Chapter 44 : Rule – What is Broken (3)

Bang-!

The sound of a heavy piece of metal clashing echoed crisply within the forge.

At the moment the blacksmith swung his hammer with all his might for the final blow.

[Successfully created a Legendary-grade item, ‘Kraken’s Greatsword’!]

Chwarararak-!

With a dazzling purple effect, the system message appeared before her eyes.

Yoo Seoyeno grabbed the gigantic greatsword, lifting it triumphantly.

The long, sleek blade glistened with an ominous purple hue.

Patterns, like wriggling tentacles, wrapped around the entire blade and squirmed.

At the center of the sword, right above the guard, was the ‘Kraken’s Core,’ glowing with the deep blue light of the ocean, shimmering brilliantly.

At first glance, it had an overwhelming visual that seemed to shout, “I’m a cursed sword!”

‘Kinda gross.’

I guess it’s because it’s a cursed sword made from the Kraken.

The wet, squirming visuals weren’t exactly pleasing.

It felt like it would be sticky to the touch.

「Wow, holy crap, the quality of the greatsword is amazing 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩」

「It’s so damn cool 😎😎😎😎😎」

「Kya~」

「I feel like tentacles are gonna come out when I hit something 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂」

「Kinda hot.」

《‘TentacleLover’ donated 5000 Won!》

If the design were better, it’d be a huge thumbs up.

「It’s okay」

「It’s okay」

 「Good job」

But in the end, the viewers are satisfied.

It seems like the somewhat ominous and cosmic horror-like design appeals to the viewers.

“Guys, do you think this is pretty? Isn’t it gross?”

「It’s so cool!」

「It’s not gross though? It’s not like a disgusting image」

「It’s just a tentacle sword, isn’t it overreacting?」

Since the stream audience was mostly male, there were often subtle differences in taste.

“I thought it might seem weird to you too, Silver Hair…”

“This is cool.”

A satisfied smile appeared on Silver Hair’s face.

She thought they’d share the same taste since they’re both women, but it seemed Yoo Seoyeno actually liked the design of the sword.

「😊😊😊😊😊😊」

「It’s just Delbung’s taste is weird」

「Silver Hair noona’s taste: tentacles, noted.」

「At this point, it’s just a cool item 😎😎」

“But Rydel, why?”

“No, it’s just… the greatsword… it looks cool now that I see it again. But…”

Rydel trailed off.

Even though the design was a bit gross, getting a new weapon felt great.

It should perform well too.

When combined with the weapon that CritZone would soon craft, it would be a weapon that only the two of them had in the server.

It couldn’t be bad.

But… the most important thing right now is the ‘Star Demon Raid,’ right?

This weapon might help in defeating the Star Demon.

But isn’t it meaningless if I can’t even open the door?

To obtain the pass, she first needed to gather 10 exchange materials.

What they do later doesn’t matter.

The reward is only given to first place.

There’s no silver medal.

A sense of helplessness filled her chest.

“U-Um… shouldn’t we start moving quickly?”

Rydel hesitantly spoke up.

“Other teams must have already left a while ago… gathering quest materials…”

Her voice was filled with anxiety and unease.

Other teams, made up of at least four or five top-tier streamers, were already working in parties.

CritZone had gathered as many as ten Pixel Wars streamers.

That’s why he was now referred to as the “Pixel Wars King.”

On the other hand, Rydel’s team had only two members.

It was called a team for the sake of plural, but in reality, it was an embarrassingly small number.

For just two people to gather 10 materials, even if they ran as fast as they could…‘Could it be… they’ve already given up?’

No, even if they ran as fast as they could, it might already be too late.

Giving up.

Does that mean they should just give up and do something else?

The truth is, everyone is probably burning with determination, gathering materials right now.

In the meantime, aiming for another path could be one possible strategy.

《‘PiggyBank’ donated 3000 Won!》

Looks like they’ve given up?

It’s a shame though.

「Honestly, didn’t we lose from the start?」

「They were scattered all over the map lol, how will two people cover all that;;;」

「What’s the point of getting one good item lol, numbers are what matter here.」

“Let’s just give up and do some variety content instead 🙂🙂🙂🙂”

The chat sentiment was already halfway toward giving up.

Objectively speaking, this was an impossible mission.

Rydel sighed as she looked at the list of 10 materials in the quest window.

<Flaming Lava Stone Heart> 

<Shining Deep Sea Pearl> 

<Frozen Ancient Tree Sap> 

… 

<Dew of the Awakened Forest Spirit> 

<Unstable Mana Core Bomb>

Even the names were flashy.

Each one seemed like it would be difficult to obtain.

How are the two of them supposed to gather these?

When are they going to finish collecting them?

“Alright, then.”

It was then.

“Shall we start gathering? Event rewards.”

Yoo Seoyeno, who had been inspecting the greatsword, said in a surprisingly calm voice.

Her gaze was fixed on the very bottom of the complicated quest window.

“Rydel.”

“Yes? As expected, Silver Hair, you must have a brilliant plan…!”

“Let’s go make this first.”

Yoo Seoyeon smiled slightly and pointed to one part of the list with her finger.

At the very end of the collection list.

[Unstable Mana Core Bomb]

“…Huh?”

Rydel’s mouth dropped open.

It was such an unexpected choice.

The 10 items that need to be collected for the quest right now,All of them were recently updated.

Before this event came out,The goal was to prevent people from pre-crafting or gathering them in advance.

Except for one.

[Unstable Mana Core Bomb]

The item that looks unstable from its very name was something Rydel was familiar with.

It was the only item out of the 10 that could be pre-made.

“But in reality, no one would have pre-made it.”

The item that came out in week 3.

A large bomb, about the size of a human torso.

At first, it was an item with insane attack power.

Overwhelming attack power and huge splash damage.

The downside, however, was that it not only dealt damage to the user but also to their party members when it exploded.

It was too heavy to throw far.

Using it meant the user would die in the explosion.

The developers thought, “Even though it has strong attack power, if it kills the user, the balance should be fine.”

But humans are creatures of adaptation.

They find solutions, no matter what.

I’ll go first!

Streamers started using a strategy they called “self-destruct teams.”

It was inspired by characters from old popular strategy simulation games,where alien-infected characters would self-destruct, and the idea was taken from there.

The strategy was simple.

When doing the raid, a few people would sacrifice themselves, exploding with the bomb in a glorious blaze.

The remaining members would hide behind walls and easily defeat the boss monster once its health was low.

It was a brilliant idea, but it broke the balance.

In the end, just two days after its release, it was nerfed under the guise of a fix.

A massive attack power reduction.

Instead, a powerful area-wide taunt effect was added to all enemies within the radius.

Even…,[Speed -10% when carrying]

Leveraging the fact that it was a large, heavy bomb, a speed penalty was also added.

As a result, it became an item no one used.

The area-wide taunt was overpowered, but since it had originally been an overpowered item, it required a lot of materials.

Considering the constant 10% speed reduction, no one wanted to carry it around.

In the end, no one made it.

‘They probably just wanted to use it for the event, right?’

The trace of a failed balance.

It became an item with almost no use, almost like dummy data.

‘Anyway, Zeronix is good at recycling things.’

Rydel thought of Zeronix, the server operator.

Perhaps because of the effort put into modeling the item,The developers probably wanted to use it for an event at least.

Since it was such a trolling, cursed item, no one had pre-made it,Even though it was the only one that could be crafted in advance, they likely judged it wouldn’t be an issue.

But the problem wasn’t with the backstory.

“Silver Hair-nim.”

“Yes?”

“You know that it has a 10% movement speed penalty, right?”

Carrying a bomb that reduces movement speed by 10% from the start,And then running around the map to find the other 9 materials?

In a speed race quest where time is everything?

‘It’s like starting a marathon with ankle weights on.’

All the teams participating in the event right no,Would likely plan to craft this bomb last.

That would have been the normal decision.

But Yoo Seoyeno wasn’t a normal person.

“Yep. I know. But I’ll make the bomb first.”

「?????????」

“Is this for real?”

“LOL, you’re going to run with a movement speed debuff from the start??????”

“Wow! Minus start! Hahaha!”

“Why are you running with ankle weights on? LOL”

“It looks like Silver Hair-nim had some soju with her sushi…….”

“I don’t get it.”

Rydel’s chat was a complete mess.

It was an utterly incomprehensible decision, logically speaking.

It wasn’t like they were giving up on the event,So why go in the most inefficient direction?

“Movement speed… this debuff is way too deadly… Wouldn’t it be harder to collect the other materials? Normally… no, you’d definitely craft something like that last, right?”

But Silver Hair’s expression remained unchanged.

If anything, she looked even more confident.

“We’ll make this first.”

Once again, there was no detailed explanation.

As always.

But in her lazy voice,There was something that couldn’t be ignored.

Rationality?

Efficiency?

This choice couldn’t be explained by those things.

This quest was totally doomed.

There was no way.

From the number of people, the game was already over.

No matter what, it seemed impossible.

But…Suddenly, the absurd moments that Yoo Seoyeno had shown so far flashed through Rydel’s mind.

When everyone called it impossible, she always solved the game in some outlandish way.

Playing on the system’s weaknesses.

Although the process was always on the edge and completely incomprehensible,The result was always the correct answer.

‘…Right.’

Rydel swallowed dryly.

‘If we go this way, we’re definitely coming in last anyway. There’s no other sharp option.’

‘Maybe it’s better to just go with what she wants.’

If she asked for an explanation, who knew what she’d say,But unfortunately, right now, time was critical.

It was a race against time.

It would be more beneficial to move than to waste time listening to an explanation.

Rydel made up her mind.

“Uh… Okay! I understand!”

She forced herself to use her usual cheerful tone.

“Le-let’s make the bomb first!”

Oh well, who cares.

Somehow, it’ll work out.

At this moment, all she could do was trust Yoo Seoyeno’s invisible something, not logic.