Chương 26: Price of Use

Before Lloyd, the familiar purple window appeared. —————————————————— True Name: — Level: 0 Race: Human Class: — Skills: — Relics: [Fire Bomb] Guide: Mippo —————————————————— The text hung in the air, illuminated both by the greenish glow of the crystal above and the warm golden light of Mippo's lantern at his feet. The two light sources blended together across the translucent surface of the window, creating a strange, almost painterly effect.

It looked as if the letters had been written with something that was neither ink nor light, but something in between. They seemed far too real to be an illusion and far too unreal to be something physical. For several seconds, Lloyd simply stared at the line labeled "Relics," as if checking whether it would suddenly disappear just like the red sphere had vanished a few minutes earlier. His fingers clenched unconsciously. After everything that had happened, he was no longer certain of anything.

This world seemed to mock logic itself. Chests appeared in the middle of rotting tunnels, glowing windows floated in midair, and a tiny wooden creature called itself a guide.

"Just as I thought. How did I not realize it sooner?" The thought seemed so obvious that Lloyd almost felt embarrassed. The system had been showing him the relic from the very beginning. Of course it could be examined in greater detail. It was so logical that he couldn't understand why he hadn't tried it earlier. Probably because everything had happened too fast. Too unexpectedly. Too insanely. He turned his gaze toward Mippo.

The creature sat across from him with its green legs crossed, wearing the same patient expression a teacher might have while watching a slow but genuinely thoughtful student. The warm light of the lantern illuminated the lower half of its body while leaving the upper half partially hidden in shadow. Because of that, the wooden mask looked even stranger. The cracks running across its surface resembled the wrinkles of an ancient old man. — What now? — Focus on your relic.

As if you're trying to examine it more closely. Mippo's voice was calm, almost slightly condescending, though it lacked the sharp edge it had carried when they first met. Lloyd looked back at the relic's name and tried to do exactly what the guide had instructed. He focused. Pushed thoughts of the tunnel aside. The strange chest. The corpse he had been forced to kill. The sticky green sludge beneath his feet. Everything. Only the words remained. Fire Bomb. For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then the air in front of him trembled slightly. As if the surface of an invisible lake had been disturbed by the lightest touch. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. The purple window brightened. A second later, another panel unfolded before him, overlapping the first one with far more detailed information. Lloyd unconsciously held his breath. Every time the system revealed something new, he felt the same strange sensation. A mixture of curiosity and anxiety.

As though he were opening a door behind which absolutely anything could be waiting. —————————————————— Relic: Fire Bomb Type: Red Level: II Description: Releases an explosive shockwave that damages all targets within its area of effect. Can be used once every ten minutes. Echo: After activation, one of the user's limbs bursts into flames. —————————————————— Lloyd carefully read the description. An explosive shockwave. That sounded powerful. Very powerful.

Especially for someone who had never wielded a weapon and possessed no supernatural abilities. For a brief moment, hope appeared inside him. Maybe he had actually gotten lucky. Maybe this relic was something valuable. Then his eyes moved lower. To the final line. And all that hope vanished instantly. He read the Echo description twice. Then a third time, more slowly, as if expecting the words to rearrange themselves into something less horrifying. They didn't. The line remained exactly the same. Short. Simple.

And somehow even more terrifying because of it.

"After activation, one of the user's limbs bursts into flames." A chill ran down his spine. Despite the warmth surrounding him, his body reacted immediately. Sweat formed across his back. His shoulders tensed. His mouth went dry. Images began appearing in his mind one after another. A burning arm. A burning leg. Charred skin. The smell of scorched flesh. Lloyd instinctively looked down at his hands. Then at his legs. Then back at the window. He had never suffered a serious burn before.

But even accidentally touching a hot surface was enough to make someone jerk their hand away in pain. This wasn't that. This description literally said a limb would burst into flames. What exactly did that mean? For a few seconds? A minute? For the entire duration of the ability? As usual, the system offered no further explanation. It simply delivered information and left him to deal with the consequences. Lloyd nervously turned toward his guide.

Panic had begun creeping into his voice, and he made no effort to hide it. — Burst into flames...? And how exactly am I supposed to survive that? And what even are Type and Echo? For several seconds, Mippo simply stared into Lloyd's eyes. Completely motionless. Completely silent. Like a machine that had suddenly frozen. Silence settled over the room. The only sound came from distant drops of water falling somewhere deep within the tunnels. Drip. Drip. Drip.

The noise echoed through the dungeon, emphasizing the emptiness surrounding them. The green eyes beneath the wooden mask glowed steadily, showing no emotion whatsoever. Finally, the creature cleared its throat with a quiet, almost ceremonial motion and began speaking in the tone of someone explaining information they had repeated countless times before. — Listen carefully. I'll only say this once. Lloyd shifted closer despite the exhaustion weighing down his legs. The sludge beneath him squelched softly.

The unpleasant sound immediately reminded him where he was. Whenever he became distracted by conversation, the dungeon was quick to remind him of its presence. Its dampness. Its stench. Its decay. Its death. He focused entirely on the small forest creature sitting within a circle of warm golden light—the only calm spot in this entire rotting underground nightmare. — Well then. Where should I begin? I suppose it's best to start with Types. Mippo extended a small green hand and spread all five fingers.

Each finger emitted a faint inner glow, almost as if the creature were illuminating them on purpose for emphasis. The lantern beside him crackled softly. The golden crystal inside pulsed in rhythm with his words. The light grew slightly brighter. Then dimmer. Because of that, the surrounding shadows seemed to move with lives of their own. — There are five types of relics in total.

He raised his first finger—the little finger of his green hand—and for a brief moment a tiny spark ran across its tip before vanishing into the air. Beyond their small circle of light, the tunnel remained buried in darkness and silence. Somewhere far away, water continued to drip in a slow, steady rhythm, a constant reminder that outside this tiny oasis of calm lay a hostile world of rot and decay.

The green crystal embedded in the ceiling pulsed with its usual cold light, reflecting off the empty chest behind Lloyd—the same chest that had granted him his first relic and his first truly serious fright since entering the dungeon. Lloyd barely breathed as he waited for the explanation to continue. After everything he had experienced—the rot, the darkness, the undead corpse, and the countless monsters he had fought—this conversation with a small wooden creature felt almost normal.

An island of reason amidst complete absurdity. He clung to every word Mippo spoke, understanding that this information might one day be the difference between life and death in a dark corridor. Mippo paused deliberately, almost theatrically, as if enjoying the fact that he finally had a listener willing to take him seriously. — Red relics, — he began, slightly moving his little finger, — are the most common type. Aggressive, combat-oriented, and straightforward in their effects.

What you're holding right now is a typical example. Damage. Destruction. Something designed to strike and overwhelm the enemy. The golden light of the lantern flickered, reflecting in the creature's green eyes. Lloyd silently nodded. At that moment, he no longer thought about the stench, the dampness, or his exhaustion. He didn't even think about the monsters that might be lurking beyond the edge of the light. Right now, only Mippo's words mattered. And the answers Lloyd had been searching for all this time.

Slowly, Mippo raised a second finger, preparing to continue his explanation in this strange, unexpectedly peaceful pause amidst a dungeon filled with rot and death.