『Lord Helena’s Staff』
→ 《Legendary》(Growth-Type)
→ Though countless years have passed, its power remains intact, marking it as the staff of a great lord.
→ The staff once wielded by Helena, the Overlord, when she had shed her youth and risen to power as a ruler.
→ Exclusive to Overlord-class users.
→ Mana regeneration +30%.
→ Dark magic skill power +30%.
→ Can transform into any item of equal or lower rank in the user’s inventory.
→ Retains its original abilities when transformed.
→ If the transformed item is below Legendary rank, it is upgraded to Legendary tier.
→ Once per day, stores mana equal to the user's maximum mana.
→ Stored mana can be used freely at any time.
→ Grows when certain conditions are met.
→ If it copies the Belt of Giant’s Strength, it boosts Strength, Agility, and Endurance by 20%.
"Hah."
Seong let out a breathless sigh.
The base effects were already insanely powerful—
But the fact that copied items below Legendary tier would be upgraded?
That meant he could essentially equip two Legendary items at once.
Ridiculous.
He had thought Hero Hindel’s Sword was absurd,
but Lord Helena’s Staff was on an entirely different level.
Of course, Hindel’s sword would eventually develop its own embedded sword skills,
but since Helena’s Staff could continue to grow as well,
there was no comparison in terms of raw versatility and power.
The staff was overwhelmingly superior.
Even Seong was at a loss for words.
And next to him—
Belmor’s branch leader was crying as he murmured in awe.
"Aaaaah! As expected!!! You are the true successor!!! To awaken that staff to such an extent!!! No—!! Even if you are the true successor, this is an unprecedented feat!!! To have already evolved the Lord’s Staff to this degree!!!"
"...Ahem."
The praise was so over-the-top that it felt like they were coating pure gold in even more gold—and then studding it with jewels.
Still, Seong didn’t object.
He wasn’t about to complain when someone was complimenting him.
Instead, he equipped the copied Belt of Giant’s Strength.
And in an instant—
Strength, Agility, and Endurance all increased.
[『Lord Helena’s Staff』 is copying 『Belt of Giant’s Strength』.]
[『Belt of Giant’s Strength』 is Unique-tier.]
[Upgrading to Legendary-tier.]
[Copied item 『Belt of Giant’s Strength』 has been transformed into 『Great Giant’s Belt』.]
[Strength +20%, Agility +20%, Endurance +20%, Attack Power +5%.]
[『Lord Helena’s Staff』 retains all original effects.]
"Wow."
There was no need to copy any other item now.
A permanent +20% boost to Strength, Agility, and Endurance—
Nothing else could possibly be better.
Seong was about to check his status window, but—
Belmor’s branch leader suddenly bowed deeply and spoke.
"This humble servant, Belmor, shall now take my leave. If you ever have need of me, please summon me at any time...!!!"
With a poof, he vanished.
What is he, a ninja?
A bit eccentric, sure—
But at least he wasn’t an enemy.
Seong just let it go.
Now then.
What was next?
He had a plan.
Looking at the Fifth Region, there were three major objectives:
"No need to leave the city just yet."
The first two objectives were inside Pentagrid anyway.
No rush to head elsewhere.
More importantly—
"My sister mentioned there are a lot of unique NPCs in Pentagrid."
There might be special quests waiting for him.
So it made sense to stick around a little longer.
"Alright. Melisia’s Lab first."
With everything going on—auctions, quests, Overpalace business—
He had kept delaying his dungeon exploration.
A dungeon city, and he still hadn’t entered a single dungeon.
But—
"It’s been too long."
There was a system that logged players out to prevent excessive gameplay.
Maybe it was time to stop for the day.
Hunting down the murderer had taken up quite a bit of time.
"Tomorrow, I’ll experiment with the staff and explore the lab."
With that thought—
Seong logged out.
[Eternal World awaits your return.]
7.
Night fell.
Most players had logged off, and even NPCs were settling in for the night.
At the Overpalace branch in Pentagrid—
Belmor’s expression was grim as he returned.
With overwhelming dark mana swirling around him, he strode forward like a king entering his domain.
He looked nothing like the man who had bowed and groveled before Seong just hours ago.
The Overpalace NPCs immediately lowered their heads in reverence as he passed.
The branch’s high-ranking officers rushed to his side.
"Lord Paragon, the ruler of Pentagrid, has reached out to the successor."
"However, it seems he merely wishes to assign a task that most outsiders have failed."
"Additionally, the successor effortlessly solved the murder case."
"It appears Lord Paragon took notice of this and has begun observing him closely."
"Shall we eliminate Lord Paragon?"
A chilling discussion.
But Belmor remained silent, simply listening.
As if such conversations were perfectly normal.
Overpalace wasn’t a reckless slaughterhouse—
But when it came to protecting their successor,
they were dead serious.
Even the elimination of a city’s ruler was an option.
That was the kind of power Overpalace wielded.
Had Lord Paragon witnessed the conversation between Seong and Belmor before the auction,
he would never have dared to approach Seong.
After some thought, Belmor shook his head.
"Lord Paragon is disposable, but with the World’s Will watching us, we must avoid excessive actions. Let him play his little games."
"Understood, Branch Leader."
"Then if he makes a wrong move, we will eliminate him."
Belmor gave a slight nod.
If Paragon became a threat—he would be erased.
To Overpalace, Seong wasn’t just a successor.
He was a god in the making.
Of course, they were this protective.
Then—
Belmor turned to his officers.
"The successor has awakened the Lord’s Staff today."
"OOOOH!!!"
"Already!? He has already awakened it!?"
"This is truly incredible!!!"
"As expected of the successor!!!"
A cult-like level of admiration.
But their power was undeniable.
Belmor addressed them with a pleased smile.
"Send word to Dark Star. The successor has already awakened the staff."
The officers scrambled to prepare the message.
Dark Star would be pleased.
Meanwhile, Belmor retreated to his office, tapping his desk in thought.
He sensed Seong’s presence fade—
He had returned to his original world.
Not a problem.
"Tomorrow, he’ll enter the labyrinth."
Belmor’s fingers traced a black, starless compass on his desk.
He muttered to himself—
"Hurry and return. There’s something I need to give you."
It was a third-class advancement item—
One that Seong would eventually need.
0.
As Seong exited the capsule,
he glanced toward the window and saw that it was already late at night.
Still, since he had eaten lunch before logging in,
he wasn’t particularly hungry.
"Should I just skip dinner?"
As he was thinking about it—
his phone on the desk started buzzing.
Bzzzz—zzzt.
Bzzzz—zzzt!
A call?
At this hour?
Seong walked over and checked the screen.
It wasn’t an unexpected caller.
The name displayed was none other than Lee Geon-dong.
"What’s this about?"
"Is he struggling with the editing?"
That seemed like the most likely reason.
After all—
he had only sent the footage this morning.
There was no way he had already finished editing.
But when Seong answered the call—
[What are you talking about? It’s done, and I already sent it. That’s why I called.]
"What?"
Seong’s expression stiffened in disbelief.
He immediately checked his email.
And sure enough—
"Hah."
There it was.
The fully edited video.
Already delivered.
"Is this real?"
"That was fast."
Did he just rush it out?
Seong knew Geon-dong wouldn’t half-ass it,
but you never know.
Maybe he had just given up and slapped something together.
"You didn’t just throw this together, right?"
[Are you insane? Why would I ruin a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like this?]
"...Yeah, fair point."
[I did it properly. Even checked it three times.]
"Wow. You really work fast."
[I kept at it until I literally couldn’t make it any better. If this doesn’t get accepted, well, that’s just how it is. Anyway, thanks for the chance.]
Hearing him say that—
it seemed like he really had put in his all.
Seong nodded to himself and replied.
"Alright. I’ll send it to the guild and let you know the results."
[Thanks! Man, I need a break now. I was too focused for too long—I’m exhausted.]
"Yeah, get some rest."
After hanging up,
Seong let out a small laugh of disbelief.
"Hah."
Who would’ve thought his friend had such a talent?
"Alright, time to send it to Rapid—no, to An Yoo-jin for review."
Hopefully, it passed.
With that settled—
he should probably just go to sleep and head straight for the labyrinth tomorrow.
Melisia’s Lab...
Seong thought about the potions and various artifacts from his memories.
There were plenty of useful things there, but—
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would the system really give him all of them?
Probably not.
It would most likely limit what he could obtain.
Still—
there was a lot to look forward to.
Melisia was a renowned alchemist, after all.
She had even worked with the Dark Dragon’s Heart Fragment.
"Even getting just one thing would be huge."
Just what would he find?