With only one last item remaining, Chen Luo secretly hoped that this time he would pull a decent piece of equipment or prop. After devoutly praying to Lord GN—a legend from the previous century who laid the foundation for the golden age of PC gaming—Chen Luo took a deep breath and courageously chose to open the final item.
A brilliant red light suddenly flashed. Another high-quality item! Chen Luo could not help but rejoice internally. His luck was burning red hot; with a mere 5 points of base Luck, he had pulled several rare items in a row. He even began to imagine the dazzling scene when he eventually saved up and opened all remaining 500-plus safes in his inventory.
However, as the red glow gradually cleared and faded away, he slowly opened his eyes to look closely, only to fly into a rage on the spot: "ヽ（≧□≦）န Do you have even a shred of decency left, you damn system!!!!!!!"
-"Ding! Congratulations to the player on obtaining a special cosmetic prop exclusive to the player: 「Gorgeous Apparel」. Lady Luck has knocked on your door. Congratulations to the player on unlocking the achievement 「Path of Luck」, receiving 300 EXP."
[Item Information]
Name: Gorgeous Apparel
Grade: Exotic - Unique (Only 1 exists)
Requirements: None
Restrictions: Permanently bound to the player; only the player can use it. The player cannot store it in chests, discard, sell, or trade/exchange it with anyone.
Bonus Stats: +100 Charm, +50 Favorability, +60 Magic Damage, -20 Strength.
Passive: When activated, the item can transform into any female form based on the user's memories or settings (including complete biological traits, appearance, outfit, and psychological state). Additionally, the user can freely adjust detailed parameters including height, age, three measurements, and display name. This cosmetic possesses the ability to bypass all detection/tracking systems set up by players or NPCs. When unequipped (distinct from regular clothes changing), all settings revert to their original state, but it cannot be re-equipped within 1 hour.
Description: A dress hand-woven by the Goddess of Love herself. It contains a special divine power inside that helps the wearer confidently pursue the love of their life. The goddess once set a rule allowing only females to wear it to prevent other male gods from harboring greed. However, under the whimsical modification of the Almighty System, it was transformed into an "unprecedented" item reserved exclusively for the player.
Chen Luo stood frozen in place, a feeling of indescribable helplessness surging in his heart. In his past life, he was purely a single guy who had never experienced a single romantic relationship; now having transmigrated, he ended up pulling a bizarre piece of equipment that turned him into a woman—and an exclusive bound item at that! Looking at the charm and favorability stats that had skyrocketed into the heavens, was this not directly telling him to take this thing and seduce men?
If that invisible system could manifest into a physical form right now, he would definitely use the "right-hand rule" to correct its twisted logic. He had even bowed and prayed to Lord GN, yet still brought home such a bizarre piece of equipment; he truly just wanted to rush up and punch the system a few times to vent his frustration.
-"Ding! Congratulations to the player on completing the daily quest, receiving 「Water Domain Array - Intermediate」 and 「Bread」 x10. Player, please keep up the good work."
Chen Luo's face was as pale as ashes. He let out a long sigh and decisively exited the system interface. Checking the time, only a dozen or so minutes had passed. Shaking off his distress, he continued to leverage his superior Agility stat to rapidly loot all the safes in the nearby areas.
After more than two hours of exhausting raiding and harvesting, Chen Luo finally completed his "harvesting" operation. The total number of 「Safe」 items in his inventory surged to 817—a absurd number far out of reach for any player at this stage. If the day truly came when he sat down to open all of these, it would undoubtedly be an earth-shattering jackpot extravaganza.
After retrieving the first 30 「Safe」 items, Chen Luo destroyed their core nuclei, turning them into 30 「Ordinary Chest」 items. Now they purely served as storage containers for items, no longer capable of automatically generating system loot.
Striding away from the industrial ruins area, Chen Luo continued his solitary journey through the apocalypse. Along the way, mutated monsters occasionally leaped out from dark corners to attack. Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Luo struck decisively to clear them out cleanly. Thanks to the accumulated experience, he successfully leveled up to Level 7.
-"System, open the detailed Status Panel!"
-"Command response acknowledged. Displaying status panel..."
-------- STATUS PANEL --------
Name: Chen Luo | Age: 17
Level: 7 (800/4500 EXP)
Role: NPC | Faction: None | Title: Unequipped
Class: Unclassed Vagrant (Permanently Locked)
Reputation Points: 0 | Prestige Points: 0
CORE STATS:
Physical Damage (AD): 54 (+15 [Katana])
Magic Damage (AP): 9
Health Points (HP): 29.45 (+10 [Full Leather Armor])
Mana: 350
Agility / Movement Speed: 353
Attack Speed: 10 (2%/200%)
Physical Armor Penetration (Piercing): 36 | 0%
Physical Armor: 12 (+6 [Full Leather Armor])
Magic Resistance (Magic Armor): 14 (+3 [Full Leather Armor])
Physical Lifesteal: 0 | 0.02%
Magic Lifesteal: 0 | 0.03%
Auto HP Regen: 0.5/sec | Auto Mana Regen: 5/sec
BASE ATTRIBUTES:
Strength: 28
Stamina: 33
Intelligence: 20
Knowledge: 40
Luck: 5
(Courage, Dexterity, and Resolve attributes remain locked)
Free Attribute Points: 110
Skill Points: 10
Owned Skills: 「Flesh Carving & Bone Stripping」, 「Dismemberment」, 「Slow Breathing」, 「Expanded Crafting」, 「Weapon Master-0」, 「Appraisal」, 「Throwing Dagger Master」, 「Fatal Weakness」, 「Sound-based Amplification」
He had just gained an additional 5 Physical Damage, 1 Agility, 1 Mana, and 3 Magic Lifesteal from the recent battle. Currently, Chen Luo possessed a rather modest combat panel, largely due to the unallocated free attribute points. Although keeping 110 points could serve as a reserve for emergencies, boosting his power immediately remained the top priority right now. Attribute points could be earned again, but he only had one life.
-"System, allocate 7 points to Agility, 5 points to Stamina, 2 points to Strength, 1 point to Physical Armor Penetration, and 5 points to Physical Damage."
-"Allocation command received. System is updating attributes..."
A shimmer blending gold with gentle blue light instantly enveloped Chen Luo's body. He clearly felt each muscle becoming firmer and rich streams of energy circulating through his meridians. The leather armor on his body automatically stretched and expanded slightly, tightly wrapping around the broad shoulders and sturdy, robust frame of the 17-year-old youth.
Continuing forward in this manner until nightfall completely set in, Chen Luo decided to find a safe spot to halt and rest. After putting up redundant and unused items and resources from his inventory onto the system market, he earned a total of 550 additional crystals. Not daring to squander his newly earned funds, he spent a portion to immediately purchase a 「15-Liter Water Jug」 and a few cans of 「Cold Coca-Cola」 to quench his thirst.
Ah~! After taking a sip of the cold, refreshing carbonated drink, a surge of satisfaction spread throughout his body. Chen Luo smiled and set about preparing firewood to cook dinner. This time, he decided to flip open the encyclopedia Alvibion Tome of Knowledge to search for a new recipe to change his palate. Scrolling through an endlessly long menu that seemed to have no end, his gaze suddenly landed on an extremely familiar name.
It was no stranger dish, but one of the famous dishes hailed as the "national dish" of the harbor nation adjacent to the Land of Grass—Mela Boiled Fish Soup. Legend had it that this soup only appeared on freezing winter nights cold enough to form ice, where every family would use fat carp caught in autumn, combined with spicy chili peppers and numerous herbal spices, to brew a bowl of warm fish soup to dispel the bone-chilling cold.
Outside, cold winds just happened to start blowing in gusts; it seemed the apocalypse had quietly entered winter. Without any hesitation, Chen Luo directly activated the Alvibion hologram cooking tutorial right in front of him and pinned it in place.
-"Let's see... black carp, fresh chili, sea salt, tofu, dried lily flowers..."
Chen Luo continually rummaged through his inventory to search for the required ingredients. For whatever was missing, he directly purchased supplements via the system interface. Most fresh spices were quite cheap, well within an acceptable range, although buying in bulk was unadvisable.
After preparing all the ingredients, Chen Luo somehow pulled out a kitchen apron even though there clearly was no such thing in his inventory. He began his fancy knife-work display. Every cut of the blade was not only exceedingly magnificent, but also as light as a dance, making the surrounding space seem to slow down. The flickering fire behind him reflected off the youth's figure, creating a fantastical and romantic scene in the heart of the desolate apocalypse.
Under the meticulous guidance of Alvibion and his already superb cooking skills, after over 3 hours of painstaking preparation, Chen Luo successfully recreated a bowl of Mela Boiled Fish Soup as exquisite as a work of art. Even though there was no hot white rice to accompany it at the moment, he still eagerly took a sip of the broth.
A stream of warm soup flowed across his palate, went straight down his throat, and spread throughout his stomach. The explosive fusion of fresh chili heat and rich spices made the soup not only piping hot in temperature, but also fierce in flavor. However, that spiciness was not harsh at all; on the contrary, it highlighted the elegant, fresh sweetness of the black carp meat, warming his entire body and letting his mind relax completely.
Next came the fish meat; he picked up a piece and put it into his mouth. Remarkably, the carp meat was not only as tender as jelly, melting on the tongue before sliding down into his stomach, but the lingering aftertaste was also so captivating that one couldn't help but reach for a second and third piece. Just like that, Chen Luo enjoyed a hearty and satisfying dinner, so content that he sprawled out on the ground.
He looked up at the night sky with a satisfied expression. The crackling sound of burning dry firewood drew his mind deep into a rare tranquility. The surrounding rest area had been carefully fortified by him with a series of sturdy stone walls. The small flame and the youth lying in the center inadvertently became the sole warm beacon of light in the cold winter night. Chen Luo gazed into the distant sky, admiring the twinkling constellations while opening the Alvibion section—「Starry Sky - Stars and Moon」. The constellations that appeared exceedingly beautiful at a glance hid endless, distant secrets behind that silence that few could comprehend.
No matter how Chen Luo repeatedly reviewed the information in Alvibion, he could not see anything abnormal about those stars, yet his intuition told him that an invisible, mysterious connection existed between them and this world. As if sensing his thoughts, the ancient Alvibion book in his inventory suddenly flashed with a faint light before returning to normal...