I didn't expect this.
I had never been this surprised.
I've lived two lives.
I've had the chance to see things other people would never believe.
I became a demon — and still managed to be surprised.
How could it be possible for a *panty* to be a reward!?
— Hey, system, what am I supposed to do with this?
My voice echoed through the void, chasing the doubt that tormented my sanity.
My answer didn't take long to come.
[If you wish, you can exchange this valuable reward for style points.]
I let out a sigh of relief.
A satisfying trade, regardless of what "style points" meant.
Even if I lost in this exchange, it would still be justified.
Everything would be justified, as long as I could get rid of this... thing.
Still, a question lingered in the silent depths of my mind.
Why was this so highly rated?
[Granted items are evaluated simultaneously based on rarity and potency.]
[It's possible that certain rankings are raised exclusively due to the rarity of the item.]
So that was it.
In a weird way, it made sense.
Despite lacking power, it was undeniable.
It was a rare object.
For any self-respecting woman, panties were an important object.
They weren't meant to be seen by anyone.
And if you considered that this object might be used in a special way, then its value would double.
It was humiliating to admit, but in another life...
In my younger days, I would have appreciated the item and kept it as something important.
Interesting.
The passing of years brought many results.
What once would have been priceless no longer was.
I looked at the object one last time and dropped it on the ground.
This kind of thing wasn't useful.
If I had gained nothing from it and had other means besides brute force, then I would have destroyed it without hesitation or remorse.
What didn't make me stronger would be discarded.
Quickly, the fabric was swallowed by shadows.
[You gained 500 style points!]
[Would you like to open the shop?]
Interesting.
So there was a shop.
This system was turning out to be quite the surprise box.
— Save that for later.
I ordered, watching a soft green light start to leak from the chest.
I had been a bit careless with the system. If it had a shop, what else was it hiding?
I wouldn't let this pass.
— When all this is over, I want to know all your functions.
No response came.
Not that I expected one.
I would uncover what lay behind the system — one way or another.
The light burst from the chest, cutting through my thoughts.
A weak, sickly green light.
Certainly the lowest-quality item so far.
At this point, only two rewards remained:
a talent and a Devil Arm.
If this current item was my weapon, it would be... disappointing.
Though tolerable, considering the rewards I had already received.
Yet a feeling like a rising sun grew inside me.
Expectation.
I couldn't hide the feeling swelling in my chest.
A childish desire.
Full of naivety — a remnant wish.
From a distant past.
When I was younger, in another life, I dreamed of receiving a cool and powerful weapon.
Preferably, the legendary blades of Sparda.
But that would be pushing my luck.
Surely, those blades wouldn't be in the lower ranks.
Still, my luck wasn't that bad.
What came out of the light wasn't a weapon.
A small silver orb floated gently toward me.
So there was still a chance something interesting would come from the weapons.
The orb approached and hovered in front of me,
as if waiting for my touch.
I stretched out my hand and touched the object.
— Urghh!
A pain like electric shocks ran through my body,
traveling from my fingertips to my head.
It felt like knives slicing through my brain and inserting new pieces.
I clenched my teeth in a futile attempt to suppress my screams.
But the pain only kept getting worse.
Images and knowledge forced their way into my head,
fitting together as if they had always been there.
The orb began to fade away.
As my brain absorbed the techniques, it grew smaller.
In mere seconds, the silver object was gone,
leaving nothing but chaos behind.
Before I noticed, my knees and hands were on the ground.
Cold sweat dripped down my face and splattered on the dark floor.
My body trembled.
Like a stick caught in an approaching storm.
Flames stirred in my chest.
Rage coursed through my veins.
I gritted my teeth hard.
Pain.
That was all it took to bring me to my knees.
My fists tightened.
Just a few seconds of pain had brought me down.
How could I call myself strong in the face of such weakness?
Pathetic.
— You're pathetic, Vergil.
My voice broke the unshakable silence of the void.
It came out weak and tired, adding fuel to the inferno that was my fury.
With fervor, I swallowed the growing anger and used it as fuel.
With effort, I stood up.
My body staggered.
A traitor to my will.
Constantly, my body betrayed me.
My breathing came out heavy, instead of the usual controlled rhythm.
My arms and legs were weakened, far from their normal vigor.
However, there was something I didn't despise —
my demonic origin.
That cold, dark energy reclaimed through the amulet.
It coursed through my body like a general,
rushing and restoring everything out of order.
Within seconds, my body was reaching its peak again.
As expected, the demon would always surpass the man.
My newly acquired demonic nature was proving invaluable.
The strength in my limbs returned to its peak.
My body regained balance, and my breathing found harmony.
The rage fueling me began to fade.
I could feel it — my demonic energy was consuming my anger.
Feeding on it, growing stronger.
Seconds.
Just a few seconds were all it took.
As if nothing that had happened were real.
It felt like my weakness had been just the memory of a nightmare.
But I knew it wasn't.
My mind hadn't yet reached insanity.
There was also another proof of that shameful moment.
I looked at my hands.
Blood had pooled in my palms.
That anger and shame had made me clench my fists so hard that blood spilled.
Yet there were no longer any marks — just like everything else.
That weakness had left me with only two things:
memories and a technique.
A technique that wasn't powerful or sophisticated, but had history.
A technique that had gathered twenty years of effort.
Twenty years carved into my mind through pain.
I tilted my body slightly back, shifted all my weight to my feet, and kicked off the ground.
For microseconds, the world vanished.
The wind roared in my ears.
And suddenly, the world regained its colors.
Stars shone over the dark ground and over the chest.
But not everything was right.
The world seemed tilted.
Waves of nausea and dizziness hit me.
A side effect of high speed.
In a way, weakness.
My body had moved, but my mind couldn't keep up.
Still, the technique was a success.
The chest that had been in front of me was now several meters away.
[Instant Step Lv 1]
[Description: A speed trick created by Vergil Sparda, a demon known for his mastery of the sword and terrifying speed.]
[Effect: Teleports forward, backward, sideways, upward, or downward.]
[Range: 5 meters from the initial position.]
[Note: An untrained body and mind may suffer adverse effects.]
[Rank: C]
[Proficiency: 0/10,000]
An evolvable technique?
I was luckier than I thought.
Still, I knew why the system had rated it so low.
It was simply a simple technique.
No magic, no complex spatial calculations.
Just pure mastery of speed.
It wasn't teleportation — only raw velocity.
Vergil Sparda was a terrifying man when it came to speed.
Especially when it involved sword draws.
The speed of light was child's play to that man.
If I could obtain even one percent of his power... I would be invincible.
I turned my gaze to the chest.
A golden light began to radiate from the object.
To grow stronger, I needed a weapon.
A demon and his weapon were practically indistinguishable from one another.
However... what kind of weapon would come from that chest?