03. Dark Cave

Throughout Ave's life, he never ate beef or pork. At most, he would have chicken head stew or discarded chicken wings from the butchers that were not sell well.

Also, he never had his own room.

Ave slept with his old and blind grandmother. Every day, Ave had to change his grandma's diaper using old cloth and wash the soiled cloth diaper with water before heading to school.

Ave never changed his school uniform either. He only had one black bag with various stitches all around, and who knows how many times the zipper broke, he just replaced it with safety pins to keep it closed.

However, Ave never complained. He thought it was normal in New Orleans. In this dystopian country, poverty was a common thing, and almost 75% of New Orleans' population were poor, with a high crime rate.

The gap between the poor and the rich was huge, from everyday clothes to shopping places, to their residential living areas. New Orleans truly classified and differentiated their citizens based on money and class. It was not uncommon for Ave and other kids from poor neighborhoods to get beaten by the rich people for accidentally passing in front of them on the street.

The police in New Orleans turned a blind eye when such incidents occurred. They were all silenced with money.

Money, money, and money. In this broken land, money was most crucial factor.

As long as someone had a lot of money, you could buy fame and climb into the elite group, becoming the most respected class in New Orleans. Even the president could not do anything once this elite group spoke using their golds and coins.

With money, someone could control this country with just their fingertips.

"Huff, I wanna make some cash."

Ave sighed quietly, feeling his way along the dark cave wall he had managed to enter to escape the pit where he fell. The hologram map in front of Ave showed this cave was not a dead end and had a pretty long route, though Ave was not quite sure where he would end up later.

"If only I could find money quickly."

[Host's request accepted. Searching for a skill with the effect of earning money quickly.]

"Huh? Wait a minute... why are you suddenly like that?"

[Skill found. Unlocking the new skill 'Coin Master' driven by the host's strong desire for money. Coin Master has several sub-skills.]

[Determining sub-skills according to the host's request.]

"Hey, are you kidding?" Ave stood frozen in place, surprised to hear the strange voice processing strange things he could not comprehend just because Ave wanted them.

[Sub-skill found. Unlocking the sub-skill from 'Coin Master' called 'Treasure Magnet.']

[Treasure Magnet is a sub-skill that allows the host to use a radar to find valuable items around the host—such as gold, diamonds, and money.]

[Treasure Magnet successfully obtained. Does the host want to activate the sub-skill?]

"No, no, no!" Ave quickly answered, shaking his head in refusal. If he could use the radar to find valuable items, it meant his neighbor's jewelry and money would also be on the radar. He would become a thief! He did not want to be a thief and end up in jail!

[Answer: Treasure Magnet sub-skill is limited to unowned treasures, ranging from valuable plants, rare animals, to raw diamonds in the ground. Possessions of others will automatically be excluded from the host's radar.]

"Huff—thought you were really gonna turn me into a thief," Ave sighed in relief when he knew this skill was safe to use in this crime-filled world. He could end up in jail, and all the wealth he had gathered might be seized by the government just like that. Just thinking about it made Ave's heart ache.

The young man nodded. "Activate the skill."

[Host request is being processed.]

[Subskill Treasure Magnet has been activated.]

Ngiing—

Ngiiiiing—

Ave winced, closing both ears when the shrill sound rang in them, almost making the young man's head explode. Despite the painful noise, Ave could see another hologram next to the map, a radar with a clockwise-spinning needle analyzing the area.

Beep.

Beep. Beep.

Shortly after, Ave could see several red dots appearing on the radar in various sizes, ranging from small dots to quite large circles that took up almost a quarter of the radar size.

Wait, if small dots indicate treasure there, then what does the big circle mean? Is Ave going to find a cave filled with gold and diamonds?

The young man quickly wiped off the saliva that accidentally came out of his mouth and swallowed it, feeling this was really beyond his mind.

"Should I go there?" Ave asked himself. He then compared the location of the large circle on the radar and matched it with the cave map. The large circle was located in the northeast side of the path Ave was passing through.

The man nodded with determination. "I'll peek at the red circle and find out what's there, then come back to the main path. Don't worry, Ave, you'll surely make it back successfully."

Money does make someone go crazy, indeed.

Ave quickened his steps, not a bit afraid of the darkness ahead. Even though the cave was really dark, Ave could still see quite well. His childhood was spent walking through the city's sewers, collecting leftover food from restaurants or malls that accidentally fell into the drains. Darkness and cold air had been Ave's companions for a long time.

As the young man walked, he came across some small spots and didn't miss any of them. Some of these spots were rare herbal plants that could be sold for a good price at the drugstore. Ave plucked the plants one by one and stuffed them into his school blazer, which he used as a temporary storage bag

He could wash the dirty blazer, but those rare medicinal plants could not be easily found again.

"Hehehe, I've probably earned about $200 for these two kilos of medicinal leaves. One kilo of medicinal plants is often valued at around $100, as long as they're in good condition with roots intact and leaves not wilting, as it affects the quality of the medicine produced."

Ave patted the blazer containing the medicinal plants with a wide, never-fading smile on his face. He would definitely come here often to hunt for money.

"Oh, right, I have to go to that big circle place." Almost allured by those valuable medicinal plants, Ave almost forgot his main goal.

"Hmmm, if I really find a cave with a mountain of treasure, this blazer won't be enough to hold them all. What should I do? Should I come back here periodically to take them bit by bit?" Ave muttered to himself, as if the big red circle on the radar was truly a warehouse of treasures filled with gold and diamonds.

"Hey there, do you have a storage space or something I can use temporarily to carry my stuff?" Ave asked the hologram, remembering Fraser's story about fantasy novel heroes storing their cool weapons in a virtual storage space and being able to grab them anytime.

[Answer: The host has an inventory area for storing important items. Press the chest icon below the profile to open the inventory feature. Currently, the inventory capacity is limited to 25 items, and identical items count as one item.]

Ave listened carefully to the notification explanation and immediately opened the chest icon as instructed by the voice. 

Sure enough, a page with empty small boxes appeared in front of Ave.

"Oh, so I can store my things here? How do I activate it? Do I just say 'store this' just like that? Wow—!"

The young man was once again surprised when his valuable medicinal plants were suddenly sucked into the holographic page and entered one of the empty boxes, marked with the image of the plant and the quantity that went in.

[Ebon Etherea Root x99]

"Wow... again, wow." Ave covered his mouth with an amazed expression, seeing how efficient this virtual inventory was. No wonder Fraser—shit, Ave had to stop saying that name.

The young man shook his head slightly, cleaned his school blazer, put it back on and walked to the right path. He headed towards the small path that led to the location of the big red circle. 

Ave's face lit up with joy. He was truly ready to become a sudden millionaire. 

He would leave the slums, buy the best house in New Orleans, and make his grandmother happy in her old age without worrying about money. 

Of course, Ave would also prove that he could defeat Claude—the bastard who ruined his life.

A small grin appeared on the young man's face.

"Money, come to your Daddy."