The 600 Primogems were the reward for completing the task of giving Herrscher of Knowledge a home.
The remaining five Primogems were the leftover reward he received after snatching the little loli's lollipop and completing the task.
Although those five Primogems were few, their significance went far beyond that. They showed that there was more than one way to complete a commission—gentle persuasion was not the only option. A little violence worked too.
Just like in Genshin Impact, each draw required 160 Primogems, and 1,600 Primogems was exactly enough for a ten-pull.
The draw screen also stated that a ten-pull guaranteed at least one purple item, a cumulative hundred pulls guaranteed a gold item, and two hundred cumulative pulls might even yield a rainbow item.
Note that the last one was only a possibility.
In short, the draw screen left Chen Luo at a loss for words. He really wanted to curse out whoever had designed this system, but then he remembered that it was his own talent and held it in.
Still, it was not all bad news. The good news was that his first ten-pull also guaranteed a gold item. That came from the excess Primogems he had converted into good fortune, which gave Chen Luo a little comfort.
After he clicked on the ten-pull, a golden flash burst forth before Chen Luo's expectant eyes, accompanied by two purple flashes, two blue flashes, and five white flashes.
Gold represented five-star items, extremely rare tools that could potentially produce Talent Pendants and expand the functions of his talent.
Purple represented four-star items, precious and exceptionally rare things, such as refined weapons, support tools, and the like. Four-star items generally possessed decent special abilities.
Blue represented three-star items, rare tools that could include some rather powerful items. Occasionally, there were special three-star items that were even more impressive than four-star ones, but they were pitifully scarce. Blue items were generally things that could not be obtained through ordinary means and possessed certain special abilities.
White represented one-star and two-star items, the sort of things one could acquire even in an ordinary world.
And Chen Luo's haul this time was...
Five-star: Zero Bar (Talent Pendant) (Item)
Four-star: Friend of the Non-Human (Title), Attribute-less Vision (Item)
Three-star: Hong Tailang's Frying Pan (Item), The Sole Unfettered Sword (Weapon)
Two-star: Barrett M82A1 Sniper Rifle (Weapon), Endless Coconut Milk (Drink)
One-star: Premium Cat Food ×10 (Pet Supplies), Huaxia Coin ×1000, Telescope (Item)
The sight of one gold and two purples in that ten-pull made Chen Luo feel that the Primogems exceeding his storage limit, which had been converted into good fortune, had "died" a worthwhile death. After all, gold items were the kind that could change one's entire gameplay experience.
However, Chen Luo was rather puzzled. Why was that Unsheathed Sword rarer than the Barrett?
Not until Chen Luo looked at the equipment description for The Sole Unfettered Sword did he understand.
The Sole Unfettered Sword: Equipment Description: A young person's dream, the excitement of setting out on a journey—if these two precious qualities are not sharp enough, then make up for it with courage. Equipment Traits: Uniquely bound. Cannot be traded, discarded, lost, or worn down. It can continuously improve alongside its owner's growth. At the same time, it will grant you the courage to travel and fight. Equipment Story: This sword has no story. But from the moment you grasp it, it will record and bear witness to your story.
This thing was actually a growth-type piece of equipment, and it even sounded like equipment bound to the Traveler.
Was this thing really only three-star?
As everyone knew, weapons with growth potential were generally bug-level existences.
In any case, this draw had not been a loss.
But that raised the question: what exactly was that sole five-star item for?
"So now the question is, what can this tavern do?" Chen Luo sat in the chair before the counter and fell into thought.
"Mixing drinks... I may have learned a lot of things, but I've never touched bartending."
Chen Luo had done around a thousand good deeds, which meant his hands-on ability was extremely strong. Some commissions could not be completed with skills at an ordinary person's level, such as nursing.
As a result, Chen Luo could be said to have learned many skills, such as massage.
But bartending... Chen Luo could only say that he was too young to have come into contact with it.
As Chen Luo pondered, his hand happened to rest on the counter. The moment he touched it, it was as though he had triggered some mechanism, and the talent interface suddenly popped up.
A special shop appeared on the talent panel.
Primogem Shop - Zero Bar
At present, there was only one product in this bar-exclusive shop.
Void Wine: 5 Primogems Void Wine: A wine with no fixed flavor that can become any wine, but it will not replicate that wine's special bonuses.
"..." Chen Luo silently looked at his last five Primogems.
Damn it!
Was this lousy system doing it on purpose?
Right, don't get angry, don't get angry. This system was his own talent. Getting mad enough to hurt himself was not worth it.
"Seriously? I opened this tavern and I'm losing money before I've even made any? Five Primogems? Why don't you just rob me?" Although Chen Luo knew this system was his own talent, he still could not help getting angry at it.
Chen Luo had always felt that, despite being called a talent, this thing was more like a system. But it really was a talent.
If this thing had been a system, Chen Luo could have cursed it out for being heartless, for not giving him a beginner's gift pack, for being a black-hearted scammer! But since it was his own talent, what could he do?
Would you like to master Bartender Mastery and receive the corresponding bartending equipment and ten portions of ingredients?
Just as Chen Luo was getting angry with himself, another line of text appeared on the talent panel.
"Hm?" Chen Luo raised an eyebrow.
This looked a little more reliable.
"But this won't cost money too, will it?" Chen Luo felt he should ask in advance.
5 Primogems plus 1,000 Huaxia Coin.
"...Damn it!" Although Chen Luo still wanted to swear, this was admittedly much better than that absurdly unethical wine costing five Primogems per bottle.
It was just...
"Why does a lousy talent need cash?" Chen Luo could not understand it. He really could not understand it, and he could not accept that the thousand Huaxia Coin he had just obtained would vanish like this.
Yet Chen Luo's talent continued to ignore him, playing dead as usual.
"Fine, fine. If you want it, take it. Here, take it." Looking at the talent panel pretending to be dead, Chen Luo could not help sighing.
He was actually rather reluctant to part with the cash. After all, there was one more mouth to feed now, so his expenses would definitely increase.
Fortunately, Chen Luo had always had the habit of saving up a private stash. Besides, Herrscher of Knowledge had gone out to uphold justice again, so he should not need to worry about money for the time being.
Besides, even if he really ran into financial trouble, he could always specifically beg his parents and say he wanted to buy a figurine. Asking for a little more pocket money would not be a problem.
As for where the figurine was?
It had accidentally fallen and shattered.
Although Chen Luo was short on money, he was not so short on money that he would exchange Primogems for cash.
After Chen Luo nodded, he found that the 1,000 Huaxia Coin in his inventory instantly disappeared, along with his last five Primogems.
Good heavens, he had truly become penniless now.
He wondered if he could sell that Barrett for money.
That thing should be worth quite a lot, right?
Still, joking aside, Chen Luo really could not bring himself to sell arms.
Bartending equipment has been placed beneath the counter.
After seeing the talent panel's prompt, Chen Luo jumped onto the bar counter and vaulted inside. Since there was nothing on the counter, he did not have to worry about knocking anything over.
After checking the compartments beneath the counter, Chen Luo found that there really was an additional set of bartending equipment.
However, Chen Luo was not sure whether the equipment had already been there and the talent panel was simply scamming him out of money, or whether the talent panel had truly spent money to buy it.
Ten portions of ingredients have been placed in the shop interface. You may freely select combinations based on your bartending needs.
After hearing the talent panel's prompt, Chen Luo opened the bar shop interface and found all kinds of liquor listed there. They could be used as ingredients for mixing drinks or sold directly as complete drinks.
Those so-called ten portions of ingredients meant that, before Chen Luo mixed and sold a normal-quality drink, no matter how many types of liquor he used to make that drink, it counted as only one portion of ingredients.
Overall, it was at least cheaper and more reasonable than that five-Primogem wine.
Although he knew that five-Primogem wine had to be amazing, he did not have enough startup capital anymore.
Besides, Chen Luo did not know how to mix drinks. How was a bar owner who could not bartend supposed to keep the business running?
Although Chen Luo had not yet enjoyed any benefits brought by the bar, he could roughly guess what they were.
This bar connected Different Worlds. Since he could meet people from Different Worlds, that meant he might be able to accept commissions from them.
"Right, what about that bartending skill? That's the main event, isn't it?" When Chen Luo realized that the reward he had been expecting had not been issued, he asked the talent panel.
As long as Zero Bar was considered his home, the bartending tools naturally counted as household items. Therefore, he would naturally gain Bartender Mastery.
"...That's it?" After staring blankly for five seconds, Chen Luo asked foolishly.
The talent panel continued playing dead.
"You motherf—... Just those few words cost me four Primogems? What use does a talent panel have for Primogems? Get out here! I'll beat you to death!" Chen Luo's rage meter was nearly overflowing.
Yes, those few words alone had cost four Primogems. Chen Luo had checked the material fee; one Primogem could be exchanged for ten portions of ingredients.
After going through great effort to convince himself not to get angry with himself, Chen Luo calmed down.
Although the talent panel had scammed him, Chen Luo seemed to have had the door to a New World opened for him.
Zero Bar was a derivative of his talent, so it was his shop. Since it was his shop, that meant it was his home. If it was his home, then everything inside counted as household items, and bartending tools counted as household items too.
After painstakingly sorting out that logic, Chen Luo touched the bartending tools and suddenly felt as if he could fully control them and mix all kinds of drinks.
"This is ridiculous. I thought Household Item Mastery was just a skill for cooking, but it turns out it's also a Karma Type skill." Chen Luo was stunned when he discovered that this logic really worked.
Before thinking that way, Chen Luo had not even known how to use the bartending tools. He did not even know the proper names of those items; he only knew they were cups—cups of all kinds.
But after sorting out the logic, he had suddenly mastered them.
What was Household Item Mastery? This was Household Item Mastery!
If that was the case, then taking the idea further, if he learned martial arts, from now on he would be from a martial arts noble family. Wouldn't the swords, spears, staffs, and clubs in a martial arts noble family also count as household items?
Would that not mean he could become proficient in using swords, spears, staffs, and clubs as well?
For example, didn't Theresa have something called the Oath of Judah? Some families kept crosses in their homes, right? Would that count as a household item?
And another thing: although Chen Luo had dropped the game, he vaguely remembered that Raiden Shogun and Raiden Ei were two different people.
If so, could Raiden Shogun's puppet be treated as a life-sized body pillow? A life-sized body pillow counted as a household item, right?
This was incredible, absolutely incredible.
This Furniture Mastery seemed truly incredible.
Although imagination was wonderful, reality was harsh. Chen Luo had already begun fantasizing about controlling the heavens, earth, and air when the talent panel dealt him a fatal blow.
Oath of Judah weighs 152 kilograms. Raiden Shogun can sever an island with a single strike. The greater the gap in strength between the user and an autonomous item or an item with an owner, the more it will affect the effectiveness of Household Item Mastery.
"So Household Item Mastery really can control the Oath of Judah and Raiden Shogun, but I'm too weak, right?" Chen Luo gradually understood the specific application of Furniture Mastery.
Who would have thought that, aside from being a Karma Type skill, it was also a growth-type skill?
"Jingle!" Just as Chen Luo was considering how to further expand the use of Furniture Mastery, the wind chime hanging by the door rang.
Chen Luo turned his head and saw a green-clad bard holding a lyre enter the tavern and look around.
"Zero Bar? I've never heard of a tavern with that name, but why does the decor inside look so much like Angel's Share? Would Master Diluc get angry if he saw this?" the bard muttered quietly.
Chen Luo thought the same thing, actually.
This tavern had a medieval atmosphere and really resembled Angel's Share, Diluc's tavern in Genshin Impact, while also incorporating some modern features.
Before you continue