Overgeared

‘Why would he say something so useless?’

The Arrogant Blue Dragon’s Boots—Grid felt that the newly created boots were perfect. He was confident that he had completed the best item with impeccable features. The only regret was the existence of the reconstruction option.

What was the point of the boots having a destruction recovery ability and fixed durability after damage when the durability was infinite? It was a useless option because there was nothing that could damage the durability or destroy the form in the first place.

However, Reconstruction was a function of Berith’s Hoof, and the fixed durability post-invincibility option was a function created by the title Protagonist of Two Eras. The item was made from Greed, making these two options a natural occurrence. The existence of these two options didn’t cause any harm, so Grid wasn’t bothered.

However...

-I think there is a risk of becoming a troll due to the Lightning God skill, but I don’t think it is something to worry about unless you are really unlucky.

Lauel’s words struck a chord with Grid.

Lightning God—it was a probability skill that gave him complete physical resistance but made him vulnerable to magic. He could be ruined if it were triggered against an enemy strong in magic. Of course, the probability of triggering Lightning God was low, and the advantages were greater than the disadvantages. The probability of receiving damage from Lightning God was extremely low.

“...It is rotten.”

Grid was generally unlucky. He once believed that an act of great luck was the result of the accumulation of bad luck.

‘I think there will be a situation where I’m ruined by Lightning God...’

Grid was plagued with great worries. He felt nervous and anxious as he continued to focus on Lauel’s concern.

‘Hut... I won’t be hit by such an obvious development again.’

He trusted that he could meet the development with his strength. After all, he had already gone through things like these many times. A typical example was Braham’s Assimilation. It happened during the 2nd National Competition’s PvP event. Grid had pulled out his last card Braham, only to lose to Kraugel because of Braham’s trolling.

It was an unexpected development at the time, but now it was an obvious development. Unless the storytelling ability of the god of his destiny was at the level of a third-rate writer, the same story development wouldn’t come out again.

‘Of course, I can get through the crisis.’

It would be disadvantageous if Lightning God were activated when fighting a magician. However, Lightning God had a mana burn effect. In the worst crisis, the mana burn could be used to turn the crisis into an opportunity.

‘In the end, I can do well.’

He had the ability to take full advantage of the upcoming good luck and use the bad luck in reverse. Grid controlled his mind and wore the boots. The long boots, which went up to the knees, made Grid look even better. Grid stood in front of the mirror and smiled with satisfaction.

‘I did a good job making these long boots.’

Naturally, more materials were consumed, but he had no regrets. The larger the area that the boots covered, the greater the area of protection and the higher the defense. The long boots—originally made of metal—were inconvenient to move in and had the effect of slowing down movement. Now adamantium’s ability to freely change the hardness, strength, and brittleness blocked the side effects.

“Quick Movements, Blackening.”

Grid pulled out the Ideal Sword and entered his peak speed. The player’s maximum movement speed was 100 meters in five seconds, but Grid transcended this and was capable of four seconds. Thanks to Greed, his speed was comparable to Noe’s. Every time Grid crossed the training field, a loud sound rang out. Piercing through the dust, the flying demonic energy created dozens of afterimages.

“Wahh...”

It was the early morning when even birds don’t chirp. As they led their heavy bodies out, the grumbling soldiers were shocked.

“What is this?”

The knights, who were swallowing back yawns in front of the spirits, had their spirits awakened. The man running at full speed through the training ground again and again and again was their king.

All the soldiers, who were sick of suffering every morning despite having enlisted to defend their family and country, and all the knights, who worried about giving up every night despite vowing to make a name for themselves and to have unbreakable loyalty, had hot faces.

They couldn’t not know. Grid had been working all night in the smithy for the past month.

‘His Majesty is the one who is most tired...’ 

‘Yet he is running around the training ground early in the morning to be a role model...’

[The soldiers’ motivation and morale are soaring into the sky!]

‘Isn’t this crazy?’

Soldier—a former naval member of the Eternal Kingdom—was defeated by Peak Sword during the Cork Island War and joined the Overgeared Guild’s army after that.

He played a role in the founding of the Overgeared Kingdom and was subsequently promoted to be Asmophel’s lieutenant in recognition of his skills and diligence. Recently, he had been eager to fill in the gap caused by Asmophel’s absence. He was busy every day with his colleagues, training soldiers on behalf of Asmophel, and performing assignments. This wasn’t an easy task.

That was natural. It was impossible for a player to show charisma and leadership equivalent to Asmophel. No matter how strong his colleagues were, Soldier didn’t have complete control over the tens of thousands of soldiers. The morale of the soldiers fell every day, and the training efficiency deteriorated. Reinhardt’s troops were coming to a standstill. However, at this moment...

“Ready to go!”

“Full force! Shout forward!”

“Waaahhhhhhhh!”

“...”

The recently unmotivated soldiers suddenly had bright eyes as they trained actively. Their fallen morale soared into the sky. This happened just because Grid showed himself on the training ground.

‘It is truly special.’ Soldier smiled as he watched the soldiers and knights train with powerful shouts.

The Overgeared Kingdom…

He felt it was truly amazing that a great kingdom, which was growing to represent the continent, was still under the influence of the lone Grid.

“Soldier.”

“Yes!”

Soldier, who was filled with admiration, responded vigorously to Grid’s call. In reality, he was a soldier, and his sense of discipline was very strict. In the middle of the training ground, Grid called out to him, “Come here. Let’s spar once.”

“It is an honor!” Soldier didn’t hesitate.

Was there any fool in the world who would refuse the opportunity to spar with the Overgeared King? It was a great learning opportunity even if he didn’t win.

“Haap!” Soldier pulled out his weapon and quickly narrowed the distance to Grid. It was a great momentum worthy of one of the top 5,000 players in the unified rankings. He attacked.

Grid didn’t even draw a weapon and swung his lower legs to block.

“...!?”

The confused Soldier stepped back as the repulsion generated by the black boots pushed his sword back. He wanted to find out the identity of this repulsion, but it wasn’t possible in such a short amount of time. Soldier decided to avoid any conflict with these unidentified boots and aim for the upper body.

However, he couldn’t take any action.

“...!?”

Suddenly, Grid was engulfed in lightning and floated into the sky. This was a complete flight, not a leap. It was without equipping Braham’s Boots.

‘Are they new magic boots made with the tears of the water clan king?’

The moment Soldier had this thought...

“Come Down.”

Grid spun in the air and a lightning bolt fell and struck Soldier. This was literally lightning. It was not an attack that human beings could react to and avoid. Soldier was pierced.

[You have suffered 30,000 damage.]

[You have been affected by the ‘electric shock’ state!]

“...!?” He became defenseless.

Grid had already come down behind Soldier’s back. “Thanks for the hard work.”

“Yep.”

It was a victory without even taking out a weapon. Grid overwhelmed a top 5,000 ranker with just a pair of shoes. If there were any witnesses, they would say this was a bug. Nevertheless, the two parties involved didn’t make a fuss. They both knew it. This power was only the beginning. Grid could’ve dealt with dozens of rankers with just the pair of boots, not just one.

The utility of the Blue Dragon’s Boots was as good as possible. He flew with Lightning Speed and secured a safe distance before linking the next attack, not allowing the opponent to react.

‘It is exciting.’

This game was truly about items. Grid felt a surging emotion for the first time in a while and laughed happily. 

Meanwhile, Soldier was praising himself. He complimented his past self for deciding to join the Overgeared Guild.

*** 

There wasn’t a single kingdom that responded to the Violet Kingdom’s request. The formation of the allied army was in vain. The isolated Violet Kingdom was forced to stop the invasion of the twilight orcs on its own, and most of its territory was seized. As the strength of the twilight orcs spread through various media, the number of players who changed races to an orc increased rapidly. The Violet Kingdom was driven to the brink and requested troops from all over the continent. 

An official letter also arrived at the Overgeared Kingdom, asking for help in return for a reasonable price. Of course, the Overgeared Kingdom refused the request. The Gauss Kingdom and other kingdoms near the Overgeared Kingdom also rejected the request. They couldn’t afford to help another kingdom when they didn’t know if the Overgeared Kingdom would invade their territory.

On the other hand, most of the countries far away from the Overgeared Kingdom sent troops to the Violet Kingdom. Their desire to grow their power made them covet the price presented by the Violet Kingdom.

It was the same for the Fold Kingdom. The land was barren and resources were scarce, so the poor Fold Kingdom only had 300,000 hard-working soldiers to deal with monsters. The chance to send troops and make money was a great opportunity for them. However—

“We won’t send an army.” 

The Fold Kingdom also rejected the Violet Kingdom’s request. The Fold Kingdom had served the Overgeared Kingdom for a long time. The will of the Overgeared Kingdom was their will.

“Is that what you came here to ask?”

Grid informally scolded the person who personally came to the Overgeared Kingdom to answer the Overgeared Kingdom’s will—1st Prince Shining of the Fold Kingdom. Even so, Grid’s expression was warm. He had been very fond of Prince Shining since the first day they met, and this attitude hadn’t changed. Above all, Prince Shining was the man who protected Irene and Lord at the risk to his own life during the Yatan Church’s attack on the Vatican.

“Isn’t it nice to see Your Majesty with this excuse? I am relieved and pleased to see that you have remained strong.” Prince Shining was a bit excited.

The man who changed the empire—the Overgeared King was Shining’s idol.

Grid laughed. “You speak pretty well. You should meet the queen and prince while you are here. They will be pleased to see you.”

“I am honored.”

“Wait,” Grid called out to Shining who was about to leave.

The Fold Kingdom might be the poorest kingdom, but it was a kingdom with a set of ‘strong soldiers.’ Prince Shining, who had already been appointed as the next king, was also a named NPC. This meant there were endless possibilities for his development.

“This is a gift.”

“...!!”

It was a transparent blue sword, which looked like a shark that couldn’t be seen in the barren Fold Kingdom—a kingdom without access to the sea. Prince Shining was dumbstruck as Failure was handed to him.

“This is a sword I’ve been using for over 10 years.”

It was unreasonable to present it to his colleagues because of the extreme conditions of use. Grid had enough blue orichalcum, so he could rebuild it at any time. His blacksmithing technique had greatly improved compared to the past, and he could now produce a result that was far superior to the existing Failure.

...There was no need to explain the facts. Grid omitted as much as possible when he spoke to Prince Shining. 

“It will be hard for you to use this sword right now. Still, you will be very strong if you can handle it. For the foreseeable future, train with the goal of being strong enough to handle the sword.”

“Y-Your Majesty...”

“It is a reward for risking your life for the queen and prince.”

“I just did what I had to. Why give me such a gift...?”

“Stop talking nonsense and accept it.”

“...”

A subordinate nation was one that was exploited by the nation it was obedient to. This was the existing concept. Then what about the relationship between the Fold Kingdom and the Overgeared Kingdom? Since the time it started serving the Overgeared Kingdom, the Fold Kingdom had always been receiving benefits. Thanks to the Overgeared Kingdom, they were protected from the empire, their people didn’t starve, and the royal family regained peace.

At this moment, he received another gift. It was a sword that could be passed down as a royal heirloom for generations. One of the emblems of the Overgeared Kingdom was held in Prince Shining’s hand. Prince Shining, who was unable to speak for a while, barely suppressed his feeling of being blessed. “...I will never forget Your Majesty’s grace and will repay it forever.” 

A favor that was small for Grid created another eternal ally.