World Membrane Fragment (Life)

On the first day after crawling out of the Skeleton Dungeon, everything seemed unchanged: the cold, quiet house, and Xiao Yang sitting alone at the table. It felt as though he were still in the Skeleton Dungeon.

Ever since his grandfather passed away, Xiao Yang had not been back here for a long time. In those days, he had been so dazed and lost that after rushing back to attend the funeral, he had left again as if fleeing.

"It's hard to imagine, isn't it? Why do people die?"

Tonight's dinner was boiled sweet potatoes, with the sprouted parts cut off.

There was no helping it. He had just crawled out and gone through all that fuss, and by the time he was done, it was already dark. There was no time to rustle up anything good, so he would have to make do.

But why had he come back? It had been an ordinary day. After finishing his milk-delivery route, Xiao Yang had been as exhausted as a dead dog. Lying on his bed, for some reason, he had thought of a scene from his childhood.

Back then, he had excitedly told his grandfather, loud and clear:

"Grandpa! Grandpa! When I grow up, I'm going to be a great scientist!"

And his grandfather had answered:

"That's wonderful, that's wonderful. But I still hope my good grandson can live a happy life!"

That night, Xiao Yang had tossed and turned for a long time in his tiny rented room, on the hard single bed that dug into his bones. And so, after all these years, Xiao Yang had finally returned here once more.

Xiao Yang wasn't especially fussy. He stuffed the bland, sprouted sweet potato into his mouth in big bites until his cheeks bulged, then struggled to wash it down with water.

Once he'd finished his meal, Xiao Yang decided to return to the Skeleton Dungeon. Mainly, he wanted to see what he had managed to snag from the Dungeon Guardian.

How should he put it?

God Game hadn't completely stopped working outside the Skeleton Dungeon. Xiao Yang could still open his personal panel, but none of the other functions worked at all. God Game kept emphasizing one thing.

Server signal is weak. Inject Spirit Coins to boost the signal?

Please inject Spirit Coins: 3146125.

The number below had appeared after Xiao Yang chose "Agree." Wait, what? Ah! Once again, Xiao Yang had sent a question mark to God Game.

It wasn't a matter of whether he was willing or not. The main problem was that he simply didn't have that many Spirit Coins!

So, after dinner, Xiao Yang obediently retreated to the area with a signal. It was only a few steps away. There was no need to spend that many Spirit Coins—it was completely unnecessary.

Of course, his opinion changed soon enough.

He opened the door to his basement—or, more accurately, his cellar. Before him was a dim, chilly corridor. The moment he stepped inside, all kinds of notifications popped up.

Congratulations! You are the first player on Plane 33124 to defeat an elite enemy. Achievement unlocked: Elite Killer!

Player level increased.

Dungeon Delver activated!

In an instant, a blue piece of equipment, a purple piece of equipment, and a purple box appeared before Xiao Yang.

Of course, those were all quite eye-catching. But what really held Xiao Yang's gaze was the figure that burst out of the shadows. Draped in a tattered black cloak, it charged toward him. It wanted to approach Xiao Yang, yet once it drew near, it suddenly stopped in its tracks.

It was Little Bone! It stopped, wanting to get closer to Xiao Yang but seeming a little timid. It backed away a few steps, then suddenly pulled a purple Large Bone Club from the little black pouch on its back and offered it to Xiao Yang like a treasure.

In the dim dungeon, the little fellow looked up, the milky-white Soul Flame in its eye sockets flickering and dancing.

The sight made Xiao Yang lower his large palm onto Little Bone's tiny head.

Oh, well. God Game might be a complete scammer, but I'll top up its phone credit anyway—for Little Bone's sake!

It was time to see what he'd gotten.

First up were the two pieces of equipment and the Gift Box from Dungeon Delver.

The blue one first.

A Sack of Exceptionally Nutritious Fertilizer

Quality: Excellent

Type: Fertilizer, Curio

Effect: Doubles the growth speed of almost all plants.

Description: This is an excellent sack of fertilizer. Perhaps you could try using it to fertilize your plant friends. Of course, I won't tell you that this sack of fertilizer came from some deranged, eccentric gardener who grew a whole field of strange, bobbing peas.

It wasn't that the fertilizer was useless. In the right hands, its value might be incomparable to anything else. Unfortunately, Xiao Yang had no use for it. He hadn't gotten into the business of growing plants.

Next!

Dragon Saliva Pearl

Quality: Epic

Type: Curio

Effect: Provides a bloodline transformation to those with Eastern Dragon blood.

Description: You know hairballs from cats? To be precise, this is also a kind of hairball. Of course, as noble dragons, they don't shed—but they do get phlegm stuck in their throats.

Reading the oddly worded description, Xiao Yang's expression turned even harder to describe. The Dragon Saliva Pearl was a curio too, and it would be priceless in the right hands, even if its description was strange.

If he kept it, even if he couldn't use it himself, he could trade it or sell it to someone else for a very handsome return. But, as you know, Xiao Yang loved opening boxes.

And purple Gift Boxes had a chance of yielding a Golden Legendary item.

There was nothing to hesitate over. Xiao Yang immediately chose to open the purple Gift Box.

As he watched eagerly, a translucent red gemstone appeared before him.

World Membrane Fragment (Life)

Quality: Epic

Type: Curio

Effect: Restores 10% of your life per minute when out of combat.

Description: A fragment of the World Membrane, containing a portion of the power of the laws. It is also a red gemstone. Trust me, every dragon would go mad for it!

His luck was good today. All three of the rewards from Dungeon Delver were curios. The World Membrane Fragment was very useful to Xiao Yang. Its effect didn't sound like much, but it was worth noting that the percentage-based recovery had no cap. In other words, whether he had ten, a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand hit points, as long as he held this World Membrane Fragment, the time needed to recover would always be the same.

To put it more vividly, Xiao Yang would rather call it a portable healing spring. What a great item! It was exactly what he needed!

Of course, that wasn't the end of it. The equipment dropped by the Dungeon Guardian was still waiting for Xiao Yang to check it out.

All in all, it felt good. It felt great.

In the dim corridor, Xiao Yang rested one big hand on Little Bone's head and happily tallied up his spoils.