123. Ring Imbued with Grianne's Lingering Will
123. Ring Imbued with Grianne's Lingering Will
***
Drip.
Drip.
Drip...
The faint sound of blood steadily dripping broke the silence that filled the pure white space.
The ground, originally covered in snow, had been gouged out in places, exposing its true color like bared flesh.
And the source of the blood gradually staining that ground red led back to a single woman.
The silver-haired woman stared blankly at her arm, bound in black cords.
"..."
Her white arm had blocked every attack that could be inflicted—slashes, stabs, impalements, and everything else.
Blood kept flowing from the wounds carved all over it.
The silver-haired woman, staring blankly at that arm, moved her hand slightly.
Unlike its appearance, the arm moved normally.
It was in a state where it shouldn't have been able to move at all, yet it moved without issue. The arm, moving without restriction even as blood flowed from wounds all over it, presented a sight that was almost grotesque.
The silver-haired woman, her unfocused gaze fixed on the arm she moved slightly, wasn't wounded only on her arm. Her entire body was practically without a single intact spot.
"Ah."
Then, at some point, her focus returned and her distinctive blue eyes flashed. She raised her wound-covered arm and gestured as if grasping the empty air.
Snatch.
At once, an elegant bottle with a silver label appeared in the silver-haired woman's hand as if it had always been there. Without hesitation, she roughly tore off the cap and brought it to her lips.
Gulp, gulp!
The woman drank the liquid inside roughly, not caring at all that it was dirtying her body and clothes.
A few seconds later, the wounds covering her arm and entire body rapidly closed, the seeping blood stopped, and soon they began to vanish without a trace.
At the same time, even the bloodstains on her body and the red clothes that had been dirtied with blood here and there began to disappear.
As if returning to her original clean state. A mysterious phenomenon, like restoration.
Serin let out a hollow laugh, her face now completely clean.
"This is... more fun than I thought."
Pleasure without pain, with nothing to take responsibility for.
As she moved her body, at some point she began moving as if burning herself up, as if there were no tomorrow, continuously using skills. Rather than dodging and blocking all the incoming attacks, she fought in a style of trading flesh for bone—giving up her own flesh and taking the opponent's bones in rough retaliation.
A fighting style so reckless it would have been unimaginable in the world of Black Ark.
Literally throwing her own body into it, brawling with monsters.
In the process, there was only a faint sensation, as if something tickled her entire body—there was no pain at all.
Even if she had just taken wounds that brought her to the brink of death, none of it was real.
"Sometimes... this might be okay."
Even as I muttered that, my reason gradually returned, and I realized what I'd just done was something I could never show on stream.
I turned off Gore Mode, an inexplicable laugh escaping me.
"...If I'd been live, I probably would've looked like a total psycho."
No, maybe I would've looked like a pervert.
I'd even laughed while looking at my body, pierced and damaged all over until it was practically in tatters...
I couldn't say for sure, but it definitely wouldn't have looked normal.
I stopped the idle thoughts and turned my head to look around.
Now only bone fragments decorated the ground here and there, as if leaving behind traces.
A hunting ground where monsters didn't respawn until I left. That was probably what this was.
After first encountering the group of skeletons, they had kept swarming in from all over, as if my presence had become known in an instant.
Now, having dealt with all those skeletons, I was taking a brief rest.
"It doesn't seem like there's no penalty at all."
As I muttered blankly and idly moved my arms and legs, the sensation was strangely different.
My whole body felt somewhat heavy. There was no direct restriction message like actual fatigue, but it seemed they had made it so I would gradually feel a kind of load, preventing unlimited hunting.
*
————
[Tomb of the Frozen Knight Skeleton Kills 500/500]
(Time remaining: 0 days 8 hours 13 minutes)
—??? Claim reward.
————
*
When I checked the quest window I'd accepted earlier, I saw the target count had long been filled.
When I pressed the '??? Claim reward' button.
Clunk!
A small silver box and a key dropped down right in front of me.
"What, am I supposed to open the box?"
I stared at the box for about two seconds, wondering what it was, when a hologram suddenly appeared.
*
————
Rare-to-Mythic Random Box.
Grade: Legendary.
- Description: A random box containing every item classified as Rare-to-Mythic grade currently existing in Another World. Depending on your luck, you can even obtain a Mythic item! (However, quest and bound-only Rare-to-Mythic item types cannot be obtained.)
- Cannot sell to shops.
- Cannot list on Auction House.
————
*
"...The reward is a gacha?"
I muttered in disbelief, but the description was written simply, which I kind of liked.
I picked up the silver key that looked like a set with the box right next to it.
Click. Clack!
When I inserted it into the center slot, it felt like a perfect fit, and I smoothly turned the key.
Creeeak!
The silver box began to open on its own.
Ding!
With a flashy sound effect, a brilliantly shining golden effect burst out, and a massive hologram consumed my vision.
*
————
Ring Imbued with Grianne's Lingering Will.
Grade: Legendary
- Description: A ruby ring imbued with the lingering will of a female knight who could not accept the death of the lover she had promised to spend her life with. The person who obtains this ring cannot equip it themselves. It can only be gifted to someone else, and the moment the recipient equips the ring, its options are randomly determined.
- Cannot sell to shops.
- Cannot list on Auction House.
- After gifting, the recipient cannot transfer it to another person.
————
*
Along with what appeared to be Grianne's ring, an elegant ring box appeared with it, as if meant for storage.
I naturally picked up the ring and ring box that had appeared in the air, but I was dumbfounded.
"Are you kidding me?"
Fine, I could accept that an item from a random box was something I couldn't equip myself.
But it couldn't be sold.
Gift-only.
And on top of that, even the item's options were random.
The more I thought about it, the more I wondered how an item like this could even exist.
No, even being generous, I could accept it being a gift-only item, but if even the options were random, this wasn't an item suitable for gifting.
The whole point of a gift was to give something the recipient would like, but a ring with random options...
"No, seriously, this is Legendary?"
I'd honestly gotten my hopes up when the golden effect burst out, but the item was so far beyond my expectations that I was floored.
Out of pointless regret, I fiddled with the ring for a moment, then put it in the ring box and opened my inventory.
As I placed the ring in an empty inventory slot, my gaze wandered. Since I had it open anyway, I checked what items I'd gotten from hunting.
The result, to put it simply, was really nothing special.
The only thing that stood out was one Rare-grade armor item?
The other items I'd gotten were clearly worthless, and beyond that, the fixed-drop junk items caught my eye.
*
————
'Frozen Knight's Bone Fragment' x1768.
————
*
I instantly did the math when I saw the junk item count.
"So I killed a bit over 600?"
I checked the item info to see how much it was worth.
*
————
Frozen Knight's Bone Fragment.
- Description: The bones of knights whose souls could not be freed even in death. Exposed to extreme cold for a long time, the knights' bones have become as strong as steel.
- Alchemy Workshop sale price: 11,000 silver coins.
- Cannot sell to general stores.
————
*
It just felt like a reasonably expensive junk item.
Considering the dwarf's cave last time was around 12,000 silver coins, it wasn't a bad price.
Instead, this place had the unique feature that monsters came to me on their own, so I didn't need to move around—it seemed like a decent hunting ground.
After that, I closed my inventory and checked the time. Before I knew it, it was time to start my stream.
3:42 PM.
"Logging out."
***
Serin's time passed far more quickly than she expected.
Thinking she'd rest over the weekend, she streamed longer than usual and pushed herself a bit, and sure enough, when she woke up on Saturday, it was past 4 PM.
After that, she spent the rest of Saturday texting with her editor, Sua, Eunha, and Seoyun, and watching two movies.
......
August 15, Sunday.
7 AM.
A woman opened her eyes out of habit before her set alarm even went off.
A small frame, short black hair.
Beneath it, her delicate, neatly arranged features gave her a cute impression that anyone would find likable.
Seoyun got up at her usual wake-up time.
"Haaah. Did I overdo it yesterday?"
She covered her mouth with a big yawn.
At the same time, Seoyun frowned slightly and swept her hair back, feeling a bit of regret.
Last night, unable to resist Chaerin's insistence, she had spent time with her until late.
After that, she'd returned to the dorm and collapsed into sleep, and because of the aftermath, she was a bit more tired than usual.
'Ah... I should've just said no.'
Seoyun idly checked the calendar by her bedside again.
August was marked on the calendar. And among the days, there were dates Seoyun had emphasized by drawing red circles all over them.
Seoyun's gaze landed on August 15.
Unlike the other days, the red circle had been drawn over several more times for emphasis.
A single phrase written on the calendar.
【Date with Sis】