Haster’s hearing was simple and accurate. It was at a level that could perceive space and capture the movement of objects with sound alone. It was a true ability gained by polishing and studying it to the extreme as he became a legend of the FPS world. His sharp hearing was enough to pinpoint the target without being misled by dozens or hundreds of noises, so it was natural to be suspicious that he used a map hack during his prime.

Haster looked straight ahead while stabbing his spear behind his back to block the sword stab of the God Hand. If someone saw this scene, they would wonder if he had eyes in the back of his head. If only he hadn’t fallen forward...

‘Keuk... Is this a true story?’

Haster had no sense of reality about the situation. What the hell was this attack power? Every time he blocked an attack from the God Hands, his muscles twisted and his bones would ring. His health also decreased. In this way, defense had no meaning.

‘There are 30 like this?’

Didn’t he say he could win even if he fought all 30? How much had Grid been laughing at him?

‘I would like to hide in a mouse hole.’

Haster blushed and turned his head to the left. At the same time, he twisted his collarbone and raised his shoulders. The God Hand’s attack struck his shoulder blade. Haster couldn’t withstand the attack and leaned back, tightening his waist just before his back hit the ground. The sharp blade swept past the tip of his nose.

Haster reached out to the God Hand which disappeared into the corner of his field of view. He was going to catch it and subdue it. However, he didn’t touch it. His speed was slower than the God Hand. He heard a new destructive sound.

Haster immediately grasped the position through the sound and rotated his pelvis. A fluttering cloak wrapped around the sword that the God Hand had stabbed at him with. Haster gripped his cloak and waved it. He intended to twist the cloak like a pretzel to hold the sword and guide the God Hand’s trajectory in the desired direction.

‘Then use a skill.’

This was a great opportunity. Haster judged, but it didn’t work out this time. Just before the cloak wrapped around the sword, the God Hand slipped out.

‘I-It has started again.’

It had become like this some time ago. He was confident that there were no problems with his judgment, but the result was always terrible. It wasn’t just that his body was unable to keep up because of his slow speed. There was an inconvenience that was hard to explain in words. There was a feeling that something unknown always hindered his actions.

‘Or was my judgment wrong in the first place?’

Haster was fighting 3 against 1. It was a great loss every time his intentions came to nothing. It was the same now. One God Hand was dodged while the other two God Hands dug into his waist. Haster tilted his spear to block the blades and he had to suffer from a torn waist.

‘Keuk... Victory or defeat will be decided here.’

He could feel the God Hand that he dodged a while ago approaching from the bottom. He could avoid it by gently moving one foot. He knew it with his senses. Nevertheless, he judged that the situation wouldn’t improve even if he dodged this attack. The moment the judgment was made, the body moved naturally.

Haster inserted strength into both arms. He pushed hard at the two swords pressed against the spear and used them as support to lift his waist. He was planning to do a handstand to avoid the attack from the bottom, tumbling to change his position in an advantageous manner.

Obviously, a beautiful picture was painted in his head. Yet once again, the painting wasn’t finished. Before he could fully raise his waist, a blade wielded by one of the God Hands cut at his Achilles tendon.

***

“It is strange.”

Grid didn’t stop hammering. He was in the process of automatic production. He was able to make items while looking at Haster’s battle using Barbatos’ Vision.

“He is a lot less powerful than the God Hands. It is amazing that he can hold on. It wouldn’t be weird if he broke his wrist every time he blocked a sword dance. How can he be so persistent?”

There was no feeling of good control. Haster gave an impression that his control wasn’t good because he often showed gaps in his posture. During the time when he was cut on the ankle by a God Hand, his hips moved back. It was honestly funny.

“He doesn’t focus his strength on the places he hits. Rather, he has a habit of moving them from the shoulder to the weapon. The flow of aura is also in line with that habit. Thanks to this, even if relatively powerful attacks hit him, the power is dispersed and the impact reduced.”

Mercedes spoke as she stood by the window and looked at Haster.

“Still, I can’t say it is great. The wrist is used less. This limits the path of the weapon and the strength of the strike is weak. Agility is also suppressed.”

“Is he forcefully dispersing the God Hands’ power?”

“I think he sticks to this style no matter who he fights. It seems to be a deliberate habit.”

“Why did he get into this habit?”

“I heard that Sir Winfred used a method of fighting to reverse mana and induce ‘withdrawal of energy.’ If it succeeds, the target’s power will be completely destroyed. It is said that if skills are linked at exactly that moment, a critical hit will be dealt to the target.”

Withdrawal of energy was a concept that disrupted resources such as mana and sword energy. In short, it was a terrifying technique to cancel the opponent’s skills. If he could link a counter, it would be the ultimate technique.

“Perhaps Sir Winfred made this habit so that he could naturally connect skills ‘after the success of withdrawal of energy.’ The problem is that he hasn’t fully awakened the withdrawal of energy yet. Sir Winfred died before it was completed.”

“Um...”

There was a very powerful technique called withdrawal of energy. In order to use it properly, a skill must be used. However, in order to link this technique, specific actions must be carried out first and this was related to Haster’s habits.

‘To put it simply. If Pagma’s Successor wants to use the sword dance, he must take the strides. Haster has only learned that stride and he can’t use it as he pleases? Even taking that stride became a habit?’

Haster had lived with Winfred for over 10 years. He must’ve completed a series of quests over 10 years. An extreme example was a daily quest to swing the spear a thousand times a day. This was the root of players who had ‘teachers.’ Unlike ordinary players who grew through adventures and hunting, they tended to live in accordance with the quest. In the process, some habits might’ve been developed, but it wasn’t a strange thing.

‘Haster’s life was twisted before Winfred could fully explain how to use withdrawal of energy. Haster has to solve class quests in order to resolve these tangled threads, but it hasn’t been solved yet.’

During the time when Grid was interpreting it his own way, Haster’s health dropped to the minimum.

It was after 15 minutes. It was five minutes greater than his previous record, but Haster didn’t seem satisfied at all. It was natural. In order for Haster to be judged as ‘winning’ the match, he must cause all three God Hands to stiffen. However, he failed to make even a single God Hand stiffen. Initially, he talked about 30 against 1, but he couldn’t even handle 3 against 1. He deserved to be upset.

‘It isn’t easy. in order to cause the God Hands to stiffen, you must deal at least 70,000 damage.’

The God Hands naturally had no defense, but they used weapons. They could even handle shields if they wanted. Means of defending against attacks existed. Plus, they were fast. They could move at approximately 100 km/hr.

“There is a problem with this guy.” Mercedes’ voyeurism... no, her spying continued. “His perceptual ability is far ahead of his physical ability. It is like an adult moving with a child’s body. The party involved must feel a huge gap between his judgment and action.”

‘Ah... Is that why?’ From a third party’s point of view, Haster’s movements were very awkward. Sometimes his body was clumsy when dancing, so it was a bit ridiculous.

‘It is often seen in the low level zones.’

They were people who hadn’t yet adapted to their ‘new flesh.’ People who hadn’t adapted to their body in Satisfy, which was different from reality, tended to feel a sense of separation and move awkwardly. It was a particularly prominent phenomenon in the elderly and the sick. However, Haster wasn’t a beginner. He was a veteran of Satisfy for at least 15 years. The reason why such a person suffered from these symptoms...

“There are one of two reasons why a warrior would suffer from such symptoms. Has he been unable to adapt to his rapidly weakened body for some reason?”

A small smile spread on Mercedes’ face.

“Suddenly, one day, he regained his senses from his prime.”

“Haster’s prime ended a long time ago.”

If he suddenly regained his prime, which ended a long time ago... it wouldn’t be strange if the party involved didn’t realize it.

Grid touched his chin thoughtfully and used Overgeared God’s Eyes. Then hundreds of items placed on the shelves appeared in his mind simultaneously. A large amount of information was injected at once. Grid felt dizzy because he wasn’t used to it yet and hurriedly entered a keyword in his head.

‘Stats increase. Strength and agility.’

The information that filled Grid’s field of view started to be organized. He only thought about items with the effect of increasing strength or agility. There were 35 in total.

“That one, that one, that one. That one too.”

All the items here were made by Grid, the God Hands, Ke ong, and the Overgeared Skeletons. It meant they were Grid’s possessions.

“Haster.”

“......?”

Haster was analyzing the problem while waiting for his health to recover. Then he heard a voice and came to his senses. He looked up and saw Grid appearing with five additional God Hands.

‘Does he think highly of me?’

He might not have won the 3 against 1, but he was qualified to fight in the 8 against 1?

‘Um... If I was a young man, I would’ve taken it as a good thing.’

It had been a while since his youth as the main character of a passionate drama was gone...

It happened when Haster interpreted it freely and hesitated...

“Have you ever played an MMORPG?”

“Of course. I used to be a professional gamer because I loved games. Would I have skipped any genre?”

“Then why are you raising your character this way? You’ve tried it, but you haven’t done much? Or are you the same as me?”

“......”

It was a personal attack following a ridiculous question. Haster was feeling speechless when the God Hands approached. The new ones that Grid brought were each holding a piece of armor.

“Would you like to try it on?”

“......?”

“It isn’t like I’m giving you a gift. I’m just lending it to you for a while. You are so shit that I have to do so.”

“......”

Haster was handed an item. They were epic and unique rated items and the performance of all of them was great. The boots and gauntlets raised his stats by 200. At this point, wasn’t it normal to be labeled as legendary instead of unique?

“Wear it and fight again.”

Haster armed himself with the items without saying a word. He also felt the serious atmosphere. He did what Grid told him to do without expressing the questions in his mind. Then the confrontation started again. The three God Hands moved quickly, scattering into the blind spots in his vision and attacking from different trajectories. It was a qualitative and tricky attack. Yet for Haster, the angle of attack didn’t matter. He read the sound and grasped the location and path of the God Hands in real time. Then he reflexively gave himself to the judgment that came to mind. It was just like when he was in his prime when he moved the screen, heard the footsteps of the enemy, and immediately took a headshot.

“......!”

Haster’s eyes widened. His body moved as he thought. Those around him were hardened like stone statues. The three God Hands were hit by skills and stiffened while shaking. It was the moment when his judgment, which had been in doubt for a long time, really shone.

He was briefly mesmerized when Grid’s voice entered his ears. “If you gain 100 levels, you’ll be back in your prime. I think you’ll also need to clear a few class quests, but...”

“......”

100 levels. It was so absurd that Haster dismissed it as a hallucination and approached Grid.

“I... Why did you make items for me...?”

“......?”

“Do you think I will be so impressed by this goodwill that I will apply to join the Overgeared Guild? If that is the case... your foresight is great.”

“......”

It was counting the chickens before they hatched.

Grid was smiling when he suddenly became full of expectations. ‘Will there be a lot of synergy with Haster and the former Red Knights?

Perhaps it wasn’t bad...

Of course, some ideological tests are required. Before that—

“Let’s win the 8 against 1 for now. You said you wanted to go to hell.”

“Ah, yes...”

“The items aren’t gifts so give them back or pay for them.”

Being overgeared couldn’t go away once it was tasted. Haster naturally paid for the items. It was quite a large amount.