Stella didn't have time to think. She immediately dropped to her knees beside Dexter's lifeless body, gripping her holy staff with trembling hands as she pointed it at his still form.
"Resurrect!"
"Resurrect!"
"RESURRECT!"
Her voice grew more desperate with each cast, but no matter how loudly she screamed or how much MP she burned, Dexter's body decomposed at an alarming rate. Within five horrifying seconds, all that remained was a skeleton.
"RESURRECT! DEXTER, DON'T LEAVE ME!" Her anguished cry shook the walls so violently that neighboring guests pounded against them.
"SHUT UP OUT THERE!"
Yet Stella couldn't stop. Sobs wracked her body as she continued channeling resurrection spells, her staff glowing uselessly over Dexter's remains. She refused to accept this reality — that he could vanish so suddenly, without warning, without even a chance to say goodbye.
…
Dexter witnessed everything. The moment he thought /suicide, his soul detached instantly, leaving his body to collapse like a felled tree.
[Achievement Unlocked: Welcome to Eldrion]
[Please select Respawn Point: Last Safe Zone/Home]
[30 Seconds before Resurrection.]
[29 Seconds before Resurrection.]
[28 Seconds before Resurrection.]
'What the fuck! The bracers completely broken! I can't die anymore! Or... I'll keep dying but resurrecting endlessly?'
Amused, Dexter observed Stella's dramatic breakdown while floating as a spirit. With a mental chuckle, he selected 'Last Safe Zone.'
His soul suddenly plunged downward, materializing a new body — one conspicuously bare except for the mysterious black bracers.
[Wear Default Clothing? Y/N]
Glancing down, Dexter's eyes widened at his exposed lower half.
"Oh come on!" He hastily selected 'Yes.'
A white loincloth shimmered into existence, providing minimal coverage to only the most critical area.
'Well... at least Junior's protected. Sort of.'
Stella nearly lost her composure, prostrated on the floor as she whispered incoherent pleas. Then, lifting her tear-streaked face upward, she cried:
"Please, gods! Bring Dexter back!"
Only to look down and find him standing there — clad in nothing but a loincloth and those mysterious bracers.
At first she couldn't believe her eyes. Her vision blurred, then refocused as she scrambled to her feet and crashed into him, arms locking around his torso in a vice-like embrace.
"Thank the gods! You're alive!"
Her tears continued flowing as she pounded his chest with enough force to make the system hexagonal shield flicker into existence repeatedly.
"You idiot! Don't you dare die on me again!"
Dexter simply chuckled, patting her head as if soothing a distressed kitten.
"Relax, I can't die permanently anymore. Hey... stop crying already."
Yet Stella kept weeping, her face buried against his bare chest.
'This is... dangerous. That flimsy cloth is the only thing separating us right now.'
Despite the thought, Dexter remained still, letting her cling to him while he examined his new equipment with growing interest.
'/inspect.'
[Tier Zero: Bracers of The Immortal Djinn (Beyond Divinity) - Crafted by !@#$%^&*]
[Forged from the shattered remnants of the bracers that once imprisoned the Immortal Djinn, Infused with a drop of blood essence from the Ancient Primordial Dragon, tempered in the Eternal Flame of the Phoenix of Rebirth, and bound by Ludiversum's Obsidian Stones.]
[Growth – Evolves infinitely alongside its wielder.]
[Immortality – Bestows an ageless, indestructible body, rendering death obsolete.]
***System Adjustment (Tutorial): Endless Resurrection - Grants the ability to resurrect infinitely after death.***
[Subspace – A boundless, weightless inventory that defies all spatial and physical laws.]
***System Adjustment (Tutorial): All carried items will be dropped upon death, except for coins.***
[Absolute Immunity – Nullifies all status effects, curses, and ailments.]
***System Adjustment (Tutorial): All status effect-induced pain is doubled in intensity.***
[Wish Granting – Reality bends to the wearer's will; no wish is beyond its reach.]
***System Adjustment (Tutorial): Can transform into any equipment type the user desires, limited to two simultaneous pieces.***
[Unbreakable – No force in existence can damage or destroy these bracers.]
[Soulbound – Once worn, they cannot be removed by any means.]
[Exclusive – No other equipment can be worn alongside them.]
***System Adjustment (Tutorial): Player can only wear the default starting clothing.***
'This is fucking broken!'
'THANK YOU, MASTER! NOW I CAN DIE AS MUCH AS I WANT IN THIS TUTORIAL!'
'But why isn't Master's name listed as the crafter?'
After his manic laughter subsided, Dexter gently pushed Stella aside and reminded her to get dressed. He then approached the skeletal remains that had been his body moments ago.
With a thought, his bracers morphed — first one into a full-body cloak, then the other reformed as a sinister staff crowned with a glowing skull. He raised it dramatically toward the skeleton.
"Arise," he commanded in his most theatrical voice.
Purple energy crackled around the bones as hollow eye sockets ignited with ghostly flames.
"HOLY SHIT! I'M A NECROMANCER NOW!"
"THIS IS ABSOLUTELY BROKEN!"
Stella stood frozen, struggling to reconcile her trauma from watching Dexter die with his current euphoria. The sight of his reanimated skeleton — something that should have been horrifying — was being treated like some hilarious game mechanic.
Dexter couldn't contain his laughter, each guffaw fueled by giddy realization of just how overpowered Gridlock's gift truly was.
…
Stella stirred from her long slumber, blinking sleep from her eyes only to find Dexter still cackling like a mad god entertained by some private joke.
"Dex..." she groaned, rubbing her temples. "Could you stop laughing? It's getting really annoying."
But Dexter continued cycling through random equipment transformations, his grin widening with each change.
"Look, Stella! I can be anything now!"
With a dramatic flourish, his body twisted and reformed into a hulking werewolf. Stella gasped, scrambling backward.
"H-how? How are you doing that?"
"Thanks to my new gear!" He shifted back to human form, tapping his bracers. "Imagination's the only limit!"
Her stomach growled loudly.
"Dex... I'm starving. Where's that food you bought yesterday?"
Dexter's hands flew to where his bag should have been, then froze as realization struck. The bracers' activation had erased all their belongings.
His smile vanished as he met Stella's expectant gaze.
"Stella... all our equipment... it's gone."
Seeing her face fall, he quickly added,
"B-but wait! I've still got coins! We can buy breakfast!"