Chapter 409: The Dungeon's Reward Chest
A white glow appeared, and the treasure chest vanished, leaving behind a glowing white orb in Tatsumi's hand.
Pop.
The orb shattered, revealing a game item inside—
a brand-new pair of deerskin boots.
"Getting green-grade equipment from a level 5 white chest... Tatsumi, your luck's not bad."
The boots could increase movement speed and agility.
Though not comparable to an Imperial Arm,
they were still high-quality green-grade gear.
"It's not an item that can cure Arsh?"
Disappointed, Tatsumi tossed the boots aside and opened the next white chest.
The orb shattered, revealing a battered, broken shortsword.
Far inferior to the blessed steel shortsword Fang Yi had given him.
However, with the game's latest update, weapons of the same type could now be fused—
a feature called [Gear Feeding], allowing him to use it to enhance his current sword's stats.
He opened all nine white chests,
which yielded mostly cheap, worn-out armor pieces.
Of the two green chests, one gave 500 contribution points,
and the other contained a [Medium Healing Potion].
Seeing the red potion bottle brimming with life energy,
Tatsumi's eyes lit up. He rushed to help the unconscious Arsh and gently poured the potion into his mouth.
"Healing potion?"
Mine shook her head, clearly unconvinced by the odd liquid pulled from a green chest.
Both the Empire and the Revolutionary Army had developed healing agents to speed up internal recovery and close minor wounds.
But that was their limit.
Soldiers with shattered organs or lethal poisons still died, no matter how much medicine they received.
Even someone like Brand—an elite assassin with a massive, robust body—
was still flesh and blood. He'd die from poison or severe trauma like anyone else.
When Sheele had executed Aria's family, she had discovered a journal detailing the virus experiments.
She now understood that Tatsumi's friend had been injected with a terrifying disease called Elbra.
And he was already in the final stage.
Unless a god intervened…
Suddenly—
Mine froze.
Arsh, who moments before couldn't even swallow, now seemed immersed in a healing spring.
The rot and lesions across his body peeled away like grime,
revealing fresh, healthy skin.
"That healing ability is insane!"
Leone's jaw nearly dropped.
Even after activating her Lion King Imperial Arm and transforming into her beast form,
her regeneration wasn't this powerful.
Seeing Arsh slowly regain consciousness, Tatsumi teared up with joy.
"Tatsumi...? I'm not dead?"
Arsh looked around in confusion. He didn't understand what had just happened.
Tatsumi had no time to explain.
He helped Arsh sit down and rest.
The healing potion restored his vitality,
but it didn't neutralize the virus. The Elbra disease was still inside him.
If not treated properly, it would flare up again.
Brand retracted his Demon's Possession armor and, without hostility, approached Arsh and offered him some jerky from his pocket.
"Thank you."
Arsh had suffered immensely, surviving on thin porridge for days.
He reached out, gratefully accepted the food, and chewed slowly.
After he finished, Brand asked, "Mind if I check your condition?"
Arsh looked at Tatsumi. Seeing no objection, he nodded.
Brand performed a thorough examination—
and his expression shifted from suspicion to disbelief to utter shock.
"His physical injuries are completely healed. He's just weak from exhaustion. The Elbra virus is still present,
but it's been suppressed. His life isn't in danger anymore."
Night Raid stood frozen.
Arsh, who'd been on the brink of death mere minutes ago,
was now cured?
Brand might be vain, but he wasn't foolish enough to lie at a time like this.
That red potion… was miraculous.
"Mr. Fang Yi, do you have more of that healing potion?"
A familiar voice cut in, turning all heads.
Lubbock looked thrilled to see their captain arrive.
"Commander? Weren't you at HQ?"
He wanted to ask if the trip had been too exhausting but held his tongue.
With her silver short hair and commanding presence,
Najenda walked in, calm as ever.
"I planned to return to base this morning, after Leone reported sightings of an Imperial Arm user wielding two items in the capital."
"But then our warehouse's entire cash reserve vanished…
500 contribution points, gone.
Just like that."
That bizarre disappearance convinced her they were under attack.
Then she remembered Leone's words about a contract-type Imperial Arm—
and rushed to Aria's estate.
She arrived just in time to witness Arsh's miraculous recovery.
Najenda's eyes burned as she turned to Fang Yi.
"You're the mysterious merchant from another world Leone mentioned, aren't you?"
"Do you still have more of that red healing potion?"
The rest of Night Raid had only marveled at the potion's healing power.
But Najenda, as both commander of Night Raid and a Revolutionary Army officer,
understood its full strategic value.
If it could be mass-produced,
it could be included in field medical kits—reducing casualties during battles with the Empire.
Even if limited in supply,
it could become a trump card for Imperial Arm users.
Imagine: both sides exhausted after a fierce clash—
then our side pulls out a healing potion and returns to full strength.
It'd be like having a second life.
As for the merchant's true identity?
Najenda didn't care.
Even if he claimed to be a god—
as long as he could provide the Revolutionary Army with healing potions, she wouldn't question it.
"Sorry. As you've seen…"
Fang Yi gestured toward Tatsumi, who was about to open the final chest.
"You must become a player like him and hunt corrupted monsters to earn game items."
"Healing potions, even stronger than this, can drop from higher-tier treasure chests."
Tatsumi had hunted low-level monsters and earned level 5 chests—
hence a low-grade healing potion.
Fang Yi wasn't lying.
But Najenda suspected he was withholding the truth.
A potion that healed someone moments from death was already the pinnacle of medicine.
Stronger effects than that…?
What's next—raising the dead?
She didn't challenge his claims, but she didn't believe them either.
As a former Empire general turned revolutionary leader,
Najenda had seen enough to know fantasy from fact.
The potion Arsh drank likely came from
the blood of a regenerating Danger Beast or some experimental bio-matter
—substances her own researchers were trying to replicate, albeit slowly.
Buzz.
The final blue chest cracked open.
A blue orb shattered, revealing a new game item.
Fang Yi looked surprised and chuckled.
"Too bad. It's not an antidote, but Tatsumi, you got lucky—this one came with a skill."
The chest's level and contents correlated with the monster killed.
The loot wasn't entirely random—
a player's will and intentions could subtly influence the drop.
In Tatsumi's case,
his desire to save his friend had influenced the system to drop healing items.
But the keyword was probability—not certainty.
Most of the time, rewards followed random chance.
In short—luck.
And Tatsumi's luck was… not great.
He hadn't gotten the antidote he truly needed.
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