The World Cataclysm

Without any delay, Dave picked up a blue Treasure Chest from the ground and hurried to open it. Treasure Chest glowed with calming blue light, yet the thought of a treasure that he could obtain from the chest was enough to cause countless thoughts swirling inside his head.

[Do you want to open a Treasure Chest (Blue)?]

Impatiently giving confirmation to the question, Dave looked intensely to the Blue Chest as his eyes were glued to it.

Perhaps, due to an increase in agility or being excited, it seemed that Treasure Chest was disappearing more slowly than before. He saw how it was turning into the particles of blue light as it was vanishing into the thing air.

Finally, giving off the last batch of the blue light, it disappeared from his hands, as a small ring lay instead of a Treasure Chest. Checking the status window of an item, he drew in a mouthful of air mixed with a foul smell of blood and gore.

[Mana Bullet Ring

-Increases spirit by 1 point

-Allows firing Mana Bullet

Description: Common magic ring inscribed with one magic spell.]

'Nice! I got a magic ring with a skill on it. Blue Chest is worthy of its reputation as a Treasure Chest!'

Some items from the system were able to increase the stats of a user by a certain amount like one point increase of a Mana Bullet Ring, yet some of them had skills inscribed on them. Nobody knew how items from a system were able to have such effects, not to say of stat bonuses.

It was so game-like that sometimes Dave had wondered if they lived in a sort of virtual simulation, yet broken ribs and pain in his chest quickly brought him into reality.

Mana Bullet was a magic spell of the same tier as Brian's Small Fireball, yet it was faster and had more piercing capabilities than a fireball skill. Well, the unique ability of a Small Fireball was more an explosion than piercing, so it wasn't correct to compare them in that key.

Dave had considered that such items were best for the close combat fighters like himself since they had a major advantage over the skill itself; you didn't need to chant a spell, which was quite practical in actual fights.

If he had a magic ring when he was fighting a mutated dog, then he could easily kill it since Mana Bullet had enough power to pierce its skull.

After obtaining Mana Bullet Ring, he swiftly wore it on his finger and picked up a Needle Rapier from the ground. He was lucky to get it before he was attacked by the dog since it truly was a life-saviour for him. Without any means to kill it, he would have left only with an option to escape from it.

Leaving a snapped sword in the alley, he packed his belongings and dragged his body in direction of the dormitory building. All muscles of his body were hurting like hell, yet he needed to quickly leave the market before he was attacked again by some monster.

On the way back, he checked his status once again.

[David Murckly

Level: 5

Class: None

Survival coins: 214

Mana: 2/8

Strength: 16

Agility: 12

Stamina: 11

Intelligence: 11

Spirit: 5 (+1)

Free points: 0

Innate ability: Regression

Skills: Elementary Cooking (LVL 2), Gaming (LVL 8), Mathematics (LVL 7), Leadership (LVL 1), Meditation (LVL 3), Flash Step (LVL 1), Mana Application (LVL 3), Mana Threads (LVL 3), Mana Barrier (LVL 2), Mana Enhancement (LVL 2), Reinforced Breathing (LVL 2), Swordsmanship (LVL 5), Battle Focus (LVL 4)]

'Finally 5 points in spirit! Unfortunately, it didn't increase my mana since it wasn't increased by a free point.'

Even though his several ribs were broken and he was injured heavily, Dave was satisfied by the progress he had made so far. However, it seemed that he won't go for another solo hunting until he feels better to be able to move.

Humming a melody, he slowly dragged his body to his base, avoiding big groups of ordinary zombies on his way.

***

"Hey, do you think he will be alright? It is already more than an hour after he went outside."

"...Brian, I don't know. He said that he will be safe out there, so better trust his word."

It was already more than an hour since Dave had gone solo hunting, so Brian and Adam were worrying about him. Even though they knew that he was the strongest among them, yet it didn't save them from worries.

Who knows what monsters are wandering outside?

Both of them were sitting in the kitchen and doing their own things. Brian was still mulling over the book of Small Fireball since it had shown itself much better than he had expected. He gripped a pencil in his hands and was writing something enthusiastically on the book, yet it seemed that he wasn't able to focus on reading as he frowned occasionally.

On the other hand, Adam was playing with a spoon which he found lying on the table. He used Telekinesis to lift it up to the air and moved it from one place to another. Apparently, a spoon flew much smoother than a spear on his first try since he was practising it for more than 10 minutes.

Both of them sat in silence, as one was scribbling something on the book and the other was moving a spoon with his mind. It seemed that they were trying to calm themselves by busying themselves with something.

Suddenly, one of the doors had opened with a creak as someone could be seen leaving it. Rebecca had woken up 15 minutes ago due to the rotten smell from her clothes and quickly took a shower to wash off all the blood from her skin.

Changed into black pants and a white T-shirt, she wanted to fill her empty stomach, so she moved to the kitchen but seeing how Brian and Adam were sitting in silence, she couldn't help but move timidly towards the food supplies.

Taking three cans of food, she quickly opened them and started eating it yet unable to eat them peacefully, she looked at both Brian and Adam. She decided to lighten the atmosphere with a question.

"So, what is Mr David doing?"

Jolted by her question, both of them looked strangely at her. Due to their strange gazes, she had shrunk even further, wondering what she had said wrong.

"He had gone hunting solo, already for an hour. He should be already returning to the dormitory building. Well, should be."

Adam was the one who answered her question, even though he had said it slightly dejectedly. Albeit he said that he would return soon, he didn't sound optimistically enough to convince her that he was safe.

"Do you think he will be alright?"

She wasn't close enough to Dave as Adam or Brian, yet she was also worried about him, whom she acknowledged as their leader. She wouldn't have been eating here if not for him since she understood it clearly.

"We should trust his words since he never goes back on them. After middle school, he had grown much more independent from others and was more strong-willed than his peers. Back in his school years, he..."

Perhaps, to calm his nerves, Adam unassumingly started talking about the stories he had with Dave. He talked about how Dave had picked a fight with his classmate on his first day in school, saving Adam from bullies.

He also shared how Dave had studied school material of 3 years to get admitted to the university. Since he didn't want to tell how he had lost his parents in a car accident, he especially dropped it, covering it as an incident.

Even though he had leaked most of Dave's shameful stories, like how he had lost a bet in a high school and entered the women's dressing room full of girls and started undressing himself or how Adam put girl's panty inside his bag and he was caught red-handed by the teacher, it helped to liven the mood in the kitchen.

Unknowingly to him, Dave had gotten his secrets leaked by his best friend.

As they were laughing in the kitchen, someone had entered the main doors as a creak was heard from it. Dave was resisting the pain in his muscles, as he dragged his body through the corridor.

When he was spotted by the trio sitting in the kitchen, for some unknown reason, he had a bad omen since all three of them were gazing at him as they were seeing a funny joke. Even Rebecca, who usually was fearful of him, looked at him strangely.

'What's up with them?'