Overgeared

by Park Saenal

  Hell Gao suffered damage that couldn’t be overlooked anymore. His face stiffened as he sensed the danger.

  Chwaack!

  Grid twisted Failure that was in Hell Gao’s chest and declared.

  “Now it is your turn.”

  As the battle continued, the cooldown time of all his skills except for Transcended Link had ended. He just used Kill, but he still had Link left.

  “Pagma’s Swordsmanship, Link!”

  Pipit! Pipipipipit!

  Grid skillfully used Pagma’s Swordsmanship, and dozens of energy blades appeared.

  [The level of Pagma’s Swordsmanship, Link has increased.]

  [Your damage will increase. The number of times a target is hit will increase by 5 times.]

  [Link Lv. 3]

  A dazzling sword dance that is like the wings of a butterfly.

  Deals 1,100% of your attack power to a single target.

  Skill Usage Conditions: Have a sword type weapon equipped.

  Skill Mana Cost: 500

  Skill Cooldown Time: 100 seconds

  It had been five months since he killed the pope. After that, he used Link hundreds of times, and the level finally rose. Grid smiled joyfully and Hell Gao’s face distorted horribly.

  “Kuaaaack!”

  [You have dealt 154,600 damage to the target.]

  Hell Gao had been weakened two times, but 150,000 damage wasn’t enough to kill him. Hell Gao recovered his poise and fired flames all over the place at Grid.

  “Where are you aiming?”

  Grid got as close to Hell Gao as possible. He used Pagma’s Swordsmanship, Wave to cancel out the flames. Then he subsequently used Restraint and made Hell Gao unable to do anything for three seconds.

  ‘Looking back, the fusion of Transcended Link was only possible after Link reached level 2.

  Grid’s brain rapidly spun at this moment. He stepped towards Hell Gao who was shrinking back from Restraint, and triggered two skills in succession.

  ‘Now that Link is level 3, is it possible to combine it with other techniques?’

  He would give it a try. First, it was an attempt at fusion with the most anticipated Kill. If that didn’t work, he would try it with Wave.

  “Pagma’s Swordsmanship…!”

  Grid started to dance and killing intent once again gathered at the end of the greatsword. Meanwhile, Hell Gao escaped from the influence of Restraint and summoned a flame in his left hand and hot wind in his right hand, then he combined the two forces together.

  ‘It is a technique that I can’t stand again.’

  Hell Gao fired the attack in a straight line.

  Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

  The ground burned and the whirlwind of flames hit Grid. Then Grid’s dance finished.

  “Kill, Link.”

  If these skills failed to combine, Grid’s current health would fall and his invincible passive would activate.

  ‘Please…!’

  It was less than a second. Grid hoped that the fusion of Kill and Link would be successful, and Hell Gao hoped that Grid would die.

  And.

  Kwajak!

  Grid’s Failure collided with the whirlwind of flames. The flames were swallowed up by Failure, while the light around the greatsword became more intense than before.

  ‘I did it!’

  Grid was delighted. It succeeded.

  [The new skill fusion has succeeded.]

  [Fusion skill ‘Linked Kill’ has been created.]

  [Your intelligence has increased by 10 due to the successful fusion of a new skill.]

  [Linked Kill]

  It is a sword dance that combines hatred with the dazzling flapping of wings.

  Due to the weight of Kill, the dazzling style is reduced, but the strength of Kill is overpowering.

  A minimum of three to seven blows will be randomly generated that will deal 1500% damage per hit (the current damage of Kill -300%).

  * This skill doesn’t share a cooldown with Kill and Link.

  * Please note that your stamina will be depleted if there are seven strikes.

  Skill Mana consumption: 90% of the maximum mana.

  Skill Cooldown Time: 1 hour.

  It was a skill where the power of Kill was weakened.

  It might not have compared to when 5 Joint Attacks was triggered with Kill, but the big advantage was that three strikes were always guaranteed, while it wasn’t certain that 5 Joint Attacks would be triggered.

  Duguen! Duguen!

  Grid’s heart beat wildly from joy. The first Linked Kill crushed the power of the fire whirlwind.

  Jjejeong!

  ‘He still has that much power left?’

  The current Grid was clearly injured. Nevertheless, he unfolded powerful attacks in succession, so Hell Gao was forced to feel confused.

  ‘Is he human?’

  A tenacious vitality. Indeed, he was similar to Muller. Hell Gao was forced to acknowledge Grid as the blue greatsword penetrated through the remnants of the flames.

  [You have suffered 215,000 damage.]

  The second blow.

  [You have suffered 219,800 damage.]

  The third blow.

  [You have suffered 214,600 damage.]

  The fourth blow.

  [You have suffered 220,100 damage.]

  The fifth blow.

  [You have suffered 218,700 damage.]

  The sixth blow.

  [You have suffered 219,200 damage.]

  The end? No. Was it like a Chinese restaurant offering good service when it was just opened? Even if he ordered one bowl of jajangmyeon, they would give a second bowl for free as a service. Grid received a lot of service for his success in a new skill fusion.

  [Failure’s option effect is activated, causing the skill ‘5 Joint Attacks’ to be generated.]

  A notification window constantly popped up as Grid’s attack hit Hell Gao.

  [You have dealt 1,057,300 damage to the target.]

  [Failure’s option effect is activated, causing the skill ‘5 Joint Attacks’ to be generated.]

  [Critical!]

  [You have dealt 2,230,900 damage to the target.]

  “…!”

  Hell Gao couldn’t even scream. The black flames around him turned to jade and were then extinguished. The strongest skill was used and the option of the strongest item was activated, meaning Grid drove Hell Gao to death in an instant.

  He once again told the kneeling Hell Gao.

  “I am in the same class as Muller.”

  Pisik.

  Hell Gao nodded for the first time, “I admit it.”

  He saw and felt this human called Grid grow in battle. He would eventually follow Muller’s course.

  “I lost. I will put off my purpose of ingesting the souls of humans to increase my strength for the moment.”

  Hell Gao admitted his defeat. The body of the demonkin was destroyed and turned to fog.

  At the same time,

  Pepeng! Pepepeng!

  The two fire stones that hadn’t been mined yet exploded at Hell Gao’s disappearance.

  “T-The fire stones?”

  Peak Sword panicked because he had been so busy watching the battle that he forgot about mining. Grid was looking at the notification windows and didn’t see him.

  [You have defeated Hell Gao, the master of hellfire, who seizes human souls.]

  [Memphis’ Egg has been acquired.]

  [118,411,132 experience has been acquired.]

  [Your level has risen.]

  [Your level has risen.]

  [Your level has risen.]

  [Your level has risen.]

  [Your level has risen.]

  [Your level has…]

  He gained 11 levels at once. Now Grid was level 253. It was a level comparable to the top 300 rankers, but it was still the lowest among the Tzedakah Guild. Furthermore, the reward was a strange item.

  “In the end, only two fire stones were mined… It’s big damage.”

  Hell G
ao was the most powerful boss he had ever met. Grid didn’t receive enough rewards for the effort he put in, and he flopped to the ground in disappointment. His stamina was depleted and it was difficult to even lift one finger.

  Peak Sword ran up to him. “Are you okay?”

  “Am I okay?” Grid frowned and glared at Peak Sword. “What will you do if I’m not okay? Will you give me the fire stone you mined?”

  “Of course.” Peak Sword confidently replied and pulled out the fire stone he obtained. “I will give this to you.”

  The value of the fire stones were so high that it was difficult to price them. But Peak Sword’s life and ranking were saved by Grid, so this was his way of showing gratitude.

  “I need one more…” Grid grumbled as he grabbed the fire stone. “Sigh… I tied Hell Gao up for 10 minutes, so how did you only obtain one fire stone in that time? Perhaps your level isn’t good enough… It is pretty pathetic.”

  “…”

  Peak Sword was 16th on the unified rankings.

  Chapter 168

  Chapter 168

  Reality and Satisfy.

  The 16th ranked Peak Sword had built a successful life in both worlds.

  ‘There is someone who actually treats me like this… Grid, you’re the first man since I went to the army 17 years ago.’

  Peak Sword couldn’t adapt to Grid’s treatment of him. But he didn’t feel bad. He was ecstatic on the drug called patriotism and Grid seemed beautiful, no matter how he acted.

  “Were there any good items?”

  “Not at all.” Grid pulled out an egg. “This is the only thing that dropped. I didn’t even get one silver.”

  “A bean?”

  “It’s an egg.”

  “What? That’s an egg?”

  Peak Sword was surprised. The size was two times smaller than a quail egg, and it looked more like a bean or small bead. Grid shared the details of Memphis’ Egg.

  [Memphis’s Egg]

  Memphis’ egg.

  Weight: 1

  Peak Sword frowned.

  “Hah… It’s really an egg? If so, is this a pet egg?”

  Hell Gao, the master of hellfire was a formidable adversary. The item he dropped couldn’t be ordinary. Peak Sword didn’t doubt that a monster with the name of Memphis would hatch. But Grid thought differently.

  “Do you know what a memphis is?”

  “No? It’s the first time I’ve heard of it.”

  “Look. It’s impossible to grasp what type of pet it is.”

  Satisfy’s pets gave their owners various effects. In rare cases, there were pets that increased the amount of experience or drop rate of items, so the users’ interest in pets was very high. South Korea broadcasted several Satisfy pet related programs, so Grid knew the basic information about pets.

  However, the name Memphis was unfamiliar.

  Even more.

  “If this is a pet, there should be a hatching method in the item description.”

  Grid had a point. All pets had a brief explanation of the hatching method. However, Memphis’ Egg didn’t describe how to hatch it. Rather, it only had a short description of ‘Memphis’ egg.’

  “Even if you are right that it is a pet, it’s useless if I don’t know how to hatch it.”

  Peak Sword agreed, “That’s right. Even if that bean is an egg, it looks like you’ll never see what is inside.”

  Grid frowned and put Memphis’ Egg back into his inventory.

  “I’ll ask the guild members to research the identity of the egg.”

  “I will also use my network to find out.”

  “Thank you.”

  Grid didn’t have any expectations. This egg was more likely to be a cooking ingredient than a pet.

  ‘Considering that Hell Gao is such a strong guy… Eating it might be similar to an elixir that permanently raises my stats.’

  For ordinary users, elixirs that permanently raised stats were very rare. But in the case of production class users like Grid, they didn’t feel a huge need for elixirs because producing items raised their stats.

  ‘That damn Hell Gao. He should’ve dropped equipment instead of this.’

  Didn’t the pope drop three legendary items, despite being much weaker than Hell Gao? Grid had been hoping that Hell Gao would drop legendary items. But the reality was the worst, so he felt down.

  ‘I don’t know exactly what the item is, so I can’t sell it.’

  As he lay on the floor and looked up at the ceiling, Peak Sword held out a hand.

  “Get up. I want to invite you to my castle. You can eat delicious food and rest there.”

  Grid questioned him, “Why are you acting so favorable towards me? Are you hoping for something? I didn’t lie about the item dropped by Hell Gao. I can’t give you anything.”

  “I don’t want anything. Didn’t you save my life? I’m just grateful for that.”

  “But didn’t I steal your guild’s prey as a result? You must be angry.”

  “In the first place, it was a battle that we couldn’t have succeeded with our strength. So I don’t feel like it was taken away. It’s true that you walked into an area controlled by our guild, but aren’t you a Korean? I am happy and grateful to have discovered that the first legendary class is a Korean.”

  “I see.”

  Grid smiled and grabbed Peak Sword’s hand. At that moment, Peak Sword made a cold expression. Grid stopped.

  ‘Did he really have ulterior motives?’

  Peak Sword shouted.

  “Logout!”

  “What are you saying?”

  “The Sakura Guild is attacking!”

  The resurrection point of the Silver Knights members was at Cork Castle. Therefore, the guild members wiped out by Hell Gao resurrected at Cork Castle. Peak Sword had commanded them to wait there and not come back.

  But was someone a mole? The guild discovered that the Sakura Guild somehow knew the situation and came here, where only a minimum of troops guarded the entry. They had already reached the 2nd floor.

  “Those guys received information that we were challenging the Hell Gao raid today and waited.”

  “What is the Sakura Guild?”

  It was a power in Satisfy that Grid had no clue about. Peak Sword gave a brief description.

  “They are one of the three guilds that represents Japan. Unlike the other two guilds, they are nationalists who are very malicious. Even the Japanese users avoid them.”

  “They have a grudge against your guild and came here to hurt you, is that right?”

  “Yes.” Peak Sword nodded and placed a hand on the sword at his waist. He took a fighting posture and declared. “Log out first.”

  “What about you?”

  “I will never run away from guys like that. The guild members are coming, so I will hold on until then.”

  Peak Sword denounced the Sakura Guild as nationalists, but he also seemed quite nationalistic.

  ‘I am tired.’

  Grid tried to logout.

  But.

  [The remnants of the great demon Hell Gao’s magic power is scattered into the atmosphere. It is impossible to logout due to this disturbance.]

  “Shit.”

  This damn monster was screwing with him even after death. A chill went down Grid’s spine. His stamina was depleted after Linked Kill, and only 60 points had been recovered. With 60 stamina, he couldn’t fight for even one minute. This was a huge crisis, because stamina was a different concept from health.

  ‘My invincible passive might activate, but if my stamina is zero, I can’t move a single finger and will eventually die.’

  Potions to restore stamina didn’t exist. Only rest was required to restore stamina, but that was slow. The speed could be slightly increased by eating. In other words, this was bad. Grid hardly ever felt the constraints of stamina thanks to his unusually high persistence stat, making this crisis unfamiliar to Grid.

  He urgently shoved beef jerky into his mouth as he asked, “
What is the Sakura Guild’s power? What is the level of their strongest users? How many minutes can you hold on by yourself? When will your guild members arrive?”

  Peak Sword had encountered countless crises while playing Satisfy. He was able to explain calmly, in contrast to the agitated Grid.

  “The Sakura Guild has 180 people. Their master Yoshimura is 2nd in the archer rankings and 98th on the unified rankings. Apart from him, there are eight more rankers in the top 300.”

  ‘Isn’t this formidable?’

  Grid’s expression stiffened. Peak Sword made a grim prediction.

  “The guild members will take 15 minutes to get here and the amount of time I can hold up alone… If I am being generous, it’s seven minutes.”

  Kwaduduk.

  Peak Sword finished his explanation and shouted to Grid.

  “Don’t think about helping! It is a matter that doesn’t have anything to do with you! Go ahead and logout!”

  “…I can’t logout.”

  Originally, it was impossible to logout in raid rooms. But that was only when the boss was present. There were few cases where a user couldn’t logout after the boss had died. So Peak Sword misunderstood.

  “Grid… Do you want to help me because I’m also Korean? While you aren’t in a perfect state? Hah, you are a true Korean…”

  “No, don’t talk such nonsense! What drivel are you saying when I really can’t logout? I can’t logout! I really can’t!”

  At that moment, the Sakura Guild came pouring down the stairs. Peak Sword gulped and continued to babble nonsense.

  “I would like to encourage you to logout. Don’t worry. It isn’t shameful to logout in front of enemies.”

  ‘Why? Ah, this really sucks.’

  Grid didn’t know. The man Peak Sword admired since childhood was Admiral Yi Sunshin.

  “How dare you guys! I will turn you into a river of blood today!”

  “Bah! Peak Sword! You’re the one who will shed blood on this earth today, not us! I’ll pay you back for taking Takeshima from us!”

  A small man emerged from among the Sakura Guild members and shouted. It was Yoshimura, the best archer after Jishuka and 98th on the unified rankings.

  ‘It’s like a drama.’

  Grid was able to grasp the atmosphere of the two people with one glance. The Silver Knights Guild and the Sakura Guild. It was clear that the two people enjoyed the Korea-Japan war in Satisfy more than anyone else.