Chris confirmed that the new set of Knight Armor was identical to his previous one. This was a classic feature of the original game: defeating a stage boss while unarmored would reward the player with a fresh set upon picking up the key.
He didn't bother keeping the low level gear, distributing it as he saw fit, but he immediately converted the King statues, money bags, and Yashichi pinwheel into Heaven's Selection Coins.
He needed to free up space for more loot, and he didn't have the patience to hold onto them for future trades.
Counting his previous rewards from the Red Arremer, Chris now held a total of 4,220 Heaven's Selection Coins.
He still had no idea what their actual purchasing power was, but being a typical person from his background, he felt a profound sense of comfort seeing a growing balance in his savings account.
After a brief reorganization, his inventory held only the map and the demonic wings. With the Gentleman's Cane in his primary hand, the severed head of the Cyclops in his off hand, and a full set of silver Knight Armor, he looked like a bizarre, mismatched collection of RPG tropes.
A quick test confirmed that the Head of the Cyclops was indeed a valid template for [Knight's Throw]. He could expend 5 MP or 2 Innocent Souls to manifest a spectral projectile.
The increased soul cost was likely due to the head being a Blue/Excellent grade magical item.
Still, considering the spectral head had a chance to breathe fire upon impact, 2 Innocent Souls felt like a bargain.
Between his base stats and equipment bonuses, Chris's Strength had reached 20 points. On paper, this made him twice as strong as a regular human, but he could tell the scaling wasn't that linear. The higher the stat, the more diminishing the returns felt in practice.
"Stay with me for three more hours," Chris said to Shedinja during the pause granted by the settlement phase.
The Pokémon, well aware of its temporary status, nodded and hovered onto his shoulder, ready to follow.
"Space! I choose free exploration!"
As he spoke, the invisible force holding the world of Ghouls 'n Ghosts in stasis vanished. The clock resumed its countdown from three hours and forty five minutes.
Chris didn't immediately head back. Instead, he approached the massive gates that theoretically led to the second stage of the castle.
He was promptly stopped by an invisible barrier, unable to see anything beyond the threshold.
"Cheapskates," Chris muttered before turning around to retrace his steps.
...
Three hours later, Chris had accomplished every goal he'd set for himself. Without the burden of the other students, his progress was much faster.
He reached out and pulled the ever faithful Shedinja into a tight embrace.
"My friend, I hope we meet again."
He released the confused Pokémon and held out a fist.
Shedinja didn't hesitate, meeting his knuckles with its rounded, stubby claw one last time.
A radiant light enveloped them both as they were transported out of the dungeon.
...
When the white light faded, Chris found himself alone in a vast, pure white space.
A familiar vibration came from the phone tucked into his boxers, followed by a holographic notification from the Heaven's Selection Space.
[Player DX233180, congratulations on surviving the Newcomer Trial. You are now officially a Heaven's Selection Player. Welcome to the Heaven's Selection Space.]
[This is your personal space within the Island. You have the right to modify this area within certain limits, or spend a small amount of currency for premium upgrades and conveniences. You may invite other players to your space via their ID; unauthorized entry is impossible. Items may be stored here without limit.]
[You may request space services at any time, including item recycling, personal restoration, and equipment reinforcement. Certain facilities, such as the Player Mission Hall, require you to visit the Island's central hub. Players are allowed to open stalls and establish facilities for trading and interaction.]
[Please set your Player ID before entering the hub. You may also pay to blur your appearance to mitigate the risk of being identified in the real world. Death in a dungeon or the real world will result in the loss of all inventory and stored items, which will manifest as 'Relics' according to current rules.]
[Note: Not all players in the Selection Space originate from the same dimension. Beliefs and customs vary; please interact with CAUTION.]
'Dimension hopping? Interesting,' Chris thought. The warning about players from different dimensions caught his interest far more than the standard system descriptions.
Did this mean he might encounter actual, non human races?
Would there be cat girls? Brain eating Mind Flayers? Or perhaps rowdy, war obsessed green mushroom men?
The possibilities were intriguing.
However, before entering the hub, Chris had business to settle.
Specifically, the loot he'd gathered during his three hour exploration spree.
With the Red Arremer and the Cyclops dead, the first stage of the dungeon only spawned low level mindless minions. For Chris and Shedinja, they posed zero threat.
This allowed him to systematically hunt down and trigger every single Easter egg in the area.
Emboldened by the fact that he was in a free exploration phase, Chris had even triggered the negative Yashichi pinwheel, fully prepared to be kicked out of the dungeon if his timer vanished.
Instead, the item didn't trigger immediately. Upon closer inspection, it was very different from its video game counterpart.
What had once been a purely negative trap had transformed into a dual purpose consumable with some potentially creative applications.
[Yashichi Pinwheel (30s): Hidden Easter Egg, Consumable.
The official mascot of Capcom. Despite appearing in numerous titles, its lack of general recognition remains a tragic problem...
Effect: When used on any unit, reduces the cooldown of one skill, the duration of one buff, or one mission time limit by 30 seconds.
If the chosen timer is already 30 seconds or less, the duration changes to 00/∞.
This effect persists for the duration of the current dungeon.]
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]