Chapter Thirteen: Tenfold Drop Rate!

Chapter Thirteen: Tenfold Drop Rate!

Shi Bai smiled knowingly, surprised that this guy was even more impatient than himself. Switching his walking mode to a brisk power walk, he slung his single-shoulder bag around his waist, and the two of them charged toward the internet café with an air of urgency.

They thought they were the fastest around, but when they entered the café, the place was already packed. Unable to help themselves, they exclaimed, “So enthusiastic!”

They quickly made their way to the counter. Shi Bai slapped two hundred yuan down, “Two memberships, please!”

The girl at the counter stared at them for a moment, as if doubting their age. Sensing this, Shi Bai and Gao Yang hastily produced their ID cards—fortunately, they had just turned eighteen.

With their credentials in order, the girl swiftly issued two cards; in those days, internet cafés still required card insertion to log in. The two skirted a group of eccentric, fashion-forward kids and found a pair of linked computers, tossing their bags onto the sofa before eagerly powering on the machines.

Shi Bai sat back, breathing in the café’s distinctive aroma, surrounded by the familiar cacophony.

“Damn! A gate, A gate, A gate!”
“Someone in the alleyway!”
“Someone’s pulling the hook!”
…
And that familiar yet irritating sound of spacebar pounding from the dance game.

“How nostalgic!” Shi Bai couldn’t help but sigh.

“What’s there to miss? Hurry up and log in!” Gao Yang had already signed into QQ and launched Dungeon Fighter’s client.

Shi Bai glanced at Gao Yang’s QQ—a cartoon avatar of a boy in a cap, the nickname: [√. Heartbroken Boy]. He burst out laughing.

“What are you laughing at?” Gao Yang didn’t mind, just kept urging, “Come on! We only have an hour! If I’m late, my mom will definitely chew me out!”

Shi Bai quickly opened Dungeon Fighter’s client and logged into his own QQ. When he looked up, his nickname was [Burial·Merciless Love]. He nearly spat out his drink onto the monitor. “Did I really pick such a name? So edgy!”

Gao Yang shot him a look. “And you call yourself edgy? Look at your lame haircut, stop being narcissistic!”

Shi Bai laughed heartily. “Right! You’re spot on!” He nearly forgot—this was the era of edgy and flamboyant styles.

Logging into Dungeon Fighter, he chose his channel, and a soaring, ethereal background music filled his ears. Shi Bai entered the character selection screen; a level fifteen swordsman awaited.

[—I’m Just a Legend—], level 15, Ghost Swordsman.

Shi Bai was flooded with emotions, double-clicked to enter, and a familiar female voice filled his headset, “Hero, you’re here!”

“Selia!” Shi Bai was nearly moved to tears. “That disconnected, weakened hero—that’s my lost youth!”

“What are you mumbling about?” Gao Yang was impatient. “Hurry, let’s team up for the zombie run!”

“Alright, alright!” Shi Bai just laughed, quickly steering his swordsman toward Grand Forest.

“Feng Zhen, Master of the Wind Fist!”
“Come and see! No empty spots here!”
…

Once teamed up, they entered the map. Shi Bai was a level 15 Ghost Swordsman; Gao Yang, a level 16 Gunner.

“You slash up front, I’ll shoot from the back.” Gao Yang loved to command, though his skills weren’t great.

Unfortunately, Shi Bai was even worse. Even together, their progress was rough; cat demons kept pouncing and gnawing them, and their health quickly dwindled.

“You’re so bad!” Gao Yang grumbled, dropping a grenade.

Shi Bai wasn’t bothered—he truly wasn’t skilled. Calmly, he summoned his system.

“Activate custom quest: I am a gaming master.”

“Custom quest activated. Quest started.”

“To become a gaming master, I must play as poorly as possible. But how do I play the worst?” Shi Bai pondered, then suddenly his hands seemed to move uncontrollably, fingers flying in a blur—and he cleared the level.

“Damn! How did you suddenly get so good?” Gao Yang stared at the SSS rating on the screen, incredulous.

Shi Bai was bewildered, realizing the system was at work, but he hadn’t expected that the so-called worst operation was actually his own style.

“Cough, cough.” He said to Gao Yang, “I wasn’t used to it before. Now that I’m familiar, I can show my true strength.”

Gao Yang scoffed, not buying it. “Yeah right! I know you, must just be luck!”

Shi Bai smiled gently. “Is that so? Let’s see what happens next.”

In the following runs, his fingers danced again, clearing the level in under three minutes—still SSS!

“Damn!” Gao Yang was utterly convinced now. “Are you really that good?”

Shi Bai laughed. “Now you believe? I told you, I just needed to get used to it.”

Gao Yang was both admiring and jealous. “Show-off!”

After a while, Shi Bai grew bored. “Grinding like this gets old. I need to boost the drop rate!”

He summoned the system again. “Activate custom quest: increase my Dungeon Fighter drop rate by tenfold!”

“Custom quest activated. Quest started.”

But as soon as the quest started, Shi Bai was confused. “Increase drop rate? How do I do that?”

No sooner had he thought this than a common zombie dropped a purple blade.

[Purple Maru]

“As expected, I don’t need to do anything. I’m just a failure.” Shi Bai sighed.

Gao Yang, on the other hand, was ecstatic. “Damn! Purple!” He practically shouted as he rushed to grab it.

After the dice animation, the sword ended up in Shi Bai’s bag.

“Seriously!” Gao Yang still had the nerve to complain.

Shi Bai opened his inventory. “Purple Maru, level 15, Tachi, sealed.”

“Nice,” Shi Bai said. “Just what I need.”

“Sell it!” Gao Yang urged. “It’s only level fifteen, you’ll outgrow it soon, might as well sell.”

Shi Bai gave him a look. For him, gaming was about fun—selling? What’s the point?

He equipped it without hesitation.

“Ugh!” Gao Yang sighed. “You’re really wasting it!”

Shi Bai ignored him. With Purple Maru equipped, his attack power rose noticeably, making monster hunting much easier.

“Ding!”

[Minotaur’s Blood Sword]

“Damn! Another drop!” Gao Yang rushed his little gunner over again.

But it landed in Shi Bai’s bag once more.

“Are you kidding me!” Gao Yang pounded the table. “Why is it always yours!”

Shi Bai just smiled. Of course, with his system, how could it not be his?

He examined the [Minotaur’s Blood Sword], a short sword with mediocre stats, so he tossed it to Gao Yang.

“Here, I don’t want it. Sell it if you like.”

Gao Yang snatched it up. “Alright!” After a moment, he glanced at Shi Bai, looking oddly resentful.

“Shi Bai, you’ve changed.”

“Damn!…” Shi Bai was startled, thinking, “Could it be that being too nice has made him think differently about me?”

He avoided eye contact, but Gao Yang grinned widely. “You stingy jerk, you’re actually generous now! Ha ha!” He laughed like a fool.

Shi Bai quietly breathed a sigh of relief. “Thankfully he hasn’t changed…” But found it amusing—this counted as generous? The real treasures were yet to come!

With blade in hand, he steered his swordsman deeper into the forest.

Soon, they reached the boss room, but Shi Bai was unfazed. With a flurry of fierce moves, the Zombie King’s health hit bottom, and it emitted a cry of deep agony.

Shi Bai watched the screen expectantly. “Let’s see what goodies you drop for me.”

But something strange happened—the Zombie King’s health was empty, yet it didn’t fall, nor did it drop any loot. It just kept wailing.

Suddenly, its body convulsed, the screen blurred, and a burst of white light surged from the Zombie King, restoring its health completely.

[Mutated Zombie King]

“Damn!” Shi Bai and Gao Yang exclaimed in unison. “Mutation?!”