There was a man who fought to protect the world. He lived for others, but unfortunately, he betrayed his friend. There was a man who lived for himself. He didn’t believe in others, but he believed in his friend. The product that was the combined culmination of the two men’s skills, knowledge, ambition, and tenacity—it has been poisoned since its birth. It contained hatred. It was probably from the men’s temperaments. It was subtly incomplete.
Thus, there was no spare power. It couldn’t take on the greed of its new master. It couldn’t digest the insane dragon iron. The hatred deepened. Its master sighing over his own greed afflicted it. The cold metal rotted from the inside.
It was a fact that no one knew. It wasn’t necessary to know it anymore. After finally digesting the insane dragon iron and achieving its master’s desire and greed, the hatred was resolved. The unknown story of a metal that no one knew was buried forever. It was the right ending.
Braham opened his mouth. “Let me confess.”
Silent without a mouth, apathetic without a heart. Greed, who had always been coldly and silently staying by its master’s side, responded to the voice it heard. It borrowed Raiders’ golden eyes and saw the silver-haired man that appeared. The man, who still looked the same, appeared among the waves that broke the light to pieces.
Greed knew him. A parent, not an owner. The red eyes looking at it gave it an occasional glimpse of lingering regret. However, that wasn’t visible now. There were no lingering feelings.
“I sometimes compared you and Pagma.”
“……”
Grid, who had been deep in the afterglow, woke up from his thoughts.
“This was especially true of pavranium. I used to feel that if it was him, he would use that symbol much more effectively.”
Grid faced Braham. Black eyes that contained redness met red eyes that contained blackness.
“You made me realize how foolish that feeling was. You are better than him in every way. Much better than me.”
Braham wasn’t killed by Pagma because he was weaker than Pagma. It was just that Pagma had prepared a lot and Braham hadn’t expected the betrayal. It was the mistake of a lifetime. That catastrophic mistake robbed hundreds of years away from Braham.
Nevertheless, Braham’s pride didn’t decline at all. He was very sure that this time, he would be the strongest. This faith became firmer after defeating the hydra. This conclusion was reached after weighing his prime and the potential of the former legends that became history. He thought that Grid might surpass him, but that it would be in the distant future. He determined that Grid wouldn’t go beyond him until Grid transcended all the legends. Now he corrected it.
“Your potential is limitless.” It far exceeded his own potential that was like the sea. “So you are the strongest.”
Just imagine it—the sword of the Sword Saint that could cut the world and the Undefeated King’s swordsmanship that could wipe out millions, they couldn’t reach Grid, who had the barrier of Greed. Even if they reached Grid, there would be the scene where the rain of Greed caused their bodies to bleed first. It was absolutely spectacular to the point where chills went down his spine.
The Grid of the past—who was asked to make the vessel to hold his soul, only to make a dog food bowl—flew away from Braham’s memories.
“The most brilliant one in the world.”
[Overgeared God Grid is writing the 13th epic.]
[The lofty man discussed him.]
[He was as infinite as the universe.]
[He was brighter than the sun.]
[A mighty sight surrounded by a black galaxy.]
[He—the proof was completed.]
……
…
***
『 10 days ago, there was news that the ranker expedition, led by the main forces of the Overgeared Guild, left for hell. All sorts of questions were raised about this. Why did the Overgeared Guild, who had been eating the profits of hell alone, suddenly cooperate with rankers to form an exploration team? This became a special topic. What do you think about this? 』
『 It has already been revealed through various media that the Overgeared Guild recognizes the great human and demon war as a crisis, not a festival. They’ve formed an alliance with huge forces like the empire and Valhalla, suggesting the seriousness of the situation. I think it is the Overgeared Guild’s intention to raise the rankers in response to the great human and demon war. 』
『 Some people say it will be easy since the average level of combat players has reached 300. They claim that we can win this war easily, unlike the past when they were dominated by only a few great demons. It is a foolish view. 』
『 As the name implies, the great human and demon war is a large-scale war. It isn’t a few great demons invading, but an army of hell? How can it be compared to the past? This is a different situation. There will be a crisis that we have never experienced before. Just as the Overgeared Guild united the top rankers, all players should work together to prepare for the crisis. 』
Many years had passed since Satisfy was released. Fake experts were now rare. Those who sat in front of the desk, collected information, analyzed it, and claimed to be experts were culled. Those who actually played and deeply understood Satisfy took their place. The recent intellectuals didn’t sit by and ignore the Overgeared Guild’s warning. They provided people with the right information and hoped they would follow the Overgeared Guild’s example to join forces.
There was an inherent problem. The Yatan Church worshipped the demons so the great human and demon war was also a religious war. From the perspective of the Yatan Church, the great human and demon war was indeed a celebration. The number of believers increased sharply after the benefit of the cash items and they enjoyed an unprecedented heyday. They were looking forward to cooperating with hell. The end of the world would lead to their eternal glory.
Some people started to listen to the voices of the Yatan Church. It was a natural phenomenon. The safety of the continent and humanity? Most players didn’t care about it at all. They were desperate for immediate compensation. This was followed by people converting to the Yatan Church. They wanted to benefit from the great human and demon war. They hoped to stand on the demons’ side and win more easily and safely to get better rewards.
Of course, there were many players with a sense of mission to protect humanity and joined the three religions or the allied nations. However, there were few compared to the players who joined the Yatan Church. There still weren’t many players who valued the world for reasons such as having strong ties to NPCs or having a firm home.
In the midst of the turmoil, the three churches announced that they would take their own course. They refused to stand in solidarity with the allied nations. It was because the Overgeared Kingdom was in the allied nations. Wasn’t the Overgeared Kingdom home of the Overgeared God Church? If the three churches cooperated with the Overgeared God Church, it would be recognized as a new religion.
The three gods, who defined all non-Asgardian gods as heretics—it was especially unacceptable for the Rebecca Church, who was deeply resentful that their pope and many other talents were taken away by the Overgeared God Church. Eventually, the players’ power structure was divided into two groups, even though it wouldn’t have been enough if they united as one.
Nevertheless, the leaders of the alliances were calm. This was a situation that had been foreseen to some extent. In the first place, it was hard to rally players who had different affiliations and different ideas.
***
It was a time when the Overgeared Guild accepted the situation calmly…
“No, this damn thing. What type of humans stand by demons instead of sticking together as one?”
The S.A Group was on fire.
“It was poisonous to push the Yatan Church up because of the balance.”
“It was Morpheus who supported the Yatan Church and Morpheus who started the great human and demon war. At this point, we need to slightly doubt Morpheus’ judgment.”
“Shh, it is a big deal.”
“Hah… It wasn’t worth revealing in advance that there will be a great human and demon war.”
“Even if it means breaking the rules, we should’ve announced the seriousness of the great human and demon war…”
“Do you think people have split into different camps because they don’t know the severity of the war? They know, but they don’t care. Most people don’t care about the world in the game. Even if we break the rules and lose trust to make the announcement, nothing will change.”
“Shh, shh!”
“……”
The members of the management team, who were watching the situation with a frown, shifted their attention. It was because Director Yoon Sangmin was visiting. It seemed he had come running based on his rough breathing. He didn’t take a moment to breathe. He looked at the indicators handed over to him by the team leader and his expression became rotten. It seemed another executives meeting would be held.
It happened as the team members were feeling a subtle sympathy for Director Yoon Sangmin…
“Eh? Huh?” A newcomer, who had been hired to carry out the major task of observing the overall trends of Satisfy 24 hours a day, screamed as he stared at the monitor.
“What? What happened now?”
“Did they already send an advance party from hell?”
“T-That isn’t it…”
“I’m going to die because I’m so busy, but you are acting stupid… Eh?” Robert was reprimanding the newcomer as he approached, only for his eyes to widen.
“D-Director-nim!”
“……?”
The atmosphere of headquarters might be free spirited, but it was rare for a deputy to name the director. The team members felt that something was wrong and quickly shifted their eyes away. Director Yoon Sangmin and the operations team leader approached Robert. The sound of gulping was particularly loud.
‘Don’t tell me I have to work overtime again…’
It was at the time when the team members were grabbing their heads…
“Hahat!Hahahahat!” Yoon Sangmin burst out laughing. It was a very excited laugh that caused people’s attention to focus on him.
“……?”
What? The team members couldn’t help being curious and approached to look at the screen. More than half of the hundreds of screens were illuminating a single player. It was Grid. He was writing a new epic that deleted the negative characteristics of the ‘balance maintenance’ of Greed, a class specific item.
“…Gasp!”
The terrified team members retreated from Director Yoon Sangmin. They were wary of him losing his sense of reason due to too much anger. Director Yoon Sangmin finally stopped laughing and spoke to himself, “You are the only one we can believe in now…”
“……?”
The faces of the team members turned white. They seemed convinced that Director Yoon Sangmin had gone crazy. Fortunately, Director Yoon Sangmin was very well. Not long ago, he had been on great alert after seeing Grid obtain the Undefeated King’s original swordsmanship. Putting aside his liking of Grid, he questioned if it was okay to trust Grid unconditionally.
This had lasted until recently. Director Yoon Sangmin had seen Grid’s trends and looked back on the path Grid had taken and became convinced of one thing—that he could trust Grid. It was natural when he recalled why he was a fan of Grid.
“Contact the sound team right now and ask them to prepare five theme songs.”
“Huh? Theme songs? It is five songs? Oh, if you’re referring to the background music to be inserted in the great human and demon war, I heard it was completed four days ago…”
“The Grid-only theme song! Play music every time Grid appears on the screen!”
“……”
“Director-nim, Team Leader-nim, an executives meeting has been convened.”
“Ah, this is good. I’ll go and say it myself.”
“…Is it okay?”
“He is asking to create a theme song for a player. Do you think it is okay?”
It was after Director Yoon Sangmin left. The team members chatted with a worried expression. For reference, the characters in Satisfy with theme songs were super named NPCs or boss monsters. It was also only one or two songs and it was set to play only if certain situations or conditions were met. Making a theme song for a specific player (it was also five songs) and playing it every time he appeared on the screen… it was something that needed the authority of the chairman. Naturally, the team members thought it wouldn’t be realized.
