She said at last, her tone begrudging but softer than before.

"You actually followed directions for once."

Sid let out a tired laugh.

"You mean we followed directions. I was the one cleaning, remember? You were just there for… moral yelling."

Evelise frowned but didn't argue. Instead, she gave a short nod, as if admitting… very reluctantly that he had a point. Before Sid could say anything else, a faint chime echoed. His HUD flickered to life, displaying a glowing message.

[Task Complete: Clean the Cabin Interior]

"Finally!"

Sid muttered, straightening up. But then his eyes widened as the interface shifted. A black heart symbol pulsed faintly over Evelise's chest in the overlay, and a small +5 appeared beside it. The heart glowed dimly before settling into a softer shade, not completely dark anymore.

[SYSTEM MESSAGE!]

[+5 Bond Points gained]

[Current BP: 15 / 100]

[Heart Status: Black]

"What the hell is that…?"

Sid whispered, watching as the heart throbbed once and faded back into her. Evelise blinked, glancing at him curiously.

"What are you staring at?"

"Uh—nothing."

Sid said quickly, trying to hide the look of confusion on his face.

"Just… game stuff, I think. Some kind of relationship system."

"Relationship… system? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Guess it means we're getting along better. You know— bond points or something."

Evelise crossed her arms, looking away.

"Hmph. Don't get the wrong idea. I'm only tolerating you because you actually did something useful."

But even as she said it, her tone carried less bite than before. Before Sid could tease her, another quest notification blinked into view. Evelise turned toward the cracked wall, where sunlight spilled through the gaps, and spoke firmly.

"Next, we fix this. The walls are full of holes, and the roof is falling apart. It's a mess. We need proper shelter before the rain comes."

Her words echoed just as a new message appeared:

[Task 2: Repair the Walls and Roof]

[Objective: Gather 10x Scrap Wood, 5x Nails, 1x Cloth Sheet. Use Crowbar and Hammer to rebuild the damaged sections.]

"NOOOOO… I barely survived the cleaning quest, and now it wants me to build a house?"

"You're strong enough to carry me around, aren't you? Then you can handle a few nails and wood."

Sid opened his mouth to argue, then froze.

"Wait… I think I saw something like a box when I cleaned earlier—"

He started rummaging through the corner of the cabin, searching through the clutter. As he brushed aside an old blanket, his foot struck something hard. A large box, the same one he had cleared of debris earlier. Kneeling down, he wiped off the dust and dirt that had already gathered again, revealing its worn wooden surface and rusted hinges. He pried it open. A wave of dust shot into his face, making him cough.

"Ugh— perfect. My reward is tetanus."

The system chimed in:

[NEW STORAGE UNLOCKED!]

[Unlocked: Basic Storage Crate]

[A sturdy handmade crate for keeping your supplies organized.]

[Base Storage Capacity: 30 Slots]

"Another storage unlocked… finally."

He glanced at his overstuffed backpack resting by the wall and shook his head.

"About time, too. That bag's ready to explode from all the junk I've been carrying."

He ran a hand along the crate's edge, testing its sturdiness.

"A proper place to keep things organized. Tools, parts… this'll make scavenging a lot easier. Yeah… this is good. One less thing to worry about."

[Tip: You can store excess items from your backpack into this crate to free up space and manage your inventory more efficiently.]

"…That actually makes sense. If I transfer some items here, I'll have more space to carry things outside. It's efficient. Good. This will make scavenging easier."

As the dust settled, Sid took a moment to read the system notification carefully. Then something caught his eye. His loot sense flickered to life, casting a faint glow over the box. Inside were neatly arranged tools, rusty but still intact. All faintly glowing brown. There was a crowbar, a hammer, a pair of scissors, screws, a wrench, even a small bag of nails, and more.

"Well, would you look at that! Guess this place wasn't totally useless after all."

Evelise leaned closer, her ruby eyes curious.

"So… what's that?"

Sid held up the hammer proudly.

"This, my dear zombie princess, is our golden ticket to task completion."

"You mean you actually found tools?"

"Yep. Crowbar, hammer, nails— the whole apocalypse starter kit. All we need now are ten pieces of scrap wood and one cloth sheet. Looks like the universe wants me to play carpenter now."

"Then stop talking and start gathering, human. We still have a roof to fix."

Sid sighed dramatically, glancing up at the broken ceiling where sunlight poured through the cracks.

"Yeah, yeah. 'A Place to Call Home,' huh? Guess we're really doing this…"

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and set the box of tools beside the cracked wall. Crouching down, he began sorting through them one by one. Each tool glowed faintly brown under his loot sense.

"Nice. Everything here's still usable. My loot sense reacts to each one. Though my problem is… these tools are heavy. My bag's small— it won't get heavier, but it'll eat up all the space. Guess that's why there's a toolbox. Maybe I'll just leave them here and grab what I need later."

He picked up the hammer. It looked old but solid. The crowbar had only a bit of rust. Sid smiled faintly, proud of his luck. Then he lifted a small bag of nails and something caught his eye inside the box.

A different color shimmered. It wasn't the usual brown outline of a tool but a soft violet glow. Sid blinked and leaned closer.

"What the…?"

He murmured, tugging it out. It was a small notebook, wrapped in cracked leather. Evelise tilted her head, her crimson eyes narrowing.

"What did you find this time? Another toy?"

Sid chuckled, turning the notebook in his hand.

"Not a toy. More like… treasure. Look, it's glowing. That means it's either cursed, valuable, or both."

Evelise gave him a side eye, her ear twitching.

"Huh?

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