Guide to tamming vilanesses-Chapter 90: Swap items

Shin was a fraction too slow. In the breath between heartbeats, the professional killer had already closed the distance, his blade aimed straight for Shin's throat.

There was nothing Shin could do to defend himself.

Then, the world stuttered.

Time stretched into a crawling, frame by frame blur. As Shin's vision faltered, a chaotic storm of system notifications exploded across his field of view.

The messages scrolled at blinding speed, as a certain fairy worked his system to the bone.

"User! I just discovered something amazing!" Lilel's voice cut through the chaos.

And a final notification bloomed before Shin's eyes. At that instant, the fate of the fight changed.

[System notification: The entity Lilel has created a new skill: Item Swapping.]

Right after Shin saw the notification, time slowed further, and he watched the assassin's approach crawl forward.

'What happened?' Shin asked mentally. Even if he tried speaking, his body wouldn't move.

'I'm just incredible!' was the only explanation she offered at first.

Later, she would explain that she had overclocked Shin's brain, syncing his processing speed with her own.

That was why the assassin now appeared to be moving in slow motion. Still, they didn't have all the time in the world to chat.

'When I was hit by his weapon, I discovered something,' Lilel chirped. 'As long as I'm touching an item while it's active, I can analyze it!'

Just as she said that, the assassin's dagger began to prick Shin's neck. As the first drop of blood started to trickle down, Lilel triggered her newly created skill.

'Did you know his dagger is also an Epic item?' Lilel remarked with a grin.

'Why does that matter?' Shin asked, confused.

'Just watch. I will completely change the game.'

[System Notification: Entity "Lilel" has activated the skill .]

[Description: This ability allows the entity Lilel to exchange the ownership of two items that have been previously analyzed by her.

Condition: Both items must be of the same grade or classification level.

Effect: Ownership of the selected items is instantly reassigned between their current system holders.]

[Notice: When ownership is swapped, the items will also instantly exchange their spatial positions if they are located within a 10-meter radius of each other.

If this positional condition is not satisfied within 30 seconds after skill activation, the activation will be automatically canceled.]

Both items began to glow, and then they swapped.

"I'm so incredible!" she exclaimed proudly.

The dagger in the assassin's hand became a pistol, and Shin received the dagger. As soon as he became the owner, the description of the item's powers appeared before him.

The dagger was simple but powerful, increasing his speed and agility by 30 points.

Shin hadn't even unlocked the status screen yet, so he didn't know whether the dagger would actually work. Still, Lilel confirmed that there wouldn't be any problems.

Then the slowing effect disappeared. For a moment, Shin felt a strong headache, but he ignored the sensation.

The assassin, who had rushed toward him, was shocked by the sudden change of weapons and couldn't react in time.

This time, he had no way to avoid death.

Shin advanced like a bullet, driving the dagger into the man's neck and slicing it open. Then, while the man was still writhing in pain, Shin kicked him away, making sure he had no chance to do anything.

Just like that, he killed his first enemy. But soon, two more appeared inside his room. They were shocked to see their companion dead, but neither of them hesitated.

Analyzing the situation, they exchanged glances and advanced carefully to attack Shin. They didn't need words to communicate and moved with frightening coordination.

All Shin could do was try to defend himself. Thanks to the dagger's excellent effect, he could dodge their attacks, moving at a speed comparable to the two of them.

And with his opponent dead, he was able to retrieve the pistol.

At first, Shin managed to keep his distance, attacking the two of them with mana shots while being careful not to get hit.

But eventually, they lost their caution. Having finished evaluating the situation, the two opponents advanced aggressively.

They had concluded that Shin had no allies with him, nor any dangerous abilities.

What followed was a massacre. No matter how much he tried to defend himself, the two of them cut at him from every direction. The pain almost made him lose focus, but he forced himself to stay concentrated.

He needed to keep defending, waiting for Seraphina to finally appear.

And it was only when his body reached its limit, his knees giving out and his eyes barely able to stay open, that his bodyguard finally appeared.

"You were much more impressive than I expected," she murmured in a cheerful tone.

Shin couldn't help but be mesmerized for an instant by the beauty before him.

Seraphina was definitely eye-catching. Her long, wild violet-blue hair swayed with each confident step as she advanced to eliminate the enemies in front of her.

Her bronzed skin glowed in the flickering light, her bare midriff taut and adorned with delicate chains of pearls and gold that glimmered across her curves.

A thin crimson halter top clung to her full breasts, edged with golden embroidery that drew the eye downward to the sway of her hips.

Low-slung beige silk harem pants hung dangerously low on her waist, secured by a heavy belt stuffed with more than ten mythical-grade items, all extremely annoying weapons Shin knew very well from the boss battle in the game.

And among all of it, it was impossible to miss the golden cuffs and spiraling bracelets that gleamed on her toned arms. That defensive item allowed her to reduce the damage of any attack by 90% as long as she blocked it with perfect timing.

"I hope both of you don't lose too fast," she purred with a wild smile.

She took a lower stance, resting her hands on the floor and stretching like a cat. Her back arched, her hips rising high for Shin's amusement.

And then, like a predator attacking its prey, she advanced in a single fluid motion.

From her storage ring, she summoned a dagger that looked ordinary at first glance. But as she poured mana into it, the weapon began to glow red.

Then the massacre began.

Seraphina moved with terrifying agility. Her body flowed through the room like a shadow, faster than the eye could properly follow.

One assassin tried to counterattack but was killed instantly. All Shin saw was a thin red line traced through the air before the enemy collapsed.

The second assassin attempted to retreat, but she was already upon him. With a swift step and a graceful turn of her wrist, the glowing blade cut across his chest and then his throat.

Everything happened in an instant.

In an instant, two professional assassins had been completely obliterated.

But it was to be expected. There was nothing they could possibly do against someone like Seraphina.

Still, it seemed that one of them had managed to send information to his master before dying.

Meanwhile, Shin hovered between life and death, his exhausted body collapsed on the floor.

Yet he felt strangely relaxed. There was no way that woman would leave him there to die.

Then she smiled softly. The strange dagger in her hand changed from red to green.

Suddenly, Shin felt intense pain.

The movement had been so fast that he only realized what had happened when the woman drove the dagger into his back.

That said, the pain slowly turned into a pleasant sensation.

The dagger gradually lost its green glow, and the wounds across Shin's body healed one by one. The exhaustion and pain disappeared, and in an instant, he felt better than ever.

It was practically a miracle.

Shin had no doubt that this could only be the Blood Dagger, a mythical weapon with the incredible ability to absorb life energy and transfer it to someone else.

Shin hadn't known that Seraphina already possessed this item, but it wasn't surprising, considering it was one of the main weapons in her boss battle.

Thanks to it, she regenerated proportionally to the damage she dealt. On top of that, she essentially had an extra full life thanks to all the life energy she had accumulated before the battle.

It was like hell.

Shin felt tired just remembering it.

"So now that you've recovered, what do you think about having a duel with me?" the girl whispered in his ear.

"What?" Shin asked, blinking in shock.

"I just want to have some fun. Don't worry, I won't kill you… probably," she said with a not very reassuring smile.

Then she paused, noticing Shin's hesitation.

"I know," she murmured, a sly glint in her eye. "They always say this is the best way to motivate a man…"

She leaned forward slowly showing him her cleavage, her voice dropping to a sultry whisper. "If you win… I'll give you a reward."