Chapter 42 …
[Black Goblin Shaman’s Soul Orb]
[Grade: Hero]
[Description: A universal orb containing the spirit of a Black Goblin Shaman.
It has extremely high mana sensitivity and draws out the power of essence to increase the potency of magic or shamanic arts.]
[Level Requirement: 30]
[Equip Restriction: Necromancer, Shaman, Mage classes]
[Magic Attack: 190–240]
[Durability: 100 / 100]
[Special Option: Skill Size +10%]
[Special Option: Skill Duration +10%]
[Black Goblin Shaman’s Robe]
[Grade: Hero]
[Description: A black robe worn by a Black Goblin Shaman.
It is enchanted with face-recognition interference magic, making it easy to conceal one’s identity and aiding mana sensitivity.]
[Level Requirement: 30]
[Equip Restriction: None]
[Magic Resistance: 40]
[Durability: 50 / 50]
[Special Option: When the robe’s hood is worn, face-recognition interference mode activates.]
[Special Option: Magic-related skill power +6%]
“Kh…!”
The first thing he checked was, of course, the equipment.
As expected of a Hero-grade secret dungeon, both items that dropped were Hero-tier gear.
And they were even tradable.
‘As expected of a Hero weapon, the performance is no joke.’
First of all, unlike Do-hyun’s greatsword, this one had two special options.
And both were excellent.
Just looking at the Soul Orb’s increases to skill size and duration proved that.
At first glance, 10% might not seem like much—but when experienced firsthand, that 10% was very noticeable.
Even with something like Fireball, a bigger one is obviously easier to hit with than a smaller one.
More than anything, the sheer presence—the style—was on another level.
And…
‘It doesn’t say magic skills.’
It says skill size and duration—not magic or shaman skill size.
Which meant—
‘It can extend bleed duration too.’
Ten seconds plus 10% becomes eleven seconds.
It might sound like just one second, but for a stacking bleed effect, that one second was far from insignificant.
And what if he received a one-minute buff? That was a whole extra six seconds of effect.
He wasn’t sure exactly how the size increase would apply, but there was no way it wouldn’t help.
And what about the robe?
‘Didn’t expect a sub-equipment drop.’
Like many other games, God of All Seasons had the concept of sub-equipment.
If major items like tops, bottoms, and belts were main gear, then items like cloaks and gloves were sub-gear.
(Though why belts counted as main gear was anyone’s guess—but that was the setting.)
Sub-equipment, as the name suggested, mainly supported other gear, so their base performance was usually poor.
Magic resistance was low, and they didn’t even have the usual stat boosts equipment normally provided.
So why did everyone still wear sub-equipment?
Partly for character customization—but usually for the special options.
Items of Rare+ grade and above always came with special options, and those options were like rain during a drought for players.
Sometimes, because of those options, sub-gear could even be more expensive than main equipment.
‘Usually you only get usable ones after level 50…’
He never expected to obtain one while still stuck in the first city of the main continent.
Let alone a Hero-grade sub-equipment.
‘The options are a bit awkward… but it’s not bad.’
It was gear more suited to mages, which was a downside—but for all-master Do-hyun, it wasn’t a problem.
There was no loss thanks to the face-recognition interference, and he might gain magic skills later anyway.
Sub-equipment was something you usually lacked, not rejected—so there was no reason to complain.
‘Weapon Master… what even is this thing?’
He’d forgotten because of Eye of Truth overshadowing it, but Weapon Master was honestly absurd too.
If a trait system like this had existed in Demrock, would he have suffered that much back then?
The thought made his stomach twist, but he soon shook his head.
‘If I say that, I’d have no conscience.’
Thanks to it, he was now fully enjoying benefits he couldn’t back then.
Because of it, he’d found this secret dungeon and obtained these generous rewards.
Since they required level 30, he stored them in his inventory and looked at the next item.
And couldn’t help but frown.
[Trace of the Forgotten Clan]
[Grade: ??]
[Description: A trace of the Forgotten Clan. It is unknown what this is or what it is used for.]
‘What is this?’
A grade marked “??” was something he’d never seen before.
Well—technically he had back in Demrock.
But this felt different.
‘Unidentified items usually show up like this…’
In Demrock, “??” meant an item that simply hadn’t been identified yet.
But this clearly looked like a material item.
Had material items ever been unidentified before? Materials usually couldn’t even be appraised…
It raised many questions, but he had a rough guess.
‘Is it related to the Black Clan?’
The dungeon boss—Jihad Black.
It definitely seemed connected to his clan.
Curious, but not obsessed, Do-hyun tossed it into his inventory.
‘I’ll find out eventually.’
There was no point worrying when there was no way to know right now.
[Remaining Play Time 00:18:26]
‘Not even 20 minutes left… I’ll just check the rewards and log off.’
With time already short, that was the sensible move.
Still, it was more than enough time to check the remaining reward.
‘It was a card, right?’
God of All Seasons really loved cards.
Skill packs were cards. Enchantment scrolls were cards. Even defeated bosses recorded in the Adventure Log appeared as cards.
‘If it’s a monster card… probably an enchantment material.’
Monster cards were usually used for enchantments or magical materials.
The rarer the card, the higher the enchantment grade or material rarity.
A Legendary boss card could sell for millions of won.
No wonder miners called them diamonds of the grinding world.
For players who farmed junk items, nothing was better.
‘Hero named boss… maybe I can get 2–3 million won?’
Do-hyun felt a bit excited.
Just one monster card was worth at least that much.
Since he couldn’t even enchant yet, he planned to sell it for cash.
Technically, this would be the first time he earned money in God of All Seasons.
‘Nice. Beef tonight.’
With that expectation, he checked the reward—
[Jihad Black Card]
[Grade: Hero]
[Description: A card containing the soul of Jihad Black, master of the secret dungeon Black Goblin Shaman’s Hideout.
When used, he is summoned as a Guardian and the card disappears.]
“…Huh?”
Do-hyun froze.
He had no choice.
“…Guardian?”
It was completely unexpected.
This was the moment Do-hyun obtained his first Guardian.
* * *
Guardian.
True to the name, Guardians in God of All Seasons protected the player.
The typical examples were Salamanders used by fire mages or Golems favored by alchemists.
Usually, fragile classes adopted them to compensate for their weaknesses.
By that logic, every ranged user and support should have used Guardians—
—but reality was the opposite.
“Guardian? Not bad… but kind of disappointing in many ways.”
“That money pit? I’d rather buy another piece of gear.”
“Hard to get a decent one, hard to raise… and they don’t even listen well. Raising one is just pure stress.”
The concept of Guardians was good.
The problem was practicality.
Getting a useful Guardian was like picking a star from the sky—and they cost an absurd amount of money to raise.
There were many complaints, but the decisive reason was simple.
“What are you even going to do with something like a Salamander or Golem?”
They were just too weak.
There were only a few officially obtainable Guardians, and while usable early on, they couldn’t even function properly as meat shields in the late game.
And since there were so few types, their counter-strategies were well known.
Could you make them strong by giving them gear and training Guardian skills?
“Well… they do get stronger… barely.”
“Spend tens of millions tuning it and it’s still trash. What, you think it’ll turn into a Benz?”
Better than nothing—but Guardians had clear limits.
Of course, not all Guardians were like that.
“You need something like Cheonoecheon’s Pegasus to call it a Guardian.”
“Man… what about the Empress’s Void? That thing was insane.”
Occasionally, there were exceptions.
Creatures that made you gasp the moment you saw them—both in style and performance.
Unlike normal Guardians chosen by users, these chose their masters.
They were called spirit beasts… or divine beasts.
Extremely rare—rarer than winning the lottery.
“Like Yongyong and Hosik that Bora-ajusshi used to have.”
Back in Demrock days, Purple Taste’s companions were like that.
True to a man of capital and effort, he had poured enormous grinding into Guardians—and succeeded in obtaining incredible ones.
Their power was one thing, but their appearance had been so cool that Do-hyun had secretly envied them.
“…Yeah. They were all ridiculously cool.”
As expected of divine beasts, their style was unmatched.
And more than that—
Unlike ordinary Guardians that communicated only through simple gestures, divine beasts could deeply bond with their masters.
For someone with terrible luck like Do-hyun, who had never once been chosen—
—they had always been out of reach.
And now, that once-distant prize appeared before him.
[Guardian Window]
[Owned Guardians]
– Jihad Black
Kireuk…? Kiruk…
“….”
Skin darker than a black cat.
With the robe gone, the goblin’s sly face and small body were fully exposed.
Jihad Black made the unpleasant goblin noises while blankly looking around.
When their eyes met, the creature startled and stepped back.
—W-what is this place…? Gah! Y-you!?
“….”
—You demonic human! I don’t know what trick you used, but you won’t even let me rest in death! Fine! Back then I couldn’t use my true power, but now it’s different. I’ll awaken the forbidden power within me—huh? W-what? Why do I feel nothing!?
Watching Jihad Black ramble in panic, rage, and despair all by himself, Do-hyun seriously wondered—
‘…This thing is supposed to be a divine beast?’
