Episode 63
063. Why Are You Eating That?
RUMBLE—
[Stone Golem defeated.]
“That’s how easily you can take them down. You all can do it too!”
His combat wasn’t flashy, but it was ruthlessly efficient and precise.
Viewers couldn’t hold back their astonishment at Gold-Hand’s play.
└ Whoa, is that even possible? Hitting weak points that accurately…
└ Hitting with a hammer… and dealing that much damage to a specter? Is this real?
└ What’s that hammer? Why is it nullifying all magic?
└ Guys, that’s the hammer the admin gave him. Even if you see it, you can’t replicate it.
└ OMG… So, is this a rigged stream? Gold-Hand, explain the truth! Explain!
Ridiculous comments occasionally popped up, but they were quickly suppressed by other viewers.
Geumson glanced at the chat window while continuing his hunt.
[Level increased! Lv. 39]
[Level increased! Lv. 40]
.
.
.
[Level increased! Lv. 47]
Even while streaming, his leveling didn’t stop.
Viewers were amazed by his insane leveling speed.
└ Is that EXP gain speed for real?
└ Is there like a 10x EXP event there or something?
└ Nah, it’s First Discoverer buff + level difference difficulty adjustment + Gold-Hand’s insane hunting speed.
└ Bro, do you even sleep?
Gold-Hand only stopped hammering after clearing over half of the city.
A long, monotonous hunting stream—yet viewers found it entertaining enough that the viewer count had surpassed 100,000.
“Hoo… I’ll stop here for today. Thank you for watching.”
Without hesitation, Geumson delivered the stream ending remark.
The chat instantly filled with regret and admiration.
└ Ah, no! Don’t go!
└ Bro! Show us more!
└ Whoa, he’s really sharing everything. This was an all-time great stream.
└ I wanna go to that dungeon soon too.
└ Explain! Gold-Hand, explain!
└ But how are we supposed to follow that? Do we need to pick up hammers too?
└ Seems like hammers are the meta?
└ Bro, when are you coming back? Stream more often!
.
.
.
Viewers poured out regret-filled comments, but he pressed the end stream button without a second thought.
“Hoo, streaming really is exhausting.”
Geumson sat down and caught his breath.
The fatigue seemed to double because of the stream.
He closed his eyes briefly, reviewing the battles once more.
‘As I thought… I’m lacking defense against mental attacks. I need to modify my items to increase resistance.’
He opened his inventory and checked the materials he had gathered.
‘Among the materials I have, something usable….’
[Earth-Shattering Fang]
[Vibration-Sensing Scale]
[Corrosive Venom Sac]
[Corrupted Earth Heartstone]
.
.
.
[Frostbite Assassin’s Dagger] [Unique]
[Shadow Tracker’s Boots] [Rare]
“Ah, I had this! This should work.”
The items obtained from PK-God-Tte.
He planned to dismantle the Frostbite Assassin’s Dagger to extract materials.
But the very moment he was about to draw out the essence’s power—
– Tii-yah!
Tia, who had been sleeping in Geumson’s embrace, crawled out swiftly and, with lightning speed, snatched the ‘Frostbite Assassin’s Dagger’ from his hand and swallowed it in one gulp.
CHOMP— CHOMP—
CHOMP— CHOMP—
“……Huh?”
Gold-Hand’s mouth hung open in a daze.
Right before his eyes, a Unique-grade rare item was being destroyed—becoming a snack for a tiny baby bird.
– Gulp. Tii~
Tia, who seemed to like the ‘Frostbite Assassin’s Dagger’, even let out a satisfied burp.
Stunned by the absurd sight, Gold-Hand froze.
‘What did I just see? Am I dreaming?’
With a hollow expression, Geumson alternated between staring at his empty hand and Tia, who was patting her belly.
He had just witnessed a Unique-grade item shattering like a cookie crumb.
It’s a Unique. Practically like watching ten million won get deleted right before my eyes.
It felt utterly unreal.
But the message floating before his eyes seemed to confirm that what he saw wasn’t an illusion.
[The Fantastical Elementia ‘Tia’ absorbs the attributes of ‘Frostbite Assassin’s Dagger’.]
[A new attribute, ‘Darkness’, blossoms within Tia.]
[Darkness attribute increases by 1%.]
[Current Attributes]
[Flame: 31%], [Darkness: 1%]
Geumson stared blankly at the message.
Then, he suddenly recalled Tia’s traits.
– Traits:
Attribute Absorption: Absorbs all elemental energy and makes it her own power.
Solar Affinity: When with her owner, growth speed increases by 100%, and shares the effects of absorbed attributes with Gold-Hand.
‘So this… is how Tia absorbs?’
He roughly grasped the situation.
And the second item of her traits also caught his eye—the one about sharing absorbed attributes.
“Darkness attribute? That means it applies to me too!”
The Flame attribute was likely due to the heat used during hatching.
But he was curious about what effects the Darkness attribute would have.
Geumson quickly opened Tia’s info window to check the newly acquired attribute.
[Attribute: Darkness]
Effect 1: Can detect intangible entities nearby and exert a faint influence on their minds.
Effect 2: When receiving a mental-type attack, has a 10% chance to absorb the attack and convert it into own magic.
Gold-Hand quietly pondered the details.
A conclusion soon followed.
“This is… amazing, isn’t it?”
An exclamation burst from Gold-Hand’s lips.
Losing one Unique material was regrettable.
For an average player, it would be an event serious enough to make them quit «Lepyon».
But not for Gold-Hand.
In fact, the new ability Tia gained from a single Unique item more than compensated for its value.
Moreover, an ability that activates upon receiving mental-type attacks.
It seemed there would also be effects that increase resistance to mental attacks.
‘Now I get it. This is how Tia grows.’
It wasn’t just about eating EXP and leveling up.
Tia was an existence that, by consuming substances imbued with special power, made that power her own and evolved endlessly.
Furthermore, she shared that ability with Gold-Hand.
In short, the stronger Tia became, the stronger Gold-Hand would become.
An ability that needed no explanation—the best kind.
‘Wait… will she eat this too?’
With a satisfied expression, Geumson took out the ‘Shadow Tracker’s Boots’ and offered them to Tia.
“Tia? Wanna try eating this too? It might be… tasty?”
Tia showed interest in the ‘Shadow Tracker’s Boots’ Gold-Hand offered.
Despite her satisfied face, it seemed she wasn’t full.
She sneakily approached the boots.
Poke poke—
Tia pecked at them a few times with her beak.
But then—
– Tii! Tii-it! Tii—
She actually got angry.
Her expression seemed to complain as if she’d been given something inedible.
“But this is Rare…? It’s Rare grade, and you won’t eat it?”
*- Tii-it! Tii—
Tia, getting angry for no reason.
It seemed she had a picky palate and wouldn’t touch anything below Unique grade.
“It’s not… because they’re boots, right? They don’t smell? They’re basically brand new.”
Gold-Hand was saying something absurd.
It seemed certain that Tia wouldn’t eat anything below Unique grade.
‘Unique grade, huh… I’ll have to make them diligently for her.’
Unique-grade items were things that fetched at least ten million won on the exchange or auction house.
An average player would struggle to afford growing Tia.
But Gold-Hand was different.
He could just make them himself.
“Huh? Wait…”
Something seemed to occur to Gold-Hand.
He picked up his hammer.
Then, he swung it directly at the ‘Shadow Tracker’s Boots’.
CRACK—
Simultaneously, a message appeared.
[The ‘Extraction’ skill from the Alchemist’s Secret Manual – Extraction Volume and the effect of the achievement ‘Destructive Artisan’ synergize.]
[Extracts ‘Darkness Essence’ from ‘Shadow Tracker’s Boots’!]
[Shadow Tracker’s Boots have been destroyed.]
The ‘Shadow Tracker’s Boots’ melted under Gold-Hand’s hammering, leaving behind a single black crystal.
A tiny, fingernail-sized black crystal.
He offered it to Tia.
“Tia? How about this?”
CHOMP—
Tia happily accepted and ate it.
Though she looked like she wanted more, Gold-Hand just patted her head and checked the rising message.
[Darkness attribute increases by 0.5%.]
‘She won’t eat Rare items, but she’ll eat extracted crystals. Seems efficient, doesn’t it?’
This confirmed it.
Tia devours Unique-grade items whole.
But for anything below, she only consumes the extracted essence.
‘I’d need more experiments to be sure, but… this is broken.’
An ability so remarkable it made Gold-Hand click his tongue.
He had underestimated Tia’s abilities too much.
He’d thought of her merely as a cute little bird.
But the potential Tia possessed was beyond imagination.
‘What if this item-devouring ability also works during combat? This could be… really useful.’
Tia was no longer just a cute baby bird.
She had proven herself why she was ‘Mythic’ grade, why she was a ‘Fantastical’ existence.
“Still, Tia, you can’t just go out and eat anything without permission. Understood?”
– Tii….
Though adorable, she needed to be scolded when necessary.
After all, he had unexpectedly lost the ‘Frostbite Assassin’s Dagger’ to Tia.
If that item had been a crucial quest item or something commissioned, it would’ve been a real problem.
This was to prevent such incidents beforehand.
“But I’ll give you lots of tasty things, so from now on, eat only after getting permission. Okay?”
*- Tii-it!
“Worker? Worker!”
Tia answered energetically, and even the Worker nearby chimed in for no reason.
Looking at the two, Geumson smiled, brushed himself off, and stood up.
He had intended to modify his items, but now there was no need.
