The Shelter Game: Me, Starting with a Tenfold Drop Rate

Irving and James stood silently, staring at the treasure chest for a while, as if both of them were trying to find a clue to the chest's key.

Wendy, standing not far away, was slightly speechless.

"Didn't you both say that finding the treasure chest was already extremely lucky? Since even Irving can't detect the presence of a key, let's not dwell on it any longer."

Wendy's words had no effect.

Irving and James continued to fix their eyes on the chest.

After a moment, Irving slowly said, "I have a feeling there's a living creature inside the chest."

As he finished speaking, Irving tapped the chest with his finger.

Wendy hesitated slightly before asking, "If I'm not mistaken, the chest has been sealed in this underground area for a very long time. If there really is a living creature inside, its lifespan must be extraordinarily long."

"That's definitely a possibility! From what I know, if a creature in the shelter game is exceptionally powerful, its lifespan would naturally be very extended," James added, nodding in agreement with Wendy.

At that moment, the chest suddenly shook.

Immediately, a large amount of geomagnetic energy appeared around the chest.

The instant the geomagnetic energy emerged, Irving focused his mind, hoping to trace the source of the energy.

Unsurprisingly, Irving's attention was drawn back to the chest, as all the geomagnetic energy was emanating from it. The energy seemed to be generated out of thin air within the chest.

"We must open this chest as soon as possible! I need to know what's inside!"

Irving stepped back a few paces from the chest and then drew out his most powerful weapon, the Staff of Calamity.

Seeing Irving's actions, James asked with slight surprise, "You're not planning to release a powerful spell in this confined space, are you?!"

Irving nodded calmly.

"If you don't want to get hurt, you better leave now!"

James didn't hesitate and immediately left the room. Wendy hesitated for a moment; she actually wanted to see the power of Irving's spell up close.

"I'll give you another half minute. If you're still here, I'll release a Fireball," Irving said coldly to Wendy.

Wendy shrugged and followed James out of the small room.

After James and Wendy left, Irving raised the Staff of Calamity in his hand. A dazzling beam of light appeared, and a massive fireball quickly materialized at the top of the staff.

Irving swung the staff, hurling the fireball towards the chest. The first fireball struck the chest, yet it remained completely undamaged. Not even the gems adorning the chest were dislodged by Irving's attack.

Faced with this situation, Irving remained remarkably calm. He knew that if the creature inside the chest was extremely powerful, then the chest itself would be exceedingly sturdy.

"Anyway, I have no pressure right now! If you can understand what I'm saying, you better open the chest from the inside. If you don't, I will keep attacking it."

After saying this, Irving raised the Staff of Calamity again. This time, he hurled five consecutive fireballs. When these fireballs struck the chest, it still showed no signs of damage.

But Irving was not disheartened because he could sense that the living creature inside the chest seemed to be getting angry.

The geomagnetic energy around the chest fluctuated violently. The immense geomagnetic energy even formed a green mist around the chest, capable of blocking human senses and some magical attacks.

Seeing this, Irving smiled.

"It seems you understand that my attacks pose a significant threat to you. But I must tell you, this tactic of yours is useless."

With a casual wave of his hand, the green mist around the chest quickly dissipated.

Although the living creature inside the chest could generate geomagnetic energy around it, the chest itself isolated the creature from the outside world. The creature could only launch a counterattack by continually generating geomagnetic energy fluctuations.

However, continuously generating geomagnetic energy fluctuations was clearly a very draining process.

"Your strength is nearly depleted. Once it's completely exhausted, I'll easily open the chest!"

While applying pressure, Irving continued to wave his staff, releasing one Fireball after another. The power of the Fireballs he was now casting was significantly greater than before.

The current Irving was entirely different from the Irving of the past.

When Irving didn't have the Taikoo Flame Pearl, didn't possess the power of chaos, and hadn't received the blessings of the Smith family ancestors, his Fireball was already more powerful than those of ordinary people.

Now, with so many positive buffs, the Fireballs Irving cast could hardly be called Fireballs anymore. What he threw now were practically miniature suns.

With Irving's relentless attacks, the gems on the chest began to fall off one by one. As the gems fell, the geomagnetic energy around the chest rapidly diminished. From within the chest, the painful wails of some creature could be heard.

"I'm giving you one last chance now. If you don't open the chest from the inside, I'll concentrate all my power to release an exceptionally powerful Fireball," Irving said, raising the Staff of Calamity.

He wasn't threatening the creature; Irving's patience had been completely exhausted. He had no intention of wasting any more time.

After waiting a few seconds, there was still no other sound from within the chest.

Irving chuckled, "Your refusal actually helps me make up my mind."

With that, his smile quickly vanished. With determined eyes, he raised the Staff of Calamity.

As the power within Irving was continuously gathered by the Taikoo Flame Pearl, the light at the tip of the staff grew increasingly dazzling.

After a short period of preparation, Irving combined the power of chaos and the energy from the Taikoo Flame Pearl to form a fireball as radiant as the sun.

He swung the staff, hurling the intensely hot fireball. The chest was ultimately reduced to ashes under the fireball's attack. In the place where the chest once stood, a frog-like creature glared at Irving with furious eyes.

The skin on the frog's body had been entirely scorched by the flames. Although it was still alive, it wouldn't survive much longer. The Fireball Irving had just used had almost cooked it.

"Don't glare at me with those angry eyes. I gave you several chances, but you didn't open the chest from the inside. So I had no choice but to destroy it by force," Irving said.

Just as Irving finished speaking, the frog lunged at him. At the same time, Irving could sense an extremely powerful geomagnetic energy surrounding the frog's body.

"I don't understand, why do you want to be my enemy?" Irving easily knocked the charging frog to the ground. However, he did not intend to kill it immediately. Irving had many questions and hoped to get answers from the creature.

The frog continued to glare at Irving with angry eyes, but after a while, its eyes gradually lost their luster.

"The trail goes cold again! I still don't know the identity of this frog, or who left it here. I have no way to judge whether the castle is safe or not," Irving said, looking at the dead frog with a hint of regret.

At that moment, James and Wendy cautiously approached the doorway.

James called out to Irving in the room, "How's it going? You didn't encounter any danger, did you?"

Irving, slightly puzzled, responded, "What kind of danger would I encounter?"

Wendy, admiring Irving's calm demeanor, said, "I have to admit, you really are someone who stays composed under pressure. Was that Fireball just now your doing? Your final strike caused the entire castle to shake violently. If I'm not mistaken, even the exotic beasts around the castle have been frightened into hiding."

Irving glanced at Wendy and then shifted his gaze to James. James nodded silently.

Irving suddenly realized that his previous actions might have been a bit rash.

"Perhaps I was too impatient. But my actions weren't entirely in vain. I managed to open the chest, and inside was just a dead frog."

With that, Irving motioned for James and Wendy to come into the room.

Wendy looked at the chest, which had been reduced to ashes, and the scattered gems on the ground, speaking with a tone of regret, "I think the chest was probably very valuable. If we could have kept it intact, we might have been able to sell it to the Angel Guild."

After saying this, Wendy began to carefully pick up the scattered gems from the ground.

James, however, did not focus on the ashes of the chest or the scattered gems. His eyes were fixed on the dead frog. Irving could tell from James's expression that he recognized the frog.

"You seem to know this frog. Can you tell me everything you know about it?" Irving asked.

James nodded solemnly, "I do recognize this frog. But I don't know much about it. All I can tell you is that this frog comes from the Abyss of Death, which is not far to the south."

Hearing the name Abyss of Death, Irving's expression also became more serious. The Abyss of Death was known among players of the shelter game as the largest discovered lake.