Book 1 Chapter 22 The Reunion of the Reluctantly Rescued
…
Han Rowan, already at Level 2 and feeling only marginally less terrified than he had the day before, trudged alongside the search party. The Mauler—an elephant-sized, red-furred panther whose demise had granted him 100 precious EXP—was now just a terrible, bloody memory, thankfully overwritten by the immediate, mundane anxieties of inventory management and public perception.
The volunteers were a motley mix: Captain Gong, a man whose mustache managed to look both stern and slightly wilted from the heat, led the five remaining town guards; behind them shuffled two weary merchants, their faces permanently etched with the disappointment of a missed sale; and the farmers, whose primary contribution seemed to be existential groaning about their abandoned crops and a few others.
Rowan, however, was in the midst of a crucial consumer decision, one that was visible only to him.
My inventory must be maximized. He thought, completely ignoring the solemnity of their mission to find the Mayor's lost children. I have 10 coins. I have 106 EXP. I am dangerously close to leveling up, which I suspect means double the pain in the next tier, but I cannot stop the grind.
He discreetly accessed the floating 9x9 grid, his fingers twitching as if he were manipulating physical objects, a tic that the other volunteers wisely ignored, attributing it to a bad rash or perhaps a sudden philosophical awakening.
[System Shop]
Leather cap: 4 coins/ 2x2/ 5 defense/eye protection (cannot be blinded). Red fruit: 4 coins/ 1x1/ Heal 3HP & recover 0.5 Qi every 4 seconds.Springwater: 4 coins/ 1x1/ Consumable.Rock: 2 coins/ 1x1/ 2 damage/ 6 sec cooldown.Rock: 2 coins/ 1x1/ 2 damage/ 6 sec cooldown.
"A Leather cap," Rowan muttered internally, a small, highly rational flicker of joy lighting up his otherwise phlegmatic brain. It would have been better if it were a shield, but he did not have any more slots to put it in. So he is already grateful that in this emergency, where he needed more defense, the Leather cap is more valuable.
The red fruit is also good, but he did not know what would happen if the red fruit would function while his head is already rolling on the ground. He dared not gamble on his life and his pretty little head.
"Five defense. That's an almost 100% boost to my passive defense, which is currently a grand total of the +2 from this ridiculous, itchy vest I stole from the late Ro Fung. Safety first."
He hesitated. He needed 4 coins. He currently has 10. Purchase a Leather cap: 4 coins.
Coins: 10 -> 6.
The Leather cap materialised in the stash, a digital representation of a rather plain-looking headpiece. He selected the equip function. The aesthetics are terrible, but the protection is sublime. Also, no one can see it, which is the best feature. Imagine explaining a visible leather cap over a disciple's robe.
Inventory Current Setup:
Travel Bag (2x2): Stone knife (1x2), Wooden sword (1x2).Sackcloth (3x2): Thorn (1x1), Thorn (1x1), Springwater (1x1). (3 slots used, 3 remaining).
He then faced a storage crisis. The Leather cap was 2x2, and his active slots in the Sackcloth (3x2) and Travel bag (2x2) were full. Putting the Leather Cap in his inventory slot would automatically equip it physically on his head, but would still occupy some space.
He had purchased the Leather cap from the shop, but he was thinking of the inventory space in his 'bag' slots, which was wrong, but the inventory constraints felt very real. I need funds and space.
The two Thorns (1 coin each) were currently the least critical items. They only worked when he was attacked, and Rowan's strategy number one was never to get attacked.
"A necessary sacrifice," he sighed, trying to look like he was contemplating the curvature of a nearby oak tree. Sell one Thorns: 1 coin.
Coins: 6 -> 7.
Thorns returned to the ether.
Inventory adjusted.
He quickly put the Leather Cap in the sackcloth slot. With a contented smile, he could now feel the weird sensation in his head of having an invisible cap. "I wonder what my hair looks like now?" Rowan felt a bit worried about how it would affect his handsomeness (or so he shamelessly thought).
Now, the real gamble: the reroll. The system promised five random basic items. It was a terrible risk, but he was hoping for a bag or something. One coin for the chance at efficiency.
Reroll Shop: 1 coin.
Coins: 7 -> 6.
The shop blinked, refreshing its meager offerings.
[System Shop - Reroll 1]
Red fruit: 4 coins/ 1x1/ Heal 3HP & recover 0.5 Qi every 4 seconds.Rock: 2 coins/ 1x1/ 2 damage/ 6 sec cooldown.Rock: 2 coins/ 1x1/ 2 damage/ 6 sec cooldown.Wooden Sword: 4 coins/ 1x2/ 1-3 damage/ 1.8 sec cooldown.Pouch: 4 coins/ 1x2/ item inside has 10% less cooldown.
"Those Malignant Marbles (Rocks) are truly malignant, taking space in my shop choice," Rowan grumbled in annoyance upon seeing another two rocks on the list. Then his eyes suddenly saw something that made him feel excited.
"The Pouch!" Rowan nearly tripped over a tree root, catching himself with a dramatic, unnecessary flourish that made Captain Gong glance at him with suspicion.
Purchase Pouch: 4 coins.
Coins: 6 -> 2.
The Pouch, a spectral 1x2 rectangle, shimmered into the equipped accessory slot, granting two additional slots on the grid, both benefiting from the 10% cooldown reduction. Exponential efficiency. The math is sound.
He then quickly utilized the second system feature: Reserve. The Red Fruit was a powerful, non-consumable healing item. Reserve Red Fruit. It now glowed faintly, locked into the next shop rotation.
Finally, he reorganized his remaining active inventory: The second Thorn was retrieved from the Sackcloth storage. Move Thorn (1x1) to Pouch slot 1.
Rowan checked his status, which made him feel a hint of satisfaction.
Han Rowan - Inventory Status:
Coins: 2 (Lamentably low.)EXP: 106/200. (We're almost there, level 3!)Equipped Passive: Mysterious Vest (+2 Def), Leather Cap (+5 Def, Eyes Protection).Travel Bag (2x2): Stone knife (1x2, 2.1s CD), Wooden sword (1x2, 1.8s CD).Sackcloth (3x2): Springwater (1x1, Auto-use), Leather Cap (2x2, +5 Def), Thorns (1x1, Active). Pouch (1x2): Thorn (1x1, Active). (1 slot remaining). All Pouch items receive a 10% CD reduction.
Feeling the invisible, yet immensely reassuring, weight of the leather cap on his head—which felt like the very peak of human technology—Rowan caught up to Captain Gong.
"Anything, uh, suspicious, Captain?" Rowan asked, his voice deliberately casual, like a man who wasn't currently calculating the damage per second of spectral weaponry.
Captain Gong spat a wad of brown juice from his mouth and adjusted the broad-brimmed hat that was visible. "Suspicious? Lad, we're days from Slow Turtle Town, looking for the Mayor's children who were supposed to be subduing bandits. The whole situation is suspicious. But the air here... It's too quiet. Even the normal beasts seem to be holding their breath."
Rowan only nodded. The man had a point. If even the system-unlisted 'normal' beasts are quiet, something large is occupying the threat assessment space.
They continued their journey through the dense forest, the group's morale steadily declining with every passing hour of silence. The next day, they crossed paths with a large, territorial Black Bear. It was a normal beast—a terrifying, eight-foot-tall wall of muscle and teeth, but normal in the grand, terrifying scheme of this new world.
The guards and merchants, led by Captain Gong's surprising, if basic, martial skill, engaged it. Rowan, clutching his empty hands, watched from behind a large rock.
"Well," Rowan whispered to the fern beside him, "I would not approach that thing to stop my bag from activating. That poor, cute thing is venting its anger with those old fellows." Rowan muttered as he took out a cloth, gauze, and the healing salve prepared to heal the wounded.
He listened to the grunts and yells, the sickening thud of a farmer taking a swipe to the shoulder (he was only a mortal, his HP was likely devastated), and the clanging of steel against thick hide. The sheer, terrifying inefficiency of mortal combat was stunning. It took them ten agonizing minutes to subdue the beast, which was only 'fierce' enough to earn maybe 1 or 2 EXP, tops, if the system had been bothered to care.
When the battle was over, Captain Gong was nursing a deep gash on his arm, and two of the farmers were being helped to sit down, looking pale and green.
"You, lad!" Captain Gong barked, catching sight of Rowan emerging from behind his safe rock. "Why did you not draw your sword? You are a man, are you not? Even someone as frail as you should be able to handle a common Black Bear!"
Rowan gave a complex, phlegmatic shrug. "Captain, I was assessing the threat profile and determining optimal flanking maneuvers. You had it handled. And my current technique requires maximal focus, which I was providing… from a safe distance." Also, if I intervene, then that cute fellow would have already been chopped in half.
Captain Gong glared, but the exhaustion of the fight overrode his suspicion. "Hmph. Just be ready when we find the bandits, boy. They won't be as polite as a bear. Come heal my wounds!" Rowan did not reply and just mended the wounded.
…
It was late afternoon when they arrived at the alleged encampment site. The remnants of a few tents, a cold fire pit, and scattered supplies confirmed this was the place where Mayor Kang's children and their escort soldiers had set up camp.
Captain Gong dismounted, his face paling beneath the grime. "No bodies. No blood. But this camp is… wrong." He pointed to a rope that had been cleanly cut, not torn, and a single, neatly folded soldier's uniform lying next to the ruins of a tent. "They didn't fight here. They were waiting."
The group slowly investigated the area, which made them feel more suspicious of what truly happened here. They were expecting a bloody scene, but it seems that even the blood might have been licked clean by those beasts that roamed this forest.
Rowan knitted his brow and caressed his invisible beard like an ancient hermit. "Hmm… According to my analysis, the two children of the mayor were not here… So I guess we have to turn back and deliver this message to the mayor. Maybe those two went out for a while and had a picnic or something."
Rowan's muttering words were heard by Captain Gong, who furiously glared at his back. Captain Gong's face turned red and then green, and he was about to angrily reprimand Rowan when he suddenly froze on the spot. The people around him also felt that something was amiss in the air.
Before anyone could fully process the chilling implication, a chorus of rough, guttural shouts erupted from the trees surrounding the small clearing.
"No one moves! This territory is ours now!" a coarse voice roared.
Suddenly, the ruins were swarming. Bandits, but not the scruffy, ill-equipped kind. These men wore dark, rough leather and carried sturdy, matching long blades. Their movements were coordinated, and their eyes held the cold, calculating look of professional killers.
"Kill them all! The leader says no witnesses! No spares!"
It all happened too fast that Rowan's group did not have enough time to process before those bandits quickly made their move. "These guys are not here to play games…" is what Rowan thought.
The ambush was immediate and brutal. Captain Gong, wounded and weary, roared and drew his sword, leading his few remaining men into a desperate, chaotic fray. The merchants screamed and dropped their packs, and the farmers, bless their mortal souls, simply crumpled in terror.
Rowan did not pause to analyze the merits of the battle. He did not consider courage or duty. He considered survival.
Current situation: Ambush. Overwhelming odds. Objective: Do not die.