Daz awoke looking like death itself. He was, thankfully, still alive, and his body was healed and actually felt quite refreshed.

It was a good thing that he was an insomniac since that had helped him prevent sleeping to the back of eleven o'clock or even sleeping up to the attack itself.

Were Daz to judge the time by the slowly rising sun, he would say it was roughly five 'o'clock in the morning, which would mean that he had gotten four hours of sleep. Just enough to function from.

Daz quickly stretched his body and immediately noticed how stiff it was. 'Right, I'm still covered in blood. It's amazing how comfortable sleeping on Zombie's guts can be when you're dying and exhausted,' Daz thought in wonder.

He then climbed over the gate to his base, the recycling centre, and was immediately greeted by a pristine looking sign that was shining with a bronze hue.

"What on Earth are you?" he mumbled, not expecting a reply, but surprisingly enough, he got one.

This is a base purchase sign. It allows any host with bronze or higher privileges to purchase the rights to the base which will grant the owner a new function, the base management function. Do you wish to purchase this base for 20,000 points?

"Yes, I do!" Daz immediately replied without thinking. He didn't need to think when the answer was so blatantly obvious. He had actually been wondering if there was anything similar to a base management function in this new world considering how a few of the merits he had gained mentioned this place as being a base.

Also, Daz had already decided on what he was going to spend his points on. Daz was nothing if not decisive.

Confirmed purchase.

D-Rank Base Base Name: N/A Base Owner: Daz Base Type: Storage Base Stats Health: 22,450/40,000 Offence: 0 Security: 10 Defense: 500(525) Citizens: 1 Base Facilities Facility Number Owned Description Bonus D-Rank Storage Container [Closable] 3 A simple steel container with a hatch lock door mechanism. 1 inventory slot per container. D-Rank Storage Container [Not Closable] 8 A simple steel container with an open top. 1 inventory slot per container. E-Rank Leisure Cabin 1 A basic steel container designed as a rest area for employees, not suitable for living. 5% stamina increase. E-Rank Improvised Iron Gate with Steel Sheeting 1 A basic iron gate that has been modified to withstand attacks. 5% increase in Defense.

The total merit balance of the host is now 63,360.

"Wow, that all looks pretty good, is the base upgradable?" Daz asked the system. He was only willing to spend so much on becoming the official owner of the skit site because he had a hunch that it would be upgradable and hence become a critical part of his battle strength and a place to relax between the attacks.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Confirmed. The base is upgradable. Due to the host becoming the owner of a base, the base section of the shop has been unlocked.

This pleased Daz a huge amount. In all honesty, he should have asked before he spent a fourth of his wealth on it, but thankfully, he wasn't wrong in buying the base.

Having a stable place to rest and plan was very important in Daz's opinion because he was certain that there were other dangers in this world now besides the daily attacks. There might even be more ways to earn merit points, but Daz's thoughts were cut short by a new blue screen.

You have successfully become the first host to gain ownership of a base. Would you like to add your name to the public ranking?

This came as a surprise to Daz. He couldn't help but wonder what other types of rankings there were. He'd have to check later, but for now, he wanted his reward for becoming first in one of these 'rankings'. "Yes please, add my name to it."

Confirmed. Name has been uploaded. Your overall Lord rank is #1.

Due to being the top-ranked host for bases owned, gained skill, [Godly Base Management] and one [Base Type Alteration Token].

"... Holy shit." Was what Daz uttered upon seeing this reward. Naturally, the prize was related to bases like the ranking was, similar to how he gained better access to the overall shop from ranking well in the points ranking which he has still yet to inspect.

He also got an award from a killing ranking which was a free chance to get a skill, presumably, most skills affected one's battle power. So he wasn't disappointed in the least. He just had no idea how powerful the skills and items he had already been given were nor how powerful the one he could redeem with his reward would be.

Mere seconds later, a pure and clear light enveloped Daz for roughly five minutes before it seeped into his skin and settled down. He assumed this was his new skill and floating in front of him was a diamond-shaped coin that had the word 'Base' written on it. Daz gently grabbed it with his still blood-soaked hand.

"Right, I'm still covered in all this gunk. Hey, can you clean me and replace my clothes with ones more suited to close combat? If they self-clean and self-repair too, that would be great," Daz was rather imaginative, so he had little trouble in deciding that he wanted his clothes to be useful to him too besides just keeping him warm.

Confirmed. Desired items exist. [Deep Host Clean] Price 10 merit points. [B-Rank Combat Outfit (Higher Tier)] Price 10,000 merit points (Exclusive to Bronze Rank access or higher).

Confirm purchase and usage?

"Wow. That's expensive. Hrmm... fuck it. It's B-Rank, so it should last a long time... hopefully. Confirm Purchase," Daz replied in a resolute manner. He needed the outfit, but he also needed something else to go with it, which was his next questions topic.

Immediately after verbally confirming his purchase, Daz's entire body was sealed in what felt like a vacuum, and mere moments later, the sensation left and he looked completely clean, immaculate even, with his work clothes still on. However, a blinding flash forced Daz to close his eyes and when he reopened them a few seconds later, he was now clad entirely in a black outfit.

The total merit balance of the host is now 53,350.

He was wearing what looked like heavy camo pants, large black boots and a padded vest. He seemed quite intimidating considering his height. Daz regretted not asking for a specific colour, but he didn't care too much about his appearance since he had no plans on befriending other survivors immediately.

It wasn't that Daz hated people, in fact, he was quite sociable, it was just that he knew how ugly people could be when the shit hit the fan. And if now wasn't a shit-hitting-the-fan moment, then Daz had no idea what would ever be considered one. He was willing to help other survivors if it'd benefit him, but no more than that.

What surprised Daz about the outfit though, was, in fact, its weight. He obviously knew he was now stronger thanks to his class.

Daz would have to check his status later if he could, but the B-Rank combat outfit that looked quite heavy actually weighed less than his now missing work clothes. He appreciated this since it would impede him less today, but for now, he decided to ask his follow-up question since it could be a game changer for him.

"Hey, is there an all item identification skill? I already have Tool Identification if I remember correctly from my class, so I was just wondering," Daz asked with hope clear in his voice.

This would make doing things far easier for Daz in the future since he had a stinking suspicion that things from fantasy and other similarly unbelievable origins would be crossing his path like his shovel that had the odd symbol on it and the Base Alteration Token, and he would very much like to know what they were upon finding them.

Confirmed. Skill Exists. SS-Rank (Middle Tier) Skill, [Higher Identification] Price 1,000,000 merit points (Free due to killing ranking reward)

Confirm purchase and usage?