Chapter 19
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.
The Guardian of the Forest, who was covered with minerals, fell down with a thunderous boom. Some party members were frightened by the sound and fell down, making them unable to resist the attacks of the golems.
“Ack!”
“H-Help me!”
Those who fell into a panic couldn’t feel the pleasure of a successful raid. The face of Jishuka, the leader of the party, didn’t look good as she searched through the remains of the Guardian of the Forest.
“Idiots, what were you paying attention to?”
Jishuka had already thoroughly lectured the party members about the precautions and strategies 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.”
Despite 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.”
It was a really tough battle.
The Guardian of the Forest was armed with superior defense, high health, and AoE skills that kept the party’s main members occupied. Meanwhile, it constantly summoned golems that put pressure on the other party members.
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 had 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. “The Amethyst Shield didn’t emerge 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 and said.
“Fortunately, we received this.”
[Blue orichalcum]
Orichalcum is a mineral born with the power of moonlight and the Guardian of the Forest.
It is impossible to erode the Guardian of the Forest’s magic power, but it has the best hardness and strength among all minerals.
It is lightweight and becomes much stronger in the darkness.
* Advanced blacksmith skills are required to smelt it.
Weight: 3
The value couldn’t be determined at the present time, but it would become an expensive commodity once an advanced blacksmith appeared. Jishuka was filled with disappointment as she returned to the village with her exhausted party members. The party members who died had resurrected and were waiting in the square.
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 complained about the small compensation.
But what could they do? This was the result.
Jishuka disbanded the party and gathered the guild members. Then she spoke with a serious expression.
“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 Tzedakah Guild was composed of the top rankers. But their reputation was low, which was why they were a small guild.
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 172 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 the time being, we have to give up on the Guardian of the Forest raid and try to strengthen the guild’s 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 useless in this state, so we can’t be impatient. Let’s leave the Guardian of the Forest raid for a while and increase our quality.”
When she looked at the faces of the guild members, they all seemed to have the same opinion. Only Regas’ eyes were shining like lanterns. He was clearly thinking ‘anything is good as long as I can fight!’
Jishuka thought about it and declared,
“We will give up on the raid for the next three months. In the meantime, we will improve our level and equipment. If we gain 15 levels in the next three months, can’t we kill that guy? Regas, you should gain 20 levels.”
Jishuka laughed brightly. Her half-moon eyes were sexy; however, they were considered horrifying to the guild members. Their leader was scary. If they didn’t fulfill the goal, they really would experience hell. The guild members, who knew better than anyone how fierce Jishuka was, gulped and Regas cried out in a trembling voice.
“Let’s go train!”
Thus, the Tzedakah Guild discretely dispersed.
Jishuka headed to the guild warehouse alone. The South American’s unique beauty and curvy body attracted the attention of 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.
Jishuka registered the minerals before looking through the auction house.
“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 an incredibly expensive price 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 99 bids, with the top bid at 18 silver.
Jishuka wondered why some madman would bid three 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 experience and reputation.
Due to the effect of combining jaffa with steel, it has extremely high penetration and ignores some of the enemy’s defense.
* 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 its 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 skill and 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!}
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 since the L.T.S days. Their small number was a constraint and the growth of their guild was slow, but no one complained.
They couldn’t occupy castles like large guilds, but anyone would fear their power. They might not have as much reputation as large guilds, but they displayed their authority with their force. The Tzedakah Guild members occupied the top three rankings of each class in the six months since starting Satisfy, so they were confident and proud.
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.