Return and Buff Up

"Hey, handsome, why haven't you opened the chest yet?"

As Wang Zhifan stood with his hands pressed together, facing the sky and putting on an act for a while, he suddenly noticed that the Gunslinger Girl in a Steel Helmet and tracksuit had come over to his side.

There were still tear streaks at the corners of the girl's eyes, but the panic had already vanished from her face. She had long since calmed down and was now staring curiously at Wang Zhifan and his bizarre behavior.

"Ahem... I'm praying for the God of Luck's favor. It's a necessary procedure before opening a chest."

Wang Zhifan had not wanted to acknowledge her interruption, but considering that although the girl had performed poorly earlier, she had at least listened to his advice, he lowered his head and casually replied to her.

"Oh? Does praying like that really work?"

The Gunslinger Girl's eyes immediately filled with obvious curiosity at his response. She stared unblinkingly at the serious-looking young man.

"As they say, sincerity brings results. Whether it works or not depends on the person."

Wang Zhifan continued brushing off his temporary teammate while beginning to make his choice from the reward list only he could see.

"If sincerity makes it work, then I'll try it next time I open a Treasure Chest."

The girl nodded to herself as she spoke, then complained to Wang Zhifan about her mediocre luck earlier.

"I heard on the Player Forum that the rewards for your first Dungeon run are usually better, but I only got two boxes of Common Grade Bullets and a Common Grade bracer. What a letdown."

"It's already pretty good that you got three rewards this time. I've seen people open Treasure Chests and get only one reward, or even an empty chest."

Wang Zhifan chatted with her offhandedly while considering whether to keep pretending to pray for luck or simply stuff the entire Treasure Chest into his Personal Space and leave.

"There can even be empty chests? That's terrifying!"

The girl, however, seemed utterly oblivious and continued standing beside him in amazement.

After that, Wang Zhifan largely ignored her, seeming to return to his focused ritual of praying for luck.

The girl finally realized that she was disturbing him. She stopped bothering him, and her body quickly vanished from beside Wang Zhifan.

Only then could Wang Zhifan finally stop his luck-praying performance, which had left even himself speechless. He bent down, intending to open the Treasure Chest before him.

But just as his palm touched the lid, his motion abruptly stopped. Instead, he stored it in his Personal Space, then rapidly disappeared from the mountain forest.

Less than two seconds after Wang Zhifan left the Dungeon world, a somewhat short figure suddenly appeared behind a large tree over ten meters away. Who else could it be but his other teammate, the middle-aged Assassin Player? The eyes beneath this Lv3 player's hood flickered with uncertainty as he muttered, "This newbie's background definitely isn't simple... The swordsmanship he displayed earlier was absolutely beyond the level of an ordinary Lv1. His equipment doesn't look Common Grade either, especially that sword. It seems to be more than Fine Grade... His behavior is also very strange, as though he follows some special rules... Could he be an elite prospect specially trained by some cult? It was probably very wise of me not to provoke someone like him..."

After pondering for a while, the middle-aged Assassin Player's figure swiftly dissipated into the air. This time, he truly left the current Dungeon world.

Meanwhile, in an unremarkable rented room in the real world, Wang Zhifan began opening the chest after checking that his doors and windows were tightly shut.

At that moment, the plain wooden chest sat on his bed with its lid open, displaying three items within.

One was a sheet of yellow paper emanating an ancient, weathered aura, with a fierce blood-red tiger head drawn on it.

One was a slender white porcelain bottle about the length of an adult's palm, its mouth tightly sealed with a wooden stopper and fine cloth.

The last was a small square box, printed with images of a Handgun and bullets.

These were Wang Zhifan's final choices before leaving that Dungeon: the Rare Grade Tiger Soul True Tattoo, a Fine Grade Tiger Blood Potion, and a box of Fine Grade Handgun Bullets.

There was no need to explain his choice of the Tiger Soul True Tattoo. It was the only Rare Grade item on the reward list, so Wang Zhifan could not possibly pass it up.

He chose the Fine Grade Tiger Blood Potion because he valued its ability to permanently increase attributes. If the potion's description had not stated that drinking multiple Tiger Blood Potions would not stack their effects, he definitely would have taken two bottles.

As for the box of Fine Grade Handgun Bullets, that was a decision Wang Zhifan made after considering several factors.

He had not chosen it because he urgently needed it at the moment. Rather, it was because he had already planned before entering the Dungeon today to take rewards out of the Dungeon and sell them in the real world to resolve his pressing financial troubles.

If he only wanted money, he had many options. He could have casually chosen a Fine Grade weapon and taken out a Tiger Blood Potion, or brought out something like a Fine Grade skill upgrade scroll to sell. There would be no shortage of buyers.

But if he did that, he could only sell them for money. The reason he chose a box of Fine Grade Handgun Bullets was that they could be sold separately in small quantities. He could sell part of them for the money he urgently needed, while keeping the rest. Then, when he chose a Handgun in his next Dungeon, he would be able to use them.

Wang Zhifan had long had plans to acquire a firearm of his own. If he were not currently in a financial crisis in the real world, so poor he was practically unable to keep food on the table, he would definitely have brought out a Fine Grade firearm and a box of bullets this time.

However, Wang Zhifan was in no hurry to sell some Fine Grade Bullets. Right now, he was busy adding Buffs to himself—permanent enhancement Buffs.

He first took the yellow paper bearing the blood-red tiger head from the Treasure Chest before him. Then he rolled up the sleeve of his right arm and pressed it against his right upper arm, on the outer side of his bicep.

In an instant, the blood-red tiger head that had merely been drawn on the ancient yellow paper seemed to come alive, transferring thread by thread onto the skin of Wang Zhifan's right arm. Within seconds, it became a majestic tiger-head tattoo in dark hues!

At the same time, Wang Zhifan felt waves of heat quickly radiating from the tiger-head tattoo on his right arm. His body rapidly underwent changes, and his overall strength rose by a considerable margin!

But Wang Zhifan resisted the urge to immediately check his personal status panel. He then uncorked the bottle of Tiger Blood Potion from the chest and drank it all. Only after a wave of scorching heat rose through his entire body and quickly faded did he use his thoughts to open his player attribute panel.