by Park Saenal
‘This is the reason why Sticks assured me that I could clear the Behen Archipelago.’
Kkuok!
Grid’s clenched fist shook. His pride was hurt.
‘I’m not as strong as the previous legends. It’s just that the previous legend’s death knights are weak…’
Sticks looked at Grid’s trembling body and didn’t deny it.
“That’s correct. The legendary death knights here are very weak. They’re weak compared to when they were alive, but they have become weaker since their owner Pagma disappeared. To be honest, it’s shameful to give them the title of legends. That’s why I believe that you could beat them.”
“…Hah.”
Grid could only sigh. His previous excitement was nowhere to be seen. It was natural. He wasted his immortal skill on a death knight which couldn’t even be called a legend. He lost his immortality, despite it being an opponent he could win against without losing his immortality.
‘This can’t continue.’
Grid knew that his tendency to depend on his immortality was too great.
‘Now it isn’t the power of items, but the power of immortality? Then I should be called the Immortal King, not the Overgeared King.’
Grid didn’t realize that at least the Immortal King was more stylish than the Overgeared King. It was a pity. Grid thought back to his battle with Agnus.
‘If I didn’t have the immortality when I fought him, I would have been defeated…’
At this moment, Grid realized.
‘It isn’t just Agnus. The reason I won most of my one on one matches wasn’t because I was stronger than my opponent. It was because I had the immortal skill.’
Immortality was a unique ability of the legendary classes. No one would blame Grid for winning due to his immortality. It wasn’t reprehensible to use the ability he was given. But Grid criticized himself.
‘This type of thinking is a poison.’
The problem was that the idea of ‘I can’t die because I am immortal’ was deeply rooted in his subconscious mind. The perception that ‘I can win because I have immortality’ would make him think that he couldn’t win without the immortality. Grid would someday experience a big upset if he didn’t fix this rotten mentality.
It was an accurate guess. Grid wasn’t aware of it, but he was going through a transformation that an average person rarely experienced. How many people in the world would become aware of their subconscious thoughts and try to fix them when they realized they were rotten? Many writers rationalized their smoking under the pretext of ‘I can’t write without cigarettes’ and failed to quit smoking for more than 10 years. Grid himself didn’t know it, but he was already becoming a special person.
“But.”
Then Sticks voice entered the ears of the deeply focused Grid. He gave a grim reality to Grid in a calm manner but now he was smiling warmly.
“The death knights here are weaker than when they were alive, but these legends are just specters of the past. There are very few people among those living today who can defeat the death knights here.” This was the main point. “Please don’t misunderstand. The reason I believed in you was because I trusted your skills, not because I ignored the death knights. I have repeatedly told you this, but you’re a great person. Take pride in this.”
“…”
It was praise from a sage. The past Grid would’ve been smiling from ear to ear. He would’ve scratched his head and smiled with a monkey-like face. However, the current Grid wasn’t someone who could become complacent. He wanted to go higher. If he wasn’t satisfied then he couldn’t rejoice when praised.
“I might be great when compared to ordinary people. However, I have to deal with monsters.”
The great demons with the power to drive humanity to destruction, Agnus who had contracted with Baal, the Saharan Empire of the West Continent, Ares bordering the empire, Sword Saint Kraugel who boasted a unique presence, the yangbans of the East Continent…
There were also the Overgeared members. They were special companions and competitors. If he was careless, he could fall behind.
‘No.’
Grid was already determined to be the best. He believed he was eligible. He had confidence in himself for the first time since he was born. He never wanted to give up.
“Sigh…” Grid took a deep breath and got up. His gaze was resolute. “On the next island, I will win without depending on my immortality.”
“…!”
Sticks was startled. He knew that it took at least one day for the immortality ability of a legend to function again.
“Surely you aren’t planning to challenge the 63rd island straight away?”
Without the immortal passive! Sticks was overwhelmed by Grid’s determination and shook.
“Am I crazy?” Grid stared at Sticks. “Of course I will challenge it tomorrow.”
Grid said he wouldn’t depend on the immortality, but that didn’t mean he would fight without it.
“Why would I challenge it without my immortality?”
“…”
As expected from Grid. He didn’t make a mistake despite his commitment. His high pride was easily bent. He didn’t want to receive damage from a futile attempt. It wasn’t nice to look at, but it was extremely reasonable.
‘Indeed… This is the king of a nation…’
All of a sudden, Grid took out cloth and started making underwear.
***
“Umm…”
The greatest attraction of a game was the loot system. Grid had fun when he checked the result of the item he produced and saw that it was a jackpot. But Grid didn’t confirm the information of the items he obtained after raiding Alex. It was due to fear.
‘The problem is that Death Knight Alex is weak.’
The Alex of the past was unknown. However, Death Knight Alex was too weak to be called a legend. Of course, that was when compared to the former legends. Among the current players, only Grid and Kraugel could raid Death Knight Alex. He was a powerful boss. But due to Sticks, Grid had the perception that Alex was a weakling. He thought that the items dropped by the weakling Alex would be garbage. In the end.
“Ummm…!”
Grid didn’t check the item information while making four underwear. He didn’t have the courage to face the awful reality. Sticks was frustrated.
“Take a look at the gun and gloves as soon as possible. They will surely be incredible battle gear.”
“Wait… I will make one more underwear.”
“…”
No, what was the point of this act? Sticks couldn’t understand Grid. However, most players would understand.
‘If this underwear has a rare rating then I will check the item information!’
So far, all four underwear that he produced had a normal rating. The underwear production skill level was still low, but Grid thought it was also because he was unlucky.
‘The maximum rating that the intermediate level skill can produce is rare… If rare rated underwear appears now, I can interpret it as a moment of luck.’
What if he appraised the items right then?
‘The item rating might be higher or there will be one more option…!
Of course, it was an illogical superstition. It was similar to the enhancement superstition floating among the players where a certain time and place was better for enhancement. But humans loved superstitions. They especially relied on it when they encountered content with the concept of probability.
[You have completed the underwear production.]
[Under the effect of the intermediate Underwear Production Method, a rare rated underwear has been produced! There is a very low probability of an option being added!]
Ttiring~
[Clean Underwear]
Rating: Rare
Durability: None Defense: 5
* Agility +1.
There are no distinctive features, but this underwear is very comfortable to wear. Activities are comfortable when wearin
g it.
Weight: 1
* When rare rated items are produced, all stats will permanently rise by +2 and reputation throughout the continent will rise by +30.
Grid suffered a terrible penalty to the blacksmith’s benefits after producing a certain number of legendary items. Now his stats didn’t rise no matter how many rare and epic items he produced. But that was only for blacksmithing. Grid’s tailoring and underwear production skills were only intermediate level, so there were no penalties.
“Now!”
Grid felt great please after seeing that all his stats rose by two for free. He believed his luck was bad and shouted in a loud voice.
“Legendary! Blacksmith’s! Appraisal!”
“…”
Some of Pagma’s Descendants had a disadvantage of being embarrassing since the skill names had to be cried out. But Grid didn’t care. Since the point where he shouted Item Combination, he put an iron plate on his face. Now the embarrassment was for the people with him. For example, Sticks whose face had turned red.
[Observing the target item with the legendary blacksmith’s eyes.]
[If the item has a hidden feature, it will be found.]
Ttiring~
[Alex’s Quick Gloves (Produced by Pagma)]
Rating: Legendary
Durability: 60/340 Defense: 130
* Normal attack speed is increased by three times.
Gloves made by the legendary blacksmith and Baal’s Contractor, Pagma.
He focused on overcoming the weakness of Death Knight Alex, the guardian of the 62nd island.
Weight: 66
“Two times?”
No.
“It isn’t two, but three times?”
Grid’s heart shook wildly.
Chapter 678
Chapter 678
“…”
Grid thought he had stepped on poop. The durability and defense of the Quick Gloves were so below level that it was hard to believe they were legendary items. In addition, there was only one option attached so it seemed like a garbage item.
‘Did Pagma really make this?’
Looking back on it now, the works of Pagma that Grid had witnessed weren’t that great. The items that the current Grid produced now were often better. But. Grid had never questioned Pagma’s ability. Pagma’s words that Grid had seen so far were from before he reached his prime. They were items Pagma made in the process of growing up. Grid believed that the items Pagma made in his prime would be amazing. And Pagma’s time on the Behen Archipelago was during his last years. It was when he was at his peak.
Yet look at Alex’s Quick Gloves! It was absolutely unbelievable that Pagma in his prime made it!
‘Did his blacksmithing abilities weaken after making the contract with Baal?’
Misgivings arose. But those misgivings collapsed quickly.
“…Eh? Three times?”
Grid identified the one option attached to the Quick Gloves and his eyes widened. It was the expression of a person who saw something that shouldn’t exist in this world.
“Wow…”
It wasn’t double the attack speed, but triple?
‘It isn’t even a probability item.’
That’s right. The Quick Gloves were an overpowered item that increased attack speed by three times. It probably had a much higher expected damage value than the 5 Joint Attacks of the Holy Light Gloves.
“No, it isn’t.”
The Quick Gloves clearly stated that this applied to ‘normal attacks.’ It was the so-called basic attacks. The triple increase in attack speed only applied to this. It was completely different from the Holy Light Gloves where the 5 Joint Attacks could apply to anything.
“I wouldn’t have felt so good about this before making the Enlightenment Blade.”
Most players depended on skills rather than basic attacks. It was natural that skill damage was several times higher than normal damage. It was the same for Grid. No, Grid was more than that. Grid had the legendary Pagma’s Swordsmanship with the highest attack power, and his main weapon was Failure, which increased skill damage. The important thing for him was always skill damage. He wasn’t concerned with basic attacks.
However, that story changed once he made the Enlightenment Blade. The black flames attached to the Enlightenment Blade show power above normal active skills and even activated with basic attacks. Grid wanted the black flames to frequently activate. He wanted to trigger the black flames by attacking more often. Acquiring the Quick Gloves that increased attack speed by three times at this point was pure luck.
“Kuhuhuhu…”
Grid burst out laughing. His legs were slightly relaxed. He was so happy that he couldn’t suppress his emotions. He was glad that he acquired the Quick Gloves so soon after making the Enlightenment Blade that had the strongest ‘basic damage.’ Grid felt like he was the protagonist of the world.
“How can I be so lucky…? Heok.”
Grid was murmuring when he suddenly stopped. He had little experience saying these type of lines so it felt strange.
“Surely this isn’t the end of the world?”
The joy and doubts that Grid felt were proportional. He pinched his cheeks several times because he thought it might be a dream. Fortunately, it was reality.
“…Let’s buy a lottery ticket.”
Grid was seriously worried! He caressed the ‘orange’ Quick Gloves with satisfied eyes.
‘Even the color is beautiful.’
What were orange gloves? If Grid was a person with normal senses, he would dislike it. Fortunately, Grid wasn’t ordinary and he liked the orange gloves a lot.
‘I need to constantly disassemble and reassemble it to raise my understanding to 100% and challenge a mass production version.’
He had already decided to mass produce Lantier’s Cloak and give them to the evil eyes kingdom. The number of items he needed to mass produce was increasing, making Grid feel proud. He packed the gloves in his inventory and pulled out the magic engineering weapon next.
‘Indeed…’
Would it be a top rated item like the gloves? Grid shook his head. The problem was that the Quick Gloves were too good.
‘I can’t expect a big profit to come from two items in a row.’
Yes, it was generally like this. Most boss monsters were likely to drop only one core item. For example, if a legendary item dropped, then the rest of the items were likely to be unique and below. It was the same with Belial. She only dropped one myth rated item. Of course, it wasn’t certain that one core item would drop. There was a 99% chance of it dropping, but Grid was likely to hit the 1% chance.
The Quick Gloves had a legendary rating so the remaining magic weapon should be unique or below. It was like Grid expected. Well, only half. Yes, it was half what he expected.
[Observing the target item with the legendary blacksmith’s eyes.]
[If the item has a hidden feature, it will be found.]
Ttiring~
[Alex’s Magic Engineering Bayonet (Produced by Pagma)]
Rating: Unique (Growth)
Durability: 599/1,260
* Pistol Mode
Attack Power: 870
Mana Purification Rate: +60%
- If you hit the same target five times, there is a 20% chance of causing an abnormal state.
* Rifle Mode
Attack Power: 1,416
Mana Purification Rate: -15%
Firing Speed: -20%
* Bayonet Mode
Attack Power: 1,067
Stabbing Attack Power +50%
- Additional damage every time a combo is achieved.
- The Sword Mastery skill is applicable.
★ Sniper Mode
Attack power: Instantaneous death..
Aiming time: 10 seconds to 2 minutes (depending on the distance)
Cooldown Time: 1 hour.
* Mode conversion is only possible once every four seconds.
A magical engineering bayonet made
by the legendary blacksmith and Baal’s Contractor, Pagma.
Pagma was inspired by Milepeu and made a bayonet capable of transforming into a sniper rifle, something no dwarven craftsman has managed to do. This is a work that will fascinate the dwarves.
Conditions of Use: Demon Slayer
Weight: 3,050
“It is a unique rating…right?”
The rating was as he expected. But it was a growth item.
‘…It is a higher version of the magic engineering gun that Yura is using.’
It was also several times better. A smile appeared on Grid’s face as he got two successive benefits.
‘Okay, I will give this to Yura.’
Grid didn’t even contemplate the idea of using it himself. He was already familiar with how troublesome and difficult it was to raise the experience of a growth item.
***
“Oh, this rotten item experience.”
Vantner, who was raising a pair of growth type axes, complained after raiding a named boss. The Overgeared members comforted him.
“Originally, the experience of an item doesn’t climb easily. It will take a least a fortnight to raise an item to the rare rating, despite grinding. It might take a few months to grow to the unique rating and years to grow to the legendary rating.
Recently, there had been a ‘growth type item’ trend among the top rankers. It was because after level 300, the bosses dropped growth type items and their growth potential was explosive. It seemed like a message to prepare to deal with level 400 monsters.
Of course, expectations were only high at this moment. Boss monsters mainly dropped growth type items that started at the normal rating and they were weak, making it hard to use them as a main weapon.
‘Come to think of it… Hasn’t it been a year since Grid got Elfin Stone’s ring?”
“Isn’t it over? It has been less than a year since he got Tiramet’s Belt.”
“Crazy…! And it still hasn’t risen to the legendary rating? I can’t imagine how difficult it is to raise the item experience.”
Vantner had been doing the ultimate grinding for the last fortnight. It was in order to increase the rating of his twin axes. Thus, for the past fortnight, he had only been searching for durable monsters such as a golem. It meant that he hunted level 300 monsters with a normal item. It was really grinding. Even so, the item experience didn’t go up easily, making Vantner go crazy. He once again thought that Grid was great.