As Velmira grew excited, a terrifying roar echoed.
We all turned our heads, immediately recognizing the cry of the Knight of Death and Life!
But when we saw it, we noticed that it was crawling.
Although it still had its entire body, it was completely deformed, leaving only one arm intact, filled with life.
We exchanged stunned glances.
"What…?"
"It's... distorted?"
"Could it be that the knights' creations are flawed?"
Maya pondered the question while, as a precaution, I put on my Doll mask and cautiously approached the distorted knight.
But it seemed incapable of using its magic against me. Each time it tried, the energy exploded within, worsening its injuries.
With my lace gloves, I transformed them into gauntlets adorned with spikes on the phalanges, then relentlessly crushed its head with repeated blows.
With each impact, shockwaves erupted around us. My fists gained speed, hammering its skull without mercy.
I wanted to test my gloves in combat.
And I must say, with my rank two and the mask's boost, they are terrifyingly powerful.
After denting its skull, I took my umbrella, extended it into a fine lance, and thrust it into the distorted knight's head, finishing it off in one clean strike.
[Congratulations! You have slain your very first intermediate-lower distorted monster! You earn 50,000 Star Points for this personal achievement!]
Oh! With this, I'll be able to improve my unique skill!
As I returned to Maya, who had finished her analysis, she shared her hypothesis:
"I believe it became deformed because balancing Life and Death—two opposing attributes—is extremely difficult."
"Our Knight, though functional, probably had to steal life from living beings to stabilize both forces."
"But this one was likely distorted from the moment of its creation, right after the village's sacrifice… and probably the goblins too."
We nodded, realizing this explanation was probably correct.
"Velmira, can you store the knight's body in a storage gem? It might be useful to me."
"Alright."
Velmira complied, sealing the corpse inside a ruby, which glowed with a red light.
"Done."
With that settled, we set off toward our next destination.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As they traveled, I lay comfortably on my couch, observing my Star Panel.
[Character: Jina Vanilla
Unique Skills: {Video Game Character}, {Persona}
Skill: {Two Thought}
Number of Characters: 1]
Beside me, Nina sat on the floor, absorbed in a video game.
I whispered to the system:
"System, upgrade my unique skill!"
[Congratulations! Your unique skill Video Game Character has been upgraded!]
[This costs: 100,000 Star Points.]
[You gain an additional character and +2 points in Mental Power!]
[Mental Power: 10]
[Character: Jina Vanilla
Unique Skills: {Video Game Character}, {Persona}
Skill: {Two Thought}
Number of Characters: 2]
[Stats:
Attack: 1
Defense: 3
Mental Power: 10
Agility: 3]
Not bad at all!
"System, create a new character!"
A translucent white window appeared before me, displaying the available planets.
I had already analyzed everything and knew exactly what I wanted: the planet Star Sup-Natural!
And for the unique talent:
[Crazy Money]: Money! Money! You live only for wealth!
Yes, this was perfect! This character, whom I would name Gina, would be my personal bank!
For both myself and all my other characters!
I customized her with golden hair matching her eyes, her long locks flowing down to her waist.
Once satisfied, I sent her off to her planet.