Chapter 48: Big Iron Axe

The moment the axe appeared, Gopuro’s eyes lit up with joy and excitement.

"UWOOOOOOOOHHHHH!!!!"

Dude roared, snatching the axe with both hands as if it were the most precious treasure in the world.

"Big Boss! THIS IS SO COOL!"

"Haha," I chuckled. "Today, you chop wood with this new axe!"

"HELL YEAH!!!"

I couldn’t help but smile at his reaction.

The crude bone axe he had been using before looked downright pathetic compared to this thing. The Big Iron Axe had a sturdy wooden handle and a massive iron blade that looked incredibly sharp and dangerous. It was also surprisingly heavy, weighing more than 7 kilograms, and was around 1.3 meters long, with the head itself over 40 cm wide.

This monstrous thing had been made for one purpose only: chopping through things with excessive amounts of force!

[Big Iron Axe]

Type: Weapon

Damage Type: Normal

Rarity: E

Description: A large, intimidating iron axe forged for heavy labor and combat.

Effect: +5 ATK

Special Effect: Grants the holder the Skill: [Big Slash Lv. 1]

[Big Slash]

Description: Channels energy from within the user’s body into the held weapon for one second, imbuing it with a small amount of mana. The user then unleashes a powerful slash that deals heavy damage.

Mana Cost per Slash: 10

*****

The previous night...

I spent 100 Points to upgrade the Item Shop to Level 2.

The moment I hit confirm, a familiar notification sound rang out.

[Ding! Purchasing Castle Core Upgrade... Success!]

[Ding! Your Item shop is now level 2]

With the item shop now leveled up, the levels of all three sub-shops also increased at once: the Furniture Shop, the Food Shop, and the Daily Equipment Shop!

I opened the Daily Equipment Shop first, since it was the one I cared about the most right now.

"Alright, let’s see all the new equipment!"

I had been hoping for some decent higher-tier weapons or armor. Maybe even a few proper iron pieces would be nice.

But the moment the new menu appeared before me, I was left utterly speechless.

[Daily Equipment Shop - Level 2]

Wooden Shield (F)

Wooden Katana (F)

Wooden Spear (F)

Bone Sword (F)

Bone Dagger (F)

Wooden Staff (F)

Sure, there was one more item in the selection now. The shop had gone from five items to six after reaching Level 2.

But...

"Oh, come on! Where the fuck are the higher-tier weapons?!"

I couldn’t believe it. All I got was more F-tier trash!

That was when I remembered exactly how this shop actually functioned.

The selection of items wasn’t guaranteed to improve just because the shop had leveled up. It was entirely based on rates.

Basically, it was a gacha.

[Current Rates:]

F Tier: 90%

E Tier: 10%

D Tier: 0%

C Tier: 0%

B Tier: 0%

A Tier: 0%

Each item slot had only a 10% chance of rolling an E-tier item.

"Oh god... I’m really unlucky, haha."

Not a single E-tier item.

Fortunately, I still had one free refresh for the day, so I used it.

The item menu refreshed.

[Daily Equipment Shop - Level 2]

Wooden Hammer (F)

Bone Sword (F)

Wooden Club (F)

Bone Sword (F)

Bone Staff (F)

Wooden Shield (F)

Once again, it was all F-tier.

"NOOOOO!!!"

Unlucky again!

"But wait... what is the probability of one shop having at least one E-tier item right now?"

I paused for a moment and did some quick mental math.

Since I had no paper, I got creative again and used the interface of the [Quest Creation] skill as a makeshift notepad, writing down the formulas directly onto it.

It had been a long time since I left school, but at least I still remembered how to handle basic probability problems.

And within five minutes, I got my answer.

The probability of getting at least one E-tier item in a single six-slot refresh was approximately 47%.

A little less than a coin flip.

So, losing that coin flip twice in a row was still perfectly reasonable.

Unlucky, yes, but nothing particularly strange.

"Haiya..."

I sighed, accepted my fate, and clicked the shop refresh again.

This time, however, it wasn’t free. The first extra refresh cost 5 Points. The second cost 25 Points.

And neither of them gave me an E-tier item.

"Fuck! What is this?! Rate up is a freaking a lie! You scammer system!"

I shouted angrily while staring at the screen in disbelief.

The probability of getting at least one E-tier item in a refresh was about 47%, meaning the probability of getting at least one E-tier item across four independent refreshes was roughly 92%.

In other words, I had somehow managed to hit the unlucky 8%!

And thus, I became even more suspicious of the System.

"Hmmmm...? Could it be... this is the System’s doing? Is it messing with my refreshes?"

"But why?"

"Could the System really be so shameless that it literally manipulates gacha rates?!"

"Or worse... is it enjoying messing with me? Does it take joy in watching me suffer?"

For some reason, that thought reminded me of those popular gacha-pulling videos on OurTube I used to watch.

The most entertaining ones were always the videos where some streamer lost consecutive 50/50s, hit pity every single time, cried like a bitch, and ended up spending a godly amount of money just to get the character they wanted.

Yeah...

People really do love watching other people suffer. We all do.

The System must be reveling in my defeat right now, laughing its ass off somewhere behind the scenes.

"Sigh... Let’s try again tomorrow."

The next shop refresh would cost 100 Points. There was no way I was paying that much just for a chance at one E-tier item. I wasn’t that stupid.

I almost instinctively closed the Daily Equipment Shop when I suddenly remembered something new that had come with the upgrade.

[Item Combining.]

From the name alone, it sounded like some kind of crafting system.

But the moment I checked the feature, my soul practically lit up with joy.

"Hell yes! This is exactly what I needed!"

[Item Combining]

You can combine multiple unwanted lower-tier equipment to create a random higher-tier equipment. From F-tier to A-tier, every 10 lower-tier items can be combined into one higher-tier item. The maximum tier you can obtain is determined by the current Item Shop level, and the System will charge a fee for each combining attempt.

For Item Shop Level 2:

10 F-tier → 1 E-tier

Cost: 50 Points

Maximum Tier: E-tier

My eyes practically sparkled as I looked at the screen.

Forget the gacha. Who needed luck when I could simply turn ten pieces of useless F-tier trash into something better?

I bought all the available F tier weapons in the shop then proceed with item combining.

And that was how, through the [Item Combining] feature, I eventually obtained the [Big Iron Axe].