Overgeared

"Um...? This is really... It is a lot of trouble."

Old Sword Demon was unable to hide his uncomfortable expression as he bowed his head. He belatedly noticed that Grid was here.

"Why are you being wishy-washy? They are ridiculous words."

"Cough..."

He was so shocked to see Hanul's shameful quest that he hadn't looked around.

...This was actually a funny excuse.

'I didn't feel a presence.'

Old Sword Demon gulped and shared the quest information with Grid. He scratched his nose in an embarrassed manner. Grid's eyes were calm as he confirmed the contents. He didn't care at all even when he was being targeted by a God of the Beginning. He must've gone through something more than this if he was so calm.

"......"

Old Sword Demon stared at Grid.

The Overgeared God—his appearance was uniquely gorgeous.

A waving sunset divinity—now it was always around his body in the form of a yellow dragon, so he couldn't help standing out. His presence itself was different from others. It felt like he would be sensed even if he was a few kilometers away. At this moment, Old Sword Demon was under the illusion that he was really facing a god. Therefore, it didn't make sense. He didn't notice Grid who was right next to him...

'Does he have stealth skills? Even if this is the case, there is no reason to use stealth here. It might be some type of passive skill...'

It was a shock that he didn't notice anything. It was because Old Sword Demon was one of the strongest unofficial rankers. He was active with Hwang Gildong and had gained several legendary achievements. Recently, he caught a clue to becoming a legend.

An assassin who fought fairly with swordsmanship while not using stealth—sooner or later, he would be in a position to pioneer a new hidden class.

'Then what is this... how big is the level difference?'

Ever since becoming the Overgeared God, the ranking information of Grid was displayed differently from a normal player. Detailed information such as his level didn't appear. There was only the single word 'God' that made him mysterious. Old Sword Demon had been vaguely calculating the gap with Grid, but he realized it at this moment. The fact that the calculation itself was meaningless.

'It is natural for him to overpower the Three Masters alone, but..'

At one time, people saw Grid's success as being in the realm of luck. It didn't mean they were disparaging his effort and talent. They took it for granted that Grid was born with a better talent and that he put in more effort than others. Yet how could there be only one or two geniuses in the world?

There were many people who were sweating while working extremely hard. It was just like Old Sword Demon right now. However, Grid boasted unbelievably unrivaled growth. In order to understand him, they naturally had to mention the concept of luck. Now Old Sword Demon learned the truth. It was impossible to become like Grid even if he had hundreds of thousands of lucky encounters in a row.

'It is something beyond effort, talent,and luck...'

Why were great people in history often described as 'figures from heaven'? Old Sword Demon seemed to know. Could it be a god did exist? Maybe it was supporting Grid behind the scenes to represent this era...

It happened as Old Sword Demon's contemplation was deepening...

'Hanul is struggling in his own way.'

Grid had finished grasping the situation.

'However, he made the wrong point. Propaganda aimed at an unspecified number doesn't work on me.'

It was because the human world was ruled by him. This wasn't a big deal. Grid laughed scornfully and focused on the new function.

Granting the named status—the detailed information was updated a while ago and the name of the skill was changed.

[God's Sponsorship]

[You can use the authority of the chief god of the Overgeared World to sponsor NPCs.

The targets sponsored by a god are named.

The more sponsorships you give, the faster they will grow.

★ Sponsorship doesn't just mean material support. The meaning of the sponsorship is determined by you.]

It was the most unusual skill Grid had ever seen. To put it bluntly, there were no conditions or restrictions on the use despite being an active skill. It was possible to overdo it. It was as if he could do it whenever he wanted.

'It is surprising that there are no penalties… does it think that it will be hard to manage multiple people at the same time? No... it isn't like that.'

There were limits to growth for ordinary NPCs. There were limits to the levels and stats they could raise. It was important to note here that more NPCs ended their lives without knowing their limitations. It was like real human beings.

'If I make tens of millions of humans named right away, how many of them will enjoy the named effect?'

The named transformation was just a system that allowed the target to overcome their inherent limitations. Only those who reached their limits deserved to enjoy the effect.

'...I can see why Rebecca didn't take advantage of this system.'

Grid guaranteed that the God's Sponsorship system had existed since the beginning. The fact that Grid received a divine message from Goddess Rebecca in the past and Damian becoming the Goddess' Agent could be seen as a type of sponsorship. However, Goddess Rebecca didn't abuse her sponsorship. There were only a handful of people who claimed to have heard her voice, both among the players and the NPCs.

She knew it as well. It didn't work just because it was used a lot. Rather, it was likely that she decided it would have a side effect of decreasing the value. If anyone could obtain Goddess Rebecca's blessing... naturally, people's faith in Rebecca would be shaken.

'Usually humans don't value what is common.'

Grid suddenly smiled. Looking back, he thought that Rebecca's sponsorship wasn't a big deal. It was a blessing that gave him a slight increase in his stats and a quest in the name of a divine message. Of course, the Goddess'Agent class that Damian acquired exerted tremendous destructive power, but it was followed by a lot of responsibility. He literally represented the goddess, so Rebecca wouldn't be able to give the position to just anyone.

Then what about Grid himself? The blessing? It was hard. Those who went to the Overgeared God Temples to pray or who belonged to the Overgeared Empire or the Overgeared God Church gained several buffs, but it was frankly less powerful compared to the goddess' blessing. Grid would have to use the Sanctuary of Metal next to the target in order for him to give a plausible blessing.

A quest? He didn't have the confidence to consistently produce quality quests. Grid had experience with making quests several times through his status as king and emperor. This was why he knew. The content of the quest coincided with the actual situation. It meant being influenced by the outside world. There was a limit to Grid's ability to deliberately create quest content.

Goddess Rebecca would've been the same. History proved that divine messages from the goddess weren't common.

Granting a title or class? It was impossible. Grid didn't know how to make something like his own agent. He still didn't have the authority. However, Grid was confident that his situation was much better than Rebecca in the past. It was natural. Grid could scatter items. It was just as how Khan, who recently became an angel, scattered a large number of holy swords.

That's right. His position was different from Rebecca, who had to be assisted by Hexetia to make the holy swords.

'Even the swords made by Hexetia were only available to the chosen warriors.'

On the other hand, Grid had been making items for people in their respective professions, for the soldiers and for the Overgeared members. It meant he was a professional at producing items that met the level of the subject. People who never reached their limits until they died? He would force them to be motivated...

They might be living the same daily life as usual, but if they felt themselves growing steadily, they would become diligent on their own. Then 310 God Hands appeared on Grid's left and right sides. Half held hammers in their hands, while the other half set fires in portable furnaces. The first thing Grid did after increasing the number of God Hands was the mass production of portable furnaces and anvils.

'Let's play properly in the meantime.'

The square, which used to contain only Grid, Old Sword Demon, Mir, and Yeum, became busy in an instant. Hundreds of hands started to forge all types of tools according to their god's will. The sight was hard to believe even when seeing it with both eyes and it mesmerized Old Sword Demon and the yangbans. After a while—

"I will sponsor 310 miners belonging to the Overgeared Empire."

Grid produced a large number of pickaxes in an instant and declared as the chief god of the Overgeared World, "The sponsorship item is a pickaxe."

In the future, more resources would be needed, so he planned to accelerate the growth of miners. Of course, there was a great chance that it wouldn't go as intended. Grid only gave people a chance. There was no way to know if the named people would grow up and help even after they had transcended their limits.

He was in a position to sow the 'seeds.' He had no choice but to trust and wait. It required the mindset of a patient farmer.

'Let's get a good idea about why Piaro is so fascinated by farming.'

[Random targets were selected because you didn't specify a target.]

[You are sponsoring 310 miners belonging to the Overgeared Empire.]

[You can view the targets' information or observe the real-time status through the 'Sponsoring List.']

'...Is this real?'

An unspecified majority isn't allowed. Only one target should be selected at a time, etc, etc. He thought such disadvantages would be received as usual, but it was so easy.

Grid was on the verge of panicking. Grid's eyes widened for a while before he soon clenched his fists. He was already excited when he imagined himself declaring, 'I will sponsor the entire population of the Overgeared Empire.'

***

The world was in turmoil. It was due to a number of eyewitness accounts that stated the name of a miner working with them suddenly shone brightly. There was speculation that perhaps the miner god had given them a blessing, but this was refuted within a few hours.

The miners' names became golden and they started bowing in the direction of a statue of the Overgeared God. They claimed to have received a divine message from the Overgeared God to 'live and work hard' and were thrilled to receive a holy sword. There was just a controversy because the holy sword looked like a pickaxe.

***

At the same time...

"This... what is it?"

Mercedes was facing a statue in the basement of the main house. It was a statue of a strange god, not the Overgeared God.

"This is Pluto, the god of slaughter. He is the god that our family has served for generations."

The Vaintz family had been in the slaughter business for hundreds of years. It was because they had been in charge of carrying out the emperor's will to kill ever since the days of the founder, Saharan. It was inevitable that they would serve Pluto.

However, Pluto was such an ominous god that he was rejected by the public and was gradually forgotten. Few people in the present day knew about him. Maybe this was why Pluto was very sympathetic to the Vaintz family. The method of taking advantage of this favor was the secret technique of the Vaintz family.

Mediumism—Pluto's divinity descended and it was accepted into their human body.

In the underground space where he was alone with his daughter, Mercedes' father personally demonstrated the secret technique. He brought the god of slaughter into his own body. His sleekly trained muscles were tinged black. Each tendon was as hard and sharp as a blade. It was naturally the form of a reaper reminiscent of death.

"......?!"

The head of the Vaintz family had a solemn expression on his face, only to suddenly make an expression of disbelief.

It was because Mercedes' fist smashed Pluto's divine image, the statue. The head was exquisitely blown away.

It was an unimaginable sight. His sense of reason couldn't keep up with the situation.

"Throw it away right now," Mercedes spoke to her father, who had forgotten what to say and was standing there blankly.