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Evan D. Sherden. Hunting for Treasure (4)
The second day of the treasure hunt was bright. If the first day was to be compared to a graduate’s arrival, Evan thought they would enjoy a more plausible expedition on the second day. It was because he was going to escape from the noble streets and look for hidden elements in all the shops all over the royal road.
‘In fact, the work is harder and the rewards aren’t going to be as dramatic as yesterday. Yesterday, I acquired 33 artifacts. It was a really good hit. After all, in any game, trinkets are awesome.’
Evan had mumbled this to himself after returning to the mansion yesterday. He was checking the treasure hunt map that he had gotten and was comparing it with that which he had drawn in his notebook.
“There are three places you must check. Other five places that I have heard good things about, and eight places that only have monetary value, Master Evan.”
Shine said in a soggy voice as he watched Evan correcting and preparing a preliminary route.
“In the past, I used to think of you as a person armed with a philanthropist spirit, Young Master. But now it seems that is not the case.”
If Evan had been a real perfect ancestor, Shine thought, he would not have shown such a level of brutality yesterday. Although no one had suffered substantial damage, they had still looted all of the jeweler’s artifacts.
“Of course it is. I’m the one who cares about everyone without caring about my own life in the first place.”
“I thought you would say so, Master Evan…”
For reference, Evan was only an extra compared to the main characters of the game. Of course, he was not the protagonist, but because of various scenarios, he was only thought of as a hero because of his personality, which wasn’t even that good!
In the game, Evan used to intrude into other people’s homes, breaking every jar he saw, going through trash cans, opening all visible boxes, and didn’t even think about finding the owner if the roof itself fell on the floor!
‘If I ask a person to do me a favor, I try my best to pay them back through an equal exchange now,’ Evan thought.
One immoral action can lead to the destruction of humanity easily, and dozens of criminals are born, committed only to misdemeanors!
‘And it means that I am no different from them now as I want to benefit from the actions of the protagonist.’
‘But no. After playing as the protagonist countless times, I only took what I needed in order to survive and moved in search of extreme efficiency.’ So even though he wasn’t immortal at the moment, his heart was satisfied. Evan also thought, ‘Yesterday, was I a bit severe? Of course, I did not intend to hurt anyone’s feelings.’
“I will have to pretend to be busy today, so I hope the Princess fails to incessantly bother me like yesterday.”
“I don’t think so. It should be fun to be with Princess Serena.”
“Shine you are… Oh! Why are you so pale?”
Evan was frightened to notice Shine’s condition as he took his eyes off the map and stared at him. Overnight, his complexion had faded. Evan could see spots under his eyes, and the eyes that always shimmered like obsidian were somewhere… near empty of soul.
‘Of course, Shine had passed out once yesterday too, but Belois… No Lua.’
After they had finished talking, they got up and walked to the mansion together!
“Why, Shine! What is really happening! You have a dead face like a soldier’s who, after a year and a half of joining the Border Defense Force, receives a breakup notification from his girlfriend who has been in a long-distance relationship until now!”
“Why is your explanation so specific, Master… No that’s not it. My body is strangely heavy.”
“Your body is heavy?” Evan tilted his head at that.
“The body shouldn’t be heavy. Did you not get the buff properly? I don’t know the actual effect, but I felt better right away.”
“No, I seem to have received that blessing properly, Master. That feeling remains for sure.”
Immediately after receiving the buff, Evan’s body felt like it was burning. Now it had mostly subsided, but still, some tingling effects remained.
It felt like they had grown a new organ that seemed to spread a strange warmth in their bodies.
Evan couldn’t feel it even if he consciously tried to, but he could sense that it certainly existed.
“Strangely, the surroundings feel a little cold, and my body is a little heavy… Uh, I don’t feel good, Master. It looks like someone is watching me.”
‘How come Shine’s symptoms aren’t normal?’ Evan suddenly thought while looking at him with a quivering expression. Even yesterday, when he had fainted, he couldn’t take his artifacts back.
“Take this, Shine.”
“What is it? A bracelet?”
He handed Shine a silver bracelet adorned with obsidian. Shine quickly remembered that this was something Evan had bought from a jeweler.
“It suits you best. In fact, I wanted to provide you with the final equipment too, but I wasn’t lucky enough to get there. Well, still, it will be roughly useful on the 60th floor of the dungeon.”
“Wait, what? The best record for the attack team is on the 45th floor, but you think that this artifact would be somewhat helpful on the 60th floor?”
Evan had made another mistake. It sounded like Evan was trying to say that they can’t kill a dragon, but they can still defeat a Wyvern with one hand!
Shine was disorientated, but he knew that Evan wasn’t lying about it. He quickly put the bracelet on his right wrist and immediately screamed, “Oh, wow!” he was naturally moved by the immediate change that had come to him.
“Isn’t this artifact improving your body faster? It’s also so pretty!” Evan said and then continued,
“The name of this artifact is ‘Ghost Bracelet’, a bracelet that increases movement speed and attack speed by 15%. There are no options other than that, but the movement speed and attack speed options are very convenient in themselves.”
‘If you could get that bracelet in the beginning, there was a saying that the game difficulty would be drastically lowered.’
“Ghost bracelet…”
Of course, this bracelet originally appeared only at the time of Yo-Ma Great War 4, and it was the dream of many to obtain it early because it could only be obtained by successful quests given by the great nobility, and then miraculously completing the optional event.
However, Evan had succeeded in obtaining this from a jeweler before the bracelet was put into the great nobles’ hands!
“But don’t be so addicted to it that you forget your original speed. If you go later, you have to abandon the movement speed bracelet and go all-in only with defense penetration and attack speed, so in the end, you have to cover your whole body with artifacts and such options. Of course, on the premise that you can get them all in good order.”
“I don’t know what you mean Master, but I only know that I shouldn’t rely on these items.”
“Yes, I just wanted to confirm that. Does it make you feel better?”
“I feel faster, but I still feel heavy!”
Evan was shaking his head when he suddenly saw Shine’s shadow wriggling at his feet.
“…Shine, what did you just do?”
“I didn’t do anything, Master.”
But Evan had clearly seen something weird. Now, Shine’s was twitching again…
And then, a woman’s face rose above him! A beautiful, noblewoman with noble dignity… It was the ghost’s face!
[Yes, it looks very comfortable there.]
Shine’s body stiffened the moment the eerie female voice echoed. Evan, on the other hand was at a loss of words.
‘I remember where I saw this woman’s face. I got it. It was the woman who gave a quest to the main character in Yo-Ma Great War 2, but eventually died unfairly!’ Evan inwardly exclaimed in horror.
“Why haven’t you gone by now!?”
[That was the case, and I was asleep comfortably, but I was next to this boy when I woke up.]
“Go, go away! My body’s heavy, all because of you!”
[Well, I tried to do something about that too, but it didn’t work. Why? Are you not feeling strong?]
“Am I strong?” Shine’s complexion became even paler. Shine was already afraid of ghosts, but it was nothing less than a horror to say that the ghost was using him as a vessel.
[This is strange. Apparently, everyone ate to their full. So I fell asleep while sharing that feeling.]
“…Oh, is that the case?”
The moment he heard that, something flashed in Evan’s mind.
“Is it because Shine was afraid and constantly frowning while he ate it? Everyone ate the delicious food, but Shine wasn’t feeling good at that time, so the ritual must not have worked properly!”
[Oh, maybe it’s because of that!]
“Damn, I’ll do it again! I’ll go back and eat the food in the right order, so I can get better quickly!”
Shine shouted outrageously, but the ghost said, “I am very sorry” (the body was completely out of the shadow, but the area around the legs was still under the control of the ghost).
[I’m not bound to that place anymore, so it’s useless even if you go there.]
“Well, then what do we do now Master? Is there no way for me to get rid of her? Will I be afflicted forever… ?”
[Well, at least, we should stay together until I find the next chance to be free again. I like you!]
“I don’t like you!”
Shine trembled with an almost crying expression. However, Evan was questioning the reason she had come out after such a long time.
“What did you say you’re comfortable with? What is that thing?”
[Oh, right. That bracelet. It feels very comfortable. As soon as I saw it, I felt very well.]
“Bracelet? The Ghost Bracelet?”
Evan frowned. Could it be because of the word ‘ghost’ was in the artifact name? No, that wasn’t it. This ghost bracelet had gotten its name because the person wearing it could move as fast as a ghost.
So, in reality, it had nothing to do with ghosts.
Not only that, but at the beginning of the Yo-Ma Great War series, except for the monsters, no other entities like ghosts existed.
Maybe there had been a DLC release later. If not, did the makers not develop a new use for artifacts that did not exist in the game until now? Evan was lost in such complicated thoughts.
[Can I go inside that bracelet? That way, the chills or heaviness you feel right now will probably disappear.]
“Go inside now! Right now!”
[Alright, wait a minute. Thanks!]
As soon as Shine granted her permission, the ghost was sucked into the bracelet. At that moment, the obsidian embedded in the ghost bracelet burst forth a dazzling light.
After all, this was an event Evan had never seen in Yo-Ma Great War 4! Evan, bewildered because of the unknown events of this situation, was staring blankly. Soon, the bracelet returned back to its normal state.
Shine’s condition had also improved a little by now.
“Oh, the strange feeling is gone, Master.”
“What about the bracelet?”
“I can’t feel anything different in terms of its ability? I still feel agile and active, Master.”
Shine said so and moved back and forth. He was definitely faster than usual. Fortunately, the Ghost Bracelet’s ability seemed to remain the same.
[This is very comfortable! It looks like it was made for me!]
“No way. It can’t be…”
The ghost also shouted in a lively voice as if she liked the bracelet. Evan, who was unconsciously questioning everything, thought, ‘Is that really so?’
‘The artifact’s name was ‘Ghost Bracelet’. Of course, every gamer knew about it.’
But no one had thought deeply about the origin of its name… But what if this bracelet had the ability to hold ghosts from the start? Or what if it’s true abilities just hadn’t happened in the game yet?’
The Yo-Ma Great War series shared all the worlds, and the artifacts that appeared in the previous work usually appeared in the next works too.
Either a DLC of Yo-Ma Great War 4 or a sequel like Yo-Ma Great War 5 had come out after Evan’s awakening in this game.
Maybe a ghost appeared in one of those, and a ghost bracelet event had come out related to that ghost…
‘Have we discovered a new element right now?’
A kind of strange sentiment dominated Evan, similar to when the epidemic was defeated. He had just found a ghost bracelet in the midst of the jewelers of the royal road.
The reason why they participated in the event in the restaurant together was that Evan had thought that it might help them grow in the future.
However, the two were now strangely intertwined, and eventually, the situation had led to this…. In the end, they had successfully cleared the event with a very rare possibility. The reward was, of course, an altered ghost bracelet.
“The bracelet is not different, so it’s possible that it has been improved.”
“Yes? But I don’t feel my speed or agility has improved at all compared to the first time I had worn it.”
“Maybe you will be getting stronger from now. Maybe that or… There is a possibility that it has been converted to a growth artifact.”
“Oh, what…?”
It could be said that this artifact could now be used as the final equipment, and that it might transform into a great level of equipment, but Shine did not seem to have guessed how great it was.
The moment would come when he would realize himself later. Evan shrugged,
“You can just think of it as a good thing.”
“How can I, Master? It doesn’t seem like a good thing at all, considering the fact that the ghost has not disappeared…”
[I like it very much. I got a nice boy and a comfortable house.]
“Don’t say such things! It sounds weird, so don’t do it!
As Shine and the ghost were making a ruckus in the room, they heard a sound of knocking on the door. When Evan beckoned to enter, Belois came in, wearing the summer dress Evan had bought for her yesterday.
She was also wearing volcanic spirit earrings in both ears. Evan felt the room light up.
Behind her was Serena in a pink party dress, and she seemed the prettiest in the world. Ruby was still sitting on her shoulder.
“I’m ready to go out, Master.”
“Where are you going to play today, Evan Oppa?”
Shine and Evan made eye contact with each other.
They exchanged silent signals. And, as if nothing had happened, they got up and walked towards them.