In Hegeholin, on Gravefruit Street, a young girl wrapped in a grey robe walked down the street.
‘A little faster… if I remember correctly, it should be here.’
‘An artisan living in seclusion due to war… she has meteor shards. Duradfi, a dwarf obsessed with forging… I must find a way to persuade her.’
The young girl was Alberke. She had arrived near Hegeholin via a teleportation array in the Ruins Forest a few hours ago and entered the city after avoiding her enemies.
The enemies she referred to included Count Horay, who had just left the city. She clearly remembered that he was in league with Count Kanko of the Capital and the Scarlet Sect.
They had conspired together for the events in the Capital. It had been so in her first life, and it remained so in this one.
If she moved fast enough, she could return to the Capital and see Dolores before they did. Only a little more than one day had passed since she left.
Recalling the details from the game, Alberke knocked on an unmarked door: five long, four short, three long, and then four short.
A girl slightly shorter than her opened the door. She had healthy, tanned skin and messy short hair topped with goggles. In her entire soot-covered appearance, only her pair of blue eyes remained clean.
“Eh… how strange. Another person I’ve never seen before. Why do so many people suddenly come looking for me using my dead friend’s secret code…?”
The tan-skinned girl muttered to herself as she looked at Alberke.
Alberke felt a bit awkward. The woman actually had a normal code for business since an artisan always needed customers, but… Alberke only remembered this one.
In the original plot, players were supposed to encounter the Undead of Duradfi’s friend in the Kingdom of Dragons. After resolving that person’s issues, they would bring back her final wishes and the childhood code to find her.
In the middle stages of the game, Duradfi could forge exclusive weapons for Hilberu and Dolores. In the late stages, she could forge God-slaying Weapons.
The item Alberke wanted her to forge, which could lower Affection Levels, was merely a bonus gift in the original storyline.
Using a meteor as a material, followed by enchanting and carving, it could be turned into the favorability-cleansing item worth over 1,000 gold coins—the Brief Sobriety of the Starry Sky.
“So it’s not that middle-aged man who came last time… come inside and talk. I don’t care how you found out, but you look like a good person.”
Duradfi’s bluntness almost made Alberke choke. The dwarf opened the door and invited her in. As she entered, Alberke noticed the anomaly in her words.
‘So many people? Could someone else have used this code to find her before?’
‘Grin? No, that’s impossible. Duradfi’s task only appears in the Second Playthrough, but considering those items in the Ruins Forest that weren’t taken, I can’t be sure.’
She felt as if an invisible hand was interfering with the “Second Playthrough” in her memory.
Duradfi’s personality was actually excessively good. In the game, the hardest part was simply getting her to open the door.
Alberke explained her purpose and pleaded with her to forge the item.
Actually, the Brief Sobriety of the Starry Sky wasn’t the only item that could lower favorability, even if it was the most effective. However, Dolores’s situation was urgent. Duradfi was the only one who could craft it and let Alberke bring it back within two days. Everywhere else was too far.
With Duradfi’s skill, if she had a set method, it would only take a few hours. Even if there was no specific method and only a vague idea, it would take her one month at most to figure it out with her talent.
But after hearing Alberke’s words, Duradfi’s gaze turned strange. She seemed to want to interrupt halfway through but restrained herself.
Only after Alberke finished speaking did Duradfi say hesitantly, “The item you mentioned… someone came to me to forge it one or two years ago. Just like you, he used the secret code I agreed upon with my friend.”
“I had two pieces of meteor shards. One was forged and given to him according to his suggestions. The remaining half is still in my hands, which is enough to make another one.”
“Based on what you said… perhaps this is a new way of thinking. The method I figured out for the previous one was a bit too crude. I won’t charge you for labor or materials. Give me some time, and I should be able to make the item you want.”
Unlike Duradfi, who was excited and immersed in her art, Alberke’s entire expression became incredibly stiff. Why? Why would anyone else besides her know that code and have an item to lower favorability crafted…?
“Can you tell me his name?” Alberke asked, her voice trembling slightly.
Duradfi’s movements stopped. She looked at Alberke carefully for a moment and then nodded.
“I feel like you two used the same method to find out the code. Although I don’t know your name, I feel like you’re someone I can trust…”
“Hagel. His name was Hagel.”
Alberke’s thoughts fell into complete chaos.
***
The Capital.
Urgrich University.
It was currently around 7:00 or 8:00 AM. A nun was wandering the street outside the university.
At this time of day, the only nun here would be Hilberu.
During this period, she had spent all her time except for rest treating the wounded. Her accommodations were next to Hilberu’s student dormitory, which had originally been vacant.
She had been asleep but was startled awake by an uneasy feeling, so she dressed and walked out.
In the past, she might not have treated these ethereal sensations as something worth noting. But now, Hilberu felt that this might be some kind of revelation or guidance from God. This feeling became clearer and clearer as she walked out of the university.
It was like a tiny thread, invisible to normal people.
But she could feel it… like fate itself.
This sensation guided her toward a Great Hollow. This was another seal destroyed by the Dragons, resulting in a collapse nearly 1,000 meters deep.
At this hour, a bit of morning sunlight had just appeared. Aside from that, there was only the roaring of monsters below.
The monsters that hadn’t crawled out of the hollow were not being actively cleared by the authorities yet, as manpower was already stretched thin.
During this time, Hilberu had not only mastered Holy Arts for healing but had also learned several offensive Holy Arts with lethal power.
Unsure why her intuition had brought her here, Hilberu looked down into the bottomless hollow with confusion.
Suddenly, she seemed to hear a shout. It was a man’s voice… and it wasn’t far away, perhaps just over 100 meters?
Was it an illusion? No, it wasn’t.
Hilberu saw a monster that seemed to be attracted by the sound, crawling toward a certain cave entrance.
If it was a human, they had likely fallen down by accident.
She could not just sit by and watch.
Picking up her Spear-flag, Hilberu leaped down. After jumping between several rocky protrusions, she reached the bottom and killed the monster that was leading the way.
Then, she saw the source of the sound—a tall, masculine figure.
“Mr. Grin… why are you here?” Hilberu asked in confusion.