Ch.70Chapter 70. Class Change [Item Master]

Class Change was something only the Porter could do.

It was a mechanism put in place by the developers who judged that clearing the game would be impossible with a non-combatant Porter taking up a character slot as the difficulty became more brutal upon entering the DLC.

True to its name, Class Change allowed for transition into any profession.

Even becoming a Hero was possible, but that would have been a poor move.

To emphasize again, Luci wasn’t strong because she became a Hero; she was originally strong enough to be chosen as a Hero.

Naidrian, Arsil, and Ravin were all able to excel in their classes because they had become sufficiently powerful according to their aptitudes.

This fact becomes even clearer when you consider that Arsil, despite being a healer class Saint, was capable of fierce close combat.

Of course, grinding for experience while exploring maps would make other classes usable too, but real-world time constraints made it impractical to excel in multiple classes.

At best, coming from the Sewage Alley, the thief class would suit his aptitude, but compared to Ravin, his abilities would be awkward and amateurish in many ways.

[Which class would you like to change to?]

After trying each one through save-load, Lin’s class choice had been predetermined from the start.

“Item Master.”

[I thought so.]

The goddess closed her eyes and manifested her divine power.

[I, Justini Elestianus, hereby grant the strengthening of your class, Lin.]

Item Master.

An unfamiliar name, but anyone could see it was an upgraded second-tier class that was superior to the Porter.

It was a hidden class granted to Lin who had mastered all items by forcibly learning about them, whether he liked it or not, while placing items in the Porter’s pouch and reading their descriptions since the original version of Arrogant Saga.

The Porter’s pouch floated into the air and was enveloped in the goddess’s light.

[It takes a little time because I need to strengthen your power and create a dedicated item befitting it.]

In the game, it ended right after a few lines of text appeared.

But Lin wasn’t particularly disappointed.

This brief moment was precious since he had something to ask the goddess.

“May I ask a question?”

[Yes, please do.]

“Can you make me strong like before?”

[…..]

The goddess’s expression clouded.

The supreme being, who seemed to be holding something back, took a deep breath and then denied his wish.

[That wasn’t becoming strong. It was merely postponing your homework.]

“Why is that?”

[Because I cannot lose you again.]

“Are those homework assignments so heavy for me?”

[It was only because it was you that they could be made into homework at all.]

A conversation like a Zen riddle.

Despite hearing the answer, Lin felt no satisfaction.

[…You are strong enough.]

“‘Enough’ is not sufficient.”

“Enough is not sufficient,” huh?

It was a parade of contradictory words.

He wanted to press further, but when the goddess began to sob, Lin couldn’t bring himself to do so.

Foolishly, he couldn’t push harder against someone who was genuinely sorry for him.

See? What kind of strength was this?

Even with such small kindness, affection, and attitude, he became weak and small.

“Is this a game or reality?”

Originally, he should have asked this when he first received the Porter’s pouch.

But Lin was too exhausted then and in extreme pain.

Clinging to the one hope he had somehow stored in a corner of his heart, he was so happy to receive the exclusive item that he forgot to ask.

Even that joy was soon consumed by the wish he expressed afterward.

[This is reality. A single, unique timeline that barely came to be out of countless possibilities.]

“Then why is this world similar to Arrogant Saga? Why are the detailed settings different despite the similarities?”

The goddess hesitated.

Is it okay to tell him?

But the goddess had already made her decision.

To stop waiting passively, hoping things would go in the direction she wanted.

[Arrogant Saga was a means to counter beings who broke the rules. It was a device I set up to run simulations to find answers.]

“Based on this world?”

[Yes, based on this world.]

The developer was right here.

And she was a solo developer at that.

[I believed that defeating the Demon Lord would be enough to save the world. I believed we could build peace under my protection.]

So the goddess said she applied numerous cases of Demon Lord subjugation by game players.

As the samples increased, scenarios of ingenious plays to defeat the Demon Lord were completed.

In particular, she was genuinely impressed when she witnessed a thief stealing the Demon Lord’s horn during an intense battle.

But immediately afterward, she despaired.

No matter what method was used, no matter how many times it was repeated, Hero Luci would be betrayed and die.

The goddess acknowledged that the Hero had acted excessively at times, but she couldn’t possibly build world peace with heroes riddled with betrayal.

Additionally, with the Demon Hero party appearing and running rampant after the Demon Lord’s death, there was no way to win the war against the demon army.

With no choice, she overexerted her divine power to create and release a DLC.

However, none of the players who had cleared the Demon Lord subjugation with extraordinary methods could even get past the DLC’s intro.

When the law of causality was gradually restricting the goddess’s power due to her blatant violation of rules,

Finally, a savior appeared.

The player who chose the Porter that everyone ignored and even saved the Hero, though using save-load, finally cleared the DLC.

The goddess checked on that player with joy.

She wept bitterly on the spot.

[Why you…!]

One who had shouldered too great a wound.

That person whose soul had mostly rotted beyond healing due to that wound, and whom she had sent to another world with only a carefully excised small part, desperately hoping for peace.

But without him, this apocalypse couldn’t be stopped.

She needed someone who could endure and move forward through this immense suffering, not just the application of gameplay.

While in the game it was simply expressed as being ignored, in reality, the treatment of the party’s Porter was always the worst.

‘My brother would help with a smile, no matter how many times.’

A woman came to mind.

A woman who had prayed for her brother’s false accusations to be cleared.

When the goddess was about to destroy humanity after completing all her revenge, the woman begged her not to until she collapsed from exhaustion.

‘My brother would have forgiven and gone to help for peace again.’

[Why on earth! After suffering such pain, why!]

To the enraged goddess, the Pope smiled and closed his eyes.

‘Because it’s a world where my loved ones exist.’

‘Sister…?’

Witnessing this scene, the youngest sister fell into depravity as a demon.

Born as an illegitimate vampire child who was never properly acknowledged, she writhed in extreme loneliness after all her siblings died and went to a place beyond the goddess’s reach.

In the end, the goddess squeezed out what little divine power she had left.

[I will surely be punished.]

With regret and guilt, the goddess shed tears of blood as she called him back again.

Angry at herself for being powerless and ignorant.

Because of her remorse toward those who had taught her love before departing.

The goddess revealed all these facts to Lin without omission.

[You are… the remaining intact soul of the Second Hero, Guerrero.]

“I see. So that’s how it was.”

Surprisingly, Lin reacted indifferently.

“I am Lin. Not Guerrero. And helping the goddess, helping this world, is my own will.”

[But why? Why, after experiencing such pain?]

Lin smiled awkwardly.

“Because it’s a world where my loved ones exist.”

But the hand caressing the pouch around his neck was exceedingly careful.

[…I am truly an unworthy goddess. I will certainly be punished.]

The Porter’s pouch split in half.

Transforming from a pouch into a bracelet shape, the light wrapped around Lin’s wrist.

Eventually, after the light flickered, both of Lin’s wrists were adorned with rugged, simple design bracelets.

[Lin, from now on you are an Item Master who has mastered all items. You can instantly create skill scrolls and superior items using items stored in your inventory and activate their effects with just a thought, without any additional action. In addition, your basic abilities have been greatly enhanced through the hidden class change.]

However, there was a drawback that when creating superior items, the items used as materials would be consumed.

It was a natural calculation, but he would need to stockpile plenty of items from now on.

[Would you like to test its performance?]

Where the goddess pointed, the exploration team leader was entering the sanctuary in a collapsing state.

“Found you… my love…!”

Watching him slowly approach while barely maintaining his crumbling body, Lin asked his final question.

“In the game, he had zero aptitude for vampirism. Have the bad endings or minor but detailed settings from the game ever been applied in reality?”

The goddess shook her head firmly.

[No, those were just simulations that occurred through random numbers. You can consider them delusions that never happened except for the Demon Lord subjugation.]

“Delusions that never happened?”

[If Lin dreams or imagines the world ending, does that change reality? Does it become something that happened in reality?]

He understood.

And Lin felt greatly relieved.

The incident in the game where Tigria fell for the exploration team leader was just a terrible dream.

It was a delusion that never happened.

His only guilt was resolved.

“Come into my arms!”

The exploration team leader used all his strength to make a great leap.

At the same time, Lin’s bracelets glowed.

[Master Skill: Item Creation]

[Combining 5,000 tough spines from the Royal Ruins monster ‘Thorn Sirasoni’ with previously learned skill formulas and parchment.]

The goddess smiled as she recognized the skill he had created.

[I see.]

The goddess understood.

She was indeed a woman worthy of Lin.

So much so that the goddess herself wanted to bring them together.

Lin also leaped toward the exploration team leader.

The Item Master’s mouth shouted his monumental first skill name.

“Ultimate Skill: Thousand Stabs!”

A barrage of countless spines pouring from both arms.

The sight was remarkably similar to Ravin rushing at the unique mutant monster to save Lin at Valter Crua.

It was a coincidence.

Lin had been asleep due to the illusionist at that time, so he hadn’t seen Ravin using his ultimate skill.

But because it was coincidence, it was now inevitable.

[Go, Lin. Unworthy as I am, I always wish for your peace.]

He doesn’t look back.

The countless stabs tore the exploration team leader to pieces and ground him up.

Lin ran straight toward the fork in the road.

Intoxicated by a combat high he had never felt before, Lin shouted loudly:

“Damn! This is so overpowered!”