Chapter 11: It is Addictive!

Chapter 11: It is Addictive! His curiosity was piqued, and he began to try and recall where he could’ve gotten it. Then, he remembered the contents of the first Large Loot Box he got. He should’ve received 50 gold, 2 bread, and 1 bottle of Recovery Pills. "Is this the Recovery Pill?" he wondered. "But how did it enter my Storage Ring? I don’t remember grabbing it..." "Pui~!" Just as he was getting worried, his little pumpkin let out a short, proud noise from beside him. "Huh? Were you the one who retrieved this?" Xu Tao asked. The little pet jumped up and down, moving as if nodding. "Pui, pui~!" He didn’t know this yet, but actually, Pepe could not only help him grab chests from afar and make things more convenient. When items of a certain rank dropped from chests, Pepe also automatically grabbed them and stored them in the closest storage item! The Healing Pill, despite not having a rank, was considered an SR drop. Thus, Pepe automatically stored just that inside Xu Tao’s ring. Curious, he eyed the brown, semi-transparent bottle and saw about five pills inside. They were of standard size, so he couldn’t tell much from just looking. After observing it warily, he carefully popped the cork cap away. As soon as he did, he gasped. "This smell...!" The scent of various fresh herbs, ground and combined into a single finished product. The sign of a transcendent manufacturing method, allowing a hint of honey-like aroma to waft out of the pills. And then, there was the faint glow the pill itself was releasing. "These are definitely Divine Grade Pills!" Xu Tao exclaimed, shocked. "And this came from a Large Loot Chest?!" He suddenly felt that his little mishap was balanced out, a blessing within all the misfortune! Without delay, he sat in a lotus position before popping one pill carefully. It had a golden crust that faintly shone with divine light. The scent of honey and various herbs became a dizzying mix, but that was a small price to pay. He threw it into his mouth and closed his eyes. The pill took effect almost immediately, filling his body with warmth... But as expected of a Divine Grade Pill, the effect didn’t stop at just healing his injuries—both internal and external. Qi began to seep out of the pill, filling his Dantian like a river flowing from an estuary. Of course, he didn’t miss the chance and claimed this "residual" Qi from the ingredients itself as his own. Drop by drop, his Qi increased... until he broke through to the Late Stage of Body Refinement. "Body Refinement 9th Stage!" He jumped a full two stages in one go! The only problem was that, during the time he was absorbing the pill’s effects, the night had passed entirely. Although he was unable to confirm it, the sun should now be hanging high up in the sky. "Pui, pui!" And as if to welcome him back, Pepe jumped up and down on his head. Carefully, Xu Tao picked up the little pumpkin and hugged it, patting its head while observing their surroundings. It was dark, as expected of being underground. But the glowing eyes of Pepe shone just enough to see how... the two bottles of water and two loaves of bread had vanished. Only crumbs, messily scattered on the ground, remained. "You..." Xu Tao stared at his little companion. "Did you eat all those? You’re quite a glutton, it seems..." But of course, he didn’t scold it—rather, it was the opposite. "Here, eat more if you like. We’ve got tons of those, anyway." He offered another loaf of bread to it, rewarding the little thing for its great performance. Without Pepe, Xu Tao would definitely have left the bottle of Divine Grade Pills behind. It truly was a blessing, having him in the team. "Pui~!" Pepe didn’t refuse and ate the bread, moving the dark part of its face to the bread and... taking a magical bite. No mouth could be seen, but he could tell that Pepe was eating the bread, and two more after that. It only stopped stuffing its cheeks after eating six and a half loaves of bread—an amount that would’ve allowed Xu Tao to survive for a month, at least. "If I’m not careful, you might actually starve me to death, huh..." Xu Tao sighed, smiling wryly. But unlike the first time he got this pet, Xu Tao now understood just how beneficial Pepe was. He wasn’t just a liability anymore, but a true companion. "Alright..." Xu Tao returned the remaining bread to his ring. But then, he paused. The ring’s space was too small, and with all the loot he was getting every time he hunted, it was literally filled to the brim now. Thinking about how he’d be fighting more monsters later... "...I’d like one or two more of these before then," he muttered. Of course, the answer to his troubles was just an arm’s reach away. He pulled down the menu and checked the Gacha. After getting Pepe, the third banner disappeared completely, leaving him with only two choices. Either the spear-and-flag-wielding woman’s banner or a sword-wielding man’s banner. "But I already have a sword myself, so..." With such basic reasoning, he eliminated "Arthur Pendragon" as a viable choice, turning to the first banner instead. He tapped the banner, arriving at the actual Gacha panel. But before he started, his eyes turned to his amount of System Points. Each point is equivalent to one pull, after all, and... right now, he had 296 points. He could spend all of those, but still would be 204 rolls short of the guaranteed UR character on the banner... though that wasn’t what he was aiming for. "Every 10 rolls, an R-Rarity item would pop, right?" Without hesitation, he tapped the 10x Roll option. The next moment, the roll animation played. Unlike Pepe’s time, which used a wheel, this time, it was a peaceful video. A panning view of wide grasslands, a forest, and the clear blue skies. The camera moved, showing a beautiful blonde woman standing proudly on top of a cliff, staring ahead with eyes gleaming in confidence. Then, a purple wind blew, changing the view to the actual outcomes instead. [Congratulations! You Received 6x Candy, 2x Bread, 1x Sunglasses (brown), 1x Storage Ring (R)] Items fell out of thin air, landing before him. And to his shock, the item he was wishing for did appear. "Another storage ring!" he cheered, wearing it on his left middle finger, just beside the first one. With this, his total storage space doubled... but still, it wasn’t enough. "More...!" he chanted, his eyes turning crazy. "I bet there’s a ring with more space too! Show me what you got...!" And just like that, a Gacha marathon began. The source of this content is freew(e)bn(o)vel