Welded-Shut Treasure Chest

Daphne cautiously climbed out of the sarcophagus.

She began to explore the small, sealed chamber, treading as lightly as she could.

Her caution proved futile. The moment the soles of her feet met the frigid stone floor, she couldn’t suppress a gasp. Her legs gave way, weak and numb.

She gave up and simply sat down, taking in her surroundings.

The tomb’s architecture and layout were identical to her memories. Daphne was almost certain this was one of the two reward rooms from the ‘Arsuga’s Frozen Tomb’ dungeon.

After defeating the final boss, ‘Arsuga’s Mortal Incarnation,’ two reward rooms would open—one to the left and one to the right. Each side contained six sarcophagi, three of which would open at random, yielding fixed rewards.

However, among the twelve total sarcophagi, there was one that never opened.

Daphne glanced back at the sarcophagus she had just emerged from. It was unmistakably the one the game’s forums had once passionately debated—the ‘welded-shut treasure chest.’

Across her several accounts and more than ten characters, she had run this dungeon hundreds of times and never once seen it open. Polls on data-tracking sites with tens of thousands of participants had never produced a single screenshot as proof. Many players joked that it held the long-dead relatives of the writers and designers.

Countless players had wondered about its secret, and Daphne was no exception.

Now, the answer was finally revealed.

‘So it was a container for a teleportation matrix. No wonder…’

Daphne looked down at her own intact body. The teleportation had left her with all her limbs; everything was normal. Even the amulet she had clutched in her palm had made the journey with her.

The deep blue gem had lost its luster, its color now dull and dim. Deep fissures spiderwebbed across its surface, and the faerie within had withered. It seemed to have lost its original power.

But that wasn’t the case at all.

Just as the thought crossed Daphne’s mind, a cerulean screen materialized in her vision.

[Guardian of the Deep Sea Faerie (Dormant)]

[Accessory – Amulet – Legendary]

[An amulet with a sea-blue gemstone, within which a Deep Sea Faerie slumbers.

An artifact of the underwater Naga civilization. Legend tells of an ancient time when the Naga and the Deep Sea Faeries coexisted peacefully. The Naga built sturdy homes for the faeries and offered them a ceaseless supply of magic, and in return, the faeries provided them with protection and good fortune.

Deep Sea Faeries are creatures of pure magic. As long as their core remains intact and they have sufficient magic, they will revive from their withered state.]

[Heart of the Naga: While active, provides the wielder with a magical shield that can negate one magical effect, regardless of its scale or power.]

[Magical Offering: Enters a dormant state after the shield is broken. Can be reactivated outside of combat by infusing it with half of the wielder’s magic. 48-hour cooldown between activations.]

[Faerie’s Protection: Provides the wielder with a 10% bonus to maximum mana. This bonus is doubled when in a dormant state.]

Three unique passive effects and a precious magic shield—it was unequivocally a legendary accessory.

Just as the description stated, its current shattered state was only temporary. It would be fully restored after being infused with magic, not some extravagant single-use item.

Unfortunately, Daphne currently had no class, no faith, and therefore no magic. The item was useless to her for now.

When Gwynevere had demanded she remove her dress, Daphne had balled the amulet up in her fist, and Gwynevere had never noticed a thing.

But the amulet wasn’t the only prize she had purloined from the Saintess.

Tucked within the coiled chain in her hand were two gleaming gold coins. Daphne untangled the silver links and took them out, examining them closely.

The obverse of the coins bore the likeness of the Empire’s founding emperor, Isidore. The reverse was stamped with a laurel wreath made of seven ears of wheat and three olive branches—a symbol of the Empire, representing its seven provinces and three religious territories.

As Daphne had struck at Gwynevere’s weak point, her other hand had slipped into the pocket of the Saintess’s robes and snatched the two coins.

She knew Gwynevere had a habit of keeping her money there, but she hadn’t expected to find only two gold coins. How could the esteemed Saintess venture out with so little?

Oh, she wondered how Gwynevere would feel when she discovered both her amulet and her gold were gone.

Daphne, for one, was quite pleased.

She didn’t feel a shred of guilt.

First, the amulet had been hers to begin with. Second, the holy stipend the Saintess received from the church each month was disbursed only with her approval. What was wrong with taking back things she had given away?

Daphne had no idea where she would be teleported, but she knew having some money on hand was never a bad idea. That thought had been enough to send her hand into Gwynevere’s pocket.

All in all, it was a good haul. Two gold coins were worth several years’ income for a free farmer in the Leiden Fief—more than enough for travel expenses.

The chill in the air grew heavier, and Daphne couldn’t help but let out a soft sneeze.

It was all Gwynevere’s fault. Thanks to her, she was left without so much as a scrap of cloth, shivering in this frozen wasteland.

Daphne had been transported here by following the instructions on the ‘Alluring Garments’ interface. Yet she could recite from memory all eleven pieces of equipment that could drop from the two reward rooms. The so-called ‘Alluring Garments’ were unlikely to be found in these sarcophagus chests.

The mod’s interface was completely grayed out, impossible to even click on. It had dumped her here and then washed its hands of her—utterly deplorable.

Fortunately, both the entrance and exit of the ‘Arsuga’s Frozen Tomb’ dungeon were located near Kohl Town in Northshire, by the Donnau Mountains. It wasn’t too far from her original location. Even if she couldn’t find clothes, she could find another way out.

Having rested enough, Daphne pushed herself to her feet again.

Her body was so fragile and sensitive that even walking lightly was enough to make her senses swim, but she knew it would improve if she just endured it. Once she accepted the constant stimulation as the new normal, her mind would be more at ease.

She took a few steps around the secret chamber and soon found a stone lever mechanism.

Even if the ‘Alluring Garments’ weren’t here, it didn’t mean she couldn’t take what was. Since she had skipped the boss and gone straight to the reward room, how could she pass up the opportunity for some free loot?

As the entry-level dungeon for COG’s tenth and final expansion, The Final Twilight, ‘Arsuga’s Frozen Tomb’ not only brought players back to the former novice zone, ‘The Fallen Northshire,’ but also introduced a massive wave of gear upgrades that rendered max-level players’ old equipment obsolete.

Every one of the eleven potential drops from the reward rooms was legendary-grade. For the current era of the game, which was still in the initial Shadows Obscure expansion, this was pure power creep—a top-down assault of inflated stats and updated mechanics.

‘I should at least find something to cover myself with, right?’

With that thought, Daphne excitedly pulled the lever.