Chapter 3 involves entering the special structure [Altar] within the misty rift...
【Crafting Item Name: Flying Mantis Stick】
[Note: Aside from being sturdy but utterly useless, this is an evil weapon created by a ruthless wastelander. You would never want to know what it's made of.]
[Grade: C]
[Usage Instructions: Adds random (1~1000) points of mental shock damage to physical attacks; guarantees a critical hit every three hits against mutated insect creatures; holder's aggro on mutated insect creatures increases by 10.]
[Uses: 10/10 (Holder of the title [Insane Wastelander], can restore uses by feeding crafting materials)]
[Comment: A stick that seems to possess living characteristics.]
[Ding dong, congratulations to the player for activating the title [Insane Wastelander] lv1, reputation +1]
This time, the description of the synthesized substance included an evaluation. Du Yu glanced at it but didn't have time to think about it. With his left hand, he pulled a rope from the cockroach that was about to awaken, and with his right hand, he grabbed the bottom of the black stick and hit the mutated cockroach's head hard.
[Mental strength stat assessment in progress...]
[Stiffness detection: 25 seconds]
[Current mutated creature's aggro value +10]
The stiffness effect caused by the golden rope was getting shorter and shorter. Du Yu gritted his teeth, aimed at the dent in the head of the mutated cockroach, and slammed it down again and again.
Critical Hit Chance +1
Critical Hit Chance +1
...
Du Yu smashed it countless times, leaving only three uses of the golden rope. A large dent appeared on the mutated cockroach's head, and the tip of the black rod was covered in red and white debris. Finally, the mutated cockroach twitched a few times, and the butler's announcement came through:
[Congratulations on successfully defeating a D-level mutated creature! Your inventory has been unlocked. Would you like to add the loot to your inventory?]
"Miss, is this cockroach really dead?"
"Dead beyond dead."
Du Yu casually clicked "no," wiped the meat off his face, and Okita Yinuo gave a thumbs up. However, for some reason, the latter looked even more frightened.
"Miss, it's too dangerous here. Let's go quickly and have Master come and get us..."
Tian Yinuo tugged at Du Yu's sleeve, shuddering in fear as she looked at the mutated cockroach's corpse. But then she saw the young lady, seemingly a different person today, wiping the blood from the black stick, a hint of bloodlust in her smile.
"We can't leave; no one will come to pick us up."
In the novel, the original owner was just a low-ranking cannon fodder character. His main role was to appear in various places to mock the female lead before her true identity as a rich heiress was exposed and while she was working odd jobs. After the female lead was recognized by the wealthy family, the male lead directly sent her to a garbage dump to wait for death.
The original protagonist's father is the main villain in the novel, who caused the protagonist a lot of trouble in the early stages.
In the book, Bian Shaoyan sent two superhumans to guard the original owner of the body in the junkyard, hoping to force the original owner's father to hand over the key. However, the original owner's father ignored the missing original owner and instead took back his five-year-old illegitimate son.
Enraged, Bian Shaoyan ordered his subordinates to film the original owner being tortured to death, which was then played in front of all the guests at the original owner's father's 86th birthday banquet.
However, when the two subordinates were preparing to carry out their mission, they were attacked by a powerful mutated creature and had no choice but to leave the original body and her follower behind. When they returned after resolving the crisis, only two corpses, completely devoured by the mutated creature, remained.
Thinking about how the original owner died, Du Yu felt a pang of sadness. "It's one thing to fail as a human being, but how can a villain fail as well?"
Du Yu sighed deeply, casually picked up a metal piece to polish the black stick, and patted the mutated cockroach's corpse with one hand. After mentally confirming that it was in his backpack, the mutated cockroach's corpse, like synthetic materials, turned into black pixels and disappeared.
"Xiaotian, would you be willing to work with me on... cough, on something big?"
"!"
Tian Yinuo's eyes widened suddenly. In the chaos of the battle, she hadn't noticed how Du Yu had pulled out those two items, but now the mutated cockroach's corpse had disappeared right before her eyes. This scene, which defied common sense, made her eyes widen in disbelief.
Du Yu stared intently at Tian Yinuo, the rich expressions on the other's face making her involuntarily clench her black stick. However, after waiting for a long time, Tian Yinuo finally managed to utter a sentence:
"Miss, you're amazing!"
Without even asking how she did it, Du Yu realized that her expression wasn't feigned, and immediately felt a sense of defeat, like trying to outsmart a fool. He twitched his lips and said, "Answer my question first."
"The problem? What problem?"
Tian Yinuo was taken aback at first, then became excited, "I'm willing! Of course I believe you, Miss! Madam saved my life back then! I swore then that I would follow you for life!"
Du Yu, with a headache, got up and held down the gesticulating Tian Yinuo, pointing to a distance with a half-smile: "What if the first step in starting a business is to enter the rift in the mist?"
In the direction Du Yu pointed, the black line that appeared out of nowhere continued to expand, splitting into a twisted rift. Ominous gray mist churned around the edges of the rift, and a chaotic, distorted current flowed through its center. Just looking at it made one dizzy, disoriented, and with a headache, every cell screaming to escape.
The Misty Rift contains monsters ten thousand times more terrifying than mutated creatures, and its interior distorts time and space; anyone who ventures in carelessly will be swallowed by nothingness.
What's even more terrifying is that the location of the mist rifts is completely random, and the duration varies. Before the gray fog rises, the mist rifts can appear randomly in any corner.
A misty rift once opened right beneath the feet of a team of explorers, but by the time the emergency rescue team arrived, both the rift and the team had vanished without a trace. That group of elite scholars never appeared in civilization's sight again.
Now, Du Yu is asking Tian Yinuo to enter the Misty Rift with him. To people with common sense, this is tantamount to suicide, and it's ranked high on the list of the most painful ways to die.
However, Du Yu estimated that with his current combat power, he was already struggling to kill a D-level mutated cockroach, let alone deal with two B-level superhumans.
Moreover, the original owner's life or death might be insignificant, but the male protagonist, Bian Shaoyan, is extremely concerned with his reputation and has a strong desire for revenge. His subordinates also knew this, and in the original story, the two of them tried their best to collect the original owner's bones to prove that the original owner was indeed dead, but they were still severely reprimanded by the male protagonist.
The only way for her to escape the pursuit of the novel's male protagonist is to enter the Misty Rift.
Although the novel vividly portrays the terror of the misty rift to highlight the danger the male protagonist faces entering the rift to find medicine for the female protagonist, it also serves to praise their love.
But Du Yu had read the novel and knew that there were still a group of Mist Hunters who were willing to risk their lives for money, specializing in venturing into the Mist to find treasure. There was no reason why they could go in, but he couldn't.
But Tian Yinuo is just an ordinary person. She is timid and has been taught since childhood to never go near the fog.
Du Yu scrutinized Tian Yinuo's expression. Humans are social animals, but years of survival in the wasteland had taught her enough that she didn't need disobedient teammates.
Although normal people would think she's crazy, she has the ability to survive on her own, and a lone wolf doesn't need to...
"Okay, sure."
Tian Yinuo nodded as if a major problem had finally been resolved, her brows quickly furrowing as she spoke. "But won't it be very cold in the misty rift? Should we prepare some warm clothes? Madam said it's best for girls not to catch a cold..."
Seeing Tian Yinuo actually starting to look for a warm coat, Du Yu really wanted to lift her skull to see what was inside. Was it really a matter of whether she was cold or not? She had turned a matter of life and death into something like a picnic.
"You listen to everything I say?"
"Of course, whatever Miss says is right!"
Du Yu looked at Tian Yinuo's simple smile and couldn't help but click his tongue inwardly. Loyalty is a good quality, but it often leads to entrusting oneself to the wrong person. The original owner chose Tian Yinuo for a simple reason: she wouldn't steal his thunder. Among the original owner's followers, Tian Yinuo received the worst treatment.
In the novel, when the original owner's conspiracy was exposed and she was abandoned by everyone, the only person by her side was the follower she usually looked down on.
The more Du Yu recalled the scenes of the original owner and Tian Yinuo's interactions, the more he looked at her as if she were a silly roe deer, and he did not stop her from happily picking up trash everywhere.
Du Yu focused his mind and mentally opened the game panel. The center of the panel was still grayed out, and the screen was not clearly visible. On the left side of the panel, from top to bottom, were three buttons lit up: [Normal Synthesis 1/3], [Title], and [Inventory].
Du Yu opened his backpack, which displayed ten small orange squares arranged in a row. The first square contained a pixelated cockroach icon. Clicking the icon brought up three options: Discard, Decompose, and Normal Crafting (Lack of Materials).
When the synthesis is lacking materials, click to decompose. The cockroach pixel art in the grid disappears and turns into a red and white pixel cube. A number "6" appears in the lower right corner of the grid.
Perhaps because it's a product from dismantling a game item, this small cube also has an item description—
【Name: Mutant Beast Meat】
[Note: Extremely poisonous; edible, but will result in death if ingested.]
[Grade: D]
[Instructions for use: It has a peculiar attraction to mutated creatures; it may be useful in some poison recipes.]
[Status: Fresh (will turn stale after 5 calendar days)]
Du Yu glanced at the beast meat's condition; the game inventory wasn't a panacea.
In the game, all food has five states: "fresh," "not fresh," "about to rot," "rotten," and "foul fermenting matter." Only eating "fresh" food will increase your stamina, while eating "about to rotten" or "rotten" food will deduct your health.
As for the "Foul Fermentation Product"... there is no sense of smell in the game, but I was really curious at the time, so I stocked up on one in my backpack. As a result, I got the "Foul Fermentation Product" debuff, which would deduct my health every second and randomly increase my aggro.
Although this mutated beast meat is highly poisonous, it still has the properties of food. Does this mean that as long as the poison can be neutralized, this thing can actually be eaten?
Du Yu noted down the thought. There was no way around it; anyone who had survived in the wasteland for more than three years would probably earn the title of "How could you eat this?" To survive, Du Yu had actually eaten dirt and cockroach meat during the toughest years, and he really didn't mind.
"Come on, help me tear this into pieces."
Du Yu took a step back, and a piece of meat about the size of a watermelon appeared out of thin air where he had just been standing. It was red and white and looked rather tempting.
"Miss, what is this? Our dinner tonight... Ugh—"
Tian Yinuo watched as Du Yu conjured up chunks of meat out of thin air. Her eyes were filled with doubt for a moment before clearing up again. She happily picked up a flat metal strip and cut into the meat. The moment the meat was cut open, a strong stench filled the air.
Even Du Yu, who was used to the harsh environment of the wasteland, couldn't help but twitch his eyebrows. He tore off a corner of his clothes, rolled it into a strip, and stuffed it into his nose. Then he picked up a flat metal bar, and the two of them chopped the meat into minced meat together.
Du Yu swung the metal strip horizontally, spreading the foul-smelling minced meat evenly, making the stench even stronger.
Tian Yinuo looked on nervously and asked cautiously, "Miss, do you want to eat dumplings?"
Du Yu almost stumbled and fell because of her question. He glared at her and said irritably, "Do you remember how we got here? This is to give them an explanation."
Tian Yinuo didn't understand what Du Yu was saying, scratched her head, and followed him to the edge of the misty rift. Du Yu patted her shoulder and said seriously, "I told you to learn some management before, but you wouldn't. Now you don't understand, do you? You can only hire monkeys with the money you pay for bananas."
Those two superhumans could definitely tell that this flesh and blood tissue wasn't human, but so what?
The sun has already risen, and this place is fraught with danger. Are they really going to risk falling into the misty rift to find these two "dead" people? It would be better to just go along with her plan and get by, and they could both get away with it.
Standing at the edge of the misty rift, Du Yu recalled the last night thirty years ago when he and his roommates celebrated their impending promotion to full-time positions, just before the end of the world, and let out a sigh filled with melancholy:
"It's just a job, why risk your life?"
"ha?"
Tian Yinuo's astonished voice still lingered in the air when Du Yu, holding her hand, jumped into the crevice together. Gray mist splashed up half a meter high in the air, finally disappearing like bubbles under the sunlight. The dark crevice closed quietly as if it had never existed, and there was no trace of the two people left in the garbage dump.
Five minutes later.
Two figures wearing heavy protective suits appeared. The one in the lead waved his hand to shoo away the bumblebee-sized mutated flies, picked up a piece of slightly spoiled meat from the ground, and remained silent for a few seconds with a grim expression.
"hiss……"
The man behind him twisted his left arm unnaturally, as if he had aggravated his wound while shooing away the swarm of mutated flies, and subconsciously let out a short, cold snort.
The person standing in front tensed his cheek muscles, staring at the distorted marks in space, his fingers clenching as he crushed the flesh, and said in a deep voice, "Those two women have been eaten by the mutated beasts."
"Ah?...Yes!"
——
The gray fog surged in front of him and then dissipated in the next second, making Du Yu feel slightly dizzy. He squinted as he examined the inside of the fog rift.
This place resembles a landfill, with scattered debris and fragments everywhere, only the electronic products appear to be of rather outdated models. Looking up, one cannot see the sky; it's as if someone has been painting a cake, layer upon layer, with gray mist covering the heavens.
The two seemed to be the only colors within the entire rift. Du Yu surveyed the interior, unexpectedly meeting a pair of scarlet eyes.
She discovered a mutated creature.
The mutated creatures also discovered her!
[Ding! Special energy detected. Game is storing energy!]
[The construction requirements for the special building [Altar] have been met. Construct now...? Under construction... [Normal Synthesis] is now officially available!]
[Game loading complete! Congratulations on logging into the game!]
A note from the author:
----------------------
The next chapter will fully unlock the merge game, and the heroine will begin her joyful junk-collecting journey.
Dudu: ?
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