“Do I wish to loot?” Theo let out an ironic voice, his left eyebrow moving up in place of him just rolling his eyes as usual. “Why is that even a question?”

The young man shook his head before simply willing for the obvious.

[Looting: 25%]

[Looting: 50%]

[Looting: 75%]

[Looting: Completed]

[Looted:

- Infinite Oil Sack (x1) (rare)

- Rat Skin (x3) (rare)

- Tear Claws (x2) (epic)]

“And… that’s it?”

Theo squinted his eyes while trying not to clench his teeth in anger.

Sure, the loot itself didn’t sound half-bad at all…

But it wasn’t something he got by either sitting down on his ass or even something he gathered while zoning himself out to cut the boredom of the endless grind.

No.

This was supposed to be the main reward for dealing with a monster nearly a hundred and fifty levels stronger than him!

‘Since there seem to be ranks to items, I would expect at least something legendary, maybe even mythical, but this?’

Theo shook his head.

This reward, pretty much like what he already went through before, felt underwhelming when juxtaposed against what he had to deal with.

“Still, what use is there for whining?” Theo looked up, asking the heavens themselves. “It’s not like the system will transform and materialize into a jade beauty to pat me on the back.”

Theo took in a deep breath, held it in his lungs for a while before slowly breathing it out, pushing all the tension, disappointment, and anxiety out with it.

“It seems like the best reward, for now, is all the resources I can get out of the forest, huh?”

Looking up beyond the limits of his trap, Theo sighed again before rising up and then orienting himself by a column of the dirt-filled boxes to find the right spot to dig.

‘At this point, is there any point in keeping my old base? With all the wood I can get pretty much for free, I might as well just build a shack on the surface,’ he thought as he slowly made his way up the side of the trap before finally emerging at the ground level of it.

There, he wasted no further time adoring the intricate design of his own making, opting to push through the tunnel and then step out into the light of the day.

Once up and on the surface, however, and with his eyes now locking on the nearby forest, Theo hesitated.

“Who is there to say there are no more monsters lurking out in the woods?” he muttered, keeping his eyes on the trees for a while, only to then shake his head. “Who is there to say? I am!”

Ignoring the potential dangers was stupid, foolish. But so would be living in the shadow of what could potentially be out there.

‘And if anything, I’ve got my system to warn me in advance, don’t I?’

Pushing his fears away and putting his attention on his most reliable parts of the system, Theo gulped his hesitation away before stepping towards the trees that he had so feared before.

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There, just a short trek away from where he formerly dared to roam, he finally found the proper reward for all his efforts of the last few days.

“Dang,” Theo whistled silently, daring not to make his presence known as boldly as the Oilrat did during its periodic tours of its territory. “This is a resource bonanza!”

All the things that Theo lacked before were all here in great abundance!

Wood?

It took Theo but a few swings of his stone axe to fell and then dissect a tree, turning the once-proud titan of the forest into a bunch of wooden blocks safely stowed away in an outer chest Theo set right at the forest’s edge.

Food?

Several minutes’ worth of scavenging the forest floor for small bushes allowed Theo to complete the first and then the second stack of them. In fact, if not for his curiosity about what else he could find just there for the taking, he would likely keep gathering them up to the point where he would have a full chest of those!

Diving into the gathering frenzy soon proved to carry even more benefits than what Theo expected.

[Achievement: Berrymaster]

[Lore: After gathering over a hundred and fifty berries from the bushes, you can now find them even in places you formerly didn’t notice!]

[Reward: Sustenance from berries +50%, Berry Quantity when harvesting from bushes +25%]

‘That’s it,’ Theo grinned, feeling as if a huge load had finally lifted from his shoulders.

This was something that only someone used to the absolute comforts of the modern world could understand—the primitive fear of running out of food or drink, the terror of starving out or dying of thirst that often pushed human ancestors from less blessed times to feats unimaginable.

Just like the ability to breathe or, to a lesser degree, a shelter to hide away from the elements and provide safety from the beasts, those needs were something a modern person would often forget about, too used to having such things in abundance to pay them any mind.

Now, however, that Theo had managed to not only obtain a huge amount of supplies but also gained a perk that would not only make finding more of them easier but also give him more bang out of every berry?

For the very first time since he got over the excitement of having a system and had no other choice but to face the grim reality around him, Theo could breathe a sigh of relief.

For the first time since he reincarnated, he could fear hunger or thirst no more.

‘At this rate, I should make a hoe and cut some grass with it, so that I might be able to get some seeds and start a farm or something,’ Theo thought…

Only to then quickly abandon the idea.

‘Right, if I want the farm to work, I still need water. And to get water, I not only have to find some source of it…’ he thought, raising his eyes towards the deeper parts of the forest where he formerly dared not enter, ‘but then also something to carry it in.’

Thankfully, while finding the source of water could prove challenging, getting his hands on a container was no longer that much of an issue.

“Using up what little iron I have to make a bucket might seem like a waste, but…”

Theo turned his attention back to the new perks his blocky subroutine received upon his latest level-up.

‘Now that I can quite literally sense where the nearest ore is, it shouldn’t be that much of a waste to do so.’

Breathing out, Theo shook his head before putting his attention to the prompts at the top and the bottom of his vision before turning to face the deeper parts of the forest… and then stepping ahead.

‘For now, finding the source of water comes first. Once I secure an infinite pond, though…’

As Theo’s steps grew faster, a wicked grin appeared on his lips.

The blocky game that he relied so much on…

Who was there to say his system was based on the base game? Who was there to say… all the ideas implemented by the modders were out of the question?

‘All I need is just a bit more wood and iron to test it.’ Theo sighed out as he cleared his thoughts and lowered his posture, pushing deeper and deeper into the denser part of the forest. ‘And as soon as I get my hands on a gun, I will show all the beasts of this place just why an armed man sits at the ultimate top of the food chain!’

Theo’s soul filled with a sense of nearing triumph and power…

Only for the prompt at the top of his vision to finally change, and with said change—invite a new, unfamiliar notification window right into the very center of Theo’s eyes.

[Forest Outskirts - Safe Zone] > [Outer Forest - Unclaimed Zone]

[Do you wish to claim this area? Y/N]

[Warning! Unclaimed zones, if left alone, might end up claimed by the owners of the neighboring areas!]

[Warning! Claiming the zone will invite challengers vying for its ownership!]