New Companion

As if to respond to his question, a new window appeared. This time, it looked more like a main menu than the individual panels from before.

In a ribbon-style list, a few entries were visible in a horizontal line on top of his view: Character, Management, Quests, Gacha, Options, Log Out, and Help.

"Oh, so it's this one?" he muttered, tapping the word he'd just read—Gacha.

The screen changed again, morphing into a new interface with a large banner at the top. Xu Tao raised an eyebrow as he read the descriptions.

[UR Jehanne d'Arc Banner is active! Roll 500 times to guarantee getting her!]

[UR Arthur Pendragon Banner is active! Roll 500 times to guarantee getting him!]

[Little Pet, SR Pepe's Banner is active! Roll 10 times to guarantee getting a cute companion!]

A beautiful girl carrying a spear with a triangular flag? A handsome man wielding a golden sword? Or… a round, pea-looking "something"?

Xu Tao didn't need to think twice. He quickly tapped the third option.

Each roll cost 1 System Point, which meant he could only afford a literal single pull. Considering the quest reward, the third banner was practically made for him.

Right after selecting the Little Pet banner, the screen changed once more.

Now it displayed a small, strange creature—like a green pumpkin with big, round, yellow eyes. Below it were two buttons: 1x Roll and 10x Roll.

"..."

Just to test the system, Xu Tao pressed the 10x Roll button. A warning popped up instantly: Insufficient Points.

"Tch," he clicked his tongue.

He thought it might slip through if the System was buggy—but apparently, the core mechanics were solid.

So, he tapped the 1x Roll and waited.

The screen transitioned again—this time to a flashy video of a gold-and-red roulette wheel spinning, white confetti raining down, and a little blue floating hand darting around.

Xu Tao, who'd once been addicted to gambling, couldn't help but feel a tinge of excitement watching the wheel spin.

The blue hand hovered over different parts of the wheel… then suddenly grabbed the side and stopped it.

The pointer froze on a plain white block.

"HEY!"

Xu Tao shouted, furious. "What the hell?! Why'd you stop it?! That's cheating!"

He didn't realize the hand was just a visual. It hadn't interfered at all.

[Congratulations! You received 1x Candy!]

"You fucking System...!" he roared. "You interrupted the roll! I got a candy because of you!"

A tiny, wrapped candy manifested mid-air and fell helplessly to the ground.

Still, the System didn't respond. It offered no explanation or apology. Instead, a new window appeared, clearly trying to redirect his attention.

[

Quest Complete: Let's Roll the Gacha!

Rewards Gained: Free 10 Consecutive Rolls Voucher

]

The moment he confirmed the reward, the 10x Roll button lit up.

Without delay, trying to rein in his temper, Xu Tao tapped it and watched the roulette reappear—only to growl in anger as he spotted the blue hand again.

"You…!" he grumbled as purple confetti began falling. "Stop it! Get out of there!" he shouted, swiping his hand through the screen as if trying to swat a fly.

In the chaos, he accidentally tapped Skip, cutting the animation short and jumping straight to the results.

[Congratulations! You received 4x Candy, 2x Bread, Water (1 bottle), 1x Storage Ring (R), and 1x Pepe (SR)!]

A second later, all the items manifested in mid-air and dropped onto the sand near the first candy.

They were all small—except one.

It was green, and about the size of a basketball. Round, slightly elongated, and very much pumpkin-like, with a crack running across one side. From that crack peeked two big, golden-yellow eyes.

A short green vine with two leaves sprouted from its base, while a stubby brown stem curved from the top like a rhinoceros beetle's horn.

"Pui~!"

The thing let out a squeaky, adorable sound as it floated toward Xu Tao, eyeing him up and down. Then, like an overexcited puppy, it began orbiting him in circles, chirping, "Pui, Pui~!" over and over.

"Great…" Xu Tao sighed. "Looks like it's another mouth to feed… Doesn't look like it has a mouth though."

He sensed no Qi from the weird creature, but somehow, just looking at it made him feel calm. Peaceful, even. It was odd… but he decided to put that thought aside for now.

"I knew it! I scared off the blue hand! And I got a treasure!" he grinned, convinced his earlier flailing had actually affected the outcome.

Among the usual "trash" items, he'd also received a real treasure: a Rare (R) Storage Ring! It looked exactly like the kind he used in his cultivation world.

He slipped it onto his finger without hesitation and channeled a sliver of True Qi into it.

At once, the ring's color shifted from plain colorless metal to match his eyes: a radiant pure gold.

"Hehe~" Xu Tao chuckled, admiring it.

It didn't have a massive capacity—just about 1 cubic meter of internal space—but that was already more than enough for now.

He stored everything he'd gathered so far: the bread, the water bottles, even the candies he pretended not to care about. He also threw in the now-empty sunscreen bottle—just in case he found a use for it later.

"Good!" he nodded. "Now, for real this time—it's time to move!"

He'd been stuck at the bottom of the Sand Beetle Larvae's trap for far too long, constantly interrupted by the Lost System's popups.

Now, with the Gacha window finally closed, a new icon lingered in his vision: the main menu button. It looked eerily like the one from the VR pod.

Xu Tao stood still for a moment, wary.

He waited.

And waited...

No System. No fanfare. No windows. Nothing.

It seems the System's delayed "rewards" awarding were already over.

"…Alright then," he muttered.

Carefully, he climbed out of the sand basin and looked around, orienting himself.

He spotted the same towering mountain in the far distance from earlier and faced toward it. With a clear direction now, Xu Tao started walking.

The sun still blazed overhead. The sand still crunched under his bare foot. And his new pet, Pepe, still floated around him with excited chirps.

But now—now, Xu Tao felt something different.

A tiny shift.

A flicker of confidence.

Slowly but surely, he was starting to believe he could survive in this rotten, decrepit world.