Chapter 130

After knocking down the pope. Grid left the Vatican once his quest ended and was prepared for a new adventure. But before that, he needed time to recharge.

“Logout.”

Grid returned to being Shin Youngwoo. He left the capsule and immediately searched for food.

“I’m hungry.”

He distractedly yanked his boxers up his hips as he opened the refrigerator door. Inside were ham and egg rolls, meat and all types of dishes. On the table was a note from his mother.

'Son. Don't forget to eat meals regularly! It’s good to make money, but don’t play the game too much and exercise as well. ^^’

His beloved mother. In the past, the debt-ridden Shin Youngwoo was always worried at home. He often had to listen to his parents nagging. But now he was different. Shin Youngwoo succeeded in the game and paid off his debt, as well as his father’s. Now he was promoted to the trustworthy eldest son, not the pathetic son they had to worry about.

“I will work harder.”

Youngwoo didn’t want to worry his parents anymore. He didn’t want to see the two of them depressed again. He wanted them to be as happy as they were now. So he reminded himself. Satisfy wasn’t a simple game, it was his work! He would quickly finish this quest and turn to making items, earning more money and making his family happier.

He finished his meal. Shin Youngwoo took a break for a while and watched TV. Then he changed to a Satisfy-related channel and started to doze off.

On the news, there were reports that the pope of the Rebecca Church had been killed by an unidentified person. The news enthusiastically analyzed who the person was that killed the pope and who would be elected as the new pope. But Shin Youngwoo didn’t see the news due to falling asleep.

30 minutes later. Shin Youngwoo woke up and turned off the TV. He stretched before going back to the capsule to access Satisfy.

“I am in the best condition.”

He had a delicious lunch and plenty of rest. Grid walked vigorously towards his destination. Thanks to the clean air, he hummed as he walked through the forest. But he was attacked by someone along the way.

At first, bears appeared and attacked, then people popped out. Their IDs were Black Teddy and Asuka. The IDs were somewhat familiar, but Grid couldn’t recall who they were. Then a battle started without him knowing why.

Kuwaaah!

"What are these bears?”

The summons followed the summoner’s taste. In general, male summoners preferred pretty women, while female summoners preferred handsome men. There was also a strong tendency to summon monsters that were intimidating to the opponent.

But these bears? Of course, there were quite a few users who liked animal-shaped pets like Black Teddy. However, it wasn’t to the extent of Black Teddy. It wasn’t just one or two bears. Like a bear fanatic, all of his pets were bears.

"Summon White Bear Warriors!”

Grid had already defeated different types of bears. Now Black Teddy summoned a white bear. It wore a red cloak with black sunglasses. Somehow, it seemed stupid. The bear who had a serious expression with folded arms seemed quite laughable.

‘Isn’t it kind of cute?’

Grid lost his tension and was caught off guard. The white bear warrior didn’t miss this chance. It jumped through the air at the speed of lightning and dealt an uppercut.

Peeok!

[You have suffered 2,550 damage.]

[The effect of Doran’s Ring has been activated.]

[1,275 health has been restored.]

“Kuk!”

Fast and strong. Then Asuka approached the surprised Grid. She wielded the double swords at the same time.

Chaaeng! Chaeng!

Chukak.

[You have suffered 2,900 damage.]

“Girl...!”

He was quickly wounded. It was difficult to defend against the two swords that attacked different parts.

'These two, they are good.’

He had defeated the pope alone. He thought that maybe he was the strongest? That idea was quickly removed as Grid became alert. Then he observed Black Teddy and Asuka. He used his high insight to grasp their combat power.

‘What?’

Grid was startled. Asuka had 18,000 combat power while Black Teddy only had 9,000, but that increased to 20,000 with his summons.

‘Their IDs are familiar. Are they top rankers?’

Grid hurriedly opened his inventory. Then he took out the Holy Light set that was so gorgeous it was burdensome to wear.

[You have equipped the Holy Light Battle Gear set.]

[The additional effects of defense +500 and health +6,000 have been received.]

The pure white armor with gold thread and the gloves gleamed. In addition, the small silver crown emanated dignity.

‘Now he seems like a high level user. That scruffy appearance was just a gimmick.' The moment that Black Teddy thought so. The person with the ID of Grid put away the dagger and pulled out a giant black greatsword.

“That sword...!”

Asuka’s eyes widened with surprise.

What was the reason she joined the Tzedakah Guild? It was because she wanted to know the class of the helmeted person who displayed overwhelming skills at Winston and slaughtered the Giant Guild members.

She wanted to figure out all of the hidden classes.

As a second generation heir of a conglomerate, she came in contact with traders every day, and sometimes these traders sold her information about hidden classes. But she couldn’t change into just any hidden class. There were countless types of hidden classes, so she needed a lot of information to make the best choice. She had to meet with as many hidden classes as possible.

But the Tzedakah Guild hid the man in the skull helmet and didn’t let her meet him. It was annoying because she couldn’t fulfill her original intention of joining the guild, but now she happen to come across him in an unexpected situation.

“You are the Psychopath Butcher right?” Asuka didn’t conceal her friendly tone as she asked.

Grid wanted to snap at her.

The Frostlight Orc Chief’s Helmet was destroyed by the pope! He appeared like a prince in a manhwa thanks to the silver crown, yet he was still being called psychopath.

‘They know it’s me due to Dainsleif, even if the Frostlight Orc Chief’s Helmet is gone. Rather, shouldn’t she be attracted to my appearance?’

The Holy Light Battle Gear set had a very beautiful appearance. He was confident that it was cooler than any existing battle gear set. Grid was expecting girls to think he looked cool when wearing this set.

However, he was mistaken. The completion of fashion relied on the face! Grid had a somewhat average appearance so he would only cause resentment when he tried to dress gorgeously.

“What happened to the skull helmet? I think I preferred it when you wore the skull helmet.” Asuka talked randomly.

Then Grid’s anger reached its peak.

"This girl... Not even introducing yourself before attacking someone... No, it’s even a personal attack?”

Grid wasn’t the type to become nice to someone because they were a woman. Asuka had a considerable beauty, but it wasn’t enough to weaken Grid’s mind.

“You’ll be sorry!” Grid gritted his teeth and replied.

Then he started his sword dance. A sharp killing intent was concentrated on the greatsword and the air around it started to vibrate.

“Kill!”

A powerful attack flew towards Asuka’s heart. The surprised Black Teddy commanded the white bear warrior.

“Defend the young lady!”

Kuwaaah!

The white bear warrior was level 280. Among Black Teddy’s pets, it was the one with the strongest combat ability. It was stronger than a ranker. The bear swung and fist and stood up to the greatsword wrapped in darkness.

Kwaang!

The two collided. It seemed close at first glance, but that only lasted for a moment. The balance quickly broke as Grid’s Kill tore the mighty flesh of the white bear. Then the greatsword went through the thick body of the white bear warrior.

Grrr!

The white bear’s health was decreased by 1/3rd with one strike. Asuka would’ve fallen into a critical condition if hit by that. But the biggest advantage of a pet was that it didn’t know pain. The bear didn’t shrink back despite suffering massive damage. Instead, it counterattacked.

Peeok!

The head of the white bear warrior hit Grid’s chest. But it didn’t do much damage. Previously, Grid only wore boots and a cloak, so he was low in defense. Now he showed a high defense due to the Holy Light battle gear set. He didn’t feel any pain at all from the headbutt.

Then the option of the Holy Light Gloves activated and ‘Counterattack’ was used, dealing great damage to the white bear warrior. In the end, Black Teddy had to interfere.

"Berserk!”

Summoners had dozens of passive and active skills that enhanced a pet’s abilities. Among them, Berserk was a skill that only second advancement summoners could use. It gave pets a status conditions immune effect and temporarily doubled all of a pet’s stats.

Kyaooooh!

The white bear cried out and swung its paws. Grid became on the defensive due to the fast and powerful onslaught. He would be subjected to terrible damage if he allowed the attack.

'What is this all of a sudden?’

He was confused for a moment. Grid had a lot of combat experience so he quickly figured out the situation.

‘Is it a temporary buff? The abilities are raised to this level, so the duration must be short.'

Grid triggered Pagma's Sword Dance, Restraint. Then the white bear hesitated and retreated from Grid.

Black Teddy was nervous, 'What is this all of a sudden? My commands aren’t going through!’

The duration of Berserk was only 10 seconds. Every second spent retreating was valuable for Black Teddy. Grid triggered Blacksmith's Rage in this gap and rushed towards Asuka.

Kaaang!

Asuka crossed her double swords and tried to fight back. But Grid took the lead with his fast pace, forcing her on the defensive without a chance to fight back.

‘Strange.’

Asuka was filled with doubts after fighting Grid. The greatsword that Grid was using was over 3m in length and seemed extremely heavy. Then what was this attack speed?

‘Isn’t it normal for the attack speed to be slow?’

It was a stereotype. Dainsleif was very light, despite being a greatsword. It was a sword made by Albatino, who was called the best blacksmith before Pagma, and was made of black iron, which was harder than steel, but twice as light. Dainsleif was a weapon that minimized the disadvantages of a greatsword.

Chaaeng! Chaaeng!

At first glance, Asuka seemed to be on the defensive against Grid’s ruthless strikes. But Asuka still had some room. In particular, this was her forte. Her class was a berserker. She became stronger as the battle continued. Asuka was able to adapt to Grid’s attack speed and she finally started her counterattack.

“Sword Frenzy!”

Flash!

Asuka’s blue eyes turned red the moment she activated a skill Then Asuka’s double swords started to dance in a dazzling manner.

Chaeeeeeng!

It was the berserker’s representative skill that attacked a target nine times, Sword Frenzy. Grid succeeded in defending against six strikes, but was unable to prevent the remaining three and was hurt.

[You have suffered 1,700 damage.]

[You have suffered 1,650 damage.]

[You have suffered 1,810 damage.]

Asuka provoked Grid, “Certainly, your defense has increased since you equipped the armor. But isn’t it just high defense? You can’t catch up with the speed of my double swords and will just be a sandbag.”

Grid scoffed.

“Pagma's Sword Dance, Link!”

Papat! Pa pa pa pa!

“...?!”

Black energy swords were generated at a tremendous rate and hit Asuka. The confused Asuka once again triggered Sword Frenzy, but it was useless. Sword Frenzy might attack 9 times, but Pagma's Sword Dance, Link, attacked a total of 17 times. Sword Frenzy couldn’t completely offset it and Asuka’s body became covered with wounds.

Then Grid pointed his sword at Asuka’s neck.

"What is your purpose for attacking me?”

On the other hand...

[Magic power has started to manipulate your body. It is hard to reject.]

[You will become the puppet of ‘Box’ for three seconds.]

‘This!’

Toban couldn’t move his body according to his will. He was the 1st ranked paladin with high magic resistance, so how could he be manipulated so easily? Toban thought it was ridiculous.

‘I still have a long way to go.’

It hurt his reputation. It was an insult that couldn’t be washed away. Toban trembled. However, the person who was really shocked was Box, not Toban.

‘I can only control him for three seconds?’

Puppet magic was the ultimate magic for a linker. It was a powerful magic that sent magic power into the body of the target in order to manipulate it. And Box’s ability to control magic power was by far the best among the linkers. If Box used the puppet spell, he could manipulate a monster for up to 5 minutes and a user for 30 seconds.

Yet Toban was only three seconds?

‘The higher the level and magic resistance of the target, the lower the manipulation time. But... Isn’t it guaranteed at least 10 seconds, even if the opponent has a higher level than me?’

Toban’s magic resistance seemed to be different from all the opponents he met so far. Box admired it.

‘This is the dignity of the 1st ranked paladin. The Tzedakah Guild is filled with monsters.’

Puppet had a cooldown time of two hours. It was a skill that could only be used once every two hours, so it was a waste to control a person for only three seconds. Box sighed and started to control the magic power connected to Toban.

“Chief, go and help Asuka.”

“H-Hey! Stop!"

Toban begged but it was no use. His body suddenly moved into the gap between Grid and Asuka. Then he used a shield to deflect the greatsword pointing at Asuka’s neck.

“...Toban?” Grid’s eyes widened.

Toban laughed awkwardly, “Ah, hello?”

The puppet magic was released. Toban could move freely so he tried to explain the matter, but Box interrupted. "I am glad to meet you for the first time, Grid.”

“Who are you?”

Grid felt instinctive dislike whenever he met a handsome man. So his expression darkened the moment Box appeared. Then Box said to him. "The three of us joined the guild a while ago. Right now, we are helping Chief with a quest. The quest requires us to kill you.”

“Eh?”

Grid doubted his ears and looked at Toban. The panicked Toban explained the situation.

"Grid, it is a misunderstanding. I didn’t know that you were the target of the quest. This is...”

Kyaooooh!

The white bear warrior was released from the influence of Restraint. Then it ran to Grid, who was listening to Toban, and smacked Grid on the head.

[You have suffered 3,200 damage.]

Jeurereuk.

Grid spoke softly while bleeding from the head, “Are you talking to keep my attention so that someone else can attack...? Toban, are you really going to be like this?”

It was a huge misunderstanding. Toban panicked. At this rate, Grid might not make an item for him at all. He couldn’t push Grid. Therefore, he had to get rid of this misunderstanding.

"Black Teddy! What are you doing? Can’t you understand the atmosphere? Grid is a fellow guild member! Stop attacking!”

Toban shouted but Black Teddy just stroked his teddy bear and pretended not to know anything. In the end, Grid’s anger exploded.

“Toban... You must’ve held a tremendous grudge after saying that I would make you item last. Right? So now you want revenge?”

Toban shouted, “That isn’t the case! Right now, I am doing a quest to kill the mysterious person who kill the pope and took the treasures! I didn’t know that the person would be you!”

"Didn’t you attack me after knowing the truth? You know that I am the enigmatic person, so this is a great opportunity to proceed with the quest? Right?”

"No! Listen to my explanation! We don’t have to fight! Sell me the treasures! I just need the treasures!”

"...You just need the treasures?”

Grid started to understand the situation. A relieved Toban pointed to the items that Grid was wearing.

“The Holy Light set. That's what I need.”

Grid frowned, “Are you crazy? I won’t sell.”

“H-Hey, Grid. I’ll give you a lot of money. Please do this for me just once. Yes?”

Toban begged. In fact, Grid was inwardly delighted. He was thinking that it wouldn’t be possible to sell these items due to the limited usage conditions. Grid started acting as he asked.

“Sigh... I will consider agreeing to the favor since we are part of the same guild. How much will you buy it for?”

"2,000 gold each, for a total of 6,000 gold?”

Toban didn’t know the features of the Holy Light set. He regarded it as simple quest items when he set the price. He was confident that he set a high price, but Grid was annoyed.

Even if it had a system of exclusive use, the Holy Light set still had a legendary rating. He thought he would get at least two million gold for each piece. But Toban wanted to buy it for 2,000 gold each? He must be joking.

"Are you playing with me right now?”

Wasn’t this reaction strange? Toban changed the value.

“Then 2,200 gold each...?”

"Get lost."

"How much do you want?”

“Two million gold each.”

“What?”

Grid was adamant. The Holy Light set was excellent, so it was better to use it himself unless it was sold for two million gold each. He wouldn’t sell it for any less than that. But from Toban’s perspective, the Holy Light set were simple quest items and Grid seemed like a scammer.

"Hey, this is honestly too much... I received my first SS-grade quest so please help me clear it...”

Box whispered to Toban who had a grim expression on his face.

-Chief, we want to fight with Grid to see his strength. We will kill him and obtain the items for you. Okay?

It was the temptation of the devil. Toban asked Grid one last time, “Grid, these items... Do you really intend to sell it for two million gold each? It isn’t a joke?”

"I’m being serious. I’m not joking.”

The negotiations broke down. Toban closed his eyes. And he whispered to Box.

-Pretend to use magic on me!

"...?"

Box was puzzled but acted according to Toban’s request. He used a spell to enchant Toban. Then Toban suddenly disappeared. He shouted and sat down. Then he started acting.

“No? What is this? I can’t move one finger freely. This is the ultimate linker magic that controls the target at will. I have been hit by Puppet! Oh my! This is serious! I can no longer stop them from attacking. Grid! It’s dangerous!”

"..."