Opening Treasure Chests, Choosing Your Own Rewards

Bang!!!

With a deafening gunshot, the Silver-Gray Giant Wolf, its shoulder nearly as high as an adult's chin, crashed to the ground in the wasteland overgrown with withered yellow grass.

Its body, riddled with bloody holes and long narrow wounds, with large areas scorched black and smoking, soon vanished into the air like mist. Only three figures remained in the surrounding wasteland—one nearby and two farther away—along with great splashes of blood.

The closest was a young man lying flat on his back. He had already lost consciousness, his right hand tightly gripping a bent and chipped Short Blade. His clothes had been completely shredded, exposing strips of flesh torn open by the giant wolf's claws. He looked utterly miserable. Only his bloodied chest, faintly rising and falling, showed that he was still alive.

More than ten meters away from the miserable young man lying in the wasteland stood two young people with expressions of relief at having survived a disaster.

One was a young man wearing a Cowboy Hat. He shook the Revolver in his hand, its muzzle still emitting bluish-white smoke, then turned to the pale-faced woman nearby, who was supporting herself with both hands on a long brown staff, and said:

"We finally beat it... I never expected an Lv2 monster to be this hard to kill. I nearly ran out of bullets."

The young man in the Cowboy Hat sounded deeply relieved, because he knew very well how terrible a situation a player with the Gunslinger class would face once he ran out of ammunition.

"Yeah... We really have that warrior teammate up front to thank this time."

The female player, who was presumably a Mage, nodded after hearing him. Then she and the young man in the Cowboy Hat walked over to check on the miserable young man lying on the ground.

"He's not dead. He's just unconscious from his injuries... Do you have any healing spells or Healing Potions?"

The young man in the Cowboy Hat quickly confirmed that the young man on the ground was still alive, though in terrible condition, and asked his Mage teammate whether she could help.

"I don't have anything like that."

The young female Mage player immediately shook her head.

"Let's hope he can hold on... As long as he regains consciousness for a moment, he can return directly to the real world and fully recover his physical condition."

Just after the female Mage answered the young man in the Cowboy Hat, glowing square chests appeared out of thin air beside each of them. The outline of a chest also emerged beside the young man lying on the ground. It was time for the most anticipated part after clearing a dungeon: opening Treasure Chests.

Without any scrambling, the two standing on the ground quickly crouched down, opened their respective Treasure Chests, and eagerly checked the rewards from clearing the dungeon.

"A box of Common Grade ammunition... a Common Grade Dagger... Sigh... I guess it's barely acceptable."

After counting the rewards in his Treasure Chest, the young Gunslinger let out a disappointed sigh. His luck was simply too ordinary; the items in the chest gave him no surprises at all.

But when he turned to look at the female Mage player beside him, who had also finished opening her chest, he found her looking extremely happy as she slipped a faintly glowing Ruby Ring onto the index finger of her right hand.

"Could that thing you got be..."

A flash of jealousy crossed the Gunslinger player's eyes, but for some reason, he immediately suppressed it.

"It's a Fine Grade ring. It happens to boost my Fireball."

The female Mage player clearly was not worried that her teammate might suddenly try to seize her treasure. She showed the Ruby Ring on her right index finger to the Gunslinger player and briefly explained its effect. After all, non-owners could not directly view an item's detailed attributes.

"Your luck is really good. You actually got a Fine Grade item, and it's even a rare ring-type item..."

The Gunslinger player could not help sighing enviously. But then his gaze shifted to the ground—more precisely, to the Treasure Chest beside the miserable warrior player lying there.

"Hey, don't get any ideas about his Treasure Chest. He's still alive. If you take his things, you'll definitely enter a Punishment Round."

The female Mage player, still immersed in the joy of getting a Fine Grade ring, immediately noticed her Gunslinger teammate's suspicious movements and warned him.

The Punishment Round mechanism she mentioned was something every player knew about, and it had been proven to exist countless times. Otherwise, she would not have opened her own Treasure Chest here without worrying in the slightest that the Gunslinger would rob her.

"Of course I know that. I just want to help him see what his reward is."

Without even turning his head, the young man in the Cowboy Hat replied to the female Mage. Then he walked over to the only unopened Treasure Chest on the ground, crouched down, and opened its lid.

Simply opening another player's Treasure Chest without attempting to steal anything was completely permitted. After all, many players were highly superstitious about luck and would specifically invite so-called "lucky-handed" players to open Treasure Chests for them.

As the final chest opened, its contents quickly became visible. The one who opened it immediately cried out in surprise:

"Huh? Why is this chest empty?"

He was right. When he opened the Treasure Chest that did not belong to him, he found nothing inside. It was completely empty.

"This... That shouldn't be possible..."

The female Mage player nearby was immediately surprised upon hearing this. There was no other reason; she knew very well how rare it was for a Treasure Chest to be completely empty. It was said to be even harder to encounter than getting a Fine Grade item.

"It really is empty! There's nothing in it!"

The Gunslinger player promptly stood up and assured the female Mage nearby. She quickly moved closer and confirmed that the chest they were examining truly contained nothing.

"Sigh... He really is miserable... He nearly lost his life fighting that monster just now, and all he got was an empty Treasure Chest."

The young man in the Cowboy Hat now felt tremendous sympathy for the teammate still lying on the ground beside him. He had originally planned to naturally obtain the poor teammate's belongings after he died, but that thought now vanished completely.

"There's nothing to be done. Sometimes luck just likes to toy with people."

The female Mage player beside him also sighed. She understood too well how much effort this fallen teammate had put into the battle just now, only for him to receive such a tragic result. Perhaps when he finally regained consciousness and discovered that his Treasure Chest was empty, he would be furious enough to die on the spot.

"Let's go... We can team up again next time if we get the chance."

"Alright, goodbye."

The young man in the Cowboy Hat and the female Mage player quickly exchanged farewells and left the dungeon. Their figures vanished directly into the air above the wilderness.

They had actually used the return function possessed by all players. As long as a player had cleared a dungeon and retained some degree of consciousness, he could control his Player Panel with his thoughts and choose to leave the current world. No matter how terrible his condition had been before, he could then recover fully. This was a free benefit commonly available to players.

Thus, only the miserable young man still lying on the ground and an opened empty chest beside him remained in the wilderness covered in withered yellow grass. As for the other two chests, they had completely disappeared once the items inside had been taken.

This situation continued for about another quarter of an hour. Then the fallen young man, who looked as though he might die at any moment, slowly opened his eyes. A trace of shock suddenly flashed through them.

"It hurts... Did I... transmigrate? And become some kind of player?"

Wang Zhifan was extremely shocked. He had originally been an utterly ordinary office worker in the Blue Star Celestial Dynasty, but while working overtime, he had suddenly transmigrated to this bizarre place. His soul had even replaced that of a young man from another world with the same name, turning him into a disposable warrior player who had fallen in his very first dungeon.

"What are these things in front of me... Please choose your dungeon rewards yourself?"

After confirming that his current physical condition was miserable and unsuitable for excessive movement, Wang Zhifan shifted his attention elsewhere. An invisible screen had appeared out of thin air before him, displaying rows upon rows of densely packed text.

Please choose your dungeon rewards yourself (up to 3 items may be selected)

Common Grade (98% drop rate)

Long Sword (Common) X0~3, Handgun (Common) X0~3, Dagger (Common) X0~3...

Wolf Pelt Armor (Common) X0~3, Wolf Pelt Hat (Common) X0~3, Wolf Pelt Boots (Common) X0~3...

Handgun Ammunition Box (Common) X0~3, Rifle Ammunition Box (Common) X0~3, Sniper Rifle Ammunition Box (Common) X0~3...

Ruby Ring (Common) X0~3, Emerald Ring (Common) X0~3, Sapphire Ring (Common) X0~3...

Warrior Class Skill Upgrade Scroll (Common) X0~3, Mage Class Skill Upgrade Scroll (Common) X0~3, Assassin Class Skill Upgrade Scroll (Common) X0~3...

...

Fine Grade (1% drop rate):

Long Sword (Fine) X0~2, Handgun (Fine) X0~2, Dagger (Fine) X0~2...

Wolf Pelt Armor (Fine) X0~2, Wolf Pelt Hat (Fine) X0~2, Wolf Pelt Boots (Fine) X0~2...

Handgun Ammunition Box (Fine) X0~2, Rifle Ammunition Box (Fine) X0~2, Sniper Rifle Ammunition Box (Fine) X0~2...

Ruby Ring (Fine) X0~2, Emerald Ring (Fine) X0~2, Sapphire Ring (Fine) X0~2...

Warrior Class Skill Upgrade Scroll (Fine) X0~2, Mage Class Skill Upgrade Scroll (Fine) X0~2, Assassin Class Skill Upgrade Scroll (Fine) X0~2...

...

Rare Grade (0.01% drop rate):

Wolf Slayer Blade (Rare) X0~1