Overgeared - Chapter 101

In Pedro, a small town in the south of the Eternal Kingdom…

There were no special resources in this area. It wasn’t an important geographical location, and there was only one special product here—strawberry-flavored banana. Additionally, people’s reactions to the strawberry flavored banana were negative. 

‘Why do I taste strawberry when eating a banana,’ ‘I would rather eat strawberries than a strawberry flavored banana,’ ‘It is disgusting because the banana is pink,’ and so on. 

The special product didn’t sell well, so no money was earned.

Nonetheless, for the Giant Guild, Pedro was a blessed land. It was due to the presence of the vampire baron, a boss monster who spawned every 11 days in the underground dungeon of Pedro Castle. The vampire baron dropped the vampire accessories set and various elixirs. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Chris decided to become the lord of Pedro due to the vampire baron.

“Humans…! I will surely rise again to repay this disgrace!”

The vampire baron shouted as he was pierced in the heart with three swords. Chris spoke with a grin, “Yes, don’t forget to rise again.”

“Kuaaaaak!”

The vampire baron disappeared into dust. Then all types of riches poured out at where he once stood. Among the riches were the strength elixir and agility elixir. There was also a vampire necklace. Chris took the elixirs without asking for permission from the other guild members.

[Strength has risen permanently by +3.]

[Agility has risen permanently by +3.]

10 stat points were gained with each level up. It was similar to gaining one level if he drank three elixirs from the vampire baron. For Chris, the value of the elixirs was high since, at level 290, Chris had to spend a fortnight hunting just to gain one level. Chris was happy after drinking the elixirs and taking the vampire necklace.

“Okay. With this, the vampire accessories set is completed.”

“Congratulations, Chris.”

“You are now even stronger.”

The guild members who participated in the raid with Chris applauded. Chris encouraged them, “The drop rate is good and the vampire baron will keep appearing here, so you will get the vampire accessories set as well. Have strength.”

“Yes!”

For a guild of 530 members to be properly controlled, a strict hierarchy was needed. While small guilds had a family-like atmosphere, the Giant Guild was closer to an army. It had a system of absolute obedience to those above them. This system was so efficient that the guild was developing day by day.

After finishing the vampire baron raid…

The executives, who had gathered at the venue for the banquet, received whispers from their men. These were the contents of the whisper: A person believed to be the unknown craftsman was discovered in Winston.

As Chris drank his wine, the whisper’s message was delivered to the senior executive Buglima, who organized the content and reported it to Chris.

“The unknown craftsman was found in Winston. However… it seems like the unknown craftsman has already joined the Tzedakah Guild.”

“Tzedakah Guild?”

Chris’ eyes twitched. He was shaking.

The Tzedakah Guild was the guild that dominated the world’s most popular MMORPG, L.T.S, before Satisfy was launched. They were small but created a myriad of legends, and the Giant Guild was one of their legendary scapegoats.

The reason why the Giant Guild, once considered to be one of the top five powers of L.T.S, left as soon as Satisfy was released could be attributed to the Tzedakah Guild. Satisfy became a game that transcended L.T.S so the Giant Guild’s quick decision was right, but the Giant Guild’s pride had actually been crushed by the Tzedakah Guild.

“Those damn people… I am starting to hear their names often in Satisfy.”

Chris trembled. The memories of the many times he had been beaten by the Tzedakah Guild were still vivid in his head. However, he couldn’t stay silent at the unknown craftsman being taken away.

“Send Asellas, Mihara, and Zirkan. Order them to thoroughly hit the Tzedakah Guild until they give up the unknown craftsman.”

“Those three people at the same time…”

“Isn’t this too much?”

The executives were agitated. The three people Chris named were each one of the five captains of the Giant Guild, each one leading 100 guild members. The fact that they were sent meant that 300 troops would be dispatched to Winston. But didn’t the Tzedakah Guild have less than 20 members?

“It is like using a sword to chase a chicken or a cow…”

The Giant Guild had 11 executives, including the five captains. Six of them had been part of the Giant Guild ever since the L.T.S days, but five of them were new blood from Satisfy. The five people from Satisfy were the problem—they had only heard rumors about the Tzedakah Guild and they ignored the Tzedakah Guild because they had not personally experienced the Tzedekah Guild’s strength.

Chris laughed at them.

“Chicken? Cow? Are you comparing the Tzedakah Guild to mere livestock? Kukuk! You don’t know it yet. Those guys are dragons. They might be curled up right now, but they can ascend at any moment.”

Chris had more than 100 clashes with the Tzedakah Guild, so he knew them better than anyone else. Their strength was immeasurable. Their current position might be different from L.T.S, but Chris didn’t have any intention of being careless.

“Send those three no matter what. Take away the doors of the dragons.”

He would step on them the best he could.

***

As of today, it was the fourth day after Grid joined the Tzedakah Guild. During that short period of time, Grid performed great things like improving the guild members’ weapons and making a unique spear for Pon.

Today, the Tzedakah Guild decided on the second person who Grid will make an item for.

He was a boy called Ibellin. He was only 16 years old, but he was a promising boy who took third place in his class rankings. Ibellin had the potential to be Regas’ rival, so they were looking forward to his growth.

And Grid was commissioned to make a sword for the boy. However, it wasn’t a usual sword but a flamberge. The flamberge was a sword that had the appearance of a wave. It was a cruel weapon that tore the flesh of enemies due to the nature of its shape.

It was very difficult to forge the sword into the form of a wave.

Let’s start first with the forging. Forging was a task that made a metal into a solid shape by tapping at it with a hammer. The metal hardened depending on how well the hammering was. As the metal was tempered, it became harder and harder to shape. The complex appearance of the flamberge meant it was almost impossible to maximize the forging process. 

That said, was it easy to temper it after the forging? That wasn’t the case. Tempering would inevitably change the shape. Therefore, forging and tempering had to be done at the same time. For the above reasons, ordinary blacksmiths gave up halfway through tempering when making flamberges.

Anyway, the characteristics of the flamberge was in its shape so they focused on the shape rather than tempering. This was also the reason why it was rare to see flamberges above the epic rank. A blade that wasn’t tempered properly was weak and lacking durability. Most of the flamberges circulating on the market were normal or rare ranked. Flamberges above the epic rank only dropped from monsters.

But Grid didn’t want to see a normal or rare rating. He needed to make at least an epic rating to make money.

“Status window.”

[Name: Grid

Level: 97 (140,090/5,531,200)

Class: Pagma’s Descendant

* The probability of adding additional options when making items will increase.

* The probability of item enhancement will increase. 

* All equipment items can be worn unconditionally. However, there is a penalty depending on the rating of the item. 

Title: One who Became a Legend

* Abnormal conditions don’t work well on you.

* You won’t die when health is at the minimum.

* Easily acknowledged.

Title: First Unique Item Maker

* Dexterity +200

Title: Only Legendary Item Maker

* Dexterity +350

Title: Knight Slayer

* Stamina +100. 

* Strength +30

Title: Apostle of Justice

* All stats +10.

* The Apostle of Justice’s bravery is unmatched.

Health: 9,016/9,016      Mana: 819/819

Strength: 824   Stamina: 572   Agility: 257  Intelligence: 279

Dexterity: 904  Persistence: 273

Composure: 204  Indomitable: 230   Dignity: 204 Insight: 204

Courage: 148

Stat Points: 0

Weight: 15,508/21,940]

‘When combined with the title effect, my dexterity is now approaching 1,500.’

Khan’s Advanced Blacksmith Mastery was only at level 2. Grid lived with Khan for months so he guessed that the level of dexterity for Advanced Blacksmith Mastery level 2 was around 500~600. Considering Khan’s reputation as the best blacksmith in the north, Grid had around three times the dexterity of the greatest blacksmiths.

Therefore, Grid was confident in his ability to carry out tempering on a flamberge.

“I will make it with my own hands… a powerful flamberge that has never been made before.”

Grid’s confidence rose up to Andromeda and had no intention of coming back down to Earth.

***

“Hiyah!”

Peeng!

“Kiyooh!”

Kwajak!

Regas was in a hurry to find a clue about the thief who stole Grid’s shield. He took care of all the beasts and monsters blocking the way, leaving a bloody trail in his path.

Taekwon Master Regas! He was called the strongest in the L.T.S days and his strength, which was now representative of the Tzedakah Guild, transcended the concept of ranking. Even Jishuka, who had the highest unified ranking of everyone in the guild, couldn’t beat Regas.

Regas’ combat sense was incalculable. He was a person who got stronger as he fought. There was no one who didn’t know his reputation. There was no one who dared quarrel with him.

But right now…

“Hey ~ Regas, hasn’t it been a really long time?”

Mihara, one of the five captains of the Giant Guild and someone who claimed to be Regas’ rival in L.T.S, blocked Regas’ way.

“I am so happy to fight you again that my head is spinning like crazy. Kukukuk!”

Mihara was a magic swordsman ranked 19th on the unified rankings. As someone who mastered the sword and magic perfectly, he could overcome swordsmen with the sword and magicians with magic. However, he used both magic and the sword from the beginning because his opponent was Regas.

Peeng! Seokeok!

He summoned three fire pillars at the same time while blocking Regas’ path with the sword. Mihara was excited as he saw blood splashing from Regas’ chest.

“Kuahahahat! Regas! You are weak compared to the L.T.S days! The guy who was once called the strongest looks so sad!”

“…”

Regas barely avoided the pillars of fire and quietly wiped the blood from his chest. Then he asked Mihara, who had started to chant a spell again, “Who are you?”

“…!”

Mihara was shocked by the unexpected question and couldn’t complete his spell. He shouted with rage, “You don’t remember me? Damn bastard… no?”

He shook with rage. Regas didn’t miss this gap and dug into his side. His hard fist caused Mihara’s vision to shift towards the sky.

Peeeeeok!

“…Keok!”

Regas bowed to Mihara, who had fallen from the unexpected uppercut.

“I don’t know who you are, but thank you for being my opponent. I will be able to grow stronger after fighting you. Now, stand up. Concentrate.”

“You…!”

During the time that Regas encountered Mihara…

Jishuka and Toban were on the move with eight guild members. They were going to raid the basilisk, the king of the desert and so-called wingless dragon. The basilisk possessed top grade petrification magic! The people participating in the raid now had at least 60% resistance to petrification.

However, they were astounded when magic appeared from the sky and their feet stiffened.

‘A user who can use this magic…?’

The magician Asellas faced the confused party.

“Did only your feet stiffen? This… my specialty is petrification magic, but the timing wasn’t good. If so, it’s better if you can’t leave here.”

Asellas gave a signal and 200 users appeared from the far side of the desert hills.

“Who are you guys?” Toban shouted and Asellas explained with an expressionless face, “We are the Giant Guild. Give up the unknown craftsman. You will keep dying and won’t be able to play the game properly until you expel him from your guild.”

In a dungeon on the outskirts of Winston…

Pon was wielding the Gale Spear at a monster in the dungeon when a sword flew towards him.

Kaaang!

“Kuk!”

Pon blocked the sword with his spear, but he couldn’t help groaning at the unexpected weight. He was surprised to see the owner of the sword appear from the darkness.

“Zirkan…!”

Pon knew him well. He was an opponent that Pon competed with more than a 100 times during L.T.S.

“It has been a long time, Pon.”

In L.T.S, Zirkan’s unified ranking was 4th. He was the best player after Regas, Jishuka, and Pon. Then what about now? Zirkan was 11th on Satisfy’s unified rankings. Of course, he was higher than Pon, Regas, and Jishuka.

Zirkan pointed his sword at Pon.

“You have to play with me here for a while.”

‘The fact that he appeared in front of me means that the other guild members…’

Pon tried to provoke Zirkan. “Are you still wasting time underneath that incompetent Chris?”

Zirkan laughed. “Master has grown beyond my expectations. Don’t you know? He has transcended the you of the past. It is truly worthwhile serving him.”

“Che, this old man looks happy… Okay, I will knock you down first. Just like in the past.”

At the same time, in Khan’s smithy…

‘This is what Grid is like…’

Ibellin watched Grid making the sword and was overwhelmed by the force not usually seen from Grid as he stood in front of the furnace. Ibellin didn’t want to disturb him and quietly left the smithy.

Then he saw more than a dozen users wearing the guild mark of a golden mace approach the smithy.

“The Giant Guild?”

At that moment, an emergency notice appeared in the guild chat window.

{The Giant Guild is intentionally attacking our guild. All free personnel should give priority to protecting Grid.}

“Heh…” Ibellin’s eyes widened as he pulled out his flamberge. Then he stood in front of the smithy’s door and laughed. “Isn’t this quite interesting?”