Irin

As expected.

Is it the same as in the game?

Any Corrupted who signs a "Contract" with him will have all the experience gained in battle attributed to him, provided they are in the "Main Party"—which means he must be nearby?

Liao Ji quickly scanned the pop-up notifications before shifting his gaze to another panel.

[Maximum number of Corrupted that can be contracted at current level: 1]

[Number contracted: 1/1]

[Irin]

[Corrupted Rank: ★★★ (Common Rank)]

[Corrupted Trend (Current): Vanguard]

[Level: 10]

[Base Stats: Strength D+, Agility C-, Physique C, Stamina D-, Ability D-]

[Advanced Stats: Luck E, Corrupted Affinity D]

[Skills:

(Common Rank) Berserk Lv1--Slightly increases own Strength, Stamina, and health regeneration speed, marginally increases Agility, and reduces damage taken by 10%. However, when the skill is activated, there is a 50% chance of entering a "Confused" state]

(Note: Abnormal status "Confused"--unable to control, randomly selects attack targets between friend and foe)

[Corrupted Authority: None (Unlocked upon reaching "Calamity Rank")]

[Infrastructure Specialty: Trash Master III--Has a "small chance" to turn trash in the settlement into treasure]

With a mere thought, the various data points of the Corrupted "Irin" were laid out clearly before his eyes.

To be honest.

Liao Ji let out a small sigh in his heart.

A mediocre panel, simple and crude skills.

There were no unexpected surprises.

If he had to say anything, was this "Luck E" for real? Although luck was a useless stat in the game, this was the first time Liao Ji had ever seen a character earn the lowest E-rank in this attribute.

So, it completely failed to live up to his faint expectations of receiving a super-powerful teammate, the kind usually gifted after transmigrating.

If this were the game, as a qualified meta-gamer, Liao Ji would never have wasted his precious "Contract" slot on Irin at the start.

After all, she was only a "Common Rank" character; her initial three-star rating destined her for a limited ceiling. The return on investment for resources was only high in the early stages—she was the classic type of transition tool used during the exploration phase, meant to be discarded once finished.

But of course.

In the first playthrough of the game, he could restart countless times, reloading saves repeatedly to roll for a Corrupted with a high initial star rating and great potential.

But the current "second playthrough" clearly didn't offer that luxury.

Therefore, Liao Ji did not regret his decision.

Besides, low stars and low rank weren't without their benefits. At the very least, she consumed fewer resources and was easy to raise. Look at this: just a small Corrupted Crystal was enough to get Irin to level ten and easily solo a Kobold.

The female Scavenger remained where she was, looking at her hands in disbelief, as if she hadn't yet recovered from the feat of kicking a Kobold away.

But Liao Ji, inside the stone coffin, had already begun to move. Following his memory, he arrived at a certain shelf in the secret chamber.

"It's a good thing I left behind quite a few resource points like this back then," Liao Ji muttered to himself.

He then pulled a sharp sword from the shelf.

Uh.

Calling it a sharp sword wasn't quite accurate; it might have been one once, but now it was covered in rust.

[Sword of the Great Emperor]

[Type: One-handed Sword]

[Quality: D-]

[Equipment Effect: Increases user's Attack Power by 10%]

[Special Effect: Weathered by Time--Breaks after ten attacks]

(A sharp sword legendarily used by the Ash Emperor in his youth, but it has decayed over the long river of time; however, it remains a very precious historical relic)

Good grief.

Isn't this just the lowest-level equipment from his early days?

Liao Ji grumbled at the notification description before throwing the rusty sword toward the female Scavenger with force.

"Irin, catch!"

Pulled back to reality by her own name, Irin scrambled to catch the sword.

Wait.

Hold on!

How did he know her name?

Irin only regained her senses after clutching the hilt of the sword, but by then, Liao Ji had already issued his next command.

The sword she had thrown earlier was not thrown in vain.

"Quick, don't let them get away! Chase them down and kill them!"

Mutated humanoid monsters like Greedy Kobold Miners, Goblins, and Murlocs were all bullies who feared the strong. Now, the remaining kobolds in the chamber, having witnessed the sudden burst of power from Irin, saw the greed in their eyes replaced by terror.

They had no intention of avenging their companions; instead, they scrambled to grab a few items from the chamber and used their shovels to climb and flee toward the hole in the ceiling from which they had originally dropped.

Of course, Liao Ji could not let them escape.

He had just taken a moment to count them: excluding the kobolds shot dead by the scarred man earlier, exactly ten remained. If Irin killed them all, he would reach level two.

However, the Scavenger standing before him did not move.

Instead, she glared at him with those bright, spirited eyes set in her dirt-streaked face, as if the words "Why should I listen to you?" were written all over it.

Sigh.

He knew Scavengers were unreliable.

Liao Ji shook his head inwardly and tried a different approach.

"If you don't chase them now, those stolen treasures will never come back." He emphasized the word "treasures."

Following the black-haired young man's words, Irin's gaze was immediately drawn to the chamber artifacts clutched in the arms of the fleeing kobolds, many of which were Corrupt Calamity items.

Irin, who had been reluctant just a moment ago, immediately lunged forward with her sword in pursuit.

She was anxious.

These were all priceless "legacies" of the Great Emperor; any single piece could likely be sold for tens of thousands of Ash Coins. How could she let these ugly monsters have them!

Never underestimate a Scavenger's pursuit of money and treasure.

Irin's speed was at least twice as fast as it had been at the start. It was clear that while she wasn't skilled with a one-handed sword, her overwhelming strength meant she only needed to thrust the blade into the monsters' vitals.

It took less than five minutes.

As the last kobold was kicked to the ground from behind by Irin, she ignored the monster's plea for mercy and raised her sword high, driving it ruthlessly into the center of its chest.

Splurt!

By the time Irin pulled her sword from the monster's chest, the surrounding area was littered with the corpses of kobolds.

[Ding, your Corrupted "Irin" has successfully killed [Greedy Kobold Miner], you have gained 10 experience points.]

[Congratulations on leveling up!]

[Current Level: Lv2]

[Experience to next level: 0/200]

Accompanied by the system prompt, Liao Ji felt a warm current surge through his body, circulating once before gradually fading away.

He quickly focused on sensing the changes in his body.

The result was:

Negligible.

Perhaps his strength had increased by less than ten percent?

As expected, this aspect was just like the game's mechanics!

Liao Ji rubbed his temples, feeling a slight headache.

Like the vast majority of raising-sim games, although the player was the protagonist, they were essentially a mascot in actual combat. Falling was slightly better; even though the protagonist's stats increased very little with each level, the protagonist had the invincible advantage of having no level cap! There was no need to break through when advancing!

When he cleared his first playthrough, the five top-tier Corrupted he had raised were capped at level 90, while the protagonist he controlled was already over level 150.

Coupled with his earlier copy skill, by the late game, the protagonist would be the one "guarding" all the other Corrupted; he feared that even all five of them combined wouldn't be able to defeat the protagonist he controlled.

The future is bright, the future is bright.

After comforting himself with that thought, Liao Ji quickly pulled his attention back to reality.

Because right now, it seemed he had to resolve one more small problem.

He saw that.

Perhaps because she was bloodthirsty, or perhaps because she was feeling a bit inflated from her newfound power.

After Irin stood up from the corpse of the last kobold.

She pointed that blood-stained blade.

Directly at him.