Chapter 218
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 218
Chapter Title: Stabilized Celestial Engraving Stone
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After Jeong Hoon left, Raigriner clutched his head and groaned for a long while.
No matter what he tried, he couldn't find a way to stabilize the power of the Celestial Engraving Stone.
"Hmm, what to do with this."
Raigriner pondered deeply.
In a situation like this, what would his master have done?
He would surely have blazed a new trail and pulled it off spectacularly.
'I'm not my master...'
Thinking of his master made him feel utterly insignificant.
'Please, you're the only one who can do this.'
But he couldn't give up, not after those words Jeong Hoon had left behind.
Raigriner placed his hand on the Celestial Engraving Stone and channeled his mana.
Woooong-
As the mana flowed in, the Celestial Engraving Stone began to glow and vibrate intensely.
"Whoa..."
Raigriner was at a loss for words.
The engraving stone vibrated as it shone with brilliant light.
Mesmerized by that beautiful glow for a moment, he snapped out of it to find that two hours had already passed.
"Damn it!"
In such an urgent situation, wasting time like this.
Raigriner pulled his hand away from the engraving stone.
Then, a surprising change occurred.
Woooong-
Even after the mana was cut off, the stone's glow lingered, and it vibrated faintly.
Raigriner's eyes widened at the change.
"What...?"
He carefully examined the engraving stone.
Soon, Raigriner's face filled with shock.
"It's stabilized?!"
Just moments ago, it had been forcibly containing the energy, but now that energy was spreading harmoniously throughout the entire stone.
"No, how...?"
All he had done was channel mana into it.
Stabilized Celestial Engraving Stone
-A engraving stone imprinted with heavenly power.
-Can upgrade equipment below Legendary (Full Strength).
Success rates are as follows:
-Legendary: 100 (1 required)
-Unique: 0.1 (5 required)
-Epic: 0.0001 (20 required)
-Rare: 0 (Cannot upgrade)
-Normal: 0 (Cannot upgrade)
-On failure, equipment is destroyed with 99 probability.
-Equipment must be at full strength to imbue power.
The stabilization of the Celestial Engraving Stone was complete.
Thanks to this, the upgrade success rate from Legendary to Celestial had risen from 50 to 100.
No more worry about the equipment breaking.
A grin refused to leave Raigriner's face.
'It figures. He succeeded way too easily.'
He was probably under the delusion that he himself was a genius.
But it wasn't because Raigriner was a genius.
It was because Jeong Hoon had altered the quest reward upon completion, massively boosting the commission's success rate.
In other words, as an enchantment master, just channeling mana was enough to succeed.
Of course, Jeong Hoon hadn't mentioned that fact.
"Truly, thank you."
Jeong Hoon smiled brightly and expressed his gratitude.
"Oh, this is nothing!"
Raigriner's shoulders rose high.
"My eye for talent never fails."
Since things had gone this far, Jeong Hoon decided to lay it on thick.
"Hahaha! You're too kind!"
"I'll be sure to come to you again if there's another chance."
"Anytime!"
Now, business was concluded.
It was the moment Jeong Hoon turned to leave.
Merhen Kingdom: You have completed the Hidden Episode.
A new message appeared before him.
'Hidden Episode?'
Jeong Hoon's eyes gradually widened.
This was the first time he had ever completed a Hidden Episode, before or after his regression.
'How...?'
Perfect Clear of all episodes from the collection to sub-episodes completes the Hidden Episode.
Ah, so that's what it was.
The Merhen Kingdom and Alchemist's Street could be considered one set.
And Perfect Clear.
It meant he had cleared every episode flawlessly.
'Normally, Perfect didn't mean anything.'
Just completing the episodes was enough.
Who would have thought a Hidden Episode was concealed like this.
'Then the other collection episodes must have Hiddens hidden in them too.'
His mind raced.
So, what was the reward for completing the Hidden Episode?
Hidden Episode is registered in the collection.
Episode completion increases by an additional 10.
'What...?'
100 episodes completed.
Boosting their completion by 10 was like getting 10 episodes for free.
And that wasn't all.
The Synergy effect has been greatly enhanced.
All stats 4, damage 4, all skill damage 4
Insane.
It might seem like just 4, but considering only Synergy Stage 1 was applied right now, it was an enormous boost.
It had originally been 2, so now it was doubled.
'Thinking ahead to the future...'
Jeong Hoon clenched his fist.
Los Angeles, USA.
James Marcus and Louis Verdant were emerging from a dungeon.
"Whoa... It's James Marcus..."
"Amazing..."
"Photo! Photo!"
The people around were frantically snapping pictures of him.
Even after New World became reality, he was still a top star.
No.
His popularity had exploded even more.
It had to be that way.
With reality turning into levels equaling power.
"Louis, looks like we were a bit late."
James Marcus turned his head, his expression slightly displeased.
Louis Verdant, behind him, shrugged.
"Players from all over the world rushed in. Bound to be late."
"Haha, yeah, you're right."
That wasn't what James Marcus meant.
He hadn't expected a big haul from this dungeon.
What he sought was scouting talent to recruit as comrades.
But not a single person met his standards.
"Plenty of opportunities. No need to rush."
Louis Verdant comforted him.
"As expected of you, Louis. You're the only one."
James Marcus chuckled.
Then, in the distance, an Eastern man caught his eye.
Their gazes met, and James felt the hairs on his body stand on end.
'What is this...?'
He had never seen eyes like that before in his life.
Even more astonishing was the rainbow aura emanating from him.
It was the skill 'Gauge' he had gained from his own opportunity.
This skill allowed him to gauge an opponent's potential.
Lower potential showed darker colors, higher showed brighter.
But a rainbow color? First time.
Meaning, his potential transcended imagination.
James Marcus hurriedly checked his info.
Player Information
-Nickname: Yeokcheonja
-Level: 160
-Job: Intermediate Martial Artist (2nd Advancement)
He was merely a level 160 Intermediate Martial Artist.
It made no sense.
For a man with such potential to be only level 160.
"James, what's wrong?"
Louis Verdant grabbed and shook his shoulder.
"Louis, I think I found someone incredible."
James slowly turned his head to meet the man's gaze again.
"Incredible?"
Louis tilted his head at the excited gleam in his eyes.
"Yeah. Right there."
James pointed ahead.
Louis's gaze followed his finger.
But no one was there.
"Hm? No one's there?"
"No one?!"
James whipped his head around to look.
The Eastern man who had been there moments ago had vanished completely.
'What the... where did he go?'
Level 160.
Nickname Yeokcheonja.
He had definitely seen him.
"What... seeing ghosts now?"
"...No, it wasn't a ghost."
James Marcus's eyes darkened.
Yeokcheonja.
He etched it firmly in his mind, vowing never to forget.
And when they met again, he would recruit him as a comrade no matter what.
'That damn bastard.'
Back home, Jeong Hoon thought of James Marcus for a moment.
Before his regression, the guy had suddenly offered his hand to him, who had nothing, asking him to join as a comrade.
"You have tremendous potential," he had blabbered.
Jeong Hoon smirked.
He had run into him by chance exiting the dungeon.
Seemed he had entered via coordinates uploaded to HoneyTube.
'By now, everything would've been looted clean.'
The guy's personality didn't seem the type to dawdle.
Scouting comrades, perhaps.
If so, it all fit.
''Gauge,' was it?'
A skill from an opportunity that let him see others' potential.
That was how he had recruited Jeong Hoon back when he had nothing.
Master, you okay?
'Your face looks way too scary.'
Snapping out of his thoughts thanks to Mukho and Anima, Jeong Hoon chuckled.
"Just reminiscing about the old days for a sec."
Enough dwelling on the filthy past. Now it was time to use the Celestial Engraving Stone.
Jeong Hoon took it out.
Using the engraving stone was simple.
'Just need the Reinforcement skill.'
Upgrading and reinforcing both improved item performance, so they were essentially the same.
The reinforcement level of the Head Ornament Containing the Spirit of the Divine Beast has reached Max.
Proceeding to equipment upgrade.
Materials for upgrade are required.
Just like this.
Jeong Hoon selected the Celestial Engraving Stone.
Upgrade material selected.
Proceed with upgrade?
Once attempted, it cannot be reversed. Consider carefully before deciding.
Text designed to make you hesitate if success wasn't 100.
But at 100, no hesitation needed.
'Proceed.'
Upgrading.
In that instant, light burst from the head ornament.
Blindingly brilliant light.
The light gradually faded, and the head ornament now shone more radiantly than before.
Upgrade successful.
You have achieved the astonishing feat! Completed 'First Celestial Equipment Owner'! Achievement points 500,000 awarded.
As reward for the astonishing achievement, Achievement Shop level rises to '7'.
Upgrading to Celestial also bumped the Achievement Shop to level 7.
'Done.'
Jeong Hoon grinned.
Creating the first Celestial gear massively boosts the shop level.
Previous level was 5.
From level 7, materials for reinforcingupgrading Legendary gear are added.
And that's not all.
Head Ornament Containing the Spirit of the Divine Beast
-Type: Head Ornament
-Grade: Celestial
-Special Ability (1): Attack Power and Defense 40
-Special Ability (2): Chance for the spirit of the divine beast to awaken, dealing AoE damage to nearby enemies.
-Special Ability (3): Bow firing speed 20, chance to ignore enemy defense 20
-Special Ability (4): While worn, ignore environmental damage with 70 probability.
-Special Ability (5): While worn, automatically generates a shield equal to 15 of all stats. (While shield active, all damage taken -10. Shield regeneration time: '10 minutes.')
Shields can stack.
With the grade up, two new special abilities were added.
This must have been the head ornament's original performance.
'Truly incredible...'
Just this head ornament massively boosted defense.
70 environmental damage reduction plus stackable shields.
'And I can double up on them, plus I've got my invincibility.'
Currently, a Legendary skill he rarely used.
Block.
With this, taking down the dungeon boss that had devastated Earth before regression wasn't impossible.
'The instant-kill patterns it had wiped out every attempt.'
Thus, the raid failed, Earth got penalized, turning into an environment unlivable for humanity.
Those who hadn't grown enough died to the environment.
He absolutely couldn't let that history repeat.
'Alright, then. Time to finish the 4th advancement before Baal shows up.'
Now it was time for the long-awaited 4th job change.