"Absolutely right!"
"As expected from someone I saved... alright, maybe she didn't actually need my saving, but still! As expected of my designated collaborator!"
At this moment, Lynelle, still figuring out how to escape Babylon Tower, had no idea that the choice she just made had completely shifted big Herta's opinion of her in the Star Rail world.
No matter how many thousands of reasons she might have had, if she'd truly chosen to leave Sirin behind in Babylon Tower and escape alone, Herta might have helped her this one last time out of sheer conscience and a sense of completion.
But after that... she absolutely wouldn't have continued assisting her so selflessly, no strings attached.
After all, that's just the kind of person Herta is.
You could call her willful, you could call her arrogant, but if she were in Lynelle's shoes, she would never, ever abandon Sirin. In a way, Herta is probably the genius in the Genius Society with the most 'humanity' among them.
'Sigh, I really didn't want to use this thing to gamble on your success rate, but since you're so much to my liking... I'll give you a chance.'
Herta turned around and, a moment later, returned to the lab carrying something that looked heavily secured.
"System, begin recording. Log my following monologue into the research files for Lynelle."
"During previous observations of Lynelle, I noticed an interesting phenomenon..."
Muttering to herself as she unlocked the complex security measures, Herta let the recorder capture her "experiment log."
"Those items she 'draws' often exhibit unusual properties within her dream world."
"For example, that culture fluid tube. While in my possession, it seemed like just an ordinary component for a life-support pod. But after being drawn by Lynelle, according to her experimental results, it gained many traits it originally lacked, such as healing wounds and enhancing physical constitution... if I recall correctly, these descriptions also appeared in the fluid's advertisement copy."
"How this trait, similar to a History Fictionologist's ability, forms still requires research. But this very nature makes one type of item particularly compatible with Lynelle's ability."
[Beep— Password unlocked. Curio: Temporary Stake have been retrieved.]
"Some Curios have bizarre abilities due to their inherent properties, but another portion gain their peculiar traits from the significant histories or backgrounds they represent."
"And theoretically, Lynelle's ability should have a chance to produce fascinating reactions with this latter type of Curio."
"Curio: Temporary Stakes. The carnivorous fungus blankets grown on the planet Katya swiftly secretes hydrophilic substances when stimulated, which can combine with liquids to form crystalline structures with digestive properties. It has found its lifelong career in some shady interstellar gambling dens — penniless gamblers brew their last gemstones with their tears of regret, staking everything in a gamble. These chips will quickly dissolve, becoming new debts, and the gamblers' lives are corroded completely in the digestive fluids that pour out.."
As she spoke, Herta slowly placed these seemingly crystalline, translucent gems into Lynelle's palm.
"If my hypothesis is wrong, these will just be another option polluting the weapon pool for Lynelle."
"But if I'm right... then this Curio, combined with Lynelle's undying nature, will probably yield an absurdly high return rate."
Herta turned off the recorder, gazing at the dream monitor's screen and muttering to herself.
"Though in that case... it might be a bit hard to explain to that little girl, Sirin. After all, this thing's essence is a digestive fluid. Let's hope she isn't too psychologically scarred from witnessing it..."
"But compared to survival, psychological trauma shouldn't be that high a priority, right? Hmm... probably?"
--+--
"Holy crap, a gold pull?!"
On the other side, Lynelle—who had decided to do a quick gacha pull before finalizing her battle plan—snapped her eyes wide open.
[Huh? Getting a gold within twenty pulls should be pretty normal, right?]
'Do you think you're actually Kiana or something! A gold every twenty pulls? That's some pure, unadulterated luck!'
Even though this exchange happened telepathically in her mind, Lynelle could feel her face getting a bit hot.
Gacha lucksters who flaunt it really deserve to die!
[Ahem...]
Shifting the topic with a slightly guilty conscience, the customer service rep, Kiana-chan, continued.
[But, maybe it's a newbie bonus? Like a guaranteed gold on the first ten-pull? Our system is pretty humane, you know. So, hurry up and see what awesome thing you got.]
[Wait... Huh? Why is it this thing...]
"So what did I get? Why do you sound so bitter?"
Hearing Kiana-chan's suddenly grudge-filled tone, Lynelle asked curiously.
[It's nothing, just a normal five-star item... It's just that this thing brings back some... not-so-great memories for me...]
Kiana-chan mumbled under her breath.
[Why do you always end up pulling this type of stuff...]
As she spoke, an all-too-familiar icon popped up on Lynelle's system screen.
"This is... Temporary Stake?"
Lynelle did a tactical lean back.
Although her previous life's experience with the Simulated Universe was limited, she remembered this Curio quite well.
In most situations, you could manipulate this Curio to have almost no downside because... well, if my pockets are completely empty, what does it matter if you deduct double? You can't get blood from a stone.
"But what can this thing actually do? Give me 300 Cosmic Fragments so I can go on a shopping spree?"
[Not exactly... As you've noticed before, host, some of the items you draw are used based on their inherent properties, while others are items that aren't useful by themselves but carry special significance.]
[These items, where symbolic meaning outweighs practical use, are granted abilities 'matching their significance' by the system.]
[Like this Temporary Stake thing... Ugh, just look for yourself.]
Kiana-chan helplessly pulled up the detailed item panel for Lynelle.
--+--
[Temporary Stake (Charge Type)]
[Type: Curio]
[Rarity: 5-Star]
[Using this Curio grants the user an additional energy bar with a fixed capacity. It also provides special crystals from the Temporary Stake itself, which act as energy carriers for proliferation and use. Energy does not regenerate automatically. The Curio's duration is 40 minutes.]
[After the duration ends, the digestive fluid produced by the Temporary Stakes will consume double the energy expended from the user. If there is no energy to consume, it will directly consume the user themselves.]
[This Curio's cooldown is 40 days.]
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.