“Protect the people well.”

“I understand. Master just has to believe in me, nyang.”

A cat was sitting on Grid’s shoulder. He had shining white fur, a plump belly, and pink jelly-like soles. The blacksmiths knew the identity of this cat. He was the best demonic beast of hell, a memphis. Noe had inherited some of the characteristics of a dragon, boasting a high level of intelligence and flying ability. He was a monster that overwhelmed the wyvern in all ways, even the crude breath. Only one out of two billion players had a memphis. The strongest pet was known to be tamed by Grid.

‘Cute.’

Noe was licking his fur. He seemed to have a very clean personality. Occasionally, he would rub against Grid’s cheek in an adorable manner. However, the blacksmiths didn’t rush toward Noe.

“Kyaong!”

It was because Noe revealed his predatory nature to everyone except for Grid. Over half the steel jiangshi who jumped over the walls were beaten by Noe’s front paws.

“Gulp.”

Noe broke rocks and knocked down the steel jiangshi with one blow. The Overgeared Skeletons also broke the bones of the steel jiangshi, while Randy dealt the final blow to the jiangshi who couldn’t get up. There was also the light elemental and the golden blade that protected the blacksmiths.

Grid’s pets and items could be considered as a perfect party. Grid didn’t have to lift one finger, and the safety of the blacksmiths was secured.

The blacksmiths looked hopeful, feeling optimistic that they could clear the forced linked quests. This was when the blacksmiths realized why the Overgeared members trusted and praised Grid so much. However, Grid was feeling frustrated. ‘Where should I go?’

He had to find and rescue 30 residents surrounded by the poison jiangshi. These were the contents of Grid’s ongoing quest. The time limit was only one hour while the ruined city was huge, and it was hard to find people. The range of Magic Detection was limited compared to the size of the city. Moreover, the moment the quest started, the dense fog blocked his sight, which meant he couldn’t find them using Fly.

‘This...’ Grid noticed there was only one way to clear this quest.

They had to scatter. He and the 100 blacksmiths had to move through the fog directly to find the residents. Otherwise, it would be impossible to clear the quest.

‘If it wasn’t for the good rewards...’

The jiangshi appeared constantly. The blacksmiths couldn’t fight and win against the jiangshi. It was a quest which led to the blacksmiths being scattered... It was for certain. This wasn’t a quest to be cleared. The rewards were so great because the quest was unreasonable.

‘It is ruined.’

Feeling frustrated, Grid turned to look at the faces of the blacksmiths who followed him. They were people that Grid had brought here. Failing the quest was a betrayal of their trust. This wasn’t the result Grid wanted.

“...”

How could he overcome this situation? While struggling with the fog, Grid thought of a skill.

“Everybody stay here.”

He jumped across several roofs. Once he reached the highest point, Grid freed a power imprinted on the Rune of Darkness.

“Ruson’s Power.”

It was an earl grade vampire Grid had killed when he raided the 7th vampire city. Ruson’s excellent blood sniffing ability was limited to ‘wounded targets’, but it completely neutralized an assassin’s hiding ability. Grid’s olfactory senses were enhanced, and he breathed as hard as he could. He could no longer smell the fishy water and stench of the jiangshi that had stimulated his nose. Now, Grid’s nose could only smell human blood. In the end...

“There.”

Like a sniffing dog, Grid succeeded in detecting a faint glimmer of blood. It was blood from the residents who were besieged by the poison jiangshi. The location was around 3 kilometers away to the east.

‘It’s weak when compared to the other powers, so I thought it was a useless skill. I never thought it could help me now.’ Grid smiled and shifted his gaze toward Noe. Noe was rolling around on the ground, licking his soles. He looked like he was intoxicated with cleaning. A creature that was born strong would feel a different type of tension.

“Noe, I’ll be gone for a while, so protect the people well.”

“Hrmm. I understand, nyang!” His answer was a yawn. Noe sure was easygoing.

The blacksmiths, who were relying on Noe, became uneasy upon seeing this attitude. However, Grid trusted Noe. He had eaten the power of the great demon Astaroth along with the thunder stone and evolved one step further than the usual memphis. Grid entered the ‘hunger’ state in exchange for an increase in his agility and instantly disappeared into the fog.

***

The physical ability of poison jiangshi was similar to that of the steel jiangshi, but they released poison every time they were hurt. The deeper the wound, the stronger the poison would be. The people afflicted with the poison would tremble with the pain of death.

“Pant... Pant... We are finished.”

Lord Han Seokbong—he was a person who had been captured by the king and then escaped. After he was kidnapped by the creator of the Red Phoenix Bow, Pangea was abandoned. The king didn’t dispatch a new lord, and the few remaining residents had to survive on their own. It was expected. Protecting the city was no different from rebelling against the yangbans of the Hwan Kingdom. The remaining residents knew that the Cho King would abandon Pangea.

Still, waiting for hell was enough to make their determination fade. The jiangshi easily crossed the barriers of the city that had lost its troops. Due to the attacks of the jiangshi, the residents didn’t have a chance to recover the collapsed Pangea economy. They were busy every day.

Now, this was the limit. The residents were starving, and they lacked the power to resist the jiangshi. The heavens didn’t take pity on them. Every time the jiangshi jumped, the distance to the residents narrowed sharply, and the dense fog became poisoned. The residents gave up their resistance in front of the poison jiangshi that were a great threat.

“I should’ve followed the lord that day... This land has lost all hope...” Someone muttered.

No one rebuked him. They were all exhausted. Although they had wanted to survive to defend their home and persuade the Cho King to allow the lord to come back, this noble spirit was long gone. The residents gasped, and the old weapons started to drop from their hands. Surrounded by the poison jiangshi, they completely gave up hope. They closed their eyes, blaming this deformed world for dividing the people between the yangbans and the ignorant masses.

There was the sound of skulls cracking and flesh being torn. The residents’ family and friends—the residents knew they were all going to die. However, time passed, and there were no pained screams.

“...?” The wide-eyed residents saw something flashing in the fog. Every time the light flashed, the heads of the poison jiangshi flew away. Someone was slaughtering the jiangshi.

“W-Who?”

Someone was helping them, whom even the heavens abandoned? The residents wanted to see the face of the person wiping out the jiangshi in the fog. On the other hand, they would be terribly poisoned if they took one step forward. So, no one was able to move.

Someone sighed, “I don’t know what person it is, but they will die...”

“We need to stop him right away. The wrath of the heavens will fall on him if he helps us.”

The problem was the poison. The residents were worried that the person in the fog didn’t know the characteristics of the poison jiangshi. He would die as soon as he was affected by this poison. However, the powerful poison of the jiangshi couldn’t threaten a legend, especially not the legend who produced miracles.

“Are you safe?”

Step. Step. It was a stately gait. The man moved through the fog, and his face was revealed to the residents. To their amazement, the poison jiangshi behind him were dying of poison themselves. The shocked residents wept when the recognized the face of the man. “Pangea’s Duke of Virtue!”

It was the man who had suddenly appeared when Pangea fell into a crisis after losing the Red Phoenix Bow. He had saved Pangea by recreating the Red Phoenix Bow and rescued the lord who had been about to be executed. Then he abducted Han Seokbong and the people of Pangea, who had triggered the rage of the yangbans, and left for the West Continent. The man was a person of virtue. So, in commemoration of Pangea, he was called Pangea’s Duke of Virtue.

The return of Pangea’s hero ignited hope in the residents remaining in Pangea.

[★Hidden Quest★ ‘East Continent Experience (2)’ has been cleared.]

[10 blessed weapon enhancement stones have been acquired as a quest reward.]

[The number of residents rescued exceeds 30. There will be one additional reward per person. 107 weapon enhancement stones have been acquired.]

[A linked quest will occur as a quest reward.]

[East Continent Experience (3)]

[★ Hidden Quest ★

Pangea’s blacksmiths have left a long time ago, and there aren’t many weapons remaining. Help the residents of Pangea fight the jiangshi by producing weapons. Please pay attention to the attacks of the steel jiangshi and the poison jiangshi.

Quest Clear Conditions: Produce weapons and armor equal or higher than the epic rating for Pangea’s residents. The user restriction should be level 250 and higher. The deadline is 3 days.

* The number of residents rescued is 137.

Quest Clear Rewards:

1. Create a linked hidden quest.

2. 20 Blessed Armor Enhancement Stones.

Quest Failure: Level -1. The highest stat will permanently decrease by 20 points.]

The difficulty of this quest was also unusually high. They had to produce weapons and armor equal or higher than epic rating for all the rescued residents...? Moreover, it had to be within three days?

“G-Grid!!”

“What is wrong with this?”

The blacksmiths were going crazy.

“It is impossible to produce 274 epic items in three days!”

Normal, rare, epic, unique, and legendary—this was the rating system for items in Satisfy. Epic rated items with a good performance weren’t easy to produce. An ordinary person would produce one epic item for every 20 items made. In order to create an item, the average time taken was two to three hours. It was impossible for 101 blacksmiths to make 274 epic items in three days.

The blacksmiths were in despair. There were a few people blaming Grid for rescuing 137 people when the quest only required 30. However, without Grid, the blacksmiths would’ve already died. Additionally, they couldn’t say anything to Grid when they saw the wounded residents.

Grid asked the blacksmiths who were in a turmoil, “Do any of you have blacksmithing hammers of the unique rating?”

The better the hammer, the higher the chance of producing high rated items would be. A high rated hammer was the dream of all blacksmiths. However, it wasn’t easy to make, and only five of the 100 blacksmiths raised their hands. Grid verified the information of their hammers and smiled. “Then let’s go to the smithy.”

“...?” Several blacksmiths with good eyesight doubted their eyes. Grid’s obsidian eyes seemed to be glowing blue.