The First Boss Raid
Man. Seriously. This goddess really had a gift for messing with people. An SSS-grade accessory from a Normal Element, at an absurdly extreme drop rate. As far as I knew, it was supposed to be, like... decimal-point territory.
"Guys, the SSS-grade gear that drops from Normal Element, the Element Necklace or whatever. What was the drop rate again?"
As you can tell from the viewers’ reactions, it was best to think of the Normal Element we were heading to as something that simply would not drop it. And yet the goddess had made it a hundred percent guaranteed.
"But if I do get it, that’d be huge, right?"
What’s more, for a utility-starved kobold, the Element Necklace was the number one piece she needed. She couldn’t miss this chance, but... the risk was too high. To raise gear to +9 within an hour? And if she failed, Goddess’s Grace would be lost.
In K-RPGs, people often call the wall you have to break through to secure all the reinforcement and growth systems you’re supposed to grab a nasaengmun, borrowing the name from a technique in a manga. If there are three things to secure, it’s a three-layer nasaengmun. Five things, five layers... something like that.
Among them all, Unknown Universe was famous for being the apex of K-RPG pain, and it had seven things to secure, which meant a seven-layer nasaengmun—it was even called the rainbow nasaengmun.
Even I, after an absolutely insane spirit gacha, still had six layers left. And of those remaining walls, the one universally said to be the hardest was gear reinforcement.
The system went up to +10, ten enhancement levels in all, and hearing that alone made it sound like reaching +10 was no big deal. But the road there was brutal.
Even hitting +5 was rough enough that most people stopped at +5 or +6 and called it done. At most, only top-tier players used +9. There were only two +10 items on the entire server. And even those weren’t SSS-grade; they were B-grade and A-grade items that had been pushed there as sacrificial trash.
"What was the expected value for a +9 SSS-grade item again, guys?"
How in the world was she supposed to pull this off?
It wasn’t just the money. Even if she spent all day grinding reinforcement, there still wouldn’t be enough time. Could she really hit +9 within an hour? The chance just to go from +8 to +9 was only 20 percent. And if she failed along the way, it might reset.
Fortunately, whether out of kindness or design, failed reinforcement didn’t destroy the item.
"Mm..."
An hour, no grace, and a +9 endgame item.
If she failed, Goddess’s Grace would vanish.
The offer was dangerous. She should not accept it. And yet, instead of fear, my heart had started pounding.
Wasn’t it worth trying?
Besides, she had already borrowed five million won from ChatMoney in advance, just in case something like this happened.
Expected value of ten million? I’d finish it with five.
Even without Goddess’s Grace, she would trust her luck.
Goddess’s Grace (SSS) has been applied!
The time limit was set from the moment the item was obtained, so while that happened, I steadied my nerves and talked with the party.
"Sorry. Just for a second, hehe. Human hearts are so fickle. I couldn’t help wondering what I’d do if an SSS item dropped."
"If it does, I’ll rush straight to +9."
Drop? It really had to drop, and then I really had to take it to +9. I swallowed a bitter laugh and invited the party members one by one.
"The first person I want to interview is Imda, our debuffer specialist."
"Yes, yes! Nice to meet you. I’m Imda."
"Looking at the other party members, it seems everyone’s been power-up grinding hard. How about you, Imda? No pressure, so just speak comfortably."
"I won’t kick you."
"I didn’t have money, so I stayed with my A-grade spirit as it was... but more than anything else, I built up my internal foundation."
Internal foundation, in the sense used for things like that in this game, meant content you powered up by pouring in time rather than money. For example, filling out monster and plant encyclopedias, or raising reputation with planetary residents. Of course, as a pay-to-win game through and through, Unknown Universe also let you pay to skip all that.
"For the currently available C-grade monster encyclopedia..."
"Even filling just ten types increases damage. You must’ve had a rough time."
Even filling ten types took a fair amount of time.
"No. I completed all of it."
"What?! There are 123 types. That one? The thing that takes at least a hundred hours if you don’t spend money?"
"Yes. Thankfully, I got lucky, so I stayed up for four nights and filled it all out."
For a moment, I blanked out and couldn’t say a word.
"Wow... my god... there are way too many people obsessed with Unknown Universe..."
"And I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Vice Guild Master Mone. Thanks to her, I got a free one-month subscription and saved some money."
"I see... use the money you saved to at least eat properly. You’ll collapse at this rate."
"If you had to say one thing as you prepare for today’s Normal Element run?"
"I’ll do my best not to drag anyone down. As long as it’s limited to C-grade monsters, I’ve fully filled out the encyclopedia, so I think I can brief everyone perfectly."
"Hoo, that’s reassuring. Please take care of us."
Next, Jeong-yong’s weighty voice rang out.
"Yes, nice to meet you. Ah. Not nice to meet you, but hello, Haruru."
What bothered me more than anything was that he’d said he was going to pull for spirits, so I asked right away. He laughed heartily and answered.
"Man, even after spending 400,000 won, I couldn’t get a single A-grade. So I spent another 100,000... and would you believe it, an S-grade finally came out?"
"Congratulations."
"Yes, yes. Heh-heh. If a man comes out and talks on and on, it gets boring, so I’ll keep it short. Today, I’ll just be like Otteugi: if I’m told to take a hit, I’ll take it, and even if I go down, I’ll get back up and take it again. That’s what a tank is! And I’m going to subscribe too."
"Thank you. Just hearing that makes me feel safe. Next, for the last one! Let’s greet our vice guild master, Mone."
"That reaction is really hot... first of all, thank you so much for the 100 gifted subscriptions earlier."
"Not at all. Please keep working hard on your stream. And this isn’t just lip service, but lately I’ve been living for the joy of watching Haruru’s broadcasts."
"Nice. So even Mone acknowledges it, my great Dae-ruru stream. I should go to NewTube and hit subscribe and like, right?"
"Ah, n-no. That won’t do."
"Oh! Right. How do you feel about the guild title? Do you like it?"
Over the past few days, the guild’s membership had swelled considerably, so I’d reorganized the rank titles. The guild master title was Dae-ruru, the vice guild master title was Dae-ruru Head, the elite guild members were Dae-ruru Shoulder, the senior guild members were Dae-ruru Knee, and the regular guild members were Dae-ruru Foot.
"I’m fine with it, I guess... but doesn’t it sound a little too much like a gangster crew?"
"Ah! It does? I, I didn’t think of that. It’s just because I’m a fox..."
"But it’s cute, right?"
"Yes."
"Then we’ll keep it."
And then, getting to the main point, I checked the stats of the woman who would be the backbone of today’s Element party. They had jumped considerably since last time. And the finishing touch was...
"An SSS-grade spirit, Rafa, as a first copy?! What? The last time I saw you, it was S-grade, so I thought you’d stopped there..."
"I told you I was rich."
As the chat said, for dealers Mika was the endgame spirit, and for supports, Rafa was the endgame spirit. If Mika massively boosted attack, Rafa massively boosted support capabilities.
"Wow... that’s absurd. You really did pull it."
"Yes. I was lucky. It came out after I spent 7 million."
"I. um. I fully transcended mine for 3 million..."
"Haaah... I’m jealous. I should go to another guild."
It was a joke, but it was enough to shake chat hard.
"S-sorry. I deserve death."
"No, no. I was joking. Honestly, I’m just amazed. It’s such absurd luck that I can’t feel envy or jealousy, only admiration."
"Thank you."
"Then, like everyone else, before we go into today’s Normal Element, let’s hear one word of resolve."
"Since it’s a one-dealer comp, Haruru, you need to perform best of all."
"Now I’d like to hear Haruru’s resolve in return."
"Heh."
I made the black fox ears and tail of the streaming virtual avatar appear.
"Foxes are omnivores, right? That means we eat everything. I’ll chew that Normal Element up nice and slow!"
And while I was at it, the goddess too.
Let’s see whether you win or I do. We’ll settle this to the end.