Although they had eaten leftovers earlier, the lingering heat in Ryuji's body was still strong, making him feel restless. As a result, he moved quickly while scavenging, almost three times faster than the previous day.
Of course, part of this efficiency was due to the fact that most of the zombies in the area had already been cleared out. A large number had been taken away by the wolf pack, another batch was killed during yesterday's scavenging, and the ones summoned by the "Sadako" zombie had lured out even more.
Ryuji and Erina continued searching for supplies. He experimented with his stone axe, testing what materials he could gather from different objects.
Unfortunately, apart from leather and scrap metal from things like leather sofas, they didn't even find a single wrench—let alone anything like water pipes. In the end, Ryuji had to hack away at the heating pipes with his axe just to collect a few short metal tubes.
After searching the entire house, all they had to show for it was a pile of scrap cloth, wooden planks, brass doorknobs, and other miscellaneous junk.
As for duct tape? Nowhere to be found.
And those so-called "every American owns a gun" clichés from movies? Completely inaccurate.
"Isn't everyone in America supposed to have at least one gun?" Ryuji muttered in frustration.
They had searched at least ten houses by now, yet they hadn't found a single firearm—just some empty tin cans, glass bottles, and a few withered corncobs.
"Relax," Erina said with a helpless smile. "At least we found this. And you know, people can eat dog and cat food. It just... doesn't taste great."
Even she found the situation strange. She had always believed that America had an incredibly high gun ownership rate—her family members who had lived there certainly made it sound that way.
Yet after so much searching, they still hadn't found anything useful. Most of the food they discovered was either close to expiration or already spoiled.
"If we can't find better supplies, we might have to start mining," Ryuji sighed, glancing at his scavenging skill in his status menu.
He had a gut feeling that the lack of resources was tied to this skill. If this were a game, he wouldn't mind—it would just mean searching a bit longer. But in real life, exhaustion was a real factor.
After searching only two or three houses, he was already feeling worn out.
"If this keeps up, we might as well just mine for resources. The merchant sells stone, so we could make money that way."
Ryuji couldn't help but compare this world to a modded survival game where loot drops had been drastically reduced. After all, five pieces of raw meat only sold for 60 casino tokens, while 50 small stones could fetch 10. If he spent the entire morning breaking rocks, he might end up with more profit than scavenging.
"But duct tape is expensive—75 tokens for just one roll! And even the merchant doesn't have everything we need," Erina pointed out as she packed away another bag full of kitchenware.
They had spent all morning searching, but their loot was pitiful. Even the few bicycles they found had completely ruined tires that needed replacing.
"We're running out of options... Let's check out the auto repair shop. Maybe we'll find some wrenches there."
They headed over to the shop, which was now zombie-free. Inside, they found an assortment of tools used for car repairs.
They managed to find pliers and screwdrivers.
But wrenches? Not a single one.
Nor did they find a claw hammer.
That's right—despite being in a mechanic's shop, there wasn't a single wrench in sight, as if they were some kind of rare, one-use-only items that had all mysteriously vanished.
They tore the place apart, searching every shelf, every toolbox, and every drawer.
No wrenches. No replacement tires.
Yet somehow, they managed to find several car engines.
"…Are you kidding me?"
Ryuji sat down on a crate decorated with a half-faded logo of a mechanic in overalls. He let out a long sigh.
"This world really is as ridiculous as a game."
Erina was equally frustrated, staring at the engine in her inventory with a look of disbelief. No wrenches. No wheels. In a mechanic's shop.
But seeing Ryuji looking so exasperated, she didn't know what to say.
"Screw it. Let's just start mining."
With a heavy sigh, Ryuji made his decision. Their priority was to get their hands on firearms, which meant making money fast. If they couldn't get duct tape, they had to find another way to buy supplies.
Mining seemed like the most straightforward option.
"If you want to be rich, start by chopping trees," he muttered to himself, recalling an old saying from survival games.
Before heading out, they stopped by a nearby gas station.
The good news? They found a decent amount of canned food and some dried-out, bagged bread. Even better, there was a small lake behind the gas station, and in the distance, they could see a large river.
The bad news? Every single gas pump was empty.
Ryuji's dream of crafting Molotov cocktails was dead before it even started.
Since they abandoned the idea early, they arrived at the mining site before noon. They agreed to take turns—one person would mine while the other kept watch. This way, if anything went wrong, they could react quickly.
However, after just ten swings of his axe, Ryuji shattered a large rock the size of a millstone—only to receive ten measly pieces of stone.
"Are you kidding me?"
He stared at the now-cracked ground in disbelief. If this was the rate at which they gathered stone, he'd have to dig a massive pit just to collect a thousand pieces.
This method was almost as inefficient as scavenging!
The only advantage was that it didn't require as much brainpower.
"This thing broke that easily?!" Erina was just as surprised. She took a turn swinging her axe, only to confirm the same frustrating result. Her expression darkened.
"Yeah... Something's off. In games like this, gathering basic resources is never this difficult. We must be missing something—there has to be a more efficient way to mine," Ryuji muttered, setting his axe down to stretch his arms.
He then spotted a reddish-brown rock beside him that looked suspiciously like iron ore.
"Let's test this."
Raising his axe, he slammed it down with a heavy strike.
+3 Scrap Iron
Ryuji's eyes lit up. He crouched down and struck the ground again, producing a distinct metallic clang.
"Knew it! There are actual ore veins here!"
He remembered that while scrap iron had the same base value as stone—ten pieces for two tokens—it could be used to craft certain items, like turret ammunition, which sold for one token per unit.
Now this was the path to wealth!
"Erina! Start mining this!"
Excitedly, Ryuji raised his stone axe and began striking the iron ore repeatedly. The satisfying sound of scrap metal entering his backpack echoed in his ears, fueling his enthusiasm.
What thrilled him even more was that with each swing of his axe, he gained three pieces of iron ore. This rapid progress made him work even faster, his movements becoming increasingly swift.
However, he was mindful not to exhaust himself completely. The moment he felt his arms beginning to tire, he stepped aside and let Erina take over the mining while he stood guard.
The memory of the "Sadako" zombie still haunted him. He had no intention of experiencing another terrifying encounter like that again.
Erina, however, was even more skilled and powerful than he was. Preserving her combat strength was crucial, so the moment he saw sweat forming on her forehead, he switched places with her and resumed striking the ore.
By now, they had dug a sizable pit in the area. As they mined deeper, they had to clear more surrounding soil, creating escape routes in case they needed to climb out quickly or scan their surroundings.
This additional effort significantly increased their workload.
Bit by bit, Ryuji chipped away at the iron while also using a wooden shovel to dig alternate paths, ensuring they could exit the pit at any moment. Under the relentless sun, he felt the heat growing unbearable, making him instinctively want to strip off his shirt.
However, after glancing at his slight belly, he reconsidered.
If Erina weren't around, he wouldn't have minded going shirtless. But with her present, he wasn't particularly eager to reveal a less-than-impressive side of himself.
Just as he was mulling over this, Erina—equally affected by the scorching heat—casually took off her jacket, revealing her now sweat-drenched white shirt.
"You old perv! Aren't you hot?!"
She wiped her forehead, feeling utterly drained. Between the strenuous activity and the blazing sun, she was completely exhausted.
"I'm fine…" Ryuji muttered, stealing a glance at her.
That's when he noticed the fabric of her shirt had turned slightly translucent in the sunlight, clinging to her frame and revealing the outline of her undergarments.
"Black?… Of course, it's black…"
At that moment, Ryuji realized the heat he was feeling wasn't just from the sun anymore—his own body temperature seemed to be rising as well.
They kept digging for another half an hour before finally calling it quits.
By then, their arms were aching, and their stamina had hit its limit.
"Let's head back, eat something, and then visit the merchant. I've got 2,200 pieces of scrap iron. What about you?"
Climbing out of the now five-meter-deep pit, Ryuji took a long, deep breath.
Looking back at the massive hole they had dug—a hole that would have taken an excavator at least an hour to carve out on Earth—he couldn't help but marvel at their own efforts.
Unreasonable System Abilities
As Erina patted the dust off Ryuji's clothes, she answered casually.
"I don't know. I already turned everything into robot turret ammunition—I have 450 rounds now."
"You finished already?" Ryuji was surprised.
"Yeah, we still need to buy a few things, after all. And… I wanted to show you my cooking skills. I'm curious about what the meat in this world tastes like."
Her already slightly sun-kissed face turned away, as if she was too embarrassed to look at him.
"No need to be shy. Besides, we can't really use that stuff right now anyway… Speaking of which, Erina, want to go wash up in that little lake?"
Ryuji pointed toward a small lake near the gas station. There were clean oil drums behind the station that could be used for bathing, so they wouldn't need to go all the way to the river.
"I'll just wash my hands for now. We still have more mining to do this afternoon."
Erina hesitated. In this situation, if she wanted to bathe, someone would obviously have to stand guard. And right now, that "someone" was just Ryuji.
Together, they made their way back to the trader. Erina sold all the turret ammunition she had crafted and then bought every piece of raw meat available.
"Please be a big piece, please be a big piece," she muttered nervously, pressing her palms together in a small prayer before materializing the meat into the real world, just as Li Ke had done before.
After a brief moment, a palm-sized chunk of meat wrapped in burlap appeared before them. Erina let out a sigh of relief.
But when she pressed her fingers into it, her brows furrowed.
"This is weird… What kind of meat is this? The texture is strange, and why does it smell like every kind of meat at once?"
Ryuji didn't quite understand her concern, but looking at the thick slab of meat, he couldn't help but chuckle.
"As long as it's edible, that's all that matters."
He was genuinely happy. With this much meat, they wouldn't have to worry about food for a long time!
"True… I'll go back and figure out the best way to cook it."
Erina nodded, dropping her concern as she turned toward the door.
Meanwhile, Ryuji's gaze lingered on the scantily dressed merchant.
The merchant's body swayed unsteadily, and the tattered clothing—messed up from when he had grabbed them earlier—remained disheveled, exposing more skin than it should.
Just as Erina stepped outside, Ryuji's hand twitched. He had the sudden urge to reach out and feel that softness again.
But in the end, he resisted.
"Patience… patience…"
Muttering to himself, he quickly followed Erina out.
But as he thought about the meal she was about to cook, his heart skipped a beat.
"Wait… I won't turn into a beast, will I?"
For the first time, Ryuji felt a tinge of fear.
—