Lord Of Ashes

John was deep in thought, reflecting on his situation. If his abilities continued to grow, even the most mundane things, like a speck of mud or a bit of earwax, might someday become a source of boundless energy to others. To ordinary people, these could be revered as supreme treasures, brimming with power. However, that day seemed far off. Right now, his rank and abilities were nowhere near that level. Besides, who knows? When his abilities reached such a height, his body might no longer produce such trivial secretions like earwax.

For now, John focused on his immediate surroundings. He bounced a small, dark red ball onto the floor, letting it roll away before returning to his bed. It was time to assess the fruits of his latest expedition. First on his list was his supply of food and water. Discovering a small supermarket on the ground floor of a building had been a huge relief. With an ample stock of bottled water and non-perishable goods, he no longer needed to worry about starvation or dehydration for a while.

Next were the weapons he had acquired. His haul included a Beretta 92F pistol, a Remington M870 shotgun, and a stun gun, along with corresponding ammunition. Unfortunately, these items were of gray quality, meaning they were of the lowest grade. To make matters worse, they were marked "not to be taken out," indicating they couldn't leave the strange Ash World he had entered. Still, they were functional within this world, and for now, that was enough.

John wasn't overly concerned about the inability to bring firearms back to his peaceful main world. After all, Brightwater City was relatively safe, and he rarely encountered any danger that required a weapon.

Then there was the matter of clothing. He had hoped to find some old but wearable clothes during his scavenging trip. Unfortunately, nothing of the right size turned up, and he hadn't felt like searching further. His motivation for seeking clothing was simple: conserving energy. With his abilities, he could use alchemy to craft a new outfit anytime, but doing so consumed precious energy. Ultimately, he decided it wasn't worth the effort. Energy replenishes over time, and John's natural recovery rate was six points per hour. If he actively practiced his Aura Manipulation Technique, he could recover even faster. It was a resource that restored itself, so he convinced himself that using it wasn't wasteful.

Of course, this reasoning was just a convenient excuse for his laziness.

Another item on his wishlist was a watch to keep track of time. Unfortunately, he didn't find one in the supermarket. The store primarily carried food and basic household items like towels, slippers, and toothbrushes, but no timepieces. For now, he'd have to make do without one.

After tallying his physical inventory, John turned his attention to his combat gains. His Soul Points had increased significantly. Before this trip, he had 51 Soul Points, but now his total stood at 134—a gain of 83 points. From this, he could calculate the number of zombies he had killed: 77 in total. Breaking it down, his kills included 70 Level One regular zombies, each worth 1 Soul Point; 4 teacup dog zombies, also worth 1 Soul Point each; and 3 Level One, one-star zombie dogs, each worth 3 Soul Points.

The real highlight of his outing, however, was the treasure chests. This time, he had managed to collect 10 dropped treasure chests, a decent haul considering the odds. On average, one chest dropped for every seven or eight zombies he defeated. While this was a promising statistic, John knew that randomness played a big role. Sometimes he killed 20 zombies without seeing a single chest, while other times, he found two chests from just two kills. Over time, as he accumulated more data, the drop rate would likely stabilize, giving him a clearer understanding of his odds.

Eager to reap his rewards, John pulled one of the treasure chests from his overstuffed shoulder bag. The system prompt appeared before him:

[Would you like to open the "Falling Treasure Chest (Worker Zombie)"?]

"Yes, open it," he said aloud, confirming the action.

As the chest opened, another menu appeared:

[Please select the specific content of 'Falling Treasure Chest (Worker Zombie)']

[Item One:? ]

[Item Two:? ]

[Item Three:? ]

[Item Four:? ]

[Item Five:? ]

John chuckled to himself. "If the police zombies dropped items related to law enforcement, I wonder if the worker zombies will drop tools or construction gear." He wasn't particularly interested in worker-related items, though. Most of those would be unrelated to combat, making them less useful to him.

Curious about the options, he selected the first item:

[Item 1]

Option 1: Green Herb (one plant), Quality: Green, Type: Prop

Option 2: Green Herbs (two plants), Quality: Green, Type: Prop

Option 3: Green Herbs (three plants), Quality: Green, Type: Prop

"Green herbs?" John muttered, surprised. He had expected something more mundane, like Soul Points or a basic tool. Instead, the chest contained medicinal plants straight out of a survival horror game.

Inspecting further, he read the description:

 [Green Herb]

[Quality: Green]

[Type: Prop]

[Origin: Ash World, Raccoon City, Umbrella Company Base, Laboratory Plantation.]

[Effect: Restores 50 health points and slightly increases physical recovery rate.]

[Usage Requirements: None.]

[Score: 13 (Green items score between 11–30).]

"Interesting," he mused. These herbs were apparently the result of genetic engineering by the Umbrella Company, a remnant of their viral experiments. The herbs could be mixed with others to enhance their effects, though John didn't bother expanding the text to read the detailed recipe. It was enough to know they were useful.

Satisfied for the moment, he turned his attention to the next item in the chest:

[Item 2]

Option 1: 1 Soul Point

Option 2: 5 Soul Points

Option 3: 10 Soul Points

"Ten Soul Points? Not bad." John quickly did the math in his head. If each chest yielded 20 Soul Points on average, his 10 chests would net him an additional 200 points. Combined with his current total, that would bring him to 334 Soul Points—a solid number for his next upgrades.

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