Even Though It's Cross-dressing, When the Stats Are Too Good...

Although the treasure chest was emitting a tempting glow.

Su Li didn't rush forward, but took half a step back.

"A treasure chest, huh..."

Su Li suddenly rolled, moving past the side of the treasure chest.

"No reaction? Seems like it's not a trigger trap."

Su Li drew the Revered Corrupted Dragon Sword with his backhand and swung it at the treasure chest.

"Clang!"

The treasure chest didn't budge, nor did it suddenly grow teeth or extend a tongue to swallow him.

"Not a mimic chest either?"

Su Li rubbed his chin, still feeling uneasy. He turned to look at Pipi Dragon behind him.

"Pipi Dragon, you go and open it."

Pipi Dragon: "Me open the treasure chest? Really?"

Though full of questions, Tina obediently extended her claws and pried open the lid of the treasure chest due to her absolute obedience to her master.

"Click."

The lid opened, and golden light erupted. No poison darts shot out, nor did any Poison Mist spray forth.

Su Li nodded in satisfaction and strode forward.

"You think I'm fighting an invisible enemy? No, this is experience gained through blood and tears."

He peeked into the chest and saw a set of silver-white armor lying quietly inside, with a faint magical glow flowing across its surface.

Su Li reached out to touch it, and a system prompt popped up:

[Congratulations on obtaining: Valkyrie's Armor (Set)]

[Quality: Excellent Lv50]

[Physical Resistance: 45, Magic Resistance: 45, Faith Bonus: 12, Agility Bonus: 13, Strength Bonus: 15]

[Special Effect: Lightweight (Does not count towards weight limit when worn, movement speed +5%)]

[Description: Said to be the practice armor of the Valkyrie in her youth. Although its defense is average, it excels in being light and agile.]

"Holy crap! These stats!" The Soulfire in Su Li's eye sockets instantly turned into heart shapes.

"Divine gear! Absolutely divine gear!"

Su Li excitedly pulled the armor out of the chest, preparing to put it on.

However, when the entire set of armor was fully displayed before him, Su Li's movements froze.

"This... this is..."

Why the hesitation? Because it was women's armor!

If it were just a set of plate armor that wrapped the whole body like a tin can, making it impossible to distinguish gender, Su Li would have put it on without a second thought.

But this Valkyrie's Armor... how to describe it?

Its design style was very avant-garde, somewhat like the one Luo Xide wore in Infinite Mech Soldiers (refer to image for details).

To say it was revealing, it was actually quite well-covered, with high-strength soft metal armor covering the key areas.

But the problem lay in its material and cut.

Firstly, the chest plate had very obvious curves that conformed to female physiological characteristics.

Su Li looked down at his own flat ribcage and fell into thought.

"I'm a Skeleton! What do I need these two lumps of air for? To hide pocket money?"

Secondly, there was the design of the skirt armor.

It wasn't a traditional battle skirt, but rather a tactical skirt with side slits, which would definitely flutter elegantly when walking.

What Su Li found most unacceptable was the thigh armor.

The thigh area didn't use metal armor; instead, it used a black, matte special magic woven material that was delicate and form-fitting.

Su Li poked it with his finger bones; it was very elastic.

"This is basically black stockings!"

Su Li couldn't help but complain, "The planner really understands Valkyries! What kind of decent knight wears black stockings to battle? Is the defense entirely reliant on the 'absolute territory'?"

As for the helmet, it was similar to Malenia's Winged Helmet, only revealing the lower half of the face.

And below that, there were metal-made, boot-like thigh guards, without the exaggerated high heels seen in games.

"This thing..." Su Li held the armor, his heart engaged in an internal struggle.

To wear it or not to wear it?

On one hand, his male dignity was screaming alarms.

"I'm going to be a Dragon Knight! What's with wearing women's clothes? If this gets out later, where will my reputation as Bone Overlord go?"

"Besides, this game is ridiculously realistic. The feeling of wearing it is solid... What if I awaken some strange attributes after putting it on?"

Su Li shivered, "After all, legends say there are only zero times and countless times for wearing women's clothes..."

But on the other hand, those attributes made him unable to look away.

Su Li looked at his ribs, then at the armor exuding a powerful aura.

In the end, the desire for power overcame his shame.

"Damn it! I'll risk it!" Su Li gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

"It's just a game anyway, and I'm just a skeleton right now, no one will recognize me!" (There's a picture edited by a big shot in the comments)

"Besides, this armor is quite cool just by itself..."

Su Li took a deep breath and chose [Equip].

"Buzz--" A soft white light flashed.

Su Li had been a little worried at first, after all, he had no flesh and blood to support it.

But a miraculous scene occurred.

The moment the armor was put on, it automatically adjusted to fit Su Li's current body shape perfectly.

A surge of magic filled the inside of the armor, actually simulating the contours of muscles and skin!

His previously gaunt skeleton frame instantly became full.

"This..." Su Li looked down at his body in disbelief.

Although he was a bit short, his waist was slender, and the black stockings perfectly outlined the lines of his thighs, which were round and full of elasticity.

If you didn't reach out and touch it, you wouldn't know it was an illusion filled with magic.

The silver-white chest plate also became much smoother. If you didn't look at the face under the helmet, anyone would think this was a Loli Battle Maiden.

"The shaping effect is too good, right? Built-in plastic surgery?"

Su Li moved his limbs, and it fit surprisingly well.

Su Li brought up his status panel, showing his current appearance.

Under the winged helmet, instead of delicate skin, a white jawbone was revealed.

In those deep eye sockets, two balls of crimson soulfire burned fiercely, adding a strange aura to this originally sacred armor.

"Whoa! Even though it's women's clothing, this contrast is surprisingly cool?"

"It's a bit like characters from dark-themed anime illustrations, a Death Knight Maiden?"

Su Li touched his smooth jawbone, and the shame in his heart instantly dissipated by more than half.

"As long as I wear my helmet steadily, who will know if I'm male or female? From now on, I'll claim it's a tactical disguise to confuse the enemy!"

"Besides, it's a game, isn't it normal to play as a female character and wear women's clothes?"

"As for that strange feeling of wearing women's clothes, especially stockings, as a skeleton, I can't feel it at all. The parts covered by the armor feel good, though."

Having successfully convinced himself, Su Li reopened the quest panel.

[Quest: Find Equipment (In Progress)]

"Huh? Not finished yet?" Su Li was stunned.

"I've already got the full set, and the quest progress bar isn't full?"

This meant there was something ahead.

"Pipi Dragon, let's go!" Su Li called out and got back on Pipi Dragon.

"Roar!" Pipi Dragon strode towards the depths of the cave.

The further they went, the more the surrounding environment changed.

Logically, based on the map structure of Elden Ring, after passing through the Corrupted Lake, they should see the Grand Corridor, which is the only way to the deeper areas.

But here, there was no corridor ahead, only a natural cave entrance that was becoming increasingly narrow, like the mouth of a giant beast waiting for prey to fall into its trap.

"Did they change the map?" Su Li frowned.

"Pipi Dragon, slow down, something's not right about this place."

It was too quiet. Just as they rounded a corner and entered a narrow passage.

Suddenly--

"Gulp." A large bubble emerged from the adjacent corrupted mud pit.

Immediately after, a pair of huge yellow eyes surfaced from the muddy water, staring intently at Su Li.

The eyes were ridiculously large, occupying almost half of the creature's body, looking both comical and terrifying.

"Croak--!" A sound like a frog, but hoarser and more unpleasant, rang out.

The creature suddenly puffed out its cheeks and sprayed a cloud of gray mist at Su Li.

Su Li saw those iconic big eyes and his internal radar went haywire.

"Holy crap! Big-eyed cutie! It's a Cursed Frog!!!"

This thing was the bane of every soul-class player's existence. Don't let its ugly-cute appearance fool you; those big eyes were fake, but that wasn't the main point.

The main point was the mist it spewed—Curse-Death Mist!

If you stayed in the mist for too long, it would instantly trigger a death effect, turning you into a Stone Statue covered in spikes. Even gods couldn't save you!

"Dodge! Quick, dodge!" Su Li yelled at Pipi Dragon without a second thought, telling it to get out of the way.

Pipi Dragon's limbs tensed, and it leaped to the right, narrowly avoiding the cloud of gray mist.

"Sizzle sizzle..." The gray mist landed on the rock wall.

"That was close..." Su Li breathed a sigh of relief. Before he could even adjust his stance.

A second, bone-chilling croak came from behind him.

"Croak..." The sound was incredibly close, almost right behind Pipi Dragon's tail!

"There's another one?!" Su Li's heart leaped.

He whipped his head around.

In his vision, a thick cloud of gray mist was lunging at him with astonishing speed.

It was too close! They didn't have time to dodge!

"We're done for!" Su Li's Soulfire contracted violently.

The gray Curse-Death Mist instantly enveloped him and Pipi Dragon...