Chapter 320

Sunraku: "Well, we went and did it now…"

Emul: "We… went and did it, wa…?"

Emul still didn't quite seem to grasp what exactly we'd done, but for me—the scythe was the main objective, you see. And given the contents of this… thing, the fact that I beat him while in female form might've been the trigger for this failure. I mean, yeah. Even Akitsu Akane, with her insane luck that I can only chalk up to a disabled loot sensor, might've racked up a ton of attempts but only actually got the kill once. So obviously, there was no way to do any drop-item testing. I knew that, but still…

R.I.P. — Lamentation for Black Death: Requiescat in Pace

A black aura that "wears" the "mourning" created when the concept of True Quiet was materialized.

[Special Ruling (confirmable via system window)] This equipment can only be worn by females, by consuming all durability of the currently equipped head, torso, arm, waist, and leg gear. In that case, this equipment's stats—excluding durability—will equal the parameters of the consumed gear at the moment of consumption.

[Special Ruling (confirmable via system window)] This equipment has no durability and will not enter a normal broken state. This equipment is unequipped when the wearer's death is determined, and can be re-equipped upon receiving a second death determination. While this equipment is worn, the wearer constantly suffers a status penalty equivalent to death penalty.

While "Lamentation for Black Death: Requiescat in Pace" is equipped, a significant bonus is applied to instant-death checks involving the wearer.

While "Lamentation for Black Death: Requiescat in Pace" is equipped, recovery items cannot be used. When the wearer defeats a monster, NPC, or player, a fixed amount of HP and MP is recovered.

When the wearer of "Lamentation for Black Death: Requiescat in Pace" defeats a monster, NPC, or player, an enhancement bonus is applied to this equipment's stats.

Once, there was a black knight. Once, there was a woman who loved that knight. The black knight could not afford to die, for he had to return to the small house where the woman waited. Thus, he earned fame as an ever-victorious, undefeated general. But one day, he departed for the battlefield and never returned. The woman waited, and waited, and waited… and then, understanding everything, she went mad. She had learned the truth: the black knight had been treacherously murdered by the king he served and that king's daughter. She donned mourning clothes, took up a single sword the black knight had left behind… and fell into a path of slaughter.

She killed her neighbors, killed her own siblings. Before long, her mourning dress, soaked in blood, grew only blacker and darker. The blade that tore skin, severed flesh, and crushed bone and entrails transformed, in time, into the shape of a scythe. And the woman's trail vanished after the gruesomely butchered king and princess, and a kingdom that had fallen to ruin. From then until now, legends persist of an incarnation of death that appears wherever death spreads. It deals death to those who scatter death, wanders as if searching for something, and ultimately vanishes.

There is no way to know whether True Quiet has a gender. But the final words left behind by one who miraculously survived it were: "That thing… is lamentation."

Sunraku: "Too damn long! Hard to say! Hard to use! And it's female-only gear anyway!!!"

Having seriously read the entire thing top to bottom, I vented every single impulse that had built up inside me. Wheezing—frankly feeling more exhausted than during combat—I held my head and sorted through the info.

Let's see… Lamentation for Black Dea—too long. Let's just call it R.I.P. The restrictions and abilities on R.I.P. are roughly… seven in total?

First, the equip conditions. The basic premise: only equippable by females, upon consuming all five pieces of equipped gear. At that point, R.I.P.'s stats match the value of the gear you destroyed. I doubt it copies the gear effects, but it seems like it'd at least reflect resistances.

Equipped characteristics. Unbreakable—now that's a ballsy effect. Actually, isn't this the ultimate counter against curse marks and curses…? No, the effect's too complicated. Shakkotsu Breaker's way easier to just throw on.

Unequip conditions. So this means… it unequips "if you die" and can be re-equipped "if you nearly die"? The text is slightly different, and if the conditions were the same, they wouldn't need different phrasing, right?

Equipped restrictions. Constant death penalty, huh… From experience, that saps about ten to twenty percent, so having this on all the time is seriously painful. VIT's already trash and gear-dependent, so that's fine, but losing LUC and AGI hurts.

Next, resistances. Well, considering who it drops from, instant-death resistance makes sense… But, conversely, are there even monsters out there that hit harder on instant-death checks than True Quiet? I mean, it's not like there's some cheat effect treating physical attacks as instant-death checks.

Equipped restriction number two. Recovery items unusable… I'll come clean: the moment I read this, my evaluation of this gear dropped by eighty percent. So, if I use Levin Trigger: Hazard while wearing this, my post-use death rate skyrockets, doesn't it? That said, there's an effect that compensates for this shitty effect, so I'll hold off on the final verdict.

Finally, the equipped effect. Whenever you get a kill—any kill—you recover HP and MP like you're gaining EXP, and your stats get buffed… At a glance, it looks strong, but honestly, I've gotta call it lackluster. Depending on the recovery and increase amounts… "get a kill" means you have to kill something. That makes it completely useless in a one-on-one. Unless you're in an environment where you can steamroll trash mobs to some degree, this is essentially just an effect that "heals you a bit after combat ends."

Final verdict: The usage conditions are way too strict. The usage environment is too limited. The conditions where the pros outweigh the cons are painful.

Sunraku: "…Isn't this garbage?"

Given the property that it equips itself by destroying your gear, it apparently doesn't always take the shape of clothing. I rolled the palm-sized crystal around in my hand and sighed.

Sunraku: "Man, this stings… now I'm stuck with regret that I might've pulled the scythe if I'd been in male form."

Emul: "Probably, but I get the feeling Sunraku-san would've missed it anyway, wa."

Why, you little—

Still, wanting to at least see it equipped is an extremely natural progression of thought. So I headed back to Skull Azuchi for the moment and, exercising my privilege as someone connected to Saint-chan, was assigned a private room (thankfully, not coated in bones on the inside). I decided to try it out immediately.

Sunraku: "Okay, so… transform? Something like tha—"

The next instant, the disposable gear I'd just equipped burst into smithereens. In the split second I stood there, now transformed into a flasher, something black—like mud, like haze—spewed from the crystal and slithered across my entire body, coating me as if to cover every inch. I know this pattern! This is a magical-girl transformation sequence! The type that insists on stripping you completely naked at least once, no matter what!!

Sunraku: "Uweh."

It felt like invisible hands were rubbing sun oil all over me. The sensation of my body being stroked by a motion that wasn't my own had an involuntary noise escaping my lips. But it seemed the equipping was finally complete when something like a veil covered my face.

Sunraku: "Hmm."

I spun around once, and a pitch-black skirt swayed with the momentum. Yeah, there's definitely a slight restriction in mobility… though I guess that's to be expected—this isn't gear meant for jumping around in. Well, that's a given.

Sunraku: "Hmm… I'd really like a second opinion from another player's perspective."

Emul was already dead asleep. Apparently, the mental fatigue of playing tag with mystery dinosaurs while dashing deeper and deeper into the continent had caught up with her. Well, there's no shortage of games where NPCs can't accompany you 24/7… Alright, let's ask someone real quick.

A few minutes later, a player named Ryū × 4 (Techi), whom I happened to bump into in the hallway, let out a genuine scream that echoed through the building…

Ryū × 4 (Techi): "So, like, from around the corner of the hallway, this kinda black haze thing was, like, faintly leaking out. I figured, y'know, it's a game, so maybe there's effects like that too—but then… this woman in a mourning dress came drifting out from around the corner, all slow and wavery, y'know? Obviously I screamed."

Like a mourning dress crossed with a gothic dress.