REWCS 10

Episode 10: The Constellation’s Game [Leica]

Silver Knights Hunter Beck Ha-ram could not believe the sight he was now witnessing.

‘That you could solo a Moon shadow Wolf… in this manner.’

Honestly, seeing this sight was an accident.
He hadn’t planned to raid a Moon shadow Wolf today.
He only intended to show the aspiring guild members the Moon shadow Wolf once and then return to Bereshit.
That was clearly the set schedule…
But just as someone began a solo raid on a Moon shadow Wolf, he couldn’t simply pass by.

“Wow, that person is really trying to solo it, right?”
“It seems so.”
“Can we watch for just a bit, Hunter?”
“Hmm… It would serve as good teaching material. Let’s watch from a distance so as not to disturb the battle.”

Moreover, the man’s equipment looked quite shabby.
His oddly shaped weapon(?) was hard to identify, but at least his armor seemed to be common Tier 1 gear.
No matter how skilled the player was, even Ha-ram, who had been on the Starter Island for 7 years, couldn’t be confident hunting Moon-Wolf with that gear.
So, Ha-ram was even thinking of helping if the man showed signs of being in danger.
The phrase ‘Hunters are the nation’s shield’ was always the principle guiding Silver Knights.
Thus, he couldn’t just pass by a player in trouble.
But…

Grrrr-!
Tat!

“W-wow. Amazing.”
“What was that wolf skill just now, Hunter?”
“It was… likely Moonlight Onslaught.”
“Isn’t Moonlight Onslaught supposed to be unavoidable?”

When the battle began in earnest, the following sight was a completely different picture from Ha-ram’s expectations.

‘Is this… a plausible combat style?’

He dodges an unblocked Moonlight Onslaught raw and lands a perfect Counter Attack.
He deflects all the wolf’s chaotic, On laugh fore paw strikes with parries, toying with the Moon shadow Wolf with perfectly fluid movements.

‘This is insane.’

Could Ha-ram himself do it?
Of course not.
What about the guild’s top elite Hunters?
They might be able to, but even that is hard to be certain about.
To be precise, even if they were in their level 20 days, they probably couldn’t have shown such a performance.

‘Is this real talent?’

So, to show such shocking talent as a newbie, one would probably need to be at least captain-level even in Silver Knights.
Of course, Ha-ram wouldn’t dare to imagine and compare the newbie days of those monsters, but it was that level of shock.

“Wow… Hunter. A player of that caliber isn’t common, right?”

So, to one aspirant’s question, Ha-ram answered honestly.

“It’s impossible even for me.”

Because this was talent so great that he didn’t even feel a sense of inferiority.

“…!”

And at this very moment,
a sense of pride for his guild was actually blooming in Ha-ram’s heart.
Why?

‘This year’s Knighthood Selection will be quite thrilling.’

The fact that such an outstanding player was also preparing (?) for the Silver Knights entrance test was highly encouraging for Ha-ram, a loyal guild member.

‘We might meet as a new guild member soon.’

Silver Knights is Korea’s top guild.
A world-class guild that every Hunter admires.
And the fact that the Mark of Moonlight is a qualification for the Selection is already widely known to the public.
So, a player of that caliber performing a meaningless Moon-Wolf solo raid can only mean he’s preparing to join Silver Knights!
At least, Ha-ram couldn’t help but think so.
He couldn’t know that some propositions, based on common sense, were actually wrong.
For instance, that the man’s level was 9, not 20, or that he had been to another world for about 10 years and didn’t even know what Silver Knights was.
Such truths, defying common sense, were unthinkable for ordinary people.

“Wow! He already killed it.”
“He must have gotten the Mark of Moonlight, right?”
“I’m jealous…”

So, Ha-ram gazed at the man from afar for a moment, then turned around with a pleased expression.

“Now, all of you can become like that too. Right?”
“Of course, Instructor!”
“We can do it!”
“So, let’s return now. We need to train, right?”

Ha-ram’s steps towards Bereshit had become quite light.

It’s dazzling.
And brilliant.
The faint bluish-gold pillar of light rising above the Moon shadow Wolf.
My heartbeat could only grow faster seeing it.
Why?

└ Dude, what’s up with the streamer’s luck?
└ Kya lol seeing a light pillar on the Starter Island lol

A light pillar erupting from a corpse is a phenomenon seen only when a Unique-grade or higher equipment item drops.
Moreover, there’s only one Unique-grade equipment in Moon-Wolf’s drop table.

└ If it’s a Unique drop from Moon-Wolf, it can only be Moonlight Blade o.o
└ yep, that’s 100% Moonlight Blade.

As the Constellations said, this was definitely Moonlight Blade.
A Unique-grade, and a whopping Tier 3 greats word at that.
And the value of this item…

└ But isn’t the shovel the streamer’s holding better anyway?
└ yep, probably? That’s definitely an artifact, I’m telling you.

Contrary to the Constellations’ nonsense, it was worth at least 100 times more than my iron shovel.

[Will you check the information of the ‘Moonlight Blade’ item?]

‘Ins… Insane!!!’

So, it was only natural my heart felt like it would burst now.
If I got the Moonlight Blade on top of the 2nd Imperial Seat’s mission reward, I might be earning almost 5 million won today.
Honestly, I never dreamed I’d handle such a fortune on my second day.

‘Aren’t I going to get rich quickly at this rate?’

So, with a pounding heart, I began reading down the item information window.
The corners of my mouth were already twitching uncontrollably.

〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓
Moonlight Blade
Classification: Equipment – Greats word
Level Restriction: None
Grade: Unique
Tier: 3T
Durability: 90 / 90

Main Stat
Attack Power +45

• Options
  Dark Attribute Attack Power +25
  Critical Hit Chance +10%
  …etc…

Kya, Attack Power 45?
Max main stat option… and Krit chance is maxed too!
Just seeing this much is enchanting, but the information window even has a second page.
And the existence of a 2nd page means it has a unique ability.
Unique abilities are like passive skills that appear on Unique-grade or higher equipment, with only a 30% probability.
Huh…!
This is happiness!

Click-

But wait.
The name of the unique ability that caught my eye as soon as I flipped the page… is somewhat odd.

• Unique Effect

• Soul bound

Soul bound…?
It’s not… that Soul bound I know, is it?

[This equipment is bound to the player’s soul.]

Am I seeing things?

[Power of all normal attacks increases by 30%, and level restrictions disappear. Additionally, durability depletion rate is greatly reduced.]
…etc…

But even if I rub my eyes and look again, it’s perfectly the ‘Soul bound’ unique ability I know, description and all.
Suddenly, my head felt hot, and my pupils began shaking uncontrollably.

└ The streamer suddenly went quiet.
└ Guess he’s shocked by the epic loot?

Shocked?
I sure got one.
Because the worst problem I had never even considered had occurred.
Is the problem that a useless unique ability is attached?
No way.
Even if the most useless unique ability was attached, I wouldn’t have been this panicked.
Moreover, Soul bound is a mid-to-high tier unique ability stat-wise.
But the moment this is attached… there’s one inevitable penalty that comes with it, and that’s the biggest problem.
The reason my pupils went blank was right here.

• Description
  A greats word forged by moonlight.
  It carries a cool chill.

• This is an account-bound item. It cannot be transferred to another player.

〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓

‘Out of all those countless unique abilities, why did this one have to appear?’

No matter how much I deny it, the reality obviously doesn’t change.
The  talent, money hero Lee Geonyul knelt right there.

Perhaps impressed by the clean Epic raid, the excited Constellations kept pouring out praise.

└ Yo, Dave brother, acknowledged acknowledged. 100 LP? Showing this much, it’s not a waste.
└ Dave? No, it’s ‘Dave’ (Great) now.
└ This guy is kinda crazy though?

But the talent, money hero’s mood wouldn’t improve.

[You have succeeded in ‘Mad Scoundrel 2nd Imperial Seat’s’ mission.]
[Acquired 100 LP as a reward.]
[Fame increased by +1 as a reward.]

Even though I solidly collected the mission reward… it’s still the same.

└ But why does the streamer look so glum?
└ He even got Moonlight Blade, isn’t that a jackpot?

Why?
Because my total assets still couldn’t exceed 200 LP.

[Current Remaining LP: 185 LP]

I just lost 380 LP…

[Viewing the current weekly average trading price of the ‘Moonlight Blade’ item.]
[Average Trading Price: 382 LP]

Meaning I lost an amount over twice my total assets.

‘Why must I face such trials…!’

So, how could the budget hero’s mentality possibly stay intact?

└ Moonlight Blade is account-bound?
└ What does that matter?

If you ask how it’s considered ‘lost’ when it’s right there in my inventory, that’s a lack of budget hero sensibility.

└ Let’s grant for argument’s sake that account-bound is the problem.
└ But still, something you didn’t have appeared, right? How is that considered losing something?

Cowardly, they keep stating facts, but what can I do about being sad!
These Constellations lacking empathy clearly have never invested in stocks.
Losses are always felt based on the peak of the account, not the principal.

└ Is he crazy…?

• This is an account-bound item. It cannot be transferred to another player.

Even reading the equipment options again, I can’t believe it.
How can such low-probability luck and low-probability misfortune overlap simultaneously!

└ lol wtf lol streamer dude lol is this part of the concept?
└ Nah lol his expression really soured because of account-binding?
└ Soul bound is a mid-to-high-tier unique ability tho lol

Honestly, account-bound equipment isn’t common in Leica.
Why?
Because account-binding itself is an option that only occurs when a rare unique ability is attached to the equipment.
Unique abilities are effects that randomly appear only on Unique-grade or higher equipment…
First, you have to beat the ~30% chance for any unique ability to appear.
Then, out of countless unique abilities, the one that attaches just has to be an account-binding related ability for it to become bound equipment…

‘Usually, you’d get one maybe every 200 unique equipment pickups?’

It’s a structure where it can’t exist commonly.
But that just had to land on my Moonlight Blade.
This is like having a winning lottery ticket stolen.
And now that the Constellations fully understood my sad story, they began giggling in earnest.

└ lol
└ Right lol the guy picking up 0.1 LP scrap lol 380 LP would be enormous tho lol
└ Wow lol this level of concept has reached a whole other realm lol

It’s not a concept, brother

└ Anyway it’s fun so I’m subscribing lol
└ Guys, don’t be fooled. That bastard is probably rich. First of all, that shovel is definitely an artifact, right? He’s going to use that shovel anyway, so of course he’d want to sell the Moonlight Blade.

What?
You ignorant Constellation punk…!

“Sigh.“

I can’t hold it in, it’s too unfair.
I feel I must show them what kind of fight I’m fighting.
So, I need to display my shovel’s information window before the Constellations’ eyes.
See, this is the kind of person I am?

〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓
Sturdy Iron Shovel
Classification: Equipment – Farming Tool
Level Restriction: 1
Grade: Common
Tier: 1T
Durability: 35 / 35

Main Stat
Attack Power +5

A sturdy shovel useful for digging soil.
It’s solid.
〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓

And the effect of sharing the information window was tremendous.
The Constellations who were giggling like mad became quiet as if they’d made a pact.

└ …?
└ What? Is this the real info window for ‘that shovel’?
└ Uh… you hunted Moon-Wolf with this?
└ Is this for real?
└ Attack Power 5?
└ Is this for real?????
└ “It’s solid” lol

They seemed quite shocked indeed.
Understandable.
Even I didn’t know I could hunt Moon-Wolf this quickly with such a thing.

└ So a newbie who hasn’t even class-changed got a promotion… f*ck,, this is the real deal, isn’t it?

But…
The next moment, a scene that made me doubt my eyes began to unfold before me.

[‘The Wandering Goblin’ has donated 70 LP.]
[‘Mad Scoundrel 2nd Imperial Seat’ has donated 50 LP.]

“Gasp.“

The donation alert sound, which hadn’t rung even when I skillfully killed Moon-Wolf, suddenly started beeping and ringing.
Even newly joined Constellations joined in the donations.

[‘3rd Play through Martial Arts Master’ has donated 15 LP.]
[‘Apprentice Mage Meo’ has donated 25 LP.]

Though it was just donations from a handful of viewers.

[ON Air: ☺ 9]

For a small-time streamer like me, it was a sight akin to cultural shock.

[‘Cold Mage Law Party Wanted’ has donated 33 LP.]
[”Ganjihoon” has donated 17 LP.]

Uh…
Why are they suddenly doing this?
Have they finally ’empathized’ with my pain?

Having that thought…

Ding-!

The moment I saw the donation message from The Grape Count, who hadn’t donated a single penny until now, I couldn’t help but bow deeply in a dogeza.

[‘The Grape Count’ has donated 500 LP.]

5 million won?
You’re really just giving this away, sir?

“Tongue, bro!!”