Chapter 134

The realization was stunning, mostly because Zoey thought her shards were, well, her own. She hadn’t known that other wayfarers could enter them—or rather, she had thought the shard would reshape itself to become normal again. But maybe it didn’t work like that. Maybe Zoey’s presence permanently altered them. Maybe once Mel had gotten a taste of the ‘more fun’ way to fight, she would start integrating those challenges as a permanent feature. Zoey really needed to talk to that slimegirl as soon as possible.

“So you have been to one,” Helena asked, leaning forward, somehow even more interested in this topic than the corrupted ones. For that matter, Helena probably thought the two shards were related—corrupted in different ways, but from the same root cause. The so-called ‘punishment from the gods’. Zoey obviously knew better. “What was yours like? Did it include a clone?”

For the second time, Zoey was sent reeling. A clone? Not-Zoey? That was the shard Helena was talking about?

“It did!” Helena said, reading Zoey’s reaction. To be fair, Zoey was so caught off guard she’d had no hope of masking it. She was still stumbling to orient to the swerve in conversation. She’d come here hoping to find someone who knew more about the corrupted shards, and while that goal seemed to have failed, she’d found someone who’d been to a lewd shard—which was its own stunning piece of information. “And did it take your own shape?”

“I—I can’t believe you’ve also been. Sorry. Give me a second.” Zoey took a moment to organize her thoughts. Should she talk with Helena about this? There didn’t seem to be any major reason not to. Maybe Helena could shed some light on something—though Zoey couldn’t imagine what. But even if Zoey couldn’t get any practical information, she was curious what Helena’s trip through a lewd shard had been like. “Yes, it did,” Zoey finally settled on. “It mirrored my own body. The reflection.”

“Yes! A reflection. That’s what she called herself. You really were there. And did she—”

Helena paused, then blushed.

“Well, you know.” She gestured down at her crotch. “Have that for you, too?”

Zoey stared at her. She could pick up the implication. In Zoey’s situation, Not-Zoey had actually lost her bonus equipment. It seemed when she’d formed an encounter with Helena, she’d gained it instead.

“Yes,” Zoey answered—skipping the technical correction. “This is crazy. I can’t believe you’ve been there.” It also provided some good news—it meant Helena was either second or third advancement, but probably not higher, since Not-Zoey’s shard had been second. It seemed unlikely a fourth-advancement would be delving something so low. Though, could shards reshape their difficulty? The exact mechanisms of shards were hardly a well-understood topic, much less to Zoey, a foreigner.

“I can’t believe you have,” Helena said. She was the most excited she’d been since the start of this conversation—she had mostly seemed to be tolerating Zoey’s talk of the corrupted shard. Helena glanced at Jacquelyn—Delta—as if remembering they had company, then paused. “Give us privacy, please, Jacquelyn.”

Delta hesitated, sharing a look with Zoey. Delta had obviously also been shocked at the development, though standing behind Helena, hadn’t been seen. Zoey had needed to stalwartly avoid looking at her to avoid giving anything away. At Delta’s concerned look, Zoey imperceptibly nodded at her partner, and Delta said, “Of course. I’ll be right outside.”

When the door closed, an animated Helena turned back to Zoey. “So. Did you?”

“Did I...?”

“Well, you know. Take up her offer.”

“Her offer?”

“Surely it was the same. An easier boss fight in return for—you know?”

Zoey’s eyes widened. “Did you?”

Helena laughed. The stoic woman’s walls were quickly breaking down. She’d been somewhat stiff during the previous talk, but this one had animated her.

“I couldn’t talk about this with anyone, obviously,” Helena said. “Even the Church elders. I gave them my report, but—someone who’s actually been, it’s different. Liberating, I suppose?” She grinned at Zoey. “And you did take her up on the offer, I can tell by that reaction. Good for you. How was it?”

“How was it? Um, fun?”

“Fun? Having your own body-double slapping her hips into you? Yes, ‘fun’ is one way to put it,” Helena said, eyes sparkling with amusement. “Definitely more of a final event than most shards. Bosses in the future simply won’t hold up.”

Actually, it had been Zoey doing the hip-slapping, but again, she didn’t correct Helena on the technicals. She was still adjusting to the rapid change in demeanor.

“You were alone for it, then?” Zoey asked.

Helena blinked. Her eyes widened. “Right. You weren’t. Wait, how did that work, then?”

“My teammates swapped bodies. I received the clone. So there was four of us total, including the reflection.”

Helena laughed. “Incredible.” She paused, then sobered slightly. “I mean, yes, I realize this is a product of our world breaking down, a punishment sent by the gods, but— but really, what an experience, wasn’t it?” She seemed slightly guilty, as if she knew she shouldn’t be excited—or have had fun—with the shard. “Have you tried finding it again?”

“No. Have you?”

Helena blushed. “I mean— no, of course not. I was just wondering.”

She definitely had. But by the sounds of it, to little success.

“And the items?” Zoey asked. “Did you get anything?”

“Anything?”

“You know. Shard related.”

“Wait. You got something like that?” Helena practically leaned over the table in a blatant, excited display of interest. It gave Zoey a good view of her cleavage, her shirt drooping down. Zoey could even see all the way to her stomach; it was a loose piece of clothing. “What was it?”

It seemed like the shard Helena had been to wasn’t completely the same as Zoey’s. Or maybe the items were just rarer. Zoey suspected her class might modify the rewards. Since she had a lust-based class, items of that type were far more common—or possible even unique to her.