Grid’s gameplay approach was unique. His way of approaching the game was different to the average person and frankly speaking, it wasn’t very good. What if a typical player had received the title of Hero King?
First of all, they would study the resource called fighting energy. How did fighting energy rise, what was the effect of the rising fighting energy, the penalty if fighting energy fell below 10, etc. They would try to adapt to the newly acquired resource quickly in order to fully utilize it.
But Grid was different. The effect of fighting energy was listed in the detailed information so Grid accepted it and didn’t feel the need to analyze it. So what about the penalty that occurred when fighting energy fell below 10? In any case, fighting energy was always kept at 10, so he wasn’t worried about it. He thought he would discover it gradually.
In the end, Grid focused on Madra after cleansing the Behen Archipelago. Due to Madra’s strength and Grid’s gratitude, it was natural to think of Madra above anything else. He didn’t care about the fighting energy resource until he read the diary and got Madra’s swordsmanship.
This showed how emotional Grid was. If Grid was a user of a regular game, he would be wasting his life. Fortunately, Satisfy placed high importance on NPCs, and it was ironic that this unique gaming approach was Grid’s strength.
“Hrmm.”
The beginner hunting ground near Reinhardt. The place with monsters below level 10 was where Lord used to visit as a baby. In a peaceful place where a few beginners and woodcutters could be seen, Grid struck a passing deer.
Peok!
Of course, Grid killed the deer. Grid’s sword struck four times per second and it died on the first hit, the remaining three only hitting empty air.
“Kuoong...”
Grid’s expression became rotten. He had already hunted 20 deer but his fighting energy didn’t budge from 10 points.
‘Look back at my memories.’
He had hunted the vampires while talking to Chris. He had killed a few ordinary vampires and true blood vampires but his fighting energy didn’t go up at all. Grid was certain of it after hunting a few more deer.
‘My fighting energy won’t go up if I fight a weak opponent. It will be easier to manage my fighting energy if I determine the exact criteria of weakness.’
Grid judged and moved hunting grounds. He moved sequentially from a low difficulty to high difficulty place, slaughtering monsters by type. In the process, he summoned the Overgeared Skeletons to help them grow. The result?
‘If I fight against monsters 30 levels lower than me, fighting energy will never go up.’
Grid had to fight at least level 326 monsters for his fighting energy to rise.
‘On the other hand, I think that fighting energy will rise rapidly for opponents that have a higher level than me.’
There was a basis for this analysis. The higher the level of the monster, the faster fighting energy will rise.
‘For monsters 10 levels lower than me, hitting them 10 times will increase fighting energy by one. For the same level monster, hitting them eight times will increase it by one. Hrmm...’
Fighting energy was a tricky resource. It only accumulated when he hit an enemy or allowed an enemy attack. If Grid or the other side avoided or defended against the attack, there was no influence on fighting energy. Grid’s expression became more and more rotten.
He was upset when he thought about this fighting energy formula being applied to players. Grid was third on the unified rankings. Out of two billion players, there were only two with an official higher level than him.
‘Anyway, I can’t use it actively in PvP.’
Most of the enemies that Grid would compete against in the 3rd National Competition would be at least 30 levels lower than Grid. Then fighting energy was a resource that couldn’t be used.
"Dammit.”
Hero King. It was a title that was only useful against the strong in many ways. He couldn’t say it was bad because it conditionally exerted the best effect, but he also felt regret.
Kiyaaaaaah!
Grid analyzed fighting energy and grumbled. A feminine monster with hair that wriggled like a snake appeared. It was the emergence of the degraded medusa, who froze a target when their eyes met.
‘I ended up walking to Rock Forest.’
Rock Forest. It was a thick forest filled with rocks. It was considered the hardest hunting ground near Reinhardt, so there were almost no users. This was because it was very difficult to deal with the degraded medusa, who appeared in large numbers.
It was a hunting ground where the party needed at least 80% petrification resistance as well as a member of the Rebecca Church. Users couldn’t dream of solo play at all. Of course, Grid was the exception.
[You have made eye contact with the degraded medusa! You have been petrified.]
[You have resisted.]
[You have made eye contact...]
[You have resisted.]
[You have resisted.]
{You have res...]
“????”
The five medusae surrounding Grid were very confused. The stupid humans would freeze to stone when their gazes met. Grid flew towards them with the God Hands and used Wave.
[You have dealt 25,900 damage to the target!]
[You have dealt 28,100...]
‘This is honey.’
The level of the degraded medusa was 350. They were classified as an elite monster and gave good experience to Grid. In addition, as a status condition monster, their physical ability was weaker than general elite monsters. Grid was able to build up fighting energy quickly by defeating them. Along the way, he wore Malacus’ Cloak in order to hunt quickly.
[Fighting energy has reached 20 points.]
He was fighting monsters at a similar level to him so fighting energy rose quickly. The purple aura, which could be seen as red depending on the angle, rose steadily from Grid’s body.
[You have dealt 32,700 damage to the target!]
As fighting energy rose, Grid’s attack power became more powerful. His hunting speed became faster as time passed.
‘Whoops.’
Grid was reminded of his original purpose while destroying the medusae in Rock Forest. He confirmed that fighting energy reached 50 and opened the skills window.
"...Go to the hunting ground. After building up fighting energy, try using swordsmanship.”
Sticks’ meaningful words repeated in Grid’s mind.
[100,000 Army Blockade Sword (Degraded) Lv. 1]
It deals 20% damage to all enemies visible in your field of view and deals 3 seconds of the ‘blockade’ effect. The targets that are blocked can’t move and their use of skills and magic is blocked.
Skill Resource Consumption: 5,000 mana, 20 sword energy.
Skill Cooldown Time: 30 minutes.
* The skill has activated due to acquiring the fighting energy resource.
[100,000 Army Massacre Sword (Degraded) Lv. 1]
Deals 60% of your attack power 30 times to everyone (can’t distinguish between friend or foe) in a 10 metre radius.
Skill Resource Consumption: 8,000 mana, 50 sword energy.
Skill Cooldown Time: 10 minutes.
* The skill has activated due to acquiring the fighting energy resource.
“...Crazy.”
Once fighting energy reached a certain level, it would be naturally converted to the skill resource. Grid fell into shame.
‘I could’ve solved this easily if I checked fighting energy from the beginning!’
He had just been worrying alone. The waste of time was also great. Grid was forced to regret his own foolishness. He was ashamed of himself.
“Kuoock... I’m angry.”
Grid took out his anger on the innocent medusae! He used Quick Movements and started striking the medusa.
Kiyak!
Kyak!
The screams of the medusa, a synonym of fear for ordinary players, echoed in Rock Forest.
[Fighting energy has reached 70 points.]
Finally, Grid gathered all the resources needed for 100,000 Army Swordsmanship.
“Fly.”
Paang!
Grid didn’t delay. He wore Braham’s Boots and flew high in the sky.
"8, 14... 20, 32...”
Grid could see over 30 medusae from the sky. They smelt blood while roaming Rock Forest and kept on gathering. A wicked smile appeared on Grid’s face. He followed the tone of the Undefeated King.
“Look. This is my dance.”
Kuoooooh!
Around Grid’s body, the purple aura started to stir like a storm. The effect was so gaudy that Grid’s shape couldn’t be discerned with the naked eye.
"100,000 Army.”
Grid’s sharp eyes brightened among the violet storm. Grid moved his sword.
“Blockade Sword.”
Peeng!
Pepepepeok!
A festival was unfolding. A purple storm of fighting energy rained down from Grid’s sword like firecrackers. The target was all the medusae on the ground. Every target in Grid’s ‘sight’ was hit by the fighting energy.
Kiik!
Kuaaaaaah!
The attack power of 100,000 Army Blockade Sword wasn’t so good. The medusae struck by the firecrackers of fighting energy didn’t suffer much physical damage. The problem was the blockage. It was the worst CC skill that blocked movement, skills, and magic for up to three seconds. The medusa became as solid as stone statues. The medusa, who were accustomed to turning people into stone statues, were confused by the reversed situation.
"100,000 Army.”
Grid descended to the ground.
“Massacre Sword.”
Death!
Chukak.
Chukakakakak!
30 attacks per second. The target was the medusa right in front of Grid and all medusa in a 10 meter radius.
Peng!
Pepepepeok!
Splash, splash, a feast of splash damage! Black flames exploded around the medusa in Rock Forest.
[You have dealt 15,380 damage to the target!]
[You have dealt 16,900 damage to the target!]
[You have dealt 18,700 damage to the target!]
[You have dealt...]
There were two main reasons why Grid favored Link since making the Enlightenment Sword. First, the high number of strikes meant the probability of the black flames activating would increase. Second, the effect of increasing damage every time an attack hit the same target was fully applied. In other words, once Link hit the target, Grid’s attack power instantly increased by 100%. But 100,000 Army Massacre Sword shone even more. All targets in its range received 30 stikes, so all of them had a 100% increase of Grid’s attack power.
“Kuk...! Kuhahahahat!”
Bliss! Pleasure!!
Grid eventually burst out laughing. On one side of his field of view, the damage notification windows were updated several hundreds times. He dealt 30 hits to dozens of enemies at once, so the update notification windows appeared at the speed of light.
"The finishing touch...!”
Grid controlled the thrill of this hunt! Just as he was about to finish off the dying medusa, he suddenly flinched.
[Fighting energy has dropped to 0.]
[A penalty has occurred. Fighting energy won’t recover for 10 minutes and all stats will drop by 50%.]
“Crazy...”
In fact, the reason why Grid used the skills after only securing 70 fighting energy was to try out the penalty. He judged the medusa to be suitable test subjects. Of course, he never imagined that the penalty would be so severe when making the decision.
Kyaooooh!
"H-Hik...!"
All stats dropped by 50%! It was impossible to deal with dozens of medusae in this state, even for Grid. Grid was also still wearing Malacus’ Cloak so the medusae were constantly gathering.
“G-God Hands! Noe! Randy! Overgeared Skeletons!” Grid turned pale as he hurriedly took off the cloak and summoned his pets. Noe and Randy didn’t even get a chance to greet him after a long time. "Distract them while I run away!”
“...”
Hell’s best demonic beast, a memphis’ learning abilities were excellent. As he served Grid, who once used to be verbally abusive, he learned to speak various things. But Noe never once cursed. A noble being like him shouldn’t meet an opponent that would make him forget his dignity and let out low-grade profanity. But he let one loose at this moment.
"My damn master...”
“...”