by Park Saenal
“Where are you going?”
Grid smiled with satisfaction and kicked the clone’s abdomen. The clone’s health fell to 1 and it entered the immortality state.
“I can’t miss this opportunity.”
Grid declared and summoned Noe and Randy. The moment of the end of the long battle was approaching.
Chapter 392
Chapter 392
‘Really long…’
Grid had been tied up by the 41st island for five days. If Grid was an ordinary player, he likely would’ve been satisfied and abandoned the 41st island the moment that his new skills were acquired.
This was normal. What player in this world could repeatedly challenge death? There would only be 1 in every 10,000. The more high level a player was, the more cautious they were.
But Grid wasn’t an ordinary person. He was obsessed with overcoming his inadequate talent and was persistent. For Grid, giving up was a concept that should be avoided, and was one of the driving forces behind why he could stand shoulder to shoulder with geniuses.
“Well, it ended sooner than expected.”
He didn’t know that the effect of the Motley Flail would resolve it from the beginning. He thought he would have to repeat his death several times. Yet the best outcome occurred in the very first fight.
‘God has a conscience.’
Was God sorry about always giving Grid bad luck and gave him good luck once in a while?
Ssik!
Grid smiled as he swapped to Grid’s Greatsword and neared the clone. The clone was in the immortal state. Grid was cautious of Meditation, so he was thankful for the clone’s actions.
“Pagma’s Swordsmanship, Linked Kill Wave.”
Kwa kwa kwa kwang!
The sword technique was unfolded and eight stormy energy blades flooded towards Grid. Grid was lost the immortal passive, so the clone needed to gain the advantage in these five seconds. It was what Grid expected.
“Pagma’s Swordsmanship, Linked Kill Wave.”
Compared to the best artificial intelligence, his skill development rate was rather slow. Originally, it was difficult for him to use Linked Wave Kill, but the power of ‘prediction’ was great. Grid anticipated that the clone would use Linked Wave Kill and succeeded in unfolding it at the same time.
Kwa kwa kwa kwang!
The storm of swords swallowed up each other and a powerful shock wave occurred. The land shook and the sea became chaotic.
“Noe! Randy!”
“Nyaang!”
“Yes!”
A tsunami seemed like it would swallow the island. Noe and Randy flew towards the clone at the same time. Randy used Link while Noe opened his mouth and attempted to steal the stats. But the clone wasn’t easy.
“Blackening, Blacksmith’s Rage, and Quick Movements.”
Peeng!
The clone used buff skills as an explosion of dark magic occurred around him, shrugging off Noe and Randy and aiming for Grid.
“Kuk…!”
The movements were as fast as lightning. Grid reeled back as he was stabbed in the heart with Iyarugt. If the tsunami hadn’t covered Grid and the clone at the same time, a combo would’ve succeeded.
Kwa kwa kwang!
Grid and the clone were swept to the edge of the island by the tsunami. He swapped from Grid’s Boots to Braham’s Boots and used Fly to escape the destruction of the sea.
“Heok… Heok…”
The damp Grid laughed while panting. On the other hand, the clone revealed impatience. There was less than two seconds remaining on the immortality.
“Magic Missile.”
Pepepepeng!
He summoned the fake God Hands and fired four Magic Missiles at Grid. At the same time, the clone used Transcended Link. Surprisingly, Grid responded with Revolve. Why would he use Revolve first when it was unconditionally disadvantageous to him?
The clone was confused and also started to use Revolve. But at that moment.
Pe-ng!
“…!!”
A flash of light struck the clone, who had been paying attention to the approaching strengthened Transcended Link. Where did this attack come from? It was from below. It came from the sea where the clone was standing.
Magic Missile flew from it. The moment that the tsunami occurred, Grid left one of the God Hands in the sea and waited for this moment.
“Ack…!”
The clone stumbled. He had a pale complexion and coughed up blood. It was an unbelievable situation for the clone. Placing items to take advantage of the terrain and using a skill to draw attention? It was ridiculous that Grid had threatened the clone with such a trick.
“Haven’t I grown? It is all thanks to you. You have helped a lot in developing me.”
Grid dealt the killing blow.
“Kuaaaaak!”
The clone screamed with rage as it turned to grey.
[You have won the fight against yourself!]
[You have succeeded in beating the 41st island!]
[You have acquired 1 skill level point from the mission clear reward.]
Grid lost a huge 61.2% experience from the 42nd island. As a result, Grid’s level fell to 305. He would have to hunt for at least 20 days to recover 61.2% of his experience. The time loss was enormous.
But Grid didn’t think he received any damages. He gained the strongest skills Linked Kill Wave and Pinnacle Kill, as well as rich combat experience.
“Very good.”
It was strength that transcended the concept of level. A noble pride could be seen in Grid’s smile of satisfaction. A notification window popped up in front of Grid.
[You have overcome your limitations and have taken one step closer to being a legend.]
[One of Pagma’s Descendant’s hidden pieces ‘Sealed Ability’ has been acquired.]
[The skill ‘Blacksmith’s Eyes’ has been acquired.]
So far, Grid had acquired three hidden pieces. The first hidden piece gave him a 10% reduction in his skills cooldown time and also the Item Modification skill. He got Item Combination from the second hidden piece, and Minerals Strengthening from the third one.
‘Since then, it’s been a while…’
Blacksmith’s Eyes? Grid felt anticipation as he checked the description of the skill.
[Blacksmith’s Eyes]
You can see some of the abilities and options when looking at the target item. Limited to equipped items.
* The closer the distance to the target item, the better the analytical power.
“In short… It is an item observation skill that applies to items I don’t own.”
For example, he could get a glimpse of the armor and weapon that the enemy was using?
“…?”
What was the point of this skill? What was the point of checking items? Grid thought for a moment and was belatedly thrilled.
“Heok, isn’t this a huge skill?”
It was a huge scam being able to see the details of the enemy’s items. Why? He could block the trump cards hidden in the enemy’s items in advance, and also exploit the weaknesses.
“Kuoh…”
Grid’s fists clenched as he shuddered. It was a state where he couldn’t contain his joy.
“I like it when Grid is happy.”
“Me too, nyang.”
Noe and Randy laughed and Grid stroked their heads. Sticks smiled as he watched the group of three. There was one fact that Grid overlooked. Grid’s clone had died in the Blackening State. The present Grid never imagined that this variable would provide a fun and positive environment for him.
***
[Skill Level Point]
Increases the skill level of a specified skill by 100%.
“Um.”
Raise the level of any skill?
It would be nice to raise the level of powerful fusion skills like Linked Kill Wave, Pinnacle Kill, Transcended Link and Linked Kill. Unfortunately, the fusion skills didn’t have the concept of level.
They we
re so powerful that they were already judged as complete skills.
‘It is better to raise the level of Kill.’
No, it might not be the case. Grid couldn’t decide hastily.
‘It might be good to raise the Legendary Blacksmith’s Craftsmanship Skill.’
It was hard to choose right now. Grid decided to save the skill point and not use it hastily. Then Sticks approached him.
“Do you want to move on to the next island?”
Grid nodded without hesitation.
“I will do that.”
There was 36 days left until the National Competition. Prior to that, Grid planned to capture all of the Behen Archipelago, so he hastened his steps.
[You have entered the 42nd island.]
[You have entered the 43rd island.]
[You have entered the…]
The trials to overcome himself seemed to have ended. The 42nd to 49th islands were ordinary missions such as monster hunting and boss raids.
‘It is comfortable.’
The monsters inhabiting the islands in the 40’s weren’t weak. They were just very easy compared to when dealing with his clone. Thus, Grid’s momentum continued until he reached the 50th island.
***
Braham, who had mastered magic while being a direct descendant of Shizo Beriache. In the end, he was regarded as a legend and was close to the title of the strongest. Then what about now? After losing his body and becoming a soul, he was weak and miserable. The glory of the past couldn’t be found anywhere.
[Dammit…! Dammit!]
The 1st great demon, Baal. That monster’s contractor was one of the few people able to fight with a dragon. They caused trouble for Braham every time.
[It can’t happen again this time.]
Braham went looking for his body sealed at the Sword Grave, only to be weakened by Agnus. He felt irritation at his soul losing strength and was eventually reminded of Grid.
[Pagma’s Descendant will be able to do it.]
Just as Pagma had the power of a great demon.
Pa-at!
Braham’s soul squeezed out all his remaining magic power and triggered detection magic throughout the continent. It was to find Grid.
Chapter 393
Chapter 393
“Dammit!”
The 3rd ranked Chris’ pride was as high as the sky. It was understandable. It would be strange to have low self-esteem when he was top three among two billion users.
Chris only felt his limits with two people: Kraugel and Grid. In the case of Kraugel, he was overwhelmed by the incredible level up speed and physical abilities, while Grid was a legendary blacksmith.
In other words.
‘I can’t believe I was jerked around by Zibal.’
Chris thought that everyone except for Kraugel and Grid were less than him. Zibal was one level higher than Chris and fought closely with Piaro, but when Chris thought about it objectively, Zibal was a person with high political skills. He was right below Chris. But such a person played with him.
Chris’ pride was greatly damaged when Zibal raised doubts at the gathering of the leaders of the seven guilds. It would be difficult to recover unless he showed his strength to Zibal.
‘I want to completely smash Zibal and the Snake Guild.’
The Giant Guild, led by Chris, was the strongest guild in the past, but not anymore. It fell after being hit hard by the Reinhardt golem invasion. Now it would be fortunate if his guild power could be considered in the top three of the seven guilds.
In this situation, he couldn’t guarantee an unconditional victory if he clashed with the Snake Guild. In addition, there was the problem of the other guilds allied with the Snake Guild. If Chris struck at the Snake Guild, the entire Giant Guild might be isolated.
In the end, Chris had only one choice.
‘I have to aim for the National Competition.’
He would meet the seven guilds, including Zibal and Seuron, in the National Competition.
‘Trample them.’
Kwaduduk!
Chris was one of the strongest people in the world, despite being defeated by a farmer. His biggest strength? It wasn’t his level, control or items. It was his unique rated second class, Tyrant. This was Chris’ biggest weapon.
A second class was a great concept. Since a user had two classes, it was hard to list the effects and benefits.
***
Huroi’s combat power was the worst until he got his second class, Apostle of Justice’s Partner. He couldn’t use any weapons apart from a book and because he was an orator, he had to fight with words instead of attack skills. In the past, Huroi could only believe in his mouth every time he experienced a crisis.
“Heok… Heok…”
Behen Archipelago, the 31st island.
After falling into his days as a level 73 orator, Huroi fell into a desperate crisis. He was surrounded by 13 level 85 monsters, the grey-mane wolves that boasted superb attack power and agility.
‘This is an island that recreates my past trials.’
Huroi was desperate. He couldn’t use a sword without his second class and his overall stats were the worst. He wasn’t sure how to handle this crisis.
‘How did My Lord overcome such trials?’
Huroi once again thought that Grid was great.
‘It was worth giving him all my loyalty.’
Kwack!
Huroi gained courage from this. As Grid’s right arm, he didn’t want to cause shame. Huroi wanted to overcome this trial. He made fun of the wolves.
“Your mother is a fox!”
“…!”
The mother who gave birth to the wolves was a fox? It was an insult.
“Awooooo!”
Bark! Bark bark!
The angry wolves started to go crazy, falling into a mental shock from Huroi’s Spiteful Tongue.
“Your father has a yellow mane!”
“You are dogs!”
“Your ancestors were turned into my jerky!”
It was a really low mud fight that made the listeners frown.
***
“Haha.”
It was one month to the National Competition. Chairman Lim Cheolho, who hadn’t been able to monitor the rankings for a while due to his busy schedule, watched the recorded video of when Grid hit the 41st island and laughed.
Was he happy about Grid’s growth? No, that wasn’t it. Grid was making steady progress, so this wasn’t anything new. Right now, Lim Cheolho’s attention was on the clone who died in the Blackening state.
“The clone should’ve been destroyed at the moment of death…”
But it actually fell to hell due to the Blackening state, becoming an independent entity completely separate from Grid.
“It this a bug?”
Lim Cheolho was the creator of Satisfy, but he didn’t build all the systems alone. In order to minimize errors and create a larger system, Lim Cheolho left Satisfy’s overall operation to the supercomputer, Morpheus. Despite the end of Blackening, Grid’s clone wasn’t pushed out of hell to the human world. Therefore, Lim Cheolho felt doubts.
Morpheus explained.
[It isn’t a bug. Z10B005 isn’t a user. Therefore, he isn’t subject to the rules of Blackening and hell.]
“Hrmm… This situation is very interesting.”
Hell started to tremble with the arrival of Grid’s clone. What change would this cause in hell? In addition, how could the clone grow now that it was independent from Grid?
Lim Cheolho was very excited and was looking forward to it.
***
[You have entered the 50th island.]
[This is a save point. Would you like to register?]
[You have been registered. When you enter the Behen Archipelago later on, you will start from the 50th island.]
On the 41st island, Grid tasted great adversity. After that, he succeeded in reaching the 50th island in a short amount of time. But it wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
“The
mobs are over level 360.”
The higher the number of the island, the higher the level of the monsters. On the 49th island, the average level of the monsters was 360~370. It was at least 55 levels higher than Grid. Their basic stats were very good and they had good defense, making it hard for Grid.
Was it possible to go 5 against 1? He fought against level 360 monsters in a 5 against 1 match. It was great enough to make general rankers lose their words. But once again, Grid wasn’t satisfied. The stronger the monsters, the slower his hunting speed.
“It’s doubtful if I can reach the end of the Behen Archipelago by the time the National Competition arrives.”
It was a month in reality and 90 days in Satisfy time before the National Competition arrived. It might not be possible to reach the 66th island in this period of time if the difficulty kept increasing.
“In order to increase the speed of hunting, I need Fog Island.”
Before he knew it, Grid had collected 18,851 challenger points. It was enough to purchase the Weapons Mastery skill book and 51 elixirs.
‘51 elixirs.’
It was equivalent to 51 levels. If he was able to acquire Weapons Mastery and the elixirs, Grid would be able to hunt the monsters of the Behen Archipelago more easily.
‘It is also possible to make the ratio of strength and agility 1:1.’
This meant he could copy Piaro’s stats distribution. Grid was convinced that he would surely become stronger if he made the ratio of strength and agility 1:1.
‘I won’t follow anyone else, only Piaro.’
Since Satisfy opened, Piaro was the third strongest person Grid had ever met. The vampire duke Marie Rose and great magician Braham were the other two, so Grid judged that he would become stronger if he copied Piaro’s stats distribution.
“Huhuhut!”
Ttang! Ttang!
Grid repaired the items whose durability were severely damaged in the Behen Archipelago and laughed. He was imagining the scene where he would reach Fog Island and be compensated for his hard work.
That’s right. Grid had forgotten. The fact this his wishes didn’t always occur the way he wanted.
***
[You have entered the 51st island.]
[A mission will be created.]
[51st Island]
Defeat 10 golden crowns in 20 minutes.