Departing

(A/N: I don't know why but I can't enter Inkstone with my home wifi, while I can watch Youtube just fine with it. I need my phone hotspot to write this...)

The lead party of the Tzedakah Guild moved along the main road and barely managed to finish the Guardian of the Forest raid after three days.

Kurururung.

With a thunderous crash, the Guardian, its body encrusted with minerals, finally collapsed. The sound reverberated through the air, sending some party members into a panic, causing them to stumble and fall, leaving them vulnerable to the relentless attacks of the golems.

"Ack!"

"H-Help me!"

Those who succumbed to fear were robbed of the joy that should have accompanied their hard-fought victory. Jishuka, the party leader, surveyed the remains of the Guardian with a grim expression, frustration etched across her features.

"Idiots, what were you paying attention to?" she snapped, her voice laced with exasperation.

Jishuka had already thoroughly briefed the party members on the precautions and strategies to be followed before confronting the Guardian of the Forest. But that hard work was for nothing, as nobody followed it save for a few of her guild members. Therefore, it was frustrating for her.

"I'd rather die than live with the judgment and learning ability of a monkey."

The guild's reputation would become worse because of the party members' deaths.

"Che."

Yet, even in her disapproval, she was the genius who saved the lives of her party members with every pull of her bowstring—the first-ranked person on the archer rankings.

The party was barely able to escape the crisis, thanks to the activities of the martial artist Regas, the twin axe-wielding Vantner, and the other members of the Tzedakah Guild. But the damage was severe.

"A total of 75 people were killed."

There were four guild members among the list of deceased. Unlike the other fools who died from stupidity, they were killed in battle against the Guardian of the Forest.

"But it is over," she sighed, the weight of the battle still heavy in the air.

It had been an arduous fight.

Unlike Gilgamesh, who had Kaela by his side, expertly wielding her pickaxes to chip away methodically at the Guardian's formidable defenses, the Tzedakah raid party lacked the necessary skills for such a strategic approach.

Without the overwhelming actions of Jishuka and Regas, the raid would've 100% failed. Jishuka checked the items dropped by the Guardian of the Forest and was unable to hide her disappointment. The other party members also sighed.

They fought against the Guardian of the Forest and the golems for two days, and when the guardian was finally defeated, they were disturbed by new golems.

The loot was tacky compared to such suffering: 30 iron ores, 7 orichalcum ores, and 1 blue orichalcum ore.

Regas shrugged, his expression resigned. "The Amethyst Shield didn't drop again this time."

The Tzedakah Guild constantly challenged the Guardian of the Forest raid once every two weeks in order to get the Amethyst Shield. But the drop rate was the worst.

'The difficulty of an S-grade quest is beyond one's imagination.'

Even though they were the same S-grade quests, the difference between a single quest and linked quests was like the difference between heaven and earth.

Vantner picked up the blue orichalcum, his brow furrowed in thought.

"At least we got this," he said, trying to find a silver lining.

The value couldn't be determined at the present time, but it would become an expensive commodity once an advanced blacksmith appeared. Jishuka felt a wave of disappointment wash over her as she led her exhausted party members back to the village. The fallen had resurrected and were waiting in the square, their faces a mix of relief and fatigue.

Toban converted the value of the minerals into money by dividing it according to the market price, then distributed it to the party members. They barely avoided a deficit. There were no complaints from the guild members, but the general users were vocal in their dissatisfaction with the paltry compensation.

"This is already the fourth raid without any success. Rumors are spreading among the general users that there is no value in participating in the Guardian of the Forest raid. In the next raid, the level of the participating users will be even lower. This is difficult."

The Guardian of the Forest proved to be more formidable than the Onix Bear they had faced months ago. Not only could it summon additional golems to aid it, but its high defense rendered most attacks ineffective.

The Tzedakah Guild was composed of the top rankers. But their reputation was low, which was why they were a small guild. As a rule, the Tzedakah Guild didn't accept new guild members. They were a small number of elites who only recognized and relied on each other.

The 17 members of the Tzedakah Guild had been together before Satisfy since the days of the L.T.S. game. It was impossible for them to challenge the Guardian of the Forest raid with their strength alone. Therefore, they attracted general users. But that wouldn't continue to work.

Toban, the level 182 paladin and the guild's chief of staff, nodded.

"I need the Amethyst Shield for a linked quest, but it can't be helped. For now, we must set aside the Guardian of the Forest raid and focus on strengthening the guild's overall power."

Vantner, the 2nd ranked person on the guardian knight rankings, wasn't armed with a shield despite choosing a defensive class. He instead chose to wield twin axes.

"That's right. It's pointless to rush in this state. We need to leave the Guardian of the Forest raid for a while and work on improving our capabilities."

When she looked at the faces of the guild members, they all seemed to have the same opinion. Only Regas's eyes were shining like lanterns. He was clearly thinking, 'Anything is good as long as I can fight!'

After a moment of contemplation, Jishuka declared, "We will forgo the raid for the next three months. During this time, we will focus on leveling up and upgrading our equipment. If we can gain 15 levels in the next three months, we should be able to take down that Guardian. Regas, you should aim for 20 levels."

Jishuka laughed brightly. Her half-moon eyes were sexy. However, to her guild members, that smile was both alluring and terrifying. Their leader was scary. If they didn't fulfill the goal, they really would experience hell. They knew all too well the fierce expectations that came with it. A collective gulp echoed through the group, and Regas cried out in a trembling voice.

"Let's go train!"

Thus, the Tzedakah Guild was discretely dispersed.

Jishuka made her way to the guild warehouse alone. Her unique South American beauty and curvaceous figure drew the attention of many, especially males. She was a famous ranker, so the crowd around her increased.

But she ignored them.

Jishuka left the blue orichalcum in the warehouse and headed to the auction house without worrying about being followed or not. The blue orichalcum was an item that could be sold at a later date, but not now. For the moment, the iron ore and orichalcum would sell for the best price.

After registering the minerals, she turned her attention to the auction house interface.

"Show me the list of Jaffa Arrows."

A transparent screen appeared in front of Jishuka. The list of Jaffa Arrows currently registered at the auction house appeared on the screen. The immediate purchase price for the Jaffa Arrows was 6 silver.

It was incredibly expensive for one arrow, but she couldn't see any other arrows after using it. Jishuka swept up all the arrows on the list. She didn't care about money. She invested the money obtained from being a top ranker and pinpointed exactly where she should use it.

"What is this?"

Jishuka confirmed the bid price for the Jaffa Arrows at the bottom of the list and frowned. It was the only one without an immediate purchase price set. There was also a total of 199 bids, with the top bid at 24 silver.

Jishuka wondered why some madman would bid four times the price of a Jaffa Arrow, but then she noticed that the name of the arrows was purple, not white.

'Did I see it incorrectly?'

She blinked, but it was still purple. She hurriedly checked the details.

[Special Jaffa Arrow]

Rating: Epic

Attack Power: 35~42

An arrow made by a craftsman with great skills and potential but lacking in reputation.

Due to the effect of combining Jaffa with steel, it has extremely high penetration and ignores some of the enemy's defenses.

* Has a certain chance of ignoring the enemy's defense.

Weight: 0.1

"....!!!"

Jishuka's eyes widened. If she didn't know that people were paying attention to her, she would've screamed wildly.

'Unbelievable!'

Jishuka was surprised beyond amazement. She had played Satisfy all day for the past six months and had adventured with all types of people. She collected as much information as possible by using money and her guild members.

Nevertheless, she never imagined that an epic-rated arrow would ever exist. She was convinced that arrows were unconditionally normal-rated items.

She went to famous blacksmiths with various materials and asked them to make arrows, but all of the arrows born from their hands were normal rated. She had never heard of or ever witnessed a higher-rated arrow.

Until this moment! Epic arrows, not rare, appeared in front of her. In addition, the performance was fraudulent.

Jishuka bid on it right away. The bid price was a huge 35 silver.

It was difficult to judge if the arrows were worth it, considering they were consumables, but she needed to consider their scarcity. She also believed it could be used as a secret weapon when meeting a strong opponent.

'Who is the person who made this?'

She thought of two people first. The 1st and 2nd ranked blacksmiths, Panmir and Steng. However, they didn't fit the explanation that the blacksmith 'lacks in reputation' because both of them had a high reputation.

'...A blacksmith who surpasses them is hiding.'

It was probably a blacksmith who put a lot into their skill level, but their character level was low as a result and, as such, didn't enter the top rankings. The explanation of 'great skill and potential' strongly enticed her.

'If I find them...'

Jishuka canceled the registration of the black iron and orichalcum.

'Thanks to the Guardian of the Forest raid, I have steadily gathered minerals.'

She planned to use the best minerals as bait for the blacksmith who made the epic-rated arrows.

{Contact all the users in the top 100 blacksmith rankings and measure their skill level. Make a shortlist of those whose skill levels are high compared to their character level.}

Jishuka's command appeared in the guild chat window and upset the guild members.

{What are you suddenly saying? Contacting blacksmiths out of nowhere?}

{We need to level up!}

Jishuka dismissed the opposition.

{Shut up! There is a greatly skilled person hiding! If we find them and make them join the guild, the Guardian of the Forest raid won't be a problem.}

{Are they that skilled?}

{This blacksmith is better than Panmir and Steng. The performance of the items they produce is likely to exceed the existing items. So far, they haven't surfaced, so no one is aware of this blacksmith, but that is no longer the case. All guilds on the continent will be frantically trying to find the blacksmith. We can't lose them... Find them! Find the blacksmith before anyone else.}

{If Master says so...}

{This blacksmith must be huge. Okay, let's find them!}

The 17 members, whose strength would make them the top in their country, it was the first time they were interested in another person since the L.T.S days.

"Someone raised the bid price again?"

Jishuka received the notification that her bid on the Special Jaffa Arrows failed and didn't hesitate to bid again.

The first epic rated arrows! The bidding price skyrocketed.

(A/N: I know that was mostly copy-paste from the novel, and I only add a few sentences to make it relevant for this fanfic. The reason is, there are some readers who still haven't read the original Overgeared yet, so I will at those so they can understand the story well.)

***

"Ohh~ they raised the price again?" Gilgamesh chuckled, a smirk playing on his lips as he glanced at the screen in front of him.

After careful consideration, Gilgamesh decided to sell most of his Jaffa Arrow, he settled to only sell the epic-rated one he had. Gilgamesh thinks it is enough for now. There are only normal-rated arrows spreading in the market; if he were to sell his unique-rated ones, it would only draw unwanted attention to himself.

"Yeah, the epic-rated Jaffa Arrow is more than enough..." Gilgamesh smiled to himself, satisfied with his decision. He knew that even today, the first-ranked blacksmith could only produce epic-rated items. Selling a unique-rated item would undoubtedly attract the attention of every guild in the continent, and he preferred to keep a low profile for now.

With his business settled, there was only one more thing on his agenda: a trip to Winston.

He glanced at Kaela, who was perched on his shoulder, pretending to be asleep. "Hey, Kaela. Let's go," he whispered, nudging her gently.

But she didn't budge. Ever since he had confessed his feelings to her, Kaela had become increasingly clingy, often seeking his company and affection. It was as if his admission had unlocked a new level of intimacy between them, and she now seemed to relish every moment spent by his side.

"Come on, Kaela," he coaxed again, this time with a playful tone. "We have places to be, and I can't carry you around all day."

"No, you can." It was her answer. Hugging him tighter.

Her clinginess, while sometimes a distraction, was a testament to the bond they were forming. It was a reminder that their relationship was evolving, and he found himself both excited and slightly nervous about what that meant for their future.

Sighing softly, he attempted to rise, but Kaela clung to him like a koala, her grip unwavering.

The journey to Winston would take no more than 20 hours. He had departed from Bairan Village in the afternoon, with the intention of arriving in Winston by the morning light of the next day.

"You mentioned once that you were blessed by the gods, right?" Kaela inquired, her eyes sparkling with curiosity as a distant memory resurfaced.

"Hmm? Yeah, what about it?" Gilgamesh replied casually as they walked side by side toward Winston. Although they called it 'walk', it would be more appropriate to call it run, thanks to their high agility.

It has been more than two years since they met. Back then, Gilgamesh told her he was the person; if he died, he would get resurrected to his decided spawn point. Now, nearly all NPCs were aware of players who could return from death, referring to them as 'blessed by the gods' or, in some cases, 'cursed by the gods.'

Kaela's expression shifted to one of seriousness. She pinched her thumb and index finger on her chin, deep in thought.

Intrigued, Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why ask?"

Kaela shook her head. "Nothing..." As she found a new topic, she asked him again, "Oh yeah, I had never seen you die before... Why so?" 

Kaela had seen many players in Bairan Village, intrigued by the existence that, like Gilgamesh. She followed them around until they meet their end by strong monster, she then comeback to Bairan only to find the same player was grumbling about lost loot or the embarrassment of dropping their main weapon in the village square.

She had been around Gilgamesh for more than two years, and she never saw him die, not even once. Not that she wanted him to die, just curious, because isn't he supposed to be immortal who can resurrected even if he die?

"Why do you ask? It's because I don't want to end my kill streak!" Gilgamesh exclaimed proudly.

He remembered that there was a hidden class that needed a player to never die, even once, to acquire it. Although Gilgamesh is pessimistic to even keep his alive record until then, he at least wants to try to not die as long as possible.

Kaela chuckled a little, shaking her head. "So, you're saying you're just too proud to die?"

"Exactly!" he puffed his chest dramatically. Kaela let out a soft breath that might have been a laugh at his antics.

And so, the road stretched onward, they continue chit-chating to pass the time until they finally arrived at Winston.