[He saw an unchanging faith in the face of the coming disaster.]
The most famous protagonist of the world messages was Kraugel. He had maintained his position of supreme one for three years after Satisfy opened. He was the first pioneer to explore many hidden fields and he uncovered the concept of hidden quests. He had made many achievements ahead of others and created the formula of ‘unknown person = Kraugel.’
Now Grid was catching up with Kraugel’s record. Grid’s record was astonis.h.i.+ng considering that most of Kraugel’s achievements were in the early days when many things weren’t unveiled. Unlike the early days, it was now much more difficult to monopolize the world messages alone.
Of course, no one disparaged Kraugel’s accomplishments. Many of Kraugel’s accomplishments seemed easy to get now but at that time, Kraugel was the only one who managed it among two billion people. In people’s eyes, both Kraugel and Grid looked great.
“This time, Grid’s epic is about religion.”
“I heard the Dominion Church is a mess. Is he involved in this?”
“Perhaps he wiped out the Yatan Church.”
“I hope so. These days, the Yatan Church members are acting so wildly that I can’t hunt properly.”
Grid’s fourth epic made the world buzz. Thousands of people were speculating on Grid’s current whereabouts. People didn’t forget about Grid’s first epic written in Taleren Canyon. People wanted to experience it again. They wanted to share their emotions and thrills with everyone who enjoyed Satisfy by witnessing the process of the epic in real time.
Unfortunately, Grid’s second, third, and fourth epics were written in a place where people were absent. People had to infer Grid’s situation based on the writing and could only imagine it. It had its own charm but it was lacking compared to the feeling of seeing the situation directly.
“Eh?” Charlesville, an ordinary level 193 that could be seen everywhere—he was dining with his friends when he suddenly dropped his fork with amazement.
“Why do you suddenly look so stupid?”
“Did you connect to the game without closing the gas valve again?”
“N-No, that isn’t it...”
“...?”
“G-Grid... it is Grid.”
“What about Grid? Tell me properly.”
Charlesville’s friends wanted to focus on Grid’s epic, which was coming slower than usual, and were annoyed. To them, Charlesville was babbling nonsense.
“He asked me to lend him my weapon?”
“...Tsk.”
They wouldn’t be fooled like this. Charlesville’s friends looked at Charlesville with s.h.i.+t-eating expressions. Charlesville felt wronged.
“No, really! Look!” Charlesville stood up from his seat and released his sword from his waist, holding it in his hand. Called the Fairly Useful Longsword, it was a rare rated level 160 sword that had a casual name and no special appearance. However, the performance was not ordinary.
It overwhelmed the other weapons of the same level in terms of pure damage and durability. In fact, it was one of Charlesville’s biggest prides. It wasn’t just the good performance. The creator of the longsword was labeled ‘unknown craftsman.’ Everyone knew that the ident.i.ty of the unknown craftsman was Grid from a few years ago. Charlesville was very proud that his weapon was Grid’s work.
“Who put poison in Charles’ soup... Eh?”
Charlesville’s friends, who were staring at the sword, suddenly become wide-eyed and stopped talking. It was because Charlesville’s sword started vibrating before it disappeared. The furious Charlesville shouted, “How about it? Did you see it? I lend my sword to Grid! Hahahat! Grid borrowed my weapon! Grid took my weapon!”
Similar incidents were taking place throughout Satisfy.
“Asking to borrow my weapon?”
“This is really...”
[Player "Grid" wants to borrow your weapon ‘+7 Ma.s.s Produced One-Handed Sword.’ If you accept, owners.h.i.+p of the ‘+7 Ma.s.s Produced One-Handed Sword’ will be transferred to Grid for two minutes.]
[Player "Grid" wants to borrow your weapon ‘+8 Shooting Bow.’ If you accept...]
[Player "Grid" wants to borrow your weapon ‘+8 Smas.h.i.+ng Mace.’...]
Thousands of players encountered the same notification window. The common denominator was that they had a named weapon. No, it was that they were owners of weapons that Grid made himself. Some used them as their main weapon, like Charlesville, while others just stored them as collectibles. Yet they were all asked the same question.
[Do you want to accept the request?]
‘How can I accept in this situation?’
‘Does he want me to die?’
People’s circ.u.mstances were different. Some people were eating like Charlesville while others were fighting monsters or PKing at the hunting grounds. Some people were experiencing a crisis of a lifetime. This meant that not everyone could respond to Grid’s request. Of course, there were many people who didn’t care even if their situation wasn’t urgent.
‘Did Grid really send me a request? No way.’
Grid might be the supreme player but was it common sense to use a strange system to ask for help by borrowing other people’s weapons? People were suspicious and wary of such strange situations.
Or...
‘Why should I lend it?’
There were many people who turned away for no reason. It was a normal reaction. No matter the circ.u.mstances, how many people would lend their items to someone else for no payment? In the first place, owning Grid’s weapon didn’t necessarily mean they had a connection to Grid. Among the works created by Grid, the best items were only distributed among the Overgeared members. Only the items that Grid had made a long time ago or were cla.s.sified as lower-grade items were circulated in the market. Many of the players currently receiving the request from Grid had never met Grid personally.
Indeed, many people turned away from Grid’s request. However, there were also many people who accepted Grid’s request. Those who accepted Grid’s request, even if they had no connection to him, were aware of the peculiarity of the situation.
“This is a request during the writing of the epic...”
“I don’t think I’ll lose anything.”
“I don’t know~ I’ll just lend it because it’s fun.”
Thousands of items left their master’s hands and returned to the creator’s arms.
***
Lauel and Piaro’s tactics, the abilities of the knights, including Mercedes and Asmophel, and the division of the soldiers and orcs. The Overgeared soldiers and orcs allied forces quickly advanced to the Gauss Kingdom. The only enemy remaining was the 50,000 Gauss royal troops, directly led by King Nemesis.
‘Did Goldhit betray me?’
There was no news from Goldhit, who was left in the last fortress, and now the enemy was right in front of their noses. King Nemesis was already prepared but he felt great despair by the result that was more empty then he imagined. He just couldn’t bear to express this in front of the soldiers and shouted at the soldiers with a determined expression, “This is the last battle. Fight without leaving any regrets. The world will say that Gauss’ soldiers were valiant until the end.”
“Wahhhh!”
Once King Nemesis took the lead, the morale of the soldiers pierced the sky. It didn’t matter if the enemy had 10 times more troops than they did. They were already prepared for death and would fight bravely to defend the last honor of their home.
“Waaahhhhhhhh... ah?”
Gauss’ soldiers were chasing after King Nemesis toward the enemy when they lost momentum and stopped. It was because the leading Nemesis ordered them to stop. What happened?
The Gauss Kingdom’s army was hesitating when King Nemesis’s voice, filled with magic power, echoed through the battlefield, “Are you recommending for me to surrender? Okay. I will be grateful if I can save the lives of my soldiers with my death. The entire army, listen! In the future, live as the people of the Overgeared Kingdom!”
King Nemesis made a decision. The young king, who had become the ruler of a crumbling nation and only cared for his people, gave his neck for his soldiers in the last moment.
“...Hah.” Piaro was surprised by the sudden situation and lamented. The hand plow and sickle returned to his hands and he silently paid tribute to the body of King Nemesis. The knights and elite soldiers behind him similarly armed themselves again with their returned weapons.
That’s right—King Nemesis had witnessed all the enemies at the forefront standing unarmed and interpreted it as a sign recommending him to surrender, but the reality was different. The knights and soldiers of the Overgeared Kingdom merely lent their weapons to their king. King Nemesis and the Gauss army’s surrender was just an absurd incident caused by King Nemesis’ misunderstanding.
Piaro commanded the knights and soldiers, “...For the sake of their pride, this matter must never be made known.”
“...Yes.”
***
[He soaked the land of the old G.o.ds with the rain of battle gears of those who believe in him and serve him.]
[He declared in the presence of the murderer dreaming of being a G.o.d and the fleeting people watching.]
[My myth will lead the world in the right direction.]
[The rain that falls now proves my qualifications.]
The epic was at its peak.
“Myth? It is a myth?”
The world was overturned.
[An unknown person has completed the fourth page of the epic!]
[Special compensation will be paid to all players who have contributed to the completion of the epic.]
“C-Crazy...”
“Amazing!”
“Dammit!”
Soon after the epic were over, people were feeling joy or sorrow. Those who loaned their weapons to Grid were filled with the ultimate joy while those who didn’t lend their weapons were overwhelmed with the regrets of a lifetime. Charlesville belonged to the former. He trembled as he held the weapon that returned to him after the end of the epic.
[Your weapon ‘Fairly Useful Longsword’ has returned after communing with its creator, ‘Grid,’ and its potential has been awakened. Attack power and durability has increased by 10%. This effect will only apply once per weapon.]
[There is still more potential remaining in the Fairly Useful Longsword.]
[You have become part of the fourth epic of an unknown person. Terrain adaptation in the Pangea region of the East Continent has risen by 50% and all stats are slightly increased.]
[Once you encounter bards singing the fourth epic, you will get a special buff.]
***
“...?”
Grid’s resurrection point was set to Reinhardt. However, it wasn’t Reinhardt that greeted him when he resurrected after being killed by Garam. Covered with dust, it was like a small, haunted house. It was an unfamiliar s.p.a.ce.
‘Where is this place?’
If a player died without setting a resurrection point, they would be resurrected at the nearest city or temple. However, Grid had set a resurrection point and this place wasn’t a city or a temple.
Grid confirmed there was no movement in the bamboo forest outside the window and checked his condition first. He lost 40.6% of his experience from the death penalty, the durability of the skin mask had decreased by 1, and the Ideal Longsword was lost. The blow was great. The lost weapon could be reproduced at any time but the skin mask was an item that couldn’t be repaired.
‘If I’m going to die in the future, I’ll have to take off the skin mask first.’
At the very least, Grid didn’t intend to die until he resurrected the red phoenix. Grid recalled the sensation of cutting off one of Garam’s ears just before he died and muttered, “Duke of Virtue...”
It was an absurd skill that used the bonds engraved into every weapon he had ever made. This wasn’t all. It was also a skill that used human relations.h.i.+ps. The effect of the duke t.i.tle was so great that it surpa.s.sed Grid’s imagination. He thought the function of the duke t.i.tles would be similar to his second cla.s.s, Duke of Wisdom.
‘Well, Duke of Wisdom is probably lacking compared to the real one.’
Duke of Wisdom wasn’t a power that Grid had built up. It was Braham’s knowledge that was shared and it wasn’t really in his mind. On the other hand, Duke of Virtue and Duke of Fire were different. They were powers that Grid built up himself and were based on Grid’s foundation.
“Status Window.”
Grid had reached level 406 from killing Hangyeol and his experience was at over 80%. This meant that his level didn’t decrease despite losing around 40% experience from the death penalty. Grid had a strange idea when he saw that only the strength and agility stats had turned a gold color.
‘If there is a golden ratio for strength and agility, will there also be a golden ratio between other stats?’
In the future, he should pay a bit more attention when observing the stats of NPCs. The moment Grid thought this...
Swaaah!!
“...!?”
There was an object pouring out light from the corner of the haunted house and as if in response, the Red Phoenix Breath and Red Phoenix Bow started to flash red.