"Let's leave it at that for now. I'm going to whip up some lunch. Sister Cipher, why don't you find a room and get some rest?"
Lu Zhaoran stood up and left the study after dropping those words.
Cipher, however, had no intention of resting just yet. Once she was sure Lu Zhaoran was gone, she turned around and whispered a single command in her mind: 'Gacha.'
The familiar mechanical voice resonated within her head.
[Current Stellar Jades: 2560. Would you like to proceed with a pull?]
"Do it! Give me a ten-pull first!"
[Understood. Consuming Stellar Jades x1600. Commencing extraction...]
'I didn't get a gold last time. I wonder if I'll get lucky now!'
Cipher stared at the subtitles with expectant eyes.
But the text glowing with a familiar purple light shattered her illusions once again. It was a harsh reminder that the "pity" system in this world was as unshakeable as any gacha game back home.
[Congratulations! You have obtained: One crate of bagged dried small fish x1 (Blue), One box of nougat crisp balls x3 (Blue), One crate of SoulGlad x5 (Blue), A Wisp of Aura x1 (Purple)]
"Sigh. No gold is one thing, but only one purple? Did I use up all my lifetime luck when I pulled seven golds in one multi-pull before reincarnating as Cipher?"
Cipher muttered to herself in disappointment, letting out a heavy sigh. She then shifted her gaze to the name of her sole purple item.
"A Wisp of Aura? Whose aura?"
She stared at the glass bottle containing a swirling purple gas, talking to herself in confusion. As she concentrated her will on the item, the description popped up.
[A Wisp of Aura] (Epic Item)
"A wisp of aura captured from a certain shut-in princess living in seclusion. After being specially processed by a mysterious power, it has been sealed within this glass bottle. The user can control the aura inside."
Effect: Send a living soul back into the embrace of the Styx. (Has no effect on the host.)
"A shut-in princess? Is this aura actually from Jade?"
"Does this effect mean... I can just instant-kill someone?"
Cipher instinctively held up the small bottle, turning it left and right against the light. The purple gas inside remained still, showing no change.
"It says I won't be affected by it and that I can control it. Should I open it and see?"
Unable to suppress her curiosity any longer, Cipher carefully pried open the cap of the glass bottle.
And then—nothing happened. The wisp of aura floated obediently inside the bottle, much like a certain shut-in princess staying cooped up at home.
Cipher felt a wave of anticlimax. She had been expecting some kind of grand phenomenon.
"I don't feel anything at all. Is this thing useless for anything other than killing one person?"
BAM!
Just as the words left her mouth, the study door was slammed open with tremendous force. It hit the wall with a thunderous crash.
The sudden noise sent Cipher's fur standing on end. She bolted like a spring, flying up to the top of the bookshelf in an instant.
"Nyaa! What are you doing?! You didn't make a sound while walking, so why did you have to kick the door down like that?!"
Cipher yelled at Lu Zhaoran, who had suddenly appeared in the doorway, her voice a mix of embarrassment and annoyance.
The annoyance stemmed from being startled without warning, while the embarrassment came from the fact that she—a demigod who had just wiped out a massive group of enemies—had actually jumped out of her skin.
Lu Zhaoran didn't answer immediately. Instead, she looked around the room with a grave expression. After scanning the study, her eyes finally landed on Cipher.
"I'm sorry for scaring you. That's on me. But... didn't you feel it? A terrifyingly powerful aura of death just appeared in this room."
"A terrifyingly powerful aura of death...?"
Cipher shook her head blankly. What aura of death? She hadn't felt a thing.
Seeing Cipher shake her head, Lu Zhaoran's expression grew even more solemn. She began to mutter to herself.
"That's impossible. Such a blatant aura of death... why did it vanish the moment I arrived? It couldn't have been an illusion."
'Wait, an aura of death? Jade is the Demigod of Death, isn't she? Was she talking about Jade's aura?'
As she crouched atop the bookshelf listening to Lu Zhaoran's mumbling, Cipher's brain, which had gone blank from the scare, finally started working again. Seeing Lu Zhaoran about to leave the room, Cipher quickly called out to her.
"Wait. I think I know what that 'aura' you mentioned was about."
"You do?"
Lu Zhaoran spun around instantly, looking up at Cipher.
Cipher jumped down from the bookshelf. She reached out and retrieved the [Wisp of Aura] which she had instinctively stashed back into her system inventory when she was startled.
"This is..."
Lu Zhaoran rubbed her chin, looking suspiciously at the glass bottle filled with the mysterious purple gas.
"This is likely the 'aura of death' you were talking about."
With that, Cipher opened the cap again (it had automatically sealed when placed in the inventory).
"!"
The moment the cap was removed, Lu Zhaoran's eyes widened to the size of saucers. A look of pure terror washed over her face. In the next heartbeat, Cipher saw Lu Zhaoran "teleport" herself outside the study.
"Great One! Close it! Close it quickly!!!"
Seeing such an extreme reaction, Cipher hurriedly recapped the bottle. Once it was sealed, Lu Zhaoran let out a massive sigh of relief. She wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and leaned against the wall, panting heavily.
"That was close... I almost thought I was about to go join my master in the afterlife."
'Is it because of the 'no effect on host' rule that I don't feel anything? Still... is a mere wisp of that shut-in princess's aura really that potent?'
Cipher looked at the bottle in her hand, then at Lu Zhaoran, who looked like she had just escaped death.
"Um... are you okay?" Cipher asked hesitantly as she stepped forward, after putting the bottle back into her inventory.
"I'm fine... but Great One, what on earth was inside that bottle?" Lu Zhaoran asked, her voice still trembling with lingering fear.
"Well..." Cipher hesitated, wondering if she should mention Jade. But Jade wasn't even in this world.
Then she remembered the system mentioned she could pull characters. If she eventually pulled Jade, what would happen?
"I only remember it being a wisp of aura from a friend of mine. As for where that friend is now... I can't quite recall."
"A friend of yours, Great One...?" A look of deep reverence entered Lu Zhaoran's eyes. "To have such a terrifying presence from just a wisp of aura... I can't even imagine how powerful that person must actually be."