Chapter 2: Killing Corroders and synthesizing again

The Corroder is a low-level monster in the darkness, created by the contamination of humanoid creatures by the power of an evil god. Their bodies are rotten and decaying, resembling zombies, but they can also spray corrosive acid.

Charles was immediately on high alert because the area was covered in thick fog, resulting in low visibility. He carefully maneuvered his character forward.

Suddenly, the menacing figure of a Corroder appeared and sprayed a green liquid directly at Charles's character.

Charles was prepared and immediately maneuvered the character to dodge the attack. Without hesitation, he swung his iron club and smashed the Corroder's head with a loud bang.

"You have killed the Corroder. Would you like to collect the loot?"

Collecting loot was a player's ability in the game, allowing them to gather materials from slain monsters.

Charles chose to collect the loot.

"Collection successful. You have obtained one Corroded Bone and one Corroding Venom."

"As expected, Corroders don't have anything useful," Charles muttered, somewhat disdainful of the loot.

However, thanks to his special talent, he suddenly realized that he could use these materials for synthesis. His eyes lit up with excitement.

These materials might be useless to others, but they could be valuable to him. After all, his talent allowed him to synthesize anything, although he only had two synthesis attempts remaining for the day, which made him hesitate.

But soon, Charles made up his mind.

"Improving my strength in the early stages is the most important. With strength, I can better explore the game world and obtain resources."

He opened his backpack, and the freshly collected items automatically appeared inside.

"Corroded Bone: Source from the bones within the Corroder's body, containing a trace of corrosion."

...

"Corroding Venom: Source from the venom within the Corroder's body, possesses strong corrosive properties. Perhaps it can be used to make poison?"

Charles pondered as he looked at the descriptions, rubbing his chin.

His talent was powerful but had two limitations. First, he only had three chances per day, and second, he could only synthesize two types of items at a time.

He couldn't use up his remaining synthesis attempts on these materials alone, so he had to make a choice.

After much consideration, Charles made his selection.

"Iron Club" and "Corroding Venom."

He clicked on "synthesize."

Just so you know – an immediate prompt appeared.

"Synthesis successful. You have obtained the item: Venomous Club."

"Venomous Club: A wooden club imbued with potent corrosive venom. Its material is sturdy, and there is a chance of corroding the enemy's body upon impact."

"Excellent," Charles grinned, showing a delighted smile.

With this, his combat power greatly increased.

Charles continued to maneuver his character forward while collecting some wood and stones on the ground. The shelter could be upgraded indefinitely, but it required materials. The rarer the materials, the better, as the shelter's evolution and special features would depend on the materials used.

However, that was something to consider in the later stages. For now, he only needed iron, wood, and stones.

In a short period, Charles had gathered around two hundred pieces of wood and stone in his backpack.

At that moment, a Corroder entered the screen.

Charles remained calm and cool-headed, maneuvering his character to evade the Corroder's venom and swiftly approaching it, wielding the Venomous Club.

With a loud bang, he smashed the Corroder's head, instantly killing it with a single blow.

After collecting, he obtained a pile of useless materials.

Charles didn't discard them but kept them in his backpack.

He knew that he wasn't the only player in this game.

Although all players had talents, some talents were stronger than others.

The key point was that not all players could obtain a decent weapon in the early stages. By synthesizing a Venomous Club, he might be able to trade for valuable resources later.

On the screen of his phone, thick fog rolled in, enveloping everything in darkness. Only a one-meter radius around his character was visible.

Apart from the eerie background music, he could faintly hear the rustling sound of the cold wind.

Suddenly.

Roars echoed from the depths of the mist.

Charles raised an eyebrow, surprised. "It seems... they are the sounds of Corroders, but there seems to be quite a number of them."

The sounds indicated that there were at least a dozen of them.

"Could there be a structure ahead?"

Charles speculated.

After all, Corroders were humanoid creatures contaminated by the environment. Even if someone got contaminated in the wilderness, there would only be one or two, not a dozen.

So it was highly likely that there was a structure ahead.

With this thought, Charles didn't feel fear but instead revealed an excited gaze.

"A structure... There might be good things."

Controlling his character, Charles moved forward towards the front.

After a while, three Corroders came into view. They also noticed Charles and rushed towards him with their roars.

Charles remained calm and composed, maneuvering his character to dodge the Corroders' attacks. Then, he seized the opportunity to strike with his club, taking down one of them first before repeating the same tactic to deal with the other two.

In no time, the three Corroders were dead at the hands of Charles.

After collecting, as usual, Charles controlled his character to move forward for some distance. Sure enough, a corner of a dilapidated village appeared on the screen.

"Just as I thought."

In such a place, the probability of finding treasure chests was significantly higher. Therefore, Charles licked his lips, sat up straight, and became serious, anticipation evident on his face.

As he entered the village, the sounds of Corroders echoed intermittently. It was clear that there used to be many villagers here, but they had all been contaminated and turned into Corroders.

While cautiously exploring the village, Charles also searched for some usable resources.

"[You have picked up wood.]"

"[You have picked up stone.]"

"[You have picked up iron.]"

"[You have picked up iron.]"

"[You have obtained a corroded iron knife.]"

"[You have obtained corroded armor.]"

"Indeed, there are good things. Haha."

Looking at the notifications, Charles laughed and immediately opened his backpack, where he saw the corroded iron knife and armor.

For the moment, he ignored the iron knife and focused on the armor. He decided to use his last synthesis opportunity.

"[Corroded armor] + [iron]."

Activating his talent, the rust on the armor immediately disappeared, replaced by a new sheen.

"[You have obtained a set of soldier armor.]"

"[Soldier armor.]"

"[Description: Standard-issue soldier armor from an empire, possessing powerful defense but causing some degree of mobility impairment.]"

Charles clicked on "equip."

The character on the screen flashed with white light and was then adorned with blue and white armor, giving the impression of formidable defense.

Seeing this, Charles nodded with great satisfaction.

His character now had a weapon.

What was lacking was defense.

With this armor, at the very least, the Corroders in the village wouldn't pose any threat to him.

At the same time, it indicated that he could unleash a massacre in this village.

Of course, the condition was that there were no creatures other than the Corroders in this village.