Zuo Lin'an leaned in closer.
“Why don't you try applying first? Test it with three times.”
Xu Youyou pulled out his work phone to submit the application and asked casually, “Why aren't you applying?”
“I still have two unsolvable specters in my dungeon. Next Monday's Daily Dungeon might not even open, so I have to wait for the staff to retrieve them first.”
Xu Youyou nodded. “Ah, I see. Unsolvable specters again...”
He tapped to submit, then shook his head.
“Repelling the specter three times? It didn't go through!”
He modified the request, changing the count to twice.
“It worked! Twice is allowed.”
Zuo Lin'an asked, “Can you still change it after the application is approved?”
Xu Youyou nodded. “As long as it's before the dungeon opens, you can modify it anytime. I've changed mine plenty of times before.”
“Oh, right!”
He tossed his phone aside.
“You mentioned earlier that another unsolvable specter appeared. Tell me about it.”
Zuo Lin'an didn't hide anything either and explained in detail what had happened in his previous dungeon run.
Xu Youyou's interest was instantly piqued. “A specter item? A player turned into a specter after death, and a specter item was converted along with them? That's rare! Let me see it!”
Zuo Lin'an sat on the sofa, not wanting to move at all.
“It's in the drawer of the nightstand near the door in my room. Go get it yourself.”
Xu Youyou immediately got up, scurried into Zuo Lin'an's room, grabbed the gold hairpin as fast as he could, and returned to the living room.
“Oh, look. The blood on it can't even be wiped off.”
Zuo Lin'an said, “It's already become a specter item, so of course you can't wipe the blood off. The blood has already become a part of the item itself.”
Xu Youyou felt it all over. “This is a really nice specter item. Why aren't you carrying it with you?”
Zuo Lin'an said indifferently, “I'm a Human-Specter Symbiont now. What's the point of carrying this? It's not like I can die anyway.”
Xu Youyou toyed with the gold hairpin. “But when the dungeon starts, would it be useful if you brought this specter item in? Can a dungeon boss even use a specter item?”
Zuo Lin'an nodded.
“Of course we can. However, this is a permanent specter item, and my dungeon is only a One-Star difficulty dungeon. Permanent specter items aren't allowed to exist in them.”
“Which means when I'm hunting players, this specter item can only be placed outside the inner ring of the dungeon. If I want to make use of it, I'll have to wait until later.”
Xu Youyou nodded, understanding only half of it, then suddenly asked, “Brother An, who is the most important person in your life?”
Zuo Lin'an was taken aback. “What do you mean?”
Xu Youyou held up the gold hairpin and shook it. “Isn't the first special effect of this gold hairpin to bind with the most important person in your life?”
“So, who is that person to you?”
Zuo Lin'an didn't answer, simply waving his hand dismissively.
“I've never liked anyone.”
Xu Youyou stared blankly.
“What does that have to do with liking someone? I just asked who the most important person to you is. Isn't it me? Then I can bind with you.”
Zuo Lin'an's eyes widened. “What did you say?”
Xu Youyou asked, “What? Is there a problem?”
Zuo Lin'an was speechless. “This is a Gold Hairpin Token of Love. It's meant for two people who are in love. Why are you trying to get in on this?”
Xu Youyou looked completely dumbfounded.
“What do you mean 'two people in love'? The description clearly says 'the most important person'. Even though most people's most important person is indeed their lover, it could also be a family member or a friend.”
“Look, we've been good brothers for so many years. Am I really not the most important person to you?”
“As for 'Gold Hairpin Token of Love'?”
“That's just the name of the specter item. The item's special effects have absolutely nothing to do with romance!”
Hearing this explanation, Zuo Lin'an also snapped out of it a bit.
He took the gold hairpin and carefully read through its description several times. In the end, he really didn't find any text describing anything related to love.
The name 【Gold Hairpin Token of Love】 was simply because the gold hairpin was a token of love given by Yao Qianhe to Lin Deshuang.
Its two special effects indeed had nothing to do with romance.
While Zuo Lin'an was pondering, Xu Youyou added another comment.
“Hey, you think since Human-Specter Symbionts like us can split into a living body and a specter body, can those two be bound together?”
“To your living body, your specter body must be the most important 'person' in your life, right?”
Zuo Lin'an's lips twitched.
“Did you forget? Although we can split into a living body and a specter body, we are actually still one person.”
“Since we're the same person, how could we bind using the gold hairpin?”
Xu Youyou didn't agree with his logic at all. He plopped down next to him and kept egging him on.
“Oh, come on, just give it a try. Even if you can't bind, you won't lose anything.”
“Try it, quick! I just want to see if it works. If it doesn't, I'll compromise and bind with you instead.”
Zuo Lin'an had been a bit hesitant at first, but hearing that last sentence, he quickly made up his mind.
“Fine, I'll try.”
In the next instant, a figure materialized beside him, sporting deathly pale skin and crimson slit-pupils.
This was his specter body.
Zuo Lin'an immediately asked, “Are you willing to bind with me?”
The moment the words left his mouth, he felt a wave of embarrassment.
It felt like classic chuunibyou.
After all, even though he could split into a living body and a specter body, they shared the exact same consciousness.
The specter body spoke, “I do.”
Zuo Lin'an thus completed the process of asking and answering himself. Since they were binding, they had to go through the motions, like asking for consent.
Originally, he hadn't held out any hope at all, considering his specter body was just himself.
But to his surprise, the special effect of the specter item was successfully triggered.
Which meant...
It worked!
Zuo Lin'an's eyes suddenly widened, which was immediately noticed by Xu Youyou, who had been watching him closely.
“Did it work?”
“Haha! I told you it would work!”
He seemed incredibly excited—even more so than Zuo Lin'an.
“Brother An, from now on, even if your living body and specter body are split, as long as the players don't kill your living body too, they can never repel your specter body!”
“Your main quest will definitely only need to be set to repelling the specter once. After all, even if it's just once, the difficulty is already multiplied several times over!”
Zuo Lin'an nodded, but then shook his head.
“No, we can't do that yet.”
Xu Youyou blinked, then realized what he meant. He smacked his own forehead hard.
“Right, right! Look at my memory, I forgot again.”
“One-Star difficulty dungeons don't allow permanent specter items. Even if you've already bound it, once the dungeon starts, this special effect will definitely be suppressed.”
“So if you want to use this specter item after the dungeon starts, you have to upgrade your specter dungeon difficulty to Two-Star first.”
“Which means... obtaining a second rule.”
Rate on N.U.
