Overgeared

[The +8 Songstress’ Sword is shining brilliantly.]

[You have succeeded in the enhancement and acquired the +9 Songstress’ Sword.]

“...It came out!!!” Cage cheered when he opened his eyes and confirmed the result. The gamble where he bet all his assets succeeded. The difficult moments passed like a lantern and tears flowed.

‘I would’ve quit the game if this failed... There is no law against anyone dying.’

Cage was a person with no luck. No matter how hard he tried and challenged things, the result was always the worst. He suffered a setback every time. This time was the same as well. He participated in a raid as the main damage dealer and after all the hardships he suffered, he rolled the number ‘1’ on the dice. The boss dropped the item he wanted but he lost the right to bid on the item itself. He was too angry to dismiss it as bad luck as usual. It was bad luck if it happened once or twice. So why was it only him every time?

Cage was unable to restrain his anger and lost his mind. He used all the gold he had saved by living with cheap potions and bought a large number of enhancement stones from the exchange. He looked forward to seeing the market value rise some day and started to enhance all the rare rated items he collected in his warehouse. The result was terrible. His enhancement stones just flew away. It was a perfect development for him to lose his sense of reason.

He really did lose his sense of reason. By the time he came to his senses, he had damaged all the equipment he had been using. None of the items’ enhancement levels were left and they had dropped to their base values. The only thing that was fine was his weapon. It was a unique rated weapon purchased using a loan.

He screamed. +8 came out. The price of the item increased by four times due to one enhancement level. Did he want to stop? After thinking about it and hesitating dozens of times, he finally came to the conclusion that he couldn’t stop here. It was too insufficient to recover the damage. Then he screamed again.

+9 came out. The price of the item had increased by eight times. He had been playing Satisfy for five years and this was the first time he was really making money. It was a large amount of money, not a small one.

“Haha!Hahahahat!”

He would finally walk on the flower road! Cage was shedding tears of joy when a notification window rose in front of him.

[Time has regressed.]

“......?” Cage’s laughter abruptly stopped. The shining +9 Songstress’ Sword started to lose its light. Cage rubbed his eyes. The Songstress’ Sword was returning to +7.

“W-What is this shit aaaaaaack!!”

Screams occurred from all over the city. There were dozens of people in this small city who had similar experiences to Cage.

***

"...We are asking for an explanation and compensation.” The haggard-faced man read the last sentence of the statement. In front of hundreds of reporters, he dared to declare that he would sue the S.A Group and he felt his legs trembling. He was so nervous and afraid that his head was spinning and he felt nauseous. However, he was elected as the representative of the ‘Backtracking Victims Group’. He couldn’t back down. Determination filled his heart and he gazed at hundreds of cameras with a firm expression.

In response to his courage, the S.A Group immediately announced its position. In summary: this was a phenomenon that occurred during the normal game process.There was no compensation.

“This is the tyranny of a big business!”

The Backtracking Victims Group strongly condemned the attitude of the S.A Group. People sympathized with the victims but it was only at the level of sympathy. There was no idea of helping the victims. As the S.A Group stated, the backtracking was a phenomenon that occurred during the normal game process. It happened in the process of Grid and the Overgeared Guild raiding Dantalion. There was no legal basis for the S.A Group to compensate those affected.

...In addition, many people benefited from the phenomenon. Only the victims were pitiful.

***

‘I’m embarrassed.’ Grid temporarily logged out and coughed. He was uncomfortable to see the news that tens of thousands of people suffered big or small losses due to the time regression.

‘I feel it all the time but the S.A Group has no blood and no tears.’

He understood why they didn’t give compensation. Dantalion’s time regression was a normal game system as the S.A Group claimed. Still, couldn’t they give the victims a word of comfort? It might be fake but they wouldn’t have felt so upset if the S.A Group had soothed the hearts of the victims. Grid thought about it before shaking his head.

‘I can also understand the S.A Group’s position.’

There would be people who took advantage of it as long as the S.A Group showed the slightest weakness. If the S.A Group comforted the victims, it was likely there was a group that interpreted it as an apology and that the S.A Group admitted their mistake. In addition, the sparks would splash on Grid. Regardless of whether it was right or wrong, the S.A Group’s response of leaving no room for the victims was a good thing for Grid.

‘There is no point in thinking about it anymore. Fortunately, none of the guild members are victims.’

Grid moved to the great hall.

“Braham isn’t here yet?”

It was a beautiful castle made up of clear crystals that only appeared in fairy tales. As it turned out, the owner of the castle of the 25th Hell called the Indestructible Castle was changed from Dantalion to Yura. However, the person sitting on the throne was Grid. Yura gave up the top seat.

“I’m here now.”

“You should’ve come faster.” Grid reprimanded Braham, who entered late. He was a bit annoyed that the usage of the knowledge essence was delayed due to Braham.

“There are a total of 193 magic arts imprinted on this castle. Three of them combine with their own power to create new ones in real time. How can you have no inspiration when this living and breathing art is in front of you?” This was why Braham was away for two days. Braham was fascinated by the Indestructible Castle. He had lived for hundreds of years but even he felt awed by the results of Dantalion’s thousands of years of knowledge.

“I have to understand to be interested.” Grid answered before turning to Mercedes, Piaro and Yura. “Have you prepared your hearts?”

“Yes.”

Dantalion’s Knowledge Essence would grant a random power of a former legend. There were also non-combat skills. The characteristic of non-combat skills was to raise growth potential so it couldn’t be called a failure but... Mercedes, Piaro, and Yura wanted combat skills. They were different from Grid who already had many combat skills, the Undefeated King’s swordsmanship, and Braham’s magic. Their combat skills were limited. To be honest, they were nervous. They were afraid of using the essence and getting an unwanted skill. They were pleased by Braham’s selfish demand to not use the essence until he came back from looking around the castle.

“Let’s get started quickly,” Braham urged them. He was interested in what skills Grid and the messengers would gain.

Grid clicked his tongue. ‘This is why he has no friends.’

Braham had spent two days exploring the Indestructible Castle. The reason he asked Grid and the messengers to stand by and not use the essences was purely for his own enjoyment. He even prepared snacks for himself as he prepared to see what skills Grid and the messengers would acquire and enjoy their reactions. Even so, Grid couldn’t hate Braham. Braham hadn’t just been playing for two days. He analyzed the magic engraved in each crystal and the result was a significant increase in his intelligence. This time it was their turn. It was time to become stronger and please their colleagues...

“Why are you delaying here?” Nefelina sat next to Braham, chewed on bacon, and urged them as well. Her expression was very excited like she was watching a movie.

Grid glared at them and told the group, “Let’s begin.”

“Yes.”

The four people pulled out Dantalion’s Knowledge Essence. It was a dark blue bead that seemed to contain the universe. The four people exchanged looks, gulped, and simultaneously placed their hands on the bead. The magic power that poured out from the beads surrounded the four people.

At this moment, Grid was emptying his mind. ‘I hope the Undefeated King’s swordsmanship will come out but there is no such possibility.’

Undefeated King Madra was special among the legends. He was born with the greatest talent but the range of his activities was too limited and his life was too short. It was Grid’s judgement that the Undefeated King’s swordsmanship wouldn’t be in Dantalion’s knowledge.

‘In this situation, the first thing to aim for is Muller’s swordsmanship.’

It was the Sword Saint’s swordsmanship that created results that didn’t make sense the moment a sword was held in the hand. It was good to learn the Matchless Swordsmanship. But...

‘...Let’s not feel expectations.’

Grid knew this pattern. There was a high probability that Kruger’s tailoring technique or Gis’ mining technique would come out. The more intensely he wished for something, the worse the result would be.

"......!"

Grid was trying to clear his mind when he felt the knowledge flowing in his head. Then his eyes widened.

[100,000 Army Swordsmanship has been acquired.]

The Undefeated King’s swordsmanship was obtained. The excitement that climbed up Grid’s spine subsided coldly. 100,000 Army Swordsmanship. A sword technique composed of 100,000 Army Blockade Sword and 100,000 Army Massacre Sword. Grid had already acquired it.

‘This damn thing?’ Grid’s pupils shook violently. The worst development had appeared. Rather than Kruger’s tailoring technique or Gis’ mining technique, it was the 100,000 Army Swordsmanship that he already had...

"......!"

Grid’s deepening thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a remarkable notification window that emerged in his vision.

[The influx of new knowledge has completed the 100,000 Army Swordsmanship you have learned.]

[The degraded 100,000 Army Swordsmanship has been upgraded to the original.]

Amazing! Super amazing! Grid’s mouth dropped open and he was drooling when he suddenly heard Piaro’s scream. “Y-Your Majesty! The Matchless Swordsmanship...! I got the Matchless Swordsmanship!”

“What?!” Grid came to his senses. Piaro, who dreamed of becoming the Sword Saint but could never reach his goal, had now acquired the Sword Saint’s technique. What was this luck?

Grid’s trembling gaze turned to Mercedes and Yura. He felt anxious. He feared that his and Piaro’s good luck would make them upset. Yet to his surprise, they also had large smiles on their faces. It was a rare day when luck came all at once. It felt like the Backtracking Victims Group had become sacrifices for their good luck.

“Hahaha!”Grid couldn’t endure it and burst out laughing. He was so excited that his shoulders shook like he was dancing.

Sariel saw this scene, took out a harp and started playing it. Playing instruments and singing were the basic skills of archangels. A beautiful, heavenly harmony rang through the middle of hell. It was crazy.

[All the rulers of hell have detected the presence of an angel.]

[The rulers of the deep hells are expressing their interest.]

The deep hells. It was referring to the single digit hells.

“......” The eyes of Grid and the messengers turned to Sariel.

Sariel faced them with innocent eyes and pouted before belatedly sweating. Just then, a heavy blow struck the Indestructible Castle.