Chapter 7- Serendipity Inn (7)

Chapter 7- Serendipity Inn (7)

She used a smooth stone nearby to carefully move the soil away from the object it was covering

When it was partially uncovered, her smile deepened

Just as I thought

It was an item

[SKILL 'INSPECTION' IN EFFECT]

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ITEM: ??? RAGDOLL

TYPE: SOUL-BOUND ARTIFACT

DESCRIPTION: ALREADY BOUND, CORRUPTED, DIRTY

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Her skill 'Inspection' was low level after all and couldn't glean too much information from objects she had little to no knowledge of

The skill results were dependent on what she knew and make inferences by what it can observe like studying the structure, mana flow, item construction method and appearance, it would then cross-reference her knowledge base and making a judgement

Soul-Bound Artifact?

That's hilarious, it was more like a soul storage

[SKILL 'YIN YANG EYES' IN EFFECT]

Within this dirty ragdoll was a fragment of a tortured soul

Even if it was just a tiny piece from a whole, its resentment and hatred had corrupted its vessel

From what she could see, the soul was a girl, a young adult screaming without a sound

The smile not leaving her lips, she raised a hand and picked up the dirty ragdoll, giving it a gentle squeeze

That tiny force caused black substance to ooze out of the ragdoll and the smell of rotten blood immediately filled the air

The black blood trailed down her hands before dripping towards the ground

It was strange

The appearance of the black substance suggested it was oxidized blood

It had turned dark, its smell strong and unpleasant due to bacterial infection, it's texture more viscous

But it hadn't clotted

Jelly-like substances were missing from the usual appearance of rotten blood

The blood must have been injected with anticoagulants to prevent it from clotting but if the blood had already left the body, the anticoagulants effectiveness will get affected by the blood's natural process of separating serum and clot and may still show signs of coagulation

But this blood showed none of that

Although thick and viscous, there was no jelly-like appearance or feeling

Before she could inspect the ragdoll more thoroughly, the sound of footsteps caught her attention

She turned around and came face to face with Clyde standing not far away

"..."

Why's he holding a sword?

Has this guy gone mad and is out to kill her?

***

After telling the staff to deliver Lina's clothes, Clyde spotted Mark coming down the stairs, going in the direction of the garden

His gait was strange, his steps heavy and his head bowed down with his hair hiding his face

Feeling something strange he followed him discreetly

Before Mark stepped into the garden, his entire body jerked back as if he was scalded, he squatted down grabbing his hair mumbling incoherently, with Clyde's hearing he could only hear vague words due to their distance

"N... abso... imposs.. rea... fuck... what.... cra.. do..."

Clyde seeing Mark's strangeness, realized he may have known more than he let on when they had gathered together earlier

After mumbling for a few minutes he stood up and started pacing back and forth while biting his nails, his entire appearance radiated anxiety and dread

Clyde didn't know what Mark was thinking when he suddenly stopped pacing and stared at the entrance of the garden, standing for a long time, he clenched his fist as if he made some resolve, he entered the garden with the posture of someone ready to head into battle

"..."

Waiting for Mark to dissapear from his sight, he silently approached the entrance of the garden

[SKILL 'STEALTH' ACTIVE]

[SKILL 'SCOUT' ACTIVE]

Following Mark's trail he saw him sitting on a stone bench, his fist clenched with his head buried in his chest, his entire body was rigid with tension as if he was waiting for something to happen

After staying still like a statue, he suddenly bolted up and started sprinting in a certain direction

Like a switch, Clyde felt the air in the garden start to change, there was no visible indication but he could feel the approaching danger, like a beast had suddenly woken up

What the hell did Mark do!

Cursing he took his sword out of his inventory before going after in Mark's direction

After running for a long time he suddenly realized that the garden had unknowingly turned into a maze, similar to what happened in the forest when he got lost

He could no longer tell north from south, the flowers and structures inside the garden that once served as indicators only fueled his confusion

Where am I?

Why am I here?

Looking at the fountain he passed for the third time he slowed down and clenched his sword, looking around vigilantly his senses strained to their limits

That sickening danger made his heart beat furiously, adrenaline gushing through his veins, dread, confusion, alarm, regret ran through his mind

Was he going to die here?

He should've consumed all those limited edition cakes instead of saving them to enjoy later

Did he leave his stove open at home? He hoped he did, so his annoying freeloading half-brother would die in his apartment

That irritating bastard, he regretted not beating him when he had the chance

He didn't know how long he maintained his posture when that alarming sense of danger receded

Breathing a heavy sigh of relief he slightly relaxed his tensed muscles, he really thought he was going to die, he had never felt danger that.... disturbing, it wasn't a type where he felt the world was ending, instead it had felt overbearing and disgusting

Like he was being viewed like an insect that could easily get crushed, that sickening feeling of being observed and visually dissected sent shivers down his spine

If the owner of the gaze was the final boss... he would have low chances of winning

He moved away from the fountain and started walking in the direction of the entrance he remembered

With the disappearance of the sense of danger, so did his directional confusion and he no longer got lost

He headed to the flower beds of gardenias when he suddenly smelled the strong scent of old blood, his vigilance heightened again and he slowly stalked in the direction of the smell

Arriving, he saw the white-haired girl Lina holding something in her hand, that was where the smell of blood was the strongest

His arrival seemed to had been noticed when she turned her head to face him, her calm green eyes clashing with his own, her gaze then moved from his face to his sword

She then looked at him as if he'd gone crazy

"..."

This is awkward

His posture was tense and battle-ready, he could just imagine how he appeared to the other party

An adult man, holding a sword as if ready to engage in altercation, in the eyes of this NPC who grew up peacefully ignorant of the underlying danger of this world, he seemed like a pathetic otaku suffering from an 8th-grader syndrome

"This is?...."

He quickly hid his sword behind his back, he couldn't just put it away in his inventory lest he risked breaking system rules of forbidding NPC's from knowing the existence about the system and players

"Just a hobby..."

"Haha is that so? You like swords?"

Looking at her awkward smile Clyde felt even worse, shifting his eyes that was when Clyde noticed the dirty ragdoll in her hands dripping with black blood, he then remembered why he was here in the first place

"What's that in your hands?"

"Ah"

She got up and walked towards him with the ragdoll in her hands, showing it to him somewhat hesitantly

"I found this in the flower bed buried in the soil"

Clyde's expression turned serious, he recognized the malicious aura of the ragdoll and realized this was an item

Is this..... a clue?

Clyde's gaze towards Lina became a little passionate

For three days since he entered this dungeon he hadn't been able to find any important clues but in less than 5 hours since he met this NPC, he found two clues that seemed vital

What's this? Is his luck finally turning around?

"Give it to me I'll handle it, this item is a bit strange and I'm worried you'll be in danger"

She paused for a moment before passing it to his hands, he didn't know if it was an illusion but he thought he saw Lina's lips twitch almost as if she was holding back her irritation

But when he looked closely all he saw was those clear green eyes full of trust

"Then I'll leave this ragdoll to you, I'll go wash my hands first"

She turned back ready to depart but she halted, looking like she suddenly remembered something and suddenly turned to face him

"By the way Mr. Clyde"

"You can just call me Clyde"

"Then Clyde, have you had a partner before?"

"What?..."

"Ah never mind"

Then she turned back and walked away leisurely, he seemed to be seeing things but it looked like there was a skip in her steps like she was almost.... happy?

Shaking that thought away he looked at the ragdoll in his hands dripping with blood

He had an inspection item in his inventory but he needed to find a secluded place first

Looking around he spotted an arrow-shaped hedge, he walked behind it before putting away his sword and took a clean cloth from his inventory

Placing the ragdoll on the cloth, he wiped his blood-stained hands on the green grass and then cleaned with disinfectant

Although being a veteran player and having experienced numerous things, he still couldn't stand the feeling of his hands sticky with foul-smelling blood

After making sure he cleaned his hands properly he took out his inspection item and used it on the ragdoll

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ITEM: MOIRSUS READING GLASS

TYPE: ARTIFACT

DESCRIPTION: CAPABLE OF READING HIDDEN INFORMATION IN ITEMS

STATE: IN EFFECT

READING THE CHOSEN ITEM.....

RESULTS-

ITEM: SARA'S BELOVED RAGDOLL

TYPE: SOUL-BOUND ARTIFACT

DESCRIPTION: A RAGDOLL MADE BY SARA'S LOVER, CONTAINS A FRAGMENT OF SARA'S ANGUISHED SOUL, BOUND TO SARA, CORRUPTED WITH SARA'S INTENSE HATRED

EFFECT: CAN BE USED TO FIND SARA, CAN BE USED TO CURSE SARA, CAN BE USED TO COMPLETE SARA'S SOUL, CAN BE CONSUMED BY USER USING A SPECIAL METHOD TO GAIN A CURSE RELATED SKILL- PRECAUTION, MAY GET HAUNTED BY SARA

HIDDEN INFORMATION: BY KILLING THE PERSON WHO TORMENTED SARA YOU CAN SOOTHE SARA'S SOUL AND GAIN A SOUL RELATED SKILL

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A soul related skill?

Clyde's eyes widened

Soul related skills were one of the hardest and rarest skills to acquire, if its a healing type then he wouldn't have to fear dying inside dungeons and could use the skill to heal his soul trauma more effectively

Although soul trauma caused by dying healed on its own, but the healing rate was slow and if he died again while his soul was still in process of recovering he could slowly lose his rationality and go insane

Soul trauma also affected his judgement and thinking, making him more sluggish physically and mentally. Even his ability to passively resist skills deteriorated sharply

But even if it wasn't a healing type, it was still bound to be something useful, not to mention, that sense of danger he felt in the garden, if he could acquire a soul related skill, it would be an immense aid to his chances of surviving

Clyde's eyes almost glowed green from greed

I need to get this skill