The thief collapsed to the floor, his entire body twitching twice before going completely still.
Renn forced himself out of bed, shut the door, and secured the latch again.
Only then did he turn his attention to the thief’s corpse.
With that attack just now, Renn had crushed the thief’s throat outright.
The Clear Cube Contract was one of the most common ways to use Clear Cube Fragments, and it provided a substantial boost—especially for Renn in his current state.
Physical Attack and Magic Attack both increased by 40 points.
Its only drawback was that the effect lasted just thirty seconds.
Renn stepped forward and searched the thief’s body.
There wasn’t much of value.
The only thing that looked worthwhile was the dagger the thief had been holding.
It appeared to be military-grade and was extremely sharp.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to Renn.
“Can I disassemble a corpse?”
He glanced at the thief’s body on the floor.
With a thought, the Disassembler appeared.
The wooden hut became even more cramped than before, now that there was a corpse taking up space as well.
Renn braced his knee against the chair for support, minimizing the strain on his injured lower leg.
Then he grabbed the thief’s corpse with both hands, lifted it, and tossed it into the Disassembler.
“Clack, clack!”
The gears began to turn.
“Ding!”
“Disassembly successful. Disassembly EXP gained: 14.”
Two Clear Cube Fragments appeared.
“Combat Fundamentals acquired: 6. Current progress: 45%.”
“Theft Fundamentals acquired: 14. Current progress: 14%.”
“Biological Energy acquired: 6.”
A warm current flowed into Renn’s body.
Renn froze for a moment.
As the warmth spread through him, he realized that his injuries seemed to be healing rapidly.
Originally, he had estimated that it would take roughly a week before he could get out of bed.
Because of the thief’s intrusion, however, Renn had been forced to use a Clear Cube Fragment to activate the Clear Cube Contract, kill the thief, force himself out of bed to secure the door, and then throw the corpse into the Disassembler.
That had worsened his injuries.
At that point, he would have needed at least two weeks to recover from everything except the fracture in his lower leg.
Yet after absorbing the warm current, Renn could tell that perhaps in just three more days, all his other injuries would be completely healed.
Even his fractured leg would recover faster.
He could clearly feel that most of the warm current was being consumed by his injured lower leg.
“I didn’t expect corpses to actually be disassemblable. And they give quite a lot, too.”
A delighted look appeared on Renn’s face.
With a thought, the Disassembler vanished.
The wooden hut returned to the way it had been before, as though the thief had never come at all.
“Three Clear Cube Fragments, plus a pretty good dagger.”
“And quite a few fundamental skills on top of that.”
“These basic skills might not seem very useful right now, but they’ll definitely come in handy later.”
The sky gradually darkened.
A purple-haired figure approached the wooden hut.
“Knock, knock!”
“It’s me.”
Renn opened the door.
The purple-haired girl glanced inside and frowned slightly.
“Did someone else come here?”
“A thief tried to pry open the door while you were gone. He probably saw you leave. But he’s already gone.”
The girl nodded without saying anything more.
In Meteor City, things like this were perfectly ordinary.
“This is dinner.”
The purple-haired girl tossed him a piece of bread.
Renn caught it and noticed that the piece in her own hand was smaller and darker.
There were already patches of mold growing on it.
The girl tore away the moldy parts and put what remained into her mouth.
She ate in tiny bites.
As though she couldn’t bear to finish the bread all at once.
Even though bread in that condition could hardly have tasted good.
Renn hesitated for a moment, then took out a Clear Cube Fragment.
“This is the gemstone I promised you.”
The purple-haired girl’s eyes lit up.
“What kind of gemstone is this?”
“A Clear Gemstone.”
The girl carefully placed the gemstone at the very bottom of the wooden chest.
Renn said, “I still need you to provide me with food for another three days. During those three days, I’ll give you another Clear Gemstone. After that, I’ll go out with you.”
The purple-haired girl nodded.
Night fell completely.
The girl took an old, worn blanket from the chest and spread it across the floor.
Renn closed his eyes.
The night passed quietly.
When Renn opened his eyes the next morning, the purple-haired girl had already left.
A biscuit sat on the table.
It was his breakfast.
That evening, however, the girl didn’t return.
Renn waited for a long time.
It wasn’t until the following morning that she finally came back.
Her body was covered in fresh injuries, and she looked utterly battered.
“Thud!”
The moment she stepped inside, she collapsed face-first onto the floor.
Renn helped the girl onto the bed and wiped her face with a damp cloth before checking her injuries.
The external wounds didn’t look too serious, but Renn had no way to tell how badly she might be injured internally.
“Meteor City is even harsher than I imagined.”
“It’s only been three days.”
“I really don’t know how she managed to survive here before.”
There was no food left in the chest.
The purple-haired girl still hadn’t woken up.
Renn looked toward the door.
After hesitating for a moment, he got to his feet and limped out of the wooden hut.
A massive garbage heap stood several hundred meters away.
There was no fresh trash on it, and only a few people were searching through the pile.
The chances of finding anything useful there were extremely low.
But Renn had no better option.
Suddenly, a dark shadow darted past at astonishing speed.
Renn reacted instinctively, thrusting his dagger forward.
“Shhk!”
A rat was skewered on the blade.