When Bell woke up again, it was already daytime.
"It's morning... How long did I sleep?"
Bell slowly woke up, scratching his head and looking out at the bright window.
He remembered everything that happened last night—the spell tome, the counterparts, and the black dragon.
However, those issues were so complicated that Bell didn't want to dwell on them too much.
Even though he had experienced it all himself, Bell was still confused.
Who knows if those experiences were real or just some strange dream?
However, there was one thing Bell was sure of that if counterparts from parallel worlds truly existed, then it would only make sense that they had a system.
Moreover, a counterpart like himself couldn't be like him and shouldn't even exist.
The Type-Moon System had practically pulled him away from the very concept of being a counterpart. Bell's transmigration was because of the Type-Moon System, not due to any kind of parallel of himself.
In the end, the result was pretty obvious. Those strange images were either something he imagined or someone was controlling them from behind.
However, Bell tried his best not to think about what happened last night.
In fact, Bell felt like the "Spell Tome" was influencing his thoughts, making him think the reason he transmigrated was something else.
That's why he ended up having those weird conversations and even found a reason not to think too deeply about the whole transmigration thing.
'First, I need to make one thing clear. This transmigration was the result of my own decision, maybe I was just being reckless. But still, it was an act of my own will.'
Seeing that tempting website and clicking on it was his own fault, Bell needed to admit that.
After giving his face a few firm slaps, Bell pulled himself together.
Bell took a deep breath, walked to the door, and leaned against it while starting to check the one-star and two-star items he pulled yesterday.
There are eighteen types of items floated in front of Bell, and they are all neatly arranged.
'The ten pulls guaranteed, and all I got were pity rewards… I've probably pulled almost every one-star and two-star item by now.'
Looking at the eighteen different types of items, Bell felt emotionally drained.
It wasn't that he was too worried about the guarantee, but the cost of upgrading them really bothered him.
"Upgrading a three-star item costs a million valis… I really hope the one- and two-star item doesn't cost nearly as much."
"Upgrade all the items."
[1,800,000 valis.]
'So one-star and two-star items cost 100,000 valis each to upgrade?'
Bell nodded slightly.
He could afford to upgrade the one-star and two-star items.
"Yes."
As soon as Bell agreed, the 1.8 million valis from the storage turned into golden light and was directly absorbed by the system.
At the same time, the floating item cards in front of him began to merge.
'Now what?'
Bell wondered.
One of the cards floated directly in front of Bell. The "NO.1" label on the item caught Bell's attention immediately.
But before he could react, the item named "Tenacity" turned into light and floated around his body.
The phenomenon left Bell momentarily stunned.
The glowing particles floating around Bell's body slowly started to merge into his body.
"Boom!"
In that instant, every muscle in his body seemed to pulse, and his flesh felt like it was boiling.
A strange, blood-red color spread across his skin.
The blood rushing through his veins gave Bell the intense feeling that it was about to burst out of his body, which wasn't just a feeling.
It was real.
In that moment, Bell wanted to scream out loud, but he couldn't. He could only grit his teeth and endure. He could feel his body beginning to change as if something huge had deeply stirred his blood.
After three minutes, the intense rush of blood gradually began to calm down, but enduring the feeling of blood rushing through him left Bell drenched in sweat.
"Hah..."
A heavy breath escaped from his trembling lips. After releasing that hot breath, Bell felt really bad.
The rushing blood almost made him lose control, and it felt like his blood and heart were about to burst.
'The item... it's a type that directly enhances the body. If I hadn't received falna, I probably would have exploded from the rushing blood through me immediately.'
At this moment, Bell could only feel thankful that he hadn't pulled each earlier.
'Thankfully, I didn't have the money before.'
Just then, the next item appeared in front of Bell.
"Again!?"
This time, the item transformed into a beam of light and drilled directly into Bell's brain.
Suddenly, an intense, pulsing sensation in his brain caused by his heartbeat stopped immediately, and a cool sensation swept through his consciousness.
Bell's heightened emotions were greatly calmed down, and all the sounds around him disappeared slowly.
This peaceful feeling made Bell slowly close his eyes.
"It's so quiet..."
Bell's tense body relaxed, feeling incredibly light as if even his soul was floating away.
["Meditation": A brief, silent moment. Man comes to know his origin.]
[Technique: Bearers of civilization. Techniques are the possibilities of people.]
[Preemption: Always be one step ahead, or someone else will be a step ahead of you.]
[Destruction: Destruction. The time of birth arrives.]
[Flash: An insight of an instant, fast as lightning, this slash shall split the heavens.]
[Pleasant Chance: A once-in-a-lifetime chance. You must not let it slip away.]
[Plentiful Harvest: Harvest season. Rejoice, and give thanks to the Earth.
[Concentration: Devote thyself to one purpose. Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.]
[Divine Oracle: Divine inspiration. The truth is known to me.]
[Conflict: Grant me power. Until victory is within my grasp.]
[Catena: Encircling chains. They know not when to stop.]
[Divided: A solid entity towers over all. None may pass.]
[Awakening: Awaken. The light that shines upon all shines upon you.]
[Famine: Endless thirst. Even the life disappears to the empty space on the swaying earth.]
[Compassion: Mercy. A fragment of love that is always near.]
[Prosperity: The leaves grow thick and bear fruit. May those prosperous lives be blessed.
[Somber: A shadow squirms within the darkness. Behold it without averting your gaze.]
The power far beyond what the body could suppress kept pouring in—endless energy, amazing strength, and a body that became super flexible rushed into him all at once.
At the same time, Bell's body was about to fall apart from the pressure of all that power.
However, the vitality symbolizing "prosperity" surged, sending a drop of the water of life from the edge of death that had nearly overwhelmed him.
The river of death from "somber" had somehow reached Bell's ankles. The dark, deadly power started crawling up from there, covering his whole body with black lines in an instant.
However, the "compassion" from the heavens stopped death, filling Bell's body with life once more.
The "famine" of the soul constantly craves food, but the river of death makes the soul tremble and want even more while also slowly consuming it.
The black patterns were gradually devoured by the "famine" soul. Then, a tiny bit of light started to appear in the soul that had once been completely dark.
A soul that seemed useless began to shine just a bit. It was only a small glow and only came after the soul had consumed part of the river of death.
But soon, a thick wall formed around the faintly glowing soul, completely severing it from the outside world.
No one could see the light anymore or even feel that the "famine" soul was changing deep inside.
The power of the items was way too strong, and it caused Bell's body to collapse several times.
However, the "compassion" from the heavens and the vitality symbolizing "prosperity" allowed Bell's broken body to regain life.
In this process of death and rebirth, Bell's body started to rebuild itself—his organs became tougher, and even his life energy began to grow slowly.
While he was immersed in "Meditation," Bell could feel all these changes happening inside him.
It was because he was aware of these changes that he didn't dare to interrupt the "meditation" to interfere with the transformation, especially after he noticed that the strange changes were actually making his body stronger.
After the changes started relaxing, Bell finally emerged from his deep meditation.
"!!!!!!"
The sudden, intense pain almost knocked Bell out the moment he took back control of his body.
Even though he managed to stay conscious through willpower, every part of his body, every organ, every cell, was hurting so much that he couldn't even make a sound.
'I knew it... I knew this would happen…'
'Thankfully, I didn't jump out of meditation earlier, or I would have been completely gone by now.'
The pain in his body was one thing, but the pain in his soul was another. The curse from the river of death had spread like a disease from his ankle, growing quickly.
If the other items hadn't fought back against it, Bell's body would've definitely died.
Leaning against the door, Bell gradually felt the pain start to fade, but he knew it had just gotten a little better compared to how bad it had been before.
After bracing himself with his hands on the door, Bell stood upright and slowly walked over to the bed.
This pain couldn't be fully recovered from today. At the very least, the pain in his body had to subside completely.
Otherwise, Bell was sure that a goblin would end up killing him if he went to the dungeon right now.
'It hurt. It hurt so much.'
'I haven't heard of this before. It's just a piece of items to make me stronger, so why did I end up nearly dying?'
Fortunately, Bell didn't actually die.
He had no idea that even one-star and two-star items could have such terrifying power.
If he had known how painful it would be when they entered his body, Bell definitely wouldn't have been so impulsive.
He should have taken it one piece at a time, at least. Carefully, he lay down on the bed and covered himself with a blanket.
After all that pain, Bell really just wanted to sleep.
He didn't try to fight the sleepiness, and he gave in and drifted off to sleep.
Even after he fell asleep, Bell's body still twitched a little from the pain.
The pain had been just too much to bear.