Chapter 182

“Ack! It just sold!”

“For how much?”

“Twenty-one thousand five hundred gold!”

Since one gold was worth approximately 60,000 won, 21,500 gold totaled around 1.3 billion won, an unbelievably immense sum of money. Purchasing a single item for such an astronomical price shouldn’t have made any sense, but Hanma and Adol didn’t seem surprised. Actually, Hanma made a motion as if he was vomiting.

“Ugh. That’s astronomical. Who do you think bought it? Do they have money to burn?”

“It’s probably not like that. To put it one way, aren’t the added effects of the reinforcements worth the cost in the end?”

“Huh?”

At that moment, a man wearing black full-body armor approached them. The powerful aura this user exuded made everyone who saw him for the first time exclaim something like, ‘Woah! How much did he pay for all that?!’

“Hot damn. Regretful Ivan’s Dark Helmut, Despairing Kara’s Gauntlet, Pained Cyril’s Boots, Hateful Alistair’s Greeves. On top of all that, he has Saddened Adin’s Armor… wow. I heard rumors that someone was finally able to gather all the pieces of the Spirit Armor set. I never thought I’d see it….”

“Also, he’s wearing a +6 Conviction Cape. I think the user Brown Bear used to own that cape, and weren’t they always acting so proud of it? Also, he’s wearing a spirit-carrying gem earring, like the one Arthur had on. Moreover, the claymore sword he’s carrying is one of Merlin’s masterpieces, a +10 Dark Magic Sword!”

“To top it off, that guy’s Black Unicorn pet has reinforced magic armor. That sort of armor isn’t available in the public markets, so he probably had it custom-made, right?”

“Man, I don’t even have a single reinforced item… but even that guy’s pet has one….”

All of the users present recognized the man’s equipment items; they were all special and extraordinary. Moreover, the user himself wasn’t weak, as he was also a Master Level user.

“Bruce Wayne… I see you gathered all the set items.”

“I was lucky. I had to contend with some sellers who kept raising their prices, but in the end, I was able to get everything. Oh, by the way, have a look at this.”

As Bruce spoke, he put a gun atop a table. After using appraisal, Jeros found that the gun was the +6 Peacemaker III.

“Ugh! It was you! And the item has already been reinforced up to +6!”

As Jeros grumbled, Bruce Wayne smiled happily.

“Merlin, DIO’s top enchanter, sure produces items that meet and exceed his reputation. I was able to attempt reinforcements every few minutes. The other reinforced items on the market from lesser producers take days just to get the reinforcement to +3 or +4. There truly are geniuses in this world. He’s so young, too.”

As the eldest son of the owner of Mega Giant, a major film and broadcasting corporation, Bruce Wayne was a magic swordsman who wielded a two-handed sword in DIO. Using his family’s riches, Bruce Wayne gathered his impressive collection of gear. With that said, however, Bruce Wayne wasn’t the type of user who solely relied on his items; he was a powerful Sword Master and skilled battle mage.

“Recently, I’ve been learning how to use a sword and gun from William, call it a Gun and Blade fighting style, if you will. I firmly believe that a gun will shore up my weaknesses.”

Bruce was always talented, and he developed his skills and abilities himself. Due to this, Bruce didn’t find it wasteful to spend as much as he could on the best gear. Though some might say his equipment made him powerful, no one could deny that he was one of the top users currently in the game.

“Anyway, Bruce, did you decide which mission you’re going on?”

“I’m still thinking. How about you guys?”

“Well, there is one that pops out… hey, Adol… take a look at the demon world mission. It requires a fighter that’s Level 18 or above.”

“Dang. That mission is asking for Arthur to complete it.”

“Right. They should just put [Arthur] in the requirements, not ‘Level 18 or above fighter.’”

While Hanma and Arthur complained, Jeros took a sip of his drink and clicked his tongue.

“Tsk. You good-for-nothing glass-half-empty knuckleheads. Why do you live with that type of outlook? Shouldn’t you guys believe that you’ll reach Level 18 soon and qualify for the mission?”

“Shut up. You’re only acting all high and mighty because you got to Level 14 recently.”

“I’m not acting high and mighty; I am high and mighty. You know that there are less than five users in all of DIO who are Level 14 or higher, right?”

“Whatever. You’re still a long way away from Level 18.”

DIO had been in service for seven months. The small handful of Masters at the beginning of the service had now ballooned to over 180 users. Players had become much more analytical and strategic in how they understood and approached the development of their talents, causing many users to reach higher levels. Currently, there were an astounding number of users between Level 5 to Level 7.

“What’s the player count for DIO these days?”

“I heard that DIO passed four billion active users last week.”

“Dang, that’s a lot.”

More than half the entire population of Earth was now playing DIO. In Korea, outside of the young children, everyone joined and played DIO. Since DIO solely required a CD player and headphones, anyone could play with relative ease. Even someone stranded at the North Pole could play, so accessibility wasn’t an issue.

/Thirty-seven Arterian missions are no longer available./

/Thirty-two Panitris missions are no longer available./

/Thirty-five Jin missions are no longer available./

“Oh, it’s already been 30 minutes. The number of available missions is dropping like crazy.”

“So, what’ll it be? Ah, look at this Noah mission. It needs five Level 13 or above close-combat users and long-range users with the same level requirements. It also requires a Level 15 user and a Level 10 healer.”

“Dang, that mission sure has a lot of requirements. For the close combat requirement, we have Hanma and Adol, Ilyia and Ohje, and… the last user… sure… I guess we have Bruce Wayne.”

“Hey, who said I’m willing to join you guys?”

Bruce openly complained, but Jeros continued without skipping a beat.

“Level 13 or above long-range attackers would be Scorpion and me. A Level 10 or above healer shouldn’t be an issue, as we can recruit from the pool of Master healers. But… who could we call on to fulfill the Level 15 requirement?”

Of course, fewer people were at Level 15 than Level 13. Actually, there were only three players at Level 15 or above.

“At least Level 15…. That leaves us with Arthur, Cruze, and Merlin, no?”

“Can anyone contact those three?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

The four gathered users stared off into space while they remained silent. Those three, Arthur, Cruze, and Merlin, were the top Masters in DIO, the cream of the crop; they weren’t existences that were easy to approach. Amongst internal energy users, these three were commonly referred to as the Outer Gods, those who occupied the heaven above the heavens.

“Among the three, Cruze participates in the most missions with others, but she blocks all messages, even if they’re from those in her friends list. As for Arthur and Merlin, they’re famous for being solo players.”

“Man, I don’t understand how those three can be human. How the hell did they reach and exceed Level 15? Moreover, they got there more than a half year ago.”

“Well, I don’t know about Cruze and Merlin, but Arthur is definitely human. I saw him in real life,” Hanma said.

Adol exclaimed in surprise.

“Huh? You saw Arthur in real life? I heard some rumors that he’s an alien.”

“Alien… psh… he’s a normal college student. He’s originally from a dirt-poor family, but after getting some money through DIO, it’s been harder to see him in real life. I heard some rumors that he withdrew from his college and joined the Noblesse organization as an employee.”

The Noblesse organization appeared in early February. It was the official developer and company that operated DIO, though it didn’t have a physical presence on Earth at DIO’s initial launch. The Noblesse organization had offices in every major city throughout Earth and hired countless people. However, unlike other games that employed a large number of developers and programmers, the Noblesse organization hired high-level users.

“What are his job responsibilities at Noblesse? It doesn’t seem like he’s doing GM (Game Master) type of work.”

“The GMs are users who aren’t even in the Master Level. It seems like the higher-level players are employed and largely left to their own devices. I think they mainly have to complete a few special missions each month and collect their monthly salaries.”

Among those working for the Noblesse organization, the Level 5 to Level 8 users were given special abilities to enforce safety measures and resolve issues that arose in-game. Essentially these users acted as GMs, which were needed to deal with the inevitable clashes and issues that accompanied such a massive user base. These were also the people who enforced sentences on those who cheated, stole, or PK’d (Player Killed).

“I heard that Merlin attended a typical middle and high school. There seem to be quite a few people who know about him. However, since he’s some higher-up’s son, information on him is somewhat blocked.”

“I heard he’s the son of Korea’s Chief of Staff.”

“Oh, wow, the Chief of Staff?”

The four users continued talking as they went to a specialized culinary area and bought some food. Yet, Jeros suddenly let out a yell.

“Wait, why has our conversation gone in this direction?! We need to recruit party members!”

“But we’re not able to get in touch with Arthur, Cruze, or Merlin. Oh, wait. Hanma… Aidelin often speaks to Merlin, right?”

When Adol said this, Hanma replied in an annoyed tone.

“Ugh. I don’t think Merlin will like it if I approach him using my grandfather.”

“Whatever, man, try. If it doesn’t work, then so be it.”

“… Fine.”

After Hanma begrudgingly took out his Beholder, Adol leaned on the back of his chair. As he scanned his surroundings, Adol could see other users sneaking peeks at his party.

‘Ugh… since when did I become a celebrity?’

Each and every Master user was immensely popular, and as for the beta players Hanma and Adol, they had many fans. There were actually a considerable number of users who followed their every movement. Adol and Hanma were powerful beings; of course, this was all in-game.

‘I would have never imagined that I’d be in this position merely a year earlier.’

However, when compared to those above him, Adol felt insignificant. This was the type of existence the Outer Gods were; their power was beyond anything that could be understood through common sense. The top three’s skills and abilities left many to wonder if they were indeed humans, and Arthur, in particular, seemed like he was from an entirely different dimension. Adol still remembered the lasting image of Arthur defeating the Orc Hero Sungmuk in their last battle.

‘Back then, I thought I’d be able to catch up to him….’

Once Adol started climbing up the levels, he lost confidence. Adol felt a barrier forming between where he was and where he wanted to be, believing that it was already incredible to get to his current position. He could only achieve Level 13 because he had such a tight-knit, good group of friends helping him along the way.

‘I wonder what the world looks like through his eyes.’

Adol respected and looked up to Arthur. In truth, Arthur’s overpowering nature and talent weren’t things that one could tolerate without admiration and jealousy. When he saw such a brilliant existence above him, Adol couldn’t help but feel small and tired.

“Hey, let’s just do an Arterian mission. There’re some missions that require Master Level users.”

“Yeah. We haven’t talked with any labs or companies, so there’s no reason for us to choose a Noah mission right now.”

As he continued to talk with the others, Adol started thinking that Arthur probably didn’t feel helpless and lost like he did at that moment.

Beep!

Then, a mechanical beeping sound came from his Beholder.