Gravity Blade and the Red Tower
Whoa, RaSe has dedicated gear too?
It was a concept usually found in mobile games, especially those gacha-style character cultivation ones with SRs and SSRs.
Dedicated gear lives up to the name—the options are insane.
-Quit the fussing... Dedicated gear's no big deal. If only a specific person can equip it, that's dedicated gear. You've got a few yourself.
Me?
-Yeah. That magic weapon or those gauntlets. You're the only one in RaSe who can equip them. So those are your dedicated gear.
...Huh, when you put it that way.
The only difference here was that equipping it on Gillian unlocked extra options, making it feel even more special.
-Hidden classes like yours or famous NPCs sometimes have dedicated gear too.
And in those cases, the dedicated gear outperforms equivalents in the same grade.
In other words, Carpe's gear and the Gravity Blade in front of him sat somewhere between Legendary and Epic performance.
"By rights, we planned to designate the Gravity Blade a national treasure in honor of General Gillian..."
It went without saying.
In RaSe, most creatures—users, monsters, even NPCs—didn't leave corpses upon death.
They just turned to gray ash and vanished.
So in RaSe's lore, "recovering the body" meant staying by the remains until they disappeared, then picking up whatever items the deceased left behind.
The Gravity Blade was essentially the only memento Gillian had left.
As the weapon that had guarded Ramark for over 150 years, designating it a national treasure was a no-brainer.
But that depended on the owner's permission.
After Gillian's death, ownership passed to his granddaughter, Elenoa.
Yet she wanted the blade used as a weapon, not left as a mere symbol for Ramark.
"The Gravity Blade is too fine to just sit as a symbol. Grandfather surely wouldn't want that. A weapon finds its true value when wielded in someone's hand."
Creak.
At Elenoa's words, Gillian's head nodded ever so slightly—then he jolted upright in surprise.
"I'd love to wield it myself, but I'm not used to greatswords like this..."
"Ah, right."
Her main weapon was a rapier. Worlds apart from a greatsword.
"But I have my own weapon anyway. Gauntlets."
"You're right, Successor. But the Dark Lord behind you has no dedicated weapon, as far as I know. If he who bears Grandfather's name would wield this blade, surely the one in heaven would rejoice."
"Y-yeah?"
Of course he'd be thrilled. It was him.
-Dude, at this point, I'm wondering if she figured everything out and is just messing with us.
No way.
He said that, but the non-zero chance was a little scary.
-Anyway, looks like this works out. Saves us the agonizing.
Who'd have thought a hidden item like this was buried in the contribution shop?
No more agonizing needed.
The highest grade from a random box was Legendary—and even that had just a ~3% chance.
But here was a guaranteed Legendary item? One that outperformed most Legendaries at that!
Everyone in the room believed he'd buy the Gravity Blade with contribution points.
Everyone except one.
"Hmmmmmm."
-...What's with that deep, conflicted sigh? Have you lost it for real?
What if an Epic drops from the random box? Bro might not know, but maybe at ultra-ultra-low odds, Epics or even Mythics show up...
-No. You lunatic!
Damn, the world's so unfair. What did I do to deserve this trial...?
Skip the random box?!
Just imagining it tightened his chest and quickened his breath. If they hadn't shown it to him, fine—but shoving it in his face and giving this choice?
Carpe plunged into his greatest dilemma since starting the game.
-...This is clinical insanity levels. Scary. Straight-up terrifying.
He knew Carpe was nuts for gacha pulls, but not this bad.
He'd brushed off the usual "10% is a sure thing" or "1% is plenty playable!" as jokes.
...Maybe they weren't jokes.
Logically, passing on a Legendary for a 3% shot made zero sense.
Yes. Pure logic said no.
Which meant...
Bro. Famous British mountaineer George Mallory said this.
-What bullshit are you building up to now?
Hear me out. Judge after.
1923.
A reporter asked Mallory, attempting the world's first Everest summit:
"Why are you climbing Everest?"
His answer became the ultimate famous quote everyone knows.
"Because it's there."
That's why Carpe opened random boxes too.
Because they were there! It was love's domain, beyond logic!
The act of pulling itself holds meaning. What grade comes out is secondary...
-Yeah. No. You know it's bullshit. Just pick the Gravity Blade like a good boy.
Fine. Just testing the happy circuit. Even that won't stretch this far.
(For reference, George Mallory died in that Everest attempt.)
Can't be helped.
If it weren't dedicated gear—even a regular Legendary—he might've had a sliver of wiggle room!
As Carpe reached for the Gravity Blade with regret dripping from his eyes...
"Um, Successor? Is something wrong?"
Drek, puzzled by Carpe's long hesitation over such an obvious choice, spoke up.
"N-no, nothing at all."
"Yet you seem so troubled... Surely you're not considering other rewards."
Sorry. That's exactly it.
Carpe flinched, and Drek let out an incredulous sigh.
"Heavens... I hoped not, but you are. Ahem. How about this? I'll give you a mission now for extra contribution points."
"There's something like that?"
"Not yet—but we can make one. Perfect excuse, actually."
Affinity between Player and Ramark Royalty has reached maximum.
Affinity with NPC Drek has reached maximum.
Temporary Quest generated.
Coronation Attendance
Ramark faces great change. The tyrant king who tormented the people steps down, and a new king ascends. The new king wishes your presence to grace the occasion. If time permits, attending might not be amiss.
Attend the Ramark King's coronation.
🎁 Success Reward: Ramark Contribution 3,200 Points
-Holy shit. Freebie like this?
"Holy...!"
"Ahem. Overstepping, but considering your deeds, everyone will underst—Gah! Why are you crying all of a sudden?!"
And so Carpe attended the coronation.
◈ Contribution Points consumed to acquire.
◈ Contribution Points consumed to acquire.
Thus, he snagged both items.
* * *
Carpe warped to Jenonia Kingdom via the warp NPC.
"Whoa, this place is packed. Nothing like Ramark."
-Jenonia's one of the continent's top four powers. Comparing it to a pipsqueak like Ramark is insulting.
...Insulting? Ahem. Well, small nation it is.
Even Gillian's words paled; the difference was night and day.
Users and NPCs overflowed everywhere, all wearing bright smiles.
"Hey, warrior! Prep all set? Gotta gear up to climb higher. Special: potions 5% off!"
"You there! Your blade's nicked—come here, I'll fix it good."
"Buying magic stones from the tower—top dollar!"
A massive market sprawled around Carpe's arrival point.
"Step right up—money in, money out! Guess the beads in the jar, win 5x your bet!"
"O? For real?"
-...Most of those are obvious scams. How are you sharp on everything else but dumb for gambling?
"Just looking. Just looking. Anyway, vibe here's great."
-Even in Jenonia, this is one of the liveliest spots.
Truth be told, Carpe had been stumped heading to Jenonia.
The new Magic King's quest just said "find clues in Jenonia"—no specifics.
He asked Tina and Mirage, but both shook their heads.
Seemed like a system lock on quest-related memories.
So he'd have to hunt it down himself.
Unlike Ramark's three measly cities, Jenonia was vast—a superpower packed with dozens of cities, hunting grounds, and quests galore.
How to even find a clue there...? This the spot for real?
-Yeah. Highest odds, I'd say.
Carpe had warped to Jenonia's Red Tower region.
True to the name, a colossal red tower loomed endlessly before him.
So tall it pierced the clouds; the summit invisible from ground level.
NPCs had built a market around it, evolving into a full village—this was the Red Tower area.
"How'd you know? You don't know Magic King quests either."
-Not 100% sure this time. Remember when we first met? Your Magic Fist Lord job change.
"Of course."
Junk shop quest led to Drek; a fluke Patron Spirit check jobbed him into Magic Fist Lord.
He'd never forget.
-Drek asked if you'd heard of the Magic King then.
"Right. You said ancient empire's first emperor, boosted affinity... Wait, no way?"
-Yup. First place I encountered the name Magic King was here.
Climbing the Red Tower, he found a secret room with an old book mentioning "Magic King."
-Nothing special when I went, but who knows? Successor visiting might trigger a new event. Best lead in Jenonia.
"Sounds promising."
Carpe gazed up at the Red Tower again.
An impossibly tall spire. How many floors?
"Whew. Insanely high. Did one war genre, now tower climber too?"
(Carpe hated tower climbers, for the record.)
Fun at first, but patterns repeated, same mobs, rinse-repeat—by floor 50, even readers got bored.
He'd never finished one to completion.
"Hope it's short."
-100 floors total, but no need to go that far. Can't anyway. Secret Magic King room was floors 20-30ish, from memory.
"O. Perfect."
Blank slate would've been hell, but with Cheonma nav, it was casual fun.
Destination set.
"Box-smashing time at last!"
He hadn't opened the random box right away.
New wine in new wineskins—like, new boxes in new zones. Logical, scientific.
-...
"Hey, don't look at me like that. It's popping off. Guaranteed. Guaranteed!"
Alas, box-smashing had to wait.
"Whoa! It's here!"
"No way, for real? Finally!"
"Today's the day we clear 30?"
The racket right behind him was impossible to ignore.
Carpe turned despite himself.
The 10-Star Player's Lucky Draw