Collector's Pocket Watch

The Collector's Pocket Watch is an artifact from Loretta's world that she gives to Kang Shin. It first unlocks the Skill Collector subclass, later evolves into the basis of Skill Mixer, and ultimately becomes Loretta's intended safeguard against the Dungeon Lord's control of dungeon-derived power. (Chapters 18, 30, 182, 350, 352)

History

Loretta's reward and the Skill Collector

Loretta presents the watch after Shin completes the Wraith Queen solo quest, calling it the best reward she can give him. It initially appears to be an ornate but inert pocket watch: a jeweled lid, silver chain, antique interior, one hand, twelve empty hour positions, and no crown. Its obscured item description promises that its holder will eventually obtain a fitting class. (Chapter 18)

The watch opens after Shin has learned five skills, collected three pieces of skill-bearing equipment, and created one skill. It grants him the Skill Collector subclass, ten points each in magic and luck, Endow Skill, and Spirit of Collector. Shin then begins filling its twelve hour positions with extracted equipment skills, represented as colored gems; the source equipment is not automatically destroyed by extraction. The collection grows gradually through his early dungeon ascent. (Chapters 30–31, 63, 77, 88)

Completion and skill synthesis

The watch's use remains tied to Shin's class access: changing away from Skill Collector would cost him the ability to use it, although he eventually retains that subclass alongside Tamer. When Ogre Power takes the eleventh position and Crimson Roar the twelfth, the completed watch transforms his subclass into Skill Mixer and grants another ten points of magic. (Chapters 101, 114, 182)

Skill Mixer lets Shin combine a chosen base skill with one or more supporting skills. The process consumes the inputs, frees their positions, and cannot fail, but the resulting skill can be weaker than its base. Through repeated synthesis, the watch helps produce pivotal powers including Absolute Soul and Overlord. Exceptional results can leave ordinary storage: Absolute Soul becomes engraved in Shin himself, while Overlord transcends the dungeon's control and cannot be synthesized further. (Chapters 182, 193, 217, 303)

Loretta's safeguard against the Dungeon Lord

The watch continues to direct Shin toward powers he can call his own, but it is not universally accessible: a deity manifested through him cannot use his class skills or the skills stored in the watch. Lespina can also reject stored abilities after perceiving them because she can exclude power she judges external or impure. (Chapters 228, 292, 328, 347)

After a final transformation whose process occurs off-page shortly before the concluding battle, the artifact can hold and synthesize an unrestricted number of external powers. It becomes the medium that binds dungeon power to Shin and converts Sherafina's power so she cannot reclaim it or turn it against him. Loretta reveals that she knew Shin's identity when she gave it to him and intended it as her secret weapon against Sherafina; she later explains that it was created in her world and that she had withheld it from Lin because she did not believe he could use it to defeat the Dungeon Lord. (Chapters 350, 352)

Abilities and properties

• Hidden opening condition: The watch begins as a sealed subclass artifact and activates only after its holder has learned five skills, obtained three skill-bearing equipment pieces, and created one skill. Its first activation grants Skill Collector and permanent increases of ten to both magic and luck. (Chapters 18, 30)
• Endow Skill: The watch can extract an equipment skill into one of twelve hour positions. A stored skill can be used without equipping its original item, but only once per day; extraction itself does not inherently consume or destroy the source equipment. (Chapters 30–31)
• Spirit of Collector: While the watch is in its collecting phase, this passive improves the chance that desired items will appear from floor or event bosses, with its effect influenced by the holder's charm and luck. (Chapter 30)
• Skill Synthesis: Once all twelve positions are filled, the watch enables Skill Mixer. A synthesis requires one base skill and at least one supporting skill, consumes the selected skills, and always produces a result, though the result is not guaranteed to be stronger. Skills stored in the watch can be mixed with one another but are not freely interchangeable with every skill Shin knows. (Chapter 182)
• Transcendent results: Synthesis can create unique powers that cease to function as ordinary stored skills. Absolute Soul and Ultimate Avarice are engraved in Shin's body rather than stored in the watch. Overlord is instead a Transcendent result that has escaped the dungeon's control and cannot be synthesized further. (Chapters 193, 217, 303)
• Final form: The transformed artifact can store any number of external powers, synthesize them, and let Shin wield the converted results. It can absorb dungeon or artifact power, prevent Sherafina from reclaiming or weaponizing converted power, and prevent Ciara from stealing the dungeon power tied to Shin. Lespina nevertheless demonstrates that a sufficiently specialized rejection ability can still block a stored power after understanding it. (Chapters 347, 350)

Ownership and custody