Although the leftovers they ate earlier didn't completely ignite Li Ke's frustration, they left him with an undeniable feeling of restlessness that coursed through his entire body.
This surge of energy made him work at three times his usual speed as they scavenged.
Of course, this was partly due to the area being significantly safer now. Most of the nearby zombies had been dealt with—some taken by the wolf pack, others killed during yesterday's scavenging, and the remainder drawn out by the scream of the "Sadako" zombie.
Li Ke and Erina Nakiri moved through the houses, scavenging as much as they could. Li Ke also tested his stone axe on various objects to determine what materials he could obtain.
However, aside from extracting leather and scrap metal from leather sofas, their efforts were disheartening. They couldn't even find a wrench, let alone anything like plumbing supplies.
In frustration, Li Ke resorted to smashing their heating pipes with his stone axe, managing to gather a handful of short iron pipes.
But even after thoroughly searching the house, all they had to show for their efforts were scraps of cloth, planks of wood, brass door locks, and a pitiful amount of food—mostly cans of cat and dog food, along with a few withered ears of corn.
"Weren't Americans supposed to have a gun in every household, according to TV and movies?" Li Ke grumbled.
They had searched through ten houses without finding a single firearm or even bottled water. The most useful items they found were a few cans and jars.
Erina tried to lift his spirits, though she was equally frustrated. "Look on the bright side. At least we found this stuff. And people can eat pet food—it just won't taste very good."
She knew from her family's connections in America how common guns were supposed to be here. But after so many fruitless searches, even she felt defeated.
"The supplies here are just too scarce," Li Ke muttered, glancing at his scavenging level in his system interface. He had a feeling the meager haul was linked to this low skill level. In a game, this wouldn't be a big deal—he could simply keep looting until the skill leveled up. But in real life, his body couldn't handle such endless exertion.
After just three houses, fatigue was already setting in.
"If this keeps up, we might as well start mining. The merchant sells stone, so we can mine it and sell it to him," he said with resignation.
The harsh reality of their situation reminded him of a modded version of Minecraft where resource drops were drastically reduced. Their efforts felt painfully unrewarding.
In the merchant's store, five pieces of raw meat sold for 60 Duke Casino Tokens. But 50 small stones could fetch 10 tokens—easily collected by simply smashing a few rocks.
Yet after an entire morning of scavenging, they hadn't even amassed enough to match what he could earn from a bit of casual mining.
"But duct tape is so expensive—75 tokens for just one roll!" Erina complained as she reorganized her haul of kitchen items. "And the merchant's inventory doesn't even have everything we need."
They'd come across a few broken bicycles, but the tires were completely ruined and would need replacing.
"This is hopeless," Li Ke muttered, casting a glance toward an auto repair shop in the distance. "Let's check that repair shop. Maybe we'll find a wrench there."
When they entered the shop, it was eerily quiet, the zombies in the area already cleared out. To their delight, they discovered a wealth of tools for car repairs.
However…
They found pliers and screwdrivers.
But no wrench.
Nor a claw hammer.
The entire auto shop didn't have a single wrench, as though wrenches were some kind of rare consumable that people devoured on sight. Even after turning the shop upside down, they couldn't find one.
They didn't find any spare tires, either. Just a bunch of car engines.
"…"
Li Ke stared at the chaos they'd made of the shop, utterly exasperated. He slumped onto a large crate decorated with a cartoonish worker's face and sighed deeply.
"This world really is absurd. No wonder it's a game world," he muttered.
Erina shared his frustration. She glanced at the engines in her inventory and couldn't understand why they could find so many heavy components but not something as simple as a wrench or spare tires.
Seeing Li Ke's defeated expression, she didn't know how to comfort him.
"Fine. Let's go mining," Li Ke declared with a long sigh.
Their immediate goal was to acquire firearms, and for that, they needed money. Since duct tape was so scarce and expensive, mining seemed like the quickest way to earn tokens.
The age-old adage, "If you want to be rich, start chopping trees," was the only reliable strategy he could think of.
After tidying up their gear, they decided to check a nearby gas station on the way.
The good news: they found a decent supply of canned food, some dried-out packaged bread, and a small lake behind the gas station. Beyond the lake, they could see a large river in the distance.
The bad news: the gas station was completely out of fuel.
Every pump displayed "empty," dashing Li Ke's hopes of making Molotov cocktails.
With no other options, Li Ke grabbed a rock and started mining well before noon. He and Erina agreed to take turns, with one person mining while the other kept watch. That way, they could quickly react to any potential threats.
But when Li Ke struck a rock and shattered it after fewer than ten hits, only to receive a paltry ten small stones, he realized mining wasn't the goldmine he'd hoped for.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
Li Ke stared at the cracked boulder and its halved durability bar in disbelief. At this rate, he'd have to dig a massive pit just to collect a thousand stones.
The returns weren't much better than scavenging—just less mentally taxing.
"This thing already broke?!"
Erina Nakiri also found the situation surprising. She stepped forward and struck the red-streaked stone with her tool, confirming Li Ke's observation. Her expression darkened.
"You're right. I feel like we're missing something important," Li Ke said, lowering his stone axe. "In these kinds of games, gathering basic resources is usually straightforward. We must not have found the most efficient way to mine resources yet."
After a moment's thought, he noticed a peculiar, metallic-red chunk of stone nearby. Striking it with a heavy blow, he received a satisfying notification:
Scrap Iron +3
His face lit up with excitement as he knelt and struck the ground with his axe. The sound of metal reverberated in the air.
"Just as I thought! There are veins of ore here!"
Li Ke recalled that while scrap iron had the same sell rate as stone—ten units for two tokens—it could also be used to craft robotic turret ammunition. Each piece of ammunition sold for one token, making it an immensely profitable endeavor.
"This is it, Erina! Mine this!"
Li Ke eagerly lifted his axe and started striking the ore with renewed vigor. The satisfying chime of resources accumulating in his inventory spurred him on. Each swing of the axe netted him three units of iron, and he found himself working faster and faster.
Despite his enthusiasm, Li Ke was careful not to overexert himself. When his arms began to tire, he ceded the spot to Erina Nakiri and took up watch duty.
The shadow of Sadako's zombie still loomed large in his mind, and he wasn't about to risk a repeat encounter. Keeping Erina's stamina intact for battle was also a priority. She was far more proficient in combat than he was.
As time went on, their excavation efforts created a sizable pit. With every mined chunk of ore, they had to dig deeper and wider, ensuring they could always climb out or spot potential threats nearby.
The rising midday heat made the task even more grueling. Li Ke wiped the sweat from his brow and eyed his surroundings. His shirt clung uncomfortably to his skin, but when he glanced at his less-than-ideal physique, he decided against removing it.
Erina, however, had no such reservations. The relentless heat prompted her to shrug off her jacket, revealing a white blouse that clung to her damp skin.
"Hey, aren't you hot, pervy old man?" she teased, though her flushed cheeks betrayed her discomfort.
"I'm fine..." Li Ke replied, trying his best to maintain composure. However, his gaze inadvertently caught the faint outline of her black undergarments visible through the semi-transparent fabric.
Black... it's black…
The thought echoed in his mind, his own body temperature rising further. He quickly shook his head and returned to mining, trying to banish the intrusive thoughts.
After another half-hour of labor, exhaustion finally forced them to stop.
"Let's take a break and eat," Li Ke suggested as he climbed out of the now five-meter-deep pit. Gazing at the crater they had created, he marveled at the sheer absurdity of the system's capabilities.
"This would take hours with an excavator back on Earth," he muttered in disbelief.
Checking his inventory, he grinned. "I've got 2,200 units of scrap iron. What about you?"
Erina dusted off his shirt while replying, "I converted mine into turret ammunition. I've got 450 rounds ready."
"Already? That's fast."
"Of course! We'll need currency to buy things anyway," she explained with a proud smile. "I also want to show off my cooking skills... I've been curious about the flavor of this world's meat."
Erina's tanned face turned away slightly as she spoke, clearly embarrassed.
"No need to be shy," Li Ke reassured her. "By the way, Erina, how about taking a bath at the small lake near the gas station? There are empty oil barrels there we can use. It's better than going all the way to the river."
"Let's just wash our hands for now," she replied hesitantly. "We'll have to come back to mine later this afternoon anyway."
They headed back to the trader. Erina sold her turret ammunition and used the proceeds to buy out all the available fresh meat.
"Please be a big piece, please be a big piece," she muttered, her hands clasped together as if in prayer.
Once ready, Erina materialized the meat into the real world. A small, palm-sized chunk of meat wrapped in coarse burlap appeared before them. Erina sighed in relief, but her fingers instinctively probed the texture, her expression twisting in confusion.
"This texture... what kind of meat is this? It feels odd, and it smells like… a mix of everything?"
Li Ke had no idea what she meant but laughed at the absurdity of the situation. "Doesn't matter. As long as it's edible, it's good enough for me."
"True. I'll experiment with it and figure out the best way to cook it," Erina agreed, shaking off her doubt.
As she turned toward the exit, Li Ke's gaze fell on the trader. Her disheveled clothes, still not properly adjusted from earlier, left little to the imagination. His throat tightened as temptation stirred within him.
Just as Erina stepped outside, his hand twitched, an almost instinctive desire to reach out. He clenched his fist and held back.
Restraint... restraint...
Repeating the word like a mantra, Li Ke followed Erina outside.
But as he imagined the meal Erina would prepare later, a new fear crept into his mind.
"Am I... am I going to turn into a beast?"
Li Ke shuddered at the thought.