Qi Xu put away all his weapons. Now both his stats were locked, so he wasn’t worried about dropping dead at any moment.
This was the Undying War God! Qi Xu struck an absurdly chuunibyou pose, hands on his hips, flashing a domineering smile worthy of a CEO.
All he had to do was passively tank hits while actively plucking dough—simple and satisfying!
Who cared if the resources were scarce? A free chance to pluck dough—no, to "shear wool"—was something anyone would want.
So Qi Xu’s attack style was brutally straightforward: charge forward, wrap his arms around the dough monster’s waist, and start plucking handfuls of dough from it.
The announcements kept blaring nonstop, but Qi Xu didn’t find them annoying at all. He’d expected to spend half an hour plucking dough nonstop, but then—the dough monster exploded.
It burst into a cloud of flour.
The moment it started swelling, Qi Xu’s instincts kicked in. He let go and tried to back away, but he was a split second too late. Though he took no damage, his face and clothes were coated in flour—hardly the dignified look of a top-tier player.
No time to dwell on it. Qi Xu summoned another dough monster and resumed his plucking spree.
Three dough monsters exploded in half an hour, but by the second and third, Qi Xu had learned his lesson. If the dough stopped coming, he’d stab the monster with a knife, kill it, and summon a fresh one to pluck.
Once the stat-lock effect wore off after thirty minutes, Qi Xu stopped fooling around. He pulled out his pink chainsaw and pistol, slaughtering monsters with ruthless efficiency. He used every minute of his three-hour session before collapsing onto the floor, utterly spent.
Exhausted...
"Honored guest, your dinner is ready!" bellowed the rabbit muscle monster.
Qi Xu dragged himself to the dining area. The moment he sat down, he could tell the meal was special. He took a sip of black coffee.
[Fatigue -1]
He ate a bite of salad.
[Health +1]
Finally, he took a mouthful of tuna taco.
[Fatigue -1, Health +1]
Well, well. Qi Xu no longer thought the meal was overpriced. Those 30 survival coins were worth every penny!
[Congratulations! Your title has been upgraded. After freeloading 666 free resources in a single day, your title "Freeloader" has evolved into "Grand Freeloader."]
[Grand Freeloader]: "Any place requiring you to spend survival coins now has a chance to trigger a freeload effect, waiving the cost. Additionally, the original "Freeloader" title effect remains active."
At first, Qi Xu frowned in dissatisfaction. While the scope had expanded beyond just monster merchants, the effect was now chance-based, unlike the guaranteed freeloading before.
But then he saw the last line and grinned. Not bad. This upgrade was solid.
Glancing at the time—7 PM—Qi Xu decided against another round in the combat arena. Even though his period wasn’t causing cramps this time, overexertion would still wear him out.
After a hot shower, he savored a moment of relaxation before the rabbit muscle monster enthusiastically saw him off.
By the time he drove back onto the highway, night had fallen—9 PM.
His fatigue had eased, but the day’s exertion left him dazed. The second he relaxed, his eyelids grew heavy.
He’d promised the rabbit muscle monster to return to the gym tomorrow, so he planned to sleep early. But then—
Qi Xu skimmed through the group chats and the public chatroom before bed and instantly perked up.
Over a dozen players had been complaining since noon about their abysmal luck—every loot box they opened was either empty or contained monsters.
Even the usually lucky Chinese Master Chef and Magical Boy were affected.
In the smaller group, everyone had suffered the same fate—an afternoon of empty or monster-filled boxes.
The main chat had five or six players reporting identical issues.
Qi Xu had spent the entire day at the gym, only opening two boxes in the morning—one wooden, one bronze—both containing basic materials.
He’d dodged this wave of misfortune entirely. What would’ve happened if he’d opened more?
Cursed by Misfortune: "Name change card for sale at any price! Damn it, I need a new name! I braved the storm to haul up seven boxes, caught a cold for it, and what do I get? Three empty, four monsters!"
Old White Dragon in the Waves: "Must’ve been some hidden event trigger. No way this many people would suddenly get this unlucky at once."
Breaking Cocoon into Butterfly: "Exactly. I noticed all affected players were top-ranked participants in the 'Frozen Wonderland' dungeon."
Max Level Fruit Fan: "Not necessarily. I ranked low, but my boxes were empty too."
Player 1028: "@Invincible Black Whirlwind, boss, what about you? Same as us?"
Qi Xu scrolled up through the flood of messages and saw many asking about his situation. He replied in the public chat: "I stumbled into a special site today and was stuck there till past 8 PM, so I didn’t open any boxes."
Bubbly Girl Guo Degang: "Lucky you. If you had, you’d probably be just as pissed as we are..."
Qi Xu had a rough idea of what was happening.
He shared his theory in the group.
Invincible Black Whirlwind: "I’ve seen an item at the monster shop called a Luck Drain Card. It lets you siphon luck from 16 specified players for 48 hours."
Old White Dragon in the Waves: "That explains it. Someone must’ve used one on us."
Watch Me Cut You Down: "I’m dying. Steal my luck? Might as well scoop up a pile of dog crap. Who’d be that desperate?"
Cursed by Misfortune: "And me? I’m already scraping by thanks to friends’ charity. Who’d even want my luck?"
Blessed by Luck: "My guess? They were after Invincible Black Whirlwind’s luck. We’re just collateral."
The chat buzzed with theories. Meanwhile, a disheveled man stared intently at the messages, his breath hitching when Qi Xu mentioned the Luck Drain Card.
When no further suspicions arose, he exhaled in relief.
His gaze lingered on the grayed-out name "Brother Quan is a Bit Cool" in the player list. His fists clenched.
"I’ll avenge you. We shared a bed once—I won’t let you die in vain."
.........
