[Name: Grid 

Level: -3 (15/20)

Class: Pagma's Successor

* The probability of adding additional options when making items will increase.

* The probability of item enhancement will increase. 

* All equipment items can be worn unconditionally. However, the is a penalty depending on the rating of the item. 

Title: One who Became a Legend

* Abnormal conditions don’t work well on you.

* You won’t die when health is at the minimum.

* Easily acknowledged.

Health: 34/34      Mana: 3/3

Strength: 1 + 5   Stamina: 1   Agility: 1   Intelligence: 1 

Dexterity: 1   Persistence: 4

Composure: 1   Indomitable: 1   Dignity: 1   Insight: 1

Stat Points: 0

Weight: 3,075/200

* The weight limit exceeds 200%, so movement speed is reduced by 100%. 

The body is heavy and cannot exert any power properly. 

The probability of receiving the ‘weakened’ state has become really high.]

‘It will take a while to climb the mountain with this slow pace.’

Grid’s pace was too slow, despite accelerating at full speed. He wanted to leave all of the items at the warehouse. However, there was nothing free in this world. In order to use the warehouse, he had to pay a considerable amount of money.

‘I can’t afford to spend my money on a warehouse when I am desperately needing a carriage.’

Money was money, but there was also the expectation that the act of enduring the ‘slow pace’ would have an impact on his persistence stat.

“Okay, let’s just go.”

He headed toward the mountain at a slow pace. The distance between the smithy and the mountain wasn’t far. Would it take around 30 minutes with the average speed of an adult male? Yet his movement speed fell by a huge 100%! It took him one hour to arrive at the base of the mountain.

“Phew.”

Grid was tired, despite walking even more slowly than others. It was amazing how creatures like turtles and slugs could live with their slow movement speed.

After three hours...

“Pant pant...”

He was barely able to climb to the middle of the mountain. The mountain path was well constructed, and the slope wasn’t steep. Still, it took him that long to arrive at the end of the path. It was now dark.

“I just need to go a little further...”

The light from the entrance of the mine wasn’t far away, but it wasn’t easy to reach. His poor stamina was already depleted.

“Shit...”

Grid didn’t want to delay arriving at his destination. He barely suppressed his desire to rest and struggled to move on. One step, another step... Each step was filled with a heavy weight. Grid felt like he was walking in deep water while wearing thick cotton clothes, but he continued forward. 

The moment he arrived at the mine...!

[Your persistence has risen.]

“As I expected!”

Grid laughed as he looked at his rising stat. It felt like he recovered from his tired spirit instantly. While he couldn’t raise these stats through leveling up, the ones that grew through certain behaviors gave him a tremendous sense of accomplishment and pleasure like that from a drug. It seemed like he would never be able to stop grinding stats for the rest of his life.

Grid entered the mine and literally sat down with joy. He took a break and consumed bread and water, then his stamina slowly recovered.

“Then shall I start? Appraisal.”

After judging that he had rested enough, he took out the pickaxe and used the Legendary Blacksmith’s Appraisal skill.

[Smith’s Pickaxe] 

[Rating: Normal

Durability: 19/19   Attack Power: 7~9

A pickaxe used by the blacksmith, Smith. It was used by Smith to build up his skills.

Thanks to the strong durability, Smith collected 120 iron ore in a single day with this pickaxe. Since that day, the miners in this village have acknowledged Smith. 

Weight: 40] 

[A hidden function doesn’t exist.]

[You have grasped the materials that make up Smith’s Pickaxe, the production method, and the intentions of its creator.]

[Your understanding of Smith’s Pickaxe is now at 100%. You can use Smith’s Pickaxe perfectly.]

[You have learned how to make a pickaxe.]

Grid received a great stimulus after reading the description of the pickaxe.

‘T-That old man mined 120 iron ores in one day?’

He had received a quest to mine 80 iron ores, but there was no time limit. It would take a few days to gather the 80 iron ores needed to complete the quest. However, he couldn’t relax after finding out that Smith obtained 120 iron ores in one day.

‘I am going to obtain 200 pieces in one day and then make that old man recognize me!’

Grid looked around the mine with the pickaxe in his hand. Glittering red dots were all over the walls.

‘I am supposed to hit those spots.’

As he moved to one red dot, the miners resting on the side discovered him.

“Hey Newbie, why are you holding a pickaxe in your hand? Surely you aren’t trying to mine?”

“I am.”

“What? Puhahahat!!” The miners laughed. Some of them rolled across the floor with tears in their eyes. 

Another person frowned and said, “Cut it out. A newbie like you can swing all day and not even obtain a single iron ore.”

The others agreed.

“You should be glad if you don’t break your wrist.”

“We are saying this because we are worried, so just go home. New-bie.”  

‘Yes, laugh now.’ Grid didn’t respond to them. He would just show them with his actions!

Kaaang! Kaaang!

[Iron ore has been acquired.]

The iron ore emerged after he hit the red dot three or four times. 

The miners were amazed at the sight.

“Ah, no? How can he do it so easily...?”

“Hey, it’s just a coincidence.”

Kaaang! Kaaang!

[Iron ore has been acquired.]

“Wow...”

“What, that guy? Why is he so good when he looks so incompetent?”

“Fools. That isn’t his skill. The pickaxe is special.”

One of the whispering miners approached him before reaching out and saying, “That pickaxe, can I try it?”

Did they think Grid was mining using the power of an item because they couldn’t recognize his skills? Grid wanted to see the expressions of the miners change when they realized that his pickaxe was ordinary, so he handed the pickaxe over to the miner.

“Look carefully. I’ll prove that this pickaxe isn’t an ordinary one,” the miner declared and wielded the pickaxe with confidence.

Kakang! Kakakang! Kang! Kaaang! Kang!

“Pant pant... It’s just an ordinary pickaxe...” The miner said awkwardly after repeating the swing of the pickaxe many times and only obtaining one iron ore.

The miners who saw it were agitated.

“Then he is good at mining...”

“We shouldn’t judge people by their appearance. Anyway, it’s time for us to leave. Let’s head down.”

The miners ignored Grid and left the mine. They didn’t apologize for their mistake or acknowledge Grid’s skills. 

Anyway, Grid went on to start the full-scale mining work.

[Iron ore has been acquired.]

“It’s really easy.”

The 100% understanding corrected his pickaxe swinging posture and accurately pinpointed the position he needed to hit. It felt like he could gather 200 to 300 iron ores.

Nevertheless, that confidence only lasted a short moment. He became exhausted after a while. The act of hitting a wall in a semi-enclosed space consumed more stamina than chopping firewood.

“Pant pant... This damned...”

When Grid obtained the 26th iron ore, his breathing worsened, and his waist and arms started twitching. His level -3 body was screaming at him to take a break. Yet he couldn’t rest. It was because his desire to raise his level quickly was greater than his desire to rest.

After adjusting his breathing, he straightened his posture and swung the pickaxe again.

Kaaang! Kakang!

“Ugh...”

By the time Grid extracted the 41st iron ore, the sensations from his wrist and waist started to disappear. Sweat poured like rain down his body. His legs weakened, but he persisted in swinging the pickaxe. When he raised his head, he couldn’t see the sky, only the stifling ceiling. He wanted to rest, but he also wanted to earn money by learning how to make items quickly.

Grid’s hands trembled as he moved his pickaxe.

Kakang! Kajajak!

“Pant... pant... Ah, I’m dying.”

Once it was the 59th piece of iron ore, his vision became blurry from fatigue. His muscles screamed, and his shaking hands couldn’t hold the pickaxe tightly. Still, he just soothed his hunger with bread and water and persisted.

This was his limit. Right now, he wanted to throw the pickaxe in his hand away. Yet he actually gripped the pickaxe tighter.

“I won’t give up because of this. My job is labor! Uraaaaat!”

Kakang! Kakang! Kakakang!

Grid was debt-ridden because of the game. He was a loser in reality. One day, he heard from a friend that his high school alumni ignored and ridiculed him. He was bitter because he knew that the friend who delivered the news had acted the same as the alumni. His friends from the army and university? He hadn’t been in touch with them for a long time. Ah, he was contacted four months ago by an army buddy. The army buddy was working for a multi-level (pyramid scheme) company and was willing to offer him a job.

It was easy to see who disregarded him. He didn’t bother speaking to them to change their opinion. If he told them that he was crazy about a game, they would just look at him like he was pathetic. He was so embarrassed about his pathetic self that he couldn’t go to the second reunion. However, it was the only way to meet his first love, Ahyoung. So he attended an alumni meeting when he was on vacation from the army... There was nothing pleasing about what happened. He was only able to forget about reality and find stability when he logged into Satisfy.

Nonetheless, that was a while ago. Now, Satisfy was no different from the real world. Even the NPCs were ignoring him! This wasn’t the real world. He needed to grow as quickly as possible. He would raise his level, earn money, and escape his debt. He would become a ranker. Then, like Katz not long ago, he would be interviewed on TV.

Grid was Pagma's Successor! The epic classes that made two billion users astonished? They were nothing in front of the legendary class!

“I will show the woooorld!!!”

Kaaang!

[Iron ore has been acquired.]

“I must succeed.” 

Due to the debt, he was doing hard labor every day. Then he would tell all those who ignored him that he wouldn’t ignore the abuse again and that, in fact, the lot of them weren’t so great either!

Grid’s pickaxe moved again. His persistence stat steadily grew. As he became more and more familiar with the mining technique, the speed that the durability decreased slowed. Before he knew it, the bright morning sun shone. The miners who came to work were amazed to see him.

“Did that guy work all night?”

“Unlike how he looks, he has enormous stamina. No, how is his mental state still fine? What an amazing guy.” 

“Heok! Look at the amount of iron ore! Has he broken Smith’s record?”

“Aish, how can he break Smith’s record? I honestly admit that he is doing well, but... eh? Hey, hasn’t his mining skill improved overnight?”

During that day, Grid fell into a critical state several times and minimized the amount of time spent mining. He experienced dangerous situations and almost died several times while mining, but he managed to pass the crises and obtained 170 iron ore by lunch time. Despite it being less than his target of 200 iron ores, he couldn’t continue any longer because his water ran out.

Stagger. Stagger stagger.

The miners watched as Grid left the mine with barely any strength left.

“This person... Great... I have to admit it. I apologize for what I said yesterday and for ignoring you. Please forgive me for my rudeness.”

“You will surely be a great miner! No, with this great spirit, you will succeed in whatever you want to do!”

The miners who ignored Grid yesterday now acknowledged him. Being acknowledged by someone, it was a valuable experience that he only had a few times in his life. He was proud, even if the other people were NPCs. Grid descended the mountain with lighter steps. 

Overnight, his persistence stat had risen to 16 points. His stamina also rose, so he was able to descend the mountain without becoming tired. He dragged the heavy sack of iron ores toward the smithy. It felt like the gazes of the villages had changed significantly. The miners had spread his story through the village.

“Uh, I’m sorry for yesterday, Miner.” The kid from yesterday had a complete 180-degree change in attitude as he apologized to Grid. His father also smiled at Grid.

Grid’s level was still a minus level. However, the attitude of the miners and people who ignored him suddenly changed in a day. It seemed that the ‘easily acknowledged’ characteristic of his title was applied.

‘I feel good...’

The world of Satisfy, which had grown similar to reality after he became a minus level, now felt like a haven again. Grid smiled and gave the boy a light pat. 

Shortly afterward, he arrived at the smithy. Smith had already heard about it. He had a stunned expression as Grid handed him the bag containing 170 iron ore.

“How is it? Can you still call me a newbie?” Grid asked.

“Haha...” Smith checked the number and condition of the iron ores, then shook his head with a thrilled expression. “No, you’re a great person, not a newbie. You have great talent and will grow to be a great person by overcoming any hardships.”

Smith asked Grid for a handshake. “Someone like you dreaming of becoming a blacksmith, all blacksmiths on the continent will rejoice. Thank you for giving me the glory of teaching you.”

Grid willingly shook hands with Smith.

Smith smiled warmly and continued, “You were very good. You also broke my mining record, which no one else has done. I will give you twice the promised reward.”

There was a notification informing Grid of the quest’s success, then the rewards started coming in.

[Reputation in Bairan Village has increased by 200.]

[1 silver has been acquired.]

[Affinity with Smith has risen to 60.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

[You are now level 1. Your stats, which were fixed to a minimum due to the minus level penalty, have been restored to their normal state.] 

[The basic stats of Pagma's Successor have been applied.]

Finally...

“This is the start.”