Chapter 26: Opening the Loot Box

Although he had just received his paycheck, Ryuichi Sugawara had no intention of lingering outside to shop or spend money; instead, he headed straight home.

"Beep!"

He switched on the air conditioner and sat down on his bed.

"The date settlement also included two free draws for the Primary Treasure Chest. I wonder what kind of skill I'll get this time. Something like calligraphy would be ideal."

Rather than rushing to look for new "rental boyfriend" orders, he remembered something and opened the treasure chest interface.

[Primary Treasure Chest]
Single Draw (2 free attempts available)
Ten-Draw Opening (consumes 100 Heartbeat Points)

"Would you like to open the Primary Treasure Chest?"

"Yes."

It was free anyway, so Ryuichi didn't feel any hesitation.

"Click!"

The next moment, the lock on the chest clicked open, and a brilliant light burst forth. Amidst the shimmering, colorful radiance, an exquisitely packaged box flew out and hovered in front of the chest.

《Flawless Bath Salts》

[Congratulations to the host for opening the Primary Treasure Chest and obtaining a one-time item: Flawless Bath Salts.]

"Huh?"

Ryuichi, who had been hoping for a talent, was a bit dumbfounded. He understood that the system could produce items—after all, there was an item slot in his personal profile—but getting bath salts seemed a bit absurd.

After a brief moment of shock, he didn't dwell on it and began to examine the first item he had ever obtained.

One-time item: [Flawless Bath Salts]
Item Effect: Restores the user's entire body skin to a natural, flawless state. Eliminates scars, blackheads, dark circles, skin problems caused by environmental factors, and tattoos (ineffective on severed limbs).
Usage: Apply the bath salts over the entire body and rinse off after 10 minutes.

"Is this effect for real?"

After reading the description, Ryuichi was truly shocked. In his view, the most insane effect of this item was undoubtedly the removal of scars. Compared to that, getting rid of blackheads, dark circles, or tattoos was trivial.

Just by virtue of its scar-removal capability, if he found the right buyer, selling it for a fortune in the hundreds of millions wouldn't be a problem. For instance, a wealthy woman who had been accidentally burned and left with permanent scarring would surely be willing to pay an exorbitant price for it. Everyone knew that modern medicine and technology couldn't completely erase burn scars.

"So, using Heartbeat Points to exchange for cash directly is the most wasteful thing to do. If I can pull items with such heaven-defying effects, I can easily make a fortune."

Realizing that the system could produce such overpowered items made Ryuichi realize how wasteful his earlier actions had been. Fortunately, he had only wasted one Heartbeat Point, and since it had indeed been converted into money, it wasn't a total loss.

"Keep going, keep going."

After examining the "Flawless Bath Salts" from every angle, Ryuichi fully grasped the value of the Primary Treasure Chest and was suddenly filled with motivation.

[Would you like to open the Primary Treasure Chest?]

When the system prompt appeared again, Ryuichi chose "Yes" without hesitation.

"Click!"

As the chest unlocked once more, it erupted with brilliant light, and a book popped out.

《Professional-Level Karate》

[Congratulations to the host for opening the Primary Treasure Chest and obtaining a professional-level talent: Karate.]

"Do combat skills count as talents?"

Although the "Flawless Bath Salts" had already raised his expectations for the system's draw function, he was still surprised. Before he could ponder the system’s definition of "talent," the book hovering in front of the chest turned into a beam of blue light and flew into his forehead.

The next moment, Ryuichi felt his head grow heavy as a vast amount of knowledge was forcibly poured into his mind. It was a comprehensive mastery of Karate techniques: kicks, strikes, throws, grappling, joint locks, chokes, reversals, pressure-point strikes, and even finishing moves like the crescent kick.

Unlike the first time, the changes brought by this infusion weren't just limited to knowledge and experience; they affected his physical body as well. He felt a sensation of fullness and strength in his hands, feet, knees, and elbows.

Ten minutes later, Ryuichi stood up, feeling as though his posture had become significantly straighter.

"Hah!"

He threw a straight punch into the air, the sheer speed of the strike producing a faint whistling sound. Realizing this, like a boy with a new toy, he began practicing other moves—leg sweeps, roundhouse kicks, spinning back kicks, and other finishing maneuvers.

"Awesome!"

After a round of practice, Ryuichi’s face was glowing with uncontrollable excitement. For a man, the desire to become stronger is engraved in his bones.

Setting aside whether Karate was useful for picking up girls or dating, the mere sensation of his improved physical fitness and power was enough to make him ecstatic. Whether in his past life or this one, his physical condition had always been quite average. In his previous life, it was due to laziness; in this life, it was because he was focused on his studies. Even though he jogged occasionally and participated in P.E. classes for the sake of his health, such training was a mere drop in the bucket, barely making him better than the average slacker.

But with the blessing of a professional-level talent, he could say without exaggeration that he was a Karate expert; taking on several ordinary people with his bare hands would be no problem at all.

After dancing around in excitement for a while, the freshness of his newfound strength began to fade slightly.

"Keep drawing!"

Calming down, Ryuichi remembered he still had 27 Heartbeat Points, enough for two more primary draws, and he invested them decisively. Perhaps because items were rarer and had lower drop rates, the next two draws resulted in talents.

Half an hour later, he opened his personal profile again.

[Ryuichi Sugawara]
Talents: [Professional-Level J-Pop Singing], [Professional-Level Karate], [Professional-Level Portrait Photography], [Professional-Level Electric Guitar Performance]
Items: [Flawless Bath Salts]
Heartbeat Points: 7
Current Dating Targets: Yue Yamabuki (Expandable)

"A guitar, too? Though it's an electric guitar... that's pretty good."

Ryuichi nodded thoughtfully as he looked at the screen. Unlike "Karate" and the "Bath Salts," these talents fit his impression of the system better—namely, skills that helped with picking up girls. Portrait photography went without saying; for girls, a guy who knows how to take great photos is a huge plus. The electric guitar was the same; musical instruments are well-known tools for romance.

For each professional-level talent, the ten-minute duration was just the time for knowledge infusion; fully absorbing and internalizing them would take even longer. After checking his profile, he spent time sorting through his newfound knowledge, immersing himself in the ocean of information.

It wasn't until his stomach let out a loud rumble and a wave of hunger hit him that Ryuichi snapped back to reality.

"How is it already 6:00 PM?"

Ryuichi rubbed his hungry stomach and instinctively checked the time on his phone, shocked by how much time had passed.