Uncle here isn't your average office worker!

Having this thought, Roy seemed to have guessed something and wanted to take out his Knight Terminal to check, but was interrupted by Zero's voice.

Sitting at the bar, Förgwald coughed softly. Having witnessed Koval and Roy's conversation, he seemed to have made up his mind and said:

"Hey Koval, honestly, Roy's next match is in three days. What kind of crappy sword can you forge in three days? Don't try to fool him. Here's what we'll do, young man: while Koval is forging yours, you can use this sword of mine for now, okay?"

As he spoke, Fugwald jumped off his chair and handed Roy his ever-present sword, scabbard and all.

"It's not military equipment; it's been passed down in my family. It helped me kill a lot of Ursus Empire bastards on the battlefield back then. Its sturdiness and sharpness are top-notch!"

He said so.

Roy reached out and took the sword. The next second, a clear notification sound was imprinted in his mind:

Congratulations on unlocking a new collectible: The Kiss of Kheshig

Ah, he arrives riding on terror, like an omnipresent cloud of smoke. He envelops you, lowers his head slightly to kiss your neck, and drags you into an eternal nightmare!

[Armor-piercing enhancement; attacks inflict mental damage.]

Holy crap, you're really going to bring in roguelike characters?

Volume 1: Chapter 77 My aunt is very sensitive; if you shock her, she really will scream.

Congratulations on unlocking a new collectible: The Kiss of Kheshig

Ah, he arrives riding on terror, like an omnipresent cloud of smoke. He envelops you, lowers his head slightly to kiss your neck, and drags you into an eternal nightmare!

[Armor-piercing enhancement; attacks inflict mental damage.]

[The roguelike beta version is now unlocked. Please try it out.]

As Roy stroked the simple longsword in his hand, his face was full of surprise and astonishment, which made Vorgwald, who was watching from the side, mutter to himself.

"Young man, what's wrong? Why the long face? Are you looking down on my knife?"

Roy quickly waved his hand: "No, no, I was just surprised to see such a precious sword. Sir Fugwald, were your ancestors nightmares?"

Fergwald was suddenly stunned, and a hint of disbelief appeared in his eyes as he looked at Roy.

How long has it been since the word "nightmare" was mentioned? To this day, most Terrans only use "nightmare" to describe a terrifying nightmare, but Forgwald knows very well the origin of this concept, the progenitor of the race that brought deep fear to the entire land, the one whose blood flows in his veins—the Nightmare.

"It's really strange that in this day and age, there are still young people who are interested in nightmares."

"Vogewald murmured, a mixture of emotion and satisfaction in his voice. He stepped forward, patted Roy's arm with satisfaction, and smiled."

"In that case, I've truly given you the right sword! That's right, the sword you're holding is a treasured blade once used by a nightmare. Although it might have belonged to some unknown nightmare, it's more than enough to handle a small-scale event like a knightly arena!"

Roy looked at the item description and nodded.

Fugwald was right. Although the sword was covered in dust and rust, showing no trace of its former majesty, it was still a piece of cake for dealing with knightly duels that weren't even life-or-death battles. Moreover, Fugwald was wrong about one thing: this sword didn't belong to some nameless Nightmare. It came from the Kheshig—the guard composed of the most elite and valiant members of the Nightmare, and Tian Tu was the personal army of a prodigy who had conquered the world.

No wonder that in the long night of the future, the Nightmare Knight, who possesses the title of "The Last Kheshig," could recognize the identity of Forgwald, whose bloodline had been diluted for countless generations, from such a distance. Perhaps what he saw was not only Forgwald's bloodline, but also the aura emanating from his Kheshig Kiss.

Although he knew it was unlikely, since he had already acquired a collector's item weapon, adhering to the principle of taking every opportunity to profit, Roy gritted his teeth and asked:

"Elder Fugwald, may I ask, besides this knife, do you have any other family heirlooms?"

This made Fugwald chuckle. What, you've got your eye on my possessions?

Unfortunately, he shook his head and said straightforwardly, "When I joined the army, my mother gave me this thing. Young man, weapons are ultimately external things. You can't do without them, but you can't rely on them completely either."

Roy could only purse his lips regretfully and express his gratitude.

What Fergwald said makes a lot of sense. Weapons can't put food on the table, but collectibles can. Just think about a coin-operated Chalice of Gin Knight's Discipline toy plus your astronomical savings. Pair it with such a sword, how much attack speed can you achieve? And every strike inflicts mental damage. This really brings the game's Lapis Lazuli to life.

Unfortunately, it cannot be cut.

When the topic of knightly discipline came up, Roy also snapped out of his reverie and pulled out his knight terminal.

The golden surface displayed the knight's data, and the projection device showed the time and location of the next match, as well as the website for purchasing equipment and an inbox for various information. It did indeed look like one of the most useful rogue collectibles: [Knight's Commandments - New Edition]. Unfortunately, even though Roy repeatedly tapped and touched it, the collectible system did not give any prompts to obtain the collectible.

This thing won't work.

Come to think of it, you can tell from this Kiss of the Kheshig that the collectibles are all treasures with special or even unique characteristics. If any random knight terminal could be used as the Knight's Code New Edition, then the knights of Kazimierz would have crushed the Sea Si long ago. With a wave of the hand, the Commercial Federation would give everyone a Knight's Code plus 10,000 Originium Ingots. Not to mention the Supervisory Council and the Silver Spear Pegasus, they would have dug through the walls of Londinium.

What? The mere walls of Londinium? Bounty Hunter A would actually make a move?

That's alright then. A-Ge, the Terra Emperor, is nothing compared to him. To put it another way, he could wipe out the entire Sea Legion!

The collectible "Knight's Commandments: New Edition" must be some kind of prototype or the first officially used Knight Terminal—a terminal of epoch-making significance, right? But whatever it is, it definitely already has an owner, so it's basically impossible for Roy to get it.

"Hey, Master, your opponent in the next match is your aunt?"

While Roy was fiddling with his Knight Terminal, Maria, who was standing nearby, also saw the contents of Roy's terminal and exclaimed in surprise.

Roy glanced at the match information on his terminal and nodded. He had already guessed this the moment Zofia's mission was changed. Zofia's fate had changed. Without the Rift Knight, who seemed to be specifically designed to exploit her weaknesses, her victory in the round of 16, while not easy, was still a success.

Reaching the quarterfinals on the stage of the Kazimierz Knights Arena is a stage that countless people look up to their entire lives. Standing on this stage means that the knight can get rid of the limitations of "age", "experience" and "competition market" and obtain his own "title" that is truly certified by the Knights Association.

Zofia is no longer a high-ranking competitive knight. Her renowned title, "Whipblade," has been added to the list of titled knights and nobles in the Knights Association! She is now nominally on par with the pure-blooded "Nearlight," and in terms of wealth, she even far surpasses Nearlight.

Compared to Zofia in the original work, who struggled to reach the quarterfinals but had to withdraw due to a wrist injury, the current changes signify a fundamental shift in her future. Roy hoped she would go further, but life is full of drama; Roy helped eliminate Rift Knight early, only to find himself taking Rift Knight's place in the quarterfinals.

"Stop calling Zofia 'Aunt Zofia,' or she'll start nagging you again if she hears you."

Roy smiled and ruffled Maria's hair, the soft golden fur feeling like stroking warm cotton. Roy could easily see the worry on Maria's face, and he simply made a sincere promise:

"Don't worry, I won't go easy on her just because she's Zofia. As a knight, I will give her the utmost respect."

Actually, I was trying to plead with you to go easy on her, since my aunt is extremely sensitive, and if you shock her, she might actually scream.

Maria's words caught in her throat. Looking at Roy's resolute "I understand" expression, she knew she could no longer speak.

Book 1: Chapter 78 Monique's Furious Outburst

Monique is shopping.

This may sound unbelievable, but even those at the Xuan Tie level have their own lives, let alone those at the Qing Jin level.

Platinum handles the work, Xuan Tie takes care of the big things, and the Business Federation is hard to find, and Xuan Tie is too lazy to look for them unless it's something big or small. Only for things that are neither big nor small will Qing Jin step in. But to be honest, how many things can actually fall into that "not big or small" category?

Monique now works three days a week and four days off, with an average working time of no more than four hours. She spends the rest of her time playing, so there's no way she can get back to work. It's fair to say that Roy has single-handedly transformed the industry ecosystem of the Unarmored Alliance, turning his place into the only oasis in Kazimir, which has almost become a holiday desert, and Monique has also benefited from it.

It's such a pity for Xiaobaijin. I heard she's been so busy lately that she doesn't even have time to watch Roy's matches live. She has to stay up late every night to watch the recordings and then go to work the next day with dark circles under her eyes. I'm really worried about her health. She already looks quite malnourished, and I'm afraid she'll grow into a child if this continues.

"The Meteor Knight conferment ceremony will be held after the quarterfinals. Exquisite merchandise awaits your selection. The first 100 customers who spend over 1,000 yuan will also receive an exclusive Meteor Knight mystery gift box, with a chance to win an autograph, a photo opportunity, and a mystery reward!! Don't hesitate, what are you waiting for? Come in and shop now!"

The loudspeakers of the souvenir shops along the street blared out their advertisements, interrupting Monique's thoughts. She wasn't particularly interested in such boring souvenirs; after all, she could see Roy in person anytime she wanted, so why buy a figurine? But a familiar figure inside the shop still caught her attention.

Everywhere you look, a crowd of people is crammed together in front of the store's cashier, making a racket and trying to be the first to grab the limited edition gift box at the cashier. Only one person is squeezed out of the crowd, raising his hand as if he wants to go forward, but he can't find an opportunity to squeeze in, and he stands there in a daze, at a loss.

The girl had radiant blonde hair and a pair of beautifully maintained antlers. Although she concealed her graceful figure with a mask, sunglasses, and a large hooded down jacket, a connoisseur could still discern a warrior's bearing from her posture. She carried numerous tote bags filled with various souvenirs, making Monique wonder if she had purchased every souvenir in the entire store.

Although she had already recognized the girl who was anxiously trying to squeeze through the checkout counter, Monique didn't immediately call out Viviana's name. Instead, she walked around to her from behind, patted her on the shoulder, and whispered:

"Vivianna?"

"Alas!"

Startled by the sudden sound beside her ear, Viviana couldn't help but let out a cute gasp. Startled, she quickly turned around, put her finger to the side of her mask, looked at the blue-haired woman in front of her, and said, "Keep your voice down!" As she spoke, she grabbed Monique's arm, pulled her to a corner, looked her up and down, and asked with some confusion, "Who are you?"

“Monique,” ​​Monique said, “Roy’s colleague.”

"colleague?"

Viviana knew that Roy had not been a competitive knight before, but she had never heard Roy mention his past job, let alone his colleagues. She did not know Monique.

As if guessing what Viviana was thinking, Monique curled her lip and said, "It's normal that you haven't heard of me. I often hear your name from Roy."

"Oh, really? Roy mentions me all the time?" Viviana said with some surprise. This was the first time she had ever heard of this. Hearing that the person she liked often mentioned her warmed her heart.

"So, what are you doing here?" Monique's words abruptly pulled Viviana back to reality from her daydream. The next second, realizing what she was carrying, Viviana quickly hid the bag behind her back. Unfortunately, there were too many things, and her small frame couldn't possibly hide them.

"You're buying souvenirs here? Judging from your reaction, they're Roy's?" Monique asked with a half-smile.

She didn't have any ulterior motive in contacting Viviana; she was just looking for some fun.

As it turned out, she actually found it. Being caught red-handed by an acquaintance buying merchandise, Viviana was incredibly embarrassed. Especially since some of the merchandise included things like "pillows" and "dolls." If Monique told Roy about it, Viviana didn't even want to think about the consequences.

"Please don't tell Roy, okay?"

She blushed and asked cautiously.

This straightforward sincerity caught Monique completely off guard.

She had only intended to have some fun, but Viviana's naiveté had put her in a difficult position. If she told Roy, it would make her seem petty and narrow-minded; if she didn't tell Roy, it would seem a bit silly for her to have come all this way to ask.

A whole bunch of witty remarks were stuck in her throat, and when she met Viviana's clear eyes, Monique even felt a little like running away.

After a long pause, she finally managed to stammer out, "Why buy merchandise? It shouldn't be hard to call Roy and ask him to meet up, right?"

"Um... I don't know," Viviana said, lowering her eyes somewhat embarrassed.

She thought Roy would probably agree to meet her, but Viviana didn't want to do so. She felt it would only satisfy her own selfish desires and hurt Roy.

She had also read the article about the Radiant Knight and Roy. As one of the knights most deeply influenced by the Wine Gazette, even though the Wine Gazette had suddenly stopped gossiping about her for some reason, she still vividly remembered the helplessness of being unable to defend herself and the shame of being constantly pointed at and talked about.

She could choose to be indifferent and magnanimous, but she didn't want Roy to suffer the same fate. Therefore, as a prominent figure at the time, she didn't, and even deliberately avoided, being in the same situation as Roy.

"I really want to see him, but not seeing him is actually helping him. Buying some merchandise is a way to comfort him."

Viviana looked at the Roy doll in the packaging bag and a gentle smile appeared on her face.

"That guy probably doesn't care about this kind of thing at all," Monique thought to herself. After all, Roy was always running to the Linguang family's house. If it weren't for the Business Federation keeping things under control, he, Zofia, Maria, and even Marna would have been embroiled in a scandalous affair with horses long ago. And the kind of scandalous affair where a whole group of horses were involved.