by Park Saenal
The Yak Guild members asked:
“Why are you so fixated on PvP?”
“I agree. You will drop out in the round of 16 again.”
“The round of 16? If you meet Kraugel in the qualifiers, then you will be eliminated in the qualifiers. Kilkil.”
If Grid didn’t exist, would Bubat be 1st in the PvP event? The Yak Guild knew about Bubat’s strength, but even they couldn’t guarantee it. PvP was an event where a ranker’s pride was at stake. Kraugel, Seuron, Regas, and other strong players participated in the event. The others in the Yak Guild were frustrated with Bubat, who thought Grid’s absence would be a chance to challenge PvP.
“Last year, you lost to Zhang Zheng… It might be different if PvP is a team event, but it is a solo show. It is too disadvantageous for Captain…”
Bubat’s Crusher class had high levels of defense and various CCs. In particular, the two skills he had learned upon reaching level 360 could ‘ignore status resistance’ and show an absolute effect. However, what was the point of CC? Bubat didn’t have the power to defeat the enemy.
The PvP of the National Competition was too disadvantageous to Bubat. Yet he was confident. It was thanks to a gift given by a Turkish person who claimed to be a big fan of Bubat.
[Artina’s Natural Disposition Gloves]
It was a legendary item. It was a great item that boosted the wearer’s attack power in proportion to the wearer’s defense. The fan who presented it to Bubat was eager for him to raise Turkey’s status this year.
“Huhu. Look forward to it. This year will be different.”
Kraugel was no longer the supreme. Grid had proven it last year. Bubat was confident in his strategy against Kraugel. Although Bubat’s chances of success might be slim, Kraugel was judged to be an opponent that could be defeated even if it wasn’t by Grid.
It wasn’t just Bubat. Two years ago and last year, the rankers—who were stunned by the growing Grid and had vowed not to participate in PvP—felt new hope. After Grid declared that he would be absent, many people decided to participate in this year’s PvP.
It was as expected. There was a flood of provocative articles all over the world. The rankers from different countries announced their intentions to play in PvP, shouting that they weren’t afraid of Kraugel. The focus of attention was naturally on Kraugel.
“Kraugel, many rankers have announced that they are confident against you. What do you think about this?”
“I think they can be confident if they are on the same level as Grid.”
Camera flashes started going off at the press conference. The reporters’ expressions were thrilled at Kraugel’s answer.
Don’t be confident unless you are on the same level as Grid. I won’t lose unless it is Grid.
Kraugel’s words had this meaning. It was an answer filled with enough confidence and provocation to make a stimulating article.
Then a reporter asked a new question. It was a question that many people around the world were interested in. “There is a public consensus that Grid is running away from the National Competition. Kraugel, what do you think about Grid’s absence from the National Competition?”
Grid fled because he was afraid he would lose his title of champion. This was one of the public opinions regarding Grid. What did Kraugel think? Kraugel stared indifferently at the reporters and replied briefly, “It is mercy, not running away.”
“Mercy?”
The reporters couldn’t understand what Kraugel meant right away. He cocked his head to one side. On the other hand, the smart reporters quickly started to write their articles. As Kraugel watched the bustling scene silently, a question popped into his mind.
‘Grid…’
Kraugel was aware of the fact that Grid needed ether diamonds. At the present time, the only way to get ether diamonds was to participate in the National Competition. Thus, Kraugel knew the news that Grid wouldn’t participate in the National Competition was false.
‘Are you the demon king?’
***
‘It is harder than I thought.’
There were seven new additions to the National Competition, one of which was the demon king subjugation event. Grid got a thorough understanding of the rules for the demon subjugation and felt disgruntled. The castle had north, south, east, and west gates, and each of the four heavenly kings protected one gate.
The players would be split into groups of 120, and they had to break through the gates. During this time, the demon king would wait in the castle and receive 200,000 bonus health for every 10 minutes that passed. The waiting time would end when all four gates were broken.
The most troubling part for Grid was the bonus 200,000 health per 10 minutes that he would receive. He had to maintain his spot while the four heavenly kings fought, and he would get 200,000 health every 10 minutes…?
‘Isn’t this too much?’
Grid’s defense and magic resistance were beyond the category of a player. He wouldn’t suffer much damage unless the skills used were proportional to health or defense. Yet his health was going to increase by 200,000 health every 10 minutes…?
‘The gates that the four heavenly kings are guarding can’t be broken through easily.’
Grid’s health might actually exceed one million in the demon king subjugation. However, Grid was uneasy because the S.A Group created such a system despite knowing his specs.
‘It seems that the National Competition participants are stronger than I thought…’
He was already prepared for a tough fight, but this might be tougher than expected. It was comforting that his sister, Sehee, wasn’t participating in the National Competition. Grid shook his head at the scary thought. Still, there was something he didn’t know.
Originally, the S.A Group had set it as the demon king’s health increasing by 500,000 per 10 minutes. Grid was so strong that the health increase was lowered from 500,000 to 200,000.
What was the reason for this? It was known only to the S.A Group.
“By the way, is this the right road?”
Grid stopped and opened up a map. It was the map of the Sword Grave.
“It should be right…”
Grid was stupid, but he wasn’t stupid when it came to directions. That’s how he managed to find the North End Cave that contained Pagma’s Rare Book. There was no problem with Grid’s ability to read a map. Currently, Grid was following the map precisely.
However, the road was strange. This was the correct road, but it disappeared in the middle.
“What is this?”
There was a sheer cliff in front of where Grid stopped. It was a cliff that wasn’t marked on the map which showed a plain mountain path instead.
‘Is the map wrong?’
Was the map a fake? Was all his struggling in vain? Then it happened as a chill was going down Grid’s spine… The cliff in front of Grid suddenly started to split apart. The crack began to widen, and the cliff split into two cliffs. It was as if they had been separated in the first place.
Grid saw the path between the cliffs and moved without delay. From the moment the cliff split in two, the terrain was the same as what was shown on the map.
***
“Ah…!”
“Shit!”
Sighs and curses came from all over the place. It happened when Skunk turned the 594th sword three times to the left and four times to the right. The hill sank down and became a plains again.
The 594th sword was the problem. It was hard to figure out how to turn this sword, which could rotate 27 times to the left or the right. He needed to figure out in what order and direction the right ‘key’ was.
“It is already the 28th failure. It will take a few hours to start again from scratch.”
“Everybody’s morale has fallen. I think it is better to stop for today,” a subordinate spoke carefully to the frowning Skunk.
Skunk’s response was sharp, “Now we only need to figure out five swords. It isn’t long before the Sword Grav
e will be opened.”
“I know your heart, but do we need to hurry? It has been several months already. There are only a few days left, so we should be calmer and careful. The work can be ruined if we rush,” Dog Woman’s persuasion calmed Skunk.
Skunk took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes. There is no need to rush.”
Skunk’s Expedition Group had been investigating the Sword Grave for the past five months, and no one had ever visited it. Considering the fact that Skunk’s Expedition had taken six months to find the Sword Grave, it wasn’t possible for someone to appear here and steal their results. There was no need to fret about a loss.
Skunk controlled his heart and told his subordinates, “Everyone has worked hard. Let’s end it here today. Have a good night’s sleep and rest for tomorrow.”
“Thank you for the trouble.”
“Thanks for the trouble.”
Phew, it was finally over. Hearing Skunk’s words, his subordinates were relieved and opened their system windows. They wanted to log out and relax their exhausted minds and bodies. Even so, they couldn’t go and rest.
“…!?”
In the Sword Grave, the unidentified fragments that never moved suddenly started to flash with a blue light.
“Why stars…?”
Of course, they knew that they weren’t really stars. The blue lights were floating too close to be stars, and they were emitting a bright blue light during the day. Still, they shone as beautifully as stars and the people couldn’t grasp it with their hands. Thus, the people were forced to call them stars.
“Maintain your place!” Skunk shouted at his subordinates who were shaking at the phenomenon that had never happened before.
Skunk’s explorer’s intuition and accumulated experience were telling him something. At this moment, the Sword Grave was going to change due to a new external factor.
‘All of a sudden…? What…?’
This didn’t feel good. Skunk swallowed his saliva.
“Ugh. I’ve finally arrived.” An uninvited guest appeared.
Skunk and his subordinates paled as they confirmed the man’s appearance.
Chapter 936
At the Sword Grave, the word ‘grave’ had two meanings. It contained the works which Pagma had produced in his later years, and it was also Braham’s grave. The Sword Grave was a place with a deep connection to two former legends. It was likely to be one of the most significant places for Satisfy’s worldview, and therefore, Skunk’s Expedition Group were obsessed with the Sword Grave.
The moment they uncovered the mystery of the Sword Grave would be equivalent to when they uncovered the main Yatan Temple. No, maybe they could get even greater fame and riches for the Sword Grave. Skunk wanted to buy his own plane to travel around the world, Dog Woman wanted medical facilities that could prolong her terminally ill brother’s life, and Crocodile wanted to display more than 10 supercars in her garage.
Yes. Skunk’s Expedition Group had invested a year in the Sword Grave.
…And this would have continued until an uninvited guest appeared.
“G-Grid…!”
The person wore a crown on black hair and had a high nose. He had eyes as fierce as a bird of prey, and he had a muscular body that couldn’t be hidden with armor and a cloak. The Skunk Expedition Group felt hatred for him when they saw the uninvited guest and confirmed the ID above his head. Meanwhile, Grid cocked his head. “You are…?”
Players unrelated to Pagma’s Descendant shouldn’t know about the existence of the Sword Grave, let alone its location. Grid felt suspicious about the group of people who had arrived at the Sword Grave one step ahead of him.
“Were you chasing after me?” Grid’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.
“No. Isn’t that impossible? Our encounter should be a coincidence,” Skunk responded quickly. He didn’t want the past year to be wasted, so Skunk didn’t have a stupid idea in mind like blocking Grid. If Skunk were a fool, he wouldn’t have become the leader of a group or the representative of his class.
Skunk sighed because of his heavy thoughts and struggled to relax his stiff facial muscles. He had a really bright smile as he faced Grid. It was a smile that might make someone misunderstand that he was Grid’s fan.
“Grid, it is an honor to coincidentally meet you here. I am the 1st ranked explorer, Skunk. It is a humble name, but… perhaps you’ve heard of it?”
“Skunk? Ah.” Grid couldn’t forget this name. It was a name that reminded him of farts, so it wasn’t easy to forget. He remembered that he had met Skunk at the Yatan Temple the first time Braham used Assimilation.
“I’m aware. You found the location of the main Yatan Church and made the news for a while.”
“I’m honored that you know me.” Skunk smiled, but he was inwardly surprised. Wasn’t Grid someone who talked nonsense and acted arrogantly in public? Why was he showing a polite attitude in a private place where he didn’t need to be aware of the eyes of others?
‘It can’t be because he is good-natured…’ Skunk was analyzing the situation from a negative perspective. Grid was the ruler of a kingdom. The level of his intelligence network was different from that of ordinary players. Depending on his choice and selection, it was possible for Grid to grasp the current status of the Skunk Expedition Group.
Thus, Skunk concluded that Grid must’ve been watching the Skunk Expedition Group for a long time and waited for them to dig out the secrets of the Sword Grave on his behalf. The Sword Grave was a special place to Grid. Naturally, he would have been paying attention to it. So, he took advantage of them completely…
‘He is using honorifics because he feels sorry for me.’
Skunk was stupid. He was aiming for a place related to Pagma, so he should’ve been alert to Grid. Yet he had been thinking about doing business with Grid without knowing the reality. This cost him.
“…Um.” Skunk found it harder to manage his facial expressions. He felt sorry for his colleagues, but he was also afraid of the wicked eyes in front of him. There was no place for Skunk to look. However, Skunk gathered his strength. He knew what he had to do. The eyes that had been flitting about in all directions calmed down, and he bowed deeply to Grid. “I’m sorry.”
It was an apology filled with various meanings. One meaning was that Skunk was sorry for trying to preempt Grid’s quest. He also felt sorry for pretending it was a coincidental meeting. The other people were upset by Skunk’s actions though. Skunk’s colleagues and even Grid didn’t know what was going on.
“Skunk! What are you going all of a sudden?”
“Why randomly apologize?”
The Skunk Expedition Group started to cry out. Then Dog Woman quickly realized what Skunk was doing and told her companions to be quiet. On the other hand, Grid was alone. It was very difficult for him to judge the situation. “I don’t know why you are apologizing to me.”
Upon hearing Grid’s words, Skunk’s heart sank. ‘He isn’t willing to forgive me.’
Skunk once again redefined the Grid that he knew. Grid was the ambitious person who married a high-ranking noble of the Eternal Kingdom in the West Continent, building up enough personal and political power to swallow the kingdom as a whole. He had set up his follower, Damian, as the pope and then manipulated him. After obtaining many NPCs using his power as a king, Grid had been cold-blooded enough to use an NPC as a shield in the Great Demon Belial raid. He was also the opportunist who had used the death of an NPC as an excuse to wipe out Immortal. Additionally, he had been the first to try using ‘diplomacy’ with the empire, but he wasn’t satisfied with making Yura and Jishuka his women. It was hard to measure him.
Grid was vicious, sneaky, oppressive, and clever. From the beginning, it had been unreasonable to hope for mercy from such a fearsome man.
“I see. Is this your will?”
This was frustrating. It seemed impossible to be forgiven for the act of daring to break into Pagma’s Grave.
‘I don’t mind being punish
ed. It is just that my colleagues are different.’ Skunk glanced at his colleagues who had nervous expressions. ‘I won’t be able to forgive myself if they get injured because of my carelessness.’
His colleagues had wasted a year, and now they had to lose their lives as well? He couldn’t allow it to happen. Skunk had been biting his lips anxiously, and now he raised his head.
Grid still wasn’t saying anything. It was an attitude that forced them to decide the punishment themselves. In the first place, Grid didn’t think much of the Skunk Expedition. They probably seemed like a group that was just playing around. It would be unproductive for Grid to directly choose the punishment for the Skunk Expedition Group.
Skunk spoke with a bitter smile, “I would like to speak honestly. My colleagues have figured out how to unlock the secrets here. They will all be a great help to you. Please, Grid. Please direct your anger only at me. Please show them mercy…”
“Skunk! Shut up!”
“Captain, why are you trying to take the responsibility alone? Have you forgotten there is only one Skunk Expedition Group?”
After Skunk’s words to Grid, the expedition members belatedly noticed the situation and screamed. They didn’t want their captain to sacrifice himself alone.
“If Grid is going to kill us, then it is better to die together!”
“Yes! Shit! I don’t know why we have to die in the first place!”
“Captain! Don’t try to take on everything alone!”
“…Ah?”
They yelled in an agitated manner at Skunk and without knowing it, they all turned toward Grid. Skunk was the same. Grid turned away from the Skunk Expedition Group without saying anything. It seemed to be an attitude that meant forgiveness.