Overgeared

by Park Saenal

  In the end, I could only stare at the items with longing and regret.

  ‘Indeed… If a user could obtain all of these, Satisfy’s economic balance might crumble. Unfortunately, I understand.’

  I didn’t come here for the battle gear in the first place. I soothed my mind and turned my attention away from the pile of battle gear. There was an old book placed on a shiny gold table.

  “Finally…”

  All the hardships I experienced while coming here passed through my mind. Laughter emerged as my nose became runny and tears dripped down. Thank goodness I had patience and tenacity, otherwise, I would’ve quit the game because of the terrible difficulty of the quest. I felt great pride at the thought of clearing this quest.

  “Kukuk…puhahahat!! I finally found it!! Oh, yehhhhhh!”

  A damn S-grade quest that was impossible to give up! Incidentally, how many deaths have I experienced before on this solo quest? How many items were destroyed due to no durability?!

  A human blacksmith who transcended the skills of a dwarf, Pagma achieved the culmination of god-like techniques!

  The face of Earl Ashur, who made me visit one of the Eternal Kingdom’s five forbidden zones, popped into my head.

  “If I bring this to him, I can get the Sun Sword? Once I get it, no one can match me for the rest of my life, you bastards! I will make you pay for hitting me!”

  Pleasure surged like a tide as I picked up the book.

  [You have acquired the legendary craftsman’s rare book!]

  [It isn’t in a proper state. You can check the details using the Eye of Pallalian.]

  [Do you want to use the Eye of Pallalian?]

  “Eye of Pallalian? A high-end appraisal item is needed to check the item?”

  Eye of Pallalian was the most expensive among the existing appraisal items. Six months ago, I had bought it just in case I got a jackpot, but sadly, I couldn’t use it and it was left in my inventory.

  “I don’t want to miss a golden opportunity…”

  I put the appraisal on hold and examined the golden table. I wondered if there was a way to take this gold away, but it wouldn’t budge. Kicking, pulling and even biting it was useless. It was an item like the battle gear that users couldn’t own.

  “Ah, I really can’t salvage anything because of this effective system. The price of my three months of work is very high.”

  I gazed at the book in my hand.

  ‘I have to give Ashur the item so do I really need to use an expensive item to appraise it?’

  I struggled for a moment before pulling out the Eye of Pallalian. It was natural to wonder about the source of my three months suffering.

  “Appraisal.”

  [Pagma’s Rare Book]

  Rating: Legendary

  This is a book that contains the techniques of Pagma, the blacksmith who transcended human limits. The person who opens the book can become a legendary blacksmith.

  Effects: Become Pagma’s descendant.

  Conditions: None.

  * The level and stats will change when used.

  [A legendary item has been found!]

  [Reputation will rise by 500 across the continent.]

  My body started trembling.

  “Whoa…jackpot…”

  It was a legendary item! My reputation rose by 500 across the continent just because I discovered it! It was an amazing harvest, given that it was difficult to raise reputation by 100 just in one city.

  ‘Reputation is reputation, but…’

  I wondered if I had seen it wrongly and read the item description again. However, there was no change in the contents.

  “Jack~~pot!!”

  I wasn’t hallucinating. I was extremely excited and could hear my heart beating wildly. I thought it was just a skill book but it was actually for a class change? Furthermore, it was legendary grade! This meant it was the strongest class in the world!

  “Moreover, there is no condition to use…”

  Tears flowed down from my eyes. During the past year, I had to pay the interest on my loan, my Satisfy account, and I also took a leave of absence from school. My friends left me one by one, the alumni of my school laughed at me, people thought I was lazy…

  My original plan was to sell the items I gained during the game and turn it into cash so that I could pay off my loan, my account, and my tuition. However, Satisfy wasn’t such a fair world. It was hard to earn money and I could barely obtain equipment for myself, let alone ones I could sell.

  But now it was different. A thrill went through my body as I shivered.

  “It is over… I can say farewell to this nightmarish life!”

  A legendary class change item! If I register it as an auction item on the item trading site, it was clear that the transaction price would be worth tens of millions of won.

  No, it was an item that gave the best class among two billion users, so would it only be worth tens of millions of won? I could be sure that it was worth at least hundreds of millions of won. I might be able to get my hands on an astronomical amount that I never imagined!

  “Puhahahahat!! Mother! Father! This freeloader finally made it! Now it’s time to leave the game and forget about finding employment! My parents can quit feeling ashamed of their son in front of the neighbors! Sehee! Oppa finally did it! Now you don’t have to be embarrassed every time you meet me on the street! When my friends want to come and play at my house, I don’t have to refuse and make all sorts of excuses! And my friends! Alumni! They can’t ignore me anymore as a pathetic game loser! I will become a success with a game! I have taken a few steps ahead of you guys in the society! Puhahahat!!”

  I paid 10 million won to purchase a capsule, and my loan interest rose by hundreds of thousands of won every month.

  ‘Ahyoung is still pretty…’

  I imagined attending my high school alumni meeting for the first time in two years in a foreign car. The successful alumni wouldn’t be able to ignore me anymore. Then I blushed as the face of my first love, Ahyoung, came to mind.

  “Okay, go and sell it!”

  Quest? I didn’t care about that right now. Obviously, while the reward was a weapon that belonged to the epic rating, it was nothing in comparison to the price of this book. My affinity with Earl Ashur would fall and would probably end up with me not receiving any more quests from him. But there was no reason to be afraid in front of hundreds of millions of won.

  “Logout!”

  I confidently exclaimed. Then a notification window flashed in front of my eyes.

  [You can’t log out of the game here.]

  [Earl Ashur has appeared.]

  “……?”

  Dozens of knights jumped into the cave as I was struggling to understand. Then the familiar Earl Ashur appeared. I panicked as he found me and his face distorted.

  “Foolish traveler, you all have the same greed.”

  [The quest ‘Earl Ashur’s Secret Request’ (S) has changed to ‘Earl Ashur’s Anger’ (SS).]

  [Earl Ashur’s Anger]

  Difficulty Level: SS

  Earl Ashur chose you due to your average abilities, your stupidity and because you are easy to exploit. He entrusted you with the task of finding Pagma’s rare book that he wasn’t even sure existed.

  He put a watcher on you and came urgently as soon as he heard that you entered the ‘Northern End Cave’. Earl Ashur has witnessed you become blinded by greed over Pagma’s rare book and has no intention of forgiving you. He intends to kill you and take away Pagma’s rare book.

  * Affinity with Earl Ashur has fallen by 100.

  * Due to your actions, all of the fame you have built in Patrian has disappeared and you have now become infamous. The affinity of Patrian’s residents has fallen by 40. They will look at you and call you a thief.

  Quest Clear Conditions: The deaths of Earl Ashur and his escort knights.

  Clear Reward: Obtain the title ‘Noble Killer.’

  * Noble Killer: Intelligence -50.

>   All nobles in the kingdom will despise and oppress you. Your jobs will be limited. The affinity of some commoners and royalty will rise.

  Quest Failure: Level -2.

  You will no longer be able to enter Patrian.

  Any Patrian soldiers will kill you on sight.]

  Patrian was the starter city where I first created my character. I built up a considerable amount of reputation while completing quests in Patrian from level 1 to the present, and my affinity with the residents was at its maximum.

  All merchants gave me a 20% discount when buying goods, and the goods I sold were purchased at 15% above their value. There were residents who gave me hidden quests when I approached them. But all these achievements automatically flew away the moment this quest updated.

  “…Ah, I. This is shit.”

  A curse naturally emerged.

  “Earl Ashur… no, you bastard! This goddamn bastard forced me onto a quest where I wasn’t sure if I could find the item or not!! If Pagma’s rare book was something that didn’t exist, I would’ve struggled for months in vain! You are the one who lied in the first place, yet you want to make me notorious in Patrian? Filthy jerk!”

  As their master was cursed at, the hot-headed knights immediately pulled out their swords. Earl Ashur restrained them and spoke coldly to me,“You had already decided to betray me before you knew you were deceived. Even so, you are still acting so proudly.”

  “Is it greedy to want a reasonable reward after the hardships of my journey? My betrayal wasn’t certain!”

  He sneered at my words.

  “Didn’t I already promise to give you a reward in return? We entered into a contract and you have trespassed on my good faith out of greed.”

  This wasn’t something that I could handle with words. As I fell mute, Earl Ashur’s momentum increased as he continued to chatter,

  “You are truly a poor man. The more I watched, the more I could feel it. But there are times when you can do extraordinary things, as I honestly hadn’t expected you to find this cave that had disappeared from history. I will punish you for your ignorance, but as reward for your patience, I will kill you as painlessly as possible.”

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  Chapter 2

  Chapter 2

  ‘This bastard!’

  I wanted to stab my sword in Ashur’s mouth right now, but it was an impossible task. The man’s level was 300 and was also a great magician who completed his third class change. His escort knights had an average of level 180.

  On the other hand, I was only at level 73 and didn’t even have a chance against the youngest knight who was serving as a bread shuttle. (Bread shuttle – Usually used at school, where one student is picked on and/or bullied to do the errands for people who are higher on the social ladder than the shuttles are.)

  But look at the quest clear conditions. I had to kill them.

  Plus! Even if I cleared the quest, wasn’t the quest compensation garbage?

  ‘My intelligence will be minus 50? Fuck, right now I have 30 intelligence, so won’t I be an idiot if I’m at minus 50? And all of the kingdom’s nobles would hate me? So where was my exit route?? Why is there a quest like this? Ahhh!!’

  There was only one choice. Just die. I would drop two levels, but I couldn’t succeed anyway. Besides, what was the point of succeeding with such a nasty quest?

  “Hu…”

  I felt resigned. The pressure from the knights wasn’t a joke.

  ‘This means I would’ve lost eight levels just from this quest… Ashur… One day, I will become high level and take revenge. Definitely.’

  I stared at Ashur and vowed revenge, then closed my eyes at the menacing swords in the knights’ hands. Then suddenly, I remembered Pagma’s book in my hand.

  ‘Wait, what about this?’

  Would it remain in my inventory after I died if I put it in there before my death? This wasn’t a general quest item, so I couldn’t be assured of the situation.

  What was Ashur’s purpose in the first place? Pagma’s rare book. The reason he wanted to kill me was to take it away. In order for the story to go smoothly, if he killed me, it was likely that Pagma’s book would disappear from my inventory and fall into his hands.

  “Shit!”

  If I was going to lose Pagma’s book anyway, I might as well use it instead of selling! A new option emerged. I could use Pagma’s rare book.

  However, I hesitated. I hated production-related classes. Wasn’t the point of a game to enjoy the thrill of battle? However, if I became a blacksmith, I would have to sweat as I hammered at iron in front of a fire. It might be necessary to carry pickaxes while searching for mines to collect the necessary materials.

  It was indeed…

  ‘La. bor.’

  At that moment, a chill went down my spine. I was doing brickwork and shovel work at construction sites in real life, and now I needed to do labor in a game as well! Just imagining it made me feel terribly dizzy.

  “Kuock…”

  I wanted to remain as a warrior; it was my dream to swing my sword at enemies and someday become an army general. But now it was time to give up on that dream. An item worth hundreds of millions of won would be taken away by an NPC! By that bastard Ashur!

  “It’s better to use it than to lose it to him!”

  I tearfully opened Pagma’s book. The shocked Ashur hurriedly stretched out a hand and chanted a spell.

  “It’s too late, you jerk.”

  I ridiculed him before falling silent as I checked the notification windows appearing one by one.

  [You have become Pagma’s descendant.]

  [Your level has dropped.]

  [You are now level 1.]

  [All skills and stats have been reset.]

  “……?”

  I couldn’t believe my eyes. Weren’t class changes supposed to help you get stronger by strengthening your existing level, stats, and skills? Therefore, I couldn’t understand why my level, stats and skills were reset instead of maintained.

  “What is this?”

  As I was confused by the unknown situation, new notification windows emerged.

  [Dexterity stat has opened.]

  [Blacksmith’s Craftsmanship skill has been created.]

  [Blacksmith’s Craftsmanship skill has been mastered.]

  [Blacksmith’s Appraisal skill has been created.]

  [Blacksmith’s Appraisal skill has been mastered.]

  [Blacksmith’s Patience has been created.]

  [Blacksmith’s Patience has been mastered.]

  [Blacksmith’s Disassembly skill has been created.]

  [Blacksmith’s Disassembly skill has been mastered.]

  [Blacksmith’s Repair skill has been created.]

  [Blacksmith’s Repair skill has been mastered.]

  [All blacksmith skills have been mastered to the level of the Pinnacle and the skills of the legendary blacksmith have been opened.]

  [The Legendary Blacksmith’s Craftsmanship skill has been created.]

  [The Legendary Blacksmith’s Discernment skill has been created.]

  [The Legendary Blacksmith’s Appraisal skill has been created.]

  [The Legendary Blacksmith’s Patience skill has been created.]

  [The Legendary Blacksmith’s Repair skill has been created.]

  [The Legendary Blacksmith’s Disassembly skill has been created.]

  [The Legendary Blacksmith’s Breath skill has been created.]

  [The Legendary Blacksmith’s Blessing skill has been created.]

  [The Legendary Blacksmith’s Creation skill has been created.]

  [Title, ‘One who Became a Legend’, has been acquired.]

  [Composure stat has opened.]

  [Indomitable stat has opened.]

  [Dignity stat has opened.]

  [Insight stat has opened.]

  In the case of dexterity, it was a basic stat possessed by all users with a production-
related class. However, the Composure, Indomitable, Dignity, and Insight stats were all unfamiliar. Was this a good thing?

  “Not good!”

  I was desperate. There were 15 passive skills and 22 active skills that I learned as a warrior. However, I completely lost all my abilities as a warrior. Due to the effect of the class change, I had completely become a laborer.

  Furthermore, I was level one. The levels that I barely built up over the past year had been completely reset and I needed to start over? I had to restart the damn level-up grind from the beginning?!

  “Why is there a quest like this? Fuc*!@….~#@….$@….^%$!!”

  I combined several Korean characters together as a knight’s sword rapidly headed towards me.

  [You have been hit by a blow!]

  [You have died.]

  The level 1’s low stamina dropped to 0 with a single hit from a level 180 knight.

  [Quest failed!]

  [You will no longer be able to enter Patrian.]

  [Any Patrian soldiers will kill you on sight.]

  [Your level has dropped by 2.]

  [You are now level -1.]

  [There is no registered residence. Do you want to resurrect at the nearest temple?]

  “……?”

  I saw my level and lost it.

  “Negative? My level is negative??”

  I was certain that I had been cursed by the gods for some fault in a previous life. I barely got here after three months of hardship only to get this result? I didn’t want to play the game. I chose to log out instead of resurrecting.

  Once I quit the game, I immediately connected to the Internet and searched through all of the Satisfy related forums in Korea to look for information about a negative level. But I couldn’t get any information so I wrote my question directly on the forum.

  Title: I am currently level -1.

  Contents: I have been doing a quest for three months and received a legendary old book. However, I failed and my level strangely dropped to -1. Why??? Has this ever happened before???????

  I pressed the OK button to post and completely emerged from the capsule. A quick glance in the mirror revealed someone who looked like an emaciated patient with an incurable disease. It was the aftermath of not sleeping for three months while doing the quest. And the only thing I received in return was a loss of hundreds of millions of won and a minus level.