Strengthening Potion: All Attributes +5!

Jexon glanced out the window. 

By this time, the sky had darkened, but the bright moonlight lit up the room, keeping it from feeling dim.

He turned back to Spencer and said calmly, "*Glow bugs* aren't exactly rare."

"A lot of people collect them to use as makeshift lanterns for light." 

"Just ask some of the other death squad members in this villa. Chances are, they have some."

???

Spencer looked even more confused. "Wait, didn't George make it pretty clear that the members of this villa's death squad aren't exactly the friendly type?"

"I'm a total newbie here, with no skills or status… Why would they give me *Glow bugs*?" 

"It's not like I'm their parent!"

Hah, at least Spencer had some self-awareness.

Jexon raised an eyebrow. "And I'm not your parent either. So why should I help you defy fate?"

This sharp remark hit home. Spencer wasn't dumb; he quickly picked up on the underlying message. After a moment of contemplation, he glared at Jexon and said fiercely, "If I manage to get those *Glow bugs* and find out you're just messing with me…"

He snorted, as if in warning, then turned to leave the room.

Before he exited, Jexon added one final remark: "Don't take more than five minutes."

The reason was simple—there wasn't much time left before the **Beast Tide** hit, just like in his previous life.

Five minutes passed, and Jexon frowned as he glanced at the door. 

A few moments later, there was a knock. Jexon opened the door to find Spencer, who immediately started complaining, "Seriously, locking the door when I was gone for just five minutes?"

Jexon ignored the remark and instead focused on the glowing bag in Spencer's hand.

Without a doubt, the bag contained the *Glow bugs*.

After Spencer closed the door behind him, he sighed in relief and began to vent. "I got these from that muscle-bound guy downstairs." 

"And for this bag of bugs, I had to give up one of my precious minute coins!"

Jexon took the bag of *Glow bugs* and raised an eyebrow at Spencer's comment. "You actually have minute coins?"

Spencer puffed up his chest with pride. "Yeah, I've got a few. Picked them up in the first few days after the apocalypse."

Jexon nodded. That made sense. In the chaos of the apocalypse's early days, many people didn't understand what was going on. Some overlooked the *time coins* that dropped from beast corpses, which allowed opportunistic scavengers to snatch up these precious items.

*Minute coins* were just one type of time currency.

The complete time currency system consisted of six types— 

**Second coins**, **minute coins**, **hour coins**, and the rarer **day coins**, **year coins**, and **longevity coins**.

The exchange rate between these currencies followed normal time unit conversions: 

1 *minute coin* equals 60 *second coins*, 

1 *day coin* equals 24 *hour coins*, 

1 *year coin* equals 365 *day coins*.

As for the most mysterious **longevity coins**, their conversion rate to *year coins* varied based on their quality.

Players with Fate Discs, known as official players, used time currency as the main form of trade. Eventually, as the apocalypse game progressed, rare *year coins* could even be used for cultivation, converting into the player's own lifespan!

However, the conversion wasn't 100% efficient; it depended on the player's **conversion rate**. A higher rate indicated better cultivation talent, while a lower rate meant the player was a "waste."

Of course, using time coins for cultivation would only come much later.

For now, only a month had passed since the apocalypse started. 

Currently, the common currency between official and non-official players was small denominations like *second coins*, *minute coins*, and *hour coins*.

Non-official players, lacking the Fate Disc, had limited access to information. Even if they possessed time currency, they were often exploited by official players. Spencer, for instance, had clearly been ripped off by paying a full *minute coin* for a bag of *Glow bugs*.

Though Spencer was scammed from today's perspective, Jexon, with his years of post-apocalypse experience, knew that Spencer had actually gotten a decent deal. In these early days, no one understood the value of beast materials yet!

Most beast materials were considered useless, except for edible parts like meat, which could fetch a decent price. Other parts were treated as worthless junk and discarded.

This lack of knowledge allowed Jexon to easily collect the **Bloodthirsty Gu Swarm** and **Phantom Butterflies**. 

Now that he had the *Glow bugs* too…

Jexon wasted no time and got straight to work processing them.

*Glow bugs* were communal insects that, when gathered in large numbers, resembled a glowing ball of light. However, individually, they were tiny—about the size of an uncooked grain of rice.

The glowing part of the *Glow bug* was a tiny dot at the tip of its tail, no bigger than the point of a pen.

Using the tip of a blade, Jexon carefully pierced the minuscule glowing spot. After a few seconds, a drop of thick, glowing liquid oozed out and dripped into the bottle cap that contained the *Phantom Butterfly* powder.

A sizzling sound echoed in the room as the powder reacted violently to the liquid, almost as if it was catching fire.

But the amount of liquid from a single *Glow bug* was too little. The sizzling only lasted a few seconds before it died down.

Without wasting time, Jexon pierced another *Glow bug*, adding another drop of liquid to the cap, and the sizzling resumed.

Jexon's actions were smooth and natural. 

At first, Spencer thought it looked easy, but after watching closely for a while, he realized—

The glowing dot on the *Glow bugs* was incredibly tiny! Jexon's precision in piercing it was far from simple. Most people wouldn't be able to pull off such delicate work!

Spencer had no idea what Jexon was up to, but he couldn't help feeling a sense of admiration.

A few minutes later, the *Phantom Butterfly* powder in the cap had completely dissolved, turning into a deep green liquid under the influence of the *Glow bug* fluid.

Jexon then poured this liquid into the bottle containing the **Bloodthirsty Gu Swarm**. 

An even more intense sizzling sound erupted.

The blood-red skin of the *Bloodthirsty Gu Swarm* began to slowly peel away under the effect of the deep green liquid.

After about three minutes, the entire swarm had shed its red skin, leaving behind a bottle full of thick, dark-black liquid.

The black liquid looked almost like some kind of venom.

Yet Jexon, holding the bottle of "venom," looked at Spencer and said, "Hold out your hand."

Spencer instinctively obeyed, but as he saw Jexon moving the bottle toward him, he quickly pulled his hand back. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You're not seriously going to pour that stuff on me, are you?!"

Jexon raised an eyebrow. "That stuff? This is good stuff."

Spencer was skeptical. "If it's so good, why don't you use it yourself instead of giving it to me?"

Jexon rolled his eyes and tilted the bottle toward his own hand. "Fine, I'll use it myself. Don't regret it later."

Spencer immediately panicked and backtracked. "Wait, wait, wait! Fine, I'll do it! I'll use it!"

Reluctantly, he held out his hand again, and Jexon poured the dark liquid into his palm.

As it touched his skin, Jexon asked, "How does it feel?"

Spencer stiffened, his voice tense. "It's… hot! And tingly!"

Jexon nodded slightly. "Good. Now rub it all over your body."

Spencer hesitated, but eventually obeyed, rubbing the liquid across his skin.

About five minutes later, Jexon asked, "How do you feel now?"

Spencer's face had turned slightly red, and his voice was a bit breathless. "I feel warm… and my muscles ache a little."

Jexon nodded again. "That's normal."

However, Spencer was growing more and more nervous. He had already realized—Jexon was clearly using him as a test subject! If the results were good, it was fine, but if something went wrong…

Spencer cursed under his breath.

Two minutes later, Jexon gave another instruction: "Now, check your data panel."

Spencer blinked. Data panel?

Without a second thought, he mentally called for his data panel: **Data panel!**

The moment it appeared, Spencer's eyes went wide. He stuttered in shock, blurting out, "Wh-wh-wh-what the hell?!"

"My attributes… they all went up by five points?!"

"Am I dreaming?!"