Chapter 580: Murder Request (3)

Service.

It was a familiar word.

When you went to a regular restaurant, they might give you a drink on the house as service. When you bought flounder or rockfish at a fish market, they might toss in a few clams as service.

That was the general concept of service.

And yet, after hearing “That ring is service,” Hyunsoo stammered incoherently with a panicked look on his face.

Nell, standing beside him, also asked a question.

“Why...?”

Every time Lorander blocked one of the request killers for him, it could be measured in value.

And yet Lorander had named 70 billion, even after turning the request killers against himself.

“The value of an ordinary Mythic artifact was between 30 and 40 billion.”

The White Tiger Sword was 40 billion won.

And even that was because Aria and Karsel had actually added another 10 billion on top.

Nell could not understand it, and even she was curious about this so-called service.

“May I look at the service ring(?) too?”

“......”

Nell received the ring from Hyunsoo, who was still out of his mind after receiving the greatest service(?) in history.

“Gasp!”

She was startled.

Nell was not an appraiser, but she was a woman who possessed more information than anyone else.

“This is from the Numbering series...?”

The Numbering series.

A fact neither Hyunsoo nor Lorander had known.

“The Numbering series are the greatest rings the God of Jewelers released into the world. The lower the number, the weaker the effect; the higher the number, the better. Their effects are all the same. In the case of Number 2, it raises everything by 2%. In that way, the higher the Numbering number rises, the better and greater it becomes. Currently, only two rings from the Numbering series have been released into the world. Number 1 and Number 3, and Number 3 traded for 5 billion.”

“Five billion?”

It seemed like a stretch for Number 3 to be worth as much as 5 billion, so Nell added an explanation.

“The Numbering series is special. There are only nine rings in existence, so they have rarity. Another reason is the secret hidden within the Numbering series.”

“A secret?”

“Yes. The God of Jewelers is known as a mischievous god. Every ring in the Numbering series has hidden power, and to awaken it, the user who possesses that ring must meet its condition. When that happens, the ring’s performance itself is upgraded along with a special story. Of course, both Number 1 and Number 3 failed to unlock their hidden power.”

That meant the hidden conditions were different.

In other words, each ring had a different condition that needed to be fulfilled.

“It also traded for 5 billion because of the fun element of trying to find that hidden condition.”

Hyunsoo realized the ring engraved with the number 7 was even more valuable than he had thought.

“Number 7...”

Nell could not hide her admiration, and Hyunsoo looked back and forth between the ring and Lorander.

Lorander gave a small laugh.

“I told you, it’s service.”

Lorander did not feel regret. He asked Nell a question.

“What do we need to do to find the hidden function?”

“It’s simple. You should just have to say ‘Release.’ Irma, its previous owner, probably failed to find the hidden qualification too, so I don’t think you should get your hopes up too high.”

Fair enough.

Hyunsoo agreed with Nell, and in truth, he did not have high expectations either.

A hidden function the God of Jewelers had placed in it as a prank.

On top of that, there were nine rings in total, and it seemed unlikely that Hyunsoo would just so happen to meet the condition for the Ring of 7.

Also, since the qualification condition that could awaken each ring differed from ring to ring, he thought it was a truly interesting ring.

Hyunsoo placed the silver ring engraved with 7 on his palm, closed his fist around it, and murmured.

“Release.”

[The hidden power is being unlocked!!]

[The Ring of Number 7 reveals its true form!]

Hyunsoo was flustered by the notification he heard.

A bright light burst from the ring in Hyunsoo’s hand, and when he opened his palm, the plain-looking silver ring had turned gold, the number 7 engraved on it even more intensely.

“...What is this? I actually have this kind of luck?”

To be precise, it was not luck.

The notification did not tell him what the condition was, but it was because Hyunsoo had met that condition.

“Cough... This is really service?”

After confirming it, Hyunsoo looked at Lorander as if he were about to stop breathing.

“You really don’t regret it? Really?”

At those words, Lorander was dumbfounded.

“A man’s word is worth a thousand pieces of gold. That’s a saying from Korea. As a man, I don’t go back on my word.”

The way Hyunsoo was overreacting like he was about to choke.

It probably came from guilt.

“I am curious too.”

Lorander gave a hollow laugh and checked the ring he had given as service, then corrected his thoughts in one second.

“...Why did I give this away?”

Lorander definitely had no regrets.

No matter what power the ring held, he had declared with certainty that he did not begrudge it at all, since it was service given as a way of repaying Hyunsoo.

But the moment he saw it, greed arose.

He rubbed his eyes and checked again.

(Original Ring of Number 7.)

Grade: Transcendent.

Durability: Infinite.

Defense: 64

Restriction: Level 450 or higher.

Special Abilities:

·As the Original Ring of Number 7, it raises everything by 11%, including attack power, defense, health, Agility, or any special stats you possess.

·Ignores the number of equippable ring slots.

Description: One of only nine rings that exist in the world. Having changed into its original form, its effect has become even greater.

“No, if someone sees this and doesn’t get greedy, can he even be called a user?”

Even at 7%, he had thought the effect was absurd.

But now it had risen all the way to 11%.

And furthermore, the ring slot.

Depending on their level, users had a limit on the number of rings they could wear on their fingers.

Users around Level 500 could now wear about three to four.

And yet this could even be worn while ignoring such things as slots.

“...A man’s word is worth a thousand pieces of gold. What a wonderful saying. Thanks to you, I got a ring like this. Thank you so much, sob...”

Hyunsoo was a master.

“......”

As Lorander returned it with trembling hands, Hyunsoo looked at him with tears in his eyes and a sob in his voice.

“A man’s word is worth a thousand pieces of gold...”

“......”

Snatch—

Lorander, who had the ring taken by force, looked ready to cry.

“This is service...?”

At this level, it belonged to the lower end of Mythic grade.

Giving a Mythic item as service?

But Lorander soon gave a small laugh.

It was because he realized what situation he would have been in if not for the kukri Hyunsoo had handed him.

“To begin with, you’re the one who met the condition. That probably means only you can use that ring’s power.”

“What could the condition have been?”

The three of them put their heads together and arrived at the answer at the same time.

“The first king.”

There was a very high chance that was it.

The condition to awaken Number 7 was probably “king.”

Nell once again reached another point of doubt.

“Are you truly going to pay 70 billion for Fighting God’s Obsession?”

Because the service had been too enormous, Lorander, who had taken a critical hit, was momentarily at a loss for words.

“A man’s word is worth a thousand pieces of gold...”

“I’ve never seen someone as magnanimous as you.”

“......”

After being beaten down by Nell and Hyunsoo, who worked perfectly in sync, Lorander nodded.

“O-of course.”

Nell, unable to understand the 70 billion price of Fighting God’s Obsession, spoke.

“May I see Fighting God’s Obsession?”

“Sure.”

Nell received the kukri.

(Fighting God’s Obsession.)

Grade: Mythic.

Durability: 20000/20000.

Attack Power: 1,218.

Restriction: Fighting God.

Special Abilities:

·Increases attack success rate by 300%.

·Increases movement speed and attack speed by 50%.

·Applies Divine Kukri Mastery Lv9.

·Passive Skill: Fighting God.

·Active Skill: Arena.

·Active Skill: Extreme Kill.

Description: A dagger that once appeared in myth, held directly by the Fighting God as he defeated countless foes. After being newly recreated by Master Blacksmith Hyun, it has become an even superior Fighting God’s Obsession compared to the previous Mythic-grade Fighting God’s Obsession.

“???”

Nell was bewildered.

She had thought it made no sense for Lorander to simply be moved by Hyunsoo and generously spend 70 billion, but...

“It’s worth receiving...?”

She also understood why Hyunsoo had accepted 7 billion and lost his spirit.

This Fighting God’s Obsession was the strongest Mythic item so far.

“A dagger with 1,200 damage?”

The attack power of daggers used by high-level assassins reached an average of 600.

But this was twice that.

On top of that, the special effects attached to it were tremendous, and the skills were amazing too.

Especially the passive skill, Fighting God.

“It calculates the number of attacks made for 5 seconds, and once 5 seconds pass, pours them out all at once?”

Lorander’s attack speed was already fast.

In 5 seconds, if he slashed a stationary target with a kukri, he could cut it as many as 70 times.

“Those 70 hits are applied all at once? If this isn’t Extreme Kill, what is?”

Nell realized there was something even more impressive.

“Hyunsoo...?”

What Nell admired lay in Hyunsoo’s thinking.

Hyunsoo was a genius.

He had understood Lorander’s weakness after facing him personally.

Extreme Kill could not be overused, and it required several conditions to be met.

But by holding a mythical artifact, Lorander could now activate it instantly.

“Of course, if that were all, I wouldn’t think this far.”

What shocked her was something else.

This.

(Extreme Kill.)

Grade: Mythic.

Level: None.

Proficiency: None.

MP Cost: 5,000.

Effect:

·Leaps across space and stabs the enemy with the power of a semi-instant-kill attack at 3400% damage. It cannot be blocked or dodged.

·Can be activated 4 times in succession.

Description: One of the greatest existing Active Skills, born from Master Blacksmith Hyun’s fingertips and the skill the Fighting God previously possessed.

Extreme Kill.

What had originally been an instant-kill skill had transformed into a semi-instant-kill skill.

The interesting part was that it could be activated four times in succession.

It was an insanely broken skill that could kill four high-level users in 3 seconds.

Or, in another sense.

“It can kill a semi-boss monster in 3 seconds too.”

The system had even recognized it and described it as one of the greatest existing Active Skills.

And though Nell did not know it, Lorander had lied to Irma, saying Extreme Kill could only be activated twice.

Why?

It had been a meticulous strategy so that if he faced Lorander later, Lorander could use the third and fourth activations to collapse even his countermeasures.

Nell.

She looked at Lorander, who had obtained an all-time Mythic item.

“I’m not afraid...”

She understood how he had been able to kill 46 people.

As long as he stood guard, Hyunsoo would be protected.

She also looked at Hyunsoo.

“Just how far are you going to go in making things?”

He had surpassed his own limits and forged yet another myth.

Nell had reached the point where she no longer feared the danger that came from the nation of Hyun.

Because the combination of a Master Blacksmith and the Fighting God was that broken.

*****

The Special User Management Team was monitoring Hyunsoo.

-Come to think of it, they said that when you awaken the Numbering series, a special story begins. It sounds like it would be a quest, so what kind of story is it?

-Unfortunately, maybe because all the restrictions haven’t been lifted yet, I can’t check anything about that.

-Ah...

At Hyunsoo’s answer, Nell felt disappointed, and Team Lead Kim gave a hollow laugh while watching that conversation.

“This is a big problem, isn’t it?”

Employee Lee Jihui agreed.

“They’re all mistaken. Of course, if I weren’t part of the Special User Management Team, I would also have thought the condition for the Ring of Number 7 was king.”

The condition for the Ring of Number 7 was completely different from that.

What was it?

A high level?

Or strength?

None of them.

Click—

When Team Lead Kim clicked the mouse, that condition appeared.

[Be an excellent creator.]

That was the condition.

And this was also connected to a certain story.

“Be an excellent creator. Then how will the story connect?”

It was a question Team Lead Kim asked, and there was an answer that was far too easy.

“Of course, the God of Jewelers will request production.”

“Then what is the reward?”

“It will differ depending on the degree of completion, but it will be an accessory.”

If the God of Jewelers was giving the reward, was that not obvious?

Team Lead Kim asked the final question.

“What is the best reward?”

It was the God of Jewelers.

That was how special and great he was.

Employee Lee Jihui answered.

“The Ring of Number 10, which has been kept secret from all users. Moreover, this Ring of Number 10 is special.”

“Why?”

Lee Jihui gave the answer.

“The Rings of Number 1 through 9 are ultimately Transcendent. But the Ring of Number 10 is the first Mythic accessory that has not yet appeared in the world.”