by Park Saenal
‘Veradin!’
Grid’s steps became faster as he headed to the underground waterway.
***
“Wasting time struggling… Don’t you know that this is a loss for both of us? Don’t you have any of your own thoughts? This is why I don’t want to hang out with lowly people.” Veradin looked down at Bullet like he was a bug. He felt disgusted.
The eyes of the wounded Bullet shook as he asked, “The Veradin who struggled with the empire’s quest to massacre the immigrants, the Veradin who cared for his colleagues, the Veradin who was loyal to Agnus… Where has he gone?”
“He didn’t exist from the beginning.” It had all just been a fake act. Veradin had played the ideal human in order to gain the trust of others and attain easy access to observe them.
“…” Bullet sighed. He tried to hide his emotions but it wasn’t easy.
Veradin witnessed Bullet’s eyes twitching and scoffed, “Didn’t you once say that I felt like an old friend? I led you to feel that way. I needed your reputation to attract talent in the early days of Immortal.”
“…”
“Well, that was the past you. If you still think of me as a friend, don’t grab my ankle. Don’t use my name to live alone in the empress’ palace. By the way, since when did you start to doubt me?”
“…Since Agnus stopped acknowledging you and you started to give commands arbitrarily.”
“I see. I was careless.” Veradin glanced over at his poison master death knight and raised his dagger. He had wounds on his body from struggling with Bullet’s death knight, but there wasn’t a large impact on his movements. Bullet was forced to feel the gap between first and second place.
‘There is such a large gap in the rankings…’ It was crazy when thinking about how many times Grid had challenged the strongest people in the world. ‘If Agnus was still on our side…’
Bullet remembered the first day he met Agnus. Agnus had been so strong and cool. Back then, he led an undead army and seemed to shout ‘this is a true necromancer’, causing everyone to feel thrilled. When Bullet joined Immortal, he trusted Veradin, who spoke for Agnus.
Alas, reality was like a gutter. To Agnus, Immortal was nothing. Veradin, the spokesman for Agnus, had just been using them as scapegoats.
“Kuk…!” Tears filled Bullet’s eyes as his expression distorted. Bullet had wanted to be friends with people who gathered for the same purpose. He wanted them to move forward together and enjoy this wonderful world. Was this wish such a big mistake?
His heart was screaming when he heard Veradin’s voice in his ears. “You should’ve been more vicious. Keep this darkness in your heart. Then I would’ve been the one lying on the floor right now, not you.
“…”
“Goodbye, boring person with a pure enthusiasm.”
The poisonous dagger stabbed Bullet’s chest. This was a blow that tore Bullet’s heart apart.
“Ah…” Bullet received great damage and was poisoned. Darkness sprouted in his heart. It was anger toward his past self for chasing a vain dream. Agnus who didn’t accept his admiration… Bullet didn’t hate him. After all, Agnus didn’t have an obligation to look after others.
“This isn’t fun.” Veradin read the expression in Bullet’s eyes and clicked his tongue. Bullet lay with his face against the cold floor and waited for his death.
[You will receive 4,300 poison damage.]
[Your potion cooldown time hasn’t returned.]
[The antidote isn’t working.]
[You will receive 4,300 poison…]
His field of view blinked red. Then his health gauge reached the bottom, and his motivation disappeared. Bullet had become an empty shell when he heard something.
“I saw it well.” It was an unfamiliar voice. The voice contained a strong will like Agnus’. However, it was gentler than Agnus.
“Gri…d…”
“If you have any interest in jiangshi, please contact me. Talented people are always welcome,” Grid said as he passed by the dying Bullet. Grid’s liking for Bullet didn’t mean he would spare Bullet. After all, Bullet was still part of Immortal. Still, Grid just gave him a chance. A gray pillar rose behind Grid as he entered the underground waterway.
***
“Pant… Pant…!” Veradin panted as he ran through the underground waterway. The arrogance and ease he’d had while mocking Bullet had completely disappeared. It was because Veradin had clearly seen Grid watching silently as Veradin dealt the finishing blow to Bullet.
‘Terrible jerk!’
To think that Grid just stood there and watched? Was he so confident that he could catch Veradin at any time?
“I will make him regret giving me all that time!”
In fact, Veradin had been watching Penan for a long time.
[The Cave King]
It was presumed that the strong man with this title was sleeping in the Penan underground waterway. Veradin had been extremely happy when he received Merchant King Kir’s call and thought this was destiny.
That’s right. Secrecy wasn’t the only reason why Veradin used the underground waterway as an escape route. He also wanted to obtain the body of the Cave King.
It had been shown that the poison master didn’t have any effect on Grid in battle, so Veradin would now discard the poison master. He aimed to secure the required dominance points by abandoning the poison master and then turning the body of the Cave King into his death knight.
‘Is it here?’
Grid would soon chase him down. He had to hurry before Grid arrived. The nervous Veradin started searching through the underground waterway, not caring about how his body was being covered in dirt.
“It’s here!”
Veradin succeeded in finding an old and rusted iron coffin.
The Cave King—he was a villain from hundreds of years ago, who built a secret city under the Gauss Kingdom in an effort to conquer the Gauss Kingdom. Now, he would be resurrected in this world with infinite stamina and the force to stir the earth.
Veradin smiled with satisfaction as he opened the coffin and shouted, “Give up control of Death Knight Kyleo!”
The necromancer’s exclusive inventory, Corpse Storage, was opened. Then Veradin pulled out the white bones of the poison master and filled it with the bones of the Cave King.
“I, Veradin, will dominate the Cave King! Cave King! Become my trusty death knight!”
[This is a legendary rated body.]
[Due to the lack of dominance stats, you have failed to make the Cave King your death knight.]
[The title ‘Possessed by the Deceased’ has allowed you to overcome the limitations of the dominance stat.]
[You have succeeded in making the Cave King a death knight.]
[The title, ‘Under the King…’ has been acquired.]
[Death Knight]
[Name: Cave King
Level: 361
* The master’s level is too low. The level and stats of the Cave King are in a weakened state.
Strength: 4,100 (▼) Stamina: 4,100 (▼)
Agility: 540 (▼) Intelligence: 190 (▼)
-Skills Possessed-
Plunder (A-), Cave in Sword (A+), Lead to Hell (S)…
….
…]
“Hat…! Kuhahahaha!”
It was more than Veradin had expected. The Cave King was stronger than any death knight Veradin had obtained in the past, including the poison master. He had high stats, and all his skills were grade A and above… Wasn’t this equivalent to one of Agnus’ death knights?
Veradin burst out laughing once he succeeded in gaining the Cave King. The fear he felt toward Grid disappeared.
He didn’t blink as he faced Grid who finally caught up with him. “Every time I see you, I am reminded of a theory. Don’t you have any shame? You have inflicted countless damages to others and at this moment, you are giving birth to new victims. So why? Why are you so obsessed with the damage that you once suffered?”
; “…?”
It was meaningless if the listener didn’t understand the words.
Veradin said to Grid, “Your hatred and revenge toward Immortal. It is going overboard. Is Immortal invading Reinhardt that big a sin? Haven’t you invaded many places? You even destroyed an existing kingdom. You are living well, yet you won’t tolerate the aggression of other people? You won’t forgive me? You are being dominated by the memories of the past. Your mentality of not wanting to return to your weak past is so strong that you react sensitively to your territories being invaded. You really aren’t fit to be at the top.”
This was the reason why.
“Today I will punish you. I will drag you down from above. To a person whose consciousness is already damaged, I will be disgusting and evil to you forever.” Veradin finished speaking and moved his fingers, causing the death knight to act. The Cave King’s red eyes glowed, and a purple light surrounded his body as he roared.
Grid triggered Item Combination, and the Enlightenment Sword and Belial’s Staff became one. Mana was used as the Cave King fired rocks at Grid. Simultaneously, Grid swung his sword as a shield was created around him. As Grid’s shields continued to be generated, the Cave King’s attacks didn’t have an effect.
“W-What?”
What was this infinite shield? How many abilities did Grid have that went against common sense?
“With this, how many times have I killed you? I forgot so let’s call this the first time,” Grid whispered to Veradin, who was astonished at the sight of the Cave King collapsing.
“W-Wait a minute!”
“Keook!”
[You have suffered serious damage!]
[It is catastrophic damage…!]
….
…
[You have died.]
[You have failed to fulfill the conditions of ★Hidden Quest★ Hwan Kingdom’s Resident (1). The Hwan Kingdom’s Resident (1) quest has been destroyed.]
[The Hwan Kingdom will no longer give you a chance. You aren’t even permitted to visit.]
[You have died two times within 24 hours and have been forcefully logged out.]
Chapter 846
Chapter 846
“Kuk! Kuaaaah! Gridddd!”
Veradin thought it was a dream until he opened his eyes in the capsule. It wasn’t a dream but reality. He had died two times in a row and was forcefully logged out from Satisfy. Additionally, he permanently missed the chance to become a resident of the Hwan Kingdom.
Veradin raised himself from the capsule and couldn’t help questioning it, ‘How could he have that much power remaining?’
Penan had 3,000 troops. Thanks to the power of Merchant King Kir, there had been many rankers and soldiers armed with items, including the necromancers of Immortal. As such, Veradin had predicted that Grid would’ve consumed most of his skills and stamina in order to break through the elite troops and reach him.
No, the word ‘predicted’ was too modest. Veradin had been convinced. Grid should have been exhausted before chasing after Veradin. Even if he managed to chase Veradin, Grid shouldn’t have had the stamina to swing his sword once.
Why?
It was due to the special nature of the resource called ‘stamina.’ Stamina was different from ordinary resources such as health and mana. It wasn’t something that could be recovered with artificial methods such as taking a potion. A person had to unconditionally rest in order to recover stamina.
Logically, it was impossible for him not to be tired, even if Grid’s stamina stat was over 3,000 points.
‘Yet he was fine.’
How was this possible?
‘Did the Immortal members on the front lines surrender to Grid?’
Was that why Grid had stamina remaining? It was possible but…
‘It isn’t enough.’
Veradin wasn’t convinced by his guesses. He was frustrated because he couldn’t understand what had gone wrong with his calculations. In actuality, Merchant King Kir was to blame. When he spoke to Veradin, Kir had ‘reduced’ the amount of damage he’d suffered in order to maintain his pride. He hadn’t told Veradin that he had lost his unicorn to Grid! So, in the end, Veradin had been forced to make a false guess.
“…Surely, Grid doesn’t have over 4,000 points in stamina?”
If Grid’s stamina was this high, then his defense also made sense. Then new questions arose. What was the secret behind Grid’s extremely high attack power when most of his points were invested in stamina? How many intelligence points did he have that he could use magic? What was with his agility?
“…Is it due to him being overgeared after all?”
Veradin’s fist slammed down onto the capsule. However, he couldn’t exert a high strength with his lean body which didn’t have muscles. So, the expensive capsule was fine. Veradin was overwhelmed with a sense of helplessness, feeling that he was a small and shabby person. He had always been a victor in reality and in Satisfy, so his consecutive losses to Grid were shocking.
“Shit! Dammit!”
Veradin had wanted to become a yangban. He wanted to show there was a difference between himself and the two billion players. Someday, he wanted to put Agnus under his feet and feel an unrivaled sense of superiority.
“Grid!!”
His grudge toward Grid soared into the sky.
“…”
However, he wasn’t filled with fighting spirit. How much had Immortal lost because of Grid? Veradin hesitated for a long time. He shouldn’t have touched the nose of a sleeping lion…
If he had known that the identity of the lion was actually a monster…
Then Veradin lost his motivation and became filled with frustration and regret. He would’ve been a star that shone for a long time if he hadn’t stepped on a monster.
***
The 3rd ranked merchant, Muto—he had cooperated with Grid to sell the chandelier to the imperial palace and was on the track of unprecedented success.
He hadn’t missed out on the commerce rights secured with the support of the Overgeared Kingdom and made a pricing policy that satisfied the consumers rather than being greedy for profit. Now, hundreds and thousands of players came to the Overgeared Kingdom to visit the Muto Company, which was fully embedded in the kingdom.
Due to the rapid development of commerce in the Overgeared Kingdom which had been lacking compared to agriculture, Muto was competing for the second rank. Muto predicted that he would reach the second rank in the merchant rankings within the next four months.
The higher the ranking of the merchant, the higher the number of stores that could be held. Therefore, the value of the ranking was very high. The gap between the second and third ranks was great. Muto was overflowing with happiness.
In the past, he happened to meet Grid on the East Continent and ate the poisonous food of some crazy chef. Muto wanted to praise himself for having gained Grid’s favor even if it meant going against the empire. He was proud of his own acumen for having chosen the person named Grid.
As such, he was very satisfied with the current situation. Then one day…
“Why are you here?” Muto had a strong feeling of anxiety. The 1st ranked merchant Kir, who was praised as the Merchant King, was visiting the Overgeared Kingdom. Muto was chagrined to see Kir sitting with Lauel.
‘Once again…!’
Many of Muto’s things had been taken from him by Kir. Kir expanded his business by using any means and methods, making him a natural enemy for Muto. Muto believed that Kir was doing some political maneuvering behind the scenes and realized that the position he had built up in the Overgeared Kingdom was about to be taken away.
‘He managed to make a situation like this while his city was being invaded by Grid… He turned a crisis into an opportunity in such unfavorable conditions?’
Kir laughed at Muto who was staring at him with eyes filled with hostility. “Don’t look at me like I’m a villain. From my point of view, you are the villain. Now, take this.”
&nbs
p; “…?” Muto was confused. It was because Kir handed over the ‘account balance’ book.
‘What is this joke?’
Lauel smiled at the extremely confused Muto. “Accept it. This is a book that provides a comprehensive view of the Merchant King’s accounts and business status.”
“That… What is this situation?”
Kir was the one who replied sarcastically to Muto’s careful question, “This evil bastard is pretending not to know anything until the end. You don’t know the plan that involves taking everything away from me and handing it over to you? Does this make sense?”
“What…”
They were taking everything away from Merchant King Kir and giving it to him? Muto’s brain couldn’t keep up with the discussion. Lauel patted his shoulders. “It is time for you to take away everything that Kir has built up.”
“…”
“Become the new Merchant King. This is an order from King Grid.”
Duguen! Duguen! Duguen!
Muto’s face turned red as he finally found out the situation. All sorts of emotions bubbled up in his heart and tears formed in his eyes. “Grid did this for me… He believes in me.”
It wasn’t a matter of believing. There was no option from Grid’s position. The Overgeared Guild didn’t have a merchant, so Grid could only use Muto. Additionally, Muto had shown to be wonderfully resourceful in this short time and proved why he was third in the merchant rankings.
Despite this, Lauel remained silent. He thought it would be better to let Muto maintain his thoughts. Muto’s response showed that a new Grid fanatic was born. Lauel was pleased but he clearly distinguished between public and private matters. “Muto, in the future, you will gain an astronomical amount of money using Kir’s rights and the commerce of the Overgeared Kingdom. Do you admit it?”
“Of course.”
“Then give 70% of your profits to Grid.”
70% was a reasonable request. The revenue share between a kingdom and a merchant company would typically be between 40~60% if it was an exclusive deal. After all, Grid had secured the Overgeared Kingdom’s commerce rights as well as Kir’s commerce rights for Muto. It was would difficult for him to refuse a profit distribution of 80%, let alone 70%.