by Park Saenal
‘Definitely… I will someday repay today’s disgrace.’
It might not be possible in one or two years. However, the story would change in four or five years. Kir would successfully recover under the aegis of the empire as planned. He would build up an alliance around the Gauss Kingdom and get revenge on Grid one thousand—no, tens of thousands of times. Kir believed that if he had more strength and authority, he would be able to do something about Grid.
However, this faith was soon broken.
“Did you forget my warning? Didn’t I tell you not to meet me?”
“What?” Kir had walked for around 20 minutes and was shocked when he suddenly heard a voice. He raised his head to see Grid blocking the way on a white unicorn.
“W-What is this? It can’t be!”
Was the top-ranked player such a gangster? No, it was impossible. Grid pointed a knife at Kir who was denying his imagination.
“I told you I would kill you again. Didn’t I tell you to be careful?”
“Y-You son of a bitch!”
Grid was a villain—no, a scoundrel… No, a gangster. Kir paled as he belatedly realized Grid’s essence and shouted, “Knights Summoning!”
It wasn’t the time to cling to the elves. He had to take down Grid today! Kir summoned his three knights…
“What?” Kir lost his soul.
It was due to an unexpected notification window.
[No knights are available to be summoned.]
“D-Don’t tell me…?”
“The unicorn is good.”
Kir, who had transformed the forest of the world tree into hell, turned to gray. This was the precursor to the fall of the Merchant King. That’s right. Kir thought he had lost everything to Grid today, but it was only an illusion. He still had things left to lose—the trading connections he had all over the continent.
[The unicorn is sad.]
[Affinity with the unicorn is very low.]
[It is recommended to give the unicorn a new name.]
[Affinity with the elves has increased by 50.]
[The world tree is interested in you.]
[The world tree has sent you an invitation.]
Chapter 836
Chapter 836
“I won’t forget…! Never! Never!!” Anger and hatred filled Kir’s eyes as he screamed and turned to gray, showing his willingness to get revenge no matter what.
However, Grid’s expression was calm. Naturally, Grid knew that being the subject of a deep grudge could be deadly. A disaster might end up returning to him. After all, Grid had many grudges in the past and had experienced returning anger and hatred to his opponent. Therefore, he couldn’t be unaware of this fact.
‘…Now, I have become the target of revenge.’
The more power he gained, the more he had at stake.
“Is it okay to push him this far?”
“Why wouldn’t it be okay?” Grid didn’t regret his choice. His eyes weren’t shaken as he stared at Jishuka, who looked extremely worried. “Was there something wrong with my actions today?”
Merchant King Kir was a potential competitor, but Grid had fought for a just reason. Since it had already happened, it was better to crush Kir thoroughly. Showing mercy was just likely to lead to deadlier disaster being returned to Grid. At this moment, weren’t there countless players forming alliances and then betraying and going to war against each other?
“It is a matter of survival. I don’t want to give leeway to the other person.”
Yes, Grid couldn’t show any weaknesses. A second or third Immortal would be born to threaten Grid’s precious people.
‘I will trample them so thoroughly that they can’t even try getting revenge.’ Grid pledged with cold eyes.
Gulps could be heard from the Overgeared members watching Grid. However, Chris had a bright expression on his face. Chris had once been head of the Seven Guilds and knew the virtues of a leader.
‘A leader needs to be ruthless towards the enemies.’
Satisfy was a world where survival of the fittest ruled. A person who was gentle to everyone would just be eaten. Therefore, Chris judged that Grid’s qualities were ideal. Meanwhile, Grid checked the information of the unicorn.
[Unicorn]
[-A legendary divine creature on the East Continent. It is very aggressive and not easily tamed. They have a temperament that loves women and hates men.
Name: Not Set
Level: 189
Affinity: -110/100
Health: 40,000/40,000
Mana: 80,000/80,000
Defense: 1,980
-Barding can be equipped (Barding= body armor for war horses)
Status: Sad and petulant.
(Master, who gave me many girlfriends, has abandoned me. If he was going to abandon me, then abandon me. Why did he give me away? To add to my grief, my pride is hurt. It is more annoying because my new master is a man.)
-Skills Possessed-
[Unicorn’s Blessing (Passive)]
Increases the resource recovery of all riders by 20%. If the rider is a woman, there will be a further 30% increase.
[Sprint]
Moves a distance of 60 meters per second for up to 3 seconds. At this time, the unicorn and riders will enter a super armored state and will resist all conditions. However, physical status conditions can’t be resisted. If the rider is a woman, the unicorn can move for up to 5 seconds.
Skill Cooldown Time: 2 minutes.
Mana Consumption: 4,900
[Jump]
The unicorn can jump up to 10 meters. Avoid all types of attacks and obstacles at the moment of the jump.
Cooldown Time: 5 minutes.
Mana Consumption: 7,800
[Repel]
The unicorn will attack a target with the large and beautiful horns. Knocks back the target and deals 10,000 fixed damage.
Skill Cooldown Time: 30 seconds.
Mana Consumption: 1,500
[Male Hatred]
The unicorn will hate all males, regardless of the species. Humans are no exception. If the owner of the unicorn is a male, affinity will reduce by one point per day. In order to raise affinity, the owner must keep the unicorn in constant touch with women.]
“…”
Gender discrimination? The confused Grid stared at the unicorn.
The combination of the unicorn’s elegant and smooth white fur, long neck, and beautiful horn looked good. Moreover, the unicorn’s big black eyes were completely pure. The unicorn’s appearance didn’t match the description in the status window at all.
‘A bug?’
Were the details of the status window wrong? Grid reached out to stroke the unicorn’s face. Suddenly, the unicorn huffed and struck Grid’s chest with the horn.
[You have suffered 10,000 damage!]
“Ugh…!” This damage was unfamiliar for Grid who had an extremely high defense. He frowned at the pain, taking a few steps back as he stared at the unicorn. The unicorn’s eyes suddenly curved into the shape of crescent moons as he approached Jishuka. He licked Jishuka’s big chest and pretty face with his tongue.
Jishuka didn’t know the reality of this unicorn and smiled brightly. “He is a child who follows people well. It is fortunate. You got a good pet.”
“…Didn’t you see that he just hit me?”
“It is probably an expression of affection. What pet would attack their master?”
The unicorn’s status changed as he buried his face in Jishuka’s chest and listened to their conversation.
[Status: Joyful
(I didn’t think my ugly new master would have such a pretty girlfriend. This is a complete gain.)]
[Affinity with the unicorn has risen by 10.]
“…”
It was disgusting. No, seriously, what was with this different tone when it came to women?
‘Was the developer sick when they made the unicorns?’
Grid frowned and gave a name to the unicorn. He didn’t intend to give the uni
corn a rough name just because he didn’t like his personality.
“Overgeared Corn.”
[A name has been given to the unicorn.]
[A bond has formed with the unicorn.]
[Affinity with the unicorn is restored to a normal value.]
[Affinity: 0/100]
Was he that glad about receiving a name? Grid watched the unicorn and thought he was a surprisingly pure creature. However, in the eyes of the Overgeared members, the unicorn seemed sadder than when he lost his master.
***
“Thank you for saving us.”
The 12 Te, elves from the 12 clans, bowed toward Grid. This was the first time that the highly prideful elves had bowed to a human. Grid felt more embarrassed than proud. “This isn’t something to thank me for. Didn’t I tell you? I just wanted to repay the favor I received from Sticks.”
“That…” Deruyaru, who had an exceptionally young appearance among the elves, grabbed Grid’s hands and raised herself up. Then she asked carefully, “What exactly is your relationship with Sage Sticks? Do you know Sticks’ current status?”
100 years ago, the honorable high elf Sticks left the forest before the tragedy that split the World Tree’s Forest in half. Male elves and female elves had separate villages around the world tree for several decades now. They pretended not to know each other even when they passed each other in the forest.
The 12 Te took this situation seriously. The birth rate of the elves had fallen even further, and they worried about the survival of the species. However, the king who had left to be with the male elves ignored the worries of the 12 Te. He was firm about not reconciling with the female elves, who also loathed the male elves.
If only Sage Sticks appeared at this time… He could awaken the king’s spirit and lay the foundations for uniting the species again…
The 12 Te missed Sticks. In particular, they felt a greater need for Sticks after this incident. If Sticks had been here, they wouldn’t have fallen for the human’s lowly trap. The problem was that they didn’t know where Sticks’ location was.
Grid explained, “Sticks is my special friend. Right now, he is staying in the Overgeared Kingdom to help me.”
“Sticks is in a human kingdom…” The 12 Te twitched.
This reaction puzzled Grid. “By the way, why don’t you know Sticks’ status? Didn’t he recently come here?”
Sticks had gone to the World Tree’s Forest to make an antidote for Khan. However, the elves didn’t know this fact and were confused along with Grid. The 12 Te were perplexed. “Sticks recently visited the forest?”
“Yes.”
“This…” The 12 Te whispered among themselves after hearing Grid’s answer.
“Did Sticks appear in the king’s village?”
“That’s right. It seems to be the case.”
“I’m sure the terrible king told him all sorts of lies. Sticks won’t know about the situation in the forest.”
There was only one conclusion. The 12 Te turned to Grid with serious expressions.
“Could you please ask Sticks to visit the forest? Tell him not to see the king but to meet the 12 Te.”
“Eh? Y-Yes. Okay.”
What other episodes were hidden among the elves? There must be a serious situation for them to call their king ‘terrible.’ Grid didn’t want to know because it seemed to be an annoying situation. However, it wasn’t possible for him to leave the forest immediately. He couldn’t ignore the call of the world tree!
‘Is it going to thank me for saving the elves?’
Wouldn’t he receive a great gift then? Grid was filled with high expectations as he moved to the village under the elves’ guidance. Along the way, he didn’t notice that there were feelings of emptiness and anger in the silent Beniyaru’s eyes, which were different from the other 12 Te.
However, Grid did see the notification window that appeared in front of him.
[The one who leads the dead has been born again as a legend!]
[The world will fall into a panic!]
It was a world message announcing the birth of a new legend. The style of the message was somewhat different from normal. With the mention of ‘reborn’ and ‘one who leads the dead’, only one person came to mind. The aghast Grid and Overgeared members stopped in their tracks.
“Agnus…”
***
『 The sculptor Polish, who became famous at the time of his debut, has found out that he learned sculpting through Satisfy. Experts in each field claim that it is possible to learn skills in Satisfy. In fact, many organizations and countries are trying to nurture talent through Satisfy. The S.A Group… 』
The huge castle was locked in silence. Only the voices from the TV echoed meaninglessly in the darkness. Then the capsule opened. A thin and pale man rose from it and wore a robe over his naked body. He was Agnus. His tired eyes looked at a large portrait in the middle of the room. The woman in the portrait was smiling happily. There were no traces of the unhappiness and unfortunate things that had happened before she took her own life.
“It won’t be long until we meet again.”
He had finally upgraded the growth type hidden class Baal’s Contractor to the legendary rating. This was the result of repeated efforts over three years. Agnus had gotten the ‘creation’ skill he had been hoping for.
“Caroline, I will make you.”
It didn’t matter what sacrifices he had to make, or if it was a lie and not reality. He wanted to recreate his lover who had been driven to death because of him. Then this impoverished reality would become the lie. Agnus leaned his cheek on the portrait and fell asleep.
Chapter 837
Chapter 837
It was like watching wild dogs with rabies. The terrible kapen skunks that foamed at the mouth were threatening monsters which stimulated a human’s primordial fear.
As she faced the skunks rushing through the foothills, Royman, an Overgeared knight, yelled, “Archers! Run and seize the highlands! The spearmen and shield soldiers will buy time here with me!”
“Waaaaahhhhh!”
The kapen skunks appeared at the outskirts of Reinhardt every spring and were level 277. Their strength and awful stench gave hell to the knights and soldiers of the Eternal Kingdom. Due to the large casualties that occurred without exception, many tombstones were erected every spring, which produced the saying ‘there is no stone in the spring of Eternal.’
However, Reinhardt was now part of the Overgeared Kingdom. The knights and soldiers of Overgeared confronted the kapen skunks boldly. Their flesh had been trained while farming with Piaro!
“Haaap!” Royman moved faster than the skunks jumping on rocks, trees, and other objects as she placed her shield on the ground, embedding the sharp end of the triangular shield in it.
As soon as the skunks approached, the ground collapsed like it had been dug with hoes.
“…!”
Beasts were said to be sensitive to impending disasters. In line with this, the skunks that were flying through the steep foothills suddenly stopped with surprise. Then while they were startled by the sudden landslide, arrows rained down on them. Royman and the soldiers bought time while the archers occupied the highlands.
“Good!”
The jaffa arrows pierced the skunks and turned them to gray one by one. Pillars of light fell onto Royman and her people several times. It was the symbol of a level up.
***
“There is a signal from Sua’s group! The skunks in the Buren Valley have been completely eradicated!”
“There is a signal from Bland’s group! The skunks in the Fortina Field have been completely eradicated!”
“Royman’s group has sent a signal!”
“Okay. Then the southern section has also been cleaned.”
In the outer barracks, Lauel couldn’t hide his satisfied smile as he conducted the army with a map in front of him. He remembered the painful first spring they experienced after establishing the Overgeared Kingdom.
Many villages on the outskirts of Reinhardt had been destroyed by the group of skunks, and countless people lost their lives or become refugees. It had been almost impossible to eradicate the skunks, considering their high breeding rate and the lacking power of the Overgeared members at the time. There would’ve been irreversible damage without Overgeared members like Pon and Regas.
However, as the years passed, the Overgeared Kingdom became stronger. The talent Grid brought over from the East Continent, the people Piaro trained, and the army Asmophel raised meant that this year’s military power was the strongest ever. After they repelled the scary skunks in just two days, Lauel felt that their military power was hundreds of times stronger than before.
‘It is a reward that burns the soul.’
Lauel thought that the efforts and hardships of the past were worth it. He felt proud of his contribution to the development of the kingdom, despite suffering from hair loss.
‘But…’
He couldn’t be satisfied with just this. The Overgeared Kingdom wasn’t the best yet. The Saharan Empire wasn’t the only threat to the kingdom. There was also the relatively recent threat of the Valhalla Kingdom. Furthermore, there was one more person.
‘Agnus…’
A few minutes ago, there was a world message about the birth of a new legend. One of the strongest enemies had been reborn as a legend, and this made Lauel nervous. The responsibility of raising the Overgeared Kingdom’s strength even further weighed down on his shoulders.
‘Things have become twisted in many ways.’
It wasn’t hard to speculate that Agnus’ class, Baal’s Contractor, had grown to the legendary level. Additionally, a growth type class probably didn’t have the level reset when it reached legend.
Lauel hadn’t expected Agnus to become a legend so fast. This had been due to Agnus’ method of gameplay. Someone had said, ‘There is no one who dies as often as Agnus among the high rankers.’ Agnus was a rare type of ranker who wasn’t afraid of death. Death in Satisfy meant a decline in growth, which had made Lauel predict that the timing of Agnus’ upgrade wouldn’t take place for a long time.
‘But it was the opposite…’ Lauel felt a chill as he thought about Agnus and realized what Agnus’ frequent deaths meant. ‘It means he has been continuously challenging content with little or no information.’
