Chapter Three: Definite Hope (With Gratitude to the Guild Leader Known as "The Green-Haired Great Fairy")

“In your first cycle, I killed you?”

Melina asked curiously, “It seems my story takes a tragic turn; otherwise, I can’t imagine my personality shifting so drastically as to kill a senior like you.”

Sonya’s mind flashed with a sinister, deranged laugh, and her expression stiffened.

She swallowed hard, nodded, and pointed at Melina with her index finger in the air:

“You wouldn’t want to know.”

Before Melina could press further, Sonya hastily hammered her own barren chest with a fist:

“Let’s skip over that. In short, our main principle is to let go of past grudges and avoid baseless accusations, alright? Respite!”

Everything about the senior had changed—except her physique. Melina estimated that Sonya’s height was around 1.8 meters, but that A-cup was hard to bear. Though Melina was shorter, she was notably well-endowed. Realizing she could never emulate Sonya’s chest-pounding Respite gesture, Melina bumped her fist against Sonya’s and straightforwardly asked:

“How can I equip armaments and become an explorer?”

“That question first depends on your attributes and the characteristics of the armaments,” Sonya replied. “The magic capacity a weapon can endure has an upper limit, and it’s determined not by the weapon’s quality but by its type. Because of this, your condition is hopeless for quite some time to come.”

Although Sonya’s words struck a sore spot for Melina, it actually gave her hope. It’s better to have a doctor stress the severity of your problem than to have one who can’t even detect it—that’s the scariest and most hopeless thing.

“The beheading sword has the lowest capacity, and the musket the highest. But even the highest-capacity musket can’t withstand the onslaught of your magic factor.”

Sonya sighed, “Your exceptional talent has become your shackle. Yet, the solution is simple: you just need to use multiple armaments.”

Melina furrowed her brow deeply.

She had tried using multiple armaments simultaneously, all muskets with the highest capacity. But this wasn’t a simple addition. Armaments involve intricate magic factor distribution techniques. They absorb magic factor at full power with no way to reduce it, so even holding two muskets would cause one to explode, then the other.

Melina relaxed her brow. She recalled that Sonya was a reborn individual.

Perhaps her future self had a way to solve this problem.

Even if Sonya was seeking benefits from Melina using her future solutions, that would be a good thing. Melina was always willing to borrow from the future—that was her approach.

“It’s not just two, one in each hand—that’s a crude ‘multiple armaments,’” Sonya said, extending her hand with five fingers spread. “At least five. You’re too powerful, Melina. You need at least five identical weapons to withstand your consumption—actually, the more, the better.”

Five weapons!

Melina pictured herself holding two in her hands, two strapped to her legs, and one tied to her head. The thought sent a chill down her spine. But if that was what it took, she was willing to accept it—gaining power was the greatest joy for her now.

However, Sonya shattered this ridiculous image.

Reading Melina’s expression, she guessed what was on her mind and smiled wryly, waving her hand:

“Ah, no, not like that. The weapons float around you. Five weapons floating nearby. Future you is a big shot. There’s even a pioneer competition held for morale and entertainment, and you have a column introducing you. Because of your column, I was convinced ‘this blade maiden is a time traveler.’ But you were too cautious back then—when I disturbed you, I died beneath the twin blades. Well, understandable.”

Five weapons rotating around her... Melina couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

It was so much better than the version with weapons strapped to her limbs.

But...

“Can you really precisely control floating armaments like that?”

Armaments aren’t simple weapons; they embody profound magical knowledge. Firing a musket in bursts, wielding a small knife with moves like instant steps—they aren’t just weapons but devices that transform the user into a weapon.

After equipping armaments, one must undergo long training and learning, often with a tutor fine-tuning movements at a teacher-student ratio of at most one to five.

Once mastery is achieved, the armaments undergo delicate modifications—balancing, grips, coatings, and special attachments.

An explorer starting from scratch takes about ten years to master one type of armament, and switching to another type requires about a week of adaptation.

Such complex equipment operated solely by magic factor is nearly impossible to control smoothly, and exerting force out of thin air has huge disadvantages.

“You can do it.”

Sonya believed in Melina’s talent even more than Melina herself. “Sister, if you hadn’t ended up in a wheelchair, you’d definitely have the potential to reach number one... oops, I slipped.”

“Wheelchair?”

Melina couldn’t imagine what the future version of herself looked like.

“Anyway, sister, Respite!” Sonya pounded her chest again. “I didn’t invite you to Hamlet Town just because I own some land here...” she said optimistically, “In the future, near Hamlet Town, a mineral called Terra Crystal was discovered. It’s a crystal that absorbs earth energy to an extreme degree—just a small piece can replace nearly half a ton of energy crystals. It can supply a town as quiet as Hamlet for half a year. This mineral can also absorb magic factors to form loops. That means although it diverts some of an explorer’s magic factor, when ‘fully charged,’ it feels like a third or fourth limb.”

Melina began to understand how her future self became an explorer:

“So, future me can control five armaments because they’re all made with this crystal... Can others not do this?”

“Cannot,” Sonya said bluntly. “Your magic factor reserves are close to the earth’s veins. Even a banshee can’t fully charge a single armament without it bursting. This is a unique ‘cheat code’ just for you. Also, to correct your wording—it’s not ‘making weapons with this mineral’ but ‘making an accessory with this mineral to give the weapon controllable properties.’”

This was good news. Melina smiled.

Sonya scratched her head:

“Rare, little Mel.”

“Hm?”

Little Mel?

Sonya expressed her confusion straightforwardly, as if they had already formed a deep friendship despite never having met:

“I thought you wouldn’t smile over something like this.”

Her voice was clear and free of malice. Melina looked down at her luggage and said:

“Seems you don’t know me well. Anyone who has to suppress a smile while achieving their lifelong wish must be a fool.”

Melina didn’t hide her joy from Sonya.

Seemingly to tease Melina, Sonya said in an amused tone:

“Don’t be so happy so soon. Don’t forget, you’re helping me out. The creatures I face include basic types that can destroy Hamlet Town with a single breath, then there are plus versions, deluxe plus, and even Blizzard Collector’s Edition... How could they sell for just $100?”

“Just one, though.”

Melina stayed optimistic, reasoning from the perspective of a reborn person: “Since you chose me, it means I have the ability to take down that dragon you want to kill. Otherwise, why pick me?”

“Or maybe I’m just a super diva who picks the pretty one?”

Melina shifted aside, making space between them.

“Oh! How rude and impolite of you! I’m a rare beauty, you know? With money, talent, and recently, well-defined abs…”

Abs?

Melina glanced over instinctively, only to see Sonya about to remove the armor covering her abdomen, then quickly turned away.

She closed her eyes slightly:

“...Anyway, just take down one, right?”

“Yes, though there are many, only the first one I ask you to help me kill for free. After that, I’ll pay with all sorts of rare treasures and intelligence.”

Melina opened her eyes and turned her head:

“Your ‘no strings attached favor’ is a bit like a scumbag’s ‘just a pat on the head.’”

Sonya pursed her lips into a sly, mischievous smile:

“Perhaps, dear junior, you haven’t done the math and don’t understand why I said I’d pay with ‘rare treasures.’ Fine, let me tell you the predicament you’ll face after becoming an explorer. Let’s start with a math problem: tell me, how much does a basic iron armament cost?”

“A greatsword costs about 100 gold Lire, a dagger 40, and a musket 300,” Melina answered.

Gold Lire is the only currency in this world, roughly equivalent to a hundred-dollar bill in our world. To put it simply, two packets of 648 equals 13 gold Lire; a dagger is about six packets, a greatsword about fifteen, and a musket over 45—almost the price of three public edition 4090 graphics cards.

After quickly doing the math, Melina’s face turned pale, lips blue. She instinctively covered her mouth.

“Wait... wait a minute? I need at least five armaments? And they all need to be upgraded simultaneously?”

Sonya clicked her tongue:

“Plus, your armament list in the first cycle has no cheap gear. It’s all about ‘full life,’ all about maxing out ‘petroleum weapons.’ And many materials needed to craft what you want are extremely rare. Even top explorer teams can only make one in two years. You want at least five. Hmm? Are you alright?”

Melina leaned back onto the sofa, staring at the ceiling.