Chapter 28

In ‘Revenge’, there was no typical skill tree where players could choose skills to determine their character’s growth path. For example, if a holy knight had rare-tier divine attack skills and high-tier tanking skills, would that mean they were specializing in offensive skills?

No, not at all.

It simply meant that the player couldn’t afford to buy the tanking skills due to lack of money.

‘It differs from conventional MMORPGs. If forced to compare…it leans more towards a collectible RPG game.’

Ultimately, as any skill can be bought with enough money, characters end up becoming similar. Therefore, what truly determined a character’s growth direction in Revenge were stats and equipment. Character development involved choosing among various stats and gear options based on one’s desired playstyle.

Even if it was the same sword character, equipping with strength and additional attack options made them a dealer, while equipping with health, damage reduction, auto-heal options turned them into a dealertank. Revenge might be famous for its lack of freedom but there was still some flexibility available.

‘Of course, there are classes where equipment selection is forced.’

For example, my current Sword King (Hero) class. Classes called ‘Swordsman’ or ‘Blademaster’ were too dependent on critical hit stats, making it impossible to focus on other stats. If a blademaster chose different stats, it meant they had no choice as their critical hit stat couldn’t increase any further.

‘And it is clear where this direction leads.’

The dream and hope of all sword class players. The ultimate goal they wanted to reach: Critical Hit Rate 100%.

“Log out.”

I returned to the convenience store and searched the job board.

[Title]: Sword Saint… Achieved 100% Critical Hit Chance!

It seems like I have passed through a long…long…tunnel…

Recently, there has been too much increase in kri jobs (especially Jinchang Geoma). As a result, the prices for kri accessories have risen excessively, and with the special effect of needing 5% kri from the Lv. 9 skill, I keep slipping… (sobbing).

Ah! Why aren’t my kri engravings appearing?! Others say they are getting them easily, but mine always show strength enhancement!

Anyway, regardless of all that…I finally got it!

Oh, reaching 100% kri truly opens up a new world. It feels like an orgasm while hunting. It is on another level compared to 95%. Since monsters also use skills, whether the first strike lands as critical damage or not becomes a significant issue.

Moreover, with matching accessories (earrings and rings) for attack speed, Cheonkyum-Hundred Simultaneous Cuts can be triggered once every 10 seconds!

Behold my incredible Sword Saint prowess, mowing down enemies with just one sword!

“Ah, suddenly feeling envious of the Sword Saint…”

While searching about critical hits, I stumbled upon a post about the Sword Saint, causing me sudden stomach pain. It’s inevitable since I’ve already meticulously spent 10 million won.

“Well, even without Sword Saint, it is still quite strong. It’s unfortunate that Cheonkyum isn’t available but just maintaining buffs alone makes it considerable… I focused on other specs instead of kri.”

Ultimately, stats and equipment determined Revenge’s growth direction. And my chosen concept was very simple:

“Strength.”

In Revenge, if a warrior increased their strength, only their close combat damage would increase. Of course, damage is crucial in RPGs as both alpha and omega of character specifications, but that’s all there is to it.

However, reality differs significantly. Strength encompasses the contraction and relaxation abilities of muscles, serving as the foundation and pinnacle of physical functions, setting the limits for all human athletic capabilities.

With exceptional strength, ordinary humans could lift weights previously deemed impossible. But that’s not all; with immense strength, one can jump higher, faster, crush stones merely by gripping them, and so much more. In the context of Revenge, increasing strength enhances attack speed, movement velocity, offensive power, evasion—

If strength was strong, one could jump higher and faster, even crushing stones with just their grip. In a revenge-style manner, increasing strength alone increased attack speed, movement speed, attack power, and evasion ability, making it incredibly important.

I checked the status window:

ID: Han Jaeyeon

Class: Sword King (Hero)

Title: Novice Adventurer (General)

Level: 35

Strength: 120 (+296)

Stamina: 49 (+120)

Health: 62 (+179)

Agility: 52 (+180)

Mana: 1 (+75)

Magic Power: 1 (+25)

Magic Resistance: 1 (+15)

Recovery: 100 (+15)

Mana Recovery: 21 (+11)

Luck: 10

Free Stats: 0

Condition: Normal

Finally, I ended up with over 400 strength points. It was comparable to a guild master level bodybuilder’s strength. Furthermore… if Cheddar’s buff (Strength, Stamina, Health, Agility +5) stacked 20 times, it would exceed 500 stats.

‘Oh my god. Five hundred stats.’

If 400 points of strength were equivalent to a guild master-level bodybuilder…

Then 500 points clearly surpassed their stats.

“A creature with over five hundred strength… What could it be? Cheddar!”

“Meow.”

I petted Cheddar as he swiftly jumped onto the counter. Searching on Wiki immediately brought up results.

“The strength of an adult ogre is five hundred points…”

On Earth, they would be tourist attractions in museums or magic beast parks, but their monstrous strength is well-known. They are beasts among beasts, standing between 4.5 to 6 meters tall!

“So, with human-sized proportions, I can wield this much strength… However, these specs seem limited to Ardenia.”

The effects of classes, skills, collections, and gatekeepers apply even in reality. Thanks to them, my physical abilities and psionic powers have become incomparable to what they were before. Yet, not all effects are visible in the real world.

‘Firstly, I cannot bring pets here. But that’s not a problem. The real issue lies with…equipment.’

Equipment was both the beginning and end of Revenge specs. No matter how great your class, level, or gatekeepers were, it would all be an illusion without adequate equipment to support them.

Two earrings, two rings, two bracelets, belt, necklace, helmet, top, bottom… The total sum of my gear was impressive. Above all, in reality, I couldn’t receive any bonuses for attack power and defense due to lacking equipment.

‘It happens because only my physical body is shared between Earth and Ardenia.’

I wondered if wearing equipment in Ardenia might apply in reality, but it remained just wishful thinking.

‘Well, there’s nothing I can do about that. Just need to avoid making mistakes due to the difference in physical abilities between Earth and Ardenia.’

Having organized my thoughts, I looked around the convenience store and muttered:

“Login.”

At that moment, the deserted convenience store with no customers transformed…

“Take him down! Knock him over! Push him!”

“Pull! Pull! Pull!”

“Why aren’t you doing it from behind?!”

Into a battlefield filled with countless goblins shouting aggressively.

“Remove his armor! It’s too hard to inflict any wounds like this!”

“There are no gaps in the armor! Even a spear can’t penetrate!”

“It won’t come off! There are no screws or straps on this armor! What is this?!?”

The goblins, unable to push or pull me effectively, started trying to strip off my armor by clinging all over my body. However, they were equally unsuccessful.

‘They can’t possibly remove it.’

The rough strength mithril armor was a type of full-body armor. In common terms, it is known as full plate armor, but its structure differs somewhat from reality and Late Medieval full body armors. It literally covered my entire body with one piece of armor!

Actually, this construction didn’t make sense. It looked seamless and good, but what was the point of such armor? Physically, it couldn’t be worn!

‘But it is possible. Because it is a game item.’

Originally, full body armor consisted of numerous parts, screws, straps, etc., to keep them fixed. However, there were no such things on the rough strength mithril armor. It was natural. Who would implement such details in a game unless they were crazy about accuracy? They would be too busy designing patterns for the armor.

The Revenge full body armor couldn’t be physically worn and once equipped, it was impossible to remove. The structure allowed me to equip it by dragging from the inventory to the status window.

“Sigh…” I ignored the goblins clinging tightly to my body and crouched down.

“Crush him! Crush him!”

“Kill him! Break his entire body!”

The number of approaching goblins steadily increased. It went from just over a dozen to several dozen, then eventually hundreds. I could feel the angry goblins piling up on top of me like a tower.

“Ack! Ack! It hurts! Let go!”

“Argh! I’m being crushed!”

“Keeeee?!”

As the goblin tower became too high, those at the bottom couldn’t bear the weight and started screaming. It wasn’t just screams; some had their bones broken or stomachs burst, leading to death. Despite being foolish, they possessed a fierce madness and murderous intent. However, instead of trembling with fear inside this mass, I pushed off the ground and raised both arms.

Pu---shk!

Have you ever seen popcorn popping? Or heard the sound of popping corn? The goblins flew outwards like that.

“Aaaack?! It exploded! It exploded!”

“It’s a monster! A monster armor!”

“They flew! They flew! Everyone flew away!”

Screams erupted from all directions.

Fwahhh…!

After a moment, blood and flesh rained down from the sky like raindrops.

”…Hmm.”

I stood still for a moment, checking my body condition. The mithril armor didn’t have a single scratch but couldn’t prevent being covered with goblin blood and flesh.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Anyway, monsters turned to dust after dying, leaving only their drops behind. It was uncomfortable having goblin blood soaked through my innerwear, but it would be a temporary issue.

“Fight? Fight? You want to fight that?”

“We have so many! We can overwhelm them by numbers!”

“Then you go first!”

Looking around, I saw the goblins forming a circle around me and arguing amongst themselves. Despite their rage and burning hostility, they were undoubtedly terrified.

“What are you staring at?”

I smiled faintly and raised my sword:

[Sword of Certainty (Advanced) +9]

Weapon Damage +12 (+15)

Strength +1 (+8), Health +1 (+7)

Material: Iron

Weight: 2.1 kilograms

Special Effect: Soul Collector(Middle)

This was my first weapon at strength 9. I didn’t personally upgrade it but bought one that someone else had already upgraded.

‘I wanted to get a rare-grade item but…’

Unfortunately, the cost for rare weapons wasn’t worth it. High-grade equipment cost 10 dia (1,000 won). The most expensive ones were only 20 dia (2,000 won), which wasn’t much different from the minimum exchange rate of 10 dia. In comparison, rare weapons ranged from a minimum of 800 dia (80,000 won) to 4,500 dia (450,000 won).

Even these prices were based on non-upgraded items.

‘Why is it so expensive? Are these people crazy?’

The fact that someone bought these weapons at this price was hard to believe.

‘I can only use one weapon anyway. Hah, there’s even Hero Legendary rank.’ I always shook my head at the prices of new Revenge items.

Inner Force Injection (Active) (Rare)

Wooong!

The inner force within me moved automatically and filled the Sword of Confidence. That wasn’t all.

Lightning Energy (Active) (General).

The energy from the dantian circulated through the skin, increasing the strength of the body.

Swift Wheel (Active) (Advanced).

The energy from the dantian spread throughout the entire body.

“Sigh.”

It felt like power was rising throughout my whole body. Of course, there was also a considerable consumption, with more than 10% of my total mana being depleted. However, it didn’t matter.

Why did I choose the high-level Lv. 9 instead of the rare Lv. 6? Even if it was high-level, the price for Lv. 9 was similar to that of rare Lv. 6. It was due to the special effect at Lv. 9:

[Soul Collector (Passive) (Intermediate)]

A certain amount of mana is recovered when defeating enemies.