Chapter 5: The Lottery—Petrification Spell?!

"Mission finally accomplished!" Wang Chen did not rush to check the lottery system. He first walked over to the corpse of the Six-Tailed Venomous Centipede and carefully examined the traces left on the Detox Bracelet after it had been activated.

He noticed a residue of luminous green venom at the centipede's mandibles. Estimating the quantity, he realized it was nowhere near the amount sprayed by the Poisonous Worm earlier. Of course, the Poisonous Worm produced much more venom.

Yet Wang Chen was not disappointed; instead, he felt a sudden clarity. Previously, he had planned to follow up the venomous attack with a barrage of skills to flatten the centipede. But he had not expected the reversed Detox Bracelet to be so formidable—so formidable, in fact, that it struck him as odd.

After all, the centipede’s very name marked it as a creature of poison. Its resistance to toxins should have been high; how could it be killed so easily?

Now he understood. The toxin released by the bracelet was definitely not the ordinary venom sprayed by the Poisonous Worm—or perhaps it was, and wasn’t. This toxin must have been concentrated.

“No wonder only a single drop is triggered each time, so much less than the worm’s venom!”

“It’s not that more is better, but that less is more efficient!” Wang Chen’s heart rejoiced.

If equipment within each major tier had further grades, the Detox Bracelet would surely be a treasure among bronze-level items.

“Don’t let my luck slip away—strike while the iron is hot and draw the lottery!” “System, give me a golden ten-draw!”

Wang Chen immediately opened the system panel. A huge roulette wheel appeared, its central pointer trembling, suddenly sprouting nine more pointers, all overlapping.

“Pretty advanced!” Wang Chen waved his hand. “Begin the lottery!”

Starting from the lowest pointer, all ten began to sway slowly, spinning faster and faster, then slowing after several seconds. The lowest pointer stopped first.

Wang Chen checked the result in anticipation, only for his vision to go black.

[Kang Shuaifu Pickled Beef Noodles]
[Description: Are you often hungry while battling monsters in the wild due to limited conditions? Now, the savior for the starving—Kang Shuaifu Pickled Beef Noodles. With it, hunger will be a thing of the past, and you’ll reclaim yourself!]
[Effect: Obviously relieves hunger, dummy.]
[Note: The pickled vegetables are produced by hand fermentation, each strand stomped by the delicate feet of beautiful girls. Due to technical reasons, slight dizziness after consumption is normal.]

“I can’t believe this!” Wang Chen was thunderstruck from the inside out.

“Is it those iron-tower-like, deep-voiced beautiful girls stomping pickles while tossing cigarette butts?” He tossed the bizarre item aside and checked the remaining lottery results, growing darker with each glance.

Each subsequent prize was more absurd than the last: “Special Wasabi Flatbread,” “Herring Canned for One Hundred and Eighty Days,” “Uncle Qin the Gatekeeper’s Guide to Relationships”—all equally ridiculous.

“Damn!” “System, are you a traitor?” “Why do you give me nothing but oddities? If you dare to show yourself, I’ll unleash a billion punches!”

Finally—

Wang Chen broke down!

[Petrification Spell!]
[Effect: Immobilizes enemies to ensure follow-up skills hit and guarantee team safety.]

But in the next instant, a skill book appeared as the last prize.

“……”

Wang Chen was silent for several seconds, then decided to forgive the system.

“Oh, nice!” “This skill looks promising—judging by its description, it seems to be a strong control skill!”

He turned his attention to the new skill. The only issue was that both his current abilities, [Lightning Barrier] and [Hymn of Life], already offered some control effects. Control was valuable in battle, but too much could become redundant, and lacked offensive power.

“System, reverse Petrification Spell for me!”

[Petrification Spell successfully reversed; can be restored to original effect after subsequent reversal.]

Wang Chen opened the panel to check:

[Petrification Spell]
[Effect: When used in battle, Petrification Spell forces the enemy to move in the direction desired by the caster!]

“Fantastic!” “If I use this skill well, combining it with other abilities and environmental factors, it’ll surely prove invaluable!”

“Looks like my luck isn’t so bad after all!” Regaining his confidence, Wang Chen declared, “Traitor, use up the rest of the lottery draws!”

The pointers on the huge roulette began spinning. Moments later, Wang Chen impatiently opened the panel.

Dun dun dun dun—

[Kang Shuaifu Pickled Beef…] He skipped it without reading further.

Dun dun dun dun—

[Lord Tang Bone Broth…] Skipped.

His expression grew gloomier.

[Old Godfather…] Skipped.

…

Wang Chen at last could endure no more and summoned the system, shouting:

“System, be decent! Nine lottery draws and not a single useful item? Is your company’s shelf manager named Jing or something? This is outrageous!”

“I’ve decided—you really are a traitor!”

[Lottery probability is determined by random numbers, not controlled by the program!]

This time, the system responded coldly.

“What do you mean?”

[Your luck is simply terrible!]

“Damn! Biting back, pure scammer!”

Wang Chen wanted to smash the system, only to realize that he himself was the server for the system—utterly helpless.

“Wait, lotteries should have a guaranteed drop rate, right? Petrification Spell came from the tenth draw, so there must be a guarantee every ten draws!”

At once, Wang Chen said to the system, “With such a low drop rate, you owe me a compensation draw!”

[Reward count exhausted. Future draws require 1000 lottery points each!]
[Note: Host can earn lottery points from subsequent missions!]

The system remained emotionless.

“So stingy!” Wang Chen closed the panel in frustration.

“There’s still time—let’s go clear some more monsters. I need to level up to beat Cai Kun, so the higher my rank, the better my chances!”

Just as Wang Chen was about to leave the area, the system suddenly released another mission:

[Beast King Hunt]
[Mission: Slay the Beast King of the Six-Tailed Venomous Centipede colony—the Six-Tailed Venomous Centipede King.]
[Reward: 10,000 lottery points]

Oh! Just as he thought about the lottery, the system issued a mission.

“At least the traitor has a bit of conscience!”

So, Wang Chen began searching for traces of the Six-Tailed Venomous Centipede colony. He had just slain three of them, so their colony should not be far and shouldn’t be hard to find.

The Six-Tailed Venomous Centipede was a silver-tier species; he wondered what level the King would be. If it was like the Poisonous Worm, a dominant beast—

Then Wang Chen truly had no idea how to fight it.

While he was searching, the sound of battle echoed from afar.

Wang Chen instantly went alert, creeping toward the source of the noise—

He saw, in a small clearing beneath a mountain cliff at the edge of the woods, five beasts locked in combat.

[Ironback Lizard, lv13]
[Health: 1950]

There were four of these giant lizards, their backs shimmering with a steel-like sheen. They formed a semicircle, trapping a stunningly beautiful giant butterfly at the center, rushing to bite whenever the butterfly failed to defend itself.

[Phoenix Spirit Illusion Butterfly, lv14]
[Health: 2100]

Phoenix Spirit Illusion Butterfly? Such a splendid name.

Wang Chen gazed at the butterfly, thinking the name suited it well, for its appearance was just as magnificent.

Its two enormous, yet delicate wings were a deep blue-violet, reflecting the sunlight with a gemstone luster, as if crafted by a master artist.