Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 2 - Chapter 1

Chapter One: A Morning in Gideon 
Paladin Ray Starling 
Most large cities in the Kingdom of Altar — the royal capital included — were encircled by a large wall. Not only was it a necessary structure that protected against monsters and attacks from other countries, it also separated the worlds inside and out. 
Duel City Gideon, where we had just arrived, was no different. 
“Whoa...” I couldn’t help but voice my amazement. Beyond the walls — which were similar to the ones in the capital — waited a radically different scenery. 
It made me remember how I’d felt when I had first entered Altea. The atmosphere of a hyper-realistic fantasy town was moving, to say the least, and Gideon was making me experience it all over again. 
The air here was thick with people’s enthusiasm. I had a feeling that most of it came from the very middle of the metropolis — the Great Central Arena of the duel city, towering right before my eyes. Ancient Rome’s Colosseum was 200 meters in diameter and 50 meters in height, yet Gideon’s pride and joy seemed to be more than twice the size of that. 
According to a sign hanging near the gates to Gideon, there were twelve smaller arenas evenly spaced out around the city, and every single one of them was active daily. The sign also said that the Great Central Arena was often used for various events. 
With all the liveliness here in Gideon, I found it hard to believe that this city was part of a kingdom that had recently experienced a crippling blow in a war and was forced to the verge of defeat. 
I looked around and saw a number of humanoid races I didn’t encounter much back in the capital. Some had beast-like ears, others had dragon-like horns... There were even some fairies, so petite they only went up to my knees. They seemed to be this world’s Demi-Humans — a staple for every fantasy work. 
As I watched them, I noticed that there were both tourists and those who actually lived and worked here. Figaro hadn’t been lying when he’d said this place was lively. 
“What an energetic city,” said Rook. 
“It’s only natural, since this area isn’t close to the kingdom’s border with Dryfe, which is in the north,” Marie said. She began explaining why. “The countries close to Gideon are Caldina and Legendaria. The latter signed a treaty of commerce with Altar, while the former is a full ally, so this city gets many tourists from both.” 
She showed us a map to illustrate what she’d explained. In the center of the map was Gideon; to the east, a mountain belt, followed by Caldina; and to the south, there was Legendaria. To the west, there was a small patch of land followed by the open sea, while to the north, there was the capital. 
“Not only is Gideon positioned in a safe spot — you can also count all the gladiators fighting in the arenas as its soldiers,” Marie continued. “It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Gideon is the strongest city in the kingdom.” 
I see, I thought. That makes it the safest city in the Kingdom of Altar. 
I could only assume that many people who’d escaped from the capital had chosen this as their destination. After all, in the catalog of the capital’s guild, there had been many escort requests from people searching for a safe refuge. 
However, there were still merchants like Alejandro, who would go out of their way to stock up in the capital. We and that merchant had gone our separate ways at the entrance to Gideon, but since he’d wished to thank us properly, he’d invited us to visit his shop whenever we had the time. 
“Now, let’s go to the Adventurers’ Guild,” said Marie. “We have to finish the quest and report that Gardranda was eliminated.” 
Rook and I were quick to agree, and we all made our way to Gideon’s Adventurers’ Guild. 
The ceiling inside it was higher than it was in the capital’s guild. The entrance was larger, too. The designers were probably being considerate of the larger races inhabiting and visiting this city. 
Anyway, we completed the delivery quest without any problems. The reward was 30,000 lir. We split it evenly and got 10,000 lir each. It was a nice amount, no doubt about it. However, we ran into some problems when claiming the reward we were supposed to get for taking care of Gardranda. 
Proving that we’d done it wasn’t difficult at all. We simply had to go to a special counter and show them the MVP special reward: The Miasmaflame Bracers, Gardranda. 
Items of this type were always named after the defeated UBM, had qualities that fit the MVP, and couldn’t be transferred in any way. Thus, the fact that I possessed the item with Gardranda’s name on it could only mean that I had been the most valuable player in Great Miasmic Demon, Gardranda’s elimination. 
Of course, it was also possible to prove such things by going through a thorough inquiry. It was only natural, considering that not every bounty was a UBM. 
And so, though we got the reward money without any trouble, we found the amount to be quite problematic. 
It amounted to a total of 1,000,000 lir. That was the equivalent of 10,000,000 yen, which was quite a fortune. It got us to sit around a table in the guild and intensely argue about how we would split it. 
“Oh, come on, now!” I raised my voice. “Let’s just all take a third and be done with it!” 
“No!” said Marie. “I already took the money for the potions I used, so there’s no reason for me to have any more! I didn’t participate in the battle at all! You two should just split it in half!” 
“I didn’t fight Gardranda, either!” cried Rook. “I could never accept the same amount as Ray! He should just take it all, honestly!” 
The three of us were fiercely arguing in favor of reducing the amounts we would get. 
First, Marie had been given approximately 100,000 lir of the reward to make up for the Elixir she’d thrown at me and other medicines she’d used on the people in the carriages. She’d been apprehensive about accepting it, saying that she’d chosen to use those items on her own volition, but I’d insisted, and she’d soon caved. With that settled, we’d had 900,000 lir left, and that was when things had gotten fiery. 
I had argued that it had been the result of us acting as a party, and insisted that we all take a third each. 
Marie had insisted that she didn’t deserve or need more than what she’d gotten for the medicine. 
Rook had stated that he didn’t deserve any money because he hadn’t participated in the battle against Gardranda. 
I sincerely believed that they both were invaluable in the victory against the demon, so I really wanted them to take what was rightfully theirs. 
“Honestly, I already got the MVP special reward, so maybe I shouldn’t take any of it,” I said. 
“That would take you beyond simple selflessness and quickly make you look like an unreasonable lunatic,” commented Nemesis. 
I was being completely serious, yet Nemesis looked at me like I was an idiot. Rook and Marie, too, seemed thoroughly perplexed by my suggestion. 
“Hey, these things are downright insane,” I said. “I really can’t let myself take much after getting something this good.” 
I raised my hands to show off the things on them. These two-tone colored bracers — one red, other dark purple — were inside my inventory after we had defeated Gardranda. 
The description in the equipment window went like this: 
Miasmaflame Bracers, Gardranda 
Legendary item 
A legendary item embodying the concepts surrounding the three-faced demon of flame and miasma. 
In addition to being extremely tough, it increases the physical strength of the wearer. 
This item cannot be transferred or traded. 
No level limit. 
It actually gave a 100% bonus to STR, and had more defense than all my other armor combined. Not only that, but it also allowed me to use the skills “Purgatorial Flames” and “Hellish Miasma,” which were probably much like the attacks used by the UBM itself. There was also a skill that I couldn’t read for some reason, one that simply said “???”. 
They were insanely good, no doubt about it. 
Not only did they seem to be worth more than 300,000 lir — they’d probably go for more than the whole reward for defeating Gardranda. 
I mean, it’s a “legendary” item, I thought. 
“I know I’m the MVP and all, but taking the reward after getting these would be far too much,” I said. 
We would have lost the battle against Gardranda if Marie hadn’t provided support with her items. Rook, too, had done a great job holding back Audrey — who had originally been the demon’s mount. 
We wouldn’t have achieved victory if it hadn’t been for them, so I thought I was fair in insisting that my contributions were worth only a third of the reward. 
“...I understand,” said Marie. “But I think I have a better idea.” She lightly hit the table. “First of all, Ray, you’re getting 300,000, and that’s final. If you don’t accept that money, no one here has the right to have any of it. Now, Rook, I know you don’t want to take as much as Ray, so let’s cut it by half and give you at least 150,000. And before anyone tells me off for not taking anything, I’ll be satisfied with just 50,000, thank you very much.” 
Rook and I weren’t against that split, so that was 500,000 lir taken care of. However, there was still 400,000 lir left. 
“We shall use the rest as a party,” said Marie. 
“By that, you mean...?” I raised an eyebrow. 
“You could call it a little lesson for future reference,” she answered. 
What is she talking about? I thought. 
“For now, just leave it all to me,” she continued. “I would like you to gather here in the afternoon after three days game time. Is that okay with both of you?” 
Three days game time was just one day in reality. 
“No problems here,” said Rook. 
“I don’t have any plans for tomorrow, either, but what are you planning?” I asked. 
“Let’s have it be a little secret for the sake of surprise,” said Marie. “Oh, but if you don’t like this idea of mine, just say so. I’ll give your money back at once.” 
“No, it’s fine by me,” I said. I had absolutely no intention of taking any more, so I just let Marie do her thing. 
“Then with that, we’re done splitting the money,” she said. “Good job on finishing this quest, you two.” 
“Yeah, thanks for the help,” I said. 
“Thank you very much,” said Rook. 
And so ended the first quest we had taken up as a party. 
We had a small celebration, and by the end, I was so tired that I immediately logged out. 
 
The next day, I logged in soon after waking up. 
I’d slept long enough for a whole day to have passed in the game. Infinite Dendrogram’s tripled time feature was useful and all, but situations like these made it seem a bit confusing and even bothersome. The time here was six o’clock in the morning, and the sun was just beginning to rise. 
As soon as I logged in, Nemesis jumped out of the crest on my left hand and greeted me. “Good morning, Master. You sure are early today.” 
“...Funny, considering that I basically overslept in terms of real life time,” I said. 
“So what are you doing today?” asked Nemesis. “It’s too early for shops to be open.” 
“Well, I was thinking of doing it after getting some new gear, but I guess I’ll have to do the testing first,” I answered. 
“Testing? Of what?” she asked again. 
I raised both my hands before her. “These.” They were covered by two pieces of armor. My Miasmaflame Bracers. 
Just like the royal capital, most of the kingdom’s cities always had their gates open. There were many reasons for that, but one of them was the fact that there were many Masters who were active at night. It would be extremely inconvenient if they were only allowed to pass during the day, and there would be many people who would go out of their way to try to climb over the walls. Thus, the gates were open 24 hours a day. There were three guard shifts, and it reminded me of part-time jobs in convenience stores. 
When I passed the northern gate and greeted the guards standing there, they greeted me back in a slightly sleepy manner. 
Soon after leaving the city, I was standing in Nex Plains, the same place I had passed through yesterday. 
I roamed about looking for a monster I could do the test on, and it didn’t take long for me to find a lone Goblin Warrior. I was familiar with this monster, so I could defeat it even if the test failed. A good target, no matter how I looked at it. 
“You said you were going to test the bracers, but is there anything specific you had in mind?” asked Nemesis in her sword form. 
“Well, these Miasmaflame bracers have skills on them, right? I want to see if they’re of any use,” I said. “I don’t like the idea of having to try them out on something stronger than myself.” 
I had gotten Vengeance is Mine during the fight with the Demi-Drag and Like a Flag Flying the Reversal while fighting Gardranda, but I couldn’t continue to rely on skills I wasn’t familiar with to always match my situation and lead me to victory. Testing was important. 
Therefore, I decided to test the two skills on the item — Purgatorial Flames and Hellish Miasma. I couldn’t use the skill named “???”, so that was on hold for now. 
One was a flamethrowing skill, while the other was a release of poisonous gas. If I could master them, I would finally have attacks other than standard blows and Vengeance is Mine. Having to use Gems just to cast spells was quite a waste, after all. 
“...Oh, it just hit me that I still have some of those Gems,” I muttered. 
Suddenly, the Goblin noticed I was here and charged at me while swinging his weapon. 
“All right, then... Purgatorial Flames.” I stretched my hand out to the Goblin and opened my palm flat facing towards it. 
A moment later, a demon’s mouth opened up on the back of my hand... 
“Eh?” 
...and it released a fierce stream of crimson fire, painting my vision red. 
“AAAGHHHHH!” 
Damn, that made my HP go down so fast! I thought. It’s my own attack, so it’s not affected by Paladin’s Aegis and other defensive skills! Oh, crap! I even got the “Burns” debuff! 
“You fool! Are you trying to kill yourself?! Oh! The Goblin is coming!” shouted Nemesis. 
“OAAGHH!” 
The damage I’d caused myself had turned this into an extremely dangerous battle. I desperately defended myself against the Goblin’s attacks, used a number of skills and healing items, and barely emerged victorious. 
Lesson learned. As important as testing was, one always had to consider safety. 
 
“...All right, time to pull myself together and test the Hellish Miasma,” I said. 
“Are you sure it will work right this time?” asked Nemesis. 
“It will,” I answered. “...I think.” 
After a short while of looking for a new prey, I had stumbled upon a bipedal, plant-like monster. The words above it said “Walking Grapevine,” and just as they implied, it was literally a walking vine with grapes hanging from it. 
“Is that thing even breathing?” asked Nemesis. “Wouldn’t it be better to burn it?” 
“I’m testing the Hellish Miasma right now. And yes, plants do breathe, so it should work,” I answered. “Hellish Miasma! Release!” 
This time, I made sure to make the back of my hand face the enemy and thus prevent the smoke from hitting myself. 
Just as I’d intended, the miasma surrounded the Walking Grapevine... and then a strong gust of wind made it go back to me. 
“GYAAAAHHH!” 
“I knew this would happen!” shouted Nemesis. 
Trying to not breathe any of it in, I escaped the noxious cloud. 
Man, that was close, I thought. I almost got destroyed by my own skill. 
“Now, let’s see what the monster thinks of it,” I said. I looked as the wind made the miasma disperse to reveal the Walking Grapevine, clearly suffering due to the debuffs. 
“It seems to be effective,” said Nemesis. “However, it’s hard to make it work on windy days, and trying to use it indoors isn’t even an option.” 
“Yeah, I can’t deny that it’s a difficult skill to use,” I said. 
As we were having that exchange, something flew right into my mouth. 
“Hghuh?!” I accidentally bit and gulped it down. The aftertaste — both sweet and sour — was that of a grape. 
A grape, of all things. 
Yes, that Walking Grapevine was actually attacking me with its grapes. 
“Whot kind ohf attahck ish that?!” I exclaimed in confusion. 
“Master, don’t talk with your mouth full,” said Nemesis. 
Seriously, though, what am I supposed to think about this attack? I thought. The grapes are pretty good, and even if they hit me on the body, they only get me a bit dirty and don’t hurt at all— 
“Guh...” My face suddenly contorted. 
“Master, what’s wrong?! Was that attack poisoned?!” asked Nemesis in perplexion. 
Poison? I thought. Yeah, it was poisoned. 
My stats clearly showed the debuffs that were affecting me. Their names were Poison, Intoxication, and Weakness. 
“They’re the same debuffs I just gave it...!” I said. Apparently, its fruit had become poisoned by the miasma and I’d gotten its effects transferred to me by ingesting them. I’d had no idea that debuffs could travel like that. 
“M-Master!” exclaimed Nemesis. “There’s a number of monsters coming this way!” 
I looked around and saw some Goblins and beast-type monsters here and there. They were all here because of me — or, rather, the fruit juice on my body. 
“I see, so that’s the aim of that attack...” I muttered. 
And so, still under the effects of the debuffs, I was attacked by a group of monsters which numbered to more than ten. 
 
“We ran into some unexpected trouble, but I think I know how these skills work now,” I said. 
Despite the tremendous failure on its first use, I had soon found out that Purgatorial Flames was an exceptionally effective skill. 
First of all, it was very powerful. It actually did more damage than my standard attacks. I could also continue to channel it as long as I had MP, not to mention that it could apply the Burns debuff or its upgrade — Charring. Just as the name said, it was a debuff that could reduce a burned Goblin’s arm to charcoal. 
Strong as it might be, however, Purgatorial Flames affected friend and foe alike. 
Heck, it includes myself, as well, so I’ll have to be really careful when using it, I thought. 
Also, its power was lower than that of Gardranda’s flames. If it had been the same, the first failure would’ve blown my head away. I could only assume that Purgatorial Flames was weaker than the original either because it had been reduced to equipment, or because I was simply a weaker creature. Due to the fact that there was a skill I’d yet to unlock, it was quite obvious that I wouldn’t be able to master the Miasmaflame Bracers just yet. 
And though it had gotten me into the unexpected predicament of getting surrounded by more than ten monsters, the Hellish Miasma test had been successful, as well. 
Man, that was tough, I thought. If I hadn’t activated the Reversal, I would be dead by now. 
The only reason I’d survived was because I’d fought the monsters while powered up by the reversed debuffs. 
By the time it was over, the Walking Grapevine had succumbed to the Poison and died. I was lucky to have found out that debuffing a monster and then getting those debuffs by ingesting its body parts was counted as a negative effect from the monster. 
Though I have no idea if I’ll ever find a use for it, I thought. I don’t eat monsters while fighting, after all. 
Whatever the case, I had to be extra careful when using Hellish Miasma. 
Oh, I almost forgot to mention. Since the Walking Grapevine had died, the Reversal was no longer effective. Thus, I was currently being tortured by the debuffs. 
“Uoghh...” I moaned. “First Heal.” 
While lying on the ground due to Intoxication and Weakness, I used healing magic to restore my HP, which was being drained by Poison. 
Since the Purgatorial Flames were weaker, I had hoped that would apply to Hellish Miasma, as well, but that clearly wasn’t the case. It was just about as bad as it had been when Gardranda’d given me these debuffs. 
“Perhaps it becomes less effective on stronger creatures,” pondered Nemesis. “Your level is low, so it seems like its effect on you is still powerful.” 
“Y-You might be right...” I muttered. 
When examining the way the debuffs were applied and the relationship between Burns and Charring, I began to believe that some debuffs could change depending on how great the cause was. Say someone got attacked by something that applied debuffs, causing the attacked person’s debuff “level” to rise and make a debuff appear. Would it really be strange for a continued barrage of such attacks to stack the debuff level and make the illness more serious? 
In other words, breathing the miasma for too long might cause some new debuffs to appear, I theorized. ...Not that I’m willing to try it. 
“But man, this is bad,” I said. “I might have to go back to the city by crawling on all fours.” 
“That would be quite unsightly,” said Nemesis. “Oh...?” 
As I looked to where Gideon was — still lying on the ground — a shadow came over me. 
I realized that someone was standing behind me, so I slowly got up and looked at who it was. I wasn’t in a hurry because I was still under the effects of the debuffs and could simply feel that the presence wasn’t hostile, unlike the Goblins and such. 
“...Eh?” I said, startled. 
That assumption of mine had turned out to be both correct and wrong. The thing was definitely not a monster. However, it was clearly a creature one had to be cautious with. 
“...” 
It was a penguin. A large, bear-sized penguin suit was looking down at me. 
“Huh?!” I hastily tried to back away, but the debuffs rendered me unable to move as I pleased. Even as I began to panic, the penguin did nothing but continue to watch me, completely immobile. 
“...Did Brother Bear get himself a new suit?” asked Nemesis. 
“No, it’s not my brother,” I answered. 
However, it didn’t seem like a monster or a player killer, either. 
It seemed like all it did was observe me. 
“What the hell are you?” I asked. 
“What am I, you ask? Heh heh heh heh... Oops!” In response to my question, the penguin completely destroyed his — the voice was male — silence and immobility and jumped upwards. 
After making a number of mid-air spins, he landed and took a V-like pose. 
“My name is Fla...MINGO! Call me Dr. Flamingo, if you will.” 
...What a weirdo. I thought. 
“Would you say that suits are a signal for oddballs?” asked Nemesis. 
We only have two so far, I thought. If we find a third suited weirdo, I’ll accept this theory of yours. 
Putting that aside, however... 
“Flamingo?” I raised an eyebrow. “That’s a penguin suit, isn’t it?” 
It reminded me of Adelie Penguins, common to many aquariums. Its primary colors were black and white, and no one with eyes could mistake it for the flashy, pink bird he’d named himself after. 
“Who cares about the details?! What matters here is that you seem to be in a pickle! Do drink this!” The penguin reached for his pocket — which was in the suit’s stomach area — and took out a medicine bottle with liquid inside it. 
“And this is?” I asked. 
“A drug that removes debuffs!” he answered. “It instantly takes care of all disease-based status effects!” 
I didn’t know how to respond. If he wasn’t lying, I would gladly chug it down, but I had basically no reason to believe such a blatantly suspicious penguin. 
“Isn’t this a trap?” asked Nemesis. 
I had gone through Lei-Lei’s lesson with the fake alcohol and knew the dangers of such offers, but if this penguin had had any intention to hurt me, he would’ve done it while I was writhing around due to the debuffs. He’d had no reason to prepare a trap for me. 
“Thanks.” I took the drug from the penguin’s hand, activated Reversal just to be on the safe side, and slowly drank it down. 
...Hey, this is pretty good, I thought. It had the taste of mixed fruit juice. 
Soon after I drank it, the debuffs burdening my body quickly faded away... 
“Drank it all, didn’t you?” spoke the penguin. 
...and, at the same time, I was attacked by a sudden, powerful headache. 
“Huh?! You little...!” I growled. 
“So it was a trap!” exclaimed Nemesis. 
The headache made me fall to my knees and grab hold of my head. 
“I’ve been watching you and thinking...” said the penguin. “...‘What kind of drug would suit him best?’” The pain continued to get worse. 
“It didn’t take long for me to come to a conclusion! It simply had to be this prototype!” he declared. 
Soon enough, the headache became completely unbearable... and then it disappeared as if it had never been there. 
“Huh?” 
What was that all about? I thought. The headache had faded away and not caused anything to happen. 
The penguin that drugged me seemed to be strangely satisfied. Not that I saw his face, but still. 
“Hey, what the hell did you make me dri—?!” 
“M-Master!” Nemesis cut me off. “Ears! Your ears!” 
In response to her words, I reached for my ears, but didn’t find anything wrong with them. 
“Not those ears! The ones above!” she exclaimed. 
The ears above? I thought. But I only have one set of ear— 
Suddenly, I felt something fluffy. 
“Hm...?” 
What was that strange sensation? I once again reached for the place I’d just touched — the area between the temporal region and calvaria. And again, I felt something fluffy. It was actually kinda pleasant to the touch. It reminded me of the ears of a Siberian husky I used to have... 
“YES! I knew those ears would look great on you!” From seemingly nowhere, the penguin took out a full-length mirror. In it, I saw myself... 
...with dog ears — as golden as my hair — sticking out of my head. 
“...” ...Wha— “WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!” 

 
“I happen to be a humble Researcher, and I merely wanted to test my very own Animal Ear Drug,” the penguin explained. “When I went around to look for a convenient guinea pig, I stumbled upon you, just lying there on the ground. Not letting this divine opportunity go to waste, I mixed and blended a drug that removed your status effects with the drug I wished to test. My evaluation didn’t fail me! The Animal Ear Drug was a success, and the dog ears look absolutely perfect on you! ...I’m sorry, I am so sorry! I’ll genuflect and apologize, so could you please withdraw your sword? You’ll tear my suit! Please stop! It might reach my throat!” 
I pushed Nemesis against the mad scientist penguin’s throat as I found out that I’d been used as his guinea pig. 
Forgive me, Lei-Lei, I thought. I deserve this for failing to follow your advice. But man, isn’t this a bit too much? 
“I’m not too big on fashion, but there are three things I’ve decided to never wear under any circumstances,” I spoke. 
“A-And those are?” asked Nemesis. 
“Glasses, girl’s clothing, and animal ear headbands.” 
Naturally, this turn of events was quite upsetting. 
“Master,” said Nemesis, “you are more averse to glasses than girl’s clothing?” 
“Glasses are great,” said the penguin. “This pair, for example, gives you various skills and—” 
“Shut up!” I cut his words short. 
“Th-That sounded like you intend to kill him,” commented Nemesis. 
“I’m shorryy!” cried the penguin. 
No glasses, not ever, I thought. 
“Well... what the hell do I do now?” I tried to hide the dog ears with some random headgear, but I couldn’t equip anything. They all got rejected like magnets of the same pole. I brought up my equipment window, and it said that I already had “Dog Ears” equipped on my head. Apparently, as is normal in most such games, you could only wear a single piece of equipment in each slot. 
By the way, these Dog Ears had no bonuses or skills on them. It was an item that only changed my appearance. However, just like a generic cursed object straight out of your average RPG, it couldn’t be removed through the equipment window. 
There were also no relevant status effects to accompany that function, and Reversal couldn’t do anything about it, either. 
“How do you fix this?” I asked. 
“It’s growing out of your head, so you can’t just take it off,” said the penguin. “It’s like a sub-type of hair makeovers.” 
Man, that’s annoying, I thought. 
“Oh, but it should disappear after some time,” he continued. “If I had to guess, it will happen sometime in the evening.” 
“By which time standard?” I asked. 
“This world’s, of course.” 
That was the equivalent of ten hours here or three hours in reality. 
“Then I guess I’ll just log out until that time comes,” I said. I didn’t want anyone I knew to see me like this. 
“Oh no, time when you’re logged out wouldn’t count,” the penguin said. “It would be boring if it did.” 
...This mad penguin just said the word “boring,” didn’t he? 
“Hhaah... All right,” I sighed, resigned. “Guess I’ll just continue like this, then...” 
Having to go about with something like this on my head was somewhat embarrassing. But when compared to having to wear glasses... hey, I guess this ain’t all that bad, I thought. 
“Just what did glasses ever do to you?” asked Nemesis. 
Not gonna comment. 
“By the way, Ray, my boy,” spoke the penguin again. 
“What is it?” I asked. 
“I have but one humble request.” The penguin looked at me with a serious face — not that I could see it, but it felt that way — and stated what he wanted of me. “I want to take a screenshot, so could you take off your clothes? Just the top would be fine.” 
Without saying a word back, I slashed at him. 
“Fwahahahah! Farewell!” 
The penguin evaded my attack and quickly ran in the direction of the city. 
Man, is he fast, I thought. A penguin has no business being this fleet of foot. 
“What do we even make of oddballs like this...?” asked Nemesis. 
“No idea. From the fact that he mentioned screenshots, it’s obvious that he’s a Master, but... Hm?” I stopped talking and realized something. 
I realized that the penguin had called me by my name before he left. And I definitely hadn’t introduced myself to him... 
After that penguin weirdo gave me the dog-ear drug, I made my way back to the city. 
Since Gideon was a place where demi-humans weren’t uncommon, the guards didn’t make any comments about my new appearance. 
I could hear one of them whisper, “Huh? Did that guy have those ears when he greeted us in the morning...? Guess I wasn’t fully awake,” but that was the extent of it. 
“All right, what now?” I asked myself. 
Prior to the testing, I’d had plans to go say hello to Alejandro, buy some new equipment, and perhaps even go hunting alongside Rook and Marie, provided they were online. As things were now, however, I didn’t want to encounter anyone I knew. Being seen with these dog ears on my head would be downright degrading. 
“I don’t see why it bothers you that much,” said Nemesis. 
It’d be weirder if it didn’t bother me, I thought. Imagine a scenario where a good friend suddenly appears before you with a pair of dog ears coming out of his head. 
I was fully confident that such a sight would be etched onto my brain forever. 
I’m strongly averse to the idea of that happening, so I don’t want to see anyone I kno— 
“Ah, Ray, Nemesis. Good morning,” a feminine voice reached my ears before I could finish my thought. 
I had no words for this situation. 
Seriously?! You do this to me right when I was thinking that?! I thought. 
“Well, if it isn’t Marie,” said Nemesis. 
“Indeed it is,” replied the Journalist. 
“Now, Ray, why do you have such a unique look on your fa...” Marie stopped talking and fixed her gaze on the things sprouting out of my head. 
Crap, she’s staring at them, I silently panicked. She’s seriously eyeballing them. 
I had to clear things up before she thought I was some weirdo who got his kicks from wearing dog ears. 
“Marie, just so you know, this isn’t my thin—” 
“Don’t say anything, Ray!” she cut me off. 
“Excuse me?!” The vigor in her words made me stiffen up and rendered me unable to continue what I wanted to say. With her gaze still fixed on me, Marie reached into her wristband-shaped inventory and took something out. It was... 
“A sketchbook and... a pen?” I looked at the items with questioning eyes. 
Just like she had during the minion capacity explanation, Marie began drawing something at an incredible speed. I wasn’t knowledgeable about the subject of drawing, but I couldn’t help but question if it was really possible for such a coherent picture to have come from such fast movements. With nimble strokes, she drew the outline, the hair, the details on the face and — of course — the dog ears. 
“Phew,” she sighed. Two minutes later, Marie finally took the pen away from the paper and put up a satisfied expression. On the sketchbook in her hands, there was a ridiculously well-drawn picture of a blond youth with dog ears and no upper clothing. 
...Huh? Is this me? But I still have my clothes on, I thought. 
“Impressive,” said Nemesis. 
“Well, yeah, it’s good, but... It’s good, but I, uh...” I stumbled. 
It was definitely a high-quality drawing, but I had no idea how to react to a depiction of a shirtless me with dog ears. The art style was a perfect fit for those monthly magazines that were aimed at teenage boys, but which happened to have a lot of female readers, and that made it even harder for me to comment on it. 
“Is there a Drawing skill or something?” I asked. 
“It’s included among the sense skills, yes, but this is all me,” Marie answered. 
Oh, so she’s good at drawing in real life, I thought. 
“So, Ray, how did you end up with such a splendid pair of dog ears?” she asked. 
“...A penguin drugged me.” I told her the details of my encounter with Mister Flamingo. 
“I must say, that penguin has some great taste,” said Marie. “I’ll make sure to buy some of that Animal Ear Drug if it ever gets on the market.” 
“Not that I’d stop you, but... are you serious?” I asked. 
“Very,” she answered. “By the way, Ray. Dog ears look great on you, but I think that tiger or fox ears wou—” 
“Whoa, now! Don’t think of using it on me!” I cut her off. 
“...Tch.” 
Did this shady Journalist just click her tongue?! I thought in disbelief. 
“Anyway, you said that the effect wears off in the evening,” she said, changing the subject. “What do you plan to do until then?” 
“I was thinking of paying a visit to Alejandro’s shop, but I can’t really do that with these things popping out of my head,” I answered. I didn’t want people to see them. 
Although it may be a lost cause, considering they’ve already been seen by someone I know, I thought. 
“Hmm, I really don’t think it’s such a big deal,” said Marie. “You shouldn’t be so self-conscious about them.” 
“But—” 
“You’d be hard-pressed to find a tian who’d be surprised by a Master who suddenly grew a pair of animal ears,” she cut me off and explained. “To most tians, we Masters are creatures that exist outside the boundaries of common sense.” 
Is that how it is? I asked myself. Well, now that I think about it, the King of Destruction destroyed a whole forest in a single night, so it’s perfectly reasonable for tians to see us that way. 
“Guess I’ll go to Alejandro’s place, then,” I sighed. 
“I’m still busy with something, so I can’t join you,” said Marie. 
“Busy?” I asked. 
“Various preparations and all that,” she responded, but didn’t make anything clear. “Speaking of which, don’t forget to meet up with me tomorrow afternoon.” 
“Yeah, I remember the plan,” I said. “What are you preparing, anyway?” 
“It’s a secret,” she answered. “See you tomorrow!” 
With those words as her last, Marie ran off towards an uncertain direction. I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of surprise she had in store for us. 
After splitting up with Marie, Nemesis and I made our way to the shop address Alejandro had given us yesterday, which was located in Gideon’s fourth district. 
Gideon was a circular city split into twelve districts — making it seem much like a sliced cake — and the fourth was an area focused on trade. Making my way through the bazaars while trying not to get lost among all the people and other things, I somehow arrived at Alejandro’s shop. 
The large building had a sign that said “The Alejandro Company.” I peeked inside and saw a variety of goods being sold. Obviously, there were weapons, armor, and healing items, but I also noticed works of art such as paintings and statues. There were fruit and other foods, as well, and they created quite a contrast with the rows of Jewels on display. The place was much like a department store. 
“Good morning,” I said as I came in. A moment later, a young girl — clearly an employee — ran up to me. 
“Is Alejandro here right now?” I asked. 
“Oh! You’re the Master from the day before yesterday!” she exclaimed. “Thank you very much for what you did back then! I’ll call the owner immediately!” The girl trotted off deeper into the shop. 
From her words, it was pretty obvious that she had been one of the tians riding the carriages when Gardranda had attacked. I couldn’t tell if I’d seen her back then, though. Things had been pretty hectic, after all. 
“What a fidgety young girl,” said Nemesis. “From the air about her, I assume that she has the makings of a ‘klutz.’” 
Not sure how I feel about summarizing people with a single word, I thought. What word would you summarize yourself with, Nemesis? 
“Goddess,” she answered with no hesitation. 
Well, your name is that of a goddess, yeah, but I’d say you’re better summed up as an “old loli ha-” I thought willfully. 
“Hey! What were you about to think just now?!” Nemesis exclaimed. 
“Ha ha ha, don’t be so loud,” I said. “You’ll disturb the other customers.” 
“That laugh was so forced!” she shouted, seeing right through me. 
As we were fooling around, Alejandro walked out from the shop’s inner quarters. 
“Well, if it isn’t Mr. Ray,” he said. “You are most welcome here.” 
“Hello,” I greeted him. “Since you insisted that I pay a visit, I came to take a look at your wares.” 
“Oh, please do,” he said. “Look at them for as long as you like. You get a discount on everything I have.” 
“Thank you,” I said. 
I had to get a lot of new gear appropriate to my current level, so a discount was very welcome. 
Also, there was something I couldn’t help but notice. The female employee and Alejandro weren’t making any comments about my dog ears. Sure, the girl gave them a few involuntary glances, but she didn’t say anything at all. Alejandro, on the other hand, acted as though the ears didn’t even exist. A pro if I ever saw one. 
Perhaps Marie was right about tians not being mindful of such things happening with Masters. 
I was thankful for that. Having to explain the dog ears to every single person I encountered would’ve been really annoying. 
Now, I can only hope they disappear before I meet Rook again, I thought. 
“Oh, look, it’s Ray and Nemesis,” said someone in the shop. “Good morning. Nice to see that you’re already logged in.” 
“Helloo,” followed a feminine voice. “Oh? Why do you have those ears, Ray?” 
I turned to see Rook and Babi, who had — apparently — been shopping here before we came in. 
I had no words. This is the second time today that my hope has died the very moment I created it, I thought. Are these dog ears cursed or something? 
“If you consider everything that’s happened ever since you logged in this morning, the cursed item here might be the Miasmaflame Bracers, not the ears,” said Nemesis. 
...You have a point, I thought. 
“Ray, how did you end up with that nice pair of ears?” asked Rook. 
“It’s a result of this and that happening because of so on and so on,” I said. 
“Surely you’re not expecting him to understand that,” commented Nemesis. 
“I see,” said Rook. “You ended up like that because a shady person tricked you into drinking some drug, right?” 
“He actually got it right?!” Nemesis and I couldn’t hide our surprise. 
Are you an esper or something? I thought. 
“No, this isn’t a superpower or anything like that,” he answered to my thought. “This level of ‘mind reading’ is easy once you get the hang of it.” 
“How can you call it easy when you’re talking to my thoughts as naturally as Nemesis does?!” I asked, still perplexed. 
“Ohh... what a heavy blow to my identity.” Shocked for some reason, Nemesis fell to her knees. 
“That’s pretty amazing, Rook,” I said. “You’d be unbeatable when playing old maid.” 
“Old maid, huh...” he said. “I don’t think this ability of mine would be this precise with anyone I don’t know, though. The most I can do with strangers is tell how they feel and notice if they have any ulterior motives.” 
That’s still pretty amazing, I thought. 
After Rook surprised us with his special ability, we began looking at the wares on sale here. 
“Why are you here, anyway?” I asked him. “To say hi and buy some new gear, I assume?” 
“Yes,” he answered. “Not just for me and Babi, either. I found out that I can get weapons for Marilyn and Audrey, as well. Also, we went hunting yesterday, so I have some drops to sell.” 
So there’s monster gear here, too, huh? I thought. This shop sure has a wide variety of items. 
“Hunting, eh?” I said. “What level are you now?” 
“48,” he answered. 
...H-He’s about to reach the maximum level a low-rank job can get, I thought. It’s almost two times greater than my level. How am I supposed to feel about this? 
“Looks like someone got real busy during the day I was offline...” I muttered. 
I could only assume that having Marilyn and Audrey had made his hunting that much more effective. Heck, Rook and Babi were absolute terrors in large-scale battles by themselves. 
“I’m about to reach level 50, so I’ll have to start working towards switching to a high-rank job soon,” said Rook. 
“Do you have anything in mind?” I asked. 
“Yes, I did my research and found out that a Pimp’s high-rank job is called the ‘Lost Heart,’” he answered. 
Lost Heart, eh? I thought. It was a reference to the Japanese word used to describe a person who’d lost all the eight virtues as they were presented in works such as The Eight Dog Chronicles. The term also referred to people who managed brothels. Quite the unique naming choice. 
“Here are the requirements.” Rook took out a Catalog and showed me the Lost Heart’s page.

Requirement no. 1: Reach level 50 as Pimp. 
Requirement no. 2: The sum total of all underling female monster and slave stats must be above a certain point. 
Requirement no. 3: The total money gained by making the underling female monsters and slaves work must be above 1,000,000 lir. 

“I see,” I said. Unlike Paladin, it didn’t have any requirements that involved human relations or some special victories. In fact, everything could be achieved by simply playing Pimp for a certain amount of time. These requirements could’ve been one of the reasons why it wasn’t classified as a battle-focused job. 
Even though Rook makes it look far more formidable than most battle jobs, I thought. 
“I’m about to reach level 50, and the second requirement is already fulfilled,” said Rook. “The third one is gonna take a while, though.” 
“Yeah, that seems like a lot of work,” I agreed. 
Is it even possible for a Pimp to make money by using creatures such as Marilyn and Audrey? I thought. 
“I feel like they would be very efficient in construction sites,” said Rook. 
I said, “I think that one of the retro games my brother owns had some tamed monster running around a construction site... Hm?” 
I belatedly noticed that Rook was wearing a different outfit than he had yesterday. It was a coat that seemed to emit a strange, silver shine. 
Well, this looks new, I thought. 
“That’s an awesome-looking coat, Rook,” I said. The details on the décor were elaborate, and the metallic gleam was damn cool. 
Its sleeves had different lengths, which made it seem very stylish, and Rook — handsome as he was — made it all come together in the best of ways. He hadn’t been wearing it yesterday, so I could only assume that he’d gotten it while I was offline. 
“Oh, yes. I like Liz a lot,” he said. 
Enough to give it a name? I raised an eyebrow. 
Suddenly, the coat seemed to move in an unnatural manner. I had no idea why, but the movement seemed somehow happy. 
While doing this and that, I finished choosing everything I needed. Since I was going to wear the Miasmaflame Bracers no matter what, I didn’t go for set armors like the Riot series items. 
In my case, one of the most important pieces of equipment was the chest armor, and since Rook looked really cool in that coat of his, I went for a coat-type piece, as well. It had the name "Blaze Metal Scale Coat." 
It was created by taking a coat made from the skins of red, wolf-type monsters and strengthening it with many metal scales. It had two skills on it — “Fire Affinity” and “Fire Resistance.” The former increased the damage of my fire-based attacks by 10%, while the other reduced the damage I took from fire by the same amount, giving it good synergy with Purgatorial Flames. Sure, it was a luxury item that’d cost me a whole 80,000 lir, but I had no regrets about choosing it. 
I got some other equipment to go with it and made my way to the counter to buy it all. 
“Eh?” Right next to the counter, there was a device you’d often see in reality. 
It was a rectangular case with many round capsules inside it and a lever on its side. By putting money inside it, you could pull on the lever and make one of the capsules pop out. 
It was basically a gacha vending machine. 
 
Gacha vending machines had existed since long before I was born. 
I could remember when I used to go to the machines dedicated to my favorite anime or games, pop in 100 yen, pull the lever, and get a random toy related to those series. It was fun because you never knew what you were going to get, and because of that, those memories were dear to me. 
However, in-game gacha machines were a completely different beast. 
Some time ago, there used to be a game genre known as “social games.” They could be played on mobile devices and PC browsers, and you could start them without paying any money whatsoever. 
Social games were many and varied. Some were fantasy games with equipment systems, while others revolved around monster growing, robot squad creation, or even idol producer work. The games were free, but if the players wished to get high-quality weapons, armor, monsters, robots, or idols, they had to pay additional money. 
The most popular method of distributing such treasures was the real money gacha machine. For about 300 yen, the player could pull the virtual machine’s lever and get a random item. The items had levels of rarity, and the rarest items of all had the lowest chances of popping out. 
Rarity was often related to quality, too. To either win at the games, boast to others, or simply to enjoy their idols, the players would pull the lever. They would do it over and over until they got what they wanted. 
However, it was all just data. The companies would never lose anything, no matter how many high-quality, high-rarity pulls the players got. Many players’ desire to get the good stuff only increased with every bad thing they pulled, making them throw even more money at the game. 
As a result, there had been many players who would spend 100,000 yen on the games every month. Some would even go above and beyond and break the 1,000,000 barrier. 
It had been a very real, very dark time, indeed... 
 
With that in mind, the gacha before me takes lir instead of real money, so it’s not a big deal if I pull it once or twice, right? I thought. 
“...I see that all those thoughts just now were nothing but a big excuse to do it,” said Nemesis. 
“Well, yeah, I want to pull it, after all,” I said. I really enjoyed the excitement involved in pulling on gachas and buying random card packs. 
All right, back to the thing before me... I thought and looked at the machine. Though its shape was familiar, there were several differences between it and the gachas I knew. 
First of all, it was possible to choose the amount of money you wanted to put in. There was a short line before it, and I noticed that some threw single 100 lir coins, while others went in with as much as 10,000 lir. 
According to the explanation on the machine, the items that could pop out had rarities from S to F. 
Rank C items were worth as much as the money put in. 
Rank F — the lowest rank — items were worth only 1% of the money put in. 
Rank S — the highest rank — items were worth 100+ times more than the money put in. 
The minimum amount of money you could put in was 100 lir, while the maximum was 100,000. 
As was natural, low risk meant low reward and high risk meant high reward. 
“But doesn’t that make it hard to keep track of the items inside and manage the quality of what pops out?” I asked an employee, and the answer I got was one I’d never have expected. 
“It doesn’t work the way you think,” she said. “While it is true that we manage this magic item itself, we have nothing to do with the prizes inside or the money used on it.” 
According to her, this gacha machine had originally been a rare item found in the Tomb Labyrinth. 
It wasn’t a one-of-a-kind, either. There were records of other people getting these, and some had tried to take them apart and take the prizes by force. Apparently, the effort involved was insane, and yet those who succeeded had found out that the inside of the machine was completely empty. 
Thus, everyone had begun to assume that the money offered to it made the machine magically summon an appropriate item. And since it was impossible to retrieve the money used, the gacha definitely wasn’t a part of any successful business model. 
“However, the owner believes that it works to attract customers, so we keep it here for everyone’s convenience,” said the employee. “We also made it a rule that only paying customers can use it.” 
A wise decision, indeed, for it created a decent flow of money from those who only came here for the machine. I now had no doubts that Alejandro was highly skilled as a manager. 
“How did he come to have it, anyway?” I asked. 
“When its previous owner ran out of money, he had to part with a lot of property,” she said. “This was among the items, and our owner bought it.” 
“...And the reason for the previous owner going broke was...?” 
“...Exactly what you imagine,” she said. 
So he went broke because he pulled on this thing a bit too much, huh? I thought. That might’ve been another reason why Alejandro was using it for nothing more but attracting customers. 
Anyway, I’d grown interested in the gacha machine, so I thanked the employee that told me about it and took my place at the end of the line. 
“So, how much do you plan on spending?” asked Nemesis. 
“100,000 li—GUH!” 
The moment I answered, she hit me with a blow to my stomach. It came from a really good angle, so it actually made me bend forward. 
“How can you let yourself use such a great amount of money right after hearing about someone who lost it all because of it?!” she exclaimed. 
“I-I know that 100,000 lir is a lot, but I might pull something really good if I’m lucky...” I said. 
“This reeks of a scenario where you get something worthless, if you ask me.” 
Well, if something like that happens, we’ll have something to look back at and laugh about later down the line, I thought. 
She sighed. “I hope you don’t regret this.” 
“I’m sure I won’t,” I said. 
Soon enough, it was my turn, so I put ten 10,000 lir coins into the gacha. Once done with that, I pulled the lever, making the machine release a single capsule. The thing had the letter C on it. According to the explanation, the thing inside had the same value as the money I’d put in, so it wasn’t a loss. 
Excitedly, I opened the capsule and made the item inside it pop out. 
Tomb Labyrinth Exploration Permit. 
Seeing the familiar item made me drop to my knees. 
“Ohh... nooooooo...” I groaned. I could almost hear the thing greet me with a smug “Hey there! it’s been a while!” 
“Oh dear, a double,” said Nemesis. 
Well yeah, it’s worth 100,000 lir, but... but I... I moaned silently. 
“Rook... take it,” I said, presenting the paper to him. 
“Are you sure? Isn’t this a decent pull?” he asked. 
“It is, but I already have one, and you don’t need more than one...” 
Hell, being a Paladin, I don’t need even one... I thought. 
“Th-Thank you,” Rook said gratefully. “Umm, shall we go explore it sometime?” 
“That’s a good idea...” I replied with little enthusiasm. It really was a good idea, though, since I hadn’t gone beyond the first floor there. 
All right, time to pull myself together, and... 
“One more,” I said. 
“Haven’t you learned your lesson?!” exclaimed Nemesis. 
“Come on! There’s no way I’ll get another one of the Permits! I’m sure I’ll pull something good this time!” I said. 
“That’s what every gambler thinks before losing it all!” 
Despite Nemesis’ disapproval, I stood in the line again and got ready for a second try. 
Like last time, I went with 100,000 lir. Considering the total cost of the equipment I was buying, this was my last chance. 
I pulled on the lever while praying to God, Buddha, or whatever was listening. 
And the result was... 
“...What?” I raised an eyebrow. 
The capsule had popped out as normal, but the rarity displayed on it wasn’t even in the range of S to F. 
It simply said “X.” 
Is this above S? Or is the X actually a cross that makes it as worse than F? I was thoroughly confused. There was a little warning on it, saying, “Open only in spacious areas.” I asked an employee about it, and she said that warning appeared on any capsules that contained something large, like a carriage. That meant that this capsule had something sizable inside it. 
Also, the employee said that this was the first time she’d ever seen a capsule with X rarity on it. 
I have no idea how to feel about that, I thought. 
Whatever the case, since I could only open it in spacious areas, I chose not to open it inside the shop. I kept it in capsule form and placed it inside my inventory. 
Okay, now that I’ve calmed down, there’s something to consider, I thought. 
One pull had cost me 100,000 lir. 
My new equipment had a combined cost of 110,000 lir. 
...That comparison made me aware of just how expensive the pulls were. In terms of rarity, I hadn’t really experienced a loss, but I couldn’t help but feel off. 
“That’s what you get for gambling away 200,000 lir,” said Nemesis. 
I was in no position to say anything to that. 
By the time I finished buying my equipment, Rook was trying his own luck on the gacha. 
Apparently, seeing me try it got him interested, too. 
“...You didn’t really have to copy the amount of money I used, though,” I muttered. Hoping that his 100,000 wouldn’t go to waste, I looked at what he got, and... 
And, uh... Huh? 
Silence overwhelmed the entire shop. The shock was shared by everyone inside, except Rook. 
Nemesis, I, the employees, and the other customers were all at a loss for words. 
The capsule in Rook’s hand was rainbow-patterned. 
It seemed to be made from a mineral so vivid that it looked like a rare item by itself. 
Its surface had a large S on it. 
Rook had actually pulled something great on his first try. 
“Ah, Ray! I think I got something good!” he said. 
“C-Congratulations!” My shock made me unintentionally raise my voice. 
“Rook, let’s hurry up and open it!” Babi cried. 
“Y-Yes! Let’s find out what you have received!” Nemesis agreed. 
Since he’d used 100,000 lir, and the value of an S rarity prize was 100 times greater, the item inside should be worth 100,000,000 lir. 
Naturally, something that amazing interested not only us, but the shop employees and other customers, as well. 
Rook’s capsule didn’t have any warnings on it, so he opened it on the spot. 
What came out was a pair of gloves, long enough to cover the elbows. Made from a blue, leather-like material, they were decorated by an intricate pattern of golden metal. 
“‘Touch of the Silencer, Veltboule’?” Rook’s mutter made me tilt my head. 
That naming style was similar to the one on my special reward — “Miasmaflame Bracers, Gardranda.” Such special rewards should be impossible to gain without defeating an UBM, and there was no way to transfer them to others, either. 
“...Whoa,” Rook said. He was looking at the details of the item — Touch of the Silencer, Veltboule — and couldn’t hide his amazement. His face was downright stiff, and it was probably the first time I’d seen him make such an expression. 
“So, what kind of item is it, Rook?” I asked. 
Looking around, I noticed that some customers — likely Masters and tians with a high Identification skill — seemed as dumbfounded as Rook was. 
Okay, now I’m dying to know more about it, I thought. 
“Basically, this is an MVP special reward for defeating a UBM,” he said. 
“Are you serious?” I asked in disbelief. 
“Yes,” he answered. “Let me tell you the details elsewhere.” 
After he said that, Rook and I left the shop. As I walked away, I glanced back inside and saw that the line for the gacha had gotten longer and that just about everyone was preparing 100,000 lir. 
Apparently, finding out that you could pull UBM special rewards had gotten them all hyped up. 
...I hope no one goes broke, I thought. 
 
The place Rook took me to was the room he’d rented at the inn. Rook had clearly learned something that couldn’t be heard by other people. 
“Basically, this is a special reward that no longer has an owner,” he said. 
“What do you mean?” I asked. 
He explained. 
First of all, standard special rewards could only be used by the owner and couldn’t be transferred to other people in any way. 
However, there was one exception to this rule... and it happened when the owner was a tian who died. 
In such cases, the special reward would be automatically retrieved from the body and become either an ultra rare drop in the deeper levels of created dungeons or — as it had been in this case — a high-risk gacha prize. 
From that, I could easily understand why he’d gotten all secretive about it. 
“You think there’d be more tian-killing if people found out about this, huh?” I asked. 
“Yes,” he answered. 
I had no idea how many special reward-owning tians there were, but I couldn’t be certain that there weren’t any Masters who would kill them just to increase their chances of getting such items. At the very least, we sure as hell didn’t want to be the root cause of such killings. That was the reason why Rook hadn’t said that in public. 
“Are you sure it didn’t slip?” I asked. “What if someone with a high Identification skill saw that part of the description?” 
“It wasn’t in the item description, but in a personal message,” he explained. “No one knows this, I’m sure.” 
“All’s good, then,” I said. 
Though, now that I think about it, I doubt there would be many Masters willing to take the risk, I thought. Tian-killing could get you on the wanted lists, and there was no guarantee that items gotten this way would ever end up in your hands. 
“Here are the details of the item.” Rook showed me a window that described the Touch of the Silencer.

Touch of the Silencer, Veltboule 
Ancient Legendary Item 
A treasure embodying the concepts surrounding the sphinx famed for being a “mage killer.” 
In addition to increasing the wearer’s magic and special powers, it provides them with a great resistance to mental status effects and attacks. 

Just as the description said, the gloves greatly increased the wearer’s resistance to mental debuffs and attacks while also giving a large bonus to MP and SP. 
“So, what are the effects of the skills on it?” I asked. 
“It’s pretty interesting,” said Rook. “There are two skills on it. I can’t read one yet, but the one that I can use now is called ‘Silence,’ and it cancels any magic-based skills that are in their preparatory stages.” 
“Oh?” I asked. 
Preparatory stages? What does that mean? I thought. 
“Apparently, if an opponent is chanting or getting ready to invoke a magic spell, this skill will nullify it,” he continued. “But it can’t influence any insta-cast skills or magic that has already been cast.” 
So it’s the bane of all casters, huh? Seems like it’ll be useful in many scenarios, I thought. 
After all, the skill would cancel any spell that hadn’t been cast yet. Magic-based jobs would become powerless when going against him mano a mano. 
“If it was originally owned by a tian, then... I see how it is,” I nodded. 
The source of this Touch of the Silencer — the UBM known as Veltboule — had clearly been a creature that specialized in killing casters. It had probably been defeated by a tian who had been strong without having to rely on magic. Later on, the tian had died somehow, and this special reward had ended up in Rook’s hands. 
“I must say, Rook,” Nemesis spoke up, “You are quite a lucky sort.” 
I couldn’t help but agree. 
First Marilyn, then Audrey, now this great pull in the gacha... Rook was definitely a very lucky person. 
I wonder if that has something to do with him being a good person, I thought. 
“But you pulled something good, too, didn’t you, Ray?” he said. 
“Oh right, I got this thing.” 
Saying that, I took out the X capsule. I couldn’t open it here due to the thing inside being a carriage or something, so I decided to do it after going through the northern gate again. 
“I’m going to open it. Care to join me?” I asked Rook. 
“I can’t. I’ve been getting messages saying that I need to return to reality,” he answered. 
“Hm? ‘Visitor,’ I assume?” I asked. 
“‘Hunger’ and ‘Lack of Sleep,’ actually,” he said. “I’ve been online since yesterday, hunting monsters and leveling. The only food I’ve eaten was in-game, and I didn’t get any sleep at all.” 
“Holy crap!” I exclaimed. “Get some food, take a bath, and go to sleep already!” 
“Ahaha,” he laughed awkwardly. “I’ll do just that. I’ll make sure to wake up in time for Marie’s plan.” 
“Take care of yourself, man.” 
After I said that, Rook logged out, so I left his room. 
I’d never expected Rook to be enough of a no-lifer to forget his own basic needs. 
I guess he’s just another student using his spring break for some unreasonable levels of gaming, I thought. 
And so, I left the inn. The “spacious area” I was most familiar with was the Nex Plains north of Gideon, so I made my way to the city’s northern gate. 
“Master,” Nemesis said, “shouldn’t we have lunch now?” 
“Oh yeah, I guess we should,” I said. “I’ll open the capsule after we do that, then.” 
I’d probably go hunting in the Nex Plains right after seeing what was inside, so having a meal before that was a good idea. 
Since it was noon, most of the nearby restaurants were full, so I chose one that seemed somewhat empty by comparison. 
“...Huh?” I said in surprise. 
Inside the one I’d chosen, I saw that the shopkeeper was being questioned by a certain group. Wearing full plate mail armor and cloaks that had the Kingdom of Altar’s crests on them, they asked something of the shopkeeper while showing him a photo-like object. 
Realizing that this was why the shop was so empty, I decided to observe them. 
From his ragged voice, I could tell that the one asking questions was in a minor state of panic and that the subject matter was serious. However, looking stumped, the shopkeeper only shook his head in response, making it obvious that he couldn’t help them in any way. 
After that, a woman from the group tried to calm down her panicked comrade. She was a familiar face. 
“Liliana?” I asked. 
“Oh? Well, if it isn’t Ray,” she replied. 
It was the Kingdom of Altar’s Knights of the Royal Guard, Vice Commander, Paladin Liliana Grandria. I hadn’t seen her since I’d left the royal capital, and by some twist of fate, we had happened to meet again here in the city of duels. 
As I was busy being surprised by the encounter, Nemesis telepathically told me something ominous. 
“I feel some trouble brewing.”