Former Ranker's Newbie Life

Chapter 82

In LOST, items were usually ranked by grade: F, E, D, C, B, A, and S. However, some things simply didn’t follow the rules. There were outliers such as Relic items that blew right past the normal system. Some came with fancy prefixes depending on their rarity, but the moment the word “Relic” was in the name, it was guaranteed to be insane.

Even Do-Jin, who had once made it into the rankings for a brief moment, had only ever owned a single Relic item. Naturally, he was obsessed about obtaining more. Even after clearing Floor 9, even after the video went live and blew up his whole channel, and even as the entire gaming community was losing their minds about him, his brain was locked on only one thing: the Relic-Grade Random Box.

Fuck, I’m scared to open this.

No matter what came out, it would be good. However, even among jackpots, there was always an even bigger one. They say human greed knows no end, and Do-Jin was greedier than most. It was to the point that he still hadn’t brought himself to open the Relic-Grade Random Box.

It better be broken as hell. Or at least made for mages.

Relics were always powerful, so even if they didn’t match a player’s class, most would slap it on anyway just for the stats. Unless it was something completely unusable, the smart move was to just equip it without overthinking. However, getting a relic that actually matched his class and maximized his performance was obviously the best-case scenario, so he prayed. Today was the day, and he’d been on his best behavior to prepare for it.

He even let Chun Ji-Hyun clock out early and also promised the company he’d film more ads and extra content. She had practically skipped out of the office, beaming from ear to ear. The content and marketing leads even called to thank him personally, all smiles like he was some saint.

After making other people that happy, he figured he deserved some good karma. That was how the world was supposed to work. Give and take, cause and effect. Do something good, and something good would come back.

“I’m doing it.”

Do-Jin focused on the box with burning determination. His eyes were quite literally shining with a golden glow. Without even realizing it, he had activated both his Magic Circuits and the Grimoire of Truth. That was how much this meant to him.

[Would you like to open the Relic-Grade Random Box?]

As the system message popped up, Do-Jin squeezed his eyes shut and hit the confirm button. There was no fancy buildup or dramatic pause. The box just spat out the result like it had better things to do.

[You have obtained a Sealed Relic-grade Equipment.]

Still squinting, Do-Jin checked the message first.

Sealed...?

That word alone already felt like a kick in the gut. He quickly glanced down. Inside the box was a single glove, its surface darkened like burnt charcoal. Do-Jin gave it a little poke.

Wait a second... This isn’t just a glove. This shit’s made of metal?

Now that he looked more closely, he could finally make out what he had missed earlier through all the soot-black coloring. The material, the shape, everything about it screamed “magic gauntlet.”

But why the hell does it look like someone forged it out of a barbecue pit?

Feeling a growing sense of dread, he opened the item window.

[Sealed Unknown Magic Gauntlet]

Grade: Sealed Relic

Equip Requirement: Unknown/Requires Unsealing

A magic gauntlet, currently suppressed by a seal. There is no way to know what secrets it holds.

Do-Jin froze, not because the item just looked like junk, but because it was actually junk.

“This is a relic...?”

He already knew it was. He knew how relics worked, and he’d seen sealed items before. Still, Do-Jin couldn’t help but wonder why the hell the box had to cough up this crap. There was only one emotion flooding through him now, and that was pure, bitter frustration.

He dropped to his knees and let out a dramatic wail. “What the fuck is this?!”

Whether it was sealed or not, a relic was still a relic. The real problem was breaking the seal, which required something just as rare and overpowered. Pulling even one relic was already like hitting the lottery, but the odds of finding another just to make the first one usable were astronomically low. In fact, unsealing materials for Relic-grade items were so rare, they might as well be considered relics in their own right.

“And it’s not even something I recognize...”

As he turned the gauntlet over in his hands, examining every inch of it, nothing looked familiar. If anyone else had ever used it, there’d be a thread on the forums, maybe even a few videos.

Looks like it’s built for casting. If a physical class player pulled this, they probably wouldn’t have bothered with it. They might’ve just broken it down without ever unsealing it.

Relics were permanently soulbound to the player once obtained. Even if the item didn’t match the user’s class, it couldn’t be sold or passed on. In that sense, he could see the silver lining of pulling such an item.

Alright... Maybe there’s a way to unseal it. If I’m lucky, I might even find an unsealing scroll someday.

Do-Jin blazed through all five stages of grief in record time and reached acceptance. However, because he skipped a few steps along the way, all that anger he had shoved down suddenly came roaring back up from somewhere deep in his gut.

“Goddamn it!”

It couldn’t have been too much to ask for something usable right out of the box. To vent his frustration, he charged up an overwhelming amount of mana until he could feel himself getting dizzy. He dumped everything he had into his Magic Circuits and conjured the strongest Flame Spear he could possibly manage, then hurled it into the air. The explosion ripped through the clearing like a thunderclap.

“Shit. All I did was make myself hotter.”

He’d been using so many fire spells lately, he had cast another one without thinking.

I should’ve gone for some colder spells, the thought crossed his mind as he dusted off his hands.

[An encrypted code has been detected on your item Sealed Unknown Magic Gauntlet.]

[Would you like to begin code extraction and analysis?]

Suddenly, his golden mana that was glimmering like sunlight began to swarm the gauntlet, digging into it as if trying to force its way through.

The Grimoire of Truth! Do-Jin caught on immediately.

“You’re the only one I can count on!”

Once again, his class skill was kicking in on its own. His eyes flew open, and without hesitation, he accepted the prompt to begin analysis.

[Beginning analysis of the seal’s encryption...]

[Processing...]

The Grimoire of Truth opened on its own. Pages fluttered like a blur, flipping so quickly they could barely be seen. The sealed gauntlet sparked violently, reacting to the interference. It looked like a full-on clash, one side desperately trying to keep its secrets, the other doing everything to rip them out.

The whole thing took a while. Do-Jin watched in silence, barely remembering to breathe. Then suddenly, the gauntlet sparked violently, arcs of mana flashing across its surface. At the same time, the Grimoire’s pages, which had been flipping endlessly, started stuttering like a frozen computer screen. Then, a message popped up with a dull chime.

[Failed to analyze the seal’s encoded structure.]

Do-Jin, who had been watching with bated breath, slumped where he stood. The Grimoire of Truth had always been his magic cheat code. No matter what it was, it always came through. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case this time.

“I guess it can’t do anything about it.”

If I level up more, the Grimoire’s computing power will improve too. Maybe then I can crack it.

He had been riding high on hope, and now the disappointment hit even harder, so he clung to that small bit of optimism. As Do-Jin reached into the box to collect the gauntlet, the ash-gray surface started flaking off from his touch. Piece by piece, it crumbled away, revealing a sleek, shining metal beneath. He instinctively pulled up the item info again.

[Sealed Rune Gauntlet]

Grade: Relic

Equip Requirement: None

A gauntlet inscribed with runes. Part of the seal has been broken, allowing a portion of its power to return. To unlock its full potential, the remaining seals must be removed.

+100 Magic Attack

+100 Physical Defense

+100 Magic Defense

Activated Runes: Ultimate Rune

The seal had actually come undone. Even if only partially, the seal had been broken, and the gauntlet was now usable. The moment Do-Jin registered that fact, the pages of the Grimoire of Truth, which had frozen mid-flip, began returning to order.

[Multiple encrypted code blocks detected. Insufficient computational resources to decrypt.]

The Grimoire of Truth was finally catching up, displaying messages it hadn’t had the capacity to show earlier.

[To interpret the collected codes, the Grimoire’s capabilities must be enhanced.]

[Increase its computational capacity through growth.]

[Partial code has been decrypted. Unlocking currently accessible seal.]

[Item name updated: Sealed Rune Gauntlet.]

It was like the thing had short-circuited from overwork and passed out for a second. Now that it had come to its senses, it was reporting its own results with a delay. There was only one thing left to check. With the partial unsealing, a new ability had been added. The runes had activated, and the option Ultimate Rune was now listed.

That +100 to magic attack, physical defense, and magic defense was practically nothing for a relic. If the rune turned out to be garbage, this thing would just be another dusty trophy. With a dry gulp, he switched windows.

[Details]

Ultimate Rune: All attacks are guaranteed Critical Hits.

The moment he read that, a shiver of pure joy shot through his entire body.