The Random Mythic Item Box

He had already learned that item grades did not end at Mythic. That did not stop the thrill from climbing his spine.

A consumable beats equipment, at least.

Yujun pulled up the information on whatever had come out of the box.

"......Holy shit. This dropped?"

Compared with the other stats, Magic had no shortage of items that could raise it. Even so, it was still one of the pure stats—and in a sense, the most important of them. For a Thousand-Year Mana Herb that lifted that very stat by two hundred and fifty to come out of the box...

This is dozens of times better than pulling a Mythic piece of gear.

A grin crept across his face before he noticed it. Magic was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠exactly what he needed most right now, and here it was, handed to him on the spot. Uncanny. From the moment he had obtained Ancient Magic, the rewards that followed all seemed to concern magic. Lucky was one thing. This was lucky past the point of reason.

Not that I'm complaining.

He did consider giving it to Paranet. The summon already had Horidan's ring, after all. The thought died before it finished forming. Not a chance in the world.

Handing him something that raises a stat by 250 would be a waste, efficiency be damned.

Investing in himself was not a bad choice, even looked at coldly. Now that he had Ancient Magic, Magic mattered more than it ever had, and once the percentage bonuses on his stats were taken into account, he stood to gain every bit as much as Paranet.

I'm eating it. If another Thousand-Year Mana Herb ever came his way, Paranet could have that one. The odds of such a thing were thin.

Yujun chewed the herb down, crunch by crunch. A sharp, bitter fragrance bloomed through his mouth, and as it slid down his throat an almost shocking coolness followed, clean and bright.

Magic, 250. In raw numbers, that was what Yujun would have gained from raising his level sixty-two times. He had taken it from a single item, and his mouth curved into a smile all on its own.

"Master? What ever emerged, that you should look so pleased?"

"You don't need to know."

Something told him the summon would throw a fit if he did.

"You are too cruel."

"Knowing'll hurt you. Seriously."

"Yes..."

Yujun opened his status window and confirmed the Magic that had just climbed. The more I look, the better it feels. His level, meanwhile, had reached 340. The moment he hit 350, he would be able to equip a level-500 Mythic weapon, and his armor and accessories could be upgraded as well. Once that happened, he might be able to tear Coordination apart on his own. What he knew ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for certain was that the three he had fought earlier would go down without any trouble.

Coming to the Abyss really was the right call.

The wait had been long. A full two days passed before the roster of one hundred and twenty-eight finally filled, and Yujun laughed, hollow and wry.

"To think I'd burn all this time here..."

There was no time limit. He had no reason to fret. The tournament began, and another wait came with it—three hours of one.

They fight for goddamn ever. Worse, every exchange was plain as day to Yujun's eyes, so there was no pleasure in watching either. Still, his turn arrived at last.

His opponent in the round of 128 was a Black Orc, a race often seen in the Abyss. They were not born of it, but the lore of this world held that their innate power grew stronger for as long as they remained. The orc mounted the arena with a confident stride, and Yujun climbed up after him.

Different from watching at a distance. The arena sat quite high, and it was wider than he had expected, the stands packed to the rails. They did say plenty of Abyss residents would come. The heat rolling off the crowd was no joke, and the Black Orc, drunk on it, wore a look of pure rapture.

"It has been a truly long time since I saw a human in the Abyss."

"You too?"

"H-huh?"

"A demon earlier said the same thing. I'm sick to death of it. See a human and you all just have to sneer?"

Yujun asked it with open irritation, and the Black Orc looked near tears, so wronged he could barely get the words out.

"N-no! I wasn't trying to say anything. I only meant it has been a long time since I saw a human. They are genuinely hard to come by!"

"Uh. Right. Sorry."

"Think nothing of it. A misunderstanding can happen."

"Shall we start?"

"Let us. Hoo—!"

The Black Orc snatched up his glaive and charged. It came in with a heavy rush of air, and Yujun simply stood where he was and waited—or more precisely, drew up his mana without taking a single step. A shield sprang into being in an instant and knocked the glaive aside. The Black Orc tried to move again, but he was already bound. Formless force hammered his body.

"Aaaagh!"

"Forfeit."

"O-okay! I forfeit!"

The match ended so quickly that more than two days of waiting felt absurd. The crowd stirred, startled, and the murmurs rose.

"What?"

"He is a mage, right?"

"How is the casting that fast? Did he dump everything into Magic?"

"High Magic alone wouldn't make casting faster. He must have some fine trait or skill."

"Even so, isn't that too much? It isn't even Dragon Tongue magic."

"Unreal. The Black Orc went down without getting to do a thing."

"This is an upset."

By the time the murmuring faded, Yujun had returned to his place to wait for his turn again.

"Must we repeat this three times more?"

"That's the condition to pass. We're here anyway, so we might as well leave in first place."

"Master would hardly do such a thing out of mere vanity... The rewards must be greater, yes?"

"You're starting to know me."

"Ahem. This much is elementary."

There was no need to recount the matches after that in any detail. Yujun turned Ancient Magic on his opponents and neutralized them with ease. Those who did not want to die forfeited. Those who resisted, he killed without hesitation. In that fashion he climbed all the way to the semifinals, and now only the genuine articles remained.

Yujun looked over the equipment of the other three. As expected. Nobody here climbed up on luck alone. All three looked close to level 500, though none had crossed it. From the mid-four hundreds on, raising a level became brutally hard. The members of Coordination had not been proud of passing 500 for nothing.

He brought his semifinal opponent down with Ancient Magic alone. It took a little longer this time—only a matter of a few more spells. The elf who lost to him looked utterly dumbfounded.

"You really are strong."

"Not at all."

Only the final remained. His opponent, as it happened, was the demon who had picked a fight with him earlier.

"Good thing I found you."

The wide smile said he was certain of his own victory. He had reason to be. On the way to the final he had killed every opponent with ease.

"Human. My name is Cutron. It is the name of the great demon who will kill you, so you would do well to carve it into memory."

A dark crimson energy rose over Cutron's entire body. An aura that stung the skin seized the arena.

"Cutron? Cool name."

"Keheheh... You think I will go easy on you for talking like that? Farewell."

He said it with absolute confidence and loosed the crimson energy. The air around them heated. Destructive to its core, the blast shattered Yujun's shield and rushed in on him. Yujun did not bother meeting it. He triggered Rapid Advance, slipped past the blast, and closed the distance—then drew his sword in a flash and took both of the demon's arms.

Steel bit twice, clean and short. Cutron reeled backward, both arms gone, and Yujun took his legs as well. The arrogant face crumpled.

"...G-gaaaaah! Agh!"

"Wait...! You weren't a mage—"

"Nope. I'm not."

"Y-you cheating bastard!"

"Yeah, sorry. For using a sword and magic both."

"No. Ugh. S-spare me."

"Hurts a lot?"

Cutron nodded like his life depended on it.

"Mine hurts too. My heart."

The blade sank in. Yujun's sword pierced the demon's heart.

And so the winner was decided. Paranet tilted his head.

"For a tournament, that was rather hollow."

"There wasn't anyone strong."

"......"

Yujun crossed over into the Fifth Layer.

The reward for entering the Fifth Layer was a little disappointing. A Legendary-grade item was useless to him. I'll settle for the Unallocated Points. He had reached the layer far too easily to complain about it.

"How fares the Fifth Layer?"

"You're that sure I'll ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠know everything about it?"

"But of course. Do you not?"

"I do."

"I thought as much."

"The Fifth Layer's nothing special. It's a maze here too."

"Oh? Then—"

"Yeah."

"Then it is my turn to step forth."

Yujun gave Paranet the coordinates he remembered, and Space Movement followed at once.

"Ahh. The points are ever so sweet."

Yujun tilted his head at that.

"Hm? What?"

"Yes?"

"You're getting rewards too?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"Pardon?"

"How? This stuff's only supposed to go to players."

"Eh? It was?"

"You didn't know?"

"No—I could feel myself growing stronger, so I assumed my stats were rising."

"Hold on."

Yujun opened Paranet's status window. One look at the stats and his mouth fell open. It was no misconception. The summon's numbers had shot upward.

So from here on, his stats keep rising along with mine? Doesn't look like he got any trait or item rewards.

They had not climbed nearly as far as Yujun's own, of course. What mattered was that they had risen at all. A growth-type summon was no reason for the system to treat him as a player, and yet Yujun could not see the cause. Was it because his rank had ascended several stages?

Paranet, watching his expression, spoke.

"Is this not a fortunate thing?"

"Yeah."

The Fourth Layer was choked with rivers of rot. The instant any part of a body touched the water, the flesh decayed and sloughed away. There were few places one could safely step, and with no sun in the sky the air hung thick and sinister.

"If I were to fall into the river, would I be in danger as well?"

"Stick a foot in and find out."

"I—I would rather not."

"You refusing an order right now?"

"......Pardon? You truly mean it?"

"Kidding."

"How unkind."

"I only do it because I like you."

"I-is that so."

In truth, teasing Paranet had a flavor all its own.

"Shall we use Space Movement now?"

"Not that."

"Then what?"

"We need party members here."

"A party? With a player?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"No idea. The mission itself is like that. It says to form a party."

"Then form one with me."

"Summons probably don't count as party members."

He tried anyway, just in case. The result was exactly what he had expected.

"Then what are we to do? Must we seek out a player wandering this place?"

"Normally, yeah. There's another way."

Right on cue, a hologram window opened before Yujun's eyes.

The messenger had seemed useless for anything but staying in touch. Its moment had come. He could not summon someone however he pleased, of course. The other party had to accept. So Yujun reached out first.

Hong Yeji was secured. One more remained, and he already had someone in mind.

Ju Donghyeon. A master of support abilities, bearer of Future Sight and Clairvoyance—a talent even Yujun coveted. He meant to ask the man for help.

The reply came at once.