by Park Saenal
“I am the one who should be thankful.”
Immortal had lost their place due to the Overgeared Kingdom’s killing order. It was hard to find a safe place to go since they were always chased by players. Then they received an invitation from Merchant King Kir. It was a proposal to stay in Kir’s city.
Veradin faced Kir and smiled. “Were you hit by Grid?”
“…What?” Kir hadn’t said anything about what he’d gone through and why he had called Immortal. So why did Grid’s name pop up randomly?
Veradin shrugged at the confused Kir. “Aren’t you famous for always putting your best interests first? If you were in a normal situation, you wouldn’t go against Grid by inviting us.”
Yes, Kir wouldn’t do anything against Grid unless he was an idiot. That’s why Veradin guessed that Kir had already been hit by Grid. Kir sighed deeply. “Well… I didn’t intend to hide it. Your guess is right. I was hit by that damn Grid and have a debt to repay.”
Veradin’s eyes shone. “Interesting. Why don’t you tell me more?”
“The beginning started with…”
Kir needed Immortal’s cooperation and was obliged to make them a perfect ally. So, he explained in detail about what happened to him. However, he reduced the amount of damage he’d suffered and hid his relationship with the Yatan Church. Then the lengthy explanation ended.
“Yes. You went through a lot of trouble. You also suffered damage from the villain called Grid. Okay. Immortal will stay here and help you. Victims should help each other. Otherwise, who will help us?” Veradin gave Kir a satisfactory answer. “We will make this place our base and reserve our strength. Immortal will do our best to carry out your instructions.”
“Good. I will also support Immortal by providing items. By the way… what about Agnus?”
In fact, it was because of Agnus that Kir first thought about Immortal. The world message which spoke about Agnus becoming a legend gave Kir hope. He assumed that it would be easier to get revenge on Grid if he had Agnus. However, he couldn’t see Agnus here at all. He was feeling troubled by how Veradin responded like it was nothing, “Isn’t Agnus famous? At this moment, he is freely wandering the continent and enjoying the moment.”
“What about the kill order?”
“What is the use of a kill order against him? Who would dare to hurt Agnus apart from Grid directly?”
“Haha! I see.”
“Yes, don’t worry. Agnus will arrive after we deal with the miscellaneous matters.”
That was a lie. Veradin had lost Agnus’ trust due to the Reinhardt invasion, so Agnus’ attitude was now very different from the past. He didn’t leave any tasks to Veradin and completely neglected Immortal. However, Veradin couldn’t reveal this fact. It was obvious that Immortal would be nothing without Agnus. Additionally, he believed that Agnus would find him again someday.
“Shall we talk about future plans?”
“First of all, I will raise money. I will gather money from all types of commercial areas, regardless of means and methods. I will then develop talent and weapons.”
“Is this to defend yourself against Grid?”
“That isn’t enough. I must take everything away from Grid.”
“Haha! It is a great mindset. Okay. Let’s join forces to flatten Grid.”
“Is it enough to flatten Grid? We will destroy everything. Hahaha!”
The sound of the two men’s laughter filled the colorfully decorated office.
The two men planned to get revenge on Grid and believed it was fully feasible. After all, the stronger the Overgeared Kingdom became, the more people became jealous of them. Thus, Kir and Veradin were confident that they could trample on the Overgeared Kingdom.
This was something Grid and Lauel were concerned about. They couldn’t give any room to people who had already become enemies.
“K-Kir!”
“Veradin! He came!”
“…?”
The cheerfully laughing Veradin and Kir closed their mouths and stiffened at the same time. Their faces turned pale as their rushing colleagues explained the situation.
“What?”
***
“At that time, I was careless.”
“That’s right.”
Boutian and Arisa—the two high rankers belonging to Merchant King Kir’s forces—replayed the fight in the forest.
“It was a shame when I tried to use magic to blow him away. It would’ve been enough to tie up his feet.”
If he had blocked the movements that were required for Pagma’s Swordsmanship, Grid’s power would’ve been weakened by several times. They had analyzed Grid’s weak points in the National Competition videos but hadn’t been able to utilize them due to their greed.
Boutian was filled with frustration while Arisa confessed honestly, “We made a lot of mistakes. I was too conscious of Blackening and got caught off guard. It would’ve been easier if I did my best from the beginning…”
Then Tarot, who was sitting quietly between the two people, laughed. “You should’ve taken me along. I would’ve been able to hunt Grid easily. Isn’t that right?”
Tarot was someone with Blackening, like Grid. He had gained a mighty power during a great demon quest and evolved into a half-demonkin. Even Boutian and Arisa were deeply regretful that he hadn’t encountered Grid at this time.
“Ah, it was a chance to hunt him and get bonuses.”
“It couldn’t be helped. You had a separate mission.”
“That was a mistake in the first place. If you waited until my mission ended, you wouldn’t have gone through such humiliation… Huh?” Tarot was blaming Kir’s stupidity when he let out a sound of confusion. He rubbed his eyes a few times before pointing at the gate.
“Isn’t that Grid?”
“What?”
Boutian and Arisa frowned at the same time. They thought that Tarot was joking in this serious atmosphere. Tarot licked his lips like he had a delicious meal in front of him. “Ah, how bad is a human’s vision? It has been a few months since I’ve been a human, so I have forgotten.”
“What are you doing?”
It was too much to fool around. Boutian and Arisa became confused as Tarot suddenly used Blackening. Unfortunately, Tarot wasn’t joking right now. He pulled out a red sword and jumped toward the gate. Then a white sword of light flew and pierced his brow.
“…Eh?” Tarot was stunned as he lost half his health from the one blow. He lost his momentum and fell helplessly. Then a man passed by him, and Tarot was hit with hundreds of energy blades and turned to gray.
Boutian and Arise hurriedly shouted, “E-Emergency!”
“Gather the entire army right now!”
“100,000 Army Massacre Sword.”
“…!!”
Alarm bells rang as a wild beast appeared in the city.
Chapter 841
Chapter 841
TL: Please read this announcement. I am specifically posting it at the top to ensure that people read it.
Satisfy boasted freedom that went beyond reality and had a vast worldview that was close to infinite. It would take years to explore the continent and find the unique food of each region. However, humans pursued their own path.
Some people enjoyed Satisfy in a way that was no different from existing games. They were typical rankers, who were obsessed with maintaining their ranking or reaching a higher ranking. This meant they spent most of their time connected to Satisfy in hunting grounds. They abandoned the ordinary content that others enjoyed and focused on hunting. Thanks to their efforts, they became rankers and could earn wealth and honor.
However, Grid was different.
[Name: Grid
Level: 362
Class: Pagma’s Descendant (Conditional Great Magician)
Title: One who Became a Legend and 25 others (If you want to view the list, please click for a detailed view)
Health: 88,815 Mana: 14,268
Strength: 3,160 (+360)
St
amina: 1,987 (+580)
Agility: 2,690 (+330)
Intelligence: 1,838 (+540)
Dexterity: 3,547 (+880)
Persistence: 1,472 (+330)
Composure: 1,078 (+330)
Indomitable: 1,333 (+440)
Dignity: 1,986 (+330)
Insight: 1,826 (+330)
Courage: 1,022 (+330)
Political Power: 21 (+330)
Demonic Power: 15,498
Good Luck: 241
Deity: 4
Remaining Stat Points: 267]
Compared to normal rankers, Grid spent a very small amount of time hunting. In fact, he spent most of his time in the smithy and suffered from various incidents. So, logically, he shouldn’t have such a high level. Yet Grid’s level was still in the single digit rankings. How…?
He was linked to various NPCs and was at the center of the world view. In the process, he had raided powerful bosses or cleared hidden quests. Grid had gained experience in a single raid that others would take 100 days of hunting to gain. This was due to him building up relationships with NPCs.
However, other people didn’t know this.
“100,000 Army Massacre Sword.”
There was an explosion followed by dozens of energy blades filling the air. The Penan soldiers who ran in response to Boutian’s and Arisa’s cries all turned to gray. The number was well over 200.
“You damn son of a bit—…!” Boutian shuddered as he witnessed the soldiers, who had been trained using Merchant King Kir’s money and their efforts, disappear due to the overwhelming firepower. He was resentful that he had overlooked the ‘personal power’ of Grid, who had the position of king and yet still retained the top ranking.
‘I should’ve expected him to chase us here! He is a diligent guy who only eats and plays games!’
In fact, Boutian played Satisfy for an average of 12 hours a day. He spent most of the time at the hunting grounds, apart from when he was carrying out Kir’s orders. Even so, he had never dreamt of reaching the single-digit rankings. His highest ranking was in the top 100. He thought that Grid was likely to spend all his time eating and playing games.
‘If only I was 10 years younger…!’
It was frustrating that his body had weakened once he reached his 40s. Envious of Grid’s youth, Boutian shouted, “Full force! Build a barricade!”
Despite witnessing 200 troops being wiped out with a single skill, Boutian didn’t despair. He still had hope because there were too many advantages when it came to defending a city.
There was the help of various facilities. A typical example of this was a barricade. The soldiers arranged in a row the barricades which were installed in various parts of the city. Like this, the attacker would have to first break through the barricades while the soldiers could attack freely.
Boutian smiled with satisfaction. “Overgeared King! You came to your grave on your own! You will forever regret today’s stupidity!”
He was naturally aware that Grid could break the barricades with his high attack power, but the blow would have to be heavy. While Grid attacked the barricade, the archers and magicians should be able to hit Grid dozens of times. In a perfect environment, the numerical advantage was absolute. It was clearly common sense.
“Magic Missile.”
“What?”
The God Hands fired white missiles one per second, and the barricades installed throughout the city broke down.
“Lightning, nyang!” A cat flew to the soldiers and used a wide-range lightning spell, causing the soldiers to collapse. The guards collapsed in a flash, causing Boutian to coordinate the archers hurriedly. “Hurry!”
“Revolve.” Randy duplicated Grid’s appearance and reflected all the arrows.
“Kuock…!”
“Ugh…!”
The archers were pierced by arrows and fell!
“What is this?” Boutian and the magicians cast magic belatedly, but it was too late.
“Do you think I would’ve come alone if I was going to be hit by such shallow tricks?” Grid avoided the magic using Freely Move and reached Boutian’s side instantly.
[You have suffered catastrophic damage!]
[Your spirit can’t endure it!]
“Cough!” Boutian’s health gauge dropped to less than half when he was hit by the Enlightenment Sword. Due to Grid’s attack, he was stunned and became unable to do anything. During this moment, he was hit by creepily smiling skeletons.
[You have dealt 509 damage to the target!]
[You have suffered 480 damage!]
Boutian was stabbed by a short dagger. As the soldiers rushed over to protect him, Boutian roared angrily, “You! Are you looking down on me by not finishing me off yourself?”
The finishing blow was going to be left to these small fries? Boutian was in shock as he shouted angrily. Then the insignificant attack power of the skeleton’s dagger, which had failed to penetrate Boutian’s defense, now caused a stunning critical hit.
[Your ribs have been broken!]
[It is serious damage! Skills can’t be used! Your spirit can’t endure it. Movement speed is reduced! Health recovery is reduced by 80%!]
[You have taken medicine for broken bones.]
[The effect of the medicine isn’t working.]
[You need the best medicine for broken bones.]
“What?” A chill ran down Boutian’s spine. Grid was currently slaughtering the soldiers while ignoring Boutian. The golden hands, the cat, the doppelganger, and the skeletons… None of them were ordinary. Grid monopolized the strongest items and pets alone, while other players would be happy with just one. Due to this, there was one major problem.
“Ugh..!”
Grid’s individual power was enough to overwhelm two and three digit high rankers, including Arisa. Boutian was convinced of this as he watched Arisa while being stabbed by the skeletons.
‘…It is enough to transcend the category of a player.’
Grid transcended the category of an ‘individual.’ He was an army, a giant that couldn’t fall. There was only one choice remaining. Boutian judged that the remaining forces wouldn’t be able to stop Grid and gave an order before dying, “Shit! Army… full force! Keok!”
However, it was an Immortal’s necromancer who killed him, not the Overgeared Skeletons.
“I can’t miss this great opportunity.” The necromancers smiled as they raised the dead bodies all over the place. Today was different from when they were in the empress’ palace as the Black and White sisters were present.
“It has been a long time, damn bastard.”
“Today is a chance to get revenge.”
The sun-grade players who once represented Blood Carnival…! They had abandoned Blood Carnival a long time ago and hid from the world after joining Immortal.
There was a fierce wave of energy as Black and White sisters burned off fat and summoned clones. They had raged with the desire to take revenge against Grid, Faker, and even Grid’s son, Lord, as they raised their levels while hunting for several months. After doing so, they were now confident that they had become strong enough to shatter Grid. In particular, Kir and Immortal were supporting them, so they were sure it would be easy to repel Grid.
“Dieeeeeee!”
It was finally time to get revenge. After blowing away the Overgeared Skeletons with one blow, White’s and Black’s clones headed toward Grid. They quickly reached Grid who was dealing with the soldiers. However, this was no different from suicide.
“Blackening.” When Grid discovered the Black and White sisters, he used a skill without delay.
“Open the Rune of Darkness, Weakened Great Demon Astaroth’s Power.”
“…!!”
“Storm Demonic Energy Field.”
From the beginning, the sky had been overcast. As such, Grid selected ‘today’ because of the weather. The power of the great demon immediately caused four to eleven lightning strikes per second to strike in a radius of 200 meters around Grid. The si
sters and soldiers hit by the lightning received 10,000 fixed damage and were paralyzed, stunned, burned, and so on.
“Eek! What nonsensical item is this?”
Fortunately, Black avoided the paralysis and stun. She gritted her teeth and endured the pain. A player could summon a field…? There was no way that this power could be a skill. Now he wasn’t a player but a boss. White was convinced that Grid had used a consumable item to overcome the current crisis.
“Overgeared jerk!” White barely moved her heavy body under the wind pressure as she avoided the lightning and rushed to Grid. It was a blow containing all her strength. However, it was virtually impossible for the blackened Grid to be hit by Black and White after the field slowed them down and reduced their accuracy rate.
Grid easily avoided White’s blow, which contained her anger and grudges, before slashing at her. Then he continued to attack until the sun-grade player died.
“Sister!” Black was in despair as her clones became paralyzed whenever lightning struck. Two suns were equal under the new sky.
Chapter 842
Chapter 842
[Your party member, White, has died.]
“Sister!”
In an alleyway that was far from the center of the battlefield, Black turned pale as she hid in a safe place while controlling her clones. Her proud sister, who had steadily raised her level and equipped herself with legendary items after vowing to get revenge on Grid and the Overgeared members, had actually been killed in less than two minutes.
Black stared at Grid as her clones were stunned by the lightning strikes, and a chill ran down her spine.
‘The gap between us has widened rather than narrowed?’
Every game had limits. Growth would slow after a certain level. The growth of low-level players was much faster than high-level players. Players with low-rated items were more likely to develop than those with a large number of high-rated items. As such, it was expected for the growth rate of the top ranker Grid to be much slower than others’ since he had been wielding legendary items from the very beginning.
Then what was this strength? The current Grid was transcendent compared to last year, let alone the National Competition that had been held several months ago.