Listening to the group mbers recount their experiences one by one, I couldn't help but feel a mixture of unease and curiosity.
I had asked them to share what had happened while we were separated and placed in the artificial dinsion designed for the Hidden Narrative. Although the setting for the Main Narrative was the Witch's House, the Hidden Narrative could only exist within the frawork of the Main Narrative. This ant that we had never truly left the house; instead, we had been trapped in isolated spaces within it, unable to interact with each other until the enemy was defeated.
At the sa ti, we were tasked with locating the missing mory Fragnts, a vital step that complicated the already dangerous scenario.
Like I once explained to Kagura Kuroi, it was akin to placing a smaller cube within a larger one.
From the outside, the artificial dinsion was invisible, but from the inside, it resembled the house, albeit with subtle changes that made it look slightly different.
It could be described as a Sub-Space within the mansion, one that could be manipulated and altered at will.
However, that wasn't the confusing part.
The confusion set in when I inquired about their battle with the enemy, and they answered, quite naturally, with an expression that seed completely unreasonable.
Soo Jinyoung: "I was stripped and had my back lashed with a whip."
Moon Jiyeon: "I was swallowed whole and almost digested."
Yoo Rin: "I was beaten up and slamd through multiple floors."
Miyuki Kuroi: "I was bullied."
"•...•"
I was silent.
Honestly, I didn't know how to respond.
How could anyone react to such statents when they were made so nonchalantly? Or maybe it was just exhaustion settling in?
I did not know.
At the sa ti, my curiosity reached its peak.
Who wouldn't be curious?
Such nonchalant statents were bound to spark curiosity, and I was, after all, a rather curious individual.
So, I asked for the real juicy details, and the group explained.
For Soo Jinyoung, she had faced two sisters: Invidia and Avaritia, the Fla of Envy and the Fla of Greed.
They were both opponents, sisters, who could manipulate the House and wield Magic.
Apparently, they were proficient in Binding Magic.
Binding Magic was a Mystery Art capable of immobilizing its target while simultaneously draining their magic reserves. With such overwhelming abilities at their disposal, they had easily subdued Soo Jinyoung and turned her into their plaything.
I initially thought it was a joke, but Soo Jinyoung didn't have a sense of humor, so there was no way she could be joking.
I couldn't even picture her attempting it.
「 He thought, she was that type of character. 」
I moved to the next person.
For Moon Jiyeon, her opponent was Gula, the Fla of Gluttony.
The problem for Moon Jiyeon was that, unlike the others, she specialized in Divination and lacked significant combat skills. At best, she could rely on a few artifacts for survival, but Gula proved too overwhelming.
She described the mont she was swallowed whole, her body trapped within the suffocating heat of Gula's stomach, barely clinging to life.
Her face was pale as she recounted her experience, and her voice wavered ever so slightly.
It was understandable.
Anyone would have been terrified in that situation. Her expression remained composed, but her trembling hands betrayed her inner turmoil. It was clear the ordeal had left its mark, instilling so form of trauma.
But what could I do? It wasn't like I was so therapist.
I didn't know how to comfort others. All I knew was how to write stories about these experiences.
「 Everything was just a story. 」
Then I moved on to the next person.
For Yoo Rin, like Soo Jinyoung, she fought against two sisters.
They were Ira, the Fla of Wrath, and Acedia, the Fla of Sloth.
At first, Yoo Rin fought only the Wrathful Fla and managed to defeat her despite Ira's overwhelming advantages. She didn't go into much detail, and dismissively referred to Ira as "annoying" to fight.
The real challenge arose when Ira and Acedia rged.
No. That couldn't be called a fusion.
Yoo Rin described Acedia transforming into a Giant Teddy Bear Suit, which Ira then donned like a suit of armor.
For a split second, and quite literally, it felt like my brain paused all functionality.
Her words were so ridiculous that I didn't know whether to laugh or be horrified by the sheer absurdity.
Was this so kind of Dragon Ball technique? Power Rangers?
No matter how you sliced it, It seed utterly ridiculous.
Wait... doesn't that sound like sothing from the novel?
Suddenly, Yoo Rin's description of the transformation triggered a mory from the story.
A power that could transform people in objects.
Body Transformation.
As I replayed Yoo Rin's words, it beca clear that it was indeed the Body Transformation technique.
Damn. I didn't think we'd encounter soone like that here.
She was the sa as the Giant Soldier, Lee Jongho. But unlike him, who could partially access the power of a giant, this transformation seed focused entirely on turning into objects.
And by doing so, the user would transform into an unbreakable weapon or shield.
Of course, there were significant risks associated with Body-to-Weapon Transformation. In fact, it was the main reason why the technique had fallen into obscurity.
Even if it is an old-fashioned fighting style, there was no way Yoo Rin could have defeated those two on her own.
By obtaining such a strong body, normal weapons wouldn't have cut it. After all, that was the main essence of the Body-to-Weapon Transformation.
As expected, giving her those gauntlets had been the right decision.
I glanced down at the gauntlets Yoo Rin was wearing.
The Earth-Scorching Gauntlets.
An S-Grade Mystery Item I had randomly obtained as a reward from a Gacha pull in the Exclusive Shop.
Of course, the Exclusive Shop had a Gacha Pull function.
What else would you expect from a system modeled after an RPG?
I debated whether there was even a point in explaining.
The Gacha Pull was a maddening contraption, spewing out random items of varying grades based on a probability system so absurdly opaque it felt like the brainchild of a sadistic Developnt Team. Its purpose? To test your patience and drain your resources!
Tch. Damn those greedy administrator bastards!
Irritated, I bit the tip of my fingernail.
How could a single spin cost 10,000 coins, while ten spins cost an outrageous 100,000 coins? Was this so kind of cruel joke? A scam cleverly disguised as a "bulk discount"? Or did they think the users were so blinded by flashing lights and jackpot animations that they wouldn't notice the sheer robbery?
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I truly bla this on the Constellations that were overflowing with money!
So might argue that 100,000 coins wasn't a lot of money. To those fools, my response would be, "Are you completely out of your mind?"
Just activating the Gacha Pull was a bloody trap!
A vortex of shiny promises and hollow rewards.
Every spin brought forth useless junk more often than not, and just when you thought your luck might turn around, it would mock you with another disappointnt.
The worst part? The cycle!
You'd spin once, get trash, spin again, and the sa result would repeat. Again, and again, until your once-fat wallet was as barren as a wasteland!
Even the most level-headed person could fall prey to the seductive pull of Gacha, only to end up regretting it when reality ca crashing down.
The only surefire way to win at Gacha was not to play at all.
However,
The Gacha system isn't a complete scam. There's always a possibility, albeit slim, that you'd get sothing useful if you kept spinning.
Of course, there was also the chance of pulling sothing worthwhile on your very first try, but the odds of that happening were painfully, almost laughably, low.
Unfortunately, I didn't belong to that lucky set of individuals. At this point, there's no denying that my luck is really shitty.
I resisted the urge to laugh.
I had used the Gacha Pull twice and spent a total of 200,000 coins!
The only reason I received the S-Grade Mystery Item, the Earth Scorching Gauntlets, was because I had cheated using the skill [Drafting].
That was how I knew I could ss with the Randomiser, which selected the participants of the Sixth Narrative.
The only downside was that I lost a chunk of my with that move.
Wait a minute... How co I lost more reality points from the Gacha than the Randomiser?
With that thought, I frowned.
What was the difference between the two? Did it have sothing to do with probability? Why was there a difference in probability?
As I pondered, I realized I needed to experint with [Drafting] to gain a clearer understanding.
On the bright side, I did manage to pull so useful items from the Gacha. The extra items were stashed away in my Watcher's Dinsional Star Coat, while others were sacrificed into [Fusion] to create the A-Grade Twin Swords, Vesper & Aurelia. The twin swords were handed to Yoo Jinsung, while the Earth-Scorching Gauntlets went to Yoo Rin.
Although I was concerned about the "nature" of those gauntlets, they seed surprisingly calm for sothing classified as a demonic artifact.
It should be fine, right?
I shook my head, dispelling the lingering thoughts.
Finally, I turned to the last mber of our group, Miyuki Kuroi, the youngest among us all.
I looked into her eyes and asked,
"What happened on your end?"
Miyuki fidgeted slightly before responding, "Um, well... I fought a strange woman called Luxuria."
"Luxuria?"
"Yes! She could set traps and use so kind of strange magic! I don't fully understand it, but she attacked using the air itself! Sothing about altering the properties of Ether. It was... weird."
"Altering the properties of Ether? I see. It must have been the manipulation of the four main elents to form a new law."
Miyuki blinked, staring at . "Eh? Ajusshi, you understood that right away?"
"No. It was just a guess."
"That didn't sound like a guess," she countered, pouting. "You said it with certainty!"
Damn. This girl was too smart.
A certain soone behind was staring daggers into my back.
Soo Jinyoung.
Her piercing glare felt like it could bore a hole straight through . If she noticed how much I knew, it could lead to complications.
No one in South Korea was supposed to have this kind of information.
Let's change the subject and divert her attention.
"Ah," I said, feigning curiosity, "now that I think about it, how did you guys manage to defeat the enemy on your own? You never ntioned that part."
The group mbers exchanged glances before replying with unnervingly casual expressions, as if they were discussing the weather.
Soo Jinyoung shrugged and said, "Crushing."
Moon Jiyeon added, "Poison."
Yoo Rin chid in, "Punching."
Finally, Miyuki Kuroi, looking slightly excited, exclaid, "Burning!"
"•...•"
I blinked, utterly at a loss for words. The sheer nonchalance of their responses left questioning my own sanity.
Were they serious? Or was this their twisted idea of humor?
This group... should I be impressed or concerned?
At this point, I didn't know. No, sothing was seriously wrong here.
It felt disturbingly familiar, too similar, in fact, to what I'd experienced when I first entered the so-called safety zone under Kim Minhyuk's rule.
At that ti, It was Lee Jongho.
A creeping suspicion began to take root in my mind.
Could it be… these guys?
Were they ssing with on purpose? Or was I simply the only sane one in this entire scenario?
Either way, I decided to keep my doubts to myself. There was no telling what they'd say, or do, if I accused them outright. Instead, I bit the inside of my cheek and nodded, pretending I wasn't quietly losing my grip on reality.
"Right… crushing, poison, punching, and burning. Got it," I muttered, more to myself than anyone else.
For now, I'd play along. But the mont we got out of here, I would find a therapist, if not for them, then for myself.
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