"Done..."
Xu Tao sighed, seeing the aftermath of their rampage. Loot Boxes were scattered all over the place!
Counting them, there should be about a thousand Small ones, around two hundred Medium, and a dozen Large loot boxes. And, of course, Xu Tao didn't plan to leave those alone.
"Pepe, go!"
As such, he moved on to his new plan.
Pepe could automatically transfer Rare and above items to the nearest storage. That meant he could also do this for other items, regardless of rank.
Since they had 14 extra, smaller Storage Rings, he let Pepe wear all of them on the little branch-like horn on top of its head. With this, Pepe could "store" all items in loot boxes instantly, without needing Xu Tao's intervention! A genius idea!
"Pui~!"
And the little pumpkin, regardless of Xu Tao's inner machinations, happily followed orders. It began running around, bumping into the nearby Loot Boxes and claiming all the loot into the rings it wore. The speed was astounding!
Of course, Xu Tao himself didn't just sit still. There were thousands of loot boxes, and only one small Pepe. It'd take a long time if he left it to the little guy alone.
He moved around, claiming loot boxes and inserting everything into his storage ring. Confirmation? He could do that after the fact, when they were in a more "relaxed" environment.
Only Jehanne was left with nothing to do, so she just stood there—pristine spear-flag in hand—staring into the distance, watching out for more monsters in case they came.
Thankfully, the gathering didn't take too long.
About 20 minutes later, they had already collected all the loot boxes!
"Alright then!" Xu Tao quickly changed gears, pointing at the mountain in the distance—now visibly closer. "Let's go! Towards that mountain!"
"Pui, pui~!"
"Shall we?"
Without much fanfare, they all moved in unison, walking through the sweltering heat without batting an eye.
As they walked, Xu Tao analyzed his current status.
From the earlier "war" with the beetles, they had gained a total of 14,203 System Points—including whatever points they had before the fight began. He noticed that the point drop seemed to increase the higher the enemy's level was, but there was still some fluctuation.
A good example would be the Sand Beetle Larvae around Level 10. Killing one, he would either get 1 or 2 points. 3 points at most, when he was extremely lucky. The adults dropped around 10 to 20 points at random too.
Another observation he made was that kills done by Jehanne were considered his as well, so all the "rewards" still went to him. The experience seemed to be split between them, though—regardless of who landed the killing blow.
Finally, when he tried using the Lost System to confirm Jehanne's stats:
[
Name: Jehanne d'Arc
Level: 250
Stats:
STR: 165
INT: 256
VIT: 80
AGI: 150
DEX: 99
Cultivation: 0
Note:
A saint who fought for her country. Was later branded as a witch and burned alive at the stake. Has a curious but compassionate personality. Loyal to those she serves, and ruthless to pagans and her enemies.
]
"Hmm, hm... I see..."
Xu Tao nodded... but barely understood a thing.
He hadn't fully grasped the stats just yet, but he knew that bigger numbers were better. And although Jehanne didn't have a maxed-out stat, she was still quite formidable overall. Three stats over 100!
But more than that, he was curious about something... the note.
'So she died before coming here?' Xu Tao wondered.
She did mention her last memory being defeated by her enemies and getting captured—which meant that was when she lost her life.
This, however, put the Lost System into perspective.
'How did it summon the dead back into life?'
And this world itself—it was weird right from the start. Monsters turning into loot boxes upon death. Items appearing out of nowhere. And then there were the stats that increased his power with a single press of a button.
It was weird! It'd be weirder if he didn't find it weird!
But still, as it stood, the System was working to his benefit. Although there were times he wanted to strangle the System out of grievance, it was—objectively speaking—helping him.
As long as it stayed that way, he wouldn't mind playing along with it for a bit longer...
🔷🔷🔷
[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]
[You are now Level 100!]
A few hours later, after hunting more monsters that appeared along the way—things that were way more grotesque than a bus-sized beetle—this moment finally arrived.
"Finally!" Xu Tao exclaimed, staring at the first sign of green he'd seen in a long time. "We arrived at the mountains!"
Technically, they were at a savanna, connecting the desert and the mountain region. Still, green was green, so it wasn't strange for him to feel excited about it.
But his surprise didn't end there.
[Detecting user reaching the minimum threshold: Level 100.]
[Unlocking new functions... Congratulations, you have unlocked Crafting/Dismantling, and Mixing/Deriving!]
[Crafting Recipes unlocked: Mud Hut, Stone Shovel, Stone Spear, Stone Hammer]
[Mixing Recipes unlocked: Healing Pill (weak), Sleeping Pill (weak), Poison Pill (weak)]
"...Huh?"
Xu Tao was shocked. It was a flood of messages—but ones that filled him with curiosity. "Crafting? Mixing? Are these..."
And as if to confirm his doubts, the system appeared once again.
[
New Quest Generated: Let's Build a Mud Hut!
Quest Details:
Build one (1) Mud Hut(s).
Quest Rewards:
Crafting Recipe: Log House
]
"..."
Xu Tao felt he was being looked down on. He was someone who had reached his hand toward the heavens and almost grasped its essence. And now, the System wanted him to play with mud?
"Bullshit...!" he cursed.
But at the same time, he realized he had no choice.
In this place, there didn't seem to be any homes around. As such, they had no choice but to be exposed to the elements—and all the dangers around them—without cover.
Thus, it was practically mandatory for him to make a "home" for them to take shelter in.
At least, the reward showed him that he wouldn't need to live in a mud hut for long. A new alternative—Log House—would be available as soon as he completed this, after all.
Xu Tao scratched his head, sighing deeply.
"Anyway, looks like I'll be making a mud house for now." He turned to Jehanne. "Jehanne, watch our surroundings while I work. Pepe, grab all the loot from monsters she hunts."
"House making?"
Jehanne tilted her head, the same unreadable but friendly smile on her face. "Then I want a room for myself, if possible. Can I?"
Xu Tao wasn't expecting a request, but he wasn't too surprised either. He hadn't tried making a "home" for himself before, after all. The most he did, in his memory, was dig a cave into a mountainside—a temporary shelter at best.
"I'll try, but don't expect too much." He shrugged.
"Alright! Then I won't expect the best!" Jehanne answered back, smiling innocently before running off.
"Pui~!"
And the little pumpkin jumped away, frantically chasing after her figure.
Left all alone, Xu Tao sighed.
"Alright then, how should I start...?"