"Hey handsome, why haven't you opened the box yet?"
When Wang Zhifan clasped his hands together, pretending to pray to the heavens for a while, he suddenly noticed the girl with a steel helmet and sportswear had come to his side.
The girl still had some remnants of tear stains in the corner of her eyes, but her expression was no longer as frantic as before. She had already returned to calmness, staring curiously at the eccentric Wang Zhifan.
"Ahem... I'm pleading for the blessing of the God of Luck, it's a necessary procedure before opening a box."
Even though Wang Zhifan didn't want to be disturbed by this person, he thought that although the girl had performed poorly earlier, she at least listened to his advice. Thus, he lowered his head and casually responded to her with a couple of words.
"Oh? Can praying like this really make a difference?"
Upon hearing Wang Zhifan's response, the gunner girl instantly showed a noticeable curiosity in her eyes, staring at the serious-minded young man without blinking.
"As they say, sincerity leads to results, whether it works depends on the person."
Wang Zhifan continued to dismiss this temporary teammate while he began to make his choice on the reward list that only he could see using his thoughts.
"Sincerity works? Then I'll give it a try the next time I open a treasure box."
The girl spoke while nodding to herself, and even criticized her mediocre luck earlier to Wang Zhifan.
"I heard on the player forums that the rewards for first-time dungeon runs are usually better, but I only got two boxes of ordinary bullets and a common wrist protector. It really felt like a wasted expectation."
"Getting three rewards this time is already quite good. I've seen some people open a treasure box and only get one reward, or even just an empty box."
Wang Zhifan chatted with her carelessly while pondering whether to continue pretending to pray for luck or simply stash the entire treasure box in his portable space and leave.
"Are there cases of empty boxes too? That's really terrifying!"
The girl seemed oblivious, still standing beside him in awe.
However, Wang Zhifan paid her less attention afterward, seemingly returning to the process of focused prayer.
Seeing this, the girl finally realized she was bothering someone and stopped interfering. Her body quickly vanished next to Wang Zhifan.
Only then was Wang Zhifan able to cease his awkward prayer performance, bend down, and prepare to open the treasure box in front of him.
But his action of opening the box suddenly halted as his palm touched the lid, and he stashed it in his portable space, followed by quickly disappearing into the forest.
Just two seconds after Wang Zhifan left the instance world, behind a certain tree ten meters away from him, a slightly short figure suddenly appeared; who else could it be but his other teammate, the middle-aged Assassin?
The Lv3 middle-aged player, now concealed within a hood, had a flicker of doubt in his eyes and muttered to himself:
"This newbie player must have a remarkable identity... The blade technique he demonstrated earlier is definitely on a level beyond ordinary Lv1. His equipment doesn't seem standard either, especially that blade— it appears to surpass Fine Layer quality... His behavior is also very peculiar, as if following some special rules... Could it be that he is an elite seed specially cultivated by a certain sect? It might be very wise for me to avoid provoking him..."
The middle-aged Assassin, after pondering, also quickly dispersed into the air, this time genuinely leaving the current instance world.
Meanwhile, in an unremarkable rental apartment in the real world, Wang Zhifan, after inspecting his tightly closed doors and windows, began opening the box.
At this moment, on his bed, a nondescript wooden box had already been opened, with its lid raised, displaying three items within.
One item was a piece of parchment exuding an ancient, aged aura, with a ferocious-looking blood-colored tiger head illustrated on it.
Another item was a slender white porcelain bottle, the length of an adult's palm, tightly sealed with cork and cloth.
The final item was a small square box illustrated with pictures of a handgun and bullets.
These were Wang Zhifan's final choices made before leaving the instance, specifically: a rare-level "Tiger Soul True Pattern", a fine-layer "Tiger Blood Medicine", and a box of fine-layer handgun bullets.
Choosing the Tiger Soul True Pattern was a given, as it was the only rare-level prize on the reward list, and Wang Zhifan couldn't afford to not select it.
He chose the fine-layer Tiger Blood Medicine because Wang Zhifan valued its function of permanently enhancing attributes. If the medicine description hadn't stated that drinking multiple bottles of Tiger Blood Medicine cannot stack effects, he would've surely taken two bottles of Tiger Blood Medicine.
As for finally settling on a box of fine-layer handgun bullets, this decision came after careful deliberation by Wang Zhifan.
He chose this not because he currently needed it urgently, but due to a pre-existing idea before entering the instance today: to extract rewards from the instance and sell them for money in the real world, effectively addressing his immediate economic crisis.
For the purpose of selling, his options were many, such as casually choosing a fine-layer weapon, bringing a bottle of Tiger Blood Medicine outside, or carrying a fine-layer Skill Upgrade Scroll to sell— surely not lacking interested buyers.
But the problem with that approach would be that he could only sell them outright. His reason for choosing to bring out a box of fine-layer handgun bullets was its potential for granular selling. He could sell part of it for the urgent cash he needs while keeping the rest to use next time he selects a handgun in another instance.
Wang Zhifan had long planned for acquiring his firearm weaponry; if not for being nearly broke due to an economic crisis in the real world, this time he would certainly have taken a fine-layer firearm along with a box of bullets out.
Yet selling part of the fine-layer bullets wasn't urgent for Wang Zhifan right now; he was busy giving himself a permanent boost in buffing.
Only to see him first take out the piece of parchment depicting a blood-colored tiger head from the treasure box in front, then roll up the sleeve of his right arm, adhering it to the outer side of his right upper arm.
In an instant, the blood-colored tiger head originally drawn on the ancient parchment seemed to come alive, transferring to Wang Zhifan's skin on his right arm like wisps of silk and strands. Within seconds, it transformed into a majestic dark-colored tiger head tattoo!
Simultaneously, Wang Zhifan felt rapid waves of heat emanating from the location of the tiger head tattoo on his right arm, swiftly causing changes in his physique, with a significant boost in various strengths!
But Wang Zhifan suppressed the urge to immediately check his personal panel. He then proceeded to uncork and drink the bottle of Tiger Blood Medicine from the box before him, only checking his player attribute panel with his thoughts after noticing the heat sensation surging throughout his body and quickly dissipating.