Striding forward, Qin Ming bent down to pick up the blood key. Once he had it securely in hand, he turned and left, heading back to his home.
As soon as he reached his residence, he quickly went to his yard to discard his coat, gloves, mask, and boots, burying them with the intent of destroying them later. Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief, then took out his newly acquired loot for inspection.
This time, he had scored two significant items: the middle-rank adventurer's legacy, mentioned by the Nightmare Space, and the blood key from the female adventurer who had decided to make a move against him.
"Trying to be the mantis stalking the cicada while the sparrow lurks in the shadows, huh?" Qin Ming thought, smirking. "Too bad the cicada turned out to be a little too tough for the sparrow to handle."
Rubbing his chest where he had four new shallow cuts, Qin Ming decided to open the two blood keys and check the system's options. He immediately grimaced when he realized how the blood keys worked.
The keys offered three choices:
Option 1: Gain 50% of the deceased's stored points.
Option 2: Randomly obtain one piece of their equipment.
Option 3: Randomly select three items from the deceased's inventory.
Qin Ming frowned thoughtfully. The equipment option didn't interest him, as he doubted the deceased could offer anything superior to what he already possessed. As for the points, he decided it was likely worth choosing for the female adventurer's key since she had decent combat skills and might have a respectable stash. However, the mid-level adventurer's key required more consideration. After all, if they died here, they likely didn't have any wealth left.
After some deliberation, Qin Ming decided on his approach. For the female adventurer's key, he would choose points, and for the legacy, he would go with the item selection. Soon, the system prompted him with the results.
The female adventurer had provided him with a respectable 4,522 points—not a fortune, but nothing to scoff at either. As for the legacy…
Item 1: Arcade Token
Type: Consumable (Blue-Quality)
Effect: Upon use, you can directly summon one protagonist from the task world.
Description: Insert coin to start!
Item 2: Honda's Fundoshi (Street Fighter World)
Type: Pants (Green-Quality Equipment)
Requirements: None
Effect: Constitution +2, Defense +1
Description: One of countless fundoshi owned by sumo wrestler E. Honda. Rumor has it this particular one was stolen by a fanatical admirer.
Item 3: Chicken Drumstick (Dynasty Warriors World)
Type: Consumable (Green-Quality)
Effect: Restores 25% of user's health.
Description: After a victorious battle, Shu Kingdom once hosted a feast. This drumstick was one of the centerpiece dishes.
Three items: two consumables and a piece of equipment. While none of these were weak in value, only the arcade token seemed uniquely useful. After all, a consumable capable of summoning a protagonist could prove incredibly useful.
The drumstick… well, it's not like I'm short on high-grade consumables, Qin Ming thought, slightly unimpressed. Given enough points, I could probably get better healing items.
Sitting on his bed, he twirled the "arcade" coin between his fingers. Satisfied with it, he tucked the token into his inventory and pulled out the green equipment, the fundoshi. He gave it a skeptical shake before swapping it out with his current pants, combining the two to boost its effect.
A flash of light later, the new pair of pants emerged, a sleek blue pair of combat pants.
Name: Percival's Combat Pants (Knights of the Round World)
Type: Pants (Blue-Quality Equipment)
Requirements: Strength 5
Effect: Strength +4, Constitution +4
Description: Even Percival wouldn't know he once owned such high-quality pants.
With his new pair of pants upgraded and his total points rising above 8,000, Qin Ming felt a surge of satisfaction as he reclined to rest. By morning, after confirming no one had tracked him home, he returned to the Nightmare Space.
Carrying his 8,000 points, he swiftly headed to the marketplace to pick up some consumables, making sure to stock up with a mix of basic items.
After spending his last points, Qin Ming had added four green consumables to his collection, including three that restored health and one that rejuvenated mental energy. These consumables provided some emergency recovery options. Alongside the drumstick, he now had a total of five healing consumables for his next mission.
As he inspected his inventory, his eyes lingered on the arcade token. After a moment's hesitation, he decided to take a bold step. He took two of the healing consumables and fused them, forming a single blue-quality healing item, which he then used as material to upgrade the arcade token.
When the brilliant light faded, the newly upgraded silver token sparkled in his palm.
Name: Rare Arcade Token
Type: Consumable (Dim Silver-Quality)
Effect: Upon use, you may select a specific protagonist to summon, starting with a base 100-point favorability.
Description: "I want her! What do you mean you want her too? Go pick someone else!"—a quote from a famous 82-year-old arcade fan.
Wow, you can choose the protagonist and even start with favorable points? This… this is game-changing! Qin Ming grinned, pocketing the coin. With his certificates to boost favorability and his irresistible charm, who knows—he might just max out someone's favorability straight off the bat.
Satisfied with his setup, he stowed away the token and began resting for his next task. Then, on the first day of the following month, at precisely noon, his fourth mission arrived...