Grid recorded the entire encounter with the yangban, Mir, from the moment of their meeting up to the point of his own death.
“This is real and isn’t fake?”
At s.h.i.+n Youngwoo’s house...
The smile disappeared from the face of Jishuka, who arrived just in time to see Youngwoo log out. The shock she received was so great that Jishuka, who bought a roasted sweet potato and came to play, put the sweet potato she was trying to feed to Youngwoo into his nose instead.
It wasn’t enough to operate large-scale field magic (Earth G.o.d) and a unique barrier (Storm of the Fire G.o.d) at the same time. He could carry out high speed movements without any advance action (Lightning G.o.d) and shoot lightning from the sword...
The fighting power of the yangban, Mir, was more overwhelming than any other enemy Jishuka had ever encountered.
“Isn’t it pointless to a.n.a.lyze the patterns? Using field magic to destroy formations, moving at a speed that can’t be followed with the naked eye, while applying a large-area debuff and a unique barrier... how can we kill such an attacker?”
What means could they use to surpa.s.s such a ridiculous monster? It was impossible. At the current time, he was completely invincible. Jishuka was complaining only to suddenly shut her mouth. It was because Youngwoo (Grid) popped into her mind as she listed Mir’s strengths. Field magic, unique barriers, and speed that was difficult to follow were all characteristics of Youngwoo.
“Now that I’m seeing you... do you have no conscience? Indeed, from the time you received the love of both Yura and I, you built a wall of conscience.”
“...Your Korean has improved a lot.”
“I am Korean now, so I should naturally do well.”
It had been a year since Jishuka naturalized here. She had become accustomed to the sentiments of South Koreans, who were somewhat cautious compared to South Americans. Therefore...
“By the way... how are you with Yura these days?”
Jishuka was once so pa.s.sionate and bold that she decided to immigrate because she wanted to be close to Youngwoo. Now it had weakened. The self-confidence of ‘Youngwoo’s heart doesn’t matter, it is enough if I like Youngwoo’ and ‘there isn’t a man who wouldn’t fall for a woman like me’ had long disappeared.
Youngwoo was the first to take care of his family and be considerate to others in any situation. Her heart for Youngwoo had grown excessively as she watched his gentleness for the past year.
One morning, it was a day when she had breakfast with Youngwoo’s family as usual without showing that her body and head were heavy due to illness. Youngwoo had quietly followed her home and wrapped his scarf around her. He took her home, bought medicine, and stayed with her all day. He was the best player in the world and had a greater responsibility than anyone else, causing him to value time more than gold, yet he wasted a whole day taking care of her.
Looking at him, Jishuka had realized something. If she became his family member, she would never be lonely and would be happy forever. From then on, it became difficult. Jishuka wasn’t satisfied with merely being by Youngwoo’s side. She became depressed when she watched from the window as Youngwoo went out to meet Yura every weekend.
“What about her? It is the same. Eating, dating...”
“Did you sleep?”
“...What are you saying all of a sudden?”
“Have you kissed?”
“......”
“Hands as well... you must’ve held it.”
At first, Youngwoo took it as a joke, but his expression soon hardened. He read the melancholy in Jishuka’s expression and the darkness in her eyes. He wanted to comfort her. She was strong, imposing, and beautiful every day, so he wanted to embrace the weak figure that she rarely showed.
However, he endured it. It was more difficult than stopping any addiction, but he was able to endure it because Yura’s face suddenly appeared.
He made up his mind and opened his mouth, “Why are you making that expression because of me when you are loved by everyone in the world? Take this opportunity to look back. Jishuka, there is no reason to like me. You are just clinging to the emotions you felt in the hard moments when you were helped by me. Maybe you care about what you owe for the Red Phoenix Bow.”
“Don’t speak so rudely.”
“......”
“Who are you to measure my feelings? I am the only one who can deny my heart. It is your freedom not to accept my heart, but you have no right to judge and deny my heart. Just say no if you don’t like me. Why make people so miserable?”
“...Sorry, I was too short-sighted.”
“As long as you know and are sorry. In any case, I knew your heart, so I’ll stop talking about it in the future. We can’t be lovers, but we can be friends like we are now, right?”
“......”
“Oh, I should go and rest early today. I’ll continue to devise a strategy to help you when you challenge Mir again some day. Additionally, don’t forget to turn on ventilation mode when you enter the capsule. You might fart because you ate a lot of sweet potatoes.”
“...Uh, yes.”
Youngwoo also liked Jishuka. How many people in the world could dislike her when she was capable, responsible, bright, strong, and beautiful? In the beginning, Jishuka was Youngwoo’s benefactor. If she hadn’t led Grid to the Tzedakah Guild and allowed him to make good friends, Youngwoo’s status might not be much different from Agnus.
However, it was Yura, not Jishuka, who had a greater place in Youngwoo’s heart. He saw her courageous confession in front of the world and as they walked, talked, ate together, and watched movies together, Youngwoo realized that he had great affection for her.
He saw her pretending to be strong when she wasn’t as strong as Jishuka, and saw her pretending to be bright when she wasn’t as bright as Jishuka. This made him want to be with her more and more. He wanted to stand by her side so that she could be really strong and really bright.
He felt sorry for Jishuka. No, feeling sorry was just an excuse. She deserved to meet a man who was much better and nicer than him. It was better to help her clear up her feelings as soon as possible, rather than stick to ambiguity. He had known it for a while, but he kept putting it off because he didn’t have the courage.
“......”
His heart was shaken before it soon became empty. It felt like the heart that had swelled up after meeting Jishuka was torn apart. It was painful. It hurt. Youngwoo felt bitter pain as he watched the back of Jishuka walking helplessly out of the building. He wanted to rely on alcohol. He wanted to become drunk so he could forget the whole day.
However, he knew. The harder it was, the more he had to keep his spirit up. He had to keep busy.
“Why do I have to go through this type of pain...?”
Youngwoo leaned blankly against the window for a long time before moving quickly. As usual, he went to the capsule and lay down. It was the moment when Overgeared G.o.d Grid came to Satisfy.
***
After the fierce battle with Mir, Grid left for h.e.l.l.
Sometimes alone and sometimes with Yura, he hunted demons and focused on growth. His heart wanted to concentrate on blacksmithing first. He wanted to create a new sword based on the inspiration from using Hexetia’s Short Sword and the problems he realized while fighting Mir.
However, it was still premature. The ‘Overgeared G.o.d Grid Statue’ needed to gain at least six more levels to give a dexterity buff similar to the full level ‘Hero King Grid Statue.’ If he made an item before that, there was a high probability that he would get a result that was worse than before. Additionally, Braham’s mineral magic forging was far from over. He judged that for the time being, it was better to hunt and level up his Tailoring skill.
“Oh my~ that is pretty underwear~ are you making it to give to us as a gift?”
Grid wore Lee Jeong’s training tools set while sewing and felt like an old sage cutting rice cakes in a room with no lights on. It was difficult. It was hard. He stabbed his fingers dozens of times and the st.i.tching was ugly.
However, the moment he finished a piece of underwear after the hard work, the proficiency of his Tailoring skill increased remarkably. It was the synergy created by combining the double skill proficiency effect attached to the Gourmet Dragon’s Needle with Lee Jeong’s training set.
Grid had been smiling happily at the rewarding results. Then he heard these words and looked like he was chewing on s.h.i.+t.
“I would be crazy to give this to you.”
He was speaking to the succubi. He thought he was likely to be misunderstood as a pervert if he went around with them while they were only wearing underwear.
‘I need to get in contact with a skin maker as soon as possible.’
At first, he attempted to dress the succubi. However, the succubi were a race that hated wearing clothes. He could forcibly dress them by giving them an order but the moment they were dressed, they lost motivation and this caused an overall decline in stats. The smartest method was to attach skin to the succubi’s underwear to make it look like something other than underwear.
“Then you made it to give to this sister~?”
“I don’t think it will suit her~? Master’s taste is different from this sister’s taste~”
The succubi compared the underwear to Yura. Yura’s face turned red when she saw the shape of the underwear.
Grid hastily explained. "This underwear doesn"t reflect my taste. I might be making underwear, but I have to make it in various shapes and types in order to quickly improve my dexterity and Tailoring proficiency...”
Unfortunately, Grid didn’t have long to explain. Just then, the ground shook and a demon army started to flock from beyond the horizon. What was with this ma.s.sive army?
Grid was startled and took off the blindfold covering his eyes. The first thing he saw were chariots led by three-headed rhinoceroses. The demon shooters on the chariots pulled the bowstring in unison.
“......!”
Grid’s expression stiffened when he saw the arrows flying through the sky. It was because the speed at which the arrows were fired was unusual.
“Get back!”
Grid determined that the succubi wouldn’t be able to avoid them and stepped forward. He used Link to open a sword curtain to block the arrows.
Tatang!
Yura was also shooting. The magic bullets she fired already killed three shooters. Even so, the chariots didn’t lose their momentum. There were a lot of them. Hundreds of chariots rushed toward Grid.
‘Isn’t this dangerous?’
During the times when he left h.e.l.l, Grid left the succubi in h.e.l.l. It was because he wasn’t ready to take them in front of people. The succubi welcomed Grid every time he returned. Unlike what he thought, they waited without betraying Grid. Since then, they had been together and friends.h.i.+p acc.u.mulated.
“Elfin Stone!”
“Blood Field.”
In fact, the smartest way was to abandon the succubi. The most damage-free way to avoid the chariots was to summon pets like Noe and Randy before using Shunpo to flee with just Yura. However, Grid always had a stupid streak. He mobilized Noe, Randy, the Overgeared Skeletons, and the vampires to confront the advance of the chariots head on. If a pet died in the process, there was a penalty before they were summoned again, but he accepted it.
It was a clash of strength and strength. The chariots led by the three-headed rhinoceroses and Grid’s forces collided head-on, shaking the battlefield.
Grid was very busy. Priority was given to protecting Elfin Stone whose Blood Field weakened the enemy. The spear attacks of the riders on the rhinoceroses were blocked as he worked with Noe and Randy to counterattack and kill them. The Overgeared Skeletons and succubi were to the side, mocking or bewitching the riders.
Grid could feel the advance of the chariots losing their momentum, but it wasn’t enough to relax. The power of the chariots was too great. The demonkin he met in the h.e.l.ls in the 20s couldn’t be compared. It happened the moment when the wounded Noe and Randy made pained sounds...
Clap clap clap!
The sound of applause was heard from outside the area of Blood Field. Grid s.h.i.+fted his gaze and was startled. The t.i.tle of the demon who clapped was ‘Deputy Commander of the 10th h.e.l.l.’
‘10th h.e.l.l?’
Why did a demon from the 10th h.e.l.l appear in a h.e.l.l in the 20s? The demon shouted toward the puzzled Grid, “It is amazing that you have inherited the swordsmans.h.i.+p of the Undefeated King! Now! Get in next to me! Leraje, one of the 33 monarchs who rules h.e.l.l is waiting for you!”
Leraje—the great demon who appeared in the Undefeated King’s diary. Grid recalled this and exchanged looks with Yura. Yura couldn’t make a hasty judgment.
A great demon. The 10th ranked great demon was inviting players to her castle. The foreshadowing of a hidden quest was obvious but it was also clear that there would be risks. In the end, the decision was up to the party leader, Grid.
“...Okay, let’s meet her first.”
The deputy commander’s chariot that was led by 10 rhinos—Grid and Yura climbed on top of something that could be called a fortress. The deputy commander glared at Yura, but didn’t drive her out. On the other hand, the succubi were stopped. “The lower cla.s.ses of the 32nd h.e.l.l, get out.”
“Go and wait with Glant,” Grid ordered them.
“Depaaart!”
After saying farewell to the succubi, the chariot carrying Grid and Yura left for the 10th h.e.l.l.