‘Okay...!’

Grid rejoiced as the production method for the Divine Shield entered his hands and the administrator urged him, “There’s no time! There’s a smithy in the castle, so make the shield there!”

He couldn’t even waste time going back and forth from Khan’s smithy?

“I need to buy the materials needed to make it, so I have to stop by the market.”

“I will give you a servant to do all the menial work.”

“If you say so…”

Grid headed straight to the smithy in the castle. The level of the blacksmith was much lower than Khan, but the facilities were comparable to Khan’s smithy. Grid opened the scroll.

[Do you want to learn how to make the Divine Shield?]

“Yes.”

[You have learned how to make the Divine Shield.]

[Divine Shield]

[Rating: Rare ~ Legendary

Rare Rating Information:

Durability: 360/360 Defense: 189 Magic Resistance: 150

* There is a rare chance of completely resisting dark spells.

Epic Rating Information:

Durability: 430/430 Defense: 230 Magic Resistance: 181

* There is a certain probability of completely resisting dark spells.

Unique Rating Information:

Durability: 510/510 Defense: 295 Magic Resistance: 238

* There is a certain probability of completely resisting dark spells.

* The skill ‘Divine Light’ will be generated.

Legendary Rating Information:

Durability: 680/680 Defense: 370 Magic Resistance: 280

* There is a high chance of completely resisting dark spells.

* The skill ‘Divine Light’ will be generated.

* The skill ‘Divine Favor’ will be generated.

A shield that contains the power of Rebecca, the goddess of Light. Due to its strength against dark magic, all followers of demons and the Yatan Church will suffer when facing this shield.

Conditions of Use: Level 190 or more. More than 500 strength.

More than 1,000 divine power. A member of the Rebecca Church.

Weight: 800]

‘The minimum rating is rare…’

Grid checked the details of the Divine Shield and the list of materials required.

‘A magic stone is in the center, serving as the medium that will be infused with divine power. Mithril will be used for the skeleton then covered in steel. And gold plating? I need gold?’

Rebecca, the goddess of light, had two symbols—one was the sun, and the second was gold. It meant a large amount of gold was required to make the Divine Shield.

‘Magic stones, mithril, and gold. The value of the materials is great. This is truly a luxury item.’

The main ingredients needed to make the shield were one top grade magic stone, 2kg of mithril ore, 15kg of iron ore, and 400g of gold. Grid handed the helper that the administrator lent him a list of materials needed to make two shields.

After a while, the helper came with the ingredients and submitted a receipt.

“The total purchase cost is 16,935 gold and 20 silver.”

“...”

Grid needed this much money to make just two shields! This was close to his entire fortune!

'Even if it is guaranteed to be finished with at least the rare rating... if the materials cost is too high, I will receive damage if it ends up with just a rare rating.’

The administrator needed a Divine Shield that had at least the epic rating. In the worst case, if only rare shields were created, Grid would have to sell it elsewhere. However, the terms of use meant it was limited to the Rebecca Church.

‘Ah, this is shit.’

It was ominous and he didn’t like it. Grid thought about giving up the quest.

'But even if the materials are expensive...the profits will be higher if an epic rating emerges.’

Two shields, one of which must have at least the epic rating! After a long period of thinking, Grid made a decision and took out a hammer.

“I will make it.”

Ttang! Ttang!

The quest duration was only two days. Grid immediately began smelting steel and mithril. Suddenly, he was surprised to see Cassus standing quietly at the wall behind him.

'What? He’s still here?’

Cassus seemed to have followed Grid from the administrator’s office, but he didn’t have any presence, so Grid wasn’t aware he was behind him. An expressionless face! Pale skin! Those rotten eyes! It was the pious appearance of a priest of the goddess of light.

“Excuse me, Mr. Cassus?”

“Yes.”

"Why don’t you go rest? Your turn won’t be for a while.”

Cassus shook his head. "I appreciate the courtesy, but I can’t. You can’t suffer alone. I will pray to Goddess Rebecca while watching. It will be a prayer to help you produce a great shield.”

“...”

Unlike Grid’s first impression, Cassus was a good person. Nevertheless, it wasn’t all good.

‘Don’t you know that I don’t want to see that ghastly face?’

Grid suppressed the words he wanted to say and devoted himself to the production. How much time passed? As the night deepened, the other blacksmith fell asleep. Grid finally finished smelting the mithril, which was quite a struggle.

“Ah, mithril is a tricky material.”

The moment Grid took a break to take out bread and water...

“Have this.”

“Hiik!”

Grid freaked out as he heard a voice behind him. He turned around to see Cassus holding cheese in his hand.

“Y-You! Have you been standing there the whole time?”

Cassus nodded and replied with an expressionless face, “Yes, I have been praying.”

"No, to be honest, praying doesn’t help anything so just go and relax...”

Cassus’ face changed for the first time. He lightly frowned. “Rebecca is the goddess of light. This light encompasses all positive energy, including good luck. My prayer will surely invoke your good luck.”

When he thought about it, Grid realized he made a mistake disparaging prayer in front of a religious person. Grid didn’t want such a frightening person to have a grudge against him. Grid nodded. “I see. I am ignorant about faith and made a mistake. I’m sorry. Then please continue to pray.”

“Yes.” Cassus immediately joined his hands together, closed his eyes and started praying.

‘He is a very active person.’

Grid started work again after eating the bread and cheese from Cassus. Then one hour later, he fixed the magic stone to the mithril skeleton and called out to the praying Cassus, “Now it is your turn. Infuse it with divine power.”

Cassus stepped forward silently. He fell to his knees in front of the magic stone and started praying to Goddess Rebecca.

“Oh~! In the name of Goddess Rebecca!”

Blah blah.

He started an even longer prayer.

‘He didn’t sit down and prayed all night, but he still has this much stamina... amazing.’

Grid became drowsy. He fell asleep and woke up when he heard Cassus’ gentle voice.

“Mr. Grid, the divine power infusion is over.”

“Hiik!”

As soon as Grid opened his eyes, he saw Cassus’ pale face and dark eyes.

‘This bastard, he was a priest, but he looked more like a demon.’

"What's wrong?"

Did he have to ask? Has he looked in the mirror? Grid wanted to confront Cassus, but he refrained.

“It is nothing. Now shall I begin?"

Grid continued to make the shield until the sun came up. He spent 23 hours making the shield. Grid usually invested 20 hours when making an item, but this time was different. Rather than him willingly investing 23 hours to make one, in this case, it was that Grid needed to invest 23 hours to make it.

‘It’s difficult.’

Dealing with mithril and the magic stone was very difficult. It would be different if his experience was higher, but it was hard for the current Grid.

‘It requires Advanced Blacksmith Mastery level 3 or higher, so isn’t it a difficult item to make? Experience also plays an important role.'

Satisfy pursued realism. Even if a user had the same level and skill, the user who had more experience with the skill would use it more efficiently. Item production was similar. As Pagma's Successor, Grid knew how to smelt mithril. However, since Grid had never actually smelted mithril, he needed to spend a lot of time smelting.

'Well, now that I’ve accumulated some experience, I can make the next shield faster.’

Grid embarked on the production of the second shield. The blacksmith watching from the side questioned him, “Haven’t you made one shield up to the stage just before completion? You only have the gold plating left, so why are you working on a new shield instead of finishing it?”

“I want to complete both at the same time,” Grid told the blacksmith the truth.

‘If the first shield I complete has a rare rating, my motivation will completely fall. It is better not knowing the rating until it is over.’

Grid only had enough materials to make two shields, so he was going to complete both at the same time and wish that one of them would be above the epic rating.

***

Lim Cheolho, the CEO of the S.A Group and developer of Satisfy, was rumored to work 20 out of 24 hours. People thought that Lim Cheolho only took a break to sleep, but that was somewhat exaggerated.

Lim Cheolho also had a separate rest time. He lay comfortably on the office sofa for one hour a day to monitor Satisfy’s users. In the last few days, Lim Cheolho was intensively monitoring Grid.

“Hoh, indeed.”

Lim Cheolho kept exclaiming. His eyes were shining, like a child watching an exciting cartoon.

“How interesting.”

He meant it. Lim Cheolho was greatly interested in Grid. Grid didn’t play the game efficiently, unlike most users. Nor did he use any shortcuts. He played simply and honestly. Whenever he made an item, he invested 20 hours of Satisfy time.

Wasn’t this too pure? Lim Cheolho liked this type of pureness.

“Hahaha! This is ridiculous! He defeated a level 188 knight in such a lucky manner! Ohh, he received a partnership offer from an NPC? How refreshing. Huh, Grid’s works achieved the highest auction prices. Oh my...it is too much to sell a legendary item to an NPC. Nonetheless, it is really fun watching such a user. Um? He didn’t recognize Doran’s ring that Irene is holding? Isn’t this a pity? If he did, his relationship with Irene would grow. Hoh, creating a transparent cloak is a smart choice. Um? In the end, he isn’t even trying to make the invisibility cloak? Well, he’ll be able to make it someday. Ohh! A two-man raid! Hrmm, he got a lot of levels and some items, but I would’ve liked it if he focused more on finding Pagma's Sword Dance. Okay, he finally found Pagma's Sword Dance. No? Hahaha! Imitating the murals for hours! What a masterpiece!”

When he watched Grid, sometimes Lim Cheolho was complimentary, sometimes he was regretful, sometimes he was admiring, and sometimes he was excited. Then he got angry for the first time at a certain part.

“No! Why did he turn down Piaro’s quest? It would’ve been a good result!”

Asmophel, who Piaro asked to be punished, was now severely ill. Grid would be able to clear the quest and then he would receive a great reward, but Grid was overly cautious and missed the golden opportunity.

“He has changed since Kesan Canyon. At first, he acted in an unplanned and impromptu manner, but now he has his own plans. However, he is still inexperienced and immature...”

Director Yoon Sangmin called Grid a fool. It was because Grid couldn’t properly exert the efficiency of a legendary class. Lim Cheolho had laughed, but as he watched, he felt like he understood a little bit of Yoon Sangmin’s frustration.

One day, Yoon Sangmin had said this:

'If I was Grid, I would’ve joined a guild. No matter how low my level, I would be able to sign up to a top level guild just because I have a legendary class. Then I would grow with the support of the guild. They would support the cost of items and help with quests. Wouldn’t he clear the class quest sooner if he had the support of a guild? By now, I would’ve moved with a larger goal! But he doesn’t have the capacity and is trying to do everything alone. He doesn’t move with any great plans. He is just staying in a smithy and making items.’

It was true. Most people would probably think like Yoon Sangmin. He was confident that he could do better if he was Grid.

But Lim Cheolho questioned it.

“Is it fun to play like that?”

Satisfy was already recognized as another reality. People who considered Satisfy a mere game were rare. Success in Satisfy would equal success in reality. Therefore, users who played Satisfy only pursued efficiency.

But Satisfy was essentially a game. Lim Cheolho produced Satisfy for it to be enjoyed by people. So users should enjoy playing it. Those who played like others might soon lose interest in the game.

Lim Cheolho didn’t want that.

"It isn’t obliged to have an obsession with Satisfy. Grid should play as he likes.”

Still, Lim Cheolho overlooked one thing. While watching Grid, Lim Cheolho thought that Grid was a user who simply enjoyed playing the game. However, the reality was quite different. Grid was playing Satisfy with the hopes of succeeding. He just didn’t have the ability!

“Huh?” Lim Cheolho saw the administrator of Winston Castle commission Grid to make the shield, as well as the priest of the Rebecca Church. “This...?”

Lim Cheolho brought his wristwatch to his mouth and spoke, “Morpheus.”

After a moment, a voice was heard from Lim Cheolho’s watch.

[Did you call me?]

"Please search the list of NPCs currently in G-HFO6C1E. Is Isabel among them?”

[No.]

“Huh?”

Doubt appeared on Lim Cheolho’s face.