Kurose Akira's expression tightened with confusion."What kind of problem?"
Don't tell me the forging failed…?
Red: "Please rest assured. The forging was successful. However, the sword's quality has ended up in a… very delicate position."
"As long as it succeeded, that's fine." Akira finally let out a breath of relief, then frowned slightly. "What do you mean by 'a delicate position'?"
Red: "You'd better see it for yourself."
The next instant, the newly forged Oathbound Sword was transmitted directly in front of him.
When Akira laid eyes on it, his pupils shrank in surprise.
In a flash of white light, a sword materialized before him. He reached out to grasp the hilt—only for his arm to sink abruptly as if seized by gravity itself.
It was absurdly heavy.
Even gripping it with both hands, he could barely steady it. The weight was at least one thousand kilograms.
If his Strength stat hadn't already reached 250, he wouldn't even be able to lift it—let alone wield it properly.
"Just adding the Black Dragon's reverse scale made it this heavy…?" Akira muttered, leaning the sword carefully against the wall as he examined it.
The blade shimmered with flowing black-and-gold light. Dense blue luminescent runes were etched across almost the entire length of the sword. On the hilt, a white rose had been meticulously carved—its black-and-white petals interwoven in stark contrast, lending the weapon an eerie, enigmatic beauty.
[Oathbound Sword · Backlight (Legendary?)]A mysterious sword forged from a Black Dragon's reverse scale, containing the power of an oath.Attack +3000Sharpness +50Deals +100% damage to evil-aligned unitsImmune to acid corrosion
"…There's a question mark after the quality?" Akira frowned and tapped the interface to view more details.
[Notice]This weapon is currently evaluated as Legendary. However, due to special influencing factors, there exists a probability that it may ascend to Mythic quality.Probability: 0.01%
"!?"
Akira froze.
Mythic-quality weapon.
He had already considered forging a Legendary weapon an unexpected windfall. And now—this sword actually had a chance, however microscopic, to ascend to Mythic.
Even if the probability was practically negligible, to him, it was nothing short of astonishing.
As Akira stared intently at the Oathbound Sword, Loserine emerged from the training room.
The moment she caught sight of the sword leaning against the wall, her face lit up with uncontrollable joy. Barely containing her excitement, she hurried toward Akira, eyes blazing with anticipation.
She then lightly bent her knees and crouched, gazing at the brand-new Oathbound Sword with complete focus. On her beautiful face was an unmistakable look of infatuation—like she was beholding a priceless treasure of the world.
"This is…?"
Loserine slowly turned her head, her crystal-clear eyes meeting Akira's. She raised one finger to point at the sword, then pointed at herself—her expression identical to that of a child receiving a long-awaited gift.
"Yes," Akira smiled and nodded. "It's your new sword."
"Thank you!"
Loserine took the sword with reverence, gripping it carefully as she examined it in detail. Her eyes seemed to peer straight through the blade, as though reading the secrets hidden within.
At the same time, Akira noticed something strange.
In Loserine's hands, the Oathbound Sword seemed to lose its terrifying thousand-kilogram weight—becoming as light as a feather.
As expected, Loserine's strength far exceeded his imagination.
Although her visible Strength stat was only 616, merely two or three times his own, trait-based bonuses weren't displayed on the panel at all. In reality, her true physical strength was easily ten times his—or more.
"How does it feel?" Akira asked with a smile.
"I love it."
A long-lost look of joy appeared on Loserine's face."Please believe me—everything you give me, I will repay a thousandfold."
"Don't be so serious. You've earned it."
Akira smiled and gave her shoulder a light pat. As the guild's second adventurer, Loserine's contributions were immeasurable.
"Then… may I go test the sword?"
"Mm. Go ahead."
The moment he nodded, Loserine shot back into the training room like a gust of wind.
And in the very next second—
A number suddenly popped up in Akira's field of vision.
[10000!]
"…!?"
Akira's gaze froze solid.
After switching to her new weapon, Loserine's damage had instantly broken five digits?
And that looked like… a basic attack?!
Not long after, Lucia and the other guild members arrived one by one. Akira began preparing the day's commissions.
He planned to lead Lucia's group through several D-rank quests first. Out of thirty D-rank missions in total, eighteen remained.
If he wanted to recruit new adventurers as soon as possible, he had to raise the guild's player evaluation to D+.
Moreover, the high-risk dungeon mission he had promised Red Lotus was scheduled for tomorrow. Improving their overall strength was critical.
"Alright," Akira said. "Let's begin today's tasks."
"Yes, Guildmaster!""Yes, Mr. Akira!"
The sun sank beyond the horizon. Night fell.
After leading the adventurers back to the guild, Akira sat down on the sofa and sorted through the day's gains.
Today, they had completed six full D-rank missions.
This efficiency was largely thanks to Loserine's overwhelming performance. Ever since obtaining the Legendary Oathbound Sword, her strength had skyrocketed. D-rank missions were trivial for her—against monsters below level 50, she usually decided the outcome with a single strike.
The group led by Lucia performed just as impressively, handling D-rank difficulty with ease. As a result, the day's progress far exceeded expectations.
With the gold and experience from these missions, Akira's experience pool swelled rapidly.
His EXP pool reached 350,000, and his gold climbed to 80 coins.
He immediately began leveling up the adventurers.
After a series of operations:
Ivsha and Alice rose from level 27 to 33, consuming 124,800 EXP
Loserine jumped from level 38 to 45, consuming 67,900 EXP
Fuli and Flora rose from level 25 to 30, consuming 81,000 EXP
The remaining 80,000 EXP was invested entirely into Lucia, raising her from level 25 to 33.
Once finished, Akira glanced into the Soul Crystal Orb.
Nata was still sleeping within, nourishing her soul and slowly recovering her memories. As for Miss Zhenbai, whom he had captured from the dungeon earlier, she was drifting freely inside the orb—apparently having quite a good time.
"Come out."
At his command, Miss Zhenbai slowly emerged from the Soul Crystal.
"D-did you… need something?" she asked timidly.
Summoned out like this, Miss Zhenbai looked extremely nervous. Her body, wrapped in white cloth, trembled faintly—her fear of Akira evident.
"Why were you in that dungeon?" Akira asked.
He was already certain that this ghost girl had nothing to do with the Undead Lord. More likely, she had drifted over from another dungeon. And that illusory starry sky within the dungeon earlier—it seemed intimately connected to her.
"I… I…"
Before she could answer—
"Ugh…"
Miss Zhenbai suddenly felt dizzy. Her body swayed, then tipped backward, collapsing weakly onto the floor, unconscious.
"…?"
Akira frowned deeply, utterly baffled.
What just happened?
Was my tone really that harsh?
Why did she pass out just from a question?
As Miss Zhenbai lay unconscious, her delicate form wrapped in white cloth was fully revealed before him.
"…This…"
Akira narrowed his eyes.
Aside from a pair of snow-white, slender legs, the rest of her body seemed shrouded in that same illusory star-filled void—its form indistinct, neither fully real nor unreal.
This only deepened Akira's interest in her peculiar nature.
He even felt an urge to lift the white cloth and take a closer look—to see what this ghost girl truly looked like beneath it all…