Lim Cheolho was the first to build a concert hall. The world’s largest concert hall with complete acoustics was born in Seoul. Why bother to build a concert hall? In the interviews, he dismissed it as being a classical music enthusiast, but…
“I think differently. Lim Cheolho is revealing his ambition.”
Two men were sitting side by side in the S.A Concert Hall where Mozart’s Magic Flute was being played. The middle-aged man was the director of OGC, Lee Gookrae, and the white-haired gentleman was the president of OGC, Kim Jaeshik.
“In the past 300 years, Mozart’s music has been playing nonstop. It is played every single day all over the world.”
There were often people who misunderstood classical music as an antiquated culture. Many people mistook it for the culture of a certain class, which rich people used as a means to fill their vanity. They didn’t know that it was a fact that people unconsciously hummed classical music.
“Over 1,000 albums containing Mozart’s music have been released, and hundreds of millions of copies have been sold worldwide.” Kim Jaeshik had the wisdom of someone over 60 years old. That’s why he was the president of OGC, a leading gaming station in modern society. After a short introduction, he got to the main point. “Lim Cheolho is dreaming that Satisfy will become a classic. He hopes that the orchestra (players) will play the song (game) he made for eternity. Is the best maestro of this time Grid? It doesn’t make sense.”
Lee Gookrae thought it was an appropriate analogy. Whenever he appeared in public, Lim Cheolho never referred to Satisfy as a game. Instead, he expressed it as another world. He wanted Satisfy to be like music that lasted forever. He wanted it to go down in history. Satisfy’s history was currently being created by a master called Grid. Chairman Lim Cheolho couldn’t be too happy that Grid wasn’t participating in the best stage called the National Competition.
“Even if Grid doesn’t participate in the National Competition, don’t you think that Chairman Lim Cheolho would somehow place Grid on stage?”
“Yes. The player Grid might refuse, but he will be placed on stage in a different role. Of course, he will sprinkle a better reward than a gold medal as bait.”
“A role other than a player?”
“It is our job to find out what that role is. I’m personally anticipating the Breaking the Hero event.”
Breaking the Hero—last year, the hero had copied 100% of the specs of the last PvP winner while the other participants challenged the hero. It was an intuitive reminder of how far the players had progressed during the year. There were elements that excited the audience.
“The hero this year is Grid… What if it isn’t the artificial intelligence controlling it but Grid himself?”
Last year’s hero had been Kraugel. However, it couldn’t really be called Kraugel. It was because the artificial intelligence, not Kraugel, had been controlling it. This was poison. The artificial intelligence might’ve reproduced Kraugel’s control skills, but it had failed to copy his senses. The result was that its combat power fell far below the original’s.
On the other hand, it was speculated that this year’s hero would be better. The hero Grid was completely different from the hero Kraugel. Grid didn’t have awe-inspiring control or senses; his skills were relatively normal (?) for a high ranker. It was why many experts and enthusiasts were looking forward to the 4th National Competition’s Breaking the Hero.
They all wanted to see an AI play Grid’s character. They wondered how much better Grid would be if he had more talent. Yet what if the hero was controlled by Grid this year, unlike what people expected? Lee Gookrae and Kim Jaeshik got goosebumps at the thought.
They seemed to see the reactions of the audience members in front of them. The audience would be confused when the artificial intelligence Grid’s combat power turned out to be far less than expected. However, they wouldn’t boo him. Grid was still strong, and all the other participants would kneel before him.
In the silence, Grid would open his mouth, “I’m Grid!”
The difference of one year was meaningless before him. The ‘Grid’ from last year could overwhelm them now. There was no need for artificial intelligence. Grid’s words filled with provocation and arrogance would enthrall the audience.
“It would be the best topic of the National Competition.”
“Right? Grid is the best device to excite the audience. I can’t imagine a National Competition without him. In this National Competition, our station will focus on the ‘enemies’ that the players will face, not the players. Then we will find Grid faster than anyone else and catch the scoop.”
It was a gamble, but it was a gamble with enough odds. Lee Gookrae recalled the updated rankings from yesterday. Grid’s ranking, which had been falling for the past year, had been rising steeply for several days.
‘The reason he started hunting again is to train his control before the National Competition… In order to make the most of the National Competition…’
Grid was trying to deceive the whole world. He was indeed a natural born star. Director Lee Gookrae couldn’t control his quickly beating heart.
***
[Tiramet’s level has risen.]
[Randy’s level has risen.]
[Noe’s level has risen.]
[Noe’s level has risen.]
[Overgeared Skeleton 1’s and Overgeared Skeleton 2’s levels have risen.]
[Overgeared Skeleton 1’s and Overgeared Skeleton 2’s levels have risen.]
“Control is nonsense. The game is about pets.”
Grid distributed experience points to his pets every time a monster was hunted. However, he didn’t feel bitter about this. His hunting speed increased noticeably as his pets’ levels rose. The Galgunos Temple, which had forced him to maintain his tension four days ago, now felt as comfortable as his home. Of course, the appearance of the ‘intermediate boss’ would still cause pressure.
“Um… Is it still too unreasonable to challenge downstairs?”
The Galgunos Temple was a labyrinth with complex straight pathways crossing each other as well as spiral staircases all over the place. There were stairs leading to the basement, and the intermediate boss appeared at every place close to the staircases, causing the difficulty of the labyrinth to rise sharply. Grid expected that hell would unfold as soon as he went down the stairs.
The Overgeared Skeletons started clacking when they saw Grid shrink back. They were laughing at him. It was like they were mocking Grid for being a coward. Noe hit the skulls of the Overgeared Skeletons with his paws and said, “The moment you go down, the skeletons will be enemies, nyang.”
“The Overgeared Skeletons will be enemies?”
“That’s right, nyang. There is the nasty smell of a lich. Skeletons can’t oppose a lich’s orders and will become slaves, nyang. Not Noe, a slave!” (Remember, Noe sounds close to the Korean word for slave.)
“Really?” Grid had already known that Galgunos was a lich. He had believed that the Overgeared Skeletons would someday be a great help if he had to raid the Galgunos… yet they would become enemies instead? “Then I can’t use the Overgeared Skeletons when facing Agnus’ lich… Kuk?” Grid suddenly stepped back in horror.
It was because the intermediate boss had appeared. A dagger was embedded in the ground where Grid had just been standing.
‘This isn’t near the stairs…?’
Was the range of the intermediate bosses expanding? Grid was filled with an ominous feeling, and he raised his head. The ‘follower of the war god’ who escaped from its grave was looking at Grid. The followers of the war god were undead monsters Grid hadn’t encountered yet.
It was actually amazing. The monster was very fast despite being undead. The headless rider, that was like a dullahan, rushed at a fast speed. Unlike a dullahan, its head was fully attached.
[You have suffered 8,940 damage.]
Grid groaned as he was pierced with a rusty sword. Tiramet and Randy belatedly responded and tried to keep the follower away from Grid.
“…Battle gear… mountain… where…”
“Where is that? I don’t know! You crazy bastard!” Grid swung the Enlightenment Sword, and a red lightning bolt fell.
The war god follower was struck by the lightning and flinched. It resisted the electric shock and cut at Tiramet and Randy with the rusty blade. Tiramet had an excellent recovery rate and survived while Randy luckily fought back with Revolve. Grid didn’t miss this gap. His level of control was already far beyond an ordinary ranker’s. Pagma’s Swordsmanship pierced the gap precisely and struck the war god follower. However…
“…Battle gear… mountain… where…” The undead follower didn’t feel any pain or fear and repeated the same words. Instead of shrinking back every time it was attacked, the undead follower fired back immediately. This was not a technique but an inherent ability of the followers.
Whenever it was hit, the undead follower would counterattack to return the damage. It was a fraudulent ability. For melee classes, the war god followers were perfect counters.
‘Counterattacking with the amount that it is hit… It is also a boss with millions of health. Who can catch this one-on-one?’
However, Grid wasn’t fighting one-on-one right now. It was five to one. No, it was seven to one. Of course, Grid was the one with seven people. The counterattack was easily blocked by the Blade Aiming at the Gods. Grid started a sword dance right away while shouting to the light elemental, “Flash!”
It happened the moment the command was given. The light elemental shot a strong burst of light at the follower. It was a spell that caused blindness for 0.3 seconds. The effect of blindness meant it was impossible for the follower to attack.
“Linked Kill Wave Pinnacle!”
Grid, who was already using Blacksmith's Rage and Blackening, released the ultimate sword dance while the follower moved its sword through the air blindly with blood pouring down. Then lady luck smiled on Grid.
“Linked Kill Wave Pinnacle!”
He used the ultimate sword dance two times consecutively thanks to God’s Command. The follower screamed as it turned to ashes.
[Your level has risen.]
[The Spectre's Equipment Fragment has been acquired.]
[The Sword Grave’s Map Fragment (6) has been acquired.]
Experience had been expected due to the nature of the hunting grounds, but Grid also gained an unexpected benefit. The Sword Grave—it was the place where Pagma had spent his last years and Braham’s body was known to be buried there.
“Is this the mountain of battle gear?” Grid’s shaking fingers spread open the map fragment. What had happened between Galgunos’ followers, and why did the followers of the war god want to find the Sword Grave even after death? Such questions were unnecessary.
Grid was only thinking about one thing.
“If I complete the map…”
Braham—the precious name that Grid didn’t want to forget revolved around his mind. His expectations for the hidden pieces became greater.
