Infinity, The Arcade Age

In the void, a slideshow once again appeared, and the data beside it began to scroll. Scenes of Qin Ming's accomplishments flashed by: ambushing and killing the heavy-armored swordsman leader Kaido, swiftly eliminating the careless swordsman leader Lance, leading the villagers in a desperate defense against the invading army, and finally intercepting the boss of the first chapter, Sir Scorn, mid-escape.

The final image froze on the moment when Qin Ming fired six shots in quick succession, instantly killing the swordsman leader Lance. The data beside it stopped scrolling and stabilized.

The familiar notification from the Nightmare Space rang in Qin Ming's ears.

Ding! First chapter of the Round Table Knights world complete!

Main Quest: Kill ten swordsmen or one heavy-armored swordsman — completed. Reward: 1,000 points, 1 free attribute point.

Optional Quest: Kill the chapter's final boss, Sir Scorn — completed. Reward: 2,000 points, 2 free attribute points.

Hidden Quest: Defend the village — completed. Reward: 3,000 points, 3 free attribute points.

Total rewards: 6,000 points and 6 free attribute points. Rewards have been delivered.

As he observed the new points and rewards now in his possession, Qin Ming, who was back in his room, couldn't help but smile brightly.

His joy only grew as he opened his inventory to review the spoils of his recent conquests. This time, the loot was abundant.

He had three dim silver keys: two from minor bosses and one from the major boss. However, due to the involvement of several plot characters during his fight with Sir Scorn, the rewards had been significantly reduced. What should have been a regular silver key was downgraded to a dim silver key, placing it on the same level as the rewards from the minor bosses.

In addition to the three large treasure chests, Qin Ming also received five green treasure chests and eleven white treasure chests.

On top of that, there were some items he had exchanged using favorability points: four servings of vegetable salad and one pair of green-grade pants.

Sitting on his bed and gazing at the pile of keys laid out before him, Qin Ming didn't hesitate to activate his special talent and began the fusion process.

As his King of Junk ability took effect, the keys began to merge into one. After some patchwork combining, a large portion of the lower-grade chests vanished, leaving behind five dim silver keys, a blue key fragment, and a leftover white key.

Faced with the five dim silver keys, Qin Ming hesitated briefly before deciding not to fully fuse them into a single key. Instead, he merged them into two regular silver keys.

Fusing them into a high-tier radiant key could have potentially yielded better rewards, but there was only a 50% chance of success. Splitting them into three separate silver keys tripled his odds of receiving useful items, even if the gear quality might be lower. But that was no issue—Qin Ming could always fuse the equipment later.

Besides, regular silver equipment was more than sufficient for him at this point.

When the chests opened, Qin Ming's decision was validated. Inside were some valuable treasures.

Out of the three silver chests, he pulled out one regular silver-grade weapon, one blue-grade plot equipment, and one special item.

Item Name: Sir Scorn's Halberd (Round Table Knights, Chapter One)

Category: Weapon (Regular Silver Equipment)

Requirements: Strength 15, Agility 15

Effects:

Strength +10Agility +5

Skill: Piercing Thrust (C-grade Active): Strike an enemy with the halberd, triggering a strength check. If the target's strength is lower than the user's, the target is thrown, dealing two instances of damage (Damage = Strength ×2).

Description: This was Sir Scorn's favored weapon, which he used to behead countless enemies. Ironically, it was also the weapon that ultimately severed his own head.

Item Name: Kaido's Swordsman Armor

Category: Chestpiece (Blue Plot Equipment)

Requirements: Strength 10

Effects:

Constitution +5Defense +5

Description: The treasured armor of the heavy-armored swordsman leader Kaido, which helped him survive many battles. However, as it turns out, plate armor doesn't stop bullets.

Item Name: Black Magic Potion

Category: Consumable (Regular Silver)

Effects: Temporarily boosts Strength, Constitution, and Agility by 25 points each for one hour. After the effect wears off, these three stats are permanently reduced by 10 points. If any stat is already below 10, the user dies.

Description: This is a potion crafted by the dark mages under the command of the terrifying Duke. It grants a temporary surge in combat power, but why is the quality so high for this one?!

All three items were absolute treasures.

A top-tier weapon, a powerful armor, and a life-saving elixir that could turn the tide of battle—all of them valuable. But there was a catch: the weapon's requirements were too high for Qin Ming to use for now.

As for the armor, Qin Ming already had a blue-grade chestpiece of a similar level. He didn't need it.

And the potion? No way! Only a fool would rely on such a suicidal concoction.

Thirty points of attributes? Even after clearing two worlds, Qin Ming hadn't accumulated that much yet. There was no way he'd be willing to lose that much just for a temporary advantage!

So, after staring at the three items for a while, Qin Ming found that he couldn't use any of them immediately.

Casually opening the remaining two chests, which contained a regular blue-grade pair of boots and a white-grade short sword, Qin Ming sat cross-legged on his bed, deep in thought as he looked at his loot.

After a brief moment of indecision, he made up his mind. He would enhance his gear.

He grabbed the newly acquired blue boots and fused them with his beloved Tyrannosaurus Vest, upgrading the blue plot equipment to dim silver plot equipment.

Looking at the new attributes of his vest, Qin Ming nodded in satisfaction.

Item Name: Bloodthirsty Butcher's Beloved Vest (Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, Chapter Two)

Category: Chestpiece (Dim Silver Plot Equipment)

Requirements: None

Effects:

Strength +8Constitution +8Defense +3

Description: A vest personally made by the Bloodthirsty Butcher. For some reason, its quality seems slightly better than before.

With a content smile, Qin Ming slipped the vest on.

In terms of pure stats, the new swordsman armor was clearly superior, boasting a whopping +5 to defense. Wearing it would render him nearly immune to the regular mobs in the first chapter. If he upgraded it further, he might even be able to withstand attacks from elite monsters.

However, the armor was too bulky to wear comfortably, unlike his vest, which was more practical and easy to conceal.

After weighing his options, Qin Ming decided to stick with the more versatile vest and planned to sell the heavy swordsman armor instead.

As for why he chose to enhance the vest with the boots instead of the armor? The reasoning was simple: the boots were regular blue equipment, while the armor was a blue plot item—far more valuable.

Selling the armor would be more profitable than fusing it.

With his vest upgraded, Qin Ming turned his attention to the black magic potion and the silver halberd. After a brief moment of contemplation, he decided to fuse these items as well.

This time, the target of the fusion would be his Tyrannosaurus Handgun and the silver consumable Honor Certificate he had received for increasing favorability with the village.

(End of Chapter)