The smell of blood was fishy, thick, and faintly warm.
It was his first time killing someone, yet Ethan didn't feel much, no different from killing a chicken or a lightning leopard. Aside from his heartbeat quickening slightly, all he felt was that killing a person seemed even easier than killing a monster.
But that didn't mean he enjoyed killing.
If Kathy hadn't harbored ill intentions toward him from the very beginning, Ethan never would have thought about killing her.
He had even given the woman a chance.
As long as she had obediently handed over the things she'd promised, and behaved honestly in serving him, Ethan wouldn't have minded sparing her life. After all, he wasn't some bloodthirsty maniac. If someone needed to lodge with him, they would have to pay rent. Though steep, it was still perfectly reasonable.
Unfortunately, the instant the woman reached behind her back for that dagger, which Ethan had already taken from her earlier, he knew the "landlord game" was over.
And now, it was time to check what good stuff this woman had dropped.
He took from Kathy's body a blood-stained magic book.
[Ownerless Magic Book: Drop of blood required to claim ownership!]
"Ownerless magic book?"
'Interesting.'
Ethan used his sharp dagger to slice open his fingertip, letting a drop of blood drip onto the book.
The next second, the book flashed with golden light.
[System Notification: Detected that host already possesses a magic book. Would you like to merge? After fusion, base carrying capacity will increase, and the items and trade records in this magic book will merge into the original one.]
"Merge!"
Two magic books, Ethan didn't mind the weight.
He wanted Kathy's book only for the contents of her storage.
Everything else, he didn't really care about.
[System Notification: Base carrying capacity +10, total base capacity now 20.]
[Storage: Silver 10, Spirit Stones 5, Vines 20, Resin 15, Apples 10, Beginner Backpack 1, Broken Stone Axe 1, Flint 1, Portable Workbench Scroll.]
"This girl actually had quite a lot of stuff."
Aside from these, she'd also dropped a sharp dagger and a pair of boots.
[Sharp Dagger: Not suited for chopping wood, but perfect for hunting. +20% Damage]
[Whirlwind Shoes: Move like the wind. Even after sprinting at full speed, you won't feel tired. (Auto-cleaning and self-fitting effects) +100% Movement Speed]
'Now these arw some good items.'
Ethan pulled the Whirlwind Shoes off Kathy's feet and put them on.
Strangely enough, Kathy's feet were a size 36, while Ethan's were size 42, yet somehow, when he slipped them on, they fit perfectly.
And once he wore them, his feet felt warm and soft.
When he walked, a faint breeze even followed his steps. Excellent feeling.
As for the sharp dagger, though it didn't have the 100% critical hit chance of his axe, it was great for hunting or killing, small, easy to store, and convenient to hang at his waist.
A perfect tool for murder and arson.
As for the rest of Kathy's things, "There is even some sort of scroll among them, what is that for?"
[Portable Workbench Scroll: Upon use, allows your magic book to directly link to a workbench, letting you craft any tools or gear you want conveniently.]
"That's handy."
With this, he could craft whatever he wanted, wherever he wanted. No need to go home first.
Ethan was quite satisfied with Kathy's posthumous "gifts."
He used the scroll immediately.
The room itself didn't change, but the cover of his magic book now had a new workbench icon.
So this magic book really wasn't an ordinary thingm
As for the rest of the materials, especially those starting items, Ethan didn't need them at all.
He decided to put them up for sale on the trading channel.
[Beginner Backpack: Trade for 50 Wood]
[Flint(1): Trade for 1 Advanced Wood]
[Broken Stone Axe(2); Trade for 10 Wood]
Ethan already had a useless broken axe in his storage, so he listed everything at once. He didn't expect much money, just wanted to free up space.
Broken stone axes had very low durability, so they sold quickly.
Five wood per axe was a fair price. After all, each axe could chop at least 100 wood.
As for the flint, probably few people had advanced wood, so there was no movement yet.
But the beginner backpack sold instantly.
After all, making one required beast hide and hemp thread, materials most people couldn't obtain.
So increasing carrying capacity had become the top priority for all gatherers.
A tidy profit.
Looting corpses was way more profitable than opening treasure chests yourself.
But opportunities like this weren't common. After all, the fog world was vast, and finding another person wasn't easy.
Opening the door, Ethan dragged Kathy's body outside, then hid behind the glass window to observe.
He'd always been curious—
"What exactly is there within the fog?"
However, before Ethan could react, Kathy's corpse was suddenly dragged into the mist at incredible speed, leaving behind only a long trail in the snow.
It happened so fast, Ethan didn't even process it.
'Just now, what was that thing?'
Ethan was certain his eyes had been wide open, locked on Kathy and the mist.
But he saw nothing, only the fog churning briefly before the body was pulled away. The pull seemed to come from her legs.
It was too dark; he could barely make out thin black tendrils wrapping around her feet.
Then, nothing.
"As expected. There is something in the fog."
And that thing had probably been watching him all along, otherwise it wouldn't have known so quickly that he'd thrown a corpse outside.
It seemed he absolutely couldn't leave the house at night, and even in the daytime, he'd better keep a torch ready.
Otherwise, just like that woman, if she hadn't entered Ethan's house tonight, she probably wouldn't have lasted long after her torch went out before being dragged off by whatever horror lurked in the mist.
Whew!
Letting out a sigh, Ethan turned back toward the warm fireplace.
Sizzle~
The lightning leopard meat was done roasting.
Ethan picked up a piece and bit into it.
The texture was good, but it lacked salt, lacked seasoning, lacked black pepper. With those, it would've been perfect.
Ethan decided not to settle. He wasn't some broke loser anymore, he was a small-time rich man with a warehouse full of supplies.
No need to treat himself poorly.
He opened the [Trading Channel] and saw, 99+ private messages.
He glanced through them, countless people were begging for water. Many offered bronze, asking if he had any left for sale, they were dying of thirst.
Well, if people were throwing money at him, Ethan wasn't about to refuse.
He listed the freshly filtered 9 liters of water, accepting only high-grade materials this time.
[100ml Drinkable Pure Water: trade for 5 Advanced Stone (Alt: 5 Advanced Wood) Remaining: 30]
[100ml Drinkable Pure Water: Trade for 2 Spirit Stones (Alt: 2 Silver) Remaining: 30]
[100ml Drinkable Pure Water: Trade for 10 Bronze (Alt: 10 Quartz Sand) Remaining: 30]
[100ml Water + 1 Roasted Rabbit Meat: Trade for Seasoning, highest bidder wins! PM me!]
These were the materials Ethan needed to upgrade his villa. The quartz sand would be used later for making a compass.
Not long after listing, he saw someone shouting in the [Regional Channel]:
["The big boss is selling water again! Hurry up if you want some!"]
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