The Synchronization Marble, from the Start

He hadn't brought it up in order to demand a Synchronization Marble from the very start. But as the talk went on, it occurred to him that they might be of some help in finding one, and the judgment was a rational one. Whatever else was true, he had in fact saved Joseon's Best Sword and HongdaePeopleJoseph when they were in danger.

"A Synchronization Marble?"

"I don't have one..."

So said Do Jiyun and Kim Yohan.

Just as Yujun was about to sink into disappointment, another voice cut in.

"I don't have one either, but I know who does."

"You do? Who?"

"I saw him here in the Heavenly Realm. He joined as a mercenary, same as we did."

"Huh? Who?"

Kim Yohan, who had been traveling with Dokgo Minsu the whole time, tilted his head. It was news to him.

"A man whose words sat easily with mine."

"So who? Have I seen him?"

"You will have seen his face, I should think. While we were camped for a spell, he and I spoke at some length. Reban, he is called."

"Oh, Reban? The blond?"

"Just so."

Yujun's eyes went wide.

"You're saying this Reban has a Synchronization Marble?"

"So he claims. By his own account, he happened upon it on a battlefield of the Heavenly Realm and, not knowing its use, has been seeking counsel far and wide. He asked me as well. A rare human, he seemed to think, might know something he did not."

"And did you know, Mister Dokgo?"

"I did not. So I told him I could not enlighten him."

"Where did Reban go?"

"Who can say. He was never taken prisoner. He may be dead, or he may have gone back to where the hardliners are and collected some modest reward."

"Then we'd better hope he's safe."

"If only hope obeyed the heart. But tell me—does the Synchronization Marble truly work for you alone?"

"Yes. Others wouldn't know how to use it, but I'm different. The moment I obtain a Synchronization Marble, the effect takes hold."

More precisely, it was the moment the thing entered his inventory—but saying so would have let them infer the perk he had been granted, so he spoke around it.

"This may be a difficult favor, but if you ever get your hands on a Synchronization Marble, would you sell it to me?"

"Well, it hardly seems an item of any use to me, so I have no objection. And sell it, you say? Should I find one, I shall simply give it to you. You saved our lives. I can do at least that much."

"Same for me. If I find one, I'll tell you, or just hand it over."

"Thank you. Both of you."

"By the way, the angels aren't even chasing us?"

"We've come a very long way. Following a trail out this far will take them quite some time. They'd have to cross that entire forest you can see over there."

"..."

At Yujun's words Kim Yohan let out a hollow little laugh, then turned his attention to Manuela, stuck to Yujun's side like a wad of gum.

"And she is?"

"Manuela. My companion."

"Ah, the witch, right? I saw you on the broadcast. Good to meet you, Manuela."

"Hello..."

Manuela's voice seemed to crawl back down her own throat. She was shy of strangers, by the look of it.

She wasn't like this the first time she saw me. Strange.

Seen this way, her personality seemed to have changed a great deal.

The four players, reunited after so long, fell happily into stories of the old days, and Yujun, if he was honest, enjoyed it too. In a place as treacherous as the Tower of Infinity, who knew when he would ever get to talk like this again?

In the course of it, the user OnlyMeWithoutACat naturally came up.

"You and that one were the undisputed top two, and when neither of you turned up, I cannot tell you how baffled we were."

"I know. Of all people, the two with the strongest characters went completely silent."

That was when a hologram window appeared before his eyes out of nowhere. He thought for a moment that Jo Su-a's reply had come back this quickly, but it wasn't a messenger message.

This synchronization had run unusually long. After all that time, an item had at last been sent to his inventory.

"Mind if we take a short rest?"

The others nodded.

"By all means. Best you rest well before you cross blades with me. A sound judgment, that."

"What? Ah... yes."

He had only asked for a break so he could check the item transferred into his inventory, and Dokgo Minsu had misunderstood. In truth the sparring match wasn't on his mind at all. Correcting him might have left the man embarrassed, so Yujun let the misunderstanding stand.

He opened his inventory. The transferred item sat nearest the entrance, and he found it at once. Only a single item had come over from No-Pay Casual Gamer's inventory. He had waited all that time for the synchronization to finish, and it was one item?

Yujun very nearly gave in to disappointment. Then he read the item's information, and changed his mind.

The name alone was staggering. The sword of one who destroys planets. A weapon locked behind a level 800 requirement.

In an ordinary game, players favored items with a high equip level and strong performance—good value, in other words. War of the Gods was different. Grade mattered, yes, but performance swung wildly with the level requirement, and the gap between a low-level weapon and a high-level one was something even a high grade could rarely close.

Worth the long wait, then. Hm.

The irritation that had welled up drained away at a stroke. The problem was that he couldn't equip it right ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now. His current level was 686. He was short by a full 114.

But he had the Primordial Player perk, and a Rainbow Sticker. Together they let him ignore 150 levels and wear the item. The Rainbow Sticker he had chosen from a Legendary Item Selection Box was still sitting unused, saved for precisely a moment like this, and he applied it without hesitation.

And the attack power is genuinely insane...

It was roughly thirty-two times the attack power of the Transcendent-grade Absolute Sovereign's Sword. Honestly, it was so absurd he couldn't even laugh. If this were a game, the demands for a balance patch would have come pouring in. It was that unreasonable a sword.

And this isn't the end.

Yujun drew the Transcendent Stone from his inventory. He had been holding it back, unused, solely for a weapon that would come later. At last the time to use it had arrived. After that, there was still the Stone of Omnipotence.

He used the Transcendent Stone, then immediately socketed the Stone of Omnipotence he had pulled from the Absolute Sovereign's Sword. His heart pounded.

I don't think I've ever been this unsteady.

It had been a long time since something refused to settle like this—a tremor shot through with joy that even the Equanimity trait couldn't press down. After several deep breaths, Yujun checked the item again.

"Whoa..."

Marveling was all he could do. Had the strongest sword in the entire setting just appeared? To be honest, from the moment he had taken up a level 500 sword, no one could match ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠him for weapons. Even so, holding the Planet Destroyer's Sword, he couldn't help thinking it might be the finest weapon in the universe.

The universe was vast, and the strong within it were beyond counting. Even so, he could be sure of this. The performance was insane.

A Magic stat tacked onto the Stone of Omnipotence out of nowhere is a little unexpected, but...

If anything, he thought it had worked out well. Raw stats alone might have been another matter, but it was true that his Magic sat a little low beside his other physical stats once item effects were added in. Set aside how grotesquely high his Strength had become, and one could say a measure of balance—equilibrium—had been struck.

Add in the percentages, and just how high are my stats?

A figure that cleared the tens of thousands with room to spare, surely. And yet he didn't feel as if he had changed all at once, or evolved. Perhaps because he had never yet gone all out. Thinking back, he had never driven himself to his limit. Not recently, at least.

Let's look again.

Yujun turned the Planet Destroyer's Sword over slowly, taking it apart with his eyes. The options and the attack power kept a smile from ever leaving his mouth.

Just wearing this one sword raises all my stats by 240 percent...

Strength, once the all-stats increase was folded in, rose by 800 percent.

At this rate, Strength has definitely passed a hundred thousand.

Ninety million attack power. At that point, you could call the game over. A spear that pierced anything and everything. It was fair to say that no shield existed, on the Continent or in the Heavenly Realm, that could stop it.

The Planet Destroyer's Sword, gained in exchange for two Synchronization Marbles. He was more than satisfied.

Yujun swung it three times through empty air. It felt as though the air offered no resistance at all, and the hilt seemed to settle into his palm of its own accord—a grip beyond comparison with any sword he had used before.

"Limbering up so you can spar with me, are you? Good. I shall make ready at once myself."

Dokgo Minsu, who had been waiting for him to rise, closed in with uncanny timing.

"...Ah. Let's."

Yujun took his stance. He had wanted to try the new sword anyway, and he also needed to see where Dokgo Minsu's confidence came from.

He certainly seems strong, but...

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠power the man possessed didn't seem all that great in itself—nothing compared to monsters like the Balrog that Yujun had seen so far. That, for now, was only a judgment of level and stats. Depending on skills and traits, the evaluation could change. And since the point was not a contest of raw strength but a look at each other's swordsmanship, Yujun meant to take it seriously.

"Are you ready to cross blades?"

Dokgo Minsu asked it with his face bright.

Yujun nodded.

"Let's begin."

No more words were needed. When he saw Dokgo Minsu's stance, a sharp light entered Yujun's eyes.

A style that fishes for counters?

That was what the stance suggested, but he couldn't be sure. The man might simply have taken a different stance because his opponent was Yujun.

Yujun moved first, exactly as Dokgo Minsu wanted, closing like a shot arrow and swinging. Dokgo Minsu somehow got his blade up in time and tried to let the blow glance off—and with a thin, vicious shhk, Yujun's sword sheared straight through it, stopping a breath short of his throat.

"..."

"T-time!"