Chapter 161-2: On How to Open a Treasure Chest, the Star Map of the Radiant Star Palace (2)

This dark-gold maraca looked slightly different from last time.

Roughly the size of a bottled water, its color was now more vibrant, its touch ice-cold, and its weight significantly heavier. The previously simple line-drawing of a maid on the head of the maraca had transformed into a beautiful girl with refined copper wings sprouting from her back.

The kimono-clad girl’s wings fluttered as she drew a longbow, seemingly ready to engage in battle at any moment.

Lin Xun smiled slightly and began his little trick.

He shook the maraca gently, producing a rustling sound from within…

From the corner of his rental apartment, a stunning girl appeared out of thin air.

She wore a short light-purple kimono, its hem revealing long snow-white legs.

The sash wrapped tightly around her waist accentuated her slender figure and made her ample chest even more prominent.

Behind her folded a pair of metallic wings, and nestled between them was a longbow and a quiver.

The girl lifted her beautiful face and walked toward Lin Xun, her dark-gold hair swaying gently. Her eyes, matching her hair in color, were pure, flawless, and sparkled with life.

She reached Lin Xun, then knelt on one knee in a respectful bow.

The kimono’s chest opening was slightly too large, and from his downward angle, one could catch a glimpse of her soft, round curves…

Of course, Lin Xun’s attention wasn’t there. What he noticed was that the Battle Angel – Valkyrie looked far more human than the previous Support-Type Maid Doll.

There were no visible metal seams on her limbs, and the mechanical wind-up key that should have existed on her back had completely vanished.

The Battle Angel – Valkyrie looked just like a real human girl.

Well, that is, if you ignored her weaponry and metal wings.

“Can you understand me? And can you speak?” Lin Xun asked.

The Battle Angel – Valkyrie nodded, then shook her head.

“A shame… Not being able to talk cuts down on a lot of potential functions…” he muttered, stroking his chin regretfully.

“All right, here’s the plan. I’ll summon you inside the clinic. Once you see the treasure chest, go and open…” Lin Xun paused mid-sentence. “Hmm, no, from now on, if I attack a treasure chest and it shows no reaction, then you go…”

“Tch, that’s not right either. From now on, when you see a treasure chest, shoot an arrow at it. As long as nothing strange happens, you go open it.”

“I’ll throw an Unknown Creature’s Eyeball as your cue to act.”

“Understood?”

The girl gave a firm nod.

He had originally planned to throw a Foul Dungstone, and he had plenty of those junk items in his Inventory for chest-opening tests.

But throwing that was a little unsanitary. Fortunately, Bennett had just gifted him a whole box of eyeballs.

Of course, this box of eyeballs had more uses than just that…

After finishing arrangements with the Valkyrie, Lin Xun gave the maraca another shake. With the rustling sound, the girl’s figure disappeared from the rental room.

He picked up his phone and summoned the Valkyrie in-game.

[To the delightful rhythm of rustling sand, you summon the Watcher Battle Angel – Valkyrie.]

[A stunning, long-haired girl steps out from the void. She wears a short, light-purple kimono, and behind her spreads a pair of enormous refined copper wings…]

Lin Xun opened his Inventory and pulled out one of the eyeballs Bennett had given him. He selected ‘discard.’

[You threw out an Unknown Creature’s Eyeball (Junk)]

He silently stepped back, giving the Valkyrie space to open the treasure chest.

[Battle Angel – Valkyrie removed her longbow, drew an arrow from her back, and fired…]

[Seeing that the chest showed no reaction, she strode forward and opened it without hesitation…]

[You see that the chest contains only a tattered piece of canvas…]

[Brave and decisive Apostle, do you wish to step forward and collect the item from the chest?]

Lin Xun ignored the game’s passive-aggressive tone and clicked ‘Yes.’

[You have obtained Incomplete Star Map (Special Item)]

Previously, he had also obtained an item with the same name in the Ancient Book Archive of the Multivision Association.

[Incomplete Star Map (Special Item): …If you can find the missing parts of the canvas and piece it together, something unexpected may occur. This special item is currently incomplete and unusable.]

[You discover that this Incomplete Star Map can be perfectly pieced together with the one you already own.]

[Do you want to combine the two Incomplete Star Maps to restore the canvas to its original state?]

Without hesitation, Lin Xun pressed ‘Yes.’

[You piece together the two Incomplete Star Maps. The irregular seams along the canvas edges merge seamlessly, restoring it to its original, complete form.]

[Brilliant starlight bursts from the two pieces. As the light fades, the countless twinkling stars in the galactic river depicted on the canvas connect to form a majestic palace.]

[You have obtained Complete Star Palace Map (Special Item)]

[Complete Star Palace Map (Special Item): A richly colored oil painting depicting countless flowing stars in the galactic river. The stars are linked by beams of starlight, forming a magnificent and towering palace.]

[Using this item, you will be summoned by the Lord of the Stars and enter His divine palace, the Radiant Star Palace.]

Lin Xun stared wide-eyed at the game text before him.

“I dug and dug and this damned game gives me a suicidal item?”

For those who had joined the Oath of the Radiant Stars faction, this item was undoubtedly a tremendous gift… or maybe not. Thinking back to the behavior of the Child of the Stars, even joining the Oath might end in a massive loss.

But for Lin Xun right now, the Complete Star Palace Map was like a tasteless chicken rib, dangerous to use, a waste to discard.

Lin Xun didn’t even know what expression to make. Maybe a simple smile was all he could muster at this point.

Just as he was about to store away the suicidal item, game text appeared suddenly.

[In the corner of the clinic, countless flickering chaotic characters manifested out of thin air. The characters twisted and merged into a monstrous beast.]

[The beast was composed entirely of disordered characters, which continued shifting shape with tremors. Just looking at it made you feel a sense of disorder and chaos.]

“Beast of Disordered Knowledge… Did I mess up again? What does Omniscient True Knowledge want from me?” Lin Xun frowned in confusion, until a thought occurred to him. “Could it be that Omniscient True Knowledge wants me to use this item?!”

[Battle Angel – Valkyrie immediately stepped in front of you to intercept the monstrous beast.]

[She drew an arrow and pulled her longbow taut…]

Lin Xun was already an Oathbreaker. Going to see the Lord of the Stars would be like delivering himself into enemy hands.

Omniscient True Knowledge couldn’t possibly be sending him to his death, perhaps he simply hadn’t grasped the true meaning yet.

[With a twang, the arrow trailed a white cyclone and shot forward like a shooting star, hurtling toward the beast…]

[The meteor pierced through the beast’s body, shattering countless characters into fragments…]

[Your Watcher has defeated the Beast of Disordered Knowledge. You did not gain any experience points.]

“Could Omniscient be sending me to the Radiant Star Palace to infiltrate them? No, Oathbreakers can’t rejoin a forsaken Oath.”

Lin Xun was completely baffled. He couldn’t make sense of what Omniscient True Knowledge wanted.

If Omniscient True Knowledge had intended for him to become an infiltrator, then the Servant of Knowledge wouldn’t have directly invited him into the Oath faction to begin with.

Besides, Omniscient True Knowledge was overwhelmingly powerful, it could crush the Radiant Stars in divine war.

With that kind of absolute strength, using tricks like this felt completely unnecessary.

[Some of the scattered characters from the Beast of Disordered Knowledge were drawn to you, fusing into your body…]

[Your Blessing of Knowledge +4 has been upgraded to Blessing of Knowledge +5. When overloaded, your Knowledge cap increases even further!]

[The remaining fragmented characters did not fade but instead gathered into a single enormous glowing white character.]

[You recognize this character deeply, it’s etched into your memory. It’s the same mysterious symbol you saw on the chest of the Servant of Knowledge in the Temple of Knowledge.]

[You are being summoned by the Temple of Knowledge!]

[Do you wish to approach the character and teleport to the Temple of Knowledge?]