Alpha Reborn!

Evan effortlessly stowed his sword in his inventory with a mere thought before hobbling towards the toppled golem while clutching his side.

Lirian tossed a flask at him, saying, "Here, catch."

Evan caught it and inspected it with a raised eyebrow. It was a flask with a round bottom, filled to the brim with a green-colored liquid.

"What is it?" he inquired.

"It's an intermediate-level healing panacea made from troll's blood. It may have a nasty stench, but it has potent healing properties. Just ignore the smell and chug it down like a man, and you'll start feeling better in no time," Lirian encouraged him to drink it.

"Oh well… What choice do I have? It's not like there's a healing pod waiting for me around here," Evan replied as he twisted off the lid.

A foul odor escaped the flask and rushed up his nostrils, instantly making him feel sick.

"Ugh! It smells worse than a rotten crop!"

Evan's nose scrunched up because of its horrendous smell.

However, as it could heal his injuries, he suppressed his disgust and emptied the content of the round-bottom flask inside his mouth, gulping it all down in one go. When dealing with such things, the faster you act, the better.

[You have consumed an intermediate-level healing potion]

As soon as the notification sounded, Evan's injuries started to close at a speed visible to the naked eye.

[You have recovered from your injuries!]

Evan checked himself out.

There was not a single imperfection left on his body.

The potion has helped him recover from all the injuries he had sustained during the battle in a few seconds.

He wasn't feeling light-headed either. It felt as if he had miraculously recovered from his loss of blood.

Lirian looked at him in shock and commented, "You are the first imperialist I have seen who drank it without any complaints."

"Don't make a big deal out of it. I just did what anyone with common sense would do if they were in my shoes." Evan shrugged off his praise. "Not to mention, the effect of this potion is better than low-grade healing pods that have recently been introduced in the capital!"

"Well... That's because they are manufactured for low-budged families." Lirian said.

The low-grade healing pod was a new invention of the empire, and it became a popular item as soon as it was revealed.

After all, it was so cheap that even an unprivileged family could afford to use it once a year.

Evan turned his attention back to the golem. His gaze lingered on the golem for a moment longer before turning to Lirian.

"Help me dismantle it," he requested in a low and steady voice.

"As you wish," Lirian acquiesced, moving towards the golem's chest and prying it open with ease.

The duo's eyes darted to the golden vault nestled within. Intricate designs were etched onto its surface, marking it as a work of exquisite craftsmanship.

"It's locked," Lirian noted after attempting to force the vault open.

Evan drew closer, peering at the patterns etched onto the chest with a discerning eye.

"A magic array is keeping the vault sealed. Basically, we can't open it unless we use the key that can dispel the magic array," he explained.

It was exactly as he remembered!

Lirian raised an eyebrow, "That seems troublesome. Should I just punch it open?"

Evan shook his head, "Don't. It's not a normal vault. It contains a delicate subspace inside. Recklessly attacking it would cause it to destabilize, which would result in some items being lost."

Lirian's expression shifted to one of concern.

"Then what do you propose we should do?" he asked, eager to hear Evan's plan of action.

Evan teasingly smiled, "Did I ever say I don't have the 'key' to dispel its lock?"

Lirian's eyes lit, hearing his word. He couldn't help but say, "Don't keep me in suspense. Hurry up and open it."

"Move aside," Evan said.

According to the storyline of the game, the first person to get the treasure vault was a notorious NPC called Vera Silvermane - a cosmic crusader who was infamous for all the wrong reasons

Vera was a high-profile villain who had managed to get his hands on the vault, but he was unable to unlock it without the key.

Unfortunately, he was clueless about its whereabouts.

A quest was issued towards the end of the first patch of the game, requesting players to take down Vera Silvermane. The one who landed the killing strike on Vera earned the sealed treasure vault as their reward.

The victorious player shared a screenshot of their achievement with everyone. The description box stated that the treasure vault had the potential to grant all the epic and rare drops of the Kobold's dungeon of mischief, but only if one could figure out a way to open it. The player went a step further and vowed to reward anyone who could bring him the key with a rare item.

The player vowed to award anyone who could bring him the key with a rare item.

Many people took the bait.

After all, players could tackle the dungeon in hopes of obtaining a rare item, but the drop rate was ridiculously low, and it depended on probability and luck. For example, if the drop rate of a rare item was 10%, a player might not get one even after completing the dungeon ten times - that's how bad the RNG system of the game was. And here they were, being guaranteed a 100% chance of winning a rare item.

Countless players went all out while searching for the key in the hope of obtaining a rare item.

Evan, aka Christian Wolfie, had refrained from participating as his in-game character was still low-level at that time, and he knew that he would be killed in the crossfire and lose several levels for no good reason.

It was after a week that someone won the player-initiated event and got their hands on the rare item.

This person eventually revealed the true face of the key to everyone else. It was because he felt bad for keeping the information all to himself even after the player-initiated event had ended.

The key was an epic poem!

It was so good that it became the slogan for the players!

Evan remembered it as he had sung it with his band of werewolves a good few times. His memory of those days was still fresh, so he didn't find it hard to recite it

'Amidst a dismal fate foreseen,

The maidens wail in sorrowful mien,

Countless eyes brim with tears, for warriors march

Towards death, a bleak and certain arch.

But shards of light pierce the darkness of the night,

Transforming chaos into a beautiful sight,

With golden lotuses blooming bright,

A savior arrives to banish the blight.

Dispelling gloom and doom with all his might,

He leads the warriors to glorious heights,

Together they fight, creating a mighty uproar,

That shakes the verses and opens the door.

Let hope and love conquer all,

And free the future from the grip of hollows.'

Evan recited the poem emotionally.

In the game, because of the poem, every player of the intergalactic just faction believed that they were the saviors of the galaxies. The passion of the development team could also be felt through it. They were really giving it all to make the game better!

Evan finished the poem, and with a 'Poof,' the magic array vanished in a puff of smoke.

Click!

The sound of the treasure vault opening rang out.

[Ding! The treasure vault has been unlocked]

[Congratualtions! You have obtained 1000× low-level soul energy crystals, 100× Poisonbane herbs, 3× Spirit Surge Elixir, 2× Celestial Connector, 1× Nightshade Nectar, 1× small black box, 1× Blade Master Skill Crystal!]

The system notified Evan.

"Literally, everything we see is useful," Lirian said excitedly as he gazed inside.

"I only need these," Evan said as he picked up the skill crystal, the small bottle with the nightshade nectar, and the small black box and stored them in his inventory. "The rest is for you."

"No. We will share the remaining treasure equally." Lirian said.

He liked hoarding treasures, but he wasn't the type of person who would wrong his BFF out of greed.

"Okay, let's do it after we return to the empire," Evan said with a calm voice as he put the remaining items inside his inventory with a simple thought.

Just as they stood up to leave planet Avalon, a sudden menacing voice dripping with poison echoed from behind them, startling them so much that for a moment, they halted in their tracks, a chill shooting up their spines.

"You can forget about that! You won't be returning anywhere. This place will be your burial ground."