[Descent complete.]
[Processing descent settlement—]
Settlement as follows:
Discovered a living entity in Purple Prison Mountain, gained exploration value 8. Discovered the special location Moonwatch Lake in Purple Prison Mountain, gained exploration value +6. Discovered the special location Purple Bamboo Forest in Purple Prison Mountain, gained exploration value +5.
Discovered a deity of Purple Prison Mountain, activated the Special Character Panel, gained exploration value reward 50.
Exploration settlement in progress…
You have obtained the following exploration rewards:
1: Soul Strength +5
2: Special Character Panel unlocked
3: Obtained 1 random soul
Congratulations, Summoner.
In the Spirit Blossom space, Logan took a deep breath and looked at his personal panel.
[Name: Logan]
[Race: Human Soul]
[Soul Strength: 7.3 (Scattered Soul)]
[World Exploration: 1%]
[Current Item: Unknown Soul Stone]
Logan swung his arms and felt a subtle change in his body. The discomfort in his lungs had eased a lot. As a Zaunite who'd grown up in Zaun since childhood, Logan had never had any chemtech augmentation—he was poor, and he refused to join other gangs—so his physical condition had been awful.
Poor Zaun kids were malnourished; Logan was no exception. And Zaun's heavy smog had damaged his respiratory tract—his internal organs had their share of problems too. Normally, whether Logan would even live past forty was a huge question mark.
But now, Logan felt… healthy.
Was this the effect of Soul Strength?
Did it change his constitution?
Logan looked to the corner of the panel. There was an icon like a bag. When he opened it, he found a sky-blue stone inside, giving off a faint green glow. It was beautiful.
[Soul Stone (Bound)]
[Quality: Blue (Spiritform)]
[Required Level: None]
[Description: A stone formed from an unknown soul within the Spirit Blossom world, containing mysterious and powerful energy.]
Logan: "…"
Fuck. This is getting more and more like a game.
He tapped Use, and the next moment he froze in place.
His brain took a hit. In an instant, he absorbed countless pieces of knowledge.
[Used Soul Stone]
[The Unknown Soul Stone has released its power—]
[Obtained unknown soul memories.]
[Extracted skill from "Unknown Soul Memories": "Spiritform-Grade Boxing"]
[Congratulations, Summoner]
When Logan came back to himself, he clenched his fist. His mind was flooded with knowledge that didn't belong to him.
How to make a fist. How to throw a punch. How to breathe.
Footwork. Forms. Techniques—strange yet strangely familiar memories collided and churned in his head.
He looked at the panel and saw a new line added.
[Current Skill: Boxing (Spiritform-Grade / Restricted)]
Spiritform-grade… what kind of tier was that?
As for Restricted, Logan immediately understood. It was nothing more than the fact that his current Soul Strength couldn't bring out the true effect of the boxing art.
He looked again at Soul Strength, and the words "Scattered Soul" after it were glaringly obvious. Logan immediately had a thought—so the next tier after Scattered Soul might be Spiritform-grade?
Rubbing his head, Logan figured that even if Spiritform-grade wasn't the next tier, it was definitely related to Soul Strength.
His cheat came from Spirit Blossom, so of course everything had to be understood through Spirit Blossom's worldview.
Then Logan looked at the other panel—the one that had been activated after encountering Thresh.
On the Shan Hai Scroll canvas, a heart-shaped icon had appeared off to the side. When he tapped it, he saw a bunch of pitch-black avatars… and one that was lit up in purple.
In the frame, Thresh wore an extremely seductive, wicked smile—but his eyes didn't look like the Thresh Logan had seen. They weren't as terrifying, not as sinister.
[Purple Prison Mountain Deity — Thresh]
[Soul Strength: ???]
[Personality: ???]
[Stage: Obsessed]
[Status: Purple Prison Mountain deity is searching for you]
"?"
Seriously? You're still not done?
Logan sucked in a cold breath. This Thresh was really a fucking bastard.
No—what the hell is this "Obsessed" stage supposed to be?!
Logan studied it seriously for a while, and then he nearly fainted.
Special Character Favorability was, apparently, a crucial part of his cheat.
Because Logan discovered that when a Special Character's favorability reached certain stages, he could receive sponsorship—support corresponding to their abilities.
And those stages were divided like this:
Encounter (0)
Acquainted (100)
Confidant (600)
Life-and-Death Bond (1200)
And one locked for male characters: Intimate (2000)
So the question was—what the hell was "Obsessed"?
It wasn't displayed in the stage list, yet Thresh was already at Obsessed with him?
Logan really couldn't make sense of it.
But aside from that, there was also one hazy avatar frame—different from the other pitch-black ones.
Logan looked at it and saw the silhouette of a fox sitting upright.
[Unknown Mysterious Deity — ???]
[Soul Strength: ???]
[Personality: ???]
[Stage: Encounter (0)]
[Status: Excitedly chasing butterflies in Spirit Blossom~]
"Heh. 'Unknown mysterious deity.' I can't even be bothered to roast you."
Logan was speechless. He might not know every detail of League's lore, but it wasn't like he knew nothing either. At the very least, he knew what the skins looked like.
"So the one who saved me earlier was Ahri?"
Logan stroked his chin, curious.
Back during the Spirit Blossom Festival event, the League client had even made a special activity—basically a visual-novel-style mini-game. It included the first batch of Spirit Blossom champions.
Logan had collected Ahri's, Lillia's, and Kindred's icons and emotes back then. And honestly, Spirit Blossom really was one of Riot's best skin events—so Logan wasn't unfamiliar with Spirit Blossom Ahri at all.
In that mini-game, Ahri was adorable. Her tone was playful, her personality lively and bright.
Remembering the ethereal voice from earlier, Logan immediately got a clear image in his mind.
"Long time no see, Thresh. Have you counted how many souls you've collected lately~?"
Yeah. It really was nice. Really cute.
"Fuck, I still haven't claimed all the rewards!"
Thinking about Ahri, Logan suddenly snapped back and quickly opened the Codex, then found the purple giant snake.
After activating it, Logan received two Stamina and two Strength. But after claiming them, he realized his Soul Strength was still 7.3.
That gave Logan a new understanding of Soul Strength.
It wasn't just a number you added up with simple arithmetic.
After finishing everything, Logan exited the space.
Even though he still had one descent attempt left, Logan decided he wouldn't descend again for a while. After all, Thresh was currently searching all over Spirit Blossom for him—there was no way he could descend into Spirit Blossom in the short term.
Alright. Exit!
—————
Waking up on his bed, Logan reached for his neck and tugged lightly on the chain. A pocket watch popped out—it had a cute style, and the face was decorated with purple-and-blue graffiti monsters.
Logan opened it and checked the time.
Then he realized that time in Spirit Blossom wasn't the same as in the Physical Realm. He'd spent about two hours in Spirit Blossom, but less than ten minutes had passed in the Physical Realm.
He rolled over and went back to sleep, refusing to think anymore. He'd already taken too many shocks today.
Early the next morning, Logan got up, took the coin pouch Marsen had given him, and headed out. Same as always—he was going to try to find a job in Zaun.
Zaun in the morning was a little less chaotic, but the streets of the Lanes still had plenty of "corpses" lying around. There were also a lot of beggars in the alleys, wrapped in rags with a broken bowl placed in front of them. Every so often, a body part would peek out from under the cloth—you could see skin turned purple and wrinkled into a lump, horrifying to look at.
Logan forced himself not to look at them and lightly hopped past them.
His pace kept getting faster. Logan realized his body really had changed drastically—visibly improved.
But… what was the limit?
How strong was he? How fast was he?
Logan didn't have any accurate reference.
So with a shift in thought, Logan decided to find a place with no one around and test his numbers first.
He walked through the morning smog, heading to the outskirts of the Lanes, toward an abandoned industrial zone.
He was genuinely curious about his changes.
When Logan returned to the Lanes again, it was already close to noon. He came back with an excited expression, and his black hair was a little damp.
"Insane. Absolutely insane!"
Am I actually this insane now?
Logan felt like it was ridiculous.
He'd thought that with Soul Strength at 7.3, he'd probably just be a bit stronger than an ordinary person.
But after that test, Logan could only say—he wasn't an ordinary person anymore.
Ordinary person?
He could take on ten!
A person who could crush rocks bare-handed—how was that ordinary?!
Speed, jumping, even reaction time—Logan discovered they'd all increased.
With a body like this…
Honestly, if he ran into Marsen again, Logan felt like letting Marsen take him to fight in the pits might actually work.
Because pit fighting paid well.
Logan found a restaurant in the Lanes. With the stinging smell of food and the nasty odor coming off the people around him, he started shoveling food into his mouth.
Bloody frog meat and fish meat were mashed together. It was wet and squishy going down, the texture was weird, the taste was awful—but Logan still gulped it down in huge bites.
In Zaun, being able to eat something that was still warm was already a good thing—especially since Logan was starving after "training."
While Logan was eating, a group of people suddenly stormed into the restaurant.
The counter attendant in front of Logan saw them and immediately shrank his neck. The boss, who'd been lounging behind the bar—huffing a purple spray and visibly "floating" on whatever it was—also jumped up at once. He hurried over, wearing a flattering smile and lowering his tall body in front of them.
"Honored guests, honored guests. What wind blew you here?"
"Quit fucking talking. Have you seen this person?" The leader, a tattoo-faced man, slammed a piece of paper in front of the boss and demanded loudly.
The boss lowered his head, looked at it, and immediately shook it hard. "No, no. I've never seen this person."
"If you see him, notify us. He's important."
"Yes, yes, got it. Then should I keep this paper and post it in the restaurant?"
"Post your mom. You think he's some wanted criminal?" The tattoo-faced man lifted a leg and kicked the boss in the gut. Then he took his people and left.
The boss clutched his stomach and spat, then went back behind the bar and took another long pull from the spray.
His withered expression changed instantly. He twisted his head and muttered,
"Fucking animals. Ever since his people came to the Lanes, life in the Lanes has gotten worse and worse every damn day!"
"This world is getting more and more chaotic. Bastards… seriously."
The boss shook his head as he inhaled, talking to himself.
Logan finished eating, pulled his hood down, stood up, and quietly left the restaurant.
Out on the street, the not-so-large Lanes had been flooded by that same group. They were grabbing people everywhere to question them—exactly the same as what they'd asked in the restaurant.
Logan pulled his hood lower, reduced his presence, and slipped along the edge like a nobody, leaving.
Zaun under Silco… was more extreme than under Vander.
Under Vander's control, Zaun was poor, but at least it wasn't chaotic. Violence and disorder mostly happened late at night—during the day, hardly anyone dared to cause trouble.
But under Silco's Zaun, it really did get richer… except the wealth only belonged to the chem-barons and the strong. The poor got poorer, their living environment grew worse, and you could see thugs smashing and wrecking things even in broad daylight.
Shaking his head, Logan left the Lanes.
Looks like he couldn't find work in the Lanes anymore.
If possible, he really wanted to smuggle himself to Topside.
Even if it wasn't Topside, the Promenade would do—at least that place wasn't as chaotic.
——————
Night.
After a full day of running around, Master Logan returned to the Lanes.
Still keeping his hood low and his presence small, he headed back toward his alley, walking home.
Today was another wasted day. Normal jobs for ordinary people in Zaun were basically zero. Even "odd jobs" were really just doing errands for gangs—there were no real jobs left.
Back in the alley, Logan took off his hood and started up the creaking stairs.
But after a few steps, Logan froze.
Because the stairs in front of him had been painted in strange colors. In the dim light, those fluorescent colors stood out like crazy.
Blue and pink blended together, and Logan unconsciously touched his chest.
In his coat, the pocket watch had the same colors—and the same graffiti style as the stairs.
"…"
Swallowing, Logan suddenly had a thought.
No way…
Is it really her?
Logan stood there in a daze outside his room.
Tch. He couldn't gamble. If it really was her, then he had to stay far away!
She was a lunatic!
Sure, in the anime and in the game, she was popular as hell—but in real life, who would want to be friends with a crazy person?
With that thought, Logan stepped back, ready to leave.
But the moment Logan lifted his foot and took one step back, his door was kicked open with a heavy slam.
A pale, long leg appeared in front of Logan—shorts, old bandages on the pink-white knee pasted into an X, and boots that clinked loudly. The thick toe was fitted with a metal plate, and with a sharp clack, it stomped onto the floor.
"If I were you, I'd cover my mouth right now… and then come in nice and obedient."
A pleasant, light voice rang out.
Logan stepped back again. Under the dim yellow light, a tin pistol painted with colorful graffiti was aimed at Logan's head. She stepped forward two paces, and her face came into the light.
She wore a tactical crop vest that showed off a pretty, tight stomach. There were plenty of beautiful blue cloud tattoos across her body, but they didn't look messy. Interestingly, she was also a typical Zaun kid—not just from the tattoos, but also from her malnourished, small chest. Under the tight vest, there was only the slightest curve.
Damn it—Thresh's chest was way more explosive than hers!
On both sides of her body were two long blue braids, nearly dragging on the ground. Looking up at her face, Logan saw a small, cute oval face that still hadn't shed its youthful softness. Beneath a pert little nose was a half-smile aimed right at him. Above that nose were a pair of clear, bright blue eyes.
Huh.
Wait.
Blue eyes?
Not pink eyes?
Logan quietly raised both hands. A greeting slipped out before he could stop it.
"Powder?"