Overgeared

-It is Damian.

-Right. It is Damian.

-Yes.

[Pope Damian declared that he won’t participate in the National Competition]

The media around the world were buzzing with the news but the people’s reaction was calm. They had already foreseen the identity of the demon king this year. Damian’s declaration that he wouldn’t attend the National Competition was simply admitting that he was the demon king.

-Ah. ㅋㅋ Who would be deceived? If it was me, I would just stay silent or be honest. ㅋㅋ

-He is a Grid fan so he is going to follow Grid. ㅋㅋ

-Damian is honestly cute.

There was no reason for Damian to refuse to participate in the National Competition. In the world that was divided into the heavenly system and earth system, apart from Grid and Kraugel, Damian was a top predator belonging to the heavenly system. This year’s National Competition without Grid was a great opportunity for him to play at his best.

In the first place, the Demon King’s Subjugation was specialized for Damian. Damian had a variety of buff skills and percentage heals. He was more likely to become an immortal demon king if he gained the health boost.

-Besides, Damian has many talented people.

Rebecca’s Daughters—Damian’s three strongest NPCs were equivalent to Grid’s knights, and the senior Vatican members had healing abilities beyond Damian and were considered as Damian’s subordinates. If they became the Four Heavenly Kings and guarded the gateways, it would be difficult for the players to invade.

-Additionally, the Templar have started to act recently.

The Templar were the secret knights of the Rebecca Church and everything about them was veiled. According to information leaked by players in the Rebecca Church, the Templar stopped operating as a separate private organization and recently started supporting Damian. If the head of the Templar—who was likely to be a named NPC—appeared as one of the Four Heavenly Kings, then this year’s Demon King—Damian—was likely to be invincible, just like last year’s demon king.

-There is no reason to refuse to attend the National Competition unless Damian is senile.

This was the people’s conclusion. No one doubted the identity of the demon king. Only Damian suffered.

‘I was going to surprise people by appearing like last year’s Grid!’

Yet the plan failed. Strictly speaking, it was due to Ares. During the time when there was no news about Ares’ participation in the National Competition, there was some speculation that this year’s demon king was Ares. Then he suddenly participated in the National Competition and this collapsed.

‘My surprise show...’

Damian turned his gaze from the TV talking about him to stare out the window. Reporters were surrounding the house. The situation was the same when he connected to Satisfy. There were a rush of whispers and shouts asking for interviews. Reporters disguised themselves as visitors and infiltrated the Vatican. By this time, even Damian was tired.

‘I’m tired because I attracted too much aggro.’

Damian insisted that the basic virtue of an otaku was to not lose his pace at any time or under any circumstances. No matter what others were saying, he didn’t care at all. Even when Japan was in the midst of the anti-Grid sentiment, Damian openly praised Grid. However, this level of interest was burdensome even for Damian. Everyone in the world was watching his every move and things were more uncomfortable than he could’ve imagined.

‘As expected, Grid is sugoi...’

Grid was a person who received attention every day. Damian deeply respected the fact that Grid remained focused while in the center of attention.

‘He is the one I acknowledge.’

was to grow into someone who could stand next to Grid. In order to do so, he needed achievements in

order to do this, I need to find Orbis’ Ring in the

for the Demon King’s Subjugation was the healing reduction and

Grid. He would be greatly weakened the moment he was hit with debuffs that lowered his resistance to abnormal states. Thus, he felt the need to block off

only hope was Orbis’ Ring. It had a terrible probability of dropping from the banshee queen, who respawned every 36 hours in the Land of the Cryers. It was a legendary accessory that gave immunity to healing reduction and no healing skills. Damian had been aiming

pope to have the paladins block and monopolize the hunting ground under the pretext of ‘purifying polluted land.’ However, if he didn’t do so, it would be impossible to obtain Orbis’ Ring. Likewise, he would have to compete fiercely with the rankers looking for the banshee queen. The banshee queen respawned 36 hours after death

they’ll know that I’m monopolizing

be flooded and he would be inundated with public criticism. It was certain that a large number of

will there be

news big enough to turn the reporters’ attention away

such huge news won’t burst so

appeared... however, this was a wish that couldn’t be

prudent for a few days.

sighing and trying to ignore that the

has

“...??”

was an absurd world message

“Heok! Big news!”

this time?

and scrambled to leave. It was like seeing a procession

“......”

stupefied for a long time before kneeling down and

Rebecca. He truly deserved to be punished. It was a sin that should receive a stern warning from Rebecca’s Daughters, who were

***

the East Continent,

“Pant... Pant...”

side of his field of view. He was mentally and physically exhausted. His body

‘This is the limit.’

rest his body didn’t mean he had to rest his mind.

is time to use my saved stat points and skill creation

was used, and then again later on when 200,000 Army Crushing Sword was used, was enough to influence the battle. This meant that luck played a significant role in

would’ve been hard if I

They might have inherited the blood of a god but the reason for their birth and the significance of their existence was to be a ‘consumable.’ Yes, a consumable. Those who hadn’t built up their divinity were completely different from Garam. They were merely miscellaneous soldiers or extras in the war against the gods planned by the Five Seniors. There were clear limitations because they hadn’t been given a special story or role, unlike the

it but it was clear that Kraugel had been looking into it

can fight the yangbans

a growth that was beyond users. If Kraugel had thought of all yangbans as transcendents then Grid wouldn’t have even thought of fighting them. Yet at the end of the 3rd National Competition, Kraugel had made it clear—the yangbans weren’t as absolute as Bunhelier and the

the conditions that Kraugel mentioned. Once Grid’s fighting energy reached the maximum, he boasted stats that even level 500 players would never dream of. There was

still isn’t

was a real difference. If God's Command had triggered one less time, he might’ve lost

too strong to leave

remaining after raiding Fenrir and reaching level 405. An average player gained 10 stat points with each level up. That’s right—Grid had been storing nearly 60 levels worth of stat points. He wasn’t conscious of the cliche ‘a master hides his strength.’ Rather than hiding his power,

In a position where he already had enough damage and speed, wasn’t it more stable to aim for increased health? Should he increase his intelligence to maximize Braham’s magic stored

this naturally led to him saving his extra points. The biggest problem was his lack of references. Most players would look at higher leveled players to find a more efficient way to train.

time was completely different from the days when he was

pioneer the way for himself. It was

premise of a 1:1 strength to