Chapter 65: Preparation (3) |
Trinkets overflowed across the desk. Among the long list of texts, what stood out the most was, of course, the notification of 11 goddess statues at the very top.
“???”
No, that wasn’t what I meant by asking you to watch over me. Did giving Karen the goddess statue in the heat of the moment really upset you that much, oh goddess?
It was ridiculous enough to be showered with 3-star items, but to think they were all useless goddess statues. Considering my body still felt fine, it seemed like I hadn’t drawn a single skill or power. Did I pour all my luck into those goddess statues?
“Stop manipulating the odds…!”
With a resentful heart, I glared at the sky, but all I saw was the dreary ceiling. I wanted to hire and send a protest truck if I could, but since I needed to spin the gacha one more time with that money, I let it slide. Still, wasn’t it a huge win to get this many 3-stars anyway? Trying to think positively, I scrolled down the blinking list in front of me.
1 star: Well-dried Mana Herb
1 star: Processed Healing Herb
1 star: Well-dried Mana Herb
1 star: Well-dried Mana Herb
1 star: Perry's Tears
1 star: Processed Healing Herb
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★4 stars: Invisible Cloak★
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3 stars: Haste Boots
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3 stars: Masterpiece - A High-Quality Decorative Cabinet Perfect for Storing the Most Beautiful, Cute, and Lovely Goddess Statue in the World
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★4 stars: Large Capacity Subspace Ring★
“Whaaat?”
4-stars… two of them? There was something odd in the mix, but overall, the draw turned out quite well. Even better, they were the items I needed most and could use right away. It felt as if they were given to prepare me for what was happening tomorrow.
“Ah! I see! You aren’t a human being but a goddess!”
I bowed deeply to the goddess whose location I didn’t know. I was so grateful that I bowed twice. Bowing twice is usually reserved for the deceased, but since this wasn’t a Confucian cultural sphere, it probably didn’t matter.
The goddess who witnessed my double dogeza (not)—a traditional Japanese act of deep apology or respect where you kneel and bow with your head touching the ground, also practiced in Korea—must have been satisfied.
“Hehe. Now, let’s take a look.”
Humming, I searched through the pile of magic herbs. I deliberately avoided the goddess statues that could be easily grasped with just a slight touch. Finally, a glass bottle came into my fingertips. In the small bottle, about as thick as a thumb and as long as an index finger, a transparent liquid was sloshing around. Is this that tear or something? I didn’t know what it was used for, but seeing it was 1-star, it was probably a useless junk item.
“Ugh.”
For now, I casually tossed it toward a corner of the bed and rummaged through the pile of magic herbs again. This time, what I grabbed felt like soft fabric.
Pulling it out, I found a cloak that reminded me of silk—thin and soft to the touch. It was a plain black cloak without any patterns. Was this the 4-star invisibility cloak? Just hearing the name made it sound appealing. It would be a great match with my sound-eating footsteps.
At full power, even Lydia said it would be hard to notice me unless she was sensing her surroundings with aura or looking directly at me. Now that I wouldn’t be visible to the eyes, it would be even harder to detect me. Whether I needed to run away or launch a surprise attack, this equipment would be of great use.
“Eutcha.”
As I draped the slightly large cloak over my shoulders, it smoothly shrank to fit my size perfectly. But how did I use this thing? Most magical tools worked if you infused them with magical power, so I tried channeling a tiny bit of magic into it.
Wooong—
The cloak greedily absorbed my magical power, gradually becoming faint until it perfectly blended into the surrounding scenery. But my body remained visible.
“What’s this?”
Did it mean the cloak became invisible when worn, not the wearer? And it got 4-stars for this!?
As I almost let out a string of swear words, I glanced at the mirror half-buried in a pile of magical herbs. My frustration instantly vanished.
In the mirror, where I should have been, there was no sign of me. It seemed my body was visible only to my own eyes.
I swung around a weapon, just in case. Things close to my body became invisible with me, but as soon as they left my hand, they reappeared. Looking at objects like desks, which stayed visible even when I touched them, it seemed making something too large invisible was impossible. Overall, the cloak seemed like a top-tier item; however, there was one problem.
“Ugh…”
It used too much magical power. Originally, magical tools were difficult to make because they involved complex magic circles and precious materials, but they were easy to use. They used less magical power, and their effects were consistent. Yet, this cloak couldn’t even maintain invisibility for 10 seconds despite the reduced consumption. Even though I’d been consistently eating mana herbs, and the faint flame of my magic had reached a level where it could last for nearly 5 minutes. It seemed I’d have to use this sparingly, only in critical moments.
The next item was Haste Boots. I could pretty much guess their effect from the name, but… unfortunately, I couldn’t check them out right now.
“Ugh…”
How could I use a magical device when I was almost out of mana? While munching on the mana herbs scattered around, I decided to check out the other item first. It was something like a transparent glass case with a suspiciously strong presence.
“This has to be that, right?”
If you buy a figure, it’s only natural to buy a display case for it, too. Of course, I was practically forced into buying it, so it didn’t really matter to me!
But still, this case was really well made. It seemed custom-made, just the right size for the goddess statues. The body was so clear that you could easily see inside. And it was lighter than I expected. Judging by the texture and feel, it was definitely made of glass… but it couldn’t be ordinary glass, could it?
Just to be sure, I lightly scratched the top part with a unicorn dagger. If it were ordinary glass, it should have been cut or shattered right away…
Grrk.
The surface of the case remained intact. Well, there were slight scratches, but not enough to be visible to the naked eye.
“It’s sturdy…”
It must have been made with some special glass-like material, or maybe it was thickly coated with strengthening magic. As I chuckled at how well-made it was, I discovered a small button on the side of the case. So, I pressed it.
Pop!
Light burst from the top part of the case. It seemed to be a display case with its own set of lights.
“It would definitely look cool to put the statues here.”
I chuckled at the thought that it was called ‘High-Quality’ for nothing and pressed the button once more.
Pffft!
But instead of turning off, the light changed color and began to shine red.
“…Is there no instruction manual?”
I pressed the button repeatedly. Each time, the light changed to different colors: blue, purple, yellow, pink, and so on. After fiddling around for a while, pressing and holding it down finally turned the light off.
“It’s really unnecessarily well-made.”
Shaking my head, I then tried using the Haste Boots, having restored my mana. Just as I expected, it consumed a certain amount of mana to speed up all actions for about 30 seconds. However, it didn’t speed up the thought process, and since it consumed quite a bit, it seemed impractical to use continuously. It was something to use briefly in crucial moments but impractical to use lavishly in everyday situations.
With this, I finished checking all the items. Now, all that was left were the 22 eyes looking at me with an unnecessarily compassionate expression…!
Swallowing my saliva, I picked up a goddess statue. Then, as if it had been waiting, a notification window popped up.
Ding!
Do you want to synthesize this?
[3 stars: Masterpiece - The Most Beautiful, Cute, and Lovely Goddess Statue in the World]
I pondered for a moment while looking at the notification. Couldn’t I just sell these 11 statues to the temple for gold? If I did that, how many times could I spin the gacha…? It was a tremendous temptation. But I resisted.
This incident made it clear. The goddess of love could somewhat interfere with the results of the gacha. Hadn’t she threateningly stuffed me with 11 of them after I gave one to Karen? If I wasn’t careful, all the gachas that came out in the future might only be goddess statues. Or just magic herbs.
There was no need to provoke the goddess’s displeasure deliberately. It was just a bit of friction; it wasn’t like we were sworn enemies. Above all, I was a bit curious about what would happen if I synthesized them.
I took a deep breath and nodded.
“Synthesize.”
Whoosh!
As soon as I gave my permission, one of the goddess statues on the ground shone brightly and was overlaid onto the statue in my hand.
Ding!
An alarm signaling the completion of the synthesis rang, but instead of reading it, I continued to synthesize.
“Synthesize. Synthesize. Synthesize!”
Exactly ten times. After synthesizing all the goddess statues into one, the sound of the notification changed. It wasn’t a dry bell sound but rather a fanfare being played.
Bam-ba-ka-bam-!
[3 stars: Masterpiece - The Most Beautiful, Cute, and Lovely Goddess Statue in the World+9]
have been synthesized into
[3 stars: Masterpiece - The Most Beautiful, Cute, and Lovely Goddess Statue in the World+10]
Congratulations!
The potential of [3 stars: Masterpiece - The Most Beautiful, Cute, and Lovely Goddess Statue in the World] has been fully unlocked!
“Kyah!”
It was a full +10 upgrade. Considering the vastness of the gacha pool, did it really take +10 to upgrade an item fully? A sense of madness bubbled up in a corner of my heart, but after all, wasn’t it a good thing that I had managed to achieve such a rare full upgrade? I took a closer look to see what had changed. Then, I realized a terrifying fact.
It didn’t matter that the body, which had been fully white, had become full-colored, or that it emitted a soft divine power, or even that it felt warm to the touch. The issue was that the statue, which was clearly made of stone, looked as soft as if it were made of silicone!
Squish.
“Gasp…!”
Oh my.
Itsasoftelasticflawlesswarmminigoddessoflove!!
Faith began to swell inside me.
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