“Don’t you think you should sleep? Is it really okay if you don’t take a break?”
“The sun and the rain are my blanket. I feel like I’m lying down even if I don’t lie down. The smell of the gra.s.s and soil calms my mind and the fatigue of my body will naturally be eliminated. Working here is a break for me.”
‘The legendary farmer smells the soil...’
Would there be a day when the smell of iron became aromatic to him? Then his labor efficiency would be slightly higher...
Grid could become the supreme one because he naturally had these thoughts. Being the best in the game was evidence that he was more diligent than others. During the time when others were resting, he stood alone and did even more to step on the threshold of the supreme one. In that sense, Grid deserved to be the supreme one. Even now, he was eager to work more and more despite being exhausted.
“I understand. I"m going to rest. The sun will set soon so take care of it.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I will surely bring you good news.”
The golden walnut was a potential permanent stat increaser with the second-best effect after the elixir. The cultivation of the golden walnuts was Grid’s dream and Piaro wanted to fulfill Grid’s dream.
***
“I know I am pretty to the little ones...”
The Xing King had three sons. They were 6, 7, and 10 years old. All of them saw Grid and fell in love at first sight, clamoring to marry him.
Grid shrugged and returned to his room. Then he stood in front of the mirror. He could see Irene who was smiling slightly. Due to the faint wrinkles around her eyes and her deep gaze, she no longer had the impression of a girl. She was modest as the mother of a child and strong as the parent of tens of millions of people. Even so, Grid knew—the beautiful woman whose image was being reflected in the mirror in front of him was still tender and weak.
Grid murmured as he gripped his delicate wrist, “Definitely... by all means...”
He would give her youth and life close to eternity. He would help her avoid the solitude and fear from seeing him never change. Grid pledged without considering Irene’s position at all. He believed that Irene would be delighted.
Grid got gooseb.u.mps as he was looking into the mirror. The windows were open. He noticed it only after the curtains were blown by the wind.
‘What?’
It was definitely closed when he first entered the room? Grid looked everywhere in this s.p.a.cious room.
“……”
The interior was as quiet as a dead rat. Grid couldn’t feel anything or find anything. Even his transcendent senses were silent.
“Is it night?”
Grid brought out the Enlightenment Sword that was attached to the Pulling Device. Silence occurred as he focused on hearing an intruder who might be hiding somewhere while summoning the Fire Dragon Sword behind his back.
Step, step, step.
The sound of Grid’s footsteps echoed through the serene interior. Just before he reached the window, Grid shouted, “G.o.d Hands!” Six black-gold hands shot out of the open window. Among them, one hand was faster than the others. The timing of using the buff skill attached to the weapon it was holding was also the most advanced.
“......?”
Grid, who planned to join the G.o.d Hands after they grabbed the intruder hanging from the window sill, suddenly stopped. The G.o.d Hands were just moving back and forth in the air. They lost their place because they couldn’t find the target. It happened as Grid was feeling fl.u.s.tered...
[Danger is coming.]
His transcendent senses sent him a warning.
-Master! Behind you!
One step late, the Fire Dragon Sword cried out. There was a deafening explosion just behind Grid.
“Keuk!”
Grid stepped back in a hurry and tried to figure out what was going on. He barely endured the tinnitus that disturbed his mind as he raised his eyes and witnessed the shocking scene. The Fire Dragon Sword wasn’t equipped and didn’t receive his stat effect. It was facing a disaster that could never be dealt with alone.
Zikfrector wielded Saharan’s Sword and his attack collided with the Fire Dragon Sword.
‘Was he in the room?’
Even Faker, who had become Lantier, couldn’t open a window and sneak into the room without Grid noticing. It was because moving objects would make a subtle noise and the airflow would change. Thus, there was a limit to moving around. The grandmaster opened the window in the short period of time when Grid was looking at the mirror and hid himself in the room. Grid couldn’t see him even when looking carefully, and despite his transcendent senses, Grid couldn’t sense him.
‘Was it to this extent?’
It wasn’t an exaggeration that he was the strongest NPC recognized by Chairman Lim Cheolho. If Dragon Slayer Hayate of the Tower of Wisdom was one of the ultimate transcendents, Grandmaster Zikfrector was approaching another ultimate, a G.o.d slayer. The only reason he failed to become a G.o.d slayer was due to the sin of ‘sloth.’
The sin engraved in him by the G.o.ds made Zikfrector fall asleep without being able to engage in a war with the G.o.ds. The greatest sin was engraved on him out of the seven malignant saints, showing the G.o.ds were the most vigilant against him. If all of the seven malignant saints had gathered and fought against the G.o.ds, the G.o.ds might’ve perished...
It happened as Grid’s thoughts were deepening...
The Fire Dragon Sword was unable to withstand the weight of the grandmaster’s ensuing attack and flew into the wall. Some blood flowed from above Grid’s eye due to the Fire Dragon Sword pa.s.sing by him. A brilliant light shone in the grandmaster’s eyes that had been stained with tiredness.
“You didn’t avoid it.”
The grandmaster had calculated the trajectory as he threw back the mysterious sword that moved on its own. It was perfectly induced to cut the left eye of the monster pretending to be the Overgeared Queen. However, the sword’s trajectory was slightly deflected due to slight movements on its own. The monster saw this and didn’t dodge the sword.
“That dynamic vision... it is transcendent.”
The grandmaster’s mind was spinning rapidly. Hands and swords that moved on their own—these were artifacts that reminded him of Overgeared King Grid. The ident.i.ty of the monster impersonating the Overgeared Queen was probably...
“……”
“...Cough.”
The tension inside Grid grew.
The grandmaster, or the 6th evil, Zik. It was astonis.h.i.+ng that he appeared in front of Grid half a day after the incident when he had the sin of ‘sloth.’ The grandmaster was currently standing silently and it was hard to tell what he was thinking, so Grid became even more uneasy.
In the end, Grid opened his mouth first, “Zikfrector.”
‘How do you know my name?’
“You can’t meet with the G.o.ds who were driven out. They control the human race to their own taste and might be more terrifying than the G.o.ds of the west.”
‘How do you know my purpose?’
The grandmaster’s eyes staring at Grid were once again filled with tiredness.
He had come here with the idea that the person who killed Susan couldn’t be the Overgeared Queen. This had already exhausted all his mental strength. He was in the middle of inferring the ident.i.ty of the monster pretending to be the Overgeared Queen when an extreme laziness dominated him.
The sin of ‘sloth,’ imprinted in his soul, was encroaching on his mind. In the end...
“It’s annoying.”
“...Eh?”
“First of all, I’ll go back first.”
The incident with the grandmaster completely stopped in an abrupt manner. The only thing left in the grandmaster was a homing instinct and the desire for sleep.
“Get out of the way.”
“N-No, hey! Come and see what is going on! If a person says something then you should react...!”
Grid was trying to grab the pa.s.sing grandmaster when he confirmed what he looked like in the mirror. It was only then that he understood why the grandmaster was hostile to him. He tried to take off the skin mask, but the grandmaster had already flown out the window.
“Ah... d.a.m.n.”
It couldn’t be helped. He hadn’t wanted to do this, yet...
Grid clicked his tongue and sent a whisper to someone.
-What are you doing?
The target of the whisper was clearly online. An answer wasn’t received, but Grid wasn’t nervous. He was convinced that the other person couldn’t ignore his whisper. It was as he expected.
-What? It was strange that the Overgeared Queen appeared. Sure enough, you came together to the East Continent.
A reluctant answer soon came back. The ident.i.ty of the other person was Zibal. He was one of Grid’s biggest compet.i.tors in the past and today.
-Tell this to the grandmaster. If he is still thinking about humanity, he shouldn’t trust the expelled G.o.ds. They are worse than the G.o.ds of the west.
-...Come to think of it, there was something in your epics criticizing the G.o.ds of the east.
-......
Grid’s face was hot the moment the epics were mentioned. Honestly, Grid didn’t feel very good because the epics broadcasted his situation, feelings, and comments live to players around the world. Every time he thought of the epics in the news, he would wake up from his sleep kicking his quilt. He was ashamed and wanted to sue the S.A Group for violating his privacy.
Zibal responded to the silent Grid.
-I will dismiss your request. I can’t just judge the target by listening to your one-sided arguments. In the first place, I’m not in a position to advise the grandmaster.
-Just pa.s.s on my words. The grandmaster will think about it again if it is from me.
-What?
Zibal scoffed. The grandmaster was one of the most important NPCs in Satisfy’s worldview. Most of the two billion players would never face him in their lifetime. Now Grid was saying that such a big guy would listen to him?
‘Of course, the relations.h.i.+p between the grandmaster and Grid isn’t shallow...’
However, this was too much. It was pure arrogance. In the end, Zibal could only laugh and accept it.
-Well, okay.
‘I need to repay you for what you did for the Haken Kingdom.’ Zibal swallowed back these words and asked Grid who was thanking him.
-You made a blood alliance with Xing. Will you fight for the Xing King if the grandmaster goes to him.
-Of course.
-Is that so... if you are truly determined, then you should evacuate the queen in advance. I might not be able to lose.
-Hahat. Thank you for the advice.
-You are really crazy. Don’t you know that you’re not in a position to laugh.
-No, I really want to thank you.
-Tsk.
The conversation between the two people soon ended.
The next day, the sun had risen to the middle of the sky when Zibal visited the grandmaster, who just woke up. Zibal spoke carefully, “The Overgeared King says that you shouldn’t trust the G.o.ds who have been expelled.”
“……”
As expected, there was no answer. The grandmaster was awake less than two hours a day and had the ability to ignore useless words.
‘I have done my duty.’
Zibal felt relieved of the burden of doing Grid a favor and was about to step back. Then he heard a voice. “I understand.”
“......??”
Zibal was dumbfounded when the grandmaster nodded at the words.