Overgeared

by Park Saenal

  [Genuine - (Fighting against the Gods) Legendary Blacksmith’s Craftsmanship Skill]

  [The production button has been enabled, and the time it takes to make an item is now greatly reduced.

  A minimum of epic rated items will be produced.

  There is a somewhat high probability of producing unique rated items.

  There is a certain probability of producing legendary rated items.

  If certain conditions are met, there is a rare probability of making a myth reproduction or myth rated item.

  * All stats of a production item will increase by 30%.

  * When myth rated items are produced, all stats will permanently rise by +20 and reputation throughout the continent will rise by +1,000.

  * Something special will occur with every three myth rated items created.

  * The enhanced skill is fixed at master level.]

  Ttang!

  Grid shook off the temptation of the seven malignant saints and cleansed the First Holy Sword. He didn’t hesitate after receiving two goddess’ blessings and proceeded to enhance his blacksmithing skill as scheduled. Now, he held the Blacksmith Hammer to Go Against the Gods in his hand.

  ‘Auto production!’

  Grid was full of excitement. Finally, he could produce items automatically like everyone else.

  ‘First, select the production method and prepare the materials for production. Then press the production button.’

  Grid read the novice blacksmith’s guide and chose to make one of the Grid mass-produced items. He prepared the necessary materials and clicked the button floating on one side of his field of view.

  Then…!

  [The item production has started.]

  Ttang! Ttang! Ttang!

  Something amazing happened. Grid’s body moved by itself to raise the temperature of the furnace, smelt the iron, and then carry out the hammering. He didn’t have to think as his body took care of everything.

  Ttang! Ttang! Ttang!

  ‘Isn’t this really easy?’

  Grid admired it. So far, he had been making items manually and had too many things to worry about—starting from controlling the temperature of the fire and the quality of the hammering to the timing of the quenching and trying to maintain the specifications of the items. He had spent hours or days making an item, exhausting his body and his mind.

  This all changed now that he could automatically make an item. Grid didn’t need to worry about anything. He saved a lot of mental power because his body made the items for him.

  ‘Wow, shit. The other blacksmiths live such a sweet life…?’

  He was relaxed. This method was too easy. His body was moving hard, but it felt like he was slacking.

  ‘Can this help me?’

  Grid’s only talent was hard work. He believed that other people would catch up with him as soon as he stopped trying.

  “…”

  Grid had some room for relaxation and decided to use this. He entered an area completely separated from his body that was making an item.

  ‘I’m going to practice triple casting.’

  Triple casting!

  It was an option attached to the myth rated Belial’s Staff—an overpowered option which allowed him to cast three spells at the same time. He could cast three spells in the time it took other people to cast one.

  ‘It is a complete scam.’

  Still, there was one problem. For triple casting, he had to think of three magic spells at the same time. For instance, if he wanted to triple cast Magic Missile, Wind Cutter, and Fireball, he had to remember the three names of ‘Magic Missile, Wind Cutter, and Fireball’ in his mind at the same time. It was a naturally difficult task.

  ‘I was fortunate enough to succeed with double casting, but triple isn’t an area where I can succeed with luck.’

  Grab a random person and have them try it. No, if people were asked to recall three names of their favorite celebrities in their heads at the same time, how many would succeed? Grid bet that 100 out of 100 would fail. As such, Grid judged that triple casting was an area he had to train. He wouldn’t be proficient unless he practiced it over and over.

  ‘Magic Missile, Fireball, Bean Cup… Magic Missile, Bireee, Wind… Magic Missile, Pire…! Damn!’

  Ttang! Ttang! Ttang!

  His body moved by itself to make items while he constantly repeated these names in his head. His thoughts kept on getting ruined, making Grid totally frustrated. Sweat flowed down his body, and he was annoyed and nervous to the point of tears.

  ‘Magic Missile, Fireball, Wind… Magic… Fire… Wind…’

  However, he continued to practice without giving up. No matter what he felt, he repeated it again and again. It was something he knew he couldn’t achieve overnight, so he tried to persevere without becoming nervous.

  ***

  “Yes, the Murray Kingdom’s king…”

  In the vast agriculture fields, Piaro and Singuled sat beside each other and had a conversation. Piaro was deeply grateful to the Murray king for helping Singuled, while Singuled had mixed feelings after learning the truth behind Asmophel’s betrayal of the Red Knights.

  “Still… I can’t forgive Asmophel.” Singuled still remembered that time vividly. The families being captured and executed… The traitor Asmophel who pointed a sword at Singuled and his colleagues… The hellish scenes never left his mind. It was a nightmare that repeated every night.

  “I… I…”

  He would stab a blade into the hearts of Asmophel and the emperor. This had been Singuled’s desire for the last 12 years. Despite finding out the truth, Singuled couldn’t forgive Asmophel.

  “I’m not telling you to forgive him.” Piaro placed his hand on the shoulder of the angry, confused, agitated, and pained Singuled. “Asmophel doesn’t want to be forgiven either. However, you need to know. The fact is that the empress was behind Asmophel. She is our true enemy.”

  “…”

  “Asmophel’s fate will be decided after getting revenge on the empress.”

  “…Yes, I understand.”

  The wind blew. The golden wheat fields swayed like a wave while the leaves of the rainbow potato plants fluttered, luring the birds in. A hawk descended from the sky and grabbed a leaf of a rainbow potato before flying up again.

  ‘Piaro…’ Red Sage Haster was watching Piaro. The great swordsman who boasted one of the best swordsmanship, the pillar who was loved and respected by the emperor and people of the empire…

  Piaro—the greatest person whom his master Winfred kept praising—made Haster nervous.

  ‘He was more active in the Belial raid than Grid.’

  As an NPC who grew steadily, wouldn’t he be stronger than Grid’s clone? Haster’s mind and body heated up. Haster was looking forward to the learning opportunities and rewards he could gain from having a confrontation with a powerhouse.

  ‘I will experience a breakthrough if I confront the Red Knights. I can grow to a level comparable to Grid’s before the National Competition.’

  If he lost, he could just challenge Piaro again.

  ‘Thus, let’s get started.’

  Haster stepped forward in order to ask Piaro for a duel. The moment Haster was about to reach where Piaro was sitting…

  “Hey, why are you stepping on a bud?” A farmer sitting in a corner of the field grabbed Haster’s ankle.

  “…?” Haster stopped walking and looked down. He realized that he was about to step on a blue leaf. “I’m sorry.”

  Haster was a professional gamer and believed there was no status distinction between different occupations. Additionally, he wasn’t biased against NPCs because he had been with his mentor Winfred for so long. He apologized politely even though the other person was an NPC farmer. Haster bowed and stepped back.

  “What? You’re stepping on it again?” The farmer spoke once again. Haster quickly moved his feet.

  The farmer was already angry though. “No, why are you here in the first place? Why is
an outsider hiding in these fields? Are you a mole sent by the empire?”

  The farmer who growled and removed his straw hat wasn’t an NPC but a player. His ID was Hurent. Haster knew this person. ‘Aura Master?’

  Why was Hurent—the one digit ranker who suddenly disappeared many years ago—working in the fields here? Hurent glared suspiciously at the baffled Haster. “You are a spy, right? You were approaching Piaro like a rat. Are you an assassin sent to hurt Piaro?”

  “No, why are you making unreasonable assumptions? I am trying to request for a duel, not assassinate him…”

  “What? A duel? Who are you? Haster? Do you think Piaro is free enough to deal with trash like you?”

  “…Trash? Haven’t you heard my name before?”

  “Do I have to listen to this a second time?”

  “Huh?”

  Haster was one of the best pro gamers in history. This was Haster’s pride. He believed that anyone who liked playing games should know his face and name. However, Hurent didn’t know Haster, and this caused Haster’s pride to crack like broken glass. Hurent swallowed the potato and attacked Haster, firmly mistaking Haster for an enemy.

  Haster didn’t feel the need to clear up the misunderstanding. “First, I have to teach you manners.”

  “An assassin who sneaks onto other people’s fields wants to talk about manners?” The person saying this was Hurent, who had led an army to invade the Overgeared Kingdom. Haster’s patience reached its limit. The vein on his temple pulsed as he pulled out his sword. This was the moment when one of the Five Miracles and the person with the power to defeat Kraugel emerged in the world in earnest.

  However, his opponent wasn’t simple. Hurent had been a Sword Saint candidate, could freely manipulate aura, and had been trained by Piaro over the years. He was someone who had been chosen by Piaro.

  “…?!” Haster was hit by a sokuri and felt a dizzying pain. (TL: Sokuri = Woven basket used to strain washed grains, dry vegetables or drain fried food in Korea)

  The sokuri was too light and flew off without a sound. A chill went down Haster’s spine at the unpredictable trajectories and unexpected destructive force.

  “You are the same as us….!”

  “Who is us? Aura Snake!”

  “…Ah!”

  The fields shook. Far away, Piaro was laughing heartily. “That Hurent, he wants to increase his workload tomorrow. He is a model farmer.”

  Chapter 912

  The growth type hidden class, Aura Master, brought the potential of aura to the extreme.

  Hurent’s aura exceeded the level of merely strengthening weapons or amplifying the power of a skill. He could freely convert aura into a certain weapon or release it as a dragon’s breath. In fact, he could even leave an aura marker on all living creatures and summon aura at that point, causing all types of variables in combat. Yes, there was no limit to an Aura Master. Hurent was strong.

  Several years before during the Reidan invasion, he had already been beyond the category of a player. At the time, the S.A Group had assessed Hurent’s strength as the same level as Kraugel’s, which had been several times higher than the Grid of that time. That’s right. Hurent was one of the five people that Lim Cheolho called the Five Miracles.

  However, Hurent later met Grid who had achieved rapid growth in the 1st National Competition. Hurent’s Aura Master class hadn’t been completed yet, and he was defeated in a futile manner. After that, his reputation was low compared to his skills.

  In fact, Hurent’s popularity had only been during the early days of Satisfy, and now he was no different from junk. There were few people who remembered Hurent after he left the rankings a few years ago. If they did remember him, it was often as the ‘five seconds’ person.

  “You are the same as us….!”

  Hurent’s strength remained intact. No, he was a few times stronger than before. Haster’s ‘us’ referred to himself, Grid, Kraugel, Agnus, and the other top players.

  “Who is ‘us’? Aura Snake!”

  Years ago, Hurent fought Piaro and was forced to join the field work. Now, he carried grain and worked the hoe under the scorching sun, causing him to go through an extreme growth. His muscle strength was like Grid’s, his improvisation was like Kraugel’s, and the ability to control his aura like it was a living creature was like Agnus’.

  Hurent’s aura took the form of a snake, flew from his fingertips, and moved through the fields. The path that the aura snake took in the abundant wheat field was difficult to see and predict. It was a form of attack which couldn’t be evaded or defended against. However, Haster’s great hearing ability led him to using Ice Curtain and accurately blocking the snake.

  “You aren’t trash.”

  Hurent didn’t just do field work. As soon as the day’s work ended, he ran to the hunting grounds and steadily raised the level of his aura skills. He marveled at the solidity of the ice barrier when faced with the aura that dealt 9,900 fixed damage and ignored the target’s defense.

  Now Hurent paid attention to Haster’s name and face. “You were a professional golfer?”

  “Gamer!” It was a lowly provocation, but Haster couldn’t help falling for it. His excessively high pride was the problem. Haster, the idol of many youngsters and the myth who had never lost, couldn’t help falling for the cheap taunts. He was unfamiliar with the rough handling and couldn’t overlook this. Thus, he used Dance of Redemption and missed something. It was the black mark on the ice barrier that was still being maintained!

  “…?!” Haster was trying to create a stone pillar with Dance of Redemption when his face wrinkled like a piece of paper. There was a slight cracking sound from the ice barrier on his side. Aura that was as sharp as a knife protruded from it.

  “Keuk…!” Haster managed to avoid it but had to stop Dance of Redemption. It was a missed opportunity to take the lead in this fight. Haster was urgently moving when new aura entered his vision.

  “Oh, I forgot to warn you in advance. My aura leaves a mark, so you should be careful. The entire land that you are stepping on is filled with my marks.”

  Dozens of threads of aura spread out from Hurent like a spider web. The grey-haired man had a pleasant expression that didn’t match his age. Of course, it wasn’t pleasant for Haster who was trapped in the spider web.

  “Why are you under Grid?”

  From Haster’s point of view, Hurent was an unexpected variable. He never dreamed that there would be a monster like Hurent under Grid, who already had many famous people. Haster also couldn’t understand why Hurent was interfering with him.

  “No way…!” Haster’s movements became increasingly agile as he blocked the aura threads with a shield and struck with his sword. His response speed was becoming faster as he heard the unique sounds of aura in his ears. “This is Grid’s will!”

  Haster was reminded that there were some things he shouldn’t overlook. It was that Asmophel was Grid’s subordinate and Kraugel was Grid’s friend.

  ‘Grid knows about me!’

  It was for certain. Grid had found out about Haster’s existence through Asmophel and Kraugel.

  ‘He judged that in order to maintain his top spot, he needs to keep me in check! That’s why he ordered Hurent to interfere with me!’

  Haster smiled as he grasped the situation. He felt proud that the Overgeared King was worried about him and acted to keep him in check.

  “It feels good! I finally feel that I am in the right place!”

  Rivals were needed. The greater the rival, the more his desires and talents would be stimulated. Haster was burning with motivation when an aura spear aimed toward his side. It was a spear that emerged from a mark on the ground. Hurent looked at Haster, who heard the sound and blocked the aura with his shield.

  Then Hurent asked, “What are you saying alone? You believe that I am under Grid? That isn’t the case.”

  “I already know the situation! You don’t have to deny it!”

  “Hey, I’m n
ot! A young person like you is already losing his hearing!” Hurent was furious due to Haster’s misunderstanding. He still remembered the humiliation of dying in five seconds. From the standpoint of Hurent who was planning to repay his grudge against Grid someday, being called Grid’s subordinate was a huge shame. “I just want to repay Piaro for his kindness!”

  Snake, spear, sword, thread—the relatively simple forms of Hurent’s aura started to make a special change. They gathered together like flames.

  [Aura Impact is being used.]

  [Accurately imagine the shape of the aura within 2 seconds. If there is even a small error in the image, the skill will fail.]

  Hurent never neglected image training in order to bring out the true power of an aura master! He shouted loudly, “Super! Dragon’s Roar!”

  [You have pictured a dragon’s breath! By reproducing the power of a transcendent being, the power of your aura is greatly increased!]

  [There is a limit to the power that a unique rated aura can exert.]

  “…!?”

  There was a big difference due to the restrictions of the aura rating, but it was a dragon’s breath. The emission of aura flames was fast and widespread. It was a form of attack that made Haster’s sharp ears and agility obsolete.

  ‘He can stop it once or twice, but it is impossible for him to endure the pouring pressure forever.’

  The dragon’s breath had been upgraded from when Hurent used it in the past. It was a multi-stage fire skill which could be maintained for five seconds. There was a fixed minimum damage of 9,900, and the maximum damage could go as high as 306,900.

  It didn’t matter if the target’s defense was 10,000 or 100 million. For players with an average health of 100,000, they would die as soon as they were hit by a dragon’s breath.

  [You have dealt 9,900 damage to the target!]

  However, Haster didn’t defend and allowed the breath to hit him. Then an orange shield surrounded his body. This was Heroic Story, one of the strongest passive defense skills which activated once all conditions were met.

  [All resources have been restored by the effect of the passive skill, ‘Heroic Story.’ For one minute, your defense will increase in proportion to the amount of resources used within the past two minutes. Additionally, a shield that negates all types of skills and magic damage will be maintained for 10 seconds.]