Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Became the Gallery's Only Reptile
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[Groan.]
My eyes ached.
It wasn't some belated backlash from the eye transplant.
I'd simply forgotten to blink until now.
Still, it had paid off.
Letters were finally starting to appear in the quest window that had previously been blank.
I still couldn't make out the details, but the sense of accomplishment from seeing them at all soothed my increasingly fatigued mind.
[Good. Then, back to it...]
"Working hard?"
Kishine, who had vanished before, suddenly reappeared.
I kept my gaze fixed on the quest window as I replied.
[What's up.]
"Well, there's something I wanted to ask your permission for."
[My permission?]
What she said next was surprisingly unexpected.
She wanted to turn my story into an in-game event.
"Of course, I'll pay you for it!"
I nodded naturally at that.
There wasn't any real downside to my tale spreading.
She said she'd only use the part about clashing with the Spirit Kings while wielding Lich King's power anyway.
[Knowing about some past events won't change my current life. Go ahead.]
"Got it! I'll prepare the payment separately, so keep at it."
A rustling sound.
She piled up even more snacks and then vanished again.
I glanced at the mountain of snacks. Then at the spot where she'd last stood.
[Ha, I never imagined it'd have side effects like this.]
I hadn't noticed anything unusual when she'd left before.
But now it was different.
Faint as it was, I could see space warping slightly at the exact moment she disappeared.
A rustle.
Making progress on the quest window was satisfying enough, but detecting a goddess's trace like this made a smile unavoidable.
And besides...
[It's been a while since I've seen these.]
I never dreamed I'd find Earth snacks in a place like this.
I'd been too focused on the quest window earlier to check properly, but now I confirmed it: snacks and treats common back on Earth.
Snacks so everyday there that now I could only reminisce about them.
I pulled out a chocolate-coated stick candy and popped it in my mouth, lost in memories for a moment.
Crunch.
The sweet chocolate melting in my mouth paired with the crisp texture of the wafer.
The taste of this snack after two years left a surprisingly warm afterglow, even for me who'd been subsisting on Amrita.
[...Tasty.]
Maybe the nostalgia was boosting it.
If I were a bit more sentimental, I might've even teared up.
Crunch. Crunch.
I hadn't been like this before, but one bite led to another, and now I couldn't stop.
Of course, lacking hands, I was using my tail or telekinesis-like mana control!
'Worried this might distract me too much from focusing.'
Still, aside from that, nothing else was interrupting my quest focus. Lucky break.
The Gallery? Sorry, but I can't open it here.
That meant no way to track time, but at least I didn't have to waste it checking.
[If my eyes now hold Kishine's power, does that mean I could eventually make these snacks myself?]
A rustle.
This time, munching on a baseball-shaped cookie, I pondered the authority in my eyes.
She must've used her power of creation to make these.
So if I used eyes infused with her authority, couldn't I create Earth foods anytime, anywhere?
[I hope so.]
Considering how many years I might live, it'd be an essential skill.
Kimchi stew. Ramen. Chicken. Pizza. And so on.
Countless foods flashed through my mind, making my mouth water even before I could make them.
Whoosh.
[Ahem. Better refocus on the quest window.]
I'd nearly wasted time just thinking about food.
But I snapped back quickly and resumed concentrating.
Before I knew it—less than a full day by my sense of time—I could fully see the first entry.
Time Warden Purple Toy.
The boss monster with the title "Newbie Slayer."
To a vet like me, it was just a toy—utter trash.
[Curious about the others, but...]
I could use a breath of fresh air.
'Sitting still and just eating's making my body stiff.'
If I waited to reveal all quests, I might seize up and struggle to move.
So, to gauge difficulty and stretch my legs, I hit enter on the first one.
Czzzzt.
[Tch, quiet all this time, and now what?]
The status window, dormant until now, reacted as I selected enter.
It seemed highly linked to quests, but if it kept making this annoying noise, I might get seriously pissed.
Czzt. Czzt. Pop.
'Ah, it stopped.'
What the hell is this?
The moment I thought that, a garbled status alert popped up.
The text was fragmented, but as Jijiyong the hardcore player who'd slain Purple Toy countless times, I could tell.
The normal version was probably:
'Moving to the Prison of Time.'
That's the alert when heading to its lair to kill it in-game.
Looks like the system was just doing its job, notifying my destination like normal—no issues there.
Tick. Tock.
The Prison of Time I arrived in looked nothing like a typical jail.
A toy-filled space with warped clocks floating everywhere.
It was disorienting, but honestly, ten times better than where I'd been.
"Who are you, chirp?"
As I surveyed the area, a familiar purple creature tilted its head and approached from ahead.
Greeee.
A thin, childlike voice contrasted with the harsh mechanical rumble shaking the ground.
[Purple Toy.]
"Chirp. You know me?"
A small, purple, slime-like monster from head to toe.
It didn't look threatening on its own, but the problem was the massive clock-shaped toy it controlled.
'Not sure if you could even call that a toy.'
The design resembled building blocks for kids' play, but don't underestimate it.
'It's not called Newbie Slayer for nothing.'
Invisible now, but countless newbies had died gripped by its remote-controlled toy hands.
"No one but me can come here. How did you get in, chirp?"
'It's on guard.'
Innocent-looking on the outside, but its hands never left the controller.
Any suspicious move from me, and it'd summon those hidden toy hands to grab me.
"Chirp? Ignoring me? Answer!"
'Toy hand positions... over there, huh.'
It had three toy hands total.
Now that I'd pinpointed them all, I could counter whenever it moved.
[No more distance to close.]
"Ch-chirp?"
[Time Warden trapped in the Prison of Time. I've come to claim your time.]
"E-enemy!"
Why declare first instead of attacking?
Because Purple Toy is invincible to all attacks until it deploys its toy hands.
In-game, it had total immunity before pulling them out.
Reality probably followed suit.
And that hunch solidified as the toy hands lurched into motion.
[Sure enough. No settings in Jijiyong explained it, but this is how the invincibility worked.]
Watching its controller inputs sync with the toy hands' activation revealed the secret behind Purple Toy's unaddressed invincibility in-game.
[Distorting time around each toy hand to warp space.]
To make it attackable, I had to force those time-warping toy hands to move first.
"Chirp?! H-how do you know?!"
[My eyes are pretty good.]
"Th-those eyes! Faintly infused with time power like mine, chirp!"
[Figured it out, huh. Not called a Warden for nothing.]
More importantly, now I got why kill Purple Toy.
Just a guess, but the other quests were probably against similar time- and space-related foes.
[Let's see how strong you are with your reality patch. I'm a little excited.]
Just so you know: on ancient standards, you'd need Spirit King level to entertain me even a bit.