The next pull was ready to use.
But 'Acheron' wasn't in a hurry to leave just yet.
Thanks to the system's protection, her endurance limit was far higher than Acheron had guessed.
So she simply stayed right there, practicing blade techniques with Acheron.
She aimed to push Acheron's swordsmanship as far as possible over these twenty-some days.
As for what she'd said earlier—that Acheron wasn't alone anymore—that wasn't just some spur-of-the-moment remark.
Since she had the system's protection, the danger of being in this place was effectively neutralized.
And this realm seemed even simpler than 'Acheron' had imagined.
Touching the Nihility, watching the shadows of nothingness slip down to a certain point—that was all it took to get here.
From now on, she could drop by to visit Acheron anytime she pleased.
And during her free time, 'Acheron' went ahead and used up that new pull right away.
And then…
A golden glow seeped through the crack under the train's door.
The next instant, a woman appeared before Bai Ming, dressed in a white bodysuit, with long, faintly lavender hair that seemed to go on forever, and a strange stellar ring hovering around her neck.
"…?"
That was Bai Ming's first reaction upon seeing this character.
A big question mark practically materialized above her head.
Wait,
Seriously??
Was this character even in the roster of game characters she could pull?
Wasn't this gacha pool supposed to be only for playable characters?
Where did this woman come from…
Bai Ming stared blankly for a moment.
Then she looked at the name displayed below the card.
"The… Lord… Ra— huh? Lord Ravag— WHAT?! Why is there a Lord Ravager in the gacha??"
Bai Ming was utterly floored.
So the pool wasn't just for playable characters after all???
It had the same interface as the in-game gacha, so she'd assumed the contents were the same too.
Hah? You can even pull a Lord Ravager?
Next thing you know, I'll be pulling some Emanator of Propagation out of thin air.
Bai Ming was completely baffled.
What was she supposed to do now?
If she went out into the world posing as Celenova, wouldn't the other Lord Ravagers team up and descend upon her for a good old-fashioned beatdown?
And besides…
Suddenly having a clone-version Lord Ravager under her command—
Wouldn't Nanook notice?
Would he just smite her on the spot?
Bai Ming felt a twinge of dread.
And she was deeply, deeply confused.
Was her gacha pool just completely devoid of normal people?
What, would letting her have one easy-mode character be a crime or something?
Every card she pulled was harder to handle than the last.
Oh, so this time it's a Lord Ravager.
Next time, are you gonna have me pull out Yaoshi?
Then I'd really be up the creek without a paddle.
Bai Ming genuinely felt her luck was just the worst.
When would she ever get to pull easy-mode characters like Seele, or Clara?
She took a glance at her status panel:
--+--
[Role-Playing System]
[Name: Bai Ming (Acheron)]
[Lifespan: 159.59:53 (paused) + 19 days (role-playing)]
[Transformable Roles: Big Herta (Charge: 19.2%), Acheron, Celenova]
[Available Pulls: 0 (4.6%)]
--+--
The numbers were still creeping up slowly.
Well, that made sense.
News of something like Shuhu's complete demise would keep spreading for a while.
She'd probably rake in a decent amount of emotional value from it.
But scoring another full pull was probably unlikely.
And now that she'd laid all her cards on the table with Acheron herself, farming a lot of emotional value from her would be tough too.
If nothing went wrong…
In the next thirty days, she'd have to play the part of a Lord Ravager.
She could only hope the real Celenova wouldn't show up with her colleagues, beat her to a pulp, and drag her off to who-knows-what fate.
'Sigh…'
Life just kept getting more and more… illegal.
Bai Ming shook her head and sighed.
--+--
A few days later.
In that barren land where day and night didn't exist, after sparring with Acheron until they were both completely spent,
'Acheron' took out that bottle of special medicine—the one she'd barely taken any of—from her silver ring.
"Oh, right, why don't you try this?"
"What is it?"
Acheron took the pill, tossing it into her mouth even as she asked, as if completely unconcerned about what it might do.
"It's a special medicine I came up with while mimicking Herta, using her brilliant intellect. It can suppress the Nihility's erosion on the body to some extent."
"?!"
Acheron hadn't put much stock in it at first, thinking it was just some ordinary remedy.
But as the pill dissolved, a peculiar energy spread through her body.
She could feel it clearly—the power of the Nihility, which normally required constant conscious effort to keep from spreading, was now being restrained.
Even her sense of taste and other sensations felt noticeably restored.
"It… actually works?!"
Acheron stared in shock at Bai Ming, who sat across from her.
"Of course. I have the complete formula and equipment for it. From now on, you won't have to exhaust yourself suppressing your own power."
"Thank you. And… if I happen to meet others who could use this medicine…"
"Go ahead. I know you've got a good heart."
'Acheron'waved a hand with a smile.
Aside from her overwhelming strength, Acheron was really just a kind soul at her core—that much was clear.
So she didn't mind if the medicine was shared with others.
Besides, 'Acheron' took a cheerful glance at her panel:
--+--
[Role-Playing System]
[Name: Bai Ming (Acheron)]
[Lifespan: 189 days, 59:53 (paused) + 19 days (role-playing)]
[Transformable Roles: Big Herta (Charge: 25.2%), Acheron, Celenova]
[Available Pulls: 0 (28.4%)]
--+--
Just by sharing this medicine and its formula, her gacha progress bar had shot up by twenty percent.
Trading a mere formula for one-fifth of a pull?
Totally worth it.
Too bad she was out of aces up her sleeve now.
At most, she'd probably only reach around forty-something percent from here.
Anything beyond that seemed unlikely.
After receiving her agreement, Acheron's gaze softened even more.
"How much longer can you maintain my form?"
"About twenty more days, why?"
"I'll arrange a suitable training plan for you. I may not understand the logic behind your role-playing, but as long as I help you create new blade techniques, that should suffice, correct?"
'Acheron' nodded in response:
"That's right. I'd appreciate it."
"It's no trouble. It's not like there's a third person to talk to here anyway."
…Is there not?
Hearing that, 'Acheron' froze for a moment, feeling something was off.
Then she asked curiously, "Aren't there hordes of Sin Thirsters from the Galaxy Rangers here?"
"Galaxy Rangers? No, why would it be Galaxy Rangers? The last time I left, it was to fulfill a wish for an Architect, not a Galaxy Ranger."
At that, Acheron also seemed to find it strange.
She occasionally left the River of Forgetfulness to carry out the final wishes of lonely spirits.
But she didn't always use the title of Galaxy Ranger.
She used names like former Nameless, Architect, or Knight of Beauty more often.
"There aren't…"
'Acheron' was stunned.
No masses of Galaxy Ranger Sin Thirsters?
Wait a second…
When exactly did Tiernan join the Galaxy Rangers to campaign against the Lord Ravager, Zulo?
Has that… not even happened yet??
--+--
T/N: Interesting timeline
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! 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.