Frenzy

"Black Gold Gloves": Woven from [Alpha]-grade Golden Silkworm Silk and industrially refined "Sub-grade Black Cotton."

Price: 50 Reincarnation Points

Note: "A piece of equipment suitable for novice fighters."

"Golden Silkworm Silk" was a fairly familiar term to Kurumi, as it could be used in all kinds of weapons and clothing, yielding incredibly high profits.

In the struggle over worlds that possessed "Golden Silkworms," the two major Reincarnator organizations had even fought more than one war, with quite a few high-level Reincarnators falling in the process.

Though it was only [Alpha]-grade silk, this stuff had a market among Reincarnators of every rank.

Newcomers could buy a single strand and refine it into their equipment to increase its toughness, while veterans also liked adding one or several strands of Golden Silkworm Silk when crafting other items.

As for the big shots, even the clothes they wore every day were sewn from Golden Silkworm Silk mixed with other high-grade materials.

One could imagine just how high the profits were. Though the Main God had it too, the Reincarnator organizations' prices, twenty percent lower, still won over most people.

As for the rest, they believed that equipment made by themselves was nowhere near as good as items exchanged from the Main God, even if they used the same materials.

Of course, the "Black Gold Gloves" Kurumi intended to buy only had a faint golden thread embroidered along their edges.

"A strand of Golden Silkworm Silk costs 10 Reincarnation Points on the market. A large piece of Sub-grade Black Cotton costs 10 Reincarnation Points. Even counting labor, it would only come to 40 Reincarnation Points. The Main God charges 50. What a rip-off."

Kurumi muttered as she sat on the sofa. Suddenly, she felt a little nostalgic for her days in the Main God Space. At least the prices there were... much lower than they were now.

But it was only a passing thought. If someone asked Kurumi to go back, she might not be willing.

When carrying out missions with other Reincarnators, not only did one have to complete the main quest and guard against plot characters, one also had to beware of schemes from other Reincarnators. No one knew how many trump cards the other side had, but probing each other was always inevitable.

After finishing a mission, there might not have been much fighting, but the mental exhaustion was unbearable. No one could withstand that kind of intense psychological torment.

But who dared relax even for a moment in there? Those without a sense of vigilance had probably all died in some unknown plane.

She muttered under her breath, but her hands never stopped moving.

"Ding~ Confirm purchase of 'Black Gold Gloves'? This operation will deduct 50 Reincarnation Points."

"Confirm." She glanced at the "balance" in the lower-right corner: 3 points... Back to square one in a single day.

Nothing unusual happened. There was simply now a pair of black gloves in Kurumi's spatial backpack...

She casually took them out. Their cool touch was very comfortable, and they were truly as thin as cicada wings. There was no discomfort at all when she put them on. If not for their pitch-black color remaining in her line of sight, Kurumi would have thought she was wearing nothing.

She clenched both fists. The pale golden threads along the gloves' edges glimmered faintly beneath the fluorescent light. Before Kurumi could test their effects, she heard a loud cry!

The view shifted to Komuro Takashi's side, just as Kurumi stepped out of the bathroom.

Hirono Toda looked like a fanatical believer, making Komuro Takashi behind him instinctively cautious, afraid that Hirono's two hundred pounds of flesh might crush his smaller frame.

"A sniper rifle, a sniper rifle! Could this be a fully modified version of the AR-10? You could never get something this good in Japan!" Hirono Toda kept rubbing the firearm with his thick, fleshy hands, as if caressing a lover's body.

"There's even a crossbow in the cabinet! This is a descendant of the one Robin Hood used! British-made, a crossbow powerful enough to kill a bear!" He then rattled off a string of technical terms that Komuro Takashi could not understand at all.

Komuro Takashi was speechless to the extreme. He stopped asking Hirono Toda questions and walked over to the pried-open cabinet, picking up one of the guns inside.

But just as he turned around and wanted to inspect it closely, he saw a sharp gleam flash across Hirono's glasses as he crouched on the floor...

"Ah! That's a riot shotgun, an American-made high-damage firearm that was quite active during the Vietnam War! Though it was beaten into a rout by China in the end, that doesn't stop it from being an excellent weapon!"

"Huh?—Click."

After hearing Hirono Toda's explanation, Komuro Takashi held his breath, racked the bolt, and pointed the gun at the fat otaku.

"Ah!" Hirono Toda let out a shriek and hurriedly assumed a defensive posture. All the fervor he had maintained vanished completely as he panicked. "E-even if it isn't loaded, you absolutely can't point the muzzle at a person! The only things you can point it at are..."

"Those 'Dead Bodies,'" Komuro Takashi said, his tone suddenly growing somewhat low. "If only it could really end like that..."

"It's useless." Hirono Toda turned his head, his expression darkening as well. "Things will only get worse." He raised his head, curled his lips into a self-mocking smile, and said, "There can be no negotiations in this war, nor can we surrender."

"My, my, looks like Komuro and Hirono are having quite a good time~"

A seductive voice rang out beside their ears. For some reason, they thought of what had been said earlier about peeping. Their bodies shuddered as they stiffly turned their heads. "To-Tokisaki Senpai..."

They stopped halfway through their words. Reflected in their pupils was Kurumi in casual homewear, leaning against a nearby flower stand. Her beautiful eyes were slightly narrowed, and her lazy air was unmistakable.

"What's wrong?"

Her teasing tone woke Komuro Takashi and Hirono Toda from their daze. They immediately became flustered. They couldn't exactly say they had been so captivated by their senpai that they had forgotten themselves, could they? That would get them killed, wouldn't it?

In the end, Komuro Takashi still stammered, "Um, it's the first time we've seen Tokisaki Senpai dressed like this. You're just too beautiful! Look, Hirono's practically stunned stupid!"

"I-I'm not! Clearly, Komuro, you're the one..." Hirono Toda was just about to protest loudly when Komuro Takashi leaned close and whispered into his ear...

"Hirono, if you don't admit it, I'll tell Tokisaki Senpai that you wanted to peek at her."

"Huh?! What nonsense are you talking about, Komuro? When did I ever say that...?"

While the two were having their quiet, "friendly" conversation, Kurumi crossed her arms and slowly walked up to Komuro Takashi. "So you mean I wasn't pretty before, then~?"

Kurumi's body fragrance filled his nostrils. The fresh floral scent made Komuro Takashi's face flush crimson.

The hormones in his body stirred uncontrollably. Looking at that peerlessly beautiful face right before him, those cherry-colored lips were so irresistibly alluring...

The image of Kurumi killing Dead Bodies flashed through his mind, forcibly calming him down. He bent over and retreated several steps before managing a dry laugh.

Could he say that he had shamefully gotten hard just now? That scent was far too tempting, enough to make anyone want to commit a crime!

"Tokisaki Senpai, you're joking. You look good in anything, really. It's just that we've never seen you dressed like this before, so we were stunned by how gorgeous you looked."

"Komuro, you really know how to talk~" Seeing Kurumi cover her lips with a hand as a smile appeared in her wine-red eyes, Hirono Toda and Komuro Takashi finally let out a breath... This was even more exhausting than fighting Dead Bodies...

"Then..." The moment Kurumi spoke that first word, the two of them sensed that something was wrong.

"Tell me, compared to Miyamoto and Saya, who do you think is prettier?"