2 More chapters after 2 – 3 h.
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[Tainted Crystals]
In the game, these are usually referred to as “experience enhancers” They are the most commonly used items for catalyzing and nurturing one’s Eclipse underlings.
The crystal, based on the concentration of “Miasma energy” within, came in four sizes: [small], [medium], [large], and [extra-large], providing Eclipse Character with experience points to level up or ascend to another tier.
A “Small Tainted Crystal” can elevate the lowest “Common” tier Eclipse to level 10.
In the game, Renji could simply click a few times with his mouse. But now, in the real-world version, Renji wasn’t sure how to use the item, so he had to resort to the most direct method.
‘Stabbing it into her’
However, it seemed to be effective.
He saw that the “Small Tainted Crystal” he had pushed in didn’t physically enter, but the moment it touched the body of the female scavenger, it seemed to merge, just like water, and began to fuse with her.
…
…
Pain.
So much pain. .
Eileen felt as if her entire body was on fire, as if countless ants were crawling inside her, gnawing at her flesh.
In an instant, her vision was filled with a bloody red color, and everything she saw began to distort, stretch, and become chaotic and bizarre, making her feel dizzy.
Eileen had already experienced the whispers and ravings from the abyss, the pollution from the Miasma energy, once before, but this time, it was even more intense.
Those insane sounds became sharper and more piercing, filling her mind like tides, wave after wave, as if they were trying to consume and drown her spirit.
“Ah… Ahhhhhhhhhh!”
Eileen had a splitting headache, and her whole body was drenched in sweat. Faint brown-red patterns symbolizing “Miasma” faintly appeared on her skin, shimmering with a strange and dangerous aura.
The dramatic change in the scavenger alarmed the kobolds in the chamber. Especially when they sensed the tainted energy emanating from her, several of them who had approached her hastily retreated in fear.
Of course, Eileen herself was unaware of all this.
At this moment, all of her energy was focused on resisting the tainted energy.
In Eileen’s mental world, bloody red chains, like those extending from hell, entwined around her body, tightened around her neck and forcefully dragged her into the abyss.
Eileen struggled desperately, wrestling with these bloody chains because her instinct told her that if she were pulled over to the other side, she would never come back.
She still had her gravely ill mother to take care of in their gathering place. She couldn’t die here.
But her will alone was clearly not enough.
Eileen’s resistance grew weaker and weaker, and the bloody chains around her neck kept tightening. The intense sense of suffocation deprived her of the last of her strength, and Eileen’s vision blurred.
‘Is it over?’
‘No, it’s not’
In Eileen’s blurred vision, perhaps it was her consciousness playing tricks on her, but she suddenly saw the figure of a black-haired young man appear in front of her.
In this already bloody filled, nearly overwhelmed spiritual world, the young man seemed unaffected. Instead, with the appearance of the black-haired young man, the tainted energy that was rampant here actually began to disperse.
And when the young man finally approached her, until he touched her, who was imprisoned by the bloody chains.
That moment. 𝘦𝑎.𝒸ℴ
Click*
Crack!*
First, there were some small cracks, and then, at an incredibly fast speed, they turned into fissures, like a spider’s web, spreading across the entire chain entwined around her neck.
Finally.
Boommm*
The shackles around her neck that she couldn’t break free from finally shattered on their own.
In an instant, the madness and craziness subsided, the red color receded from her spiritual world, and the force that threatened to drag her into the abyss also disappeared.
However, the chains and shackles entwined around her limbs remained.
Except for the severed part at her neck.
In its place.
On the back of the scavenger’s neck, unbeknownst even to Eileen herself, a complex and profound “contract” mark like a tattoo, quietly appeared.
“Huf, huff, huff.”
Consciousness returned, back to the real world, Eileen, who felt like she had just taken a trip to the gates of the underworld, greedily breathed.
Eileen didn’t know what had just happened.
But she knew who had caused all of this.
When the female scavenger looked towards her, Renji didn’t offer much explanation but instead pointed behind the woman.
When Eileen turned her head again.
What came into view was the brutish, wild face of a kobold with narrow eyes, filled with a savage and rough demeanor.
Hot white mist emanated from its broad nose, and its messy, unruly beard, covering half of its face, still bore traces of battle blood, making it appear even more ferocious.
There was also an iron shovel, stained with bits of flesh, swinging through the air in its muscular arm, rapidly enlarging in Eileen’s field of vision.
With the disappearance of the tainted energy on the female scavenger, the retreating Kobolds immediately surged back.
While Eileen caught her breath, these monsters weren’t going to stand idly by. They had already taken large strides and, in the blink of an eye, had arrived right in front of them.
Among them, the kobold in the front, raising its shovel high, prepared to attack Eileen just as it had done to the scarred man earlier.
However,
Eileen, after a brief moment of panic, quickly noticed something was off.
‘The monster’s movements…’
‘Why are they so slow?’
At this moment, in Eileen’s eyes, the kobold’s attack seemed like it was in slow motion. She could easily track the opponent’s movements and dodge them effortlessly.
With a slight sidestep, Eileen easily evaded the kobold’s shovel.
And the howling wind produced by the shovel told Eileen that it wasn’t that the opponent’s movements had slowed down; it was her own… perception that had become unusually powerful…
‘No, that’s not right.’
‘Not only my perception, but my body also is filled with a strange strength from top to bottom ‘
Roarrrrrrrr!*
After failing with the first strike, the kobold on the opposite side quickly raised its shovel again, preparing for another attack. This low-level mutated creature had its physical strength greatly enhanced, but in terms of intelligence, it was still very low.
And this time, Eileen, realizing that her body was “different,” chose not to dodge.
She took a deep breath, seized the opportunity, and at the neck, where Eileen couldn’t see, the emblem symbolizing the “contract” flashed with a faint light. Brown-red lines passed through her eyes in an instant.
Before the kobold’s shovel came crashing down, Eileen tensed her body and concentrated all her strength on her right leg. She first swung one leg like a whip, fiercely snapping it against the monster’s broad chest.
Swish!
A sonic boom rang out, followed by a muffled bang.
The kobold, weighing several hundred pounds, now looked like a ball, flying through the air, forming an arc and unfortunately landing on a sharp rock protrusion on the ground.
The Kobold’s body, like a pile of mud, twitched a few times before it went completely dead.
Meanwhile.
In Renji’s vision behind, a corresponding notification played.
[Ding, your Eclipse “Eileen” successfully killed a “Greedy Kobold Miner,” you have gained 10 experience points.]
[Exp needed for next level: 10/100]
(Exp ==> experience points)
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