First, I closed the Gallery.
"All I have to do is get out of this Golden Chest."
The chest closes the moment you pick up more than one orb.
But I had a skill that seemed like it could get me out before that happened.
That was the first method I thought of.
I opened my inventory and slipped the [Wrath of the Sun God] inside.
One orb stored in inventory. The chest was still open.
I took a deep breath.
I reached out toward the [Oblivion of the Time God] and the [Tremor of the Thunder God] among the displayed orbs.
The moment I grabbed both of these simultaneously, the chest would close.
I fixed my gaze on the open ceiling of the chest.
I placed my hands on the two orbs.
And at the same time.
"Black Shift!"
I activated the ribbon's active skill.
The black mist was supposed to yank me outside.
"Huh?"
Nothing happened.
BANG—!!!!!
The lid had already slammed shut at a speed I couldn't even see, and I was still standing right where I'd been.
"Wha… it didn't…"
I waited out the 30-second cooldown and tried Black Shift again, but it didn't work at all.
It seemed like the interior of this chest was a zone where skill use itself was sealed.
"That's cheating, isn't it…?"
I set the artifacts back in their places.
Click—
The lid slid open again with a smooth, mocking ease.
"So it blocks skills, huh…"
Then, the second method.
Crude, but direct.
*Smash the chest from the inside.*
I was now a superhuman who could punch through marble walls with her bare hands.
Logically speaking, something made of gold should be easy enough to tear apart.
Whoosh—
I raised my scythe high.
And brought it crashing down on the golden wall of the chest.
CRAAAAAASH—!!!!
A thunderous boom rang through the chest's interior.
An enormous recoil slammed back through my grip like it was trying to rip my hands apart.
"Ugh!"
The impact from the scythe bouncing back sent me stumbling several steps.
For something made of gold, it wasn't soft in the slightest.
I frantically checked the wall.
"…"
Not a single scratch.
"Skill nullification, insane durability… is this chest the final boss or something…"
That's genuinely what it felt like.
"…Then, the third method."
"What if I throw one out and smuggle it?"
My thinking was: what if I wasn't holding two orbs inside the chest at the same time?
Throw one outside the chest, then walk out with the other one.
But it wasn't a method I could just try blindly.
There was the risk of it shattering on the floor, and if the lid closed while I was still inside after throwing one out, I could end up trapped in the chest forever.
So I needed help.
"Blood Knight, get in here!"
Thud—
The moment I said it, the Blood Knight leaped into the chest.
I showed him the artifacts and gave the order.
"Okay… first, pick up this orb and try throwing it outside the chest. If the lid stays open, then throw these two out one after the other."
The Blood Knight nodded and picked up an orb with one hand.
"I'll go outside and catch it, so throw when I give the signal."
With that, I hopped out of the Golden Chest.
The chest was still open.
"Throw it now!"
Whoosh—
The Blood Knight followed the order.
I caught the orb outside the chest as it arced through the air.
It was the Oblivion of the Time God.
Catch.
Caught it with both hands.
I held my breath and watched the lid.
"Oh…!"
Nothing changed.
Even with one orb released outside, the golden lid didn't budge an inch.
"This actually works…?"
It was the method I'd least expected to work.
"Nice! Okay, Blood Knight! Now throw the Wrath of the Sun God too!"
I cheered and gave the next order.
And then.
CRAAAAAASH—!!!!
The massive golden lid slammed shut at a furious speed.
"……"
He probably hadn't even thrown it yet.
The lid must have closed the instant he touched it.
"Blood Knight! Put it down!"
The lid slid back open again, infuriatingly smooth.
I trudged back into the chest, carrying the [Oblivion of the Time God] I'd managed to get outside.
"Phew…"
The Blood Knight, who had set the orb back in its place, was standing inside the chest with a blank look.
It was time to try the last idea.
Maybe the chest operated on a "one per person" rule.
"What if we increase the headcount?"
I summoned Barang, who had been waiting outside the chest.
"Barang! You get in here too!"
No sooner had the order left my mouth—
Thud!
Barang jumped and landed inside the massive Golden Chest.
"…Good."
I had no idea whether those paws of his could actually grip an orb.
Somehow, this whole situation felt like a resourceful housewife dragging her preschoolers along to grab multiple freebies with their tiny little hands.
*Now I get it.*
I used to think that was pathetic.
"I'll take the Oblivion of the Time God, so you two each grab one of these."
The Blood Knight and Barang stood in front of the orbs and reached out.
"Three, two, one!"
We all grabbed our respective orbs at the same time.
BANG!!!!!!!!
The lid slammed shut instantly. Absolutely ferocious.
The inside of the chest was swallowed by darkness once again.
Failure.
"Ugh, put them down!"
The moment all three of us let go of the orbs, the lid opened again.
Cheap tricks like this weren't going to work.
*That lady managed it though…*
Regardless, there was something I could figure out from all this.
The chest's system seemed to detect how many orbs were being held inside, or track changes in the total number of orbs bound within it.
"So it really can't be done."
I dropped my scythe and slumped down onto the chest floor with a thud.
A random thought suddenly struck me.
That pitch-black hand that had crushed the Treasure Keeper earlier—couldn't it smash this chest too?
Feeling hollow, I shouted into the air on a whim.
"Demon King! Break this chest for me!"
Obviously nonsense.
Thankfully, nothing happened.
Only silence hung in the air.
"…"
I'd tried every method I could think of.
At this point, I had no regrets.
Pick one, no exceptions.
That seemed to be how it was set up.
"…Nice try."
With that thought, I turned over what the Gear Chaser had written in the Gallery earlier.
*Feels like top-tier early-to-mid game: [Wrath of the Sun God].*
*Top-tier mid game: [Tremor of the Thunder God].*
*Effective through the very end: [Oblivion of the Time God].*
Just like the Gear Chaser said, none of the choices seemed bad.
But if I was going to climb all the way to floor 1000, something that stayed relevant to the end was better.
I decided to go with [Oblivion of the Time God]. I'd been treating it as my top pick all along anyway.
The effect of stretching time right before taking a hit.
Unlike [Tremor of the Thunder God], which required close-range attacks, this one would be immediately useful.
It might also combo well with Death's Edge Invincibility. Not sure if I'd ever get to use that again, but still.
And [Wrath of the Sun God]… honestly, it was a little iffy.
Hadn't the Treasure Keeper tanked it once earlier?
The biggest reason for that was probably that the Treasure Keeper had been growing stronger for 400 years, but regardless—if a floor-100 monster could brute-force through the damage, it was a sure bet that by mid-game it'd be reduced to a firecracker.
The moment that thought crossed my mind.
"Hmm…?"
A spark suddenly fired in my head.
Goosebumps crawled across my entire body.
"The fact that I've seen the Wrath of the Sun God before means…"
I hastily set down the orb I'd been holding.
Then I poked my head out over the edge of the chest.
Outside the chest, on the marble floor where the pile of gold coins had vanished.
There lay the corpse of the male intruder I'd beheaded.
My gaze moved to the chest of that corpse.
"That means the Wrath of the Sun God is on that body."
I immediately vaulted out of the chest.
I checked the body of the man collapsed on the floor.
I searched him, but no orb was visible.
"…"
But the explosion that man had used was definitely the Wrath of the Sun God.
Maybe artifacts weren't applied by physically carrying them on your person.
"In that case…"
I didn't give up just yet.
I picked up the corpse and brought it inside the Golden Chest.
Blood smeared the chest floor, but I didn't care.
"I'll return one."
If the Golden Chest's system worked by counting how many orbs remained inside—
And if that man's corpse was carrying the Wrath of the Sun God within it—
Wouldn't the chest recognize the Wrath of the Sun God inside the corpse and be fooled into thinking the orb was still there?
Wasn't that how it would register?
"Let's try it."
First, I picked up the red-glowing [Wrath of the Sun God] orb.
Slip.
Into the inventory it went.
The chest's total orb count was now eight.
If I picked up one more from here, the chest would close.
But.
The next moment, when I lifted the [Oblivion of the Time God]—
"…!"
The chest lid was still wide open.
"Holy shit."
A shiver ran down my spine.
There was no doubt—the Golden Chest was recognizing the corpse as the [Wrath of the Sun God].
"Everyone! Let's go!"
I immediately bolted out of the Golden Chest.
And the very next moment—
BANG—!!!!
The massive golden lid behind me crashed shut with a thunderous boom.
Then the chest slowly lost its light and sank into the floor, disappearing as if swallowed by the ground.
I pulled two Legendary artifacts out of my inventory.
[Wrath of the Sun God] and [Oblivion of the Time God].
"Absolutely legendary."
I burst out laughing like a madwoman.
I'd doubled the reward.
I held the two orbs in each hand and angled them so their light would show up well in the shot.
Click.
I opened the Gallery immediately.
______
Title: 1 + 1 success!
Author: Anon (100F)
{Photo of both hands holding [Wrath of the Sun God] and [Oblivion of the Time God]}
Couldn't get 3, sadly lol.
The moment I posted, I hit refresh and comments started rolling in.
[Comments]
Anon (312F): ?????????
Anon (461F): Excuse me???
Fenrir: No way… they actually brought back multiple ones.
Anon (278F): Two?
Anon (648F): wtf how did you even do that????
Anon (643F): I thought you could only pick one!!!! I thought the chest closed and you couldn't get out!!!
Anon (197F): Everyone who said it couldn't be done, get on the floor rn
Anon (760F): Two Legendary artifacts lmaooooooooooooooooooo
Anon (543F): Double orbs lmao
SSS-Rank Gear Chaser: Uh… was it always two choices…?
An uproar flooded the screen.
└ Anon (344F): Looks like they used teleportation or a familiar to carry it out…
└ Anon (100F) (OP): nah tried all that, none of it worked. tried like three other methods on top of that too.
└ Anon (240F): Coming up with 5 methods is legendary in itself lmaooo
└ Anon (297F): ? then how did you do it;;;
└ Anon (720F): T e l l u s r i g h t n o w.
A flood of questions poured in.
I typed back.
└ Anon (100F) (OP): put the corpse of an intruder who'd been using wrath of the sun god inside the chest and the chest recognized it as the artifact. used that to trick the chest and walked out with two lol
Anon (249F): Huh?
Anon (312F): Intruder?
Anon (461F): There was an intruder?
Anon (578F): What are you talking about.
I stared blankly at the screen.
"Oh, right."
It only hit me then that I still hadn't reported the intruder.
└ Anon (100F) (OP): oh… I never mentioned another intruder showed up, did I?
└ Anon (461F): ????????
└ Anon (628F): What?