"A cursed item?" I frowned. "What's its effect?"
"Whoever is shot by this gun will be hit—without fail," the sword said.
"Without fail? You mean it never misses?" I asked.
"Yes, even if the shooter is utterly inept, the bullet will always strike its target."
"That's... an amazing weapon."
"This is a high-difficulty dungeon, so it's not surprising that such a high-spec item would be locked away."
I nodded in agreement. But then a thought struck me.
"It's cursed, right? So there must be a drawback?" I asked.
"Indeed," the sword confirmed. "For every shot you fire, you are cursed to turn the gun on yourself. Where it hits you is entirely random."
…Of course. It was a truly cursed weapon—forcing me to shoot myself with every round? That was lethal.
But then, an idea struck me.
"If I use my Void skill—specifically, the Null Poison skill—wouldn't that negate the curse's effect?"
"You are correct. Which means you essentially have a gun that will hit its target every single time, without the curse."
"Nice. That's some real luck," I grinned.
My grin quickly faded.
"…Wait. What about ammo?"
The revolver was loaded with six bullets. But once those were gone?
"There isn't any more," the sword said.
"Where can I get more?"
"You can't," the sword replied simply.
"What? Why not?"
"There are no firearms in this world."
Right… This was a medieval fantasy world. It wasn't like there'd be a convenient store selling bullets.
"Then why does the Trigger Happy even exist?" I demanded. "It's clearly modeled after real-world guns."
"When I forged it, an image formed in my mind. I shaped that image into what you see," the sword said.
Wait a minute.
"Are you saying… you made this cursed item?" I asked, suspicious.
"Indeed. All the cursed items of this world were forged by me."
…Seriously?
"You're not just a swordsmith?" I asked.
"I am a swordsmith. I made all kinds of blades. Traditional ones, ones shaped like shields, ones resembling whips. And yes, along the way, I made cursed items, too."
The Shichifuku-jin… this sword was more dangerous than I thought. It had made tons of cursed items, and eventually, it became one itself.
After some time, I arrived at the second chest.
"You shouldn't open this one," the sword warned.
"Why not?" I asked.
"It's a mimic."
"A mimic—a monster disguised as a treasure chest?"
"Exactly. It has a soul. A normal chest doesn't. This one does, meaning it's a mimic."
The sword's ability to sense souls had come in handy. Honestly, when I first gained Echolocation, I thought the sword's sensing ability had become obsolete. But apparently, it could still see through disguises.
Useful.
I'd come back later to kill and consume the mimic, but for now…
"The last chest."
"There's no soul here. It's definitely a normal chest. I'm certain of it—100%."
I reached for it, but paused.
"Wait. I'm using Void."
When I used Unlock earlier, I realized that I could activate my skills from a short distance.
"Do you doubt me?" the sword asked. "This is definitely just a chest."
"I trust your words because of our contract," I said, "but I don't trust you entirely."
"You're a suspicious master. But do as you please."
I activated Unlock.
A sudden explosion—black liquid splattering everywhere.
"Wha—?!" the sword yelped.
The chest had burst open, turning into black sludge that spread around.
"I knew it was a trap," I muttered. "What part of that was a normal chest?"
"That black sludge… could it be?" the sword murmured. "Look, where the chest was, there should be a black, gelatinous sphere."
Indeed, there was a trembling, black liquid orb.
"That is a Black Ooze, an extremely rare monster."
"A Black Ooze?" I repeated.
"It can devour anything and transform into whatever it consumes."
"Got it. So it ate a chest and perfectly mimicked one. That's why there was no soul to sense."
A creature that could eat anything and change form… Interesting.
"I'm going to tame it."
"Tame it?" the sword asked, incredulous. "But you don't have a tamer skill."
"True. So, I'll do this instead."
I held up the Lucky Gun, Trigger Happy.
"What are you planning? Are you going to shoot it?" the sword asked.
"Not quite. Enthralled."
■ Enthralled: Selective Activation. Consumes 2000 MP. Success rate is random.
I fired the bullet into the Black Ooze.
"Enthralled—meaning to captivate, to make someone lose themselves in you," the sword mused. "If successful, the target falls in love with you. But the success rate is random—oh!"
It seemed the sword realized it.
"Trigger Happy never misses, right?" I said, smiling. "If I imbue the bullet with a skill and shoot the target, the skill is guaranteed to hit."
"Ha! Brilliant. A cunning interpretation indeed," the sword cackled. "You're a smart one, Saiga!"
The Black Ooze approached me, rubbing itself against my leg. It seemed I had successfully made it obsessed with me.
"And now," I said, "you'll do this for me."
I removed a bullet from the Lucky Gun, Trigger Happy, and tossed it toward the Black Ooze. The creature absorbed it.
"Now, replicate what you just absorbed," I ordered.
The Black Ooze obediently formed a perfect copy of the bullet.
"This is remarkable," the sword said. "You've used a monster to produce bullets for your gun. As long as the Black Ooze remains, you have infinite ammo! Impressive indeed."