Ainz - Wish Upon a Star

Ainz moved his fingers. The ring he was wearing was a plain band, no jewels. The silver light revealed engravings of three shootings stars. This was the most powerful ring Ainz owned.

“Is that...?”

In response to Albedo’s curious expression, he flashed a triumphant smile (although his face didn’t move) and said its name. “This is the super-ultrarare item Shooting Star that lets you use the super-tier spell Wish Upon a Star three times without using any XP.”

This was the gacha item he’d blown through his bonuses trying to get. It was an item so rare that the only two Ainz Ooal Gown members who possessed one were Ainz and Yamaiko. Or maybe it was just proof of how much money he stupidly spent in-game.

The spell it contained, Wish Upon a Star, was set up so that the user was granted random wishes in proportion to how many experience points were spent—i.e., 10 percent granted one, 50 percent granted five.

There were quite a few possibilities. In fact, according to one strategy site, there were over two hundred. And there were some that were more likely to be granted and some that were less likely to be granted, so it was a spell that came with the fear of using all of one’s experience points for nothing.

Also, to even acquire this spell, one had to reach level 95 as a caster. Even in Yggdrasil, where leveling went quickly, experience points were pretty important at such a high level, to the point where players were reluctant to mess around with spending them.

The wishes that were granted by this item’s casting of Wish Upon a Star were also completely random, but useful ones were more likely to be granted than jokey ones, so it wasn’t an exaggeration to say this version of the spell was even more elite. And the most wishes it could grant at once was ten. The cast time for the super-tier spell was also zero—this ring was truly one of the best cash items in the game.

Using this extraordinary item—even if it was a gamble—did seem like a bit of a waste, but it wasn’t worth losing Shalltear. Still, he hesitated because he knew he had other skills that would use up his surplus experience points.

Ainz gazed at the ring.

The wish he was aiming for would cancel all status effects on his target. He had a few other candidates in mind, but that seemed the most direct way to do it. Since it also canceled beneficial status effects, it wasn’t a very popular choice in-game, and he laughed at himself now.

“Okay, ring. I wish!” Of course, he could activate the item without shouting, but the fervent hope that out of over two hundred wishes, something that fit the situation would be granted made him do it. It was like how people yelled when rolling the die that would decide their bet.

Yggdrasil’s magic worked in this world, the same way it had in the game, so Ainz was sure the ring’s power would cancel the mysterious mind control Shalltear was under. At least, he wanted to think that it would.

Ainz’s biggest fear, that it wouldn’t cast, hadn’t been necessary. The ring unleashed its power in this world as well—and the red flames in Ainz’s eye sockets shrank. “What...is this...?”

It was like new information was being loaded into his brain—an unpleasant feeling. At the same time, he felt connected to something enormous—a happy feeling. Ainz was assaulted by a bunch of sensations he’d had back when he was human.

When the wave subsided, Ainz realized that Wish Upon a Star in this world was something totally different from what it had been in Yggdrasil. When he’d learned of Nfirea’s talent, he had fantasized that maybe he could steal it using Wish Upon a Star, and it turned out that that was not off the mark. Wish Upon a Star had changed into a spell that could grant his wish. It did depend on how many experience points he spent, but it was a spell that could make the impossible possible. It had also transformed in this world so that by sacrificing five levels—using 500 percent of his experience points—it could grant more powerful wishes.

***

Volume 3, Chapter 3.6