In the living room, Rita placed a barrel of [Complex Seawater] on the floor and began rummaging through her inventory for items of little value.
By the end, the floor was covered with an assortment of scraps and junk.
Discarded equipment, damaged dragon scales, spent magazines, a [Whistle], a [Compass], a [Never-Ending Coffee Cup], and even her [Fate Coin] and [Soul Catcher] were among the pile.
She realized that she rarely relied on fate. She preferred to make her own decisions, thinking things through before taking action. Despite owning the [Fate Coin] for so long, she had only used it once—and that was just to test its effects.
Rita seldom faced decisions she couldn't make on her own. Beneath her seemingly cautious demeanor lay an unshakable confidence. Once she decided on a course of action, she seldom changed her mind.
If she deemed something too dangerous with insufficient reward, she wouldn't pursue it, no matter how promising the odds. Conversely, if she was determined to act, the potential for success or failure wouldn't bother her much.
The [Fate Coin] merely reflected the choice her subconscious was already leaning toward.
However, crises often struck when least expected. It wasn't feasible to flip a coin before every action—how lame would that be?
"Too situational," she thought, deciding to melt it down during the [Renovate] process.
As for the [Soul Catcher], she wanted to test if her skill could uncover any hidden issues.
After laying out all the optional items, Rita even added a box of dragon dung. Then, with a single thought, she activated [Renovate].
A glowing aura enveloped every item in the room. The hues varied by item—some shone with a single color, while others displayed multiple harmonious shades.
It felt like stepping into an old-fashioned bar, complete with a spinning disco ball overhead.
A quick glance confirmed her suspicion: items of similar colors had the highest compatibility. However, balance seemed to allow even dissimilar attributes to combine effectively.
Rita picked up a leather armor with two distinct colors. She found she could easily disassemble it into separate components.
Setting the armor aside, she turned her attention to the object radiating the same soft blue glow as the seawater—the magazine?
Without hesitation, she grabbed the magazine and tossed it into the water tower. Then, she took out 200 more magazines of the same type, all with the same faint blue glow, and threw them in as well. These magazines were mass-produced with her intermediate engineering skill and had little value.
[Never-Ending Coffee Cup]? Same color range. Into the water tower it went! The item had long outlived its usefulness. With so many listed on the auction house that no one was buying, it was practically worthless.
Rita stopped only when the water tower was nearly full. Her gaze shifted to the [Soul Catcher].
The bone hand now glowed with two distinct colors: gold for most of its structure and red at the tip of its pinky finger. Upon closer inspection, her detection skill revealed new information about the red glow:
[Fragmented Soul Shard]: A soul fragment fused with the remains of its host after death. Completely inert; contact will cause it to shatter.
"Voldemort, is that you? Speak up."
Rita cursed under her breath. Miyaas had hidden another trick.
She didn't have any skills capable of directly attacking a soul, but [Renovate] seemed to offer a potential solution.
Since the skill reassembled items into a new whole, it would likely create some sort of interaction or disruption. She hoped the fragment's description—"shatters on contact"—would hold true.
Avoiding direct contact with the hand, Rita created two small electric nets. She carefully "scooped" the hand into one and maneuvered it toward the water tower. Another net was used to secure four fingers into the palm, leaving the pinky submerged in the water.
The process was exhausting, but eventually, the shard began to react.
The red glow on the pinky finger started flashing violently. The water in the tower swirled, rushing toward the shard. Most of the water was absorbed before the glow visibly dimmed.
Rita immediately fetched another barrel of seawater, dumping its contents into the tower from the second floor.
One barrel. Two barrels. Three barrels…
By the time the fourth barrel was halfway emptied, the [Fragmented Soul Shard] shattered with a resounding crack. The pinky nail turned deep blue, resembling the sunlit surface of the ocean.
The remaining seawater surged into the magazines.
When it was over, Rita carefully removed the hand with her electric nets.
[Soul Catcher] (Perfect Curio):
Hold my hand, and I'll ask you—truth or dare?
(You are the sole owner of this Curio. Once every 30 natural days, you can skip the game's process and directly receive a reward.)
Point your pinky at an enemy to deliver a soul shock. This damage cannot be healed by any means except time.
As its sole owner, she could now bypass the game entirely—likely due to her own blood mixing with the item during renovation.
More importantly, it provided her with a much-needed means of attacking souls. She wasn't sure how potent the damage would be, but it seemed like the type of skill that could send enemies into a berserk frenzy.
Satisfied, she stowed the [Soul Catcher] in her inventory. It was finally clean, in every sense of the word.
[Renovate] had proven to be a comprehensive detection skill, capable of uncovering things even her pocket watch couldn't detect.
But why had the soul fragment evaded even Chávez's probing? Rita could only guess: perhaps the bone hand had been an extension of Miyaas himself. A soul nestled in its own remains might create a seamless harmony, eluding detection.
It was akin to how she couldn't detect a player's soul through conventional means.
Rita dismantled the water tower and retrieved the altered magazines.
[Bullets – No Honor Among Thieves]:
Altered by unknown forces, these bullets drain 3–5 HP from their target per hit and transfer it to the shooter.
Out of 201 magazines, 139 had mutated, while the rest were rendered useless.
"Only 3–5 HP? And a magazine only holds seven bullets... isn't that a bit underwhelming?"
She caught herself, realizing her greed. She stowed the magazines away, saving her scrutiny for the last item—the coffee cup.
Tasty. No special effects. Produces 500ml of coffee daily.
Another dud. Renovation wasn't always a guaranteed success.