"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

  Kris had just stood up when the dull thuds suddenly came from the door, accompanied by the low, hoarse growls of zombies, piercing the silence of the hardware store.

  He instinctively held his breath, pressing his body tightly against the cold wall. The iron rod in his hand was gripped so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

  "Urgh... urgh..."

  The growls of the zombies grew closer, as if they were right next to his ear.

  Beads of sweat formed on Kris's forehead, sliding down his cheeks and dripping onto the floor.

  He felt his back soaked in cold sweat, sticky and uncomfortable.

  Damn it, why can't these beasts just leave me alone!

  Kris cursed silently in his heart, while praying that the zombies would go away soon.

  The thuds continued for a few minutes, then gradually weakened and finally disappeared.

  The growls of the zombies also faded away until they were completely gone.

  Kris still didn't dare to relax. He maintained his position, waiting for a few more minutes before finally letting out a slow breath of relief.

  He felt his legs tingling from numbness. After gently moving them, he gradually regained sensation.

  "Whew... safe now..."

  Kris exhaled deeply, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, and then began searching for the Basic supply chest hidden in the hardware store.

  He forced himself to focus and started searching carefully.

  The shelves were filled with various tools—wrenches, pliers, hammers, screwdrivers... a dazzling array of items, everything one could need.

  As he searched, Kris mentally noted which items might be useful.

  This wrench is good, it could be used to tighten screws, might come in handy later.

  This hammer is also nice, could be useful for self-defense.

  Kris muttered to himself while picking out some tools he thought were useful and placing them on the nearby table.

  The hardware store wasn't large, and Kris quickly finished searching, but he didn't find the chest.

  Strange, where is the chest?

  Kris frowned, puzzled.

  He stood still, looking around, trying to find some clues.

  Then, his gaze fell on a corner of the hardware store.

  That corner was piled with some miscellaneous items, covered in dust, looking as if they hadn't been touched for a long time.

  Kris quickly walked over, moved the items aside, and carefully inspected them.

  Sure enough, deep within the pile, he found a wooden chest. The chest was small, looking very ordinary, and it wasn't locked.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "This is it!"

  A message appeared before Kris's eyes: [Basic supply chest: Unlocked]

  He carefully lifted the chest, placed it on the ground, and gently opened the lid.

  Inside the chest lay three items: a fire axe, a test tube-like potion, and a full bottle of purified water.

  The blade of the fire axe gleamed coldly, very sharp.

  The test tube contained a light blue liquid, glowing faintly under the sunlight.

  The purified water was a full 500ML, undoubtedly one of the most important resources in the early stages.

  Kris picked up the fire axe, testing its weight. It was heavy, and he felt he wouldn't be able to swing it many times before losing strength, feeling a bit helpless.

  Then he picked up the test tube, examining it closely. There were no labels on it, so he had no idea what it was.

  Just then, the System's notification sounded again:

  "Attention, all players, the Game has activated the player attribute interface and Space Ring function. Each player can now view their personal attributes, and a Space Ring is now on each player's finger, which can be used to store items. The initial space is one cubic meter, and it can be upgraded by consuming Energy later."

  "Space Ring?" Kris was stunned, then looked down at his finger.

  Indeed, on the ring finger of his right hand, there was now a silver ring. The ring was simple, without any patterns.

  Kris tried to focus his consciousness on the ring, and suddenly, a virtual interface appeared before his eyes, displaying a three-dimensional space, exactly one cubic meter in size.

  "This... this is amazing!"

  He tried to store the fire axe into the Space Ring, and the axe instantly disappeared, appearing in the virtual interface of the Space Ring.

  Then, he tried to take the fire axe out, and it instantly reappeared in his hand.

  "Awesome, this makes things so much easier!"

  He quickly stored the iron rod, fire axe, and the bottle of purified water into the Space Ring, then turned his attention to the mysterious potion.

  "Check the information of this potion," Kris thought silently.

  [Hint: One Beginner's Strength Potion. Upon use, it increases Strength attribute by 5 points, reaching the peak level of ordinary humans.]

  "Increase Strength by 5 points? Reach the peak level of ordinary humans?"

  Kris's eyes widened instantly; this was really good stuff!

  He opened his attribute panel and saw that his current Strength attribute was only 5 points, which was just average among ordinary humans.

  If he used this potion, his Strength attribute would reach 10 points, doubling his original strength!

  "Use it! Use it now!" Kris made the decision without hesitation.

  He picked up the Beginner's Strength Potion, and as soon as he brought it near his arm, the Game popped up a prompt:

  [Do you wish to use the Beginner's Strength Potion?]

  "Yes!"

  The next second, the Beginner's Strength Potion turned into a blue light and instantly injected into Kris's vein.

  "Ah!"

  Kris suddenly felt an intense pain spreading from his arm to his entire body. His muscles and bones felt like they were being torn apart and reconstructed, the pain was excruciating.

  He tightly covered his mouth with his hand, curling up into a ball, rolling on the floor in agony.

  Pain! So much pain...

  Kris clenched his teeth, enduring the pain, trying not to make too much noise to avoid attracting zombies.

  His body kept convulsing, and sweat poured down like rain, quickly forming a puddle on the floor.

  Time passed minute by minute, and Kris felt like he had walked through hell.

  He didn't know how long it had been, but the intense pain finally began to subside.

  After half an hour, the pain completely disappeared.

  Kris lay on the floor, drenched in sweat, as if he had been fished out of water.

  Gasping for breath, he struggled to get up.

  With the pain gone, his body felt much lighter. He clenched his fist, feeling the immense power in his muscles, and his heart filled with joy.

  Kris eagerly opened his attribute panel to check his attribute changes.

  [Strength: 10 (Peak of ordinary humans)

  Agility: 6 (Ordinary)

  Intelligence: 6 (Ordinary)

  Spirit: 7 (Ordinary)]

  "Indeed, my Strength attribute increased by 5 points!"

  Kris quickly took out the fire axe from the Space Ring and swung it lightly.

  With a "whoosh," the blade cut through the air, making a sharp whistling sound.

  "So light!" Kris was surprised to find that the fire axe, which had felt heavy before, now felt as light as a feather.

  "The effect of this potion is amazing!"