Chapter 1605
People who were satisfied and comfortable with only billions or tens of billions in a.s.sets weren’t eligible to become Overgeared members. It had been a long time since the Overgeared Guild dominated various contents and Grid had reached the level of easily producing legendary items. Just as Chris recently purchased a legendary cla.s.s change book, it was right to say that the Overgeared members were always exposed to the opportunity to purchase astronomically valuable items.
It was a situation where an ancient city and dragon killer appeared. As a result, forgotten literature and treasures were being unearthed. They couldn’t be careless no matter how much wealth they acc.u.mulated so far. Unless they were going to settle for the present and be eliminated, they had to work as hard as a cow to make more money. They also had to engrave the habit of frugality on their bodies.
Grid had personally reminded them by turning Chris into a debtor in an instant. It would’ve been very painful for Grid to sacrifice a longtime friend and colleague, but he had to sacrifice Chris as a lesson for everyone.
‘He knew in advance that we would need more money in the future.’
From the first day they met, she knew that Youngwoo was a great person. In fact, he became one of the best players in the field. There were so many things to respect that she was naturally convinced when he was praised as a great man. However, she hadn’t expected his foresight to be so excellent.
In fact, wasn’t his intelligence itself very high? At this point, it wasn’t enough to express it as ‘perfection.’ It was an objective a.s.sessment. It had nothing to do with the feelings she had for him.
“......”
Yura returned after a photo shoot to earn money. She had led the h.e.l.l expedition for four months and was engaged in external activities, so her fatigue was very great. She was less physically exhausted due to consistently exercising since she was young, but she was mentally exhausted. It was hard to believe it had been only a few months.
Yura felt sorry for her weak self. Yet when others saw it, they thought it was natural for her to be tired. It was fortunate that she didn’t fall down.
High rankers who were envied by two billion players—they were the best in different ways. It wasn’t easy to lead these strong people who had extremely strong individual personalities. Besides, what about the three kings of the different species? They openly ignored Yura, saying they were only loyal to His Majesty Grid. They prioritized their own judgments over the orders of Yura, the commander-in-chief. It wasn’t just one or two operations that were ruined because of them.
Even so, Yura never blamed them. She controlled herself most thoroughly and led the expedition so that the expedition members didn’t antagonize each other. So far, there had been no casualties.
Surprisingly, Jishuka helped a lot. During the expedition, Yura and Jishuka never clashed. There was no fighting. In the first place, Jishuka would mostly lose if they fought, but... in any case, the war of nerves between the two of them was famous. Yet recently, they showed off their friends.h.i.+p to the point where it could be believed they were real sisters. The more they spent time together, the more they acknowledged each other. In h.e.l.l, the two of them were the strongest allies, not compet.i.tors. They relied on each other more than anyone else.
Meow.
“......?”
Yura parked in the parking lot and was running her bathtub application when she stopped. She unknowingly put away her desire to wash and lie down on the bed. She turned in the direction of the cat’s cries rather than entering her house.
Meow.
The cat who made eye contact with Yura cried out again. It was a very ugly cat. The fur pattern was ugly. It looked grumpy. There was a lot of flesh on its body, so it seemed to have stolen all the food from the stray cats in this neighborhood.
“......”
Yura didn’t approach small animals. They were cute and pretty, but they were small. She was worried they might get hurt if she touched them. Of course, there was a lot of interest. She had countless urges to hug them tightly and rub her face into their fur. Thus, she had her own knowledge.
‘Winter.’
The day was cold. South Korea’s temperatures had dropped below zero since the closing of the National Compet.i.tion, which recorded the lowest ratings ever. A cat’s fur swelled up when it was cold. She remembered reading that it was the effect of narrowing pores to withstand the cold.
“Did you come to a warm place?”
Nyang.
The cat cried out as if answering her and it looked every uglier close up. She couldn’t turn a blind eye to it. She thought other people would avoid the cat because it was ugly. She was worried they would abuse it rather than feeding it.
Nyang.
She slowly reached out. The cat approached and rubbed its cheek against Yura’s white hand. The surprised Yura felt fl.u.s.tered and she carefully touched the cat’s back. She could feel the skinny body beyond the puffy fur. It looked fat, but it was actually underweight.
“Uhum... Wait here.”
Yura walked inside the parking lot. Her mansion had a huge parking lot. There was plenty of s.p.a.ce left even if she parked more than 20 large cars, so she could use it for various purposes. Naturally, there were several warehouses.One warehouse had piles of canned food for cats. She had never actually given it to a cat.
Yura wasn’t the type to look for stray cats and she never had a cat approach her like this. The reason why she had canned food... it was preparation for a situation like the present one. She was very well prepared.
“Eat slowly.”
The shelf life of canned goods was sufficient. She also periodically purchased new ones out of thorough preparations.
Nyang.
A cat that answered her even when frantically eating canned food. It was very kind unlike its grumpy face.
‘A lovely kid.’
Yura’s heart softened as she sat in front of the cat and smiled. Naturally, her fatigue disappeared. Many thoughts flowed through her mind as she relaxed. Apart from her thoughts about the missing Youngwoo, all of them were work-related thoughts.
‘Amoract.’
The 2nd Great Demon—she threatened the expedition by sending her mimicries and she sent a whisper to Yura every time.
Come back to my side now. I covet you so much.
She connected mind to mind and sent a whisper without anyone knowing. Of course, Yura didn’t fall for the temptation. She had no intention of becoming a demon. It was decided a long time ago.
It was the time when the 30th Great Demon pushed a kingdom to the brink of destruction. Yura had been able to reign as a demon early on, but she chose a hard road out of her own will. Rather, she became the Demon Slayer to kill demons. She would’ve been hostile to Grid forever if she had become a demon. She didn’t like it. It was impossible for her to change her mind now.
Furthermore, Amoract was a dangerous existence similar to Baal from Yura’s point of view. Amoract constantly persuaded Yura by saying she planned to return h.e.l.l to its original state for Yatan’s sake and it would be beneficial for humanity, but Yura never trusted her. It was because Amoract was the great demon of conflict.
Was it shamelessness or a lack of self-awareness? Amoract herself acted without being aware of her t.i.tle, but Yura was rightly wary. It was true that Amoract was hostile to Baal right now, but Yura decided that they should never hold hands.
‘Yatan’s honor and the restoration of h.e.l.l might be excuses.’
Conflict—Amoract’s setting was quite malicious. It was her essence to split up sides and create fights. The fact that she didn’t show it outwardly made her worse than Baal.
Nyang.
Yura’s mind suddenly returned. The cat who neatly emptied the canned food was rubbing against her calf. Yura, who was unknowingly smiling, couldn’t help blus.h.i.+ng. She was embarra.s.sed at the thought that she was smiling like a fool. Even so, she thought she would have a good dream today.
***
Dragon Slayer—the world was abuzz with the emergence of a being they never imagined would exist. On the other hand, the elemental world was serene. The only human here was Kraugel and he didn’t talk much.
‘It is hard.’
Kraugel didn’t prefer a party play. He found it uncomfortable to work with someone. It was because he generally suffered losses. This talented person’s intuition was his strength. He had to lower his level by several stages when cooperating with others.
His body that moved while omitting the process of reasoning, understanding, and judgment confused even his allies. Cooperation required mutual understanding, but there weren’t many people in the world who could read Kraugel’s intentions. Therefore, a proper cooperation couldn’t be achieved. From a certain point, Kraugel preferred solo play. He unintentionally isolated himself and adapted.
This was a story until he met Grid. Kraugel changed. He got used to being together with others. At this moment, he noticed the absence of Hao and Alexander, who dared to follow and a.s.sist him.
-Sword Saint?
The empty spots of the Overgeared members who fought together in h.e.l.l.
-Huhu, it is just this much?
Above all, the fact that he couldn’t be back to back with Grid gradually made Kraugel anxious.
The Elemental King of Wind was outstanding.
It had been nearly four months. Kraugel, who had slaughtered hundreds of thousands or even countless dark elementals, was confident that not only had he leveled up significantly, but he also fully adapted to the ‘delay.’
The spirit that escaped from his body. He had a perfect understanding about how to operate this slow body that couldn’t keep up with accidents. However, the limitations were clear. The problem was that his actions were slow no matter how many times he fought with the correct timing and predicted the future actions.
He had a bad compatibility with the Elemental King of Wind, who used speed as a long-term weapon. If it hadn’t been for his super sensitivity and the Formless Will that developed in the process of making up for the loss of his body, he would’ve died immediately and been expelled from the elemental world.
-No matter how many years pa.s.s, humans remain the same. They aren’t that great. Just look at the Grid whom you wors.h.i.+p as a G.o.d. He trusted me without doubting me until the end. He ignorantly relied on his strength and was lacking in his senses.
The torn apart spirit body—Kraugel’s expression turned cold as he barely moved his translucent body to prevent a violent storm. For the first time, he opened his tightly closed mouth, “...It wasn’t worth doubting.”
-Huh?
“To Grid, you are nothing, so he pa.s.sed you over as unimportant.”
For Kraugel, Grid was a special existence. Grid was the first person in his life that he aimed for. He was close to an idol. From a certain point, just chasing Grid’s back filled his heart. It was a type of sanctuary. No one could intrude on it.
-...Hah? Hahat! It is far from reasonable to say this. You are too emotional for someone who proclaims to be the Sword Saint. I can see why you are weak... huh?
The Elemental King of Wind was laughing from the absurdity, only to flinch. It was because he felt that the willpower of this insignificant human being was suddenly strengthened.
[Confirming the expression of emotions based on your remarks.]
Expression of emotion—it was the most important virtue for the Sword Saint who used the Heart Sword as a weapon. The thing that Kraugel lacked was being fulfilled in this moment. The system a.n.a.lyzed and judged his vocalization, breathing, pulse, etc.
The intangible sword cut through the storm. As if to prove that the willpower of the Sword Saint had finally become clear, the color of his translucent blue spirit body gradually deepened.