Episode 96
096. A Troublesome Item
golden handed Baragi, as if to show his answer through action rather than words, dashed toward the monsters once more.
And the moment he slashed a monster with his enhanced longsword, a new message appeared before Geumson.
[The system is impressed by your devoted actions.]
[For the duration of the quest, 5% of the contribution points earned by players you have engraved will be shared with you.]
‘Hoh, this is pretty good.’
A satisfied smile spread across golden hand’s lips.
With this, contribution points would roll in automatically just by enhancing players’ equipment. The more he did it, the more he benefited—a structure that worked entirely in his favor.
‘I can raise the level of Korean players too… Two birds with one stone?’
Smiling, Geumson glanced at the players around him. The hesitant players. To them, golden hands said just one thing.
“First come, first served.”
With those words, the players began rushing in like mad. Free weapon enhancement. No Lepyon player could pass up such an event, even if there was a risk of their equipment being destroyed upon failure.
“It was real! It wasn’t a scam!”
“Me too! Enhance mine too!”
“Form a line! A line! Don’t push! I said don’t push!”
In an instant, hundreds of players swarmed around golden hand like a cloud. Iron Worker and Tia were frantic, blocking the monsters charging toward them.
“Next.”
golden hand continued his work mechanically, yet without a single error. The live stream’s chat window was in chaos.
└ Wow, insane… Is that engraving speed for real?
└ Is that even possible? Just enchanting bare-handed without a scroll?
└ I’ve never seen a method where you hammer inscriptions in! Any blacksmiths here, answer me! Can all blacksmiths do that?
└ As if they could! I want to do that too! Why can’t I?
└ As expected of Geumson… He’s on a different level.
The chat was flooded with messages of astonishment and shock. The method golden hand was showing completely overturned conventional wisdom.
“This shield has a durability problem. Engraving ‘Sturdiness’ should do it.”
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[The ‘Sturdiness’ effect is applied via ‘Magic Inscription Art’.]
[The skill ‘Magic Inscription Art’ has reached Lv.4.]
[Defense and Durability increase by 20%.]
[A ‘Knockback’ effect is applied with a 50% chance when defending.]
“This staff has an unstable magic flow. It seems to need a ‘Stabilization’ inscription.”
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[The ‘Stabilization’ effect is applied via ‘Magic Inscription Art’.]
[Magic success rate increases by 30%.]
[The ‘Magic Circulation’ effect is applied, returning 10% of magic upon skill use.]
[The skill ‘Magic Inscription Art’ has reached Lv.5.]
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The equipment that passed through golden hands hands each exhibited power incomparable to before. Intoxicated by their new strength, the players began slaughtering monsters much faster than before. Accordingly, Golden Hand contribution points began to skyrocket.
[Airtos Defense Battle Contribution Ranking]
10th Place: Golden Hand – 614,200P
golden hand contribution points had surged instantly, climbing from 51st place to 10th. There was still a long way to go to catch up to Kang Moojin in 1st place, but it seemed only a matter of time. All he needed to do was enhance more players’ equipment. Moreover, a new message appeared before golden hand eyes.
[Your level has increased! Lv.74]
His level had risen just from enhancing players’ equipment. Thanks to Iron Worker and Tia diligently hunting monsters for him. It was practically auto-hunting.
‘Now I’m finally making proper use of Iron Worker.’
He looked proudly at Iron Worker and Tia, who were fighting battles and earning experience on his behalf. On top of that, players were also hunting hard, earning contribution points for him. It seemed a virtuous cycle was properly established.
It was then that a man stood before golden hand. A man with a deep hood pulled over his robe. His face wasn’t clearly visible, but he didn’t seem like a player.
‘A scent of… roses?’
The man, emanating a floral scent ill-suited for a battlefield, watched the active Iron Worker and remarked, “Ah, ego golems are quite useful, aren’t they? I was a bit surprised. To have such freedom and loyalty… But an Elementia is a bit troublesome… Hmm.”
golden hand’s head instinctively turned toward the man. Those who could accurately call Iron Worker an ‘ego golem’ were few and far between. Moreover, this man precisely knew Tia’s true identity. The man then held out an item to Geumson.
“Player Golden Hand? I’m curious if this can be enhanced as well. It’s a somewhat cherished item of mine…”
The man, who didn’t call him an ‘Outsider’ but precisely a ‘Player’, carefully presented a single item. The moment Geumson received it, he instantly recognized it as an extraordinary object.
‘This is… Ancient grade, isn’t it?’
The item the man handed over was a bracelet of the formidable Ancient grade—a tier players could scarcely even glimpse, let alone obtain. Someone who would casually hand such an item to Geumson.
‘A high-ranking wizard of Airtos?’
Perhaps a high-ranking official of the Magic Tower. They knew golden hand name, his precise designation as a Player, and even possessed knowledge of magical engineering. If it were them, it made perfect sense. Moreover, his speech was remarkably polite, unlike other NPCs.
But it didn’t matter. The problem was the item the man presented. The issue was that this item was quite troublesome.
“It’s… a cursed item.”
What he presented was the ‘Bracelet of Debilitation, Afflicted by a Curse’, emitting a sinister black energy—a cursed item with the fatal penalty of reducing all stats by 50% when equipped.
[Bracelet of Debilitation]
Grade: Ancient
Effects:
[Absolute Defense] – Perfectly defends against one attack that the wearer does not perceive.
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※ This item is afflicted by the Curse of Debilitation. All stats are reduced by 50%.
The option on the bracelet the man presented was groundbreaking. Even golden hand found it tempting. It could nullify an attack from an assassin that one might not even perceive before dying.
However, the curse effect. Considering the curse, this was not an item a player could use. Moreover, attempting to remove a curse from such an item was often dangerous in itself. Careless tampering with a cursed item could cause the curse to transfer entirely to the artisan. Thus, murmurs erupted even from the surrounding players watching the spectacle.
“Crazy, isn’t that a cursed item? He wants that enhanced?”
“Is that NPC sane? Is he trying to screw Geumson over?”
“What a vicious guy. Does he think curse removal is cheap, asking for it for free?”
The players naturally assumed golden hand would refuse. The notoriety of cursed items was known to anyone who played Lepyon. However, an intrigued smile instead appeared on Geumson’s lips.
‘This… seems worth trying.’
To golden hand eyes, the structure of the curse and the flow of magic imbued in the bracelet were laid bare through ‘Intuition of Resolve’ and ‘Insight into the Flow’. They were intricately tangled, but clear gaps to pry into existed.
‘I had a skill I wanted to test anyway. Good material.’
The assessment was already complete. It was worth a try. In fact, he should do it now. It was an opportunity to improve his skill as a blacksmith.
“Of course.”
At golden hand’s unwavering answer, the eyes within the man’s hood trembled slightly. But golden hand hands remained steady. After analyzing the item with Intuition of Resolve and Insight into the Flow, he used a skill.
‘Inscription Removal!’
The ultimate skill to selectively remove only unwanted inscriptions. The skill Geumson had wanted to test. The message that appeared the moment he used Inscription Removal:
[Using the skill ‘Inscription Removal’.]
[Do you wish to remove ‘Curse of Debilitation’?]
No need to even answer. He simply moved his magic through will. Then, light blooming from his palm enveloped the bracelet. Black smoke rose from the bracelet, and a sound like a pained shriek erupted.
Kyaaaak-
[Holy Power clears your mind.]
[You resist mental-type attacks due to the influence of the ‘Dark’ attribute.]
[You resist the status ailment ‘Oblivion’.]
[‘Inscription Removal’ succeeded!]
[The ‘Curse of Debilitation’ has been removed.]
[The ‘Void Inscription’ effect activates!]
[1 additional enchantment slot is unlocked.]
The resistance from the curse engraved on the bracelet seemed fierce, but it had no particular effect on golden hand. He was sufficiently fortified against mental attacks. Thus, he immediately followed with the next skill without pause.
‘Magic Inscription Art!’
Without hesitation, golden hand engraved a new inscription into the empty slot. A blue light leaving golden hand fingertips. As it touched the bracelet, a message appeared.
[Magic Inscription successful!]
[Grand Success effect activates.]
[A new ability has been bestowed upon the bracelet.]
[Item name changed to ‘Bracelet of Retribution’.]
[When the ‘Absolute Defense’ effect activates, the ‘Divine Punishment’ effect is used.]
[Divine Punishment: Calls down an unavoidable lightning strike upon the attacker.]
[The skill ‘Magic Inscription Art’ has reached Lv.6.]
‘Divine Punishment, huh… A crazy effect. If you attack once carelessly, you’d have to be prepared to die right then and there.’
Unavoidable lightning. Truly, divine punishment. It meant anyone who first attacked the wearer had to be ready to be struck by lightning falling from the sky. Even golden hand coveted such an item effect. And it seemed the man who received the item back felt the same way.
