“What you said is not wrong, but it cannot be considered correct, either.”

“What are you, then?”

“I am not the boss, but the owner of this place. I did not summon the boss because it would be a waste of resource when its enemy is someone as crazy as you...”

“I see… Then you won’t mind if I take some of your Luminous Water, right? I just need enough to fill up this bottle.” He showered her the empty potion bottle Madam Passion had given him.

The girl did not answer him, only staring at him with a profound gaze.

“We can do this peacefully, or I can use force…”

“There’s no need to threaten me, you can have it all,” she said, her calm expression unchanging.

“Oh? Finally, there is someone reasonable in this game! But, I really do not need all of it; just a bottle is enough.”

The girl shook her head. “You really have no idea as to what the Luminous Water actually is, do you?”

“Is it not just some lustrous water? I’m sure it has a few magical properties, but it shouldn’t be worth much as this is only a quest.”

The girl frowned upon hearing his words. Her eyes were no longer calm but filled with doubt and hesitation.

Had she made a mistake? No, she was sure that it was there-- that one-of-a-kind distinctive smell.

Taking a deep breath, she threw away all the doubt inside her mind and made a resolute expression.

“Luminous Water, or should I call it Celestial Water-- is a heaven-defying kind of liquid that could make even Gods fight to the death just to get a drop. Legend has it that one drop of Celestial Water could bring back the dead, two drops can grant immortality, and three drops will guarantee that you will conquer the world. Thirty thousand years ago, where the first drop of Celestial Water was discovered, the world was plunged into chaos and was almost destroyed due to a grand war where many gods participated in order to get their hands on that drop of Celestial Water.”

“This Luminous Water-- is exactly that Celestial Water that almost destroyed the world because of greed. Do you understand now? The importance of this water, that is.”

Yin Xian’s jaw was loosened after her little story. A world was almost destroyed because of a drop of water? Then what about this puddle of water? Won’t this trigger a war so bad it could destroy an entire universe?

“I know what you’re thinking, but that amount of Celestial Water is considered one drop.”

“That Madam Passion… If she knew such a treasure existed in here, why did she not come herself?”

That was the biggest question in his head. Why would she have somebody else gather such a precious treasure for her if the legend was true? If it were him, he would have definitely come here by himself…

He looked at the blue-haired girl.

“Say, if this water is as precious as you say it is, then why are the monsters protecting it so weak?”

“This is a treasure even gods are willing to fight to the death for, you know?”

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The girl shook her head at his question.

“I don’t know who sent you here, but they did the right thing. This dungeon here is not your average dungeon, but a unique dungeon. The strength of the monsters in this place will be adjusted to whoever enters this dungeon, but increased ten times …”

“So if you have someone that is Level 10 enter this place, then the monsters would be at least Level 100.”

“And if you enter with more than one person, it will multiply by all the levels combined, so if two at Level 10 enters, the monsters would be at least Level 200…”

“I have been here guarding this drop of Celestial Water for over a thousand years now, but there has never been someone strong enough to make it halfway, let alone actually completing it at ease…”

Speaking up to that point, the girl looked at Yin Xian with a weird gaze.

“Then why did it say that I was the first player to enter here?”

“Although this is only a guess, I think whoever sent you here had sent others in the past. It’s just that… They probably failed the first test, preventing them from even entering this dungeon.”

“There was a test before this? When?”

“The moment your back touched the rock, the test had already started. That rock is a magic rock that can read one’s true ability. If it deems you unworthy, then the fog you saw will never appear, making it so that even if they did all the steps correctly, they would never enter this place.”

“Good heavens, what is this place? Why is it so complicated? I just started the game today, and I already got myself mixed up in something that deals with beings like Gods?” Yin Xian could feel a headache coming already.

“Now that you know the truth, what do you plan on doing? Are you still going to take the Celestial Water? Will you still be giving it to whoever sent you or… Are you going to keep it for yourself?”

The girl stared at him intensively as if she was judging his every movement.

Yin Xian noticed her motive, and he sighed inside.

“I do not care anymore. I will not give it to that Madam Passion nor will I take it for myself,” he said.

“What?”

“You heard me. Not only will I leave this Celestial Water here, but I will also pretend that I have never been here before.”

“You…”

The girl looked at him with disbelief. He was going to abandon a treasure that even Gods craved for, just like that?

“Why?” she asked, “Don’t you want something that can essentially give you another life?”

“I do-- I really do.” He looked at her straight in the eyes, and said, “But it’s not worth attracting attention from the Gods of this world, absolutely not.”

“....”

The girl kept her mouth tight, only staring at him with many emotions in her eyes.

“I… Enjoy my current freedom.” A profound smile hung on his face at this moment, but it was hidden from sight because of the mask.

“With that said, goodbye.”

He turned around to walk towards the exit.

“You have passed.”

“Huh?” He abruptly turned around to stare at the girl with a confused expression.

“Like I said, you have passed.”

“I was not joking when I said that I do not want that water.”

“I know.”

“What did I pass, then?”

“A personal test of mine,” she said with a smile on her face for the first time. “I can finally rest… after thirty thousand long years…”

Yin Xian’s eyes widened with shock upon realizing what she meant by that.

“Wait... Not you, too! Don’t you dare! I’ll kill you!”

The girl smiled bitterly at his words, but her mind has already been made up.

Suddenly, the water in the middle of the room started to float in midair. And in midair, the palm-sized puddle of water quickly condensed into a drop of water the size of a fingernail.

The girl pulled out a strand of her aqua-blue hair, and she made the drop of water into a necklace.

“I apologize for forcing this upon you, but please take care of me from now on, Master…”

The necklace disappeared from the girl’s hand, and it appeared around Yin Xian’s neck.

[You have obtained: Celestial Goddess’s Tear]