After Ten Millennia in Hell

Chapter 76 - Legendary-grade Equipment (2)

"Have a safe trip, Kang-Woo," Han Seol-Ah said.

"You'll be back soon, right, Kang-Woo?" Echidna asked.

"I'm just gonna be dropping by to grab something, so it won't take long."

Kang-Woo drove Seol-Ah and Echidna to the new apartment. He was planning to drive to Suwon Station immediately after dropping them off.

Right then…

"Oh, you're finally back. I heard from Hwa-Yeon. You're going to Hwarang Corps headquarters, right? I have business there too, so let's go together," Cha Yeon-Joo, who had been sitting in front of the apartment entrance, said.

She walked over and casually opened the passenger seat door of Kang-Woo's car.

"Y-You're..." Seol-Ah stuttered in surprise.

"Oh, you're the girl we met the other day. If I remember correctly... you live with Kang-Woo, right?" Yeon-Joo asked.

"Y-Yes. Kang-Woo and I live together."

Yeon-Joo narrowed her eyes. She looked back and forth between Kang-Woo and Seol-Ah.

Then Yeon-Joo said softly to Seol-Ah, "Isn't it difficult living with a weirdo like this? If you want, I'll buy you a house in the area, and I'll make sure it's in your name."

"It's okay. I like living with Kang-Woo."

"... Is that so?"

Yeon-Joo seemed a bit disappointed and turned away. She scoffed while getting into the passenger seat.

"What does she see in a guy like you?" Yeon-Joo asked.

"Then how about getting out of the car of a guy like me and leaving in your own car?" Kang-Woo replied.

"Shut up. I don't feel like driving today," Yeon-Joo said, placing one of her smooth legs over the other. "Drive."

"Am I your chauffeur...?"

"If you don't like it, give the car back to me."

"Wherever you'd like to go, ma'am."

Kang-Woo surrendered to capitalism and waved goodbye to Seol-Ah and Echidna. The two girls sent Kang-Woo off while staring at Yeon-Joo anxiously.

Then Kang-Woo slowly stepped on the accelerator.

"I actually had something I wanted to ask you, so perfect timing," he said.

"You did?"

"Yeah," Kang-Woo replied while thinking about the energetic man he'd met earlier. "I met Baek Kang-Hyun today."

"Wh-What? Where?"

"In Times Square mall[1]. It wasn't a coincidence. He came looking for me."

"... What did he say?" Yeon-Joo asked as her eyes became narrowed and her voice trembled slightly in anxiety.

Kang-Woo glanced at her and smirked.

He asked, "What do you think he said?"

"Stop joking around," she said, looking at Kang-Woo angrily.

"He invited me to join the Hanul Guild," he replied with a shrug.

"Wh-What conditions did he offer?"

"Fifty billion won, an expensive house and car, an executive position in Hanul, and... a piece of Legendary-grade equipment."

"... Fucking hell," Yeon-Joo cursed as her eyes widened in shock.

The conditions were so great that it seemed like Baek Kang-Hyun was out of his mind. Yeon-Joo thought that she'd offered Kang-Woo astronomical conditions, but they were nothing compared to Hanul Guild's offer.

"Ngh..." Yeon-Joo uttered while biting her lips.

She thought that there was no way Kang-Woo would've refused such an offer.

"S-So, when are you joining Hanul Guild?" Yeon-Joo asked hesitantly.

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"... Don't tell me you refused?"

"I have no reason to go out of my way to be under someone else."

"Hah."

Yeon-Joo was speechless.

From the first time that she met Kang-Woo, she'd felt he was the type of person who wouldn't take orders from anyone. Despite that, she never thought that he'd refuse such great conditions.

"... You really are a weirdo," Yeon-Joo remarked.

She turned her head away from him and looked out the window. There was a very faint smile on her face.

"So, is there anything you know about Baek Kang-Hyun?" Kang-Woo asked.

"I've met him a couple of times."

"What kind of person is he?"

"I probably felt the same thing as you. He completely shattered my image of him. I couldn't believe that he was Korea's number one Player."

"Hmm. Yeah, you can tell that at first glance. But besides that, are there any rumors about him?"

"Rumors...?" Yeon-Joo muttered as she sifted through her memories. "I heard that he got extremely angry one time."

"He got angry?"

"Yeah. It was probably when he failed the World Ranker evaluation. Back then, many people were talking about a World Ranker appearing in Korea for the very first time."

"Hmm..."

"Well, I don't blame him. He probably wasn't expecting to fail in such a way."

"How did he fail?"

"Among the World Rankers, there's a Japanese person named Fujimoto Ryoma. Kang-Hyun lost to him. Quite miserably, at that."

Fujimoto Ryoma was a Japanese World Ranker who was also famous for having a Mythic-grade weapon.

"Korea and Japan already have a bad relationship. So, after losing in such a way... Kang-Hyun was berated by the public. People said things like he wasn't worthy of being called a Ranker, that he lost on purpose to make Korea look bad, that he betrayed his country, and all kinds of other things."

"I'm surprised he only got angry."

It would've been stranger if he hadn't gotten angry in that situation.

"If it had been you..." Kang-Woo let his words trail off.

"I would have found every single hate commenter and broken their wrists," Yeon-Joo stated.

"..."

Kang-Woo believed that Yeon-Joo was perfectly capable of doing that.

Then he asked, "So, there aren't any ominous rumors about him?"

"Why? What did he say?"

"Nothing. I was just wondering if he would try to get revenge on me for refusing his offer."

Yeon-Joo smirked and said, "He's not that kind of person. He probably liked your attitude and laughed about it."

She was on point.

Kang-Woo nodded and stepped on the accelerator.

* * *

"You're here. I've been waiting for you," Baek Hwa-Yeon said.

She had been waiting for them in front of the Hwarang Corps headquarters.

After greeting her, Kang-Woo approached her and replied, "You could have waited for us inside."

"Fufu. I was feeling anxious waiting inside," Hwa-Yeon explained while turning toward the headquarters entrance. "Come in. I'll show you your reward."

"I heard that it's Legendary-grade equipment," Yeon-Joo said.

"Yes. There was a piece of Legendary-grade equipment that hadn't been imprinted on a Player yet, so I immediately thought that this had to be Kang-Woo's reward.”

"You must've gone through hell to get approval."

"Don't get me started. They were so against it that I almost exploded from rage."

Hwa-Yeon shook her head to forget the horrible memories.

"Well, that's how congresspersons are," Yeon-Joo remarked.

“Hmph. There really is no getting through to them," Hwa-Yeon said with a frown.

She took them to the room where the piece of Legendary-grade equipment was being stored. Upon passing a thick door, they saw a long black coat. Its design was so plain that one would never guess that it was of the Legendary grade.

"Is this the Legendary-grade equipment?" Yeon-Joo asked.

She gazed at the long coat with bright eyes.

Kang-Woo also got closer to the long coat to check its details.

[Equipment Information]

[Equipment Name: Black Pearl Coat

Grade: Legendary [Unimprinted]

Basic Effect: Physical Defense +660, Magical Defense +480, Unique Stat +5

Special Effect: Allows the wearer to use 'Kraken's Rage,' which doubles the stat boost for one minute. Can only be used once every 24 hours.

Equipment Description: A coat made from the coagulated blood within the Kraken's heart.]

After reading the equipment information, Yeon-Joo clicked her tongue and commented, "Hmm... It isn't that good a piece of Legendary-grade equipment."

She could understand why the Mir Guild had kept it unimprinted.

"Although the stat boost is absurdly high..." Yeon-Joo muttered.

There weren't many pieces of equipment that boosted a stat by an absolute value of five, even among Legendary-grade ones. Most of them boosted stats by one or two usually, up to three or four at most.

As a Player's stat number rose, their corresponding aspect improved. However, the stat became exponentially more difficult to raise the more it rose. For example, it was fairly simple to raise the Strength stat by one or two points through exercise. Nonetheless, once it rose above 40, it wouldn't rise no matter how hard the Player worked out. In other words, after reaching a certain stat number, most Players had to be content with a rise of just one to three stat points when they leveled up.

The problem was that there wasn't a guarantee that one's main stat would rise. That was why a stat boost of five was almost equivalent to leveling up four or five times. This was an incredible effect, considering it would keep getting harder to level up over time.

"But Players with unique stats are extremely rare," Yeon-Joo stated.

That was the issue. Not many Players had a unique stat in the first place. So, if a Player didn't have a unique stat, the Black Pearl Coat's most incredible effect was practically useless.

"But still, the basic physical and magical defense values are pretty high," Hwa-Yeon replied.

"That's true, but still... It's too bad."

Yeon-Joo turned around to say something to Kang-Woo, whom she thought would be disappointed.

"Hmm...?" she murmured puzzledly.

Rather than being disappointed, Kang-Woo was smiling. Yeon-Joo tilted her head.

Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind.

"Do you perhaps... have a unique stat, Kang-Woo?" Yeon-Joo asked.

"Yup."

Yeon-Joo couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was unbelievable that Kang-Woo had a unique stat—something that an extremely small number of Players possessed.

'Now that I think about it, it makes sense,' she thought.

Kang-Woo's growth rate was unreasonably fast. Nevertheless, if he had a unique stat, then that explained his speed.

"In that case, that changes things. This is... one of the best pieces of Legendary-grade equipment you could ever have."

"Nice," Kang-Woo said with a nod while making a satisfied expression.

His unique stat was Demonic Energy.

'To think that it would boost my Demonic Energy stat by five whole points…'

Moreover, if he used the equipment's skill, it would double the stat boost. In other words, his Demonic Energy stat would rise by ten whole points, although only briefly.

'Even devouring Oriax only gave me three points.'

That was a higher amount than what he'd gotten by devouring a demon from the Seventh Hell.

Kang-Woo turned around and extended his hand to Hwa-Yeon.

He said, "Thank you for the great item. Since we have the same goal of wiping out the Demon Cult, I will cooperate the best I can."

"Hahaha. I never imagined that you would have a unique stat. It seems like this equipment was destined to meet you. We will be counting on you in the future as well," Hwa-Yeon replied and laughed while shaking his hand.

Slam!

An old man wearing a suit suddenly entered the special storage room with four bodyguards.

He yelled, "Keep your hands off of that item!"

"Congressman Hong...?" Hwa-Yeon uttered.

"Hmph! A petition submitted by the congresspersons of my party has just been passed. That item will return to the national treasury," the old man wearing a suit, Hong Jun-Tae, stated with a smirk.

1. Times Square is a department store in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul. ☜