Chapter 320: The Trouble with Bearing Both Genders

"I completely screwed up........."

"Y-You completely screwed up, desu wa...?"

Although Emul didn't seem to fully understand what I had screwed up, my actual objective was the scythe... and considering the description of This, defeating it while in my female state might have been the exact trigger that ruined my chances.
I mean, think about it. Even Akitsu Akane—who possesses a luck stat so absurd it feels like it outright nullifies the Desire Sensor—has only successfully killed it exactly once despite challenging it countless times. I obviously knew there was no way I'd be able to do any drop item verification...

• Requiescat in Pace (Lamentation Dedicated to the Black Death)
  Black aura that acts as "Mourning Clothes," born from the materialization of the concept of True Quiet.

[Special Ruling (Verifiable via System Window)]
This equipment can only be equipped by a female character, consuming the durability of currently equipped head, torso, arm, waist, and leg items entirely. The stats of this equipment (excluding durability) will perfectly mirror the stats of the consumed equipment at the time of activation.

[Special Ruling (Verifiable via System Window)]
This equipment does not possess durability and will not enter a standard damaged state. This equipment is forcibly unequipped when the wearer is confirmed dead, and can be re-equipped upon receiving a second death confirmation. While equipped, the wearer will constantly suffer stat reductions equivalent to a Death Penalty.

While equipped with "Requiescat in Pace," the wearer receives a massive bonus to instant-death resistance checks involving themselves.
While equipped with "Requiescat in Pace," the wearer cannot use recovery items, but will recover a set amount of HP and MP upon defeating a monster, NPC, or player.
When the wearer of "Requiescat in Pace" defeats a monster, NPC, or player, the stats of this equipment receive an enhancement correction.

Once, there was a black knight. Once, there was a woman who loved that knight. In order to return to the small house where the woman waited, the black knight could not afford to die, and thus he became renowned as an ever-victorious, undefeated general. However, one day, he departed for the battlefield and never returned.
The woman waited, and waited, and waited......... until she realized everything, and lost her mind. She learned the truth: the black knight was assassinated in a conspiracy orchestrated by the king he served and his daughter. She donned mourning clothes, took up a single sword left behind by the black knight... and descended down the path of slaughter.
She killed her neighbors, she killed her family, and eventually, her mourning clothes absorbed so much blood they turned a dark, murky black.
The blade that tore through skin, severed flesh, and crushed bone and viscera eventually warped into the shape of a scythe.
And the woman's footprints finally vanished after the gruesome butchering of the king and princess, along with the kingdom that perished with them. From then until now, folklore speaks of an incarnation of death that appears wherever death runs rampant. It grants death strictly to those who scatter death, wandering as if searching for something before finally fading away.
There is no way to know whether the True Quiet possesses a gender or not, but the last words left behind by those who miraculously survived the black death were always the same: "That was a lamentation"──────

"No, that's way too long! Way too hard to say! Way too hard to use! And it's female-exclusive gear on top of that!!!"

After seriously reading it from top to bottom, I violently expelled the impulsive frustration building up inside my heart while wheezing heavily. Feeling a sense of fatigue that arguably surpassed actual combat, I held my head and tried to organize the information.
Uhhh, Requiesca......... way too long. R.I.P. works. So the restrictions and abilities tied to R.I.P. total up to about seven... right?

First up, the equip conditions. As an absolute prerequisite, it destroys every piece of armor equipped on your five main slots and can only be equipped by women. When doing so, R.I.P.'s stats become identical to the gear that was destroyed. I doubt it perfectly copies the actual effects of the gear, but it probably reflects things like resistances.

Next, the traits while equipped. Indestructible. That's a pretty bold effect. Wait, wouldn't this be the ultimate counter to Scars and Curses...? No, the effect is way too complicated. It'd probably just be easier to casually use Scorched Bone and Crushing Flesh (Shakkotsu Saishin) instead.

Next, the unequip conditions. So this means... it un-equips when you "Die," and you can re-equip it when you "Almost die"? The text phrasing is slightly different, and if the judgment was exactly the same, there'd be no reason to use different terminology.

Next, the restrictions while equipped. A constant Death Penalty......... Considering that visually shaves off about 10-20% of your stats, having that active at all times is incredibly harsh. My VIT is completely garbage to begin with and relies entirely on my gear anyway so that's fine, but getting my LUC and AGI shaved off really hurts.

Next, resistances. Well, considering what dropped it, an instant-death resistance makes total sense... But let me ask you this: is there actually any monster in the game that forces instant-death checks harder than True Quiet? It's not like getting hit by a physical attack counts as an instant-death check—that'd just be a straight-up cheat effect.

Next, restriction number two. Cannot use recovery items... I'll confess. The moment I read that line, my evaluation of this gear dropped by 80%. That means if I use the Levin Trigger: Hazard while wearing this, my chances of dying immediately skyrocket, right? That being said, there is an effect meant to offset this trash condition, so I'll hold off on my final verdict.

And finally, the equip effects. As long as you defeat literally anything, you recover HP and MP just like gaining experience points, and your stats get enhanced... At first glance, it looks like a strong effect, but in reality, I have no choice but to evaluate it as incredibly mediocre. Depending on the amount healed and enhanced, the keyword here is Defeat... In short, since you have to kill something for it to proc, it's completely useless in a 1-on-1 boss fight. Unless you're in an environment where you can freely trample over trash mobs, it essentially just becomes an effect that "heals you a bit after combat ends"...

Overall Review: The usage conditions are way too strict, the environments where it can actually be used are way too limited, and the conditions required for the merits to outweigh the demerits are way too harsh.

"...Isn't this just trash?"

Rolling the palm-sized crystal—which, due to the nature of needing to destroy gear to be equipped, didn't actually have the shape of clothing—around in my hand, I let out a heavy sigh.

"This really sucks... I'm deeply regretting the fact that if I had been a guy, I might have pulled the scythe."

"I'm just guessing here, but I feel like Sunraku-san probably would have missed it anyway, desu wa."

This little brat.

............

.........

......

That being said, if I can equip it, I'd obviously want to see what it looks like. That's just the natural progression of things.
Having returned to Skull Azuchi, I used the room assigned to me via the Saint's affiliate privileges (thankfully, the interior wasn't completely coated in bones) and immediately decided to test it out.

"Uhh... Henshin? Just kidding."

The very next instant, the throwaway gear I had just equipped blew into smithereens. The pitch-black, muddy, mist-like substance spewing from the crystal crawled all over my body—which had instantaneously been reduced to a streaker—as if coating me completely.
I know this! This is one of those Magical Girl transformation sequences! And it's the specific type that stubbornly insists on stripping you completely naked first!!

"Uhee."

It felt exactly like invisible hands were aggressively rubbing tanning oil all over me. Letting out an involuntary sound at the sensation of my body being groped by movements completely independent of my own power, the equipping process apparently finished when something resembling a veil finally draped over my face.

"Fuumu."

As I did a full spin with a kururi, the pitch-black skirt swayed gracefully from the rotational momentum. Yeah, there definitely is a slight restriction on my ease of movement... Or I guess it's just not the kind of gear you're supposed to be jumping around in.

"Hmm... I could really use a Player's (objective) opinion right about now."

Emul was already fast asleep. It seems running deeper and deeper into the continent while playing tag with mysterious dinosaurs had completely drained her. Well, a game where an NPC can't accompany you 24/7 isn't exactly rare... Alright, I guess I'll go ask someone.

............

.........

......

A few minutes later, the echoing, genuine scream of absolute terror from a player named Techi (Dragon x4), who had unluckily bumped into me in the hallway, rang throughout the base...

Author's Afterword
Dragon x4: "There was this faint, blackish mist leaking out from around the corner of the hallway, y'know? And I thought, well, it's a game, so I guess those kinds of effects exist... But then a woman wearing mourning clothes slowly swayed out from around the corner with a yuraa!? Of course I'm gonna scream!"

Think mourning clothes + a gothic dress.