Gear Overhaul and Class Reveal
Finally, it was out.
The free bulletin boards and strategy boards were incomparable to the info boards or paid videos in terms of view counts since they were free.
Just from a quick glance, the post with unusually high views on the info board had racked up about five million—25 million won even at five won per view.
Of course, that was accumulated over several months, but it was still no small sum.
Plus, once this system kicked in, good info might leak out for free. Fun posts would flood in too, drawing even more users to devour the boards.
Hitting ten million views wouldn't be impossible then.
At ten million?
That meant a cumulative 50 million won from Illusion—a tidy side income, to put it mildly.
Maybe I should post sometimes.
What makes a post popular?
He checked a few of the top-viewed posts.
Hmm.
And some low-view ones too.
Definitely different.
The high-view posts had a pattern: Illusion info or casual chatter.
Content varied, but they all read smoothly. Before he knew it, he'd finished one—and ended up chuckling or letting out an admiring "oh ho."
That was when it happened.
Another announcement popped up on the homepage.
Homepage service will end in 5 minutes.
Maintenance duration: ……
Already 25 minutes had passed.
Mu-hyuk logged out of the homepage and slipped into the capsule.
He tried connecting to Illusion.
Death penalty has not ended.
3 minutes 27 seconds remaining.
He stared at the ticking countdown.
3:24.
3:23.
3:22.
It felt so slow.
Whoa...
It was driving him mad.
Was waiting always this agonizingly drawn out?
Time flew when he was focused, but now it felt frozen solid.
Unable to bear it, Mu-hyuk climbed out of the capsule and paced the room pointlessly to kill time.
He downed a glass of water, hit the bathroom, even took a piss.
When he tried logging in again.
Death penalty has not ended.
0 minutes 11 seconds remaining.
Still ten seconds left.
At least that was a relief.
Ten seconds flew by faster than expected.
Welcome to Illusion.
The moment he connected, he scanned his surroundings.
The Guardian Guild wouldn't track him down here, right?
Just in case, he stashed everything but his sword in his inventory.
Slipping on some shabby armor he had, he headed to the agreed spot.
*
Hemil Empire Square.
He arrived, but Sung Min-woo wasn't there yet. Mu-hyuk pulled items from his inventory one by one to inspect them.
Defense is seriously lacking.
His stats were skewed toward strength, agility, and vitality anyway—with strength especially dominant.
But strength was so high that agility and vitality lagged behind. It was a bit tricky for someone who had to face monsters head-on.
Hmm. Switch to bow from now on?
Swinging a sword or loosing arrows—damage would be about the same.
And way safer.
He checked his enhanced skeletons again.
Their defense far outstripped his own, and their HP was solid. They could tank monster hits up front no problem.
And me shooting arrows from the rear?
A bit ahead of the original plan, but not bad.
He could focus more on commanding too.
Command and ranged attacks.
The time would come to specialize in both.
He'd delayed because his sword's options were too good, but tangling with Guardian Guild changed his mind.
Might clash with them again.
They could uncover his identity soon.
If it came to a fight?
Skeletons up front, arrows from behind was best. Step out, and they'd swarm him—death inevitable.
Mu-hyuk opened the auction house system.
Time to swap gear.
Except essentials.
Req: Agility 15
Durability 73/75
Durability 70/85
Durability 100/100
Req: Pass 'Grokion's Trial'
Req: Strength 10, Vitality 10
Req: Strength 20
These are keepers.
Three rings already.
Could equip up to ten anyway.
Other items...
Nothing essential.
Sell 'em all.
He set instant sale on his helmet, armor, belt—most everything—for slightly under market. No regrets on the pricier ones; those he held back.
Left with just two.
Skull Staff and Soul-Infused Longsword.
What about the Skull Staff?
Could hand it to a mage summon later.
But...
Better to sell it and buy two staves with similar magic damage.
Yeah. Sell.
Auction style.
48 hours.
Starting bid: 100 gold.
Just wait it out.
The Soul-Infused Longsword was the issue. Too good for regular auction.
Time check: still margin before meetup. He hurried to the nearby auction house.
"Welcome."
"Here to consign for public auction."
The guide NPC's eyes sharpened.
"May I inspect the item?"
"Here."
He handed over the Soul-Infused Longsword.
"...!"
The NPC's face changed.
"This way..."
Up to the 7th floor to meet the head honcho.
After appraisal: more than worthy for public auction.
Overflowing, even.
"Public auction in three days."
"What time?"
"5 PM."
"See you then."
"Understood. Must consign now. We'll draft the merchant's contract."
"Fine."
Item will be auctioned as consigned. Seller receives full proceeds minus fees. Breach incurs divine penalty: death.
Temple contract under the merchant god's watch—break it, lose your life.
100% trust.
"Let's go."
"Yeah."
To the temple, signed it.
Handed over the sword, headed back to the square—time to grab that MP recovery gear he'd been mulling.
Let's see.
Scanned the auction house again.
Nice. This one too.
Snapped up MP recovery rings without skimping.
Essential.
His per-minute MP recovery skyrocketed.
Good enough.
Closed auction house—spotted a user waving from afar.
"Here!"
Sung Min-woo.
Approaching with a grin, but he tilted his head.
"Dude, you..."
"What?"
"What's with your gear?"
"Oh, just auctioned off everything I was using."
"Huh? Why?"
"Buying new."
"For real? Hunting how?"
"Hang on."
Reopened auction house.
Filtered for bows only.
About 2,300 gold on hand.
Best one.
One caught his eye.
◈ Attack +81
◈ Strength +2
◈ Bonus Damage +5
◈ Durability 120/120
◈ Req: Strength 40, Vitality 25
◈ Instant Buy: 150 Gold
Options were stellar.
Bows inherently outdamaged swords anyway. 81 was like a 60-damage sword.
Still, the extras were top-tier—no issues using till mid-50s.
Even 60s with a stretch.
Hitch: requirements. Vitality 25, strength 40.
Tough for mid-50s users.
Hidden pieces might cover it, but those types had better weapons anyway.
Hence unsold at 150 gold.
Not for Mu-hyuk. Even without his strength-boosting armor and sword, he met it exactly.
40 on the dot. Lucky.
Decision quick.
[Purchase? Yes/No]
Yes—gold deducted, bow in inventory.
Pulled it out; Sung Min-woo rushed over, eyes gleaming.
"Ooh, whatcha got? Just bought it?"
"Yeah."
"Lemme see!"
"Go ahead."
Mu-hyuk handed over the shortbow with a grin. Sung reached out.
'Iron Fist' wishes to inspect the shortbow's stats. Allow?
Yes/No
Allowed—a gasp escaped him.
"H-huh... holy shit...!"
Damage first stunned him.
"This is insane!"
Options too.
"You... can you even use this?"
Requirements last.
"Yeah, barely."
"Whoa, your stats are monstrous!"
"You know that."
"Right, yeah. Duh."
Dungeons and titles, probably—Sung bought it.
"How much?"
"150 gold."
"Damn... jackpot."
"Good, right? Hunting first."
"Yeah. But just a weapon enough?"
"Plenty."
"Hmm, I ain't tanking either."
"Oh..."
Only then it hit him.
This guy's clueless about my class.
Never told him. Forgot. Probably thought archer now.
Reveal necromancer?
Question barrage incoming.
But Sung? Fine.
Mouth like a vault.
Trusted him that much.
"I got it."
"Huh? How?"
"Not an archer."
"Wait, then?"
Mu-hyuk started to speak, then clamped shut.
Too many users around.
"Let's move first."
"Uh, okay."
Led Sung to the west gate.
Out of hunting grounds, deeper in.
Users dotted around, but low voices wouldn't carry.
"I'm a necromancer."
"What?"
"Necromancer class."
Summoned skeletons.
Kirrik, kiririk.
Enhanced skeleton, Bone Sword, Bone Bows appeared.
Sung's jaw dropped.
"What the hell?!"
Stared at Mu-hyuk in shock.
"You nuts? Necromancer with those stats?"
"Voice down first."
"That the issue now?!"
"It is."
"..."
"Keep what I say secret."
"Duh."
Mu-hyuk smiled softly.
"Yeah. Turns out I learned a hidden trick."
"Hidden what?"
"Yeah. Summons inherit stats. More precisely, about 20% of mine."
"What...?"
"Spirit fighter, right?"
"Uh, y-yeah."
"Applies to spirits too."