Chapter 52 - Retribution (1)
“This is the prototype of what you requested, but...”
With Ebga's words, a set of equipment was presented before my eyes.
On the outside, it looked like a crude gauntlet made of a mix of metal and wood, but that was no problem for me.
The Workshop had quite a lot in common with our guild in terms of design. That is, if it was at odds with practicality, they didn't care at all.
First, a scan.
[ Cheonryongpo: Vambrace / Grade: Rare (Set 1/5) ]
[ The arm part of an armor made with a harmonious combination of various rare metals and other materials. It is specialized in channeling an energy completely different from normal Mana, and combining all parts of the armor will trigger additional effects.
▶ Drastically increases Qi self-recovery speed
▶ Increases Qi accumulation amount
▶ Reduces activation speed of Qi-related skills, amplifies effects ]
[ Unique Skill: Thunderclap Palm ]
[ Stores the shock absorbed by the armor. The stored shock can be used to enhance the next attack. Limited to skills that strike directly with the hand. ]
“...”
My goodness.
Considering it was a Rare grade and only one piece of a set item, the performance was enough to make my eyes pop out.
Of course, set items themselves were rare in the entirety of Conqueror, so each piece had an outstanding effect, but this Cheonryongpo was an item that didn't even exist in the original game.
It was just something I had cobbled together myself, getting ideas from some of the equipment that appeared later in the game, but I never imagined it would pop out wrapped in such insane effects.
Especially with a usage effect like this suddenly linked to it.
I hadn't even ordered something like this, but the Workshop was a group that would just shove in any good ideas that came to mind while making something.
‘And even...’
It was this good without a single mention of the set effect that would come with equipping the entire set.
How powerful would it be when all of it was gathered?
“However, there are a few points of caution.”
“Points of caution?”
There were no particular problems when I scanned it.
As I tilted my head, Ebga came close and pointed at the gauntlet here and there, continuing his explanation.
“First, the biggest problem is the instability of the structure-”
An explanation filled with technical terms I could hardly understand followed, but the gist was that.
It was difficult to handle.
In fact, the result was better than I expected.
Everything was an equivalent exchange, so if good equipment was completed in such a short time, there was a high probability of a flaw somewhere. It wasn't a prototype for nothing.
“The energy it uses is very complicated to supplement with Mana. So, please follow my explanation calmly...”
[Observation]
Of course, that didn't apply to me.
Ebga shut his mouth as he saw the gauntlet instantly attach to my arm and move freely.
“...”
The glasses on his nose dangled precariously because of his wide-open mouth, but he himself didn't seem to notice, being in a state of shock.
“...I consider my equipment-making skills to be at the level of a distinguished scholar of the era.”
“Yes?”
“Even I was about to tell you that the difficulty of use was honestly too high. But...”
Ebga said dejectedly, looking at the Cheonryongpo I was swinging around.
The colorful aura hovering around, even from the Qi the size of my fingernail, was quite dazzling.
“...Just as Team Leader Kim Jae-han said. I'm starting to get dumbfounded because what you do is beyond the scope of my cognition.”
I chuckled and brushed off his words appropriately.
I was just about to stick to a consistent attitude for that kind of talk.
I wouldn't explain anything.
I was originally this kind of guy, so they could just accept it on their own.
By the way.
There was something I needed to get this person's permission for.
“By the way, can I take this out?”
“What? I don't mind, but... it hasn't been sufficiently verified for practical use yet-”
“I'll pull out more than enough data for that verification.”
Well.
I was going to use it against the Hunting Alliance, of all people, so I would be able to gather more than enough data.
***
Let's talk about stats for a bit.
[Kim Gyu-sik]
[Lv.29] [Guardian Angel buff applied]
[ Strength: 14
Agility: 14
Durability: 14
Stamina: 14
Luck: 1
Mana: 4 ]
This was the status window after investing the stat points I got from leveling up after clearing the main quest on the 11th floor.
Due to my characteristic of needing to raise all stats evenly to see the effects of my skills, most of the entries were neatly matched, but there was one entry with notably few points invested.
Luck. A strange stat that was always included in most games for some reason.
Its effect was also complex and subtle.
Luck improves. End of explanation.
‘It seems like the most useless, yet it's a subtle entry...’
The reason I intentionally invested few points was in that context.
To be honest, due to the system of Conqueror where a penalty was forcibly applied if a certain stat was lower than others, I felt like I had to invest points into it.
If this was a game that only ran on numbers, I could entrust myself to ‘luck’ like a few percent increase in critical hit chance, a few percent increase in item acquisition rate, a few percent increase in enhancement chance, but.
Unfortunately, this was ‘a world based on a game,’ not the world inside a game.
It wasn't a lenient place where I could entrust my life to probability in an uncertain situation.
‘However...’
If instead of investing stats little by little to slightly raise the effect, you poured in an ‘overwhelming’ number, the story changed a little.
In the game, stats were given merits by granting additional effects each time they passed a certain value, and the growth potential of such additional effects per stat was the best for the Luck stat.
Instant death prevention led by damage immunity. Increased critical hit and multi-hit chance. Etc, etc.
It was the most insignificant in the beginning, but the more you invested, the more it provided a definite late-game return. That was the Luck stat.
There was even a perverted strategy of dumping all available means into Luck to somehow clear the game.
‘Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury for that...’
Due to the nature of the system, explosive leveling up was bound to hit a limit someday.
It felt like the 'sections' of leveling up were opened only by clearing main quests one by one.
So from my current position, dumping points into the Luck stat felt too risky.
However.
It wasn't that there was no way to procure that Luck stat at all.
[ Jewel of Ruin / Grade: ??? ]
[ ??? ]
I gently rolled the item I had swindled from the Guardian a while ago in my palm.
The item alone was just a suspicious ring with nothing revealed about it.
In the game, most things that had an ‘irreplaceable’ effect were marked like this.
In this case, it was an item that boasted outstanding synergy when given to a specific NPC.
And that.
Was quite deeply related to the person sticking next to me right now.
“...”
Thinking that, I looked at Lee Si-yeong, who was walking with me through the abandoned construction site.
Her whole body was expressing that she didn't know why she was dragged here.
Although she had only followed after I convinced her several times that she was ‘absolutely necessary’.
‘By the way...’
Lee Si-yeong held a slightly unique position among the main characters.
The main characters that the player could control were unlocked by meeting various conditions, but most of them were unlocked by meeting a specific ‘achievement’ in the game.
In her case, however.
She was a character unlocked by getting a ‘Game Over’ more than 1000 times.
As if she was designed for someone with hopeless gaming skills.
And, that design intention.
Could be confirmed immediately from the status window that appeared when I scanned her.
[ Lee Si-yeong ]
[ Strength: 7
Agility: 9
Durability: 4
Stamina: 5
Luck: 1,800
Mana: 120 ]
‘...She's insane.’
It was an extreme value that made me let out a hollow laugh.
As a mage, her Mana was quite high, but there was an entry that stood out even more than that.
She was the undisputed number one in Luck in the entire game.
At this level, it wouldn't be strange if causality manipulation occurred for her sake.
“What's that ring?”
As I was thinking that, Lee Si-yeong asked, looking at the ring I was rolling in my hand.
“An item that will sort this place out in one go.”
When I replied, Lee Si-yeong stuck out her head and examined the ring.
“...I don't feel any particular energy from it?”
That's because it wasn't an item that could be fathomed at your level.
She would probably breathe fire if she heard that, but this was at least on that level.
“By the way. Are you really going to be okay?”
“How many times have you asked that question.”
“No, but...”
She trailed off and turned her gaze away.
Beyond her appalled gaze was a wide-open space.
And it was filled with a crowd of people exuding a clearly ominous aura.
“...You're really going to take care of all of them?”
Lee Si-yeong, who was observing from the shadows, said in a dumbfounded voice.
Gathered in the open space were the executives of the Hunting Alliance and the people they had hired.
Given the reason they were called out, they definitely wouldn't be friendly.
I had threatened them after scraping together all sorts of evidence related to their crimes through Ahab, who had experience dealing with them.
In a manner of 'If you don't show up here right now, I'll reveal all the evidence I have to the public'.
“So. What's the plan?”
I just turned my gaze to Lee Si-yeong who asked that.
If it were Seo Ah-in, who was used to my usual style, her face would have turned pale with anxiety by now, but this one was showing a slightly different reaction.
How should I put it.
It felt like it was half-mixed with anticipation.
Since I had shown a series of unconventional moves in front of her, she must have been thinking, 'This guy will definitely show something different!'.
“A plan... should I call it that. I do have simple guidelines for action.”
I gave that reply to Lee Si-yeong, whose eyes were sparkling.
“Right. I thought you would. What is it?”
“First, I'm a person who definitely remembers when someone screws me over.”
“...?”
An expression asking why such words were suddenly coming out was plastered all over Lee Si-yeong's face.
But she shouldn't be making that face at me.
“Guild Leader, from the first time we met until just a while ago, you were constantly snapping at me.”
“...Well. Right. I did. That's why I apologized. Why is that story coming up now...?”
Why do you think.
It meant that in order to continue our ‘partnership’ relationship in the future, such old grudges must be resolved.
In that sense.
I grabbed the scruff of her neck.
“...Huh?”
If I brought someone with me, well.
There was always a repeating pattern.
When I did this to Seo Ah-in, I usually started gently.
But this one was a little different.
My Strength, enhanced by the stat points I had recently invested, was enough to easily throw a woman of her small stature.
“...Huh??”
And by the time Lee Si-yeong realized she was flying in a pretty good parabola.
She was in a situation where she was exposed alone in front of dozens of people who were preparing to take someone out.
“...”
“...”
An awkward silence flowed between both parties for a moment.
Lee Si-yeong turned her head like an unoiled machine and looked at me, but.
I just gave her a thumbs-up with a grin.
“Hold out as long as you can. For now.”
Well.
Good luck, Luck 1800.
“...That crazy bastard.”
At the same time as Lee Si-yeong muttered that.
The surroundings became drastically noisy.