Chapter Forty-Three: Opening the Gift Box

The script has been completed, and rewards are being calculated.
Experience points gained: 10,000; game currency: 10,000
Item acquired: Thompson submachine gun
Accepted mission 11 completed
Special ending rewards: Changing History, Demon Heart—please wait to claim
Special and hidden missions completed: 11
Your script rating qualifies you for a super reward—please select it shortly.
Achievement points: 3,000
Achievement point bonuses: 3,000 experience, 9,000 game currency
Script completion reward: Brave Heart
Calculation complete—please continue.
You have reached level 11, maximum health increased.

Name: Thompson Submachine Gun
Type: Weapon
Quality: Ordinary
Attack Power: Average
Attributes: None
Special Effects: None
Notes: A standard model Thompson submachine gun. With this, you will experience the agony of bullets flowing like water.

Returning to the login space, Luo Hanya stared wide-eyed at the cascade of system messages. The sudden flood of blessings left him feeling a bit disoriented, completely washing away the discontent he had felt upon leaving the script.

Originally, at the script’s conclusion, Luo Hanya was disappointed that the system only allowed him to take one firearm out of the script. But in the blink of an eye, so many rewards had arrived, including a super reward. Whatever he might get from that would certainly be better than a few useless guns—who would still care about those now?

He looked at the three gift packs before him, corresponding to the Mysterious Elder’s Interest Ending, the Changing History Ending, and the Demon Heart Ending.

He frowned in confusion at the odd Demon Heart reward. He knew the Changing History ending was because of the annihilation of the Japanese 56th Division, but as far as he was concerned, his entire experience in the script had nothing to do with this Demon Heart. How had he suddenly received such a thing?

After racking his brain for a while and still unable to come up with a reasonable explanation, Luo Hanya simply gave up and prepared to open the gift packs.

Learning from the bloody lesson of the last time, Luo Hanya was much more cautious now. Rather than untying the ribbon by hand, he drew a large blade and hacked down hard.

Sure enough, this game’s design was as bizarre as ever.

At the moment the blade struck the gift pack, it emitted a dazzling golden light, and Luo Hanya was promptly blasted away in misery.

"Dear player, please use the correct method to open the gift pack." The system’s voice chimed in at the perfect moment as Luo Hanya was flung back, followed by a heavy thud as he crashed spectacularly into the wall.

"Ugh..." Luo Hanya rubbed his aching backside, let out a long breath, and stalked back to the gift pack with gritted teeth.

This time, he straightened up and, barely looking at the gift pack, hooked the ribbon with his finger and jumped quickly back.

Nothing happened. Luo Hanya shook his head, scolding himself inwardly for being so easily spooked. Clearly, he was just scaring himself—there couldn’t be that much danger.

But just as Luo Hanya was congratulating himself and thinking he was in the clear, he was once again delightfully duped.

Same familiar story, same familiar scene—the only difference was the location of the injury. This time, his nose took the brunt of the blow. A sharp, stinging pain flooded his senses, his eyes watered, and tears threatened to spill forth. This was not just a physical trial—it was a test of the soul!

Clutching his nose, Luo Hanya sat miserably on the floor, shooting a look of indignation at the gift packs he had considered treasures. The moment called for a mournful tune: "Snowflakes drift, the north wind wails, the world is bleak and vast..."

After such a pitiful ordeal, one might find solace in knowing others had suffered the same, but from all the popular player posts and from his closest friends, Luo Hanya had never heard of anyone experiencing anything like this.

"Is this game really targeting me?" he wondered aloud.

But our protagonist is a master of self-consolation and supreme narcissism. In the next instant, he found his own answer: "It must be because I’m too powerful! I’ve upset the balance of the game! That’s why it’s targeting me so much! Ah, invincibility is such a lonely thing."

Sighing theatrically, Luo Hanya, looking as smug as ever, started humming the tune of invincibility.

After adjusting his mood, he carefully opened the remaining two gift packs. The opening process need not be described in detail; suffice it to say it was a bloody struggle. To sum it up: "I fought the gift pack; you might not believe it, but I lost to the gift pack."

Despite the bruises on his face, Luo Hanya was not nearly as dejected as one might imagine. In fact, he wore a broad grin—clearly, he had scored some good loot. So, what exactly had he received?

Name: Mario’s Running Shoes
Type: Equipment
Quality: Excellent
Defense: None
Attribute: Wind
Special Effect: Rocket Start
Notes: The owner of these shoes is a mysterious figure. Some say he was a plumber, but he also worked in demolition, played the villain, served as a referee—there’s nothing he hasn’t done. Most astonishing of all, he’s a great traveler. To rescue a princess, he’s delved into endless dungeons, run along the Great Wall, crossed the Alps, and even fought aliens. These are the very running shoes he once wore. Young adventurer, as long as you wish, you could be the next Mario! spsr! This really is just like me!

Name: Turtle School Shell
Type: Equipment
Quality: Excellent
Defense: Strong
Attribute: None
Special Effect: Sluggish
Notes: Essential for the early training of the Turtle School—Master Roshi, Goku, and Krillin all carried it. Now it’s just a turtle shell. Although it’s heavy and you won’t be able to move quickly while wearing it, it’s still a shell—its defense is thoroughly reliable.

Name: Wanderer’s Tattered Clothes
Type: Equipment
Quality: Trash
Defense: Very Weak
Attribute: None
Special Effect: None
Notes: Clothes belonging to a wanderer who has roamed for decades, patched all over. Aside from disguising yourself as a beggar, they serve no other purpose.

Clearly, Luo Hanya had obtained some genuinely good items—though the wanderer’s tattered clothes were a bit of a joke, the shell and the running shoes were top-notch.

For someone who had only ever received piles of junk from gift packs, these prizes were an enormous encouragement for Luo Hanya. In other words, “Ever since I opened these packs, I feel like a new person—my legs don’t ache, my back doesn’t hurt, and I could open dozens more gift packs in a single day…”