Maria relived her memories in a dream: a conversation she had in the Alchemy workshop with Sonia, a re-incarnator, while analyzing a magic factor sample belonging to another transmigrator.
"That very pretty girl—is she the genius transmigrator you mentioned who 'could hunt the vast majority of Red Dragon Species even while sitting in a wheelchair'?"
Sonia wore a mocking expression, as if Maria had just asked a question like "1+1=?".
The very next second, however, she added with mischievous glee:
"That's her, all right. Pretty, isn't she?"
Maria nodded.
"She radiates extremely obvious and resilient magic factors. Very beautiful magic factors, like the Earth's core itself."
Sonia rested her cheek on one hand and smiled wickedly. "Right? Right? The silver hair is gorgeous, and the golden eyes are stunning too."
"Mm, her physical functions and natural talent are shockingly high..."
Sonia's purple eyes held a rather devilish glint. "And her breasts are huge!"
"..." Maria closed her eyes, then opened them again with a peculiar expression. "Why do you keep talking about her appearance?"
"Isn't she cute?" Sonia spoke with the air of 'the character I stan is just this adorable'.
"Tch..." Maria couldn't help recalling the appearance of the transmigrator who shared a name with 'that blockhead'. "...She is pretty, true. Easily the prettiest person I've seen. So what?"
"Heh~ Any special feelings?"
Maria gave a cold shake of her head. "None."
Sonia smiled a crooked, mischievous smile. "Well, that's strange. You were the champion of the First Playthrough's Xiaomei Cup, weren't you?"
"I don't have any issues in that department."
Suosuo looked at her with a very wicked expression, clicked her tongue, and wagged a finger with her left hand.
"Not yet."
...
Maria had been tossing and turning alone in bed for a good while, her mind completely occupied by 'not yet'.
What kind of issue could possibly come up?
Fine, she admitted it: A-Mei looked genuinely good, smelled amazing, and whenever she raised both hands to grab something, you could catch a glimpse of her side curves from behind. But that was just aesthetic appreciation—you frown when you see something ugly, and you feel relaxed when you see something pleasant.
"This is simply the way of nature."
Maria stared at the ceiling, steeling her resolve.
Good looks were incomparably important in this society. As long as you were attractive enough, even if you were a serial killer, people would still make excuses for you; people's worldviews followed their facial features!
So...
"What other issues could there possibly be?"
After a sleepless night, Maria wanted nothing more than to march out, make a left turn to Sonia's dorm, and take her down with a single blade.
Stop talking in riddles!
What's with all the cryptic nonsense?
Suddenly, a person from the future grabs you, points at an invincible youthful beauty, and tells you, "You and her will wander arm-in-arm in the future"—how could anyone not obsess over something like that?
What made her angrier still was that after dropping those riddles, Suosuo had clammed up and acted like nothing had happened.
Damn it, an upright person fears no shadow!
I, Maria, have zero chance of sinking into the wicked path of a cozy paradise; I am a woman destined to become a master geologist in another world!
...
Melina had slept soundly. The warm blankets reminded her of the girls' dormitory at the Academy. Since both she and her roommate had relatively petite builds and the dorm lacked heating, they used to sleep in the same bed during the winter.
That cozy feeling was no different from this blanket.
She drifted off to sleep peacefully.
In that sleep quieter than tranquility itself, she dreamed she was climbing an invisible, endless ladder, ascending slowly through boundless darkness. Beyond her field of vision, she seemed to glimpse numerous faint threads in the distance.
Waking up, Melina felt her physical condition had improved once again.
Banshees were creatures somewhat akin to soul-snatchers. Magic factors were resources produced by conceptual behaviors and ecosystems, but they could also be understood as a form of soul energy.
By absorbing these magic factors, they could improve their physical condition.
So don't let Senior Sonia's comical demeanor fool you—if that Red-Feathered Dragon from yesterday had just stood there and let the Senior carry it, she actually would have been able to lift it...
Melina's efficiency at absorbing factors was peerless, almost rivaling a Banshee equipped with Armament.
This was why she was confident that in a Banshee-versus-Banshee fight, she could gain the upper hand even without being an Explorer. Her PvP talent was astonishing, while her PvE side was currently in a banned state, just waiting for the day the VAC ban announcement declared, "Meimei wasn't using hacks, it's all pure talent," to burst forth and destroy everything.
After getting up to wash up, she ran into a sleepy-eyed Senior Suosuo (weak-form version) along the way.
The girl kept yawning, scratching her head with zero ladylike demeanor, and then gargling and washing her face with loud slurping noises.
Melina felt like she was back in the girls' dorm.
"Xiaomei, are you going out with Lao Ma in a bit?"
The Senior was wearing a silk nightgown, though unfortunately there was nothing much to look at—it was far less effective at highlighting a monastic silhouette than Melina's woolen sweater-dress.
"Yes." Melina perked up, her consciousness clear enough to distinguish facial cleanser from skincare lotion. "You're not coming?"
"Aish, andwae!" Sonia replied with a soft, fluffy smile, wagging her finger. "Muri da yo."
She yawned again.
"I was working last night, going to grab a quick nap in a bit. You and Lao Ma remember to bring me take-out—I want a whole roast calf."
"I hope you get fat and die," Melina muttered under her breath.
"Eh?" Sonia hitched up her nightgown, offering an alluring and lazy smile. "You can't get fat from it, you know."
Melina glanced over and quickly looked away.
She actually had abdominal muscle lines!
Sonia walked out, yawning continuously, and didn't forget to remind her:
"Lao Ma has money. When you order take-out, don't use your little stash—make Lao Ma pay."
...
After finishing her wash, Melina saw Maria walking in with a pair of dark circles under her eyes, giving her a start.
"Didn't you sleep well?"
Maria glanced at her, pouted her lips, and let out a fierce yawn. "It's all fucking Suosuo's fault. You shouldn't learn from Suosuo in the future—playing games and then playing the second part of that game."
"Which game?" Melina was still a bit out of it and asked before realizing whether she might expose herself.
Fortunately, Maria was even more dazed. She let out a hehe chuckle, puffed out her voluptuous chest to mimic a golf swing, and made a weird sound from her throat:
"Wuhu~"
"Wu... Wuhu?" Melina still didn't understand, but she raised both hands cutely.
"Yibei yibei," Maria mumbled indistinctly.
Having completed an encrypted communication where neither of them knew what was being said, Maria exchanged a greeting and went to wash up.
"I'll change my clothes and come to your room to find you in a bit."
"Oh."
Melina went back to her room to change. Once dressed, she curled up in her chair, rested her feet on the edge of the seat, propped her chin on her knees, and began applying nail polish to her toenails.
Her long silver hair cascaded over her body. The smooth, soft brush evenly applied the black nail polish onto her thin, slightly moistened nails with tiny, silent, slick sounds.
...
The silver-haired girl finished her nails, took out a black lipstick, and applied it to her tender lips.
Maria realized she had been staring for quite a while.
She shook her head hard to clear her mind and knocked on the nearby signpost.
...
Tap, tap.
Melina looked up and back, seeing Maria fully prepared.
The golden-haired woman was wearing the exact same armor as Senior Sonia, known in full as the "Bright Silver Relic" armor. The silver cuirass was quite pretty; the segmented skirt design was sexy yet remained conservative due to the abdominal plating, and the streamlined steel plates on the skirt provided maximum damage reduction. Unfortunately, however, while this fine armor had a cool name and a beautiful appearance, it was ultimately just starting gear.
At best, it was an expensive "outfit for stepping out the door"—completely devoid of cost-effectiveness.
Dragon-scale armor possessed toughness and special effects that starting gear couldn't possibly match, but sadly, its primary materials had to retain a massive amount of magic factors to provide supernatural effects. To ensure those magic factors functioned, they had to be "tamed magic factors," and the magic factors on monster materials only had one path of taming:
[Killing the monster itself].
Auxiliary materials like dragon blood and ubiquitous dragon scales could be purchased, but noble materials like [Tough Dragon Scales] and [Dragon Leather] had to be hunted personally. This meant that alongside Gold Lei and various materials, the most precious currency in this world was "intelligence on rare and exotic treasures"—and Sonia possessed vast amounts of it. That was the charm of a re-incarnator.
Although Maria's system cheat helped her accomplish many incredible things, to some extent, [Slight Cheats] still couldn't rival [Infinite Economy].
"Aren't you ready yet?" Maria asked with a helpless smile. "It's been almost ten minutes?"
"...It's only been ten minutes."
Melina pulled a spare pair of stockings from her box, stretched them apart with both hands, and skillfully rolled them up and onto her legs in circles. Then she moved to the other foot...
"You remind me of my college dorm."
"How so?" Melina glanced at the other woman, feeling that her puppy-like contemplative expression didn't look like Lv Tong, and safely lowered her head to put on her shoes.
Look! I told you! It's impossible for everyone in this world to have issues, right?
Maria said:
"We'd agree to go out on the same day, and then spend at least an hour getting ready before leaving."
Maria pressed her left hand against the scabbard at her left waist—she had this habit of suddenly wanting to touch something, her fingers lightly tracing the scabbard up to the hilt.
"I didn't make you wait an hour."
While speaking, Melina finished putting on her shoes, stood up to tap the floor, and grabbed her small lace parasol.
"I'm ready. How about you?"
"Almost... I'm ready." Maria's expression was somewhat absent-minded.
Melina teased, "Didn't sleep well last night?"
"A little bit." Naturally, Maria wouldn't admit that her mind had been thrown into disarray by what Sonia said; she would never utter something so humiliating, so she said, "I'm a bit worried about Hamlet Town. Suosuo must have some big matter keeping her here, but it can't be helped—I promised to help her."
This remark stirred a hint of unnatural jealousy in Melina's heart; her inherently intense possessiveness often left her feeling ravenous. She disliked it when others discussed third parties while in her presence, so she reached out, tapped her own lips, and deliberately asked:
"Senior Maria, do you think my lipstick is applied evenly?"
"Hm?"
Maria looked down and felt a slight wave of dizziness.
Noticing that her gaze had returned to her, Melina blinked playfully.
"Looks like it's even."
The corners of Melina's mouth curved into a faint smile—so faint Maria almost thought it was an illusion—before she turned and walked out, moving along the curved corridor and leaving the living quarters.