Chapter 37
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Kaliune's Tomb (3)
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"What?"
Algeo, who had been looking around the tomb, let out a bewildered voice.
"Why... why are there no treasures? Th-this... this is wrong! I-I-I..."
"...What about the coins?"
Cheisi looked at Algeo, who was staring at her in fear.
"Coins? C-co-coins, you say?"
Algeo stammered, then slowly began backing away.
'...Ah. He's about to run.'
In Cheisi's eyes, Algeo turning to flee looked like it was happening in slow motion.
Not wanting to waste time, Cheisi decided to let him escape.
He probably didn't have anything worth taking anyway, and it would just be a hassle.
The important thing was this tomb.
Cheisi carefully surveyed the tomb.
Its walls were engraved with patterns. The floor was covered in golden dust, and at the center stood a statue wearing a crown.
'...Looks like he wasn't lying after all.'
Cheisi examined the golden dust and realized Algeo hadn't been deceptive.
Megranapite Coin Dust
This golden dust was all powdered currency used in Megranapite. It had simply been left dormant in the tomb for so long that its form had changed.
So his claim about coins wasn't wrong. Algeo must not have known the full details, fleeing in panic like that.
'But that's not what's important right now.'
Cheisi's gaze turned to the misty crown atop the statue.
Trying to remove the crown from the statue triggered a binding curse message.
Binding curse. The term gave off an ominous vibe about the gear, while also blocking anyone from taking it.
"The simplest way to lift a binding curse is probably this, right?"
Cheisi drew her dagger and attacked the statue.
'Ow...'
The dagger bounced off, leaving no crack anywhere, just pain in her hand.
"Ambush!"
Cheisi used the skill on the statue.
The Living Wraith effect was still active. Plus the added damage from Ambush.
The damage that had landed a solid hit on Kaliune's knight now targeted the statue...
Unable to find skill target.
It didn't work.
"...Huh."
The statue apparently wasn't treated as a monster, so skills wouldn't apply.
Just in case, Cheisi circled behind the statue.
"Would this count as an ambush...?"
Will that even work?
For real lmao
Attacking from behind still did no damage.
This method didn't work either.
'There has to be some way...'
She hadn't checked her title effects yet.
As Cheisi recalled that and opened her title list, a sponsor notification chimed.
Thanks for the 1,000 won donation!
Please check the title effect.
"You're a bit late."
But the title list was already open.
Cheisi responded coolly to the sponsor message and checked the title effects.
Grade: Very Rare
Effect: Damage to Kaliune's statue +1,000%
"...Oh?"
A number that made her eyes sparkle involuntarily. A whopping 1,000% damage boost.
'This might actually do some damage.'
Cheisi equipped the title and struck the statue with her dagger again.
Oooooooo
It's scratched.
Damage clearly appeared on the statue.
"I'll help too."
The Knight joined Cheisi. It wasn't an exclusive title; the Knight also had Parting the Mist.
As they piled on the damage, the statue finally crumbled, and the misty crown bounced off, rolling across the floor.
Cheisi picked up the crown.
The rippling mist felt surprisingly solid to the touch, unlike its appearance.
A crown of mist symbolizing the great Death Knight Kaliune.
Her corpse has rotted away, her massive armor turned to mine dust, and all that remains is this crown to commemorate Kaliune.
Grade: Very Rare
Durability: 12,887/12,887
Restrictions: None
+3 Defense per current level.
Applies 5% Slow to wearer.
Dodge: Consumes 15% of max HP.
Block: Recovers 5% of max HP.
This gear's durability does not decrease.
*An unknown impure energy emanates from it.
Putting aside the lore of the Mist Mine's origin, Cheisi focused on the gear's grade.
"...Very Rare?"
It was the first "Very Rare" grade gear in Ariant World.
Cheisi read the Crown of Mist info, tail swishing, but soon felt disappointed.
'...Why are the effects like this?'
She realized the gear's effects were a bit off.
HP consumption on dodge wasn't appealing at all.
Higher defense was nice, but locking out dodging was a problem.
????
What're the stats?
Basically says don't dodge?
"It's impressive, but... it doesn't suit me. Plus there's the binding curse. Probably can't unequip it once worn."
It wasn't tempting enough to give up her cat-like evasion advantage.
If it were removable, she could use it for tanking in specific situations, but even that wasn't possible.
Acquire the Crown of Mist?
The message appeared after holding the crown for a few seconds.
It said "acquire" instead of "equip," but the curse might apply the moment she did.
Cheisi declined the prompt and looked at the Knight.
"...Ooh. Gear symbolizing the Death Knight."
The Knight couldn't take her eyes off the crown. She clearly wanted it badly.
As gear once used by a Death Knight, it made sense for a Death Knight-themed player like her to covet it.
"Cheisi. If I took this... would that be okay...?"
The Knight asked cautiously.
After a brief thought, Cheisi handed it over. It didn't suit her anyway.
The binding curse? He'd deal with it himself.
Cheisi passed the crown to the Knight. The moment she reached for it...
The crown instantly settled on the Knight's head, replacing his black helmet.
His silver hair cascaded down to his waist, swaying gently like in a breeze before settling.
His purple eyes still held that excited gleam.
"......"
Cheisi watched the now-frozen "Knight," who seemed to have crashed.
The chat exploded.
No need to guess why.
"Hey."
Cheisi cautiously addressed the girl.
"...Kyaa?!"
The frozen girl jolted in surprise and looked at Cheisi.
Her purple eyes shook violently, as if buffeted by harsh winds, then she vanished before Cheisi's eyes in an instant.
Warp had a cast time and a unique aura. So not warp.
"...She logged out."
Cheisi confirmed the Burnt Knight had vanished from her friends list.
Yes, the girl had fled via logout.
Left alone in the tomb, Cheisi glanced at the chat.
'Whoa.'
The chat was blazing like a bonfire stuffed with logs.
No, this firepower needed oil, not just logs.
Cheisi thought of the one who'd poured the oil: long silver hair to her waist, pale purple eyes, slender shoulders.
Cheisi had always thought herself small, but the girl was even tinier.
She'd never imagined such a delicate creature inside that black armor.
'...Wasn't the size all wrong to begin with?'
One of the chat's hot topics was exactly that. The helmet had a voice modulator, so that was believable, but her frame seemed too small for the armor.
Well, some trick must have made it possible.
"Anyway, time to move."
No reason to stick around waiting for the logged-out girl.
Cheisi opened her inventory.
She pulled out empty vials left from collecting dust earlier and filled them with the golden powder in the tomb.
"If I feed this to Megranapite, maybe it'll turn back to normal."
Having spent time in the Mist Mine and with Megranapite, Cheisi was familiar enough with the city to think of its refinery upon seeing mineral dust.
It turned ore dust into clean ingots, so maybe this powder too.
She acquired several vials of Megranapite Coin Dust, but the girl still hadn't logged back in.
Cheisi warped to Megranapite's refinery.
She tossed a vial of golden dust to the massive bug "Megranapite," who crunched it up and spat out an ingot.
She got three ingots that way.
At the exchange, they netted a whopping 3,000 coins.
It took just 10 minutes. In 10 minutes, Cheisi became rich.
Finally, she could afford that appetizing fish from the Blacksmith Guild: Cleaver of the Mist.
"...Heh heh heh."
Plans to test underwater breathing in the flooded zone were forgotten. Cheisi headed to the Blacksmith Guild, mouth already watering.
Passing through the lava, she entered the guild and saw the familiar sight: scarred rock walls and the vibrant red tank with Cleaver of the Mist swimming energetically.
"Our guild doesn't have any tools to remove binding curses..."
The blacksmith NPC sounded troubled.
"Th-then what do we do...?"
"Sorry. Nothing I can say."
And there was the silver-haired girl, voice nearly breaking into sobs.
She caught Cheisi's eye.