Chapter 1183

Seven years had passed since BNW's official launch day, and it had already been four years since Siegfried became the Debuff Master.

BNW could be considered an old game now, but the game had been continuously evolving and progressing.

However, the item ratings had barely changed, even though the Adventurers had been growing stronger along with the monsters all over the continent.

At the moment, Legendary-rated items were considered standard gear in BNW, as Uncommon, Common, Rare, and even Unique items had stats too low to be of any use beyond Level 250.

Thus, high-level Adventurers mostly relied on Legendary items.

While there were higher-rated items, such as Mythic or Epic-rated items, those items were so rare that most would never get the chance to obtain one. Hence, Legendary items remained the mainstream choice.

Unfortunately, the emergence of stronger monsters and the rising average level of Adventurers meant that Legendary gears were no longer enough.

Coral Armors were helpful options, as they significantly boosted the user’s skill level, but it became incredibly hard to obtain one that suited one’s skill set. The Coral Planet Expedition had already ended, after all.

At present, the only way to get Coral Armor was by buying jars from stores operated by Coral Merchants.

However, those jars worked like gacha boxes, so one would have to keep opening them until they managed to get an item that boosted a skill they desired.

In other words, opening the jars was no different from gambling.

The Adventurers were in dire need of new items.

“We will pull back for now,” Siegfried told the party.

He decided to abandon the raid on the Ancient Goblin Empire dungeon and led the party back out.

They could have pushed deeper into the dungeon, but the damage would have been too great. Even Siegfried’s armor was on its last legs; one wrong move, and it would all shatter into pieces.

“We will roll for the loot,” Siegfried said.

Then, he collected the loot from the slain goblins and distributed the items evenly among the party members.

Surprisingly, the goblins dropped Legendary items that were ready to be used. The even more surprising part was that items of a whole new rating had dropped as well, and the new rating was called Relic.

[Alert: You have obtained Relic: Goblin Scout’s Gloves!]

[Alert: You have obtained Legendary: Spear of the Brave Warrior!]

Siegfried picked up the loot and turned to Yong Seol-Hwa.

“What do you think we should do about our gear? Our defensive gears are lagging behind, and our weapon damage output is lacking, too.”

“I was thinking about the same thing.”

“Should I risk pushing the enhancement even further?” Siegfried muttered, holding up his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp.

His weapons enhancement was already pretty high, but the base damage of the weapon was now too low to even be considered powerful. If taking into consideration just how tanky the Ancient Goblins were, then even increasing the enhancement level by one wouldn't change much.

He would probably need two or perhaps even three more enhancement levels for the damage output to become satisfactory, but it would be too risky.

“It feels like a waste to push it further...” Siegfried grimaced and bit his lip.

“Actually, there’s a change happening in the blacksmithing scene, so you might not have to rely on enhancements,” Yong Seol-Hwa replied.

“

Oh?

What changed?”

“Come with me. I’ll explain when we get there.”

With that, Yong Seol-Hwa took Siegfried somewhere.

***

Yong Seol-Hwa took Siegfried to the headquarters of the Bavarian Workshop—more specifically, Quandt’s personal workshop.

“Welcome, Your Imperial Majesty.”

As always, Quandt was deeply engrossed in researching item crafting, but he came rushing out when he heard that Siegfried had arrived.

“Welcome too, Miss Seol-Hwa.”

“Hello, Elder Quandt.”

“What brings you two here?”

“It seems that the current artifacts have reached their limits.”

“Oh!”

“The time has come, Elder Quandt.”

Siegfried couldn’t follow the conversation between the two.

‘

Huh? What time is it...?’

he wondered.

So he asked, “What are you two talking about?”

“Well, starting about a year ago, there’s been a lot of talk among blacksmiths that the present item ratings have hit their ceiling.”

“Really?”

“Even during the world war, it was hard to effectively fight against the Fallen Angels using such items.”

“So?”

“Blacksmiths across the continent began researching new methods to keep up with the times. And the result was...” Yong Seol-Hwa trailed the end of her words. Then, she turned to Quandt and said, “Please show him.”

“Yes, Miss Seol-Hwa,” Quandt replied with a nod and pulled back a nearby curtain. A massive machine that was two and a half meters tall and two meters wide was revealed.

“What... is that?” Siegfried muttered, tilting his head in confusion.

“It is a new type of disassembler, sire,” Quandt replied.

“

Eh?

A new what?”

“Allow me to explain.”

With that, Quandt opened his Inventory and pulled out a Legendary item. Then, he placed it into the machine and turned it on.

Whiiiiing!

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The disassembler whirred to life and four golden stones dropped out of it.

[Legendary Fragment]

[A mysterious stone obtained by dismantling Legendary-rated items.]

[It contains incredibly potent energy.]

[Type: Consumable]

[Rating: Legendary]

“

Hm?

Legendary Fragments?” Siegfried murmured with interest. Then, he picked up the golden stones and asked, “What can you do with these?”

“By collecting Legendary Fragments, it will be possible to upgrade Legendary-rated artifacts into Transcendent-rated artifacts.”

“W-Whoa! Really?!”

“Also, the Relic-rated artifacts found in the Ancient Dungeons can also be upgraded into Sanctified-rated artifacts.”

“C-Crazy...!”

“So gather as many Legendary-rated artifacts as you can. Using this disassembler, we can extract Legendary Fragments from them to craft Transcendent-rated artifacts,” Quandt said proudly. Then, he added, “And it would be great if you get your hands on a powerful Relic-rated weapon. A Sanctified-rated artifact is far more powerful than a Transcendent-rated artifact, after all.”

To summarize the changes, the current item rating order in BNW was Uncommon, Common, Rare, Unique, Legendary, Mythic, Epic, and Universal.

Two new ratings had just been added to the game, and they were Transcendent, which was on par or above Mythic, and Sanctified, which was on par or above Epic.

These two new item ratings were just below the game’s highest item rating—Universal.

“The Vanquisher’s Grasp is an artifact that is near-invincible. But with the emergence of stronger enemies, it has now reached its limits in its current form.”

“Yeah, I realized that, too.”

“Further enhancing it is meaningless, and neither can it be upgraded.”

“That’s because I haven’t found the Eye of the Storm yet, is that right?”

The Eye of the Storm was the final missing material needed to complete the unfinished masterpiece of the Legendary Blacksmith, Herbert.

[Herbert’s Blueprint]

[A blueprint of the most powerful weapon of mass destruction. A Grandmaster blacksmith will easily understand it, and they will be able to complete Herbert’s final masterpiece as long as they have the following ingredients.]

[Type: Recipe (Universal Weapon)]

[Materials:]

[Rod of God × 1 ✓]

[Omnipotent Mechanical Gear × 1 ✓]

[Horn of Chromatic Dragon × 1 ✓]

[Soul of the Vampire Lord × 1 ✓]

[Eye of the Storm × 1]

[Universal Rated Mana Stone × 3 ✓]

[Heart of the Demon King × 1 ✓]

All he needed was the Eye of the Storm.

If he could just obtain that single material, then he would become the first in the world to craft a Universal-rated item.

Unfortunately, he had no clue where to find it.

He could only hope that he'd come across it one day out of sheer luck or coincidence.

“So here is what I believe would be the best way forward. If you bring me a Relic-rated weapon, then I will craft a Sanctified-rated weapon for you.”

“A Sanctified-rated weapon?”

“Yes, sire. I have already designed a weapon for you, so please leave it to me once again.”

“Okay.”

Siegfried accepted Quandt’s offer.

He had been crafting Siegfried’s weapons for a very long time now. So if he was the one making it, Siegfried had no doubt that it would be a top-quality weapon.

“I’ll handle the armor, oppa,” Yong Seol-Hwa chimed in. Then, she said, “I’ve already made some progress, so all you need to do is gather the Legendary Fragments.”

At that moment, a notification popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

[Innovation Costs Money]

[Gather the materials required to craft the Transcendent and Sanctified items.]

[Progress: 0%]

[Required Materials:]

[Relic Weapon x 1]

[Legendary Fragment x 1,250]

[Note 1: The number of fragments obtained per dismantled Legendary item varies!]

[Note 2: Gather as many Legendary items as you can!]

“Okay, leave the materials to me,” Siegfried replied with a nod.

[Alert: You have accepted the Quest – Innovation Costs Money!]

With that, Siegfried set out to gather the materials required to craft his new weapon and armor set.

His current gear had reached its limit, so he had no plans on delaying this quest.

It was time to begin a full-scale overhaul of his gears.

***

Siegfried had to gather a large number of Legendary-rated items to complete the 'Innovation Costs Money" quest.

Additionally, he needed one Relic-rated weapon, which could only be obtained in the Ancient Dungeons.

‘

First, I’ll start by collecting the Legendary Fragments. Once I’ve gathered them all, I’ll commission the crafting of my new armor set. While that’s being made, I’ll go hunt for a Relic-rated weapon.’

With that plan in mind, Siegfried headed toward the busiest trading hub where the Adventurers were mostly busy trading.

Once there, he began indiscriminately purchasing every single Legendary-rated item available.

High-level Adventurers typically used Legendary-rated items and were therefore very expensive.

Siegfried, being absurdly wealthy, went ahead and bought up every Legendary-rated item available on the market. However, he was not merely splurging for the sake of flexing, as his sharp foresight also played a major role in this decision.

“

Kyuuu!

Why are you buying so much, owner punk?! Isn’t this way too much?!” Hamchi asked.

“Of course I need to buy a lot right now, you moron!” Siegfried retorted.

“K-Kyuuu?”

“I don’t care if I blow my entire fortune right now. Buying them all is the smart move.”

“What are you saying?! Are you trying to go bankrupt overnight or something?!

Kyuuu!”

“No, man. Why would I go bankrupt? I’ll just become even richer.”

“

Kyuu?

How?”

“Use your brain for a second,” Siegfried grimaced and grumbled. Then, he leaned in and whispered, “How many people do you think know that these Legendary-rated artifacts can be turned into materials to craft higher grade artifacts?”

“

Kyuuu?”

“Almost no one yet, right? This is very fresh, insider intel. Most probably can’t even imagine in their wildest dreams that there’s a whole new rating of artifacts. But that news is about to spread like wildfire really soon.”

Siegfried’s observation was right on point.

At present, information about the Transcendent and Sanctified-rated items was practically a secret, and he was probably one of the only few who knew about it.

It was only possible for him to have this knowledge, as he was a major shareholder of the Bavarian Workshop, which was one of the top three workshops on the continent and was ranked number one in terms of sales at the moment.

Those without his level of connection had no chance of knowing anything about this intel.

“Now, think about it. What do you think will happen to the price of Legendary-rated artifacts once the news has spread?”

“

Kyuu?

What?”

“It’s gonna skyrocket, obviously!”

Siegfried was absolutely confident without a shred of doubt that the price of Legendary-rated items would go up.

After all, a large number of them were needed to gather enough Legendary Fragments to craft Transcendent and Sanctified-rated items.

Once the new rating of artifacts became widely known, it would only be a matter of time before the high-level Adventurers scrambled to craft them.

In other words, the demand for Legendary-rated items would explode, all due to the basic principle of supply and demand.

“I can make at least ten percent profit on each, at the minimum. I have to buy them now before others catch wind of it.”

“Wow... You never forgot your roots, have you, owner punk? I guess it’s true that people don’t change.

Kyuuuu...”

Even after making an obscene amount of money and becoming an absurdly rich man, Siegfried was not one to miss out on a chance to make more money.

Meanwhile, the Legendary-rated items in the marketplace were beginning to disappear from the shelves one after another.

This would have been nothing more than a dream for most people, as buying up so many Legendary-rated items would cost an astronomical fortune.

However, it was more than possible for Siegfried.

He possessed such an immense fortune that his buying spree could sway item prices, so wiping out every single Legendary-rated item from the market was a piece of cake for him.