women's clothing.
— "Women's clothes?"
The corner of Chen Luo's mouth twitched. Though he knew item drops were random and the game had plenty of female players, having the system roll out undergarments and dresses still left him caught between tears and laughter.
ヽ（≧□≦）ノ Stop fooling around!
Finally, he reached the most heart-pounding "Gacha" portion: items rated UR (Ultra Rare) and above. Chen Luo had intentionally set the information to hidden so he could personally experience the rush of opening them.
Item one—a dazzling wave of deep purple light flashed brilliantly!
As the light faded, Chen Luo's eyes widened. Lying quietly on the ground was an M4-XT—a specialized magical upgrade variant of the legendary rifle from the H&K Corporation.
The XT upgrade pack was no joke. Utilizing Magitech, its damage output and muzzle velocity scaled dramatically with the user's level. This was a true "beginner god-tier weapon." A Level 1 player holding this M4-XT, provided they had enough ammo, could roam the night blowing open the heads of Level 6 and Level 7 monsters without breaking a sweat.
Swallowing hard, Chen Luo eagerly opened the second item.
An Epic-grade Invisibility Cloak. Though its style looked a bit odd, its capacity to blend into darkness was absolute. As long as he didn't make loud noises, enemies would find it nearly impossible to detect him.
Item three—a katana with a sleek, jet-black blade. Its forged materials were top-tier, striking a perfect balance between lightness and sharpness. Most curiously, three ancient characters were engraved on the spine: Uchiha.
Chen Luo recognized it instantly. This came from the renowned Uchiha Clan located in the northwest region of the map (having zero relation to a certain eradicated clan from manga). Weapons forged by this clan all possessed physical attack properties augmented by elemental magic effects.
Item four—the item radiating the most brilliant golden light. Chen Luo opened it with a smile.
— "Ding! Congratulations to player for unlocking the Unique skill: 「Sound Art Empowerment」 from the skill book 《Musical Dance of War》!"
[Skill Description: Sound Art Empowerment (Unique)]
A special skill researched and created by a Master in the Sound Village. Uses musical rhythm to boost attributes for oneself/allies, or utilizes sound waves to suppress enemies, causing panic in their minds and forcing them to retreat.
Status: Permanently bound to player.
Requirement: Requires a Special Musical Instrument to cast. (Currently unusable).
A massive question mark flared up in Chen Luo's mind.
Why was he able to bind with a Unique skill belonging to the Sound branch? Logically, his class system was incompatible. Furthermore, in his past life, throughout the entire 50 years the game operated, he had never heard anyone mention the existence of this skill.
As if reading his thoughts, the system voice chimed in with an explanation:
— "Player need not be confused. This is a special auxiliary skill with no class restrictions. As for why no one possessed it in your past life: this skill was originally a hidden reward from the chain quest 'Truth of the Sound Village'. However, that area was far too remote; very few players ever set foot there, and no one triggered the hidden questline, causing it to be forgotten."
The system's explanation sounded reasonable enough, yet it planted a vague sense of unease in Chen Luo's heart.
For 50 full years... millions of players turned every nook and cranny of this world upside down, yet they managed to miss such an important quest chain? Chen Luo's brows furrowed tightly. He faintly sensed an invisible hand concealing many secrets of this world, and what he knew from his past life... was likely just the tip of the iceberg.