---
I smiled weakly and explained everything to her thoroughly. It took me at least an hour.
She nodded, a bit surprised that I was still alive after facing those monsters. "If it were any other normal human, their chances of survival would've been very low," she said.
Then she gave a nervous cough. "I forgot to tell you—some monsters can survive even during the day, but it's pretty rare. You really are unlucky to have encountered so many."
She continued speaking, but this time, her tone felt mocking. "Honestly, I thought you'd just hide and die with that face of yours. Most young ones with good looks usually die early," she said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"Anyway, I'll let you stay here for the day since you're in such a bad state," she said, handing me a medicine. I didn't know what it was, but I swallowed it—I fully trusted her now.
We chatted for a few moments, and soon, I fell asleep again. I slept through most of the 12-hour night. She eventually woke me up, telling me it was already morning.
My body felt much better—almost at its peak. I nodded, truly grateful. She simply gestured for me to leave.
Once I stepped outside, I saw the people again—abnormal, as always.
I didn't look at them. I just kept walking until I found a shelter and saw two burly men with rough appearances, looking like brothers.
I sighed helplessly as the two looted everything. Thankfully, I still had some food and fresh water left.
Suddenly, one of them punched the car I was hiding behind. The car flew—and so did I. If it hadn't taken most of the impact, I probably would've died.
Then it hit me—they were also mutated humans. Helpless, I tried to run, but the blow had injured me badly. My wounds were still fresh.
The two of them looked down at me with disdain as I lay on the ground, writhing in pain and anger.
With the last of my energy, I raised my hand and flipped them off. "F*** you! I'll remember this!"
They laughed.
"What can a dead man do?" one of them said before they walked over and smashed my head with their foot.
Everything went black, and then I saw the system notifications:
---
[2nd Loop begins]
[Points: 245][First Reward]: 7 packs of jerky and 7 bottles of fresh water [Second Reward]: +50% combat experience — Host will no longer fear small or large creatures easily [Third Reward]: Rare creature corpse
---
The food and combat experience looked good, but the third reward was interesting. Absorbing the creature might give me a lot of points.
Nodding, I chose the third reward.
[Host has chosen the third reward. You can summon the corpse anytime; it's stored in the system storage.]I nodded, satisfied. Now I needed a new talent. I thought about using a talent lottery ticket.
Then the system notified me:
Lottery Ticket Options:
Bronze – 10 points
Scrap – 100 points
Black – 1,000 points
Silver – 10,000 points
Gold – 100,000 points
Diamond – 1,000,000 points
Ruby – 10,000,000 points
I chose the Scrap Ticket.
[Points remaining: 145]
[New Talent Acquired: "Array Master – Tier 8"]My eyes lit up. Having read cultivation novels, I instantly understood how it worked.
[Host lacks spiritual roots. Generating five spiritual roots for cultivation.]My smile widened. Without the system granting me roots, I wouldn't be able to create arrays at all.
Stretching my body and preparing for the next loop, a tinge of sadness crept into my heart. Lorraine had forgotten me.
Then my expression darkened as I thought of the two men who killed me. When they crushed my head—I felt it. I will make them pay.
I yawned and made my way to Lorraine's shelter. It would take a few hours for the creature near her house to arrive, so I started practicing.
Now that I could sense Qi, I tried to manipulate it and formed a small array as a test. I could make a bigger one, but this would do for now.
Thanks to my Tier 8 Array Master talent, after an hour, I was able to create two barrier arrays the size of a chair. They were strong and could protect me.
---
[New Feature: System Shop is now available. You can now purchase cultivation techniques and array formations.]
---
My eyes lit up. Random arrays without proper techniques were nearly useless. But with the shop now open…
I eagerly checked the shop. There were techniques for alchemy, talismans, cultivation—and finally, array formations.
Most were expensive. I filtered it to show the cheapest ones. Then I saw something interesting:
"Song Formation"
Effect: Blocks attacks from enemies as strong as a polar bear and reflects the impact through a burst of sound.
Bonus effect:the stronger the Array master proficiency the stronger it is.
Cost: 200 points
Tier: 8th
I nodded in satisfaction. Those two mutated men were probably stronger than that, but this formation could at least take 2–4 hits.
I needed it.
I didn't have to wait for Lorraine to help me anymore. I was grateful, but I now had knowledge—I needed a weapon.
Not wasting more time, I went to the old man's shelter. He was asleep.
I hesitated, then raised the axe and cut off his head again. Strangely, he still wore a smile.
Absorbing him gave me 100 points. I finally bought the cultivation technique.
As soon as I did, all the knowledge about it entered my mind. Now it was just a matter of improving my proficiency.
---
[Host Techniques:]Song Formation (Proficiency: 0%)
[Host Skills:]
Enhanced Physique
Array Master – Tier 8
---
I began practicing. My first attempt didn't fail, but the formation was weak. When I punched it, it shattered easily, and the backlash barely hurt.
After 30 minutes, my proficiency rose to 5%. Punching it again stung my ears painfully, but the array held.
Two hours later, my proficiency hit 12%. I punched the array—it held firm.
Then the backlash hit. It felt like needles pierced my ears. I covered them, wincing. I definitely didn't want to punch it again.
With the rest of my Qi, I set up two arrays. I had depleted most of my Qi during practice.
Still, with those two formations in place, the shelter felt safe. The max I could set was two of the same kind.
Just as I was about to sleep, I noticed the arrays trembling and weakening. The blue ores around them were rapidly depleting.
Looking outside, I saw four creatures—one had a long nose. I swallowed hard and grabbed my axe.
One of them died, having triggered the backlash of the first formation and blue ore. The other two sacrificed themselves trying to break through. One remained.
My mind raced. I had probably attracted them when leaving Lorraine's shelter—they must've followed my scent or trail.
Now, I had to fight.
The last creature had a disgusting face, and its two heads held a sharp knife made of flesh. It grinned at me creepily.
And I readied myself for the fight.
---