Overgeared

Dungeon Master Eat Spicy Jokbal—his first work that ventured into the new realm of the tower was very small and shabby. It was only two floors high and it was embarrassing to call it a tower. From the circumference, it was estimated that the floor space was less than 10 pyeong. But no one paid any attention to this.

A tower that grew stronger as they climbed it—there was such a provocative sign.

Even Grid was caught by it.

“Tower That Grows Stronger As One Climbs It... I wonder if we’re giving too grand a name for a tower that hasn’t been finished yet...”

“It is finished. The number of floors in the tower will naturally be added as users climb to the higher floors, and the interior area is quite reasonable, unlike what it seems.”

“Ke ong is going to cry.”

“No, he came to me a while ago and cursed me for profiting for free. The facilities I make are purely ‘dungeons,’ so there is no need for Ke ong to be jealous.”

Eat Spicy Jokbal was one of the precious treasures of the Empire. Numerous soldiers and knights grew by exploring the dungeons he created. The Overgeared members' growth value exceeded the allowance of the dungeons, but they often stopped by the dungeons to increase their skill experience.

Now they had to build a tower. It was said that there was no limit to the number of floors. It was theoretically possible to expand indefinitely because another floor opened up every time a user overcame the ordeal of the current topmost floor.

It was truly a legendary building. No, there was a possibility that it would be worshiped as a myth if Grid utilized it.

Grid was also the leader of the Overgeared Guild. He had the right and qualification to be the first to set foot in such a monumental facility.

“Okay. I’ll go up to the 100th floor today.”

Grid was more motivated than Lauel hoped for and attempted to climb it.

“This XX.”

The result was this—he lost motivation. There was no problem from the 1st floor to the 9th floor. Thanks to Demon Sword Remnants, Grid overcame the ordeals without even lifting a finger. It took less than five minutes to reach the 10th floor.

However, he immediately lost motivation on the 10th floor.

The boss monster who appeared on the 10th floor—it was none other than Baal.

That’s right—the boss monster that lurked in the tower on the 10th floor used the ‘highest level opponent among the boss monsters raided by the challenger’ as the basic framework. Here, it became stronger and stronger every time the number of floors increased. Depending on the challenger’s position, it could boast a tremendous level of difficulty.

“The 10th floor is bullshit...”

Aren’t I the only one at a disadvantage...?

Why do you always do this to me...?

Vantner offered comfort to the lamenting Grid, “Instead, Grid, your wives keep getting stronger. Don’t be too heartbroken and think positively.”

“......”

...Wasn’t he hit by this comfort instead?

It wasn’t very comforting, but Grid couldn’t refute the facts. Instead, Eat Spicy Jokbal asked him, “Why did you come back without fighting Baal?”

Going up from the 1st floor to the 9th floor, Grid acquired various buffs that were only applied inside the tower. Grid in the tower was stronger than Grid in reality. Even if the level of Baal on the 10th floor was exactly the same as the Baal that Grid had fought a while ago, the current Grid would be able to aim for victory relatively easily.

However, he retreated without even fighting. It was hard to understand from Eat Spicy Jokbal’s perspective.

“Isn’t it better that Baal came out? The higher the level of the boss, the greater the rewards.”

“Do you avoid poop because you are afraid of it? You avoid it because it is dirty.” Peak Sword replied on behalf of Grid. “Have you forgotten how persistent Baal was? From Grid’s perspective, it would be tiresome to fight with him again.”

It was correct. Just a few days ago, Grid struggled with Baal for more than half a day. Even if he was killed, he resurrected and evolved. It was a fight to the extent that he didn’t want to replay it.

Then fighting him again right away? He didn’t feel like it even if he was given millions. It wasn’t a situation where he had to fight to protect someone.

It felt crazy to fight Baal against just to get some small rewards.

“It is time to take a break,” Peak Sword said while patting Grid’s shoulder.

A break—it was a word that penetrated Grid’s weary heart. Yes, he wanted to rest...

Grid realized something and shuddered. He recalled the fact that there were few days he rested properly ever since he became Pagma's Successor. Was this something that people could handle? He couldn’t believe how he had been running non-stop.

“I’ll leave climbing the tower to you.”

Now that they had purified hell and brought peace to humanity—if it wasn’t this time, then when else could he rest freely? Right now, Faker and the Overgeared Shadows were in the midst of a quest to find the daoist immortal, Bentao. It was to get help to search for the achievements of the Seven Good People that the gods couldn’t erase. The moment Faker gained something, Asgard wouldn’t be able to sit still.

Grid had to prepare for another fierce battle from then on. Now was the only time. It was time to get enough rest...

Grid felt it instinctively and left the scene without regrets. He thought of things to do during his break. The first thing was to find Pagma’s soul. According to Kraugel’s testimony, as Pagma’s soul was possessing him, it encountered Braham and immediately erased his traces.

Grid hadn’t taken it seriously. It was something he heard while preparing for the wedding, so it went in one ear and out the other. But now that he thought about it, he was worried about Braham’s reaction.

Pagma just left and Braham was calm? It was impossible.

‘Maybe Pagma’s soul is...’

Maybe he wasn’t reincarnated, but was captured by Braham? In the first place, it was a pity that the conversation with Pagma was too short. It was necessary to check it.

“He is going to rest, right?”

Peak Sword and his colleagues looked on anxiously as Grid increased his pace.

***

Until recently, there were no mountains around Reinhardt. Braham smashed everything. Naturally, there was no malice. It was an inevitable phenomenon in the process of magically tempering Grid’s Greed. But recently, a high mountain stood tall to the west of Reinhardt. It was an artificial mountain made by Braham’s petrification magic.

Overlooking Reinhardt was Braham’s workshop.

“Braham, you...”

Grid came to visit Braham’s workshop, only to stiffen like a stone statue.

Pagma’s soul—he really was trapped in Braham’s workshop. The various tools scattered in all directions conjured up terrible imaginations.

“Did you torture his soul?”

It didn’t matter how deep the grudge was. Hadn’t he at least tried to understand Pagma? Now he stopped the reincarnation of the soul and tortured him...

Grid hadn’t expected Braham’s personality to be this terrible and was in great shock.

“Don’t be fooled.” Braham clicked his tongue as he grasped a saw and aimed it at Pagma’s soul.

“Braham...!”

Was he going to brutally saw at Pagma’s soul? Grid was about to stop it, only to pause. The saw seemed to be imbued with some type of magical effect and started to slice through Pagma’s soul, but it didn’t cause any direct harm to the soul.

Pagma’s soul was intact. There was only the sound of something invisible being scratched and shaken repeatedly.

“That guy, Baal, was full of malice to the end.”

It was a few days ago—Braham faced the soul of Pagma possessing Kraugel and was horrified. It was because Pagma’s soul was secretly bound to Kraugel’s soul.

At first, he naturally thought it was Pagma’s doing. He thought this damn guy who enjoyed backstabbing others was playing tricks to take away Kraugel’s body. Then he soon calmed down. Pagma wasn’t a great magician like him. It was impossible for a mere blacksmith to cast such a spell in his soul state... Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.

“Perhaps Baal thought you would take away the power contained in Pagma’s soul.”

It was a curse carved into Pagma’s soul. What Baal left behind was a structure that made Pagma’s soul the subject when combined with an object. To put it simply, it was designed to ‘take away the body of the one possessed by Pagma’s soul.’

If such a situation had happened—

It wasn’t only the victim whose body was taken away. Even Pagma, who took over the body, must’ve been in great shock.

‘He would’ve been in deep despair.’

Pagma’s specialty might be to use and betray others, but there was always a good reason for it. He had never betrayed others for his own sake. However, who would’ve trusted Pagma if the situation had gone as Baal intended? Naturally, Pagma would’ve been blamed for the incident. Additionally, the one cutting off Pagma’s head and killing him would've been none other than Braham himself.

“Baal...” Grid learned the inside story and gritted his teeth. He was already in a sensitive state because he just met Baal at the tower. Therefore, he even wanted to swear.

Braham smirked as he felt Pagma’s bewildered soul. “This guy is the greatest hero in history, but he doesn’t know how to pretend. He is honest in most situations.”

It is different from you...

-......

Pagma’s soul fell silent at the words that sounded like accusations toward him. Pagma’s feelings were also conveyed to Braham through the magic saw that was splitting apart the curse on his soul.

Regret.

The hero of the previous era who fought alone because he couldn’t trust anyone—in the name of his cause, he undermined the dignity of others. He committed countless vicious acts in order to confront the demons he couldn’t handle alone, such as damaging other heroes, digging up graves, and binding souls.

The result was this. He finally made a pact with the ruler of demons. Even now, hundreds of years later, he was still cursed. He almost harmed the heroes of the present age.

-I... if I had trusted and relied on you...

Pagma’s trembling voice echoed hollowly in the room. The sadness in his eyes as he looked at Braham grew uncontrollably.

“......”

Braham didn’t reply. He silently concentrated on sawing.

It happened as an awkward silence filled the space...

The curse that had been dwelling in Pagma’s soul was finally completely destroyed.

Braham put down the saw and opened his mouth, “What is the point of regret?”

-......

Pagma’s eyes met Braham’s and he realized it for the first time—Braham’s red, transparent eyes were looking at the present, not the past. He was dismissing the past as something trivial.

“Putting aside my feelings, you did your best in the past. As a result, Grid of the present day saved the world. Isn’t that enough? Don’t tie yourself to meaningless regret and go away.”

They were harsh words. It was close to condemnation. However, Grid knew Braham’s personality well. He was able to interpret the sincerity of the words.

So he selflessly conveyed it, “I can’t say that the choices you made in the past are right. However, it is obvious that Braham and I exist today because of the past you. I don’t dare to judge if you did well or not. Still, I respect and admire your life. Thank you for your hard work. Now rest in peace.”

Even when they met earlier, Grid had fully conveyed his feelings to Pagma. Still, it didn’t matter if he repeated it a few times. Rather, he felt it was lacking.

-......

This was enough comfort for Pagma. There was a faint smile on his face as his soul lost its form and scattered.

[The Legendary Blacksmith, ‘Pagma,’ has ascended.]

[Will you bless him so he is given a new life and is reborn somewhere else in the world?]

Probably—it was likely a hidden effect created by the combination of his status as a god of the surface and his past status as Pagma's Successor.

Grid nodded without hesitation. “Of course, I bless him.”

I’m sorry, and thank you...

The last words from Pagma’s soul soothed even the resentment that had been stagnating deep in Braham’s heart. One silver lining was that it had finally come to a complete end.

Braham spoke as Grid’s heart was feeling warm. “No matter whether it is a daughter or a son.”

“......?”

“My nephew or niece will be raised by my hands. I can’t leave child raising to Marie Rose, who only knows herself.”

“No, what...?”

Grid was about to ask what nonsense Braham was saying when he suddenly shut up. He thought that Braham’s senses must’ve grasped in detail what happened in his bedroom last night.

“Please respect my privacy...”

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