“Alright, let’s test this machine.”
Carefully, I placed the faintly glowing, lowest purity fragment next to the fax machine’s cylindrical core. Following the changes that occurred to the Nightwalker, which was now the Dreamwalker, I was excited to see what would happen when I advanced an Order.
“This should be good.”
Done inserting the fragment, I looked at the display to make sure it was the right fragment and directly pressed the red button.
Cha— Chak!
The machine started to make weird sounds.
Already used to it, I ignored it and just waited for the changes.
However, a few seconds after pressing the red button, a notification appeared in my vision.
My face froze almost immediately after.
“Huh? What…?”
[Purity Enhancer: 500SP has been deducted from your account.]
The notification came abruptly, without leaving me enough time to process it.
However, when it all finally dawned on me, my face changed drastically as I hurriedly looked towards the fax machine and pressed the red button.
“Motherfucker! Why didn’t you tell me this before?!”
That was 500SP!
5,000$
’Shit!!!’
Tap! Tap! Tap!
I continued to press the red button, but it was to no avail.
Tap! Tap!
The machine continued to move and make noise as I looked at it in despair.
And then—
Ding!
A faint chime rang in the air as a new number was displayed on the little display on top of the machine.
[79%]
“Oh?”
All forms of complaints and rejection ceased in that moment.
Seeing the number displayed, I no longer felt that the SP used was that much of a waste. No, never mind… It still hurt, but it hurt a lot less.
“Going from 14% to 79%… This is massive.”
I sorted through all the crystals in my possession.
[91%, 55%, 73%, 81%, 79%, 27%, 94%, 39%, 88%, 61%]
I quickly reached for my calculator and put the numbers together, and calculated the average of all the crystals.
“62%…”
The bare minimum requirement set up by the Guild was met!
That wasn’t all.
If I were to remove the lowest percentage crystal and redo the average, I’d get around 66%.
“This is definitely not bad.”
But…
It was still not enough.
“I’d like the percentage to be at least higher than 70%.”
This was the bare minimum that I was going to accept.
In that case…
I looked towards the fax machine with a heavy heart.
Then, with a trembling hand, I reached for the 27% crystal and put it in the fax machine before pressing the red button.
Cha— Chak!
[Purity Enhancer: 500SP has been deducted from your account.]
[Balance: 3822S]
I felt like crying, but I clenched my teeth and just stared at the fax machine nervously.
Hopefully, it would yield something good.
’Please. Please…’
Ding!
The familiar chime echoed, and I looked at the display.
[21%]
“…..”
I bit my lips, just barely holding myself from taking the fax machine and tossing it away.
However, taking several breaths to calm myself down, I pressed the red button again. Since I had already committed, I was going to go all in.
Ding!
[44%]
“…..”
I needed a punching bag.
I slowly turned my head towards the Dreamwalker. It was looking at me.
’On second thought, it might be strong enough to beat me up now.’
I tossed all thoughts away and pressed the red button again.
“Again!”
Ding!
[9%]
“Hiiiiiiik!!!”
Single digit!?
I clutched my head, struggling to keep it together. But things only spiraled when the Dreamwalker slowly raised its long, slender hand, pointing it at me.
“…”
I stood in silence while watching it, somewhat tense by its actions.
Was it going to attack me?
Why? I thought the loyalty points had increased. That wasn’t enough? It still has a grudge against me? If so—
Then…
“…..!”
Its body began to tremble, its head lurching backward as its finger continued to point at me.
I stood in frozen shock, mouth hanging open.
That…
It was laughing at me.
“The fuck?”
It could do that?
No, before any of that…
“Get back in!”
I immediately recalled the Dreamwalker, just barely holding myself from shouting all the possible curses I knew.
Biting my lips to the point of bleeding, I glared at the fax machine and pressed the red button again.
Ding!
[87%]
“Motherfuc—Oh…”
I blinked in disbelief. After getting used to the string of low percentages, seeing such a high percentage left me momentarily speechless.
However, I was soon overjoyed.
’Yes, this is just about enough!’
With this new percentage, I was sure to have enough purity to create a resilient node.
I could now try reaching the Second Order.
But…
“Hmm.”
I didn’t do so immediately and instead looked at my balance.
[Balance: 2322SP]
“…..”
I closed my eyes and sighed.
Taking out another fragment, I swapped it and placed it on the fax machine.
’I’ll get the SP back eventually. What I won’t get back is this moment.’
As such, I pressed the red button again.
Ding!
[14%]
“Again!”
Ding!
[55%]
“Not enough…”
Ding!
[7%]
“Might as well rob me.”
Ding!
[0%]
“Eh?”
BANG!
The fragment shattered right before my very eyes, leaving me at a complete loss.
“What the…”
I could only stare blankly at the spot where the fragment had previously been before covering my mouth and staring at my balance.
[Balance: 322SP]
Regret…
I started to feel so much regret.
My hands shook as I stared at the fax machine.
I just barely managed to hold myself back before turning to look at the fragments in front of me. Taking several breaths to calm myself down, a notification eventually flashed before my eyes.
[Ten fragments have been located!]
[You have met the criteria to advance]
[The purity level is 70.9%]
[Do you wish to advance?]
▶ [Yes] ▷ [No]
“As expected, only when I’ve gathered all of the fragments will it allow me to advance.”
I had an inkling before, but this confirmed it.
I didn’t hesitate.
The percentage was high enough for me to accept.
As such, I pressed [Yes].
Though I was still suffering from the intense regret of wasting so much SP, I tried my best not to think about it.
Not in such a pivotal moment.
The fragments before me flared to life, flooding the room with blinding light. My vision vanished in an instant. Then came the sharp, sudden stab of pain in my head.
“Akh!”
A scream escaped my lips as I stumbled back.
It was hard to describe the pain, but it was sharp. Almost as though someone had stabbed a sharp needle into my head.
I drew a sharp breath, trying my best to calm the pain, but before I could draw another, my body was wracked with violent convulsions.
“…..!”
I stumbled back, my back pressing against the wall as I held onto my arm.
The pain intensified and my face scrumped up.
“Kh…”
Groans inevitably left my mouth.
In spite of my best attempts at trying to suppress them, I realized that I couldn’t stop them. The pain was simply too much.
“Akh!”
I lost track of time from that point.
I just waited for the pain to fade away.
The minutes dragged into what felt like forever as I curled into the ground, holding my head with both hands.
“S-shit.”
It took a while, and by the time the pain became bearable, I felt several changes occur in me. I couldn’t quite pinpoint what they were as I slowly opened my eyes, staring at the notifications before me.
[Advancement complete!]
[Second Order shop unlocked!]
[Basic Node: Trait Transfer]
[Fragments: 0/20]
The notifications were numerous, but the one that immediately caught my eye was the Trait Transfer section.
What was that?
“Ugh…”
Forcing myself up, I dragged my body towards the computer and looked at my page.
That was when I saw it.
─────
▪ Basic Node : Trait Transfer
▶ Dreamwalker
– [Body Morphosis]
▶ Mirelle
– [?????]
─────
“W-what…”
Just when I thought the shock had peaked, my right arm squirmed unnaturally.
A sudden connection snapped into place between me and the Dreamwalker, and then the darkness came. It poured over my flesh like liquid ink, stretching and solidifying until my arm had vanished, replaced by a gleaming, wicked blade of shadow.
“…..”
I paused, processing the sight before opening my lips and mumbling,
“Shiiiiit.”