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Chapter 54: Manual Looting
🕑 Added 2025-02-27 19:42:42 +0000 UTCKaina, Sanders, and Anderson dragged James toward the chapel.
“How is he?”
“He doesn't have a human body, so I don't know. But his breathing seems stable. That's good, at least,” Sanders answered.
The golden gate leading to the eighth floor was right inside the chapel, along with five treasure chests waiting to be plundered. Sanders’s trap skill didn't detect any traps, but they hadn't opened them yet.
“Should we open it?”
“We should wait for James. He will split the chests between us,” Sanders said.
“What if he takes them all? We need the coins,” Anderson sulked.
James’s words had been echoing inside his head for a while. At first, he didn't care about coins. Well, he cared, but hearing about it from Andrew and witnessing it firsthand was different.
“James shared the chests on the desert floor when he found three chests side by side,” Sanders said. As a diligent soldier, he was trained to share everything with his comrades. He was an orphan, and the military taught him that his comrades were family, and he took it to heart. He thought everyone here, including Kaina, was his sibling.
He saw Kaina as a cute and selfish little sister, while he saw James as a rash but protective older brother. Anderson would be the calculative brother. Everyone had their downsides and merits.
Anderson realized that greed had taken over him and apologized. “Yeah, you're right, sorry.”
James woke up when the sun began to rise. He was startled as he remembered passing out under the moonlight. As he looked around, he saw Kaina, Sanders, and Anderson lounging in the chapel.
“James! You are finally awake!” Kaina hopped toward him when she saw that James was awake. She knew that health potions were effective, so unlike Anderson and Sanders, she wasn’t worried.
“Thanks. Did you guys drag me here?” James looked around only to find the sun shining through the window. He had passed out for almost the entire night and half a day. He groaned when he felt sharp pangs through his guts.
“System. Am I not healed?” he complained. Health potions were supposed to heal all external wounds. Were internal organs not included? Did he need to buy the so-called high potions for that?
[Your digestive system was severely damaged. Please drink hematonic potions now and four days later to heal them thoroughly. Alternatively, you could plunder a monster's internal organ to heal yourself.]
“You seem well. I didn't expect the health potion to be so effective. I thought you were a goner when that spear went through you. I should start saving coins. This certainly could save lives. Any side effects?“ Sanders patted him on the shoulder.
“It hurts like hell. And I need to drink another potion to heal my internal organs and rest,” James answered. He then proceeded to buy the hematonic potion the system suggested. The pink, strawberry-flavored syrup sloshed through his throat, and he felt invigorated. But subtle pain and numbness could still be felt in his stomach.
“By the way, we found five treasure chests over there in the corner. We leave it to you to split them up,” Anderson pointed toward the chests.
James groaned as he looked at the chests. He then checked his stats and notifications. Sadly, he didn't level up this time. However, he had earned a decent amount of coins—enough to offset the cost of the potion.
[Congratulations! You have obtained 200 coins. Your Attacker class has leveled up to Level 18.]
Before opening the chests, he stepped outside, only to find the beast’s corpse gone.
“Huh? Where is the demon corpse? Even the imps are gone too,” James exclaimed.
At first, he thought Anderson had finally upgraded his shop, but that couldn't be the case. The shop required a thousand coins. Without a huge amount of coins from the treasure chests, it was impossible to collect that many.
“The corpse evaporated an hour after you defeated them,” Kaina answered.
James reeled in disgust as he couldn't plunder it. The demon was huge, and so were its wings. Since the corpse was gone, he couldn't plunder it. His dream of flying in the sky was dashed once again.
“The imps' corpses weren't gone last time. Why would they be gone now?” James muttered. The system answered.
[Once the boss was gone, they were consumed by an ethereal flame from the moon.]
James sighed. This world had its own rules. He could only accept it and move on. Now, to the treasure chests that lay before him. James was rewarded with five chests at once. He had never been given such a bountiful reward before, but since he had to share it with the three stooges, he could only claim two at most.
“System, how can I prevent coins from automatically going inside my status? I want to share whatever is inside these chests with others,” James said.
[Do you want to turn off automatic looting? You must manually declare which items you wish to take. All people must turn off their automatic looting as well. Moreover, any coins or skill scrolls not claimed within an hour will disappear.]
“... I see. So there was this function, huh.” James muttered. He thought the system declared that the chests were free for all—anyone who saw their contents first would have them. However, that seemed not to be the case. James was finally convinced that the system actually endorsed teamwork.
“Guys. The system said we could turn off automatic looting. This way, we can split the coins however we like.”
“Of course. We have already turned it off ever since we got our status,” Sanders said.
Andrew had tipped them off, so they knew about such a function. The reason they didn’t tell James was simply because they thought he already knew. They thought he was more experienced, after all.
James winced as he realized playing solo had its demerits. The information was precious.
Sanders said there were no traps in the chests. Two chests were locked, but the keys were conveniently placed on the wall of the chapel. Nevertheless, James used his old tactic of opening them from afar using his spiderweb and ice magic as a pulley.
“Inside the five chests were a bow with a dozen arrows, two books, and coins.”
“I will take the bow! I can use it!” Kaina said excitedly. James didn’t mind, as he already had his crossbow. Sanders and Anderson didn’t mind either.
“Hmm… This is a conundrum. How much is inside this chest?” James muttered as he looked at the coins.
“Can we assume a single coin is the same as one coin in the status?”
“Well, it doesn’t matter, as long as we split it four ways. System, what book is this?” James asked. The book was either an exp scroll or a skill scroll. But James couldn’t be sure, as they were similar.
[Information classified. Items may not be appraised until claimed.]
“Tch. What a stingy system,” James spat out.
“So… what about the book?” Sanders asked.
“I need either a bow mastery scroll, a sword scroll, or an exp scroll. Other than that, you may take the rest. But the system won’t tell me what book this is,” James spat out.
“We can let you have both books, Mr. James,” Anderson said.
“Alright. I will take the books,” James sighed. He then pointed toward a pile of coins and books beside them. “I claim these.”
[Congratulations, you have earned 200 coins, an exp scroll, and a sword skill scroll. Your Sword Mastery has reached Level 9, and you have leveled up to Level 45.]
James pumped his fist. Now that he was just one level short, he decided to power through it. “I will upgrade my sword skill to Level 10.”
[Will you upgrade your Sword Mastery to Novice Sword Mastery Level 1 for 200 coins? Y/N]
“Yes.”
[New sword skill unlocked: Vorpal Lunge]
James tilted his head and asked, “It wasn’t a two-hit skill?”
However, the system was silent. Looking at his status, he still had 600 coins to spare. He could upgrade his sword, his bow, or his gun. Or he could save up.
“Nah, I should save up. Who knows when I would need those potions again,” James muttered.
He also noticed that an exp scroll didn’t level up his class. He wondered whether it needed a special exp scroll for class leveling or if a class could only level up from combat.
[Name: James]
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Level: 45
Coins: 600
Stats:
STR: 145 (↑1)
DEX: 142 (↑4)
MAGIC: 98 (↑3)
MANA: 960 (↑20)
Skills:
Novice Axe Mastery Level 5 (Powerstrike, V-slash, Boomerang)
Novice Sword Mastery Level 1 (Hurricane, Vorpal Lunge) (↑2)
Beginner Bow Mastery Level 7 (Quickshot)
Beginner Dagger Mastery Level 1
Magic:
Mind Flay
Sense Alteration
Mana Sonar
Class:
Attacker (Level 18) (10% bonus when attacking, STR & DEX +1 per level) (↑1)
Unique Skill - Chimera Level 2:
Goblin Stomach (Iron Guts) (Stomach Slot)
Mana Core (Water Spells: Ice Spear, Water Manipulation, Magic +60, Mana +1000) (Extra Slot)
Orc’s Left Arm (STR +10%) (Arm Slot)
Eyes of Mana (Mana Sense) (Right Eye Slot)
Golem Arm of Valhalla (STR +30%, Physical Resistance +30%, Negative Trait: Repairable, Mana -200) (Right Arm Slot)
Ratking's Legs (STR +25%) (Leg Slot)
Flaming Tiger’s Fire Lung (Fire Breathing Skill, Negative Trait: Mana -100, Magic -10) (Lung Slot)
Golem Core (Poison Resistance, Negative Trait: Mana -250, Magic -10, Repairable) (Heart Slot)
Orc’s Torso (Torso Slot)
Orc’s Head (Head Slot)
Shadow Snake Fang (Intermediate Life Leeching) (Mouth Slot)
Jumping Spider’s Spinneret (Thread Creation) (Extra Slot 2)
Flaming Tiger Lord’s Firefur (Fire Cloak Skill, Fire Resistance, Physical Resistance +15%, Negative Trait: Mana -100, Magic -10) (Skin Slot)
Kraken’s Arm Tentacle (Reach: 5 meters, Negative Trait: STR -10%) (Extra Slot 3)
Rock Crab Shell (Physical Resistance +90%) (Extra Slot 4)
Land Shark's Ear (Echolocation: 10 meters) (Ear Slot)
Equipment:
Leather Armor Set (+10 DEX)
Lightning War Axe
Longsword
Crossbow (×6)
Waterspout Dagger
Mask of Identity
Leather Bag
Sphere of Fethusiane
Cloak of Dark Night
Thompson Center Contender (x1)
Frag Grenade (x1)
Flashbang (x1)
James then packed his stuff. He glanced toward the group and found that they had given all the coins to Anderson. It was not his business. Moreover, it might be the right thing. If Anderson leveled up his shop, he could earn more coins. With his unique skills, he was the lifeline of the group. The system had decided that this guy would be a merchant.
“Let’s go. To the eighth floor,” James rallied his party members.
“Shouldn’t you rest first? That demon just burned a hole in your stomach yesterday,” Sanders said.
James considered that, but he decided against it. Instead of consuming potions, he wanted to look for more enemies to plunder. He wanted to grow stronger.
“No need. Let’s go to the next floor,” James answered.
The group was then teleported to the familiar waiting room, where nothing but a loading screen appeared.
James sat down, looking haggard as he glanced at the screen. He wanted to sleep here, but he forced himself to stay awake. It would be a disaster if James was asleep while being teleported into a monster's den.
“If only we could choose the time to be teleported,” James muttered.
Alas, such a wish did not come true as the system teleported them to a prairie.
A field of green spread out before their very eyes.
“Great. Another open world,” James muttered as he looked at the grassland. First, he needed a place to rest. And if possible, he wanted to restock his supply of meat.
James ventured into the prairie with his new group, unaware that this trip would be shorter than he expected.
