100% DROP RATE : Why is My Inventory Always so Full? - Chapter 255

Chapter 255: Chapter 255 – Judgement
“Little darling, I’ve regained a bit of strength just talking to you,” Lilith said with a strange smile. “Let me come with you. I’m the one asking for help, after all.”

Lucien didn’t refuse.

He turned to Eirene.

She met his gaze, nodded, then faced her people.

“Everyone, stay on this platform for now. I’ll go with Brother Luc.”

“Me too,” Marie said, hand shooting up.

The Verdant Veil members could only nod, resigned.

The two Celestial-realm seniors exchanged a bitter look and inclined their heads as well. Suppressed to the Mortal Realm like everyone else, they hated to admit it but at this point, Lucien had more methods than they do. A larger group would only turn into dead weight.

Once everything was decided, Lucien moved.

Carefully.

Every step carried weight. The mirror-floor didn’t just reflect his body, it reflected his intent.

When he walked without clear purpose, his reflection lagged half a heartbeat behind.

When his mind skirted toward unnecessary thoughts, the reflection stuttered, jittering at the edges.

When he fixed his will on a destination, the reflection aligned perfectly, step by step.

Eirene pointed to a ring of runes carved along a pillar near them.

[ THE STARS ONCE WANDERED WITHOUT REASON

AND SO WERE CHAINED IN PLACE.

IF YOU WOULD WALK THIS FIRMAMENT,

LET EACH STEP BE WED TO INTENT. ]

“Every step is a statement,” Eirene murmured. “No wandering, no fidgeting. You have to know exactly why you’re moving.”

Marie’s voice was thin.

“So if I pick my nose for no reason…?”

“Don’t,” Lucien said immediately, cutting her off.

She shut her mouth.

Slowly, they advanced toward the circular platform.

Soon, the first spiral walkway of stars came into view.

Around them, other practitioners were already attempting the ascent.

One young man tried to sidestep a frozen statue blocking his way… then hesitated mid-step, doubt flickering in his eyes.

His reflection did not hesitate.

The mirrored version of him continued forward with perfect certainty.

The mismatch was enough.

Fine cracks spiderwebbed across the mirror beneath his feet—

SHNK.

The floor shattered into shards of black light.

He vanished without even a chance to scream.

Up above, another “person-star” appeared in the constellations… curled into itself, locked in endless, unmoving remorse.

The Verdant Veil members watching from the far distance shivered.

Lucien narrowed his eyes and drew his aura tight around him. Perfect Calculation spun up in his mind, tracing invisible lines of pressure and constraint across the floor.

To the Court, every wasted gesture was a sin. So he made sure every motion he took was efficient enough that even a dead tribunal would call it “necessary.”

Behind him, Marie stepped where Lucien stepped, matching his pace. Sweat beaded at her temple but she never hesitated.

Lilith followed with controlled pride. She had already tested this place once. Now she adapted, correcting old mistakes with hard-earned caution.

Eirene kept to her own rhythm. Her feet landed with the surety of someone raised under strict rules.

They soon reached the base of the first spiral.

The stars forming the ramp pulsed softly beneath them as if asking a question they couldn’t hear but could certainly feel.

Another arc of runes shimmered in the air ahead, hanging above the first step like a warning.

[ ASCEND WITH A HEART UNTREMBLING.

THOSE WHO SHAKE THE ORBIT

SHALL BE BOUND TO IT. ]

Eirene’s jaw tightened.

“Once we step onto the star-bridge,” she said quietly, “we must climb without looking down. No flinching, no sudden turns. Any panic, any attempt to retreat…”

“Will be judged,” Lucien finished.

And so—

One by one, they stepped onto the rising path of stars.

•••

Higher up, the pressure deepened.

The Court pressed against their lungs like a suffocating mantle of gravity, forcing each breath to slow… or stop altogether. Even their heartbeats felt visible in the air as though the stars themselves listened for any tremor within.

They passed several practitioners frozen mid-ascent, men and women too terrified to take another step, pinned by their own fear. The stars glowed dimly beneath their feet, patient but merciless, waiting for a verdict that might never come.

Halfway to the central dais, the spiral widened into a circular platform made entirely of mirror-light.

The moment Lucien set foot on it, the starlight beneath him rippled.

Reflections rose.

Not phantom clones… but written lines of light. Ancient runes formed in the mirrored surface beneath each individual.

The characters were translated directly into his mind.

Lucien’s script blazed sharply:

[ YOU SEEK: SAFETY OF YOUR KIN ]

It flickered.

[ YOU FEAR: LOSING YOURSELF ]

A final line crystallized:

[ YOU REFUSE: TO BE A TOOL ]

He exhaled softly.

All accurate.

Marie leaned forward, squinting as her own runes lit up:

[ YOU SEEK: JOY, THRILLS, SURVIVAL ]

[ YOU FEAR: BEING LEFT BEHIND ]

[ YOU REFUSE: TO WATCH FRIENDS DIE ]

“…Rude,” she muttered, cheeks tinting, though she didn’t deny it.

Around them, the practitioners were judged in the same manner.

Lilith’s reflection shimmered faintly:

[ YOU SEEK: MATERIAL ETERNITY ]

[ YOU FEAR: WORTHLESSNESS ]

[ YOU REFUSE: TO WORK FOR FREE ]

Eirene’s script burned an earthly green:

[ YOU SEEK: ROOTS AND MEMORY ]

[ YOU FEAR: BEING FORGOTTEN BY THE ONE YOU LOVE ]

[ YOU REFUSE: TO LET OTHERS WRITE YOUR STORY ]

Just then… additional runes flared at the platform’s rim:

[ ALL MOTION SPRINGS FROM DESIRE.

ALL DESIRE SPRINGS FROM TRUTH OR LIE.

STEP WITH LYING DESIRE, AND THE STARS SHALL STILL YOU. ]

The temperature dropped. The test sharpened.

The platform’s center ignited with a ring of silver fire.

One by one, every person… even those frozen on the stairs… was pulled inward by an invisible gravity and placed inside the circle.

The runes around the ring brightened, issuing a command:

[ SPEAK YOUR PURPOSE.

NOT TO THE HALL,

BUT TO YOURSELF. ]

No one was prepared for this rule.

Yet none could resist it.

A trembling practitioner stepped forward, voice shaking.

“I—I just want to live…”

The mirror compared his spoken desire to the truths written beneath him.

His “seek” line read:

[ YOU SEEK: DOMINION ]

The contradiction fractured the mirror.

He gasped… but only for a moment.

His body locked then froze. It tilted backward in eerie stillness, falling flat without a sound.

His reflection lingered upright for a heartbeat…

before sinking into the glass, leaving him staring blankly upward in eternal stillness.

One by one, the practitioners presented their purpose.

Marie clutched Lucien’s sleeve.

“I’m next, aren’t I?”

Lucien gave her a light smile.

“Just say what’s already written.”

When her turn arrived, Marie stumbled into the circle.

The ring of starlight surged beneath her.

The runes bound her ankles like links of truth.

She inhaled shakily.

“I… want to live fully,” she said. “To laugh as much as possible. To help my people not die stupidly. And to see how far we can go without blowing ourselves up.”

The runes pulsed once.

Then stilled.

The Court accepted.

She staggered back, releasing a shuddering breath.

“Your turn,” she mumbled.

Lucien stepped forward.

The script around him sharpened, unforgiving as a blade.

His voice was calm.

“I seek the safety of my people,” he said. “Not just survival. I want us to live freely without fearing threats. And if removing those threats is required… then so be it.”

The mirror blazed beneath him.

Several constellations overhead flickered… as if acknowledging the honesty.

No cracks. No stillnes.

Accepted.

Eirene’s turn followed. She stepped into the ring without hesitation.

“I seek to reclaim what I forgot,” she said. “And I will not let anyone else define my path.”

The Court accepted instantly.

Lilith is next.

She lifted her chin.

“I want to find a material that can exist forever. And if none exists… let the world witness me make it.”

The runes glowed with approval.

Not everyone succeeded.

A man from another sect tried to soften his greed.

“I want resources to protect my clan,” he claimed—

But his reflection disagreed:

[ YOU SEEK: TO PLACE ALL OTHERS BENEATH YOU ]

The court rejected him.

His body froze mid-sentence, his tongue stiffened, and his eyes screamed silently as his expression calcified.

Stillness claimed him entirely.

•••

After the last practitioner declared their truth, the glowing runes dimmed one by one.

The circle of judgment exhaled.

The pressure loosened like an unclenching fist and the platform’s surface smoothed back into a seamless mirror.

Those who had spoken honestly… those who had matched their inner desire with their spoken purpose… felt their lungs finally release.

Some collapsed to their knees, trembling from the intensity.

Others simply shut their eyes, savoring the return of breath.

A few… froze in quiet revelation. Their reflections shifted faintly like ripples of insight. These were the practitioners who had confronted their own contradictions and emerged with clarity instead of fear.

One woman clasped her hands together. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she whispered, “I finally understand… the root of my path…”

She sat down cross-legged right there, slipping into meditation.

A soft aura of enlightenment rose around her.

Another practitioner steadied himself with a deep bow toward the mirror-floor, whispering thanks not to the Court but to the truth he finally dared to face.

Even Lilith watched them with a complicated expression.

“The Verdict may be cruel,” she murmured, “but it never lacks purpose.”

Lucien nodded silently.

He understood.

The Court of Unmoving Stars was stripping every intruder of lies and showing them the core of their motion… the truth that drove them forward or froze them in place.

Once the last glow faded, the invisible weight guiding them lifted.

The spiral path ahead brightened again, inviting the next ascent.

Lucien glanced at Marie, at Eirene, and at Lilith.

He stepped forward first.

“Let’s continue.”

The group silently followed, leaving behind the cleared ring of judgment and walking deeper toward the heart of the Court.