Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Beyond the Mirror
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“An artifact, huh… Yeah, that’s right.”
A Dragon artifact.
The moment those words crossed my mind, I couldn’t hide my excitement.
What if a legendary artifact popped out… That kind of anticipation started bubbling up inside me.
“But… don’t get your hopes up too much?”
Veronica let a single bead of sweat trickle down as she chuckled softly.
But her attempt to temper my expectations only backfired.
‘How amazing must it be for her to say that.’
Was she trying to surprise me?
Or was she just reluctant to hand it over?
[Dean, saying it like that just makes me expect more.]
“Really? Well then… follow me.”
Veronica swiped her nails through the empty air…
Riiip.
The space tore open like a sheet of paper, forming a rift.
“Hup.”
Veronica stepped through the rift first, and I followed right behind her.
‘Whoa…’
A gasp of admiration escaped me as I took in the space beyond.
It looked like a rundown warehouse… but it stretched on endlessly, and all around, glittering objects were scattered everywhere.
In fact… over in that corner, promising-looking items were piled up like a mountain.
‘Oh…?’
My excitement was building even more when…
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
【Sparkler】
Rarity: Common
It sparkles!
: Lights up the surroundings.
It sparkles so incredibly!
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
I stared blankly at the status window before finally scanning my surroundings.
…The shiny things were literally just things that sparkled.
Polished stones with a nice sheen, weapons etched with the marks of time.
And artifacts whose descriptions simply read “It sparkles!”
…My gaze turned to Veronica.
“That’s why… I told you not to get your hopes up.”
[No way all of them are like this, right?]
“Most of them are… but if you’re lucky, you might find something useful.”
[The “if you’re lucky” part is the problem.]
“Sigh… it's just my luck. I bring you here, and instead of being grateful, you complain…”
[Give me a reason to be grateful.]
Truth be told, getting a free artifact warranted some thanks.
But… this was a bit much.
She hyped it up as a dragon artifact, got my hopes up, and now all I saw were sparkly junk or broken knickknacks.
I wondered if I’d been scammed… but I quickly shook my head.
‘…Nah, probably not.’
There were definitely some appealing artifacts.
The problem was… none of them were useful to me.
Most were mana-related artifacts, or weapons like swords.
I had no mana, so pass. I already had 【Leviathan】 for a sword, so pass.
…That’s when it happened.
‘Huh?’
Amid the mountain of piled-up artifacts, a small bracelet caught my eye.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
【Cupid’s Bracelet】
Rarity: Epic
This bracelet might whisper your target’s secrets.
: View a brief summary of the target’s information.
Be careful— the truth you uncover isn’t always sweet.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
‘Why is this here?’
One of the three Cupid set pieces.
No idea why something that should be in the black market was here.
‘Should I just take this?’
【Cupid’s Bracelet】 auctions at random times.
It could be tomorrow, or it could be next year, or even the year after.
In other words, it was an artifact that heavily relied on luck to obtain.
[Dean, I’ll take this one.]
Crucially, 【Cupid’s Bracelet】 only had value when equipped by the player.
But… its design was so luxurious that it fetched high prices based on looks alone.
So I picked it without hesitation.
“Huh? A bracelet?”
[Yes.]
“You like that kind of stuff?”
[Huh?]
“Come to think of it… your head’s kinda elongated… no way, are you?”
…This dragon seemed to be imagining something weird.
Something very weird…
[It’s not like that.]
“Really?”
[Yes.]
“You think you know what I’m thinking?”
[Of course I do.]
Veronica crossed her arms for a moment, scanning me up and down.
Then, as if she’d made up her mind, she moved her hand.
“Hey.”
[Yes.]
Veronica undid her ponytail, letting her hair down, and held out her hair tie toward me.
“Wanna try cross-dressing?”
[Wh-what?]
For a split second, my text glitched out.
What did I just hear?
Cro…ss-dressing?
“No, wait… your proportions are surprisingly good, your body’s slim enough for nice legs… hair’s long enough that a style change…”
Veronica scratched her chin with her finger and added,
“You’d look good in it.”
[How do you even tell a guy he’d look good cross-dressing?]
“Then should I say you’d look good in men’s clothes instead?”
…Okay, that wasn’t wrong, but the conversation felt like it was veering off into the mountains.
“Plus, your face is hidden by a mask anyway.”
[So?]
“Seriously… in drag, no one would know you’re a guy?”
[No.]
“Oh, just stuff your chest a bit and you’re set.”
How did a bracelet convo turn into chest padding talk?
Was this a dream?
Was I still in my dorm bed, watching this scene in my sleep?
“Ahem… just kidding.”
[Doesn’t look like kidding.]
“What if it’s not?”
[It’s not.]
Veronica smirked wickedly and started tossing nearby junk aside haphazardly.
With a loud crash, artifacts rolled across the floor.
“Come here. I’ve got the dangerous or useful ones separated.”
…Shouldn’t you have said that before I picked the 【Cupid’s Bracelet】?
I swallowed a curse under my breath.
‘Oh, right.’
Come to think of it, I forgot to equip the 【Cupid’s Bracelet】.
I’d blanked out from Veronica’s crazy talk.
I carefully slipped the bracelet onto my wrist.
[ Equipped 【Cupid’s Bracelet】. ]
A thin silver bracelet with a single purple gem embedded in it.
It sparkled faintly in the light—surprisingly to my taste.
Then, I looked at Veronica.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[ Veronica ]
Affection: 【Possessiveness】
Status: 【Positive】
■■■■■■■■■■ (10/10)
Info:
[Throwing trash… no, artifacts around to give Adel one more.]
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
“Not staring?”
[Nope.]
Whether it was 【Laplace’s Eye】 or Cupid gear… I couldn’t look at Veronica for long.
She noticed my single glance in an instant… what could I do, it was scary.
But wait…
[One more artifact?]
“Huh? Yeah, I was gonna give you one. Just one bracelet would prick my conscience.”
[You have a conscience, Dean?]
“What’d you say?”
[A compliment.]
Veronica finished clearing the junk and pointed to one spot.
“Go on, look over there.”
I looked where Veronica’s finger indicated.
It was a dim corner.
There, artifacts radiating an ominous aura lay scattered messily.
‘…This’ll give me indigestion.’
The sinister energy was prickling my skin.
Pick wrong, and I’d regret it.
‘Oh.’
Then, one artifact caught my eye.
I picked it up without thinking.
“Oh, that one?”
A mask.
A black-based mask.
A single vertical white line ran along the eye area.
“Stole that from a Calamity way back.”
[Calamity?]
“Yeah, what was it… Lust, I think?”
Veronica scratched her chin, then said casually,
“I took it from that bitch.”
[Won’t the owner kill me for having this?]
“Nah~ Not that one now, another bitch. The original owner’s long dead.”
I felt a subtle relief at Veronica’s words and looked down at the mask in my hand.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
【Mask of Phantasm】
Rarity: Legendary
The boundary between reality and dream crumbles.
All truths become lies, and all lies become truths.
Unique Skills
: 【Phantasm Veil】
Covers the user’s form in illusion.
: 【Illusory Dream】
Recreates objects within range as illusions.
What you see may be reality—or it may not.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
‘Not bad…’
An illusion-manipulating artifact.
Synergized nicely with my abilities.
[I’ll take this one.]
“Fine, suit yourself.”
The thought of testing the mask’s powers made my lips curl up involuntarily.
[Can I go now?]
“Yeah.”
[See you.]
I turned to head toward the rift Veronica had opened, but before my foot even moved…
“Wait, hold on.”
[Yes?]
Veronica’s eyes darted around.
She looked lost in thought.
“Hm… what was it…”
Seemed like she had something to say, but she just smacked her lips and shook her head.
“Nah. If I remember later, I’ll come find you.”
[What is it?]
“Out.”
[Yes.]
Sheesh, why call me back just to dismiss me?
***
I rushed back to the dorm panting.
“You’re back, mas—"
Ignoring even Leviathan’s greeting, I headed to the living room.
Sweat slicked my palms.
I ignored it and stood before the full-length mirror in the corner.
‘Will it work?’
Over the white mask enveloping my face—one I couldn’t remove—I overlaid the 【Mask of Phantasm】 I’d just gotten from Veronica.
[ Equipped 【Mask of Phantasm】. ]
A click as it locked into place.
I reached toward the cup on the nearby table.
[ Activating 【Illusory Dream】. ]
- Shaaa…
Mist rose around the cup.
Then, its shape shifted into a long, sleek sword.
I lifted the sword.
‘…Light.’
The form had completely changed, but the weight remained the same.
A strange sensation of reality and illusion intertwined.
- Swish, swish.
I swung it, but nothing was cut.
Just an illusory shell—no lethality.
Thud.
I reverted the sword to a cup and set it back on the table.
‘…Then.’
My gaze turned to the white mask in the mirror.
I took a deep breath… and placed my hand on the two masks covering my face.
[ Activating 【Illusory Dream】. ]
The 【Mask of Phantasm】 melted into a translucent orb floating above my hand…
──────!!
The 【Mask of Silence】 let out a scream-like shriek and twisted.
A vibration burrowing into my mind tore through my ears.
[ Danger! Danger! ]
- Sssslither…
The 【Mask of Silence】 scattered into shadow… swirled over my hand…
And soon turned into a black orb, just like the 【Mask of Phantasm】.
[ Anomaly detected! ]
The scene in the full-length mirror changed.
Beyond the mirror, “I” stood.
“…….”
Snow-white hair.
Golden eyes that pierced everything.
An emotionless me, devoid of even a speck of feeling.
[ Activating protocol! ]
- Clang!
The black orb shattered, and shadow exploded.
──────!!
The shadow engulfed my face in an instant.
The 【Mask of Silence】 returned to its place, clinging to my face.
I gritted my teeth and tried using 【Illusory Dream】 on the 【Mask of Silence】 again…
[ Impossible! ]
Was all that came back.
‘……Fuck.’
My pent-up rage exploded in that moment.
My fist moved on its own.
[ 【Shard of Rage】 reacts to player’s anger. ]
[ Player’s stats increase. ]
Power surged instantly.
Euphoria began coursing through my body dizzied my mind.
At the same time, my fist met the mirror…
- Crash!
The mirror shattered with a deafening crash.
‘…….’
…I hadn’t meant to break it.
I swallowed my frustration and wiped the blood dripping from my hand.
That’s when it happened.
“Oh…….”
An unexpected exclamation.
I turned… and Veronica stood at the dorm entrance.
“…No…….”
Veronica’s gaze was fixed on my face.
Not her usual playful or annoyed expression…
Just pure admiration.
“You…… you’re prettier than I thought?”
Veronica’s eyes sparkled.