10. The Real-Life Script Begins

Luck is the most terrifying weapon of all.

When luck is on your side, a casual stroll outside can net you a villa. When luck turns against you, a simple stretch might result in swallowing a sack of cockroaches.

Consequently, Li Nuo hesitated over whether to draw the remaining three cards.

During the newcomer screening, he had taken advantage of the remaining mission time—having already met the completion criteria—to scavenge everywhere, arming himself with four bladed or pointed weapons. Before the screening mission ended, he had even cobbled together a semi-finished Molotov cocktail. He also possessed "perfect weapons" like [John’s Iron Pipe], which could serve as an explosive tool as long as he had a vehicle.

Theoretically, he wasn't lacking in ways to protect himself. The only prerequisite was that he shouldn't be thrown into a scenario filled with demons, monsters, or extraterrestrials.

"I shouldn't... be someone with such abysmal luck, or I'd be dead by now."

With this thought, Li Nuo sat on a brick and drew the second card.

[Firecracker]
[Quality: Common]
[Feature: Fire-attribute damage, 12-hour cooldown]
[Brief: Mommy, Mommy, you want me to set off fireworks this year? Okay, okay! I'm lighting the fuse, ten, nine, eight, seven... Huh? The fuse seems to be burning a bit too fast; huh? Huh, huh, huh? (BOOM) Aaaaaah—!!!! Mommy!!! Help me!!! It's so hot!!! My eyes are gone!!!]

"Well, I have a ranged weapon now."

Li Nuo consoled himself and drew the third card.

Another flash of white light... then, in front of the tombstone, appeared a... Poké Ball.

Li Nuo stared at the Poké Ball in complete bewilderment. He never could have imagined that something with such a stark, ironic contrast would appear.

[Slightly Damaged Poké Ball]
[Quality: Trash]
[Effect: Perfect for playing baseball]
[Brief: After Ash caught his mother, Professor Oak, missing her dearly, unleashed the power of love. The mother broke through the Poké Ball and flew toward Nebula M78. Professor Oak gazed at the sky, unable to let go for a long time: "Minami Yuko..."]
[Note: Theoretically, repair light powder cannot fix this, though normal Poké Balls are actually high-end goods.]

"This doesn't even qualify as unofficial Pokémon lore anymore..."

Out of respect for the item's description, Li Nuo exhausted his brainpower to deliver this sarcastic remark. Regardless, even if this Poké Ball couldn't be used, he could at least keep it for now.

The "Quality" of items or equipment is divided into five tiers:
Trash: Basically unusable, but has miraculous effects in certain situations; most can be used to kill people.
Common: Useful in daily life, characterized by stability; can be used to kill people.
Fine: Items suitable for long-term carry.
Excellent: Items that exist only in rumors.
Epic: Unique, special items within their respective worldviews.

In summary, aside from ending a life, this Poké Ball... was utterly useless.

Li Nuo placed the Poké Ball on the ground as a candidate item for the first wager. He then drew the third random card. The card emitted a white light, forming a round object similar to a Poké Ball.

"Is this place mass-producing Poké Balls or something..."

However, the object was just a plain white sphere. He picked it up and glanced at its attributes:

[Inner Potential]
[Type: Skill]
[Learning Requirement: Insight 6]
[Effect: Increases attack power by 40%, effective for all attributes, duration 100 seconds. Drains 1% HP per second; forced termination of the skill will result in the agony of muscle tearing.]
[Brief: Heh, someone’s in a hurry to die.]

"..."

"It would be perfect if I could get a katana that also drains HP."

Li Nuo thought of the [Red Tearstone Ring]; he assumed the appearance of [Inner Potential] was linked to his unactivated status, [The Bloodied].

Low health.
Counter-kill.
Critical hit.

"Following this logic, could I deal the damage of an artillery shell with a sniper rifle?"

Fantasy aside, none of the values on his attribute panel were linked to "ranged" damage. All mechanics within this world would require further exploration during missions to be understood in depth.

Since skills could not be included in the [Probability System] wager, Li Nuo decided to sacrifice the trash-quality Poké Ball. After all, his inventory only had six slots, and he preferred carrying six things that could reliably kill people. At worst, carrying canned food and water would be more reliable than a useless Poké Ball. Ah, right... the mall did sell food, likely to prevent impoverished players from starving to death.

Outside the space's room, there was a sink filled with blood. He placed the Poké Ball into the sink. A group of eerie-looking little figures crawled out of the pool and dragged the Poké Ball into the blood. Then, a panel popped up:

[Accepted item: "Slightly Damaged Poké Ball"]
[Quality: Trash]
[Hint 1: Based on the percentage increase calculated from your gold coin investment, the quality upgrades after exceeding 100%. At "Trash" quality, 1 gold coin equals 0.2%.]
[Hint 2: Depending on how you clear your next scenario, the nature of the new item will vary.]

"So, if I invest 500 gold coins, I can upgrade it to Common quality..."

"And, if I don't clear the mission in the conventional way, I might be able to create something extremely unique, right?"

Li Nuo opened his panel and locked onto the number above his personal information: 6,000 gold coins.

[Silently state the amount of gold coins to invest]

"500."

[Confirm?]

"Yes."

[Completed]
[Please come to collect your new item after your next mission.]

...

Li Nuo exited the "Hunter's Dream." When he opened his eyes again, he was still on the subway train.

"Young man... why do you keep staring at me?" An old lady stood in front of Li Nuo. She might have wanted a seat, but Li Nuo had been staring blankly, which made it look like he was fixated on her.

"You look sexy," Li Nuo replied, thinking it was a polite response.

The old lady was stunned and hurried away to a safe distance.

Li Nuo silently brought up the mission panel and chose to join the reality scenario mission titled [Detective].

[Detective]
[Type: Player Competition]
[This mission is located in "Kairosoft World." Number of participating players: 4. 3 players have already signed up. Mission starts in 30 minutes.]
[Registration fee: 100 gold coins]
[Participate in this mission?]

Yes.

[100 gold coins deducted]
[Wish you a pleasant journey]

The moment the system's voice faded, the subway seemed to enter a lightless tunnel. He could hear the rumbling of the train and felt himself still sitting in his seat.

Once the light was dispelled by a ray of sunshine, he found himself sitting on the train carrying the players. Around Li Nuo sat three other people. Every person's face was pixelated.

[This hint is audible only to you]
[This is your first time participating in a "Reality Mode" mission, so take note]
[1. In Reality Mode, you have a chance to inhabit others to complete the mission; your physique and appearance will be based on the host.]
[2. In Reality Mode, you cannot use items from your inventory or skills, except in certain special scenarios.]
[3. In Reality Mode, there is no penalty for failure, but death is considered true death, unless you are inhabiting someone else.]
[4. In Reality Mode, please strictly follow the game rules and do not attack others at will.]