Chapter 87: Topped Out in Luxury

After meeting with the Masterials, Levann left the royal palace and moved to a quiet spot.

Then, letting his twitching cheeks go free, he eagerly rubbed his hands together.

“Uh-huh, uh-huh~! Shall we see what we’ve got here?”

The Masterials, blushing with embarrassment, had handed him something with all sincerity.

Levann already had a pretty good idea of what was inside.

Most likely, what lay within was a Masterpiece.

After all, the Masterials wouldn’t have baked him cupcakes as a token of gratitude.

Humming a tune, Levann picked up the gift bundle.

[Would you like to check the Masterials’ gift bundle?]

Thump-thump.

Even the name was enough to make his heart flutter.

The system alert, which he usually ignored, was the most exciting thing in the world at this moment.

At the system’s prompt, Levann nodded vigorously.

“Of course I want to check. Check!”

[You have acquired a leather inner armor, made with the utmost effort from Master Oak leather by Masterial, Leatherer Bin.]

[You have acquired a black underwear set, crafted with all his heart by Masterial, Rang Pavara.]

[You have acquired a fireproof cloak, made with all his might from red Camilla leather by Masterial, Hon Carta.]

[You have acquired a leather belt, crafted with dedication from Master Oak leather by Masterial, Larry Sing.]

……

The notification messages filled his vision.

What was packed in the small bundle was anything but small.

Looking at the system messages crowding his view, Levann wore an expression of disbelief.

‘Don’t tell me… this is all?’

Of course, it was.

Inside the bundle from Leatherer was a collection of individual ‘Masterpieces’—each crafted with everything the technical Masterials had.

With the notifications filling his field of vision, Levann’s grin nearly split his face. And then…

[‘Quest: The Return of the Artisans’ has been completed.]

[Quest reward is being given.]

[You have gained experience points.]

[You have leveled up.]

The epic quest, ‘The Return of the Artisans,’ was finally completed.

“Yesss! This is it!”

Levann’s prediction was spot on.

The Masterials had crafted gifts for Levann from the leftover Master Oak leather after making the robe.

Thanks to that, Levann was able to receive a robe as a commissioned item, and the remaining leather was used for practical, other leather goods—each at ‘Masterpiece grade.’

As expected of true artisans.

How they managed to prepare so much in just two days was a mystery.

Levann’s cheeks twitched as he checked the item list.

‘Most of these are things I never even thought of.’

There were no items made of metal.

Most were crafted from leather or cloth.

They were the sort of items one could ignore while playing the game, but would be quite handy to have.

The best examples were the leather inner armor and underwear set.

Levann checked the options on the leather inner armor.

[Leather Inner Armor, crafted with utmost effort from Master Oak leather by Masterial, Leatherer Bin]

-Grade: Unique, Masterpiece.

-Restriction: None.

-Durability: 2,000/2,000

-Options

Physical Defense +200.

Magic Defense +150.

#Self-Repair.

#Self-Cleanse.

#Ultra-Lightweight.

#Heat Retention.

#Advanced Protection.

“Khh, what amazing options.”

Depending on one’s class, the type of armor one wears varies widely.

But unless you’re a tank, most people prefer leather for at least some basic defense—and leather inner armor is a staple for most classes.

Because inner armor is worn under the outer armor, even tanks who wear heavy metal armor use inner armor to fill gaps or to keep the cold, hard surface of the armor off their bare skin.

That wasn’t all.

Most Warlord players, upon starting out, are required to wear what’s called ‘basic underwear,’ also referred to as undergarments, to prevent public indecency in-game.

‘Of course, you can take them off in certain private places.’

Like secret rooms or inns, for instance.

So, most players don’t pay much attention to underwear.

However, in Warlord, which has a wealth of content, underwear comes in a variety of types.

After all, underwear is a kind of clothing, too.

Levann checked the information on the underwear set, nodding with satisfaction.

‘The underwear’s options are excellent too.’

Usually, underwear doesn’t come with defense stats, but since this was made by a Masterial, it had a bit of defense as well.

Also, while underwear typically doesn’t have durability, these came with self-cleanse and heat retention functions—extremely useful for everyday life.

Beyond that, Levann was highly satisfied as he checked the options of the fireproof cloak—which acted as protective clothing—and the leather belt made from Master Oak leather, which made it easy to retrieve items.

It was right after Levann checked the final item’s options.

‘Hm?’

He’d been so absorbed with the items, he didn’t notice the note tucked inside.

Levann picked up the note and checked its contents.

‘How cute.’

Inside, along with words of thanks for Levann, the note apologized for their shyness, asking him to forgive their rudeness in giving their gifts this way.

They’d also explained that they chose to give items made of cloth and leather, rather than weapons or armor, not just because of time constraints, but because these would be more useful for a longer period.

‘What thoughtful people.’

There wasn’t a single miss among these gifts.

After equipping all the items from the Masterials, Levann summoned a mirror to admire his new look.

‘If I get a chance later, I should commission a full suit of armor, too.’

Wearing Masterpieces from head to toe.

In real life, it would be like dressing head to toe in luxury brands.

Levann, delighted by this unexpected stroke of fortune, grinned and picked up a teleportation scroll.

But then, suddenly, he realized he’d forgotten something important.

“Ah, how could I forget?”

Levann’s profession—or rather, Seongwoo’s job—was now professional streamer.

So, to be a true professional, he had to always stay alert and turn every part of his daily life into content.

Plus, Levann really disliked the inefficiency of doing the same thing twice.

Now that he’d equipped all his new items, he decided to record a review video right away.

Levann operated his broadcast account and summoned a camera.

This camera wasn’t just for live streaming—it could be summoned any time, serving as an aid for maintaining natural eye contact.

Facing the camera with a smile, Levann said,

“I was so excited that I opened the gift bundle without even reviewing it first. So, please edit the footage and put everything in the right order.”

This was a message for the editing team, who would get the footage later.

After leaving his request, Levann clapped once to mark the edit point, then began his commentary again.

“Now, let’s begin the review of the Masterpieces I received as thanks for saving the Masterials of Gald Castle.”

Levann’s Masterpiece review began.

---

“Phew, finally done.”

When you start to enjoy what you do, you end up doing more than you’d planned.

That was the case with the just-finished item review.

What’s more, the items he’d just reviewed were gifts from the Masterials he’d saved—tokens of their gratitude.

It would be impossible not to be thrilled.

After buying a bottle of soda and gulping it down in one go, Levann sprawled out lazily on a bench.

‘I’ll take a little break before moving again.’

He’d put so much passion into the item review that he was more drained than he’d expected.

Even so, a smile crept onto his face.

‘Life really is good.’

His body was tired, but his mood was great.

So, as he rested on the bench, Levann mentally calculated how many episodes the Gald Castle storyline would make, considering the item review as the finale.

‘It’ll be at least five episodes. And if I draw more attention with the video of Infinite Tower’s second floor…!’

That would mean his channel would never run dry of views!

Just the thought made him happy.

After resting up, Levann took a teleportation scroll from his pocket.

The destination was, of course, the Infinite Tower.

He’d secured the robe for his concept, so now all that was left was to challenge the second floor of the Infinite Tower.

‘Guess it’s time to get going.’

Riiip!

[Moving to the Infinite Tower.]

As he tore the scroll, Levann’s body flashed.

---

Right after arriving at the Infinite Tower.

Levann went to find Decarn, just as he’d planned.

“I’d like to challenge the second floor.”

“…As I said before, you may be subject to the interference of the master of the floors.”

“It doesn’t matter, just let me in.”

“…Understood.”

When Levann showed his resolve, Decarn nodded with a dry voice.

[Moving to the second floor of the Infinite Tower.]

Wooong!

The door opened, and Levann’s body was sucked in as if drawn into spacetime itself.

When he came to, as on the first floor, there were no landmarks—just an empty cavern.

[Achievement, ‘First Victor,’ is in effect.]

[All stats increase by 20%.]

Upon entering the Infinite Tower, the ‘First Victor’ achievement activated, boosting all his stats by 20%.

A huge increase.

Smiling, Levann looked around.

‘So this is the second floor.’

According to the official site, each floor of the Infinite Tower has its own theme.

But so far, most of the known floors were just like the first—an endless monster spawn.

On the second floor, it’s goblins that appear.

‘It’s common sense that orcs are stronger than goblins. But the reason goblins appear on the second floor is because they use weapons. Ranged weapons, at that.’

The orcs on the first floor fight barehanded or with clubs.

But the goblins on the second floor use ranged weapons.

For example, bows.

That’s why the second floor goblins are classified as stronger than the first floor orcs.

‘Equipment really does make a difference.’

Just then.

Swoosh!

A short, sharp sound as the air was split.

At the instant he heard it, Levann instinctively raised his shield. But—

Thud!

“…?”

Feeling something at his side, Levann turned his head and saw a short arrow, broken in two, lying on the ground.

“What’s this?”

He hadn’t felt a thing.

But the arrow was broken.

At that moment, he felt something on his back.

Thud! Thud!

“…?”

This time, two arrows.

Two arrows, broken in half, had fallen behind him.

Grk, grrk?

He heard the goblins’ voices from somewhere.

Looking over, Levann saw some red goblins, visibly flustered.

Levann’s gaze met theirs.

One of the red goblins bravely fired an arrow. But—

Thud!

The arrow hit Levann in the chest, then fell limply to the ground, broken in two.

“…?”

It wasn’t a trick or an illusion.

The red goblins had definitely shot arrows, and Levann had definitely been hit.

But Levann’s robe was simply too tough for the goblins’ arrows to pierce.

Because Levann’s robe was made of Master Oak leather and imbued with the advanced protection magic, ‘Advanced Protection’…

(Serialization) The Mage No Longer Hides His Power