Irin

Just as I thought.

Was it the same as in the game?

Any Corrupted who signed a "Contract" with him would grant him all the experience they earned in battle. Of course, they had to be in the "main party"—in other words, he had to be nearby.

After quickly scanning the pop-up message, Liao Ji shifted his gaze to another panel.

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

[Number contracted: 1/1]

[Irin]

[Corruption Rank: ★★★ (Common Rank)]

[Corruption Tendency (Current): Vanguard]

[Level: 10]

[Base Attributes: Strength D+, Agility C-, Constitution C, Stamina D-, Special Ability D-]

[Advanced Attributes: Luck E, Corrupt Calamity Affinity D]

[Skills:

(Common Rank) Berserk Lv. 1—Slightly increases the user's strength, stamina, and health recovery speed, and marginally increases agility. Also reduces damage taken by 10%. However, activating the skill carries a 50% chance of inflicting "Confusion."]

(Note: Abnormal status "Confusion"—the user cannot be controlled and randomly selects targets to attack, whether friend or foe.)

[Corrupt Calamity Authority: None (unlocks upon reaching "Calamity Rank")]

[Base-Building Specialty: Trash Master III—has a "small chance" of turning garbage in the settlement into treasure]

With a thought, all the data on the Corrupted named Irin appeared before him, clear as day.

To be honest,

Liao Ji couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

An unremarkable character sheet and a simple, brute-force skill.

There were no surprises.

If anything, he had to wonder whether that "Luck E" was a joke. Luck was a useless stat in the game, but even so, this was the first time Liao Ji had seen a character earn the lowest possible grade, E, in that stat.

So much for his faint hope that, like in those stories where you got transported to another world and were given an insanely powerful companion.

If this were the game, as a competent min-maxer, Liao Ji would never have wasted one of his precious "Contract" attempts on Irin at the start.

She was only a "Common Rank" character, and her three-star starting rank had already set a ceiling on her potential. The return on resources invested in her was only high in the early game. She was a classic, temporary unit for getting through the opening stretch—the kind you used and then discarded.

Of course,

in the first playthrough, he could restart as many times as he wanted, reloading over and over until he got a Corrupted with a high starting rank and great potential.

But this "Second Playthrough" clearly didn't give him that option.

So Liao Ji didn't regret his decision.

Besides, low rank and low tier had their advantages. At the very least, she consumed fewer resources and was easy to raise. Just one small Corrupted Crystal had brought Irin to level ten, letting her kill a Kobold with ease.

The female scavenger was still rooted to the spot, staring at her hands in disbelief, as if she still couldn't believe she'd just kicked a Kobold flying.

But Liao Ji had already climbed out of the stone coffin and moved. Following his memory, he headed to a shelf in the hidden room.

"Good thing I left plenty of resource points like this behind," Liao Ji muttered.

Then he pulled a sword from the shelf.

Uh.

Calling it a sword wasn't quite right. It might once have been a fine blade, but now it was covered in rust.

[Sword of the Great Emperor]

[Type: One-handed sword]

[Quality: D-]

[Equipment Effect: Increases the user's attack power by 10%]

[Special Effect: Weathered by Time—breaks after ten attacks]

(A fine sword said to have been used by the Ash Emperor in his youth. It has since decayed in the river of time, but remains a precious historical Relic.)

Well, would you look at that.

Wasn't this the lowest-tier equipment he'd used in the early game?

After grumbling about the description, Liao Ji hurled the rusty sword toward the female scavenger.

"Irin, catch!"

Hearing her name brought Irin back to reality. She fumbled to catch the sword.

Wait.

Hold on!

How did he know her name?

Only after gripping the hilt did Irin come to her senses, but by then Liao Ji had already given his next order.

He hadn't thrown her the sword for nothing.

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

Mutated humanoid monsters like Kobolds, Goblins, and Murlocs were all bullies who preyed on the weak. Now that the remaining Kobolds in the hidden room had seen Irin's sudden display of strength, the greed in their eyes had given way to fear.

They showed no intention of avenging their companion. Instead, they hurriedly snatched up whatever they could find in the room, then used their shovels to climb toward the hole above—the one they'd jumped down through—and escape.

And Liao Ji couldn't let them go.

He'd just counted them while he had the chance. Leaving aside the Kobolds the Scarface man had gunned down earlier, exactly ten remained. If Irin killed them all, he'd reach level two.

But the female scavenger in front of him didn't move.

She stared at him with watery eyes in a face that was still filthy, practically spelling out, "Why should I listen to you?"

Sigh.

He'd known scavengers couldn't be trusted.

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

"If you don't chase them now, you'll never get those treasures back." He put particular emphasis on the word "treasures."

At the black-haired young man's words, Irin's gaze was immediately drawn to the objects the fleeing Kobolds were clutching. Among them were several items tainted by the Corrupt Calamity.

Irin, who'd been reluctant just a moment ago, now charged after them with her sword.

She was in a hurry.

These were priceless "heirlooms" of the Great Emperor. Any one of them could probably fetch tens of thousands of Ash Coins. How could she let those ugly monsters get away with them?

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

Irin was at least twice as fast as she'd been before. It was clear she wasn't very good with a one-handed sword, but with her overwhelming strength, all she had to do was drive the blade into a vital spot.

It took less than five minutes.

After Irin kicked the last Kobold down from behind, she watched as the monster begged for mercy. The female scavenger showed not a trace of pity. She raised her sword and plunged it hard into the creature's chest.

Squelch!

When Irin pulled the sword from the monster's chest, Kobold corpses covered the ground in every direction.

[Ding! Your Corrupted, "Irin," successfully killed [Greedy Kobold Miner]. You gained 10 experience points.]

[Congratulations! You leveled up!]

[Current Level: Lv. 2]

[Experience needed for next level: 0/200]

As the system notification appeared, Liao Ji felt a warm current well up inside him. It circled through his body, then gradually faded.

He hurriedly focused on sensing the changes.

The result was...

Barely noticeable.

Maybe his strength had increased by less than ten percent?

So it really was just like the game!

Liao Ji rubbed his temples, feeling a little frustrated.

Like most character-raising games, the player might be the protagonist, but in battle, they were little more than a mascot. Falling was a little better, though. The protagonist gained very few attributes with each level, but had one unbeatable advantage: there was no level cap! Nor did he need to break through when advancing ranks!

Back in the first playthrough, his five top-tier Corrupted had all hit their level cap at ninety by the time he finished the game. Meanwhile, the protagonist he controlled was already over level 150.

And with the skill he'd copied earlier, by the late game the protagonist would be the one "carrying" all the remaining Corrupted. The five of them together probably wouldn't stand a chance against the protagonist under his control.

The future looked bright. The future looked bright.

After reassuring himself with that thought, Liao Ji quickly turned his attention back to reality.

Because it seemed he still had a small problem to deal with.

There she was.

Perhaps she'd gotten carried away by the thrill of killing, or maybe the power she'd just gained had gone to her head.

After rising from the last Kobold's corpse,

Irin turned the bloodied blade

toward him.