Chapter 5: Ancient Hand Crossbow

A flicker of excitement flashed in Nick's eyes. He grabbed the crossbow bolts from the box. There were a total of ten. As long as the bolts weren't severely damaged, they could be reused.

After cocking the hand crossbow and loading a bolt, Nick aimed at a wooden box on the ground, ready to test the crossbow's power.

He took a few steps back, aimed at the wood, and pulled the trigger.

"Whoosh!"

Along with the sound of air being pierced and the wood tearing, the bolt penetrated the entire wooden box and was still deeply embedded in the ground.

The sheer power made Nick gasp.

If the target had been a person, that guy would probably have met his maker.

A smile appeared on Nick's face as he looked at the ancient hand crossbow. Its immense destructive power gave him a solid sense of security.

He couldn't help but guess, "This power... even against dungeon creatures, it should be very effective, right?"

After examining it for a moment, Nick didn't forget to retrieve the bolt from the ground. There were only 10 in total.

If he didn't reuse them, this hand crossbow would eventually run out of ammunition.

Nick looked around, and after confirming that nothing was missed, he turned his attention to the other directions. He had ten digging opportunities per day, and he had to make the most of them.

Moreover, with the help of the hand crossbow, Nick might even be able to kill ordinary solitary dungeon creatures.

After all, he clearly remembered one of the game rules: killing dungeon creatures could potentially yield extra rewards!

Nick strapped the hand crossbow to his waist so that he could react immediately in an emergency. He looked at the other three directions, and the pale blue translucent light screen appeared before his eyes.

[Dig 8 meters to the right, and you will drown in a swamp.]

[Dig 11 meters upwards, and you can obtain 1L of pure water.]

[Beware below. Killer ants can turn you into a pile of bones in just 3 minutes.]

"Pure water, huh?"

With two suicidal options, Nick could only choose to dig upwards. Even with the hand crossbow as a weapon, dealing with killer ants...

Would be like using a cannon to kill a mosquito—overkill.

Nick picked up the shovel and dug vigorously upwards. Water resources, extremely rare in the hot environment, had to be obtained no matter what.

It didn't take much effort for him to dig through the cave above.

When Nick arrived in the new cave, the passage beneath his feet vibrated briefly and instantly returned to its original state.

He surveyed the unfamiliar surroundings.

Nick had explored many dungeons, and they were basically all the same: stuffy, covered in scorch marks from fire, and devoid of any signs of life.

It was like a wasteland.

"Let's not waste any time..."

Nick looked at the faint light in the center of the cave, took out the pure water from the box on the ground, and didn't intend to stay here long.

But just then, as the soil on the wall loosened, a hole was opened in the hard wall, and it was constantly expanding.

"A dungeon creature is coming?"

This thought lingered in Nick's mind. He put away the pure water and decisively cocked the hand crossbow, loading a bolt.

If it was a dungeon creature, Nick could shoot it the moment it appeared.

If it was a human, he would simply be more cautious. After all, he didn't believe that any semblance of order could exist in the dungeon world, where even survival was a problem.

When the wall was completely dug through, a young man of about twenty years old appeared in Nick's sight. He didn't notice Nick and was surveying the dungeon.

The next moment, when the faint light reflected off the arrowhead of the crossbow and onto the young man's face, he noticed Nick holding the hand crossbow.

Nick's expression was quite serious at this moment.

He hadn't expected that the first person he encountered in the dungeon world wouldn't be a monster, but another human.

The young man naturally noticed the weapon in Nick's hand and quickly explained, "I'm not here to steal your dungeon, I just... I was just passing by!!"

"Um... I'll be going now!"

Just looking at Nick's serious face and the crossbow in his hand, if he dared to have any greedy thoughts, he felt like... Nick would pull the trigger at any moment.

"..."

Nick didn't say anything, remaining vigilant.

He couldn't be sure if this person also had weapons. If he made a mistake in judgment, the consequences would be irreversible.

The young man who had dug through the wrong passage didn't stay in the dungeon. After a moment of consideration, he chose a different direction to dig.

"He's gone?"

Nick didn't uncock the hand crossbow. Only after the other person had completely left and the digging passage had disappeared again did he put the hand crossbow away.

As long as the other person didn't target him, Nick wouldn't attack him directly. Judging from the young man's appearance, he had some gains.

Obtaining resources by hunting other people was something Nick couldn't do, at least at this stage.

After all, just surviving in the perilous dungeon world was a challenge for most people. There was no need to make things worse for them.

But this was on the premise that others didn't have any bad intentions towards Nick.

After the young man left, Nick focused on digging. He still had eight digging opportunities left, and he couldn't waste them.

After using the hints to avoid most dangers, apart from a few empty dungeons, Nick's gains were definitely good.

Just the water resources he collected were enough for three days, not to mention the compressed biscuits and instant meat for main meals.

It was definitely enough for a normal person for five days.

After using up all his digging opportunities, he could only choose to rest for a night in this relatively safe dungeon and continue exploring tomorrow when the digging count reset.

After taking out the miniature altar and confirming that there were no potential dangers around, the temporary camp appeared before Nick.

He looked at all the gains in the camp. Today alone, he had 4L of drinking water, 6 compressed biscuits, and 5 bags of instant meat.

As for the ancient hand crossbow, it was a pure surprise.

"Today's harvest was pretty good."

Looking at the final harvest, Nick gave a fairly objective evaluation. It would have been perfect if he could have collected some more crossbow bolts.

After organizing the survival resources, Nick threw the decayed wooden boxes into the campfire as fuel. In just a moment, a blazing fire was burning.

"I'll replenish my energy first..."

After taking care of everything, Nick took out his first meal of the day from the box: beef stew with potatoes, naturally instant food.

After heating it by the campfire for a moment, a not-too-tasty dinner was presented before him.

And during this rare free time while eating, Nick didn't forget to open the [Regional Channel] in the [Chat] function.

"I wonder how many people are left in the region?"