Scraps Are Useful

His steps resounded on the hallways of this building as he looks around for any useful things. The stairs going to the first floor was totally ignored. It's not like he would even dare because there is a zombie standing near below it.

He goes to the room next to his base and enters it. This room is where he got the broken metal pipe and the lantern. Because some of the corners of this building are dark due to not being hit by the light coming from the unglazed windows, he makes sure to also take the lantern to act as his light.

He pushes the Low button. The light turns on, letting him see what else are on the corner.

This room have a broken wall, so he can the outside a lot more. Though it seems like the birds aren't entering that large broken wall, though he wanted to finish this as soon as possible before they did so.

He looks at the clump of debris on the corner near the broken wall and looks at it. He only see rubble at first here, but with this lantern, he managed to see some scraps sticking out on the gaps of these debris.

He put the lantern on the ground before using his hands to dig it out. While doing that, he is also using his upgrading powers to see what are these scraps.

[Would you like to upgrade (Rusted Metal Scraps)?]

[Would you like to upgrade (Broken Phone Chip)?]

[Would you like to upgrade (Broken Motherboard Scraps)?]

He only got those three, but he thinks these will be useful so he took it with him. It's only scraps so he can easily pocket it in his short's pockets.

After that, he digs around for a bit more before finding more trashes within.

[Would you like to upgrade (Piece of Plastic Cup)?]

[Would you like to upgrade (Scrap of PET Bottle)?]

[Would you like to upgrade (Torn Piece of Jacket)?]

For others, this might be some useless pieces of trashes, but for him these are all treasures. With his Upgrading powers, he can essentially turn this things into useful stuffs.

He is looking for something else. The torn piece of jacket is neat, but he needed something else. Something that will make him comfortable.

After several minutes of digging through the debris and pocketing some scraps he deemed useful, he finally found something.

[Would you like to upgrade (Destroyed Wooden Bed Leg)?]

"Jackpot!"

He takes out the other debris and take the fairly large wooden stick, which is the bed leg. It looks totally destroyed, and the smell is a bit nasty. Which might be because it's been too long sitting there.

He decided to be satisfied with this harvest and go back to his room. He carried his lantern, look around cautiously with his other hand gripping his pipe strongly, before leaving the room as quickly as possible.

~~o~~

After locking the door to his room, he sits crosslegged on the floor and then put all of the things he harvested on the floor. The lantern is also put aside and the metal pipe just within his arm's reach.

The harvest is got is pretty good. With these much, he thinks he can create a good enough room to stay for awhile.

Also, he have some objects that he thinks he will focus on upgrading first. Just to find a way to connect to something else.

'If I managed to upgrade that broken phone chip, I think I will be able to create a smartphone. I might be able to connect with someone after I did that!' He thought as he looks at the broken chip.

He wanted to meet someone. Talk to someone. He is becoming too lonely now.

He laid on the hard cold floor and looks at the ceiling. He really can't do anything other than wait after all.

"Right. Another time of waiting once again." He sighs.

~~o~~

It took until midnight before the message that he has been waiting for have finally occured.

[Upgrades +10]

He quickly goes to the scraps that he managed to harvest on the other room and sits besides it.

"Okay. Time to start upgrading things!"

The first thing he did is take the bed leg and upgrade it.

[Would you like to upgrade (Destroyed Wooden Bed Leg)?]

[(Destroyed Wooden Bed Leg) upgraded to (Wooden Bed Leg)]

[Would you like to upgrade (Wooden Bed Leg)?]

[(Wooden Bed Leg) upgraded to (Wooden Bed)]

[Would you like to upgrade (Wooden Bed)?]

[(Wooden Bed) upgraded to (Common Bed)]

After three upgrades, the destroyed wooden bed leg became a bed that have a blanket in it, and conveniently two pillows and a bedding.

"Finally!" He exclaims.

Then he sits on the bed, testing it's cushions. It have the same softness as the bed he is used to, but it's brand new instead of the used one. Even the feeling felt so fresh.

"Great. With this, I can finally sleep without feeling my body aching all over!"

After that, he turned to the scraps again. He stands up from his sitting position, walks to that pile of scraps, and picks the broken phone chip in it.

"I have to upgrade this too!"

[Would you like to upgrade (Broken Phone Chip)?]

[(Broken Phone Chip) upgraded to (Phone Chip)]

[Would you like to upgrade (Phone Chip)?]

[(Phone Chip) upgraded to (Cellphone)]

[Would you like to upgrade (Cellphone)?]

[(Cellphone) upgraded to (Smartphone)]

The unassuming broken chip turned into an unbranded smartphone. He opens it up and see that it works like the one he is used to. Though it seems like he is still unregistered as it's user because it is asking him to register himself and make his own password.

After using his fingerprint as his password, he can finally get inside. The apps inside the phone seems to be the bare minimum. Call, text, wifi, video, pictures, and the like. There are no additional apps for games, notepad, or anything like that.

He tries going for a call, before remembering something he almost forgot.

"I don't have a SIM!"

Right. He can't use the call function without it. He tries it anyway and finds out that his suspicion is just correct. He needs an internet provider before he can even call or even text someone.

"Dammit! Is this it?" He gritted his teeth.

Then he realized something.

"What if I upgrade it once more?"

"Maybe if I upgrade it enough, I can call someone without the need for SIMs or any internet providers!"

With that decision, he quickly upgrades the smartphone.

[Would you like to upgrade (Smartphone)?]

[(Smartphone) upgraded to (High Quality Smartphone)]

[Would you like to upgrade (High Quality Smartphone)?]

[(High Quality Smartphone) upgraded to (Hi-Tech Smartphone)]

The smartphone turned into a small thin card. When he taps on it, it quickly did something he was surprised for it to do.

["Scanning Biometrics.... complete!"]

["Scanning fingerprints.... complete!"]

["Running through all database... failed!"]

["This unit is not connected to any database."]

["Connecting to third party systems... complete!"]

["Welcome User"]

He widened his eyes at this sight. This smartphone just detected some sort of connection elsewhere.

".... This might be it!" He exclaims, his eyes shining in glee.