Chapter 3: Break the equipment and take the guaranteed bonus

“Here. Any questions?”

Lortisa’s emerald eyes blinked softly.

Her gaze flickered back and forth between the table and the young man before her,

the subtle movement seeming to silently confirm something.

Weiss, still puzzled, was fixated on the cloak.

Only when he heard the question did he look up and force out a polite smile.

“No, no problem… These are all very important personal protective gear and equipment to me. I’m extremely grateful that you not only helped gather them but also took the trouble to maintain and repair them.”

He said… important?

Lortisa casually lowered her gaze to the tabletop again.

The atmosphere inside the tent grew quiet for a moment.

Alongside her thoughts, a warm memory slowly surfaced from the depths of her hidden heart.

Before the image could become clear, a sudden rush of heavy armored footsteps sounded outside the tent.

“—Soldier Captain!”

The door curtain was thrown aside by a tall woman with a rough voice, her mere presence giving off the oppressive weight of a rolling boulder on a steep slope.

Short brown hair framed her face, and her body was fully wrapped in solid armor,

with no curves visible—only sharp, strong edges emphasizing her power.

Although she looked like a tough older sister from another world,

by all logic, this was how a warrior should appear to ordinary people—reliable like a fortress wall, enough to affirm with certainty, “Yes, this is undoubtedly a strong one.”

The female warrior who barged in halted mid-action, her startled gaze briefly lingering on Weiss before quickly shifting away.

She picked up from where she left off and continued her report:

“Soldier Captain, a messenger from the Border Marquis has reported that the main force will arrive soon. Preparations should be made to receive the entire unit.”

“Understood, Karin.”

Lortisa nodded faintly and then quietly instructed Weiss,

“You stay here and rest well. I’ll be back soon.”

She finished simply and stood up decisively.

Weiss wanted to express his thanks once more but found himself caught off guard by the female warrior’s sharp gaze.

Those eyes were like a carnivorous beast’s, intensely fixed on him.

(So I’m the one holding up the Soldier Captain’s work…)

His heart sank, and no words came out as he watched the two leave the tent in single file.

He was left alone inside.

Only when the heavy footsteps had fully faded away did Weiss come back to his senses.

—Right!

Remembering the top priority, he immediately took his phone from his pocket, eagerly unlocking the screen with one hand while holding the cloak with the other, beginning to compare and confirm.

The “Wish” interface on his phone not only displayed the current progress but also supported historical queries.

So to understand what the Pity system actually was, he just needed to check his gacha records.

Weiss opened the record list—

The newest entry, marked “new,” showed:

“Cloak of the Wandering Return*1”

A familiar item name.

Unexpected, yet somehow unsurprising—something utterly disappointing.

One glance at the phone confirmed it was indeed the cloak in front of him.

In that instant, Weiss’s arm holding the cloak drooped like a deflated balloon.

Makes sense, really.

Having crossed over to this world, he had clearly come to terms with reality.

This was a genuine otherworld, not some card game where you just slap on a character model and voice to throw them into a pool as a playable unit.

Every person here was alive and breathing, with their own lives.

A perfectly normal, beautiful young woman,

the Holy Covenant Kingdom’s strongest Soldier Captain, the unattainable flower of the legion,

how could she possibly be an item in a card pool…

With a sigh tinged with resignation, Weiss shook his head self-mockingly.

Perhaps last night’s heroic rescue by Lortisa was just a pure coincidence.

Surviving by the skin of his teeth was simply dumb luck, not some miracle from hitting the Pity save…

—Wait?

Suddenly sensing something wrong, Weiss snatched up his phone screen again.

The cloak’s name was “Cloak of the Wandering Return.”

It was familiar because he had obtained it before.

It was a coat that required no magic power to keep warm continuously, light and portable, with some basic defense attributes.

White quality—not rare at all,

but in this world, it still counted as a high-quality practical piece of gear that could fetch a decent price.

Getting duplicate common gear through “Wish” was not strange.

The problem was, the starlight that streaked across the night sky last night was definitely golden.

Yet the Pity glow turned out to be just a common piece of equipment?

Weiss checked the gacha records again.

“Cloak of the Wandering Return”—still the same cloak.

But the font color marking the item was not white, as expected for its original quality, but gold.

At first, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him; the font even appeared blurry, causing him to misidentify the color.

But no matter how much he refreshed,

the “Cloak of the Wandering Return” label at the top of the record list continued to flicker erratically like static on a screen.

Was this a bug swallowing the Pity?

Or was the Pity item display simply special like this?

It was Weiss’s first time hitting the Pity; he had no prior experience to use as a reference.

Maybe the same type of equipment had different effects depending on rarity?

Unable to judge from the interface info, he comforted himself with that thought and began to examine the cloak closely.

The faint golden glow effect visible only to the owner had long since disappeared.

Compared with the previously obtained “Cloak of the Wandering Return,” its appearance and texture were identical.

If anything, there were slight differences in style—

the one in his hands seemed to be missing a collar strap; the bare collar hung loosely.

Damn it, could it be that some small detail was left behind in last night’s town?!

Weiss nearly lost face from the frustration.

After working so hard with a hollow stomach, spending so many Wish points,

he had counted on that golden glow to bring something good, to overturn his fate with the Pity and start a comeback life in this other world,

but in the end, was it all just a mediocre daydream?

What a joke this broken equipment was.

Weiss gripped the cloak tightly,

anger and unwillingness surged, making him want to tear the annoying fabric apart.

But the next second, he suppressed that urge.

(Forget it. Better not jump to conclusions before verifying everything…)

Calming down,

Weiss stared at the “Cloak of the Wandering Return” for a few seconds before neatly folding it and carefully storing it back in his inventory.

Stepping out of the tent, the girl’s footsteps were somewhat distracted.

The Holy Covenant Kingdom’s strongest Soldier Captain, the Border Marquis’s “Golden Lortisa,”

a warrior whose heart never stirred even on the brink of death in battle,

the heart beating now was the one kept alive only because of a certain someone.

Carrying a whirlwind of complex emotions, Lortisa unconsciously straightened her collar, her fingertips gently brushing over the satin edge of the worn strap,

the faint gray-blue weave warmed by her body heat,

as if still lingering with the touch of the mercenary who had once fastened it for her by hand.