As the article goes on, they reveal a catch, lockpicking exists in the game too. The Boogle search didn't bring this topic up for no reason though. The solution to this problem is in my stash by pure chance. It's the Lock of Gordius.

[The lockpicking skill lets rogues enter doors without triggering a GA response. Their skill is weird though. You would think each level gives a plus-one to lockpicking, but no. The odd levels give skill strength bonuses, and the even ones only speed.]

Skills are another thing I should look into soon, once the tenth level unlocks, they will be available for me. How many levels do they each have? He runs some math that hints at only five but mentions advanced skills too.

[The Lock of Gordius has a lock strength of 6, the highest in the game. You'd need basic and advanced lockpicking at level five to open it. The two together take two months to train. I don't know anyone with them, and throwaway gankers won't waste time on it.]

Let's assume what he says is logical. Why would an overpowered lock like this lay around in a bandit camp? And that renders it useless on the chest outside the village if this depends on the Guardian Angels. Plus as my original question was, what if you lose the key?

The article has no mention of it. He only hints at where to find these and how expensive they are, but buying cheaper ones is useless. This item is an oddity. The best one players can manufacture has a lock strength of three, and a maxed-out basic skill can open it.

They originate from bandits and go at a hefty price in the Taji market. They are so rare that no buy price exists around Origin, so selling it isn't an option. If they drop from bandit camps, it's not surprising. Before the event, they never showed up here.

The first one to appear in this area was the one we cleared with DragonSlayer. Would he tell me to keep the loot if he knew about the lock? They go for two hundred golds at the larger trade hubs, even he couldn't call that useless mid-grade loot.

[So what if you lose your key?]

Thank you, first commenter, you saved me from registering to this shithole and ask it myself. Whether it is useful or not, this is my biggest concern. Imagine having a crazy expensive lock to shield all your valuables, and you lose access. The system's response is simple.

[You can't. Once you equip the key, it will imprint the lock on your character, and disappear. It won't drop when you die, you have to select the lock and dismantle it to get the key. Nobody would use them in CineMraft if they'd have to worry about losing it.]

Fair enough, it's only a game after all. That means the character already has everything for the perfect stash, other than a house. How much would one of those cost? The article about Exp mentioned a guy who made his first platinum with it, which is forty-five golds.

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Isn't that too cheap, when the lock costs two hundred?

The second search on that third-party site for the price is quick and merciless. The cheapest house in Origin is twelve hundred gold, and an empty lot is a thousand. Damn. It matters a lot if it's inside or outside the settlement.

A forty-five coin profit sounds much more reasonable if the structure is two hundred gold. You'd need some materials too, and to build something from scratch must be difficult. Look at the Textile Works, that place's a mess.

Okay, enough of Wroddit. I was lucky the woods were empty at night because my eyes were no longer glued to the counter. The north-eastern spawn point is already here, with only two silhouettes. They should have spawned between four and six.

Is it midnight in the game too? There's a few minutes left. And they seem like carrying weapons. Archers, that someone left behind? No, getting closer, they look like swords and shields. Are they those advanced zombies? What was their name?

Right before reading that article, I thought about how rare they are, and there are two. Finally, a worthy opponent! It will be almost like PVP, and thanks to the energy drink, I'm still pumped enough to take on then.

It would be amazing if they dropped their shields, this one is a bit worn out, you could say battered. And what's better than one backup sword in the stash? Three of them, of course. The moonlight glistens on something in the clearing, and it's not their blade.

One of them wears an armor, a rusty chainmail. It would be awesome to loot it, but this also reminds me that I only wear the padded vest. Oh boy, it's risky. Decisions, decisions. Being so close to the goal it would be very dumb to attack them.

They only pay fifty experience points too. The Death Rats paid double, though I wouldn't confront those either, no way in hell. Come on, there's only two of them. No, you shouldn't. Someone has to be a responsible adult here.

"Leeroy Jenkins!" It won't be me.

It's a calculated risk, but I do have a plan. First, chew on some food for extra regeneration. If these guys are dumb enough to stand still before the opening strike, it has to be deadly. Rather than those light, precise stabs, begin with a powerful assault to take one out, simple as that.

It sounds great on paper. It'd work on regular zombies too, but my target raises its shield and it shatters with a huge bang. Thank God I left the system log pinned on the overview, so that number wasn't lost in time.

[00:58:33. Assault with Rusty Sword on Battered Shield. You lost 1 Stamina. It's a Critical Hit! +40 Damage. You shattered Battered Shield.]

The blade lost a hefty chunk of its STP too, and it breaks my heart to lose that shield, but holy shit. Forty damage?! That must be something even Tank would struggle to pull off. It was a lucky hit and a costly one at that, yet it was worth it.

The battle only started though. I need both my shield and blade to block their response. It's fine, they are still slower than me, and one will struggle without his defenses. This tells me that practicing to parry with my sword was the right approach.

All it takes is a powerful hit, and the shield is gone.

Let's focus on the left guy. He is too slow to block everything with his blade, and I can dance around it. These are the usual, fast, and light jabs from a day's worth of practice, and they scratch him twice before his attack.

He's still not dead, or at least not as dead as he should be. That armor might be decent, but where he doesn't have any? That's right. The next swing saves him from carrying some dead weight by severing his head, and he turns into pixels.

[You killed a Zombie Footman +50 Exp]