CHAPTER 46: CHAPTER 45: CROWBAR

Shit, did I go overboard?

Zaen panicked when Ann didn’t react to his strange statement.

He had decided to go along with her request for two reasons. First, he knew he would have to join the organization sooner or later. His fight with the bus had made that much clear to him.

Second, he targeted Ann because of their not-so-decent previous encounter. She seemed to be hungry for his ’sample’, so she was the least likely to reject his advances.

Besides, with Hina going off to the academy, wherever it was, the chance of Zaen finding new ’experiences’ was unlikely. With Ann by his side, that wouldn’t be an issue.

I do feel bad about it, because I am cheating on her, no matter what justifications I come up with. But... it’s the least painful choice I have.

Was he a scum?

Definitely.

Zaen had that much of self-awareness, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do anything and everything to get stronger. Morals be damned.

In Zaen’s mind, joining a team was better than joining the HQ he knew nothing about. Not to mention, as long as he joined the team, Johann would most likely protect him and bury strange future incidents, like how he traveled to Malaysia, killed an anomaly, and returned within hours.

As for Ann, she would get the sample, and he would improve his perception.

For him, it was a perfect plan, so why was Ann hesitating now when she had jumped on him when he refused to give the sample before?

Is it because I was too straightforward? It has to be the reason.

Ann shot to her feet and hurried to the door, only to turn around as she stepped out.

"I’ll have to inform the captain about your... request and get the necessary equipment delivered from the base," she said. "We can continue this conversation then."

She didn’t bother saying anything else and left.

"So it was about that," Zaen mumbled, sighing in relief.

Despite pretending to be a chad, he was a bit worried as well. He had fighting experience thanks to his training in the military, but they didn’t teach them sex-ed, nor had he done any research like Hina.

"At least that gives me time to prepare somewhat, and also to unbox this..."

He brought out the loot box he received after killing the bus. Unlike last time, the loot box wasn’t covered in flesh but was like a miniature bus, similar to the one he had destroyed.

"Let’s see what I got this time around," he said, rubbing his hands together.

[You have gained 3 spin point(s) from the loot box.]

[You have gained 4,200 shop coins from the loot box.]

[You have gained 3 skill point(s) from the loot box.]

[You have gained the Crowbar skill book from the loot box.]

[You have gained ???’s Potion from the loot box.]

[All items have been deposited in the Rewards tab.]

"I have forgotten to do a lot of things, haven’t I?"

He had roughly seventeen spin points now. The only reason Zaen wasn’t using it was that once he did, he would have to spend all the points to close the darn thing.

Besides, since he didn’t need anything at the moment, spinning it was a waste.

Since I don’t have an EXP capsule now, only the fortune wheel can get me out of dire circumstances.

As for the shop coins, he didn’t want to use those without reason. It was better to save them and buy some ridiculously overpowered item later.

Then came the skill points. Zaen didn’t hesitate and opened his status tab to use them.

"Rotten recovery, it’s an absolute must skill to upgrade."

[Use 1 skill point to upgrade -Rotten Recovery- skill?]

"Yes."

[Skill: Rotten Recovery upgraded!]

[Upgraded effect: 1 sanity drop = 35 HP regain.]

Zaen selected to upgrade the skill again, but couldn’t.

"Five skill points to upgrade it to level three? Why does everything have to be so expensive in this system!?"

No matter how much he complained, it was unlikely anything would change. In the end, he sighed and moved on. It wasn’t like he lacked skills to upgrade.

[Use 1 skill point to upgrade -Berserk- skill?]

"Yes."

[Skill: Berserk upgraded!]

[Upgraded effect: 1 sanity drop = 0.2% attribute increase.]

[Use 1 skill point to upgrade -Adrenaline Junky- skill?]

"Yes."

[Skill: Adrenaline Junky upgraded!]

[Upgraded effect: 1.2% attribute increase for every level difference.]

He selected his unique skill to upgrade, but, surprisingly, he couldn’t upgrade it with skill points.

[Unique Skill auto-upgrades alongside the player.]

"Grows alongside me? But why is it still the same as before? Wait, does it mean—"

[Correction: Unique Skill auto-upgrades whenever the player achieves a breakthrough.]

"I see, again with this bullshit. Was locking my level not enough for you?"

He shook his head and noticed the new skill he had received.

"Crowbar? How is that the name of a skill and not a weapon?"

—x—

[Item: Crowbar]

[Type: Consumable / Skill Book]

[Rarity: Uncommon+]

[Uses: 1/1]

Effects:

— Grants the user Crowbar skill.

Skill:

— Crowbar: The skill turns any slayer weapon temporarily into a crowbar that can open any ’door’ the player wishes. However, the weapon cannot be reverted unless the skill duration ends.

[Cooldown: 10 minutes.]

[Duration: 1 hour(s).]

Note: The skill is already at max level and cannot be upgraded.

—x—

"...do lockpicks not exist within the game? The hell is this skill?"

He opened the shop and checked for lockpicks. While he didn’t find any, he saw a crowbar listed. Just like the other things, it was listed at an absurd price of a thousand coins and was only meant for single use.

"...is this shop designed to turn off buyers?"

Despite the lackluster description, Zaen naturally wanted to test the skill. So he locked the door once again and brought the Boning Sword out of his inventory.

As soon as he activated the skill, the sword twisted and turned until it transformed into a crowbar. He went to check the weapon’s stats to see if anything had changed... and a lot had.

—x—

[Item: Crowbar]

[Designation: Breaker #047]

[Type: Weapon/Utility]

[Rarity: Common+]

[Durability: ∞]

Description:

Eminence? Shadow? What are you on about? It is just a crowbar.

Effects:

• [Strength: +1.5]

• [Structural Damage: +12%]

• [Presence: +2.8]

Skills:

[Force Break]: Opens any and all doors the player wants to open.

—x—

"Force break, huh? Let’s see what you can do."

He hit the crowbar against the door’s edge and pulled. He had barely put any strength into it before the door snapped into a hundred pieces. Splinters were sent flying everywhere, damaging the walls and everything around.

"...is this called opening a door?"