Episode 83
083. Two Messages
Astrid nodded with a bitter smile at golden hand’s tireless passion. Geumson immediately headed outside the cottage, making his way to a small herb garden cultivated on one side of the floating island. The garden was full of herbs personally tended by Astrid. Using his ‘Gathering’ skill, golden hand’s began harvesting the herbs one by one.
[You have gathered ‘Herb of Tranquility’.]
[The ‘Gathering’ skill has reached Lv.5.]
[You have gathered ‘Sunbeam Mushroom’.]
[The effect of ‘Divine Dexterity’ increases the gathered amount by 15%.]
[The ‘Gathering’ skill has reached Lv.6.]
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His skill levels rose even faster, likely due to the proficiency bonus. A smile played on golden hand’s lips because there were still many herbs left to gather in the garden.
But at that very moment.
A message that disrupted golden hand’s focus.
It was different from the usual ones.
[World Message]
[The King is dead.]
[Player Kang Moo-jin has defeated the Nightmare King.]
[A player’s treason has succeeded.]
[The Nightmare King’s territory is now owned by the ‘Reverse Heaven’ Guild.]
golden hand stopped what he was doing and stared at the message. A smile was fixed on his lips.
‘He finally did it, Kang Moo-jin.’
The ‘Moonlight Venom Serpent Sword’ had finally proven its true worth. Kang Moo-jin’s success would elevate the status of the entire Korean server and serve as a signal flare to stimulate top rankers worldwide. And then, the Panteria Guild came to mind.
‘The Panteria Guild will go nuts when they see this message. I need to make it quickly.’
He had already finalized the design for the item. After quickly depositing the gathered herbs at Astrid’s cottage, Golden Hand settled in a nearby clearing. He wasn’t constrained by space for crafting. So, he immediately began his work.
‘Giant’s Forge, open.’
[Hidden System ‘Master Craftsman’s Workshop’ Lv.2]
[New Crafting System ‘Giant’s Forge’ is now available.]
Rumble—
golden hand’s field of vision began to distort.
At that moment, the reaction on “Repinet” went without saying. It was news of , Kang Moo-jin’s—exploits after a long time.
[Title: (Breaking) Kang Moo-jin succeeds in world-first ‘Nightmare King’ raid! Long live Korea!]
Author: President of Kang Moo-jin Fanclub
Content:
Did everyone just see the World Message? Our Moo-jin hyung did it!
The ‘Nightmare King’, a boss even the American Panteria bastards were struggling with—a peer of the Lich King—our Moo-jin hyung tore it apart in an instant!
This is the class of Korea!
This is Moo-jin class!
Everyone, scream!
└ Wow… That’s insane. Kang Moo-jin! Kang Moo-jin! Kang Moo-jin!
└ But what does the “treason succeeded” message mean?
└ It’s right there in the message, ownership transfers. Probably means he can collect taxes or something, right? Kang Moo-jin is gonna be a tycoon in Lepione too. When you’re destined for greatness, you’re destined.
└ Is that important? Just scream first! Graah! National pride is surging!
└ Who cares about that! Our brother is the best in the world!
└ But hey… wasn’t that ultimately thanks to the ‘Moonlight Venom Serpent Sword’ Geumson made? Carried by gear, huh.
└ Gear is skill too. Anyway, now the Korean server is world #1!
└ I wish the Yeokcheon Guild would clean up around Airtos a bit though… There are too many monsters lately!
└ True, I died near Airtos a few days ago too. Does that make sense near a city?
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All the top posts on Repinet began to be dominated by articles about Kang Moo-jin. But amidst that atmosphere, another ‘World Message’ appeared.
[World Message]
[Player Golden Hands has successfully crafted the Ancient-grade ‘Colossal Chain of Silence’.]
An unexpected piece of news. With that news, a game of wits began on Repinet. Geumson, Kang Moo-jin, and even Panteria. All sorts of speculative articles began to flood in, aiming to seize the top spots on Repinet’s best posts list.
Two World Messages, detonated with a time gap. It was like pouring oil onto the Repinet that was already heating up with Kang Moo-jin’s news. Now, Repinet wasn’t just blazing—it was on the verge of explosion.
Repinet’s boards almost crashed several times under the runaway traffic. Posts were updating by the millisecond, and at the center were invariably two names.
[Title: The Korean Server Conquers the World! The Era of Kang Moo-jin & Golden Hands Begins!]
[Title: Golden Hands & Kang Moo-jin, heroes are coming forth, bring wine and meat! lol]
[Title: Detailed info for Golden Hands crafted ‘Colossal Chain of Silence’ revealed! (Data warning)]
[Title: Panteria’s Cain? Who’s that again? I only know Kang Moo-jin! lol]
[Title: At this rate, who has more influence in Lepione, Kang Moo-jin vs Geumson? (Poll in progress)]
[Title: But honestly, isn’t Golden Hands more impressive? King Moo-jin is carried by gear.]
[Title: Kang Moo-jin fanclub here ↑↑↑ Tracking the IP of the guy who wrote that.]
[Title: But why hasn’t golden-handed turned on his stream again? Enjoying this historic moment aloneㅠ]
[Title: [Urgent] This ‘Colossal Chain of Silence’… isn’t it tailor-made for the Lich King? O.O]
[Title: Golden Hands Traitor Theory.txt (feat. Panteria)]
[Title: (Fact Check) Custom boss weapons now! Acknowledge the Golden Hands Premium?]
[Title: So, how much is he gonna sell that chain for? What do you guys think?]
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The Korean players were in a mood of soaring euphoria. The boards were a sea of praise for the two. However, the publicly revealed stats of the ‘Colossal Chain of Silence’—which Golden Hands had set to public—began to become problematic.
[Colossal Chain of Silence]
Grade: Ancient
Crafter: Golden Hand
Level Requirement: Lv. 100+
Effects:
[Shackles of the Earth]: Upon use, imbues a target with the weight of a giant, inflicting ‘Overburdened’ status. (Movement & Attack Speed reduced by 20%)
[Domain of Silence]: Upon use, enemies within a 50m radius are suppressed by a sealing aura, reducing magic cast speed by 15%.
[Barrier Collapse]: Hurls the chain to ensnare a single target’s magic barrier. For 1 minute, reduces the barrier’s defense to 0, and the target cannot move while the barrier is maintained. (Cooldown: 30 minutes)
Description: A colossal chain forged solely to shatter and silence magic, combining the pure weight of a Giant’s Heartstone with the magical-suppressing properties of Sealing Chain fragments.
As soon as the item’s information was revealed, the atmosphere on Repinet grew even more heated. The first to react were the top-rankers and raid strategy experts.
└ [HunterToday]: Insane… Are those stats for real? Especially ‘Barrier Collapse’—that’s totally broken, isn’t it??
└ [RaidManiac]: Guys, doesn’t it click when you look at it? That’s a perfect counter-item for the Lich King!
└ [USKorean]: OMG, true. What’s the difference between a ‘magic barrier’ and an ‘Absolute Magic Shield’? It neutralizes it for 1 minute? With just this, Panteria could take down the Lich King and then some.
└ [NatPrideRising]: Wait, so he’s selling that to the Americans? Is he crazy?
└ [PatriotOnly]: golden-handed is a complete traitor scum. Why is he selling a Korean server item to foreigners?
└ [FactBomber]: Calm down, patriots. And even if he sells it, there’s no guarantee Panteria will take down the Lich King.
└ [Anonymous]: Why not? It’s a completely OP item.
└ [RaidManiac]: It has a 30-minute cooldown, idiot. If you can’t kill the Lich King within that 1 minute, you’re just a sandbag for the next 30. Do you think they can survive that?
└ [Analyst]: True point. That item opens up the ‘possibility’ of a Lich King strategy, it doesn’t ‘guarantee’ it.
└ [LifeIsTrap]: lol What if they get cocky trying to kill the Lich King and the whole guild gets wrecked? lol
└ [Golden Hand Baragi]: As expected from our brother… The big picture is insane. A major American guild has to watch our brother’s mood now? Is that it? Really?
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Repinet instantly split into two factions, engaging in fierce debate. The ‘Patriotic Faction’ claimed selling the item to Panteria was an outflow of national wealth and treason. The ‘Pragmatic Faction’ shouted about free-market economics, asking where national borders were in game item trading.
Their arguments provided fodder for days of endless discussion. But Geumson, the very center of all this commotion, was simply focused on magic and potion crafting back in Astrid’s cottage.
[A personal message has arrived from ‘☆†TeamLeaderYu-kyung†☆’.]
“It really is Ancient-grade… I saw the World Message, but it was true. But are you really okay with just handing this over?”
Geumson had already sent the ‘Colossal Chain of Silence’ to Cha Yu-kyung via Lepione system. This was her message after confirming it.
Cha Yu-kyung, who had just passed level 30. With help from the Future Group’s supported ranker players, she too had leveled up quickly. However, the more she played Lepyon, the more acutely she felt the absurd value of the items golden hands produced.
Ancient-grade.
It was a rarity so extreme that, across all servers of Lepyon, officially confirmed ones could be counted on one hand. And Geumson had handed over such an item as casually as sending a bag of snacks from the local supermarket.
