The Game of the Greatest Black Mage

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]

Chapter 91

6.

[The Eternal World awaits you.]

Seonghyun opened the capsule, reading the farewell message from the game.

The house was remarkably quiet.

He checked the time; it was already 6 PM.

'Is anyone home?'

His sister was probably still in her capsule.

Curious about his mother's whereabouts, he checked the living room, but she wasn't there.

There was no sign of her in the master bedroom either, so he immediately checked his phone.

As expected, there was a message.

[Mom- I'll be a bit late tonight because Dad and I have a couples' gathering~ Eat whatever you want~ I sent you some money~]

She must have gone out for some kind of event.

"Ah."

His mother, giving him free rein on dinner, had sent him a staggering 100,000 won.

Even a large delivery order wouldn't cost that much.

And it wasn't as if Seonghyun was short on cash these days, yet she still looked out for him like this.

Feeling a wave of gratitude, Seonghyun headed to Yoo Mina's room.

He saw her capsule, still humming with activity.

He considered sending her a message, but decided against it and left the room.

There was no point in bothering her since he hadn't prepared any food.

'I'm not particularly hungry right now anyway.'

He'd just order something for delivery later, when his sister was done.

With nothing pressing to do, he returned to his room, flopped down on the bed, and started browsing on his phone.

It was the perfect way to kill some time.

He caught up on a few novels he'd been meaning to read, but he blazed through those quickly enough.

With his reading list exhausted, he idly scrolled through various apps, eventually landing on MeTube.

'Hmm?'

Was it because he'd been spending so much time in Eternal World lately?

His entire feed was saturated with Eternal World content.

Most of it consisted of channels from various Eternal World guilds.

However, the majority were guilds Seonghyun didn't recognize.

Among the sea of unfamiliar content, one channel caught his eye.

'The Rapid Guild?'

And, surprisingly, two of their videos were ranked number 1 and 2 on the recently trending list.

The videos were titled "Echo Willow Punishment" and "Fortress of the Past."

It was the first time he'd actually seen his own gameplay featured like this; it was a peculiar feeling.

'This is a little awkward.'

Seonghyun found himself unconsciously drawn into watching the videos.

He knew the content inside and out, of course.

But seeing it from an outsider's perspective gave him a different feeling.

Usually, this kind of objective view would highlight flaws, areas for improvement, and so on. But he couldn't find any.

In fact, he couldn't see anything he would change.

Even if he could go back, he probably wouldn't have done anything differently.

He still couldn't quite grasp why these videos were so popular.

Intrigued, he started to read the comments.

[HotZero: Wow, was that really supposed to be THAT easy????]

└[BumLeader: No way lmao. They always say if it looks easy, the person's a god gamer.]

└[RaidNoob: I'm a Necromancer too, and that's just insane;;; I'm amazed he even had enough mana to pull that off, is that even possible?]

[AspiringArchmage: Honestly, doesn't he seem OP even compared to other classes? Like, unusually strong even among Almighty-rank classes???]

└[UselessBerserker: Yeah, I think so too. If you look at the early days of the current solo rankers, almost no one showed that kind of potential except for Yuna nimnimnim, right?]

└[ChickenBreastLover: That's a bit;;;;]

└[AspiringArchmage: Yeah;;; I don't think so. Do you think solo rankers with Almighty-rank classes are jokes??]

└[MaxLevelLetsGo: I acknowledge Yuna-nim, but putting down other solo rankers is a bit;;;]

There were more people than he expected who thought highly of him.

Come to think of it, his sister had said something similar.

In truth, Seonghyun hadn't really grasped how strong he was.

That's because, in the memories of the various ghosts he'd absorbed, Seonghyun was still not particularly powerful, even now.

Compared to Eddie, the instructor from two generations ago, in his prime, Seonghyun was weaker.

It was because of memories like those that he judged himself as not being strong.

'But compared to other players, I guess it's different.'

He'd been starting to realize it a little bit lately.

Seeing the online reactions made it even clearer.

After all, he had defeated Hindel from the past.

Even though Hindel had been brought down to Seonghyun's level, Seonghyun had won.

Granted, Hindel had been thrown off his game.

If he had been able to summon his, not even many, but even just summon Walpurg, it wouldn't have been an easy win.

Considering that.

'I should probably acknowledge it a little.'

Humility wasn't a bad thing.

But too much of it could be harmful.

Even if he genuinely thought he wasn't strong, it was a different matter to go around saying that to others.

So, Seonghyun acknowledged this to some extent as he continued to scroll through the comments.

There were definitely some convincing opinions.

[OtakuWarrior: So when is Seonghyun-nim going live?]

└[LifeGaveUpSwordsman: I really want to watch a live stream soon…….]

└[ChickenChickenNugget: lol First time I've ever wanted to watch a low-level live stream 😂.]

└[ProGamer: XD This is for real. I'm even level 130, but how is his raid more entertaining than mine???]

└[MonsterTamer: Uh~ Class rank difference~]

└[ProGamer: I'm triggered, but I can't refute that.]

'A live stream, huh?'

Come to think of it.

They said they'd pay out a portion of the live ticket revenue, right?

A "live stream" meant broadcasting in real-time.

So, it seemed he would be showing his raid attempts in real-time.

Did people come to watch regardless of whether he succeeded or failed?

Raiding while watching viewers' live chat.

'That sounds like it could be fun.'

He hadn't tried it before.

But the idea of raiding while interacting with others appealed to him.

Seonghyun continued to watch more videos for a while.

The sound of a capsule opening came from Yoo Mina's room.

She must have logged out.

Seonghyun put down his phone and went out.

"Huh? Where are Mom and Dad?"

"Couples' gathering. Let's order in."

"Oh! Sweet, this noona will treat..."

"Mom gave us money to eat something good, so let's use that."

"Ah. Okay."

Yoo Mina licked her lips, seemingly a bit disappointed that their mom had already provided money.

But she accepted it without complaint.

After a brief discussion about what to eat.

"Tteokbokki, go?"

"Hmm, sure."

Yoo Mina, true to her tteokbokki-loving nature, immediately suggested tteokbokki.

Seonghyun hadn't had it in a while, either.

Thinking it sounded good, he agreed, and they ordered delivery from a spicy tteokbokki place.

Naturally, Seonghyun, who only had a debit card, placed the order.

『[Web Message]

-Nara3312 Approved Yoo * Hyeon

-23,500 won payment.

-Balance: 2,023,678,720 won.』

A payment confirmation text message arrived shortly after.

He was startled, once again, by the sheer number of digits in his balance.

An enormous amount, ten digits long.

He still couldn't get used to it.

By the way, he really needed to deal with the items he'd been too lazy to process.

He had plenty of gold, but his inventory was starting to get full.

He had to clear it out.

As Seonghyun was thinking this.

Yoo Mina, having lightly washed her face, emerged, drying her face with a towel, and asked.

"Did you order?"

"Yeah, I ordered some rice balls too."

"Oh! You're so thoughtful. But did you see it? The reaction to your videos?"

She casually responded and changed the topic.

Seonghyun, feeling a bit embarrassed, scratched his cheek and nodded.

He had seen it, after all.

Seeing Seonghyun's reaction, Yoo Mina smiled like a goofball, as if finding him cute, and asked.

"So, what did you think?"

"Um, honestly, I still don't really feel strong, so it's a bit surreal?"

"Hmm? Aren't you super strong? I think you're way stronger than I was at that level. What's the status of your skills and their ranks right now? The number of regular skills and class-specific skills, and their ranks."

"Huh? I don't know?"

"Check it out. You can see it on your phone."

At his sister's prompting, Seonghyun, though a little reluctant.

Agreed and opened the Eternal World app on his phone to check.

After a quick calculation, he said.

"Class-specific, I have six Almighty-rank and six Legendary-rank each. For regular skills, I have three Legendary, three Unique, two Epic, six Rare, and one Normal."

"??????"

"What?"

At Seonghyun's nonchalant remark, Yoo Mina stared at him as if she'd seen a ghost.

Had she misheard?

She momentarily grabbed Seonghyun's phone and checked for herself.

It was real.

That meant a total of six Almighty-rank, nine Legendary-rank, three Unique-rank, two Epic-rank, six Rare-rank, and one Normal-rank skill.

The numbers were incomprehensible.

And furthermore.

"You're level 79, so why do you have twelve class-specific skills??? You get three at the start, and then one every 10 levels starting from level 20, so you should have nine. Where did the extra three come from???"

"Well, from doing this and that, I think I got 'first-time clear' rewards that unlocked class-specific skills, about three times?"

"??? What a broken game, seriously."

Eternal World, indeed.

Even Yoo Mina couldn't hold back her praise/criticism.

She herself could be considered a beneficiary of the system.

But seeing her brother's stats, it was an involuntary reaction.

Yoo Mina now understood why other people cursed Eternal World when they looked at her.

It was only natural to curse.

Seonghyun asked Yoo Mina, who was staring at him blankly.

"What's wrong?"

"I... ugh. Never mind. At level 70-something, I didn't even have half of this. Three Almighty, six Legendary, three Unique... and you... wow. No wonder you're so damn strong."

"...Is that so?"

"Yeah. Your Unique skill ratio is a bit low, but well, if you have a bunch of Legendaries, it doesn't really matter."

"Hmm. Should I try to get more Unique skills?"

Since his Unique skill ratio was low.

Right now, he had Corpse Explosion, Corpse Poison, and Exploding Poison, which were more powerful than even his Unique skills, as a combo.

He might not need them immediately.

But there would eventually come a time when even this combo would hit its limit.

Considering that, it was best to get new combos or other skills.

At Seonghyun's words.

Yoo Mina glared at him as if he were utterly ridiculous.

Was he joking?

No, his expression was too serious for that.

"If you can get them... that's good, but even Unique skills are hard to come by."

"Oh, really? What about equipment?"

"It's kind of the same, why?"

"Ah, I have a lot, so I was thinking of selling some."

At Seonghyun's words, Yoo Mina glared at him as if asking 'what are you talking about?'

Seeing is believing.

He immediately took out his phone and showed her his inventory list.

It was full of Unique items he couldn't use because they didn't match his class.

And there were quite a lot of them.

He had four of each of the five types of Unique items he'd obtained from the treasure vault.

A total of twenty.

That wasn't all.

There were also the Unique items he'd gotten from defeating Echo Willow and the Forest Hunter set he no longer used.

"What... did you raid Echo Willow's storage or something?"

"No, I just got them from raiding?"

"Raid? Didn't you only do two?"

"Yeah, I got that from one of the two."

"Why can't I get stuff like that!?"

A voice full of frustration rang out.

But Seonghyun ignored it.

He figured he’d just sell them off anyway.

"Don't just list these at a fixed price; put them up for auction."

"Auction?"

"Yeah, you don't really need to do that for Rare or Epic items, but auction off all the Unique ones. With about twenty-one of them, you should get a decent amount of money. From what I see, they are good unique items for those below level 100, so it won't sell extremely high."

"Oh, really? Thanks."

Seonghyun casually thanked her, looking pleased.

Yoo Mina sighed deeply, watching her brother.

And he still thinks he's weak, despite all this.

Something's definitely off.

'Come to think of it, I heard that the Luna Team was inspired by Seonghyun and changed... even decided to become a backup team?'

Well, it's understandable, given his abilities.

Yoo Mina chuckled, looking at Seonghyun, her own brother, though it felt new.

She was curious about whether his superpowers worked.

But she had thought Seonghyun might be good at games, like her.

But this wasn’t just being good like her.

He was out there discovering hidden pieces and progressing at a ridiculous pace, like he was using some kind of supernatural power.

Of course there'd be a difference.

'I'll have to step up my game if I don't want to be left behind.'

It was a long way off before Seonghyun would reach her level, but still.

She should put in more effort.

It would be fun to team up with him sometime in the future.

Or maybe, once they’re around the same level, they could race through time attacks to see who’s faster

That was still a long way off, though.

That evening, the siblings spent time together for the first time in a while, chatting over tteokbokki and talking about the game.

0.

The next morning dawned.

It was the fifth day since he'd started Eternal World.

After having breakfast, Seonghyun immediately logged in.

Since Hindel and the others were NPCs.

He had to meet them in the morning to avoid messing up the quests.

Seonghyun logged in.

Quickly dismissing the welcome message, he got up from the inn bed.

Today, he would definitely complete the sub-quest.

And he also needed to find clues for the main quest.

A busy day was expected.

'Huh?'

Seonghyun suddenly noticed a strange system message, different from the usual welcome message.

Right after logging in?

This had never happened before.

Wondering what it was, he saw.

[We apologize for having to deliver this message to user 『Seonghyun』.]

The system message started with this.

No, rather than a system message, it felt more like a note from the developers.

[The effect of the Legendary-rank skill, 『Thousand Blood Swords』, has been adjusted.]

[We have sent a letter along with compensation to your inventory to provide details and apologize for this.]

[We apologize once again.]

"Hmm."

So, it finally happened?

Their response was faster than he'd expected.

Well, it couldn't be helped.

The utility of the skill was too overpowered.

It was a shame, but inevitable.

And they said they'd given compensation.

He should check it out.

Seonghyun first checked how 『Thousand Blood Swords』 had changed.

『Thousand Blood Swords』

→《Legendary》

→[Lv Max][Complete]

[Instant Effect][Active]

[Cooldown: 30 minutes]

→Black Mage class exclusive skill.

→Consumes mana to create and control a thousand blood swords from the caster's blood.

→Upon hitting, the thousand blood swords inflict slashing or piercing damage, then explode, dealing explosive damage.

→The number of thousand blood swords is determined by the caster's level and class advancement stage.

*Currently creatable blood swords: 154 (77 x 2)

'The phrase "upon hitting an enemy" is gone.'

This meant that every time it hit, it would deal damage, regardless of whether it was a living creature or an inanimate object.

He wouldn't be able to use it for defense or flying anymore.

It was disappointing, but…

‘They said they'd given compensation for it.’

With anticipation, Seonghyun looked at his inventory.

There was an orb, similar to an enhancement orb, and a note of apology.

There were two items.

The note repeatedly apologized and provided a detailed explanation of the compensation.

'It can be enhanced up to six times in total, and using it three times at once can upgrade a Unique to a Legendary? Huh?'

Corpse Poison and Corpse Explosion were Rare, and Exploding Poison was Epic, right?

If he upgraded them all to Unique?

'How powerful would that be?'

The combination of Rare, Rare, and Epic already surpassed Unique and was close to Legendary in power. What if all of them became Unique?

He couldn't even begin to imagine.

'Explosions truly are an art form, aren't they?'

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]