CHAPTER 64: CHAPTER 64: DIVINE LUCK AND GREEDY GIRL

Chapter 64 – Divine Luck and Greedy Girl

"No, really... did I anger some divine being?" Kaden asked, this time seriously, as he stood in that strange place of darkness.

How could someone be this unlucky?

Even dying to the right monster was proving to be difficult.

He sighed inwardly and shook his head. He’d had enough. Might as well be done with it.

And as if the system understood that exact thought—

[You have died.]

[At what point in time do you wish to return?]

Obvious question. No hesitation there. But then—

A thought crawled in.

"Will I still have everything I’ve obtained... even if I return to a time before I had them?" Kaden asked, a flicker of real curiosity in his voice.

It was a pretty important thing to know.

[You will still have them.]

The system’s answer was cool, mechanical—but it made Kaden’s heart skip.

Because if that was true... if that was really true...

Then he could obtain the same treasures, the same potions, the same artifacts again.

Again.

Stack power upon power.

"...Well. Things are getting interesting," Kaden muttered with a grin before focusing back on the question.

When did he want to return?

Obvious.

Hell no he was going back to the part where every beast in the zone wanted his blood.

"I want to return to the moment the bear died because of its own incompetence," he declared.

[You will need 650 Death Coins.]

[Do you wish to continue?]

"How many Death Coins do I have?"

[1250.]

"Then do it."

[DING! Confirmed.]

Then—

[You have been killed by the rare-type intermediate-rank monster Acidic Slime. You have gained a hidden trait fragment from the slime. You have gained the trait: Synthesis.]

[Trait—Synthesis: You are able to transform and obtain something better almost everything by combining them.]

Kaden blinked.

Stared at the description.

"...You’ve got to be kidding me," he muttered.

He’d wanted to die to the shadow panther. That thing looked rare. Dangerous. Mysterious.

But no. A slime had gotten him.

A jelly blob.

And from that... he got this?

A trait that could combine techniques, traits, materials—everything?

Kaden stood frozen.

"...Okay. Fine. It’s the last time I’ll ever curse my luck again," he said at last.

Because he wasn’t unlucky.

He was too damn lucky.

A grin crept onto his face as he kept reading the trait description, rereading it, memorizing every line. With this...

He could do so many things.

Like obtaining a treasure, dying, going back in time, and getting the same treasure again

—then combining them into something better.

So many applications.

So many ways.

The only limits now were his mastery of the trait...

...and his imagination.

He grinned once more and dismissed the panel.

"Death, revive me."

The black clock appeared.

Tick—

...

Kaden opened his eyes inside the poison fog once again.

In front of him—the dead body of the bear.

First thing he did was check his space ring and relief rushed through him when he saw both the old bear corpse and the Terraclaw Devourer were still there.

"It’s real..." he muttered, smiling to himself as he approached the bear’s body.

He took out the old bear’s body from his space ring then placed the two identical bear corpses side by side.

Using the trait was easy. You have to touch the things you wanted to synthesize and will it.

So he did.

"Synthesis."

His hands glowed with pristine white light. The same glow enveloped both corpses as they slowly began to merge.

It was smooth. Seamless. Silent.

And moments later—it was done.

The light vanished.

In its place stood one corpse.

A single bear body. Larger. Heavier. Its green markings brighter, thicker. Even in death, it radiated a subtle pressure—something that made the air around it feel heavier.

New information flooded Kaden’s mind.

"Rare type... master-rank beast," he muttered, eyebrows raising.

But then he tilted his head.

"...Why didn’t the rarity become unique?"

[You didn’t specify.]

[The goal of Synthesis is to obtain something better and stronger—but you must clearly define what you want to improve.]

[Since you didn’t, the system upgraded the rank by default.]

[And also improving the rarity is more difficult. You will need more than two bodies for that. Because sometimes improving rarity will also improve the rank.]

Kaden nodded slowly as the system fell silent again.

It made sense.

He stored the bear’s new corpse inside his space ring.

"It’s more than enough to finish both the mission and the quest in flying colors," Kaden muttered before turning away.

It was time to return to the Capital.

...

Elsewhere—in the City of Pain, inside the towering grey stone walls of the Church of Sorrow—

In one of its many dim-lit rooms, a young white-haired girl lay on a bed, asleep.

Peacefully.

At least... that’s how it looked.

Because if you didn’t see the way her mouth twisted like she was choking on a scream...

If you didn’t see the way her body trembled in silence...

Then yeah, you’d think she was sleeping peacefully.

But she wasn’t.

Inside her dreams, something was crawling, gnawing—devouring.

Suddenly, the girl—Rea—woke up with a sharp breath, her wide eyes scanning the room in panic.

But once she realized where she was, the panic faded.

"Ah..." she sighed, hand brushing back her snow-white hair.

"This is getting worse..."

Since arriving in this church, her dreams had become more frequent. Longer. Darker.

Rea’s fingers trembled.

She didn’t want to admit it—but she was scared.

Scared of those dreams that made her feel like something was consuming her from the inside out.

Scared of that... presence.

She exhaled again and lay back on the bed.

But before her mind could rest—

Knock. Knock.

"Miss Rea. It’s time for your shift."

The voice behind the door was cold, flat—yet filled with buried pain.

"I’m coming," Rea said quietly.

She stood up slowly, dragging herself into routine.

Things were getting more complicated.

But Rea had started to notice things.

Her origin was tied to pain.

And this church—this Church of Sorrow—fed on pain.

In her dreams, she saw a goddess. Her face always blurry, hidden—but black tears streamed endlessly down her cheeks.

And this church?

It worshiped a goddess.

The dots were connecting.

"I need to rise," she thought.

"I need to climb within this church and figure it all out."

But in the back of her mind... another thought stirred.

’Money... I need to amass money too.’

Yes.

Because despite everything, despite gods and pain and cryptic dreams...

Rea was still Rea.

A money-hungry woman chasing power and answers in equal measure.

—End of Chapter 64—