“What’s going on?”
– “I’ve received news of support from overseas, and I felt you should know, Vulcanus.”
“News of support, not a request for support? You mean they’re giving aid to Korea?”
‘What is this about?’
Vulcanus wasn’t entirely sure, but based on what he had seen on Hunter News, there wasn’t a single country in a better position than Korea.
Korea was somehow managing to hold off the Monster Wave and protect Seoul, but hadn’t the capitals of other countries already been devastated?
He had heard that even the United States, a superpower in terms of Hunters, had lost Washington a long time ago.
And yet, those places were suddenly offering support?
Surely they were too busy trying to survive themselves.
Though he didn’t voice his thoughts, Nam Bora immediately understood his confusion and explained.
– “It seems they’ve judged that Korea is the only nation with a chance of climbing the Tower and preventing the apocalypse. The support is all related to Hunters. They’ve offered to provide everything that might help the current situation, including monster materials and the dispatching of Hunters. What’s more, it’s not just one or two countries. Most nations that have determined they have even a little bit of leeway are sending support.”
“Then what about their own countries?”
– “They’re places that can’t stop the Monster Wave with their own strength anyway. Their plan is to hold out by retreating as far from the Tower as possible to buy time until Korea stops the wave and the monsters disappear.”
“Ah…”
It made sense.
Blocking the Monster Wave without weakening it by conquering the Tower was a daunting task, even with Korea’s current military strength.
Since that was the case, they had decided to concentrate all their power on Korea.
Vulcanus had expected that in an apocalyptic situation where the end was near, every person and nation would scatter to find their own way to survive.
He hadn’t expected them to request cooperation in this way.
‘Indeed, this is the only way to survive for now.’
It was probably thanks to the system.
The System was the clear truth that never lied.
That System was telling them that the world would end if they didn’t climb the Tower.
They must have realized that the Monster Wave would end if even a single nation stopped it, and the Towers that appeared across the world would vanish if even one nation finished the climb.
– “The materials have already been sent. Would you like to check them?”
“That would be great.”
Materials.
It was good news, but he didn’t actually have high expectations.
Most of it would probably be S-class materials.
SS-class materials were rare enough that even a whole nation wouldn’t possess many, and most of the SS-class materials held by various countries had already been handed over to him during previous support phases.
With a light heart, he checked the information of the items sent to him.
[Vampire Lord’s Blood]
Type: Material
Rank: SS
Description: A being at the pinnacle of all vampires. The true blood of a Vampire Lord, known to possess the purest and strongest blood.
“Oh?”
He was wrong.
There were quite a few proper SS-class materials.
While it was true that the majority were S-class, the quantity of SS-class materials was significant.
Although it was a pity for him to use S-class materials personally, they could be handed over to the Production Team to make artillery shells, mass-produced equipment, or structures for defensive warfare.
They had various uses.
With the SS-class materials, he could make equipment for his party members, and any leftovers could be used to create powerful artillery shells that would work even against SSS-grade monsters.
Furthermore…
‘Since my party has grown…’
Though it hadn’t been decided who would be added yet, the party limit had increased to a staggering ten members.
If he was going to fill those new slots, he would need many SS-class materials to provide them with equipment.
In that sense, these materials would be a huge help.
“There are more than I thought.”
The S-class materials had reached a point where they would fill his room, so he put them all into his Space Pocket.
As for the SS-class materials, a quick count showed there were easily over twenty.
It was a satisfying number.
He even wondered how they had been hiding such materials until now.
‘No, maybe…’
Maybe they were materials obtained during the Monster Wave.
Most countries might have failed to stop the wave, but surely some had managed to take down one or two SS-class monsters.
In particular, the United States had sent quite a large number of SS-class materials.
It was enough to arm at least one party member with L-rank equipment.
No, before that, he had to arm his existing party members with full L-rank equipment.
Taking care of the new party members would come after that.
As he was organizing the SS-class materials with satisfaction, one material overflowing with an unusually powerful energy caught his eye.
It was a material he had never seen before, but he felt something from it.
“That’s…!”
Logically, it didn’t make sense.
He couldn’t understand how such a material could exist.
He checked the material with a tense gaze.
[Elder Dragon’s Claw]
Type: Material
Rank: SSS
Description: A trace left behind by a great Elder Dragon once called a ‘Lord.’
“It’s SSS-grade?”
It was an SSS-grade material.
Even he had only recently been able to obtain SSS-grade materials.
No matter how much he thought about it, it didn’t seem likely that another country had defeated an SSS-grade monster to obtain such a thing.
‘Why was an SSS-grade material mixed in here?’
Looking at the source, it seemed to have come from the United States.
Driven by curiosity, he asked Nam Bora, “It’s not as if the United States didn’t try to challenge SSS-grade monsters. Apparently, they put in a tremendous effort to defeat the Elder Dragon, an SSS-grade monster that appeared from the Tower during the first wave. They failed in the end and many Hunters were sacrificed, but they said that material was what they managed to obtain as a result.”
He had only heard news that even the United States had failed to stop the Monster Wave.
To think they had achieved the feat of tearing a material off an Elder Dragon while fighting it.
It seemed the strongest Hunter nation was indeed the strongest Hunter nation, regardless of what anyone said.
Well, though it was clear to everyone now that Korea had taken over that position.
“I like it.”
– “I thought you would. They said they would continue to provide as much support as possible, but that’s probably all for the high-grade materials. Since they’re giving everything they have, they won’t have the strength left to defeat monsters and obtain top-tier materials anymore.”
“I suppose so.”
To think those proud superpowers were entrusting the future of the world to Korea.
He couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride.
However, it wasn’t just monster materials they had provided.
– “Rankers from each country have also decided to be dispatched to Korea. Since the waves across the world will disappear if even one Monster Wave is stopped, it seems they’ve decided to concentrate on Korea, which has the highest possibility. They’re going to give up on their own Monster Waves and either evacuate far from the Tower or build walls like we did.”
“I see.”
Hunters from other countries were coming to help.
Even as they climbed the Tower, the Monster Wave would continue to grow stronger.
It was a relief to hear that foreign Hunters would be helping.
‘There wouldn’t be many Hunters stronger than those in Korea, but since they were the ones called Rankers in their own countries, they would certainly play their part.’
As he thought that, a new idea flashed through his mind.
“Can I get some information on who is coming?”
– “Of course. If we ask the Government, we’ll be able to get a list and their information. But why do you need that? If it’s because you need to make items for them, focusing on the Tower climb for now would be…”
“The party size has increased thanks to the Manager of the Tower.”
– “…What? The party size? Isn’t the party size for climbing the Tower fixed at five people?”
“Yes, that number has increased.”
– “To how many?”
“Ten. So I’m thinking of adding the Berserker and the Spirit Emperor to the party, but I was worried about the remaining three people. I was wondering if I should recruit any skilled individuals among the dispatched foreign Rankers.”
– “Ten people! Then the difficulty of the Tower climb will decrease significantly! I’ll go get that information right away! Please wait just a moment!”
“You can take your time. I have to be crafting items anyway.”
He said that, but no answer came back.
It seemed she had already set off to look up the information on the Rankers dispatched from abroad.
In any case, while Nam Bora was away researching the Rankers…
[Activating Crafting Skill.]
He immediately began crafting items.
[Please select the type of item to be crafted.]
“Armor.”
First, he intended to use the suddenly increased SS-class materials to make armor for his party members.
Long-range Hunters like the Infinite Archer or Cheongryong usually handled defense from the back, so they rarely faced direct attacks, which meant their armor was often given less attention.
However, the trials in the 80s were different.
The monsters’ means of attack had become more diverse, and their intelligence had increased.
Some monsters would blatantly target long-range Hunters as soon as the battle began, or they would launch surprise attacks while pretending not to target them.
Because of that, the armor of long-range Hunters had become even more important.
“Clang!”
He selected a suitable material and began making the item.
If possible, he wanted to make armor for Cheon Seung-heon, Cheongryong, and the Shadow King.
Fortunately, he had plenty of materials, so he could process them appropriately and create equipment he liked.
First.
[Crafting complete.]
[You have acquired ‘Cloak of the Rainstorm’.]
This was equipment for Cheongryong, Lee Ga-eul.
He had made it using cloth-based materials and materials closely related to magical power.
He also used the top-tier cloth materials and Magic Stones that the Mining Team had brought, and infused it with water and wind attributes to match Cheongryong’s characteristics.
Once he finished making all the items…
[You have equipped the full ‘Rainstorm’ set (6/6).]
[The set effect of ‘Mage of the Rainstorm’ is activated.]
[Set Effect: Raging Wind and Rain]
The power of magic increases further when using water or wind attribute spells.
A decent mage set was created.
Each item’s individual effect was specialized for the water and wind attributes, and they even increased the wearer’s magical power.
As expected of L-rank equipment and an L-rank equipment set effect.
Furthermore, it even gained a defensive function that allowed damage to be taken by magical power instead of health, meaning not only his attack power but also his survivability had increased significantly.
Next was…
[Crafting complete.]
[You have acquired ‘Infinite Archer’s Leather Gloves’.]
This was equipment for the Archer, Cheon Seung-heon.
He made Cheon Seung-heon’s equipment based on leather to ensure maximum mobility.
The Cheon Seung-heon’s fighting style was that of a rapid-fire archer, not a sniper.
He was a high-mobility archer who moved quickly to dodge enemy attacks while landing his own.
Fortunately, there were many good leather materials among the ones he had just received, so he was able to successfully create the L-rank equipment set.
[You have equipped the full ‘Infinite Archer’ set (6/6).]
[The set effect of ‘Infinite Archer’ is activated.]
[Set Effect: Double Load]
When loading an arrow, an additional arrow made of mana is loaded and fired.
This arrow possesses 20% of the attack power.
The Infinite Archer’s abilities were designed to increase attack speed and movement speed.
He had also ensured his survival by adding an effect that increased his evasion rate.
He particularly liked the set effect.
Double Load.
Most of the Cheon Seung-heon’s skills and item abilities were related to rapid fire.
In other words, he became stronger the more he attacked.
And with this ‘Double Load’?
The time it took to stack skill and item effects would be cut in half.
Even though the attack power of Double Load was only 20% of the original, Cheon Seung-heon’s combat power would double due to the skill and item effects.
He had only swapped out armor, not weapons, yet he expected a two-fold, or even nearly three-fold, increase in combat power.
“Phew.”
Next was the Shadow King’s turn.
As an assassin, it was best for the Shadow King not to be discovered or hit by the enemy, but he still had to provide her with proper armor as a last resort.
However, before that.
[Elder Dragon’s Claw]
“Should I try using this right away?”
The SSS-grade material, the Elder Dragon’s Claw.
He planned to use this as well.
There was no reason to save materials from now on anyway.
And just then, a ‘Myth Creation’ item that was perfect for this came to mind.