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Chapter 38
First, I need to get a piece of [Common] equipment for every part of my body!
After all, it's a fundamental truth that you should farm for equipment before fighting monsters.
Although they are just [Common] white-grade equipment, quantity can lead to a qualitative change; a full set of equipment can at least make my strength far surpass that of ordinary people.
By then, I'll be able to be a "Partner of Justice" in Beika Town, this small detective world.
Killing villains like the Curator will drop better equipment and coins than white-grade equipment. Increase my strength, then go kill evil Yokai, and drop even stronger equipment.
Ryusei's thoughts suddenly became clear. This should be the correct way to use the System!
First, a trip to the restroom.
Flush. Wash hands.
As Ryusei walked out of the restroom, he saw a man rushing in from outside. There was a faint cyan aura vaguely around him.
This was the negative emotion of Anxiety.
Ryusei took the book The Lily of the Valley downstairs, then casually grabbed How to Win Friends and Influence People from the bookshelf, and went to the front desk to complete the borrowing procedures.
He saw a light purple aura emanating from the front desk staff.
This was the negative emotion of Fear.
After completing the borrowing procedures, Ryusei walked out of the library and directly hailed a taxi. Sitting in the car, Ryusei saw a light red aura around the driver in the front seat.
This was the negative emotion of Greed.
The driver smiled and asked, "Guest, where are you going?"
Ryusei withdrew his gaze and said, "The largest and nearest garbage disposal plant in Beika Town, the one within the city."
The driver was stunned: "Huh?"
Ryusei said without changing his expression, "I'm conducting a research report on garbage recycling and going there to collect some data."
"Oh! I see! Please be seated, guest!"
We've arrived.
[Beika Town Garbage Recycling and Treatment Center].
This place was not desolate; it was within the city limits. Ryusei kept in mind the reminder given by Hachishaku-san, trying not to go to remote places alone.
He paid the taxi fare. Although it was expensive, it was a normal price. The taxi driver did not overcharge Ryusei due to the negative emotion of Greed.
Ryusei touched the ring on his right hand, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.
So, emotions are just emotions. Unless he used the ring's second effect, [Whisper Inducement], to significantly amplify the other party's negative emotions, only then would the other party's judgment be affected by emotions, leading to uncontrolled behavior.
I'll test the ring's abilities later; what I need to do now is pick up trash.
How many men can resist the temptation of scavenging? It's a pity I'm still missing a dog by my side.
Garbage disposal stations in Japan are not public places that can be freely entered and exited. If someone genuinely wants to visit or investigate, they need to make an appointment in advance.
Ryusei did not have an appointment. He observed the situation. The outside of the garbage station had barbed wire and walls. However, there were few surveillance cameras. He could completely use [Double Jump] to climb over.
Finding an unoccupied corner, Ryusei crossed the barbed wire and successfully entered the garbage station.
The weather was already getting hot. The smell in the air was somewhat unpleasant. Ryusei took out a T-shirt from his [Inventory] and covered his face with it. It was both to block the smell and to conceal his identity so that if he were discovered, he could escape calmly.
Then, he started picking up trash everywhere. No matter what it was, he put it all into his [Inventory].
After picking up trash continuously for ten minutes, Ryusei suddenly felt his spirit become somewhat tired. It was a feeling of mental exhaustion, as if he had stayed up all night without sleep.
Ryusei stopped picking up trash and stood still to rest. A few minutes later, he felt a bit better. He continued picking up trash.
But this time, he only picked for half a minute before that spiritual fatigue reappeared, and it was even more severe than before.
Ryusei understood now. Picking up trash, or rather, putting things into the [Inventory], was not an entirely cost-free action. It required a trace amount of Mental Energy.
If it was just for daily use, this consumption could be ignored, and he would recover quickly if there was any. But if used continuously without interruption like just now, the accumulated Mental Energy consumption would become extremely significant. Just as he cannot directly put a house into his [Inventory], the larger the item, the more Mental Energy it consumes.
Ryusei took out a bottle of water from his [Inventory], poured some out to wash his hands, and then took a sip.
It seems that the matter of forging equipment cannot be accomplished in one go... I'll put aside the matter of fishing for money for now and replace my daily must-do with picking up trash.
Ryusei turned around and climbed back over the wall from where he came. He wasn't in a hurry to take a taxi back now. While walking slowly along the road, he opened the [Shatter Panel] and threw all the trash he had just picked up from his [Inventory] into the black vortex.
The black vortex was bottomless; after devouring everything, it began to spit out a large pile of transparent small crystals.
[Fragment of Colorless Crystal x2321].
Ryusei switched to the [Forging Panel] and threw all the fragments into the white furnace.
[Colorless Crystal Block x232].
Ryusei once again threw all the [Colorless Crystal Blocks] into the white furnace.
A few seconds later, a pair of shoes emitting white light, a piece of clothing emitting white light, and 32 small crystals dropped out of the furnace.
New text appeared on the right:
[Recipe: Colorless Crystal Block x100 = Random Common Equipment x1].
Ryusei glanced at the recipe, put the shoes and clothes into his [Inventory], and checked their item information.
[Boots of Light Footsteps]
Quality: [Common]
Type: Cloth Shoes
Effect: The wearer's footsteps are significantly quieter when moving.
Thief shoes? Not bad.
[Sturdy Cloth Armor]
Quality: [Common]
Type: Upper Body Cloth Armor
Effect: Strength +1.
Battle armor?
Although it had no special effects, it directly increased an attribute value. How could this kind of equipment only be of [Common] quality?
Ryusei was a bit surprised, but then felt a surge of joy. This meant that he could potentially stack a certain attribute value by wearing a full set of [Common] equipment. For example, a full set of equipment that all adds Strength could make his Strength value exceed 10 points.
Of course, this depended on luck, as [Forging] was random. If his luck was bad, let alone getting good equipment effects, he might not even be able to forge equipment for a certain body part.
Since he was still outside, Ryusei was not in a hurry to test these two pieces of equipment. He stopped by an offline store of a network operator along the way, set up an internet account, and then took a bus back.
Upon arriving at the apartment building, Ryusei saw Sayuri sitting by the door drinking juice, and his heart involuntarily skipped a beat.
She seemed a bit listless at the moment, as if she wasn't feeling well. But what concerned Ryusei more was the extremely strong pink aura emanating from her.
The negative emotion of "Lust."
Coming back from the road earlier, Ryusei had also been observing the negative emotions on passersby. He had seen similar "Lust" negative emotions on many people, but most of them were light pink auras, which was a very normal phenomenon.
However, the deep, intense pink on the Landlady was clearly not normal!
This... this... is she a Succubus?
"Ryusei-kun, you're back. What books did you buy?" Sayuri glanced at him and spoke lazily.
Her voice was enchanting and alluring, seemingly carrying a magical power that could charm people's hearts.
Ryusei tried his best to suppress the shock and confusion in his heart and replied with a smile, "Sayuri-san, these aren't books I bought, they're borrowed from the library."
"The library, huh? Ryusei-kun is really diligent."
Sayuri nodded, but she didn't seem interested in the books in his hand, not even asking about their titles.
"I freshly squeezed juice again today. Ryusei-kun, would you like some?"
She said, raising the glass in her hand, which seemed to contain orange juice.
If he hadn't obtained the ring before, Ryusei might have agreed to her invitation to "Sign In" with Sayuri and earn 10 [Copper Coins]. But now that Ryusei had the ring and could see the abnormality around Sayuri, he dared not agree anymore.
If he really went into the house, it wouldn't be a simple matter; people would die!
Ryusei shook his head and said, "No thanks, I just set up my internet account and need to go back and configure it. Maybe next time, thank you, Sayuri-san."
"Alright."
Sayuri seemed a little disappointed.
Ryusei dared not linger and turned to go upstairs.