The average level of black magician users was level 53. Out of the 120,000 classes in Satisfy, the black magicians had the lowest average level. The Black Magician class was a combat profession, but users of this class had very weak defense and insufficient attack power. 

However, Yura had been hunting alone without a party since she started, demonstrating unmatched control skills that harmonized with her magic. Her ability to select hunting grounds was also excellent. There was a good reason why Yura surpassed two billion users to rise to fifth place in the rankings.

Three hours ago, Yura had finally reached level 230, resulting in new magic being added to the list of her abilities.

‘Now I can use defensive magic...’ Yura confirmed the A-grade spell that she acquired after much difficulty. ‘Diamond Barrier.’ 

This was a spell to create a shield by materializing mana with a hardness comparable to that of a diamond. It was a defense-type magic that could be acquired by a black magician upon reaching level 230.

After completing all the conditions required to learn Diamond Barrier, Yura headed straight to the Yatan Temple. As always, she headed to a temple with fewer users. It was troublesome since it was a long distance away, but it couldn’t be helped. Due to her high popularity, it would be an annoying situation if she went to a place with many users. It was amazing how many people recognized her, even when she concealed her face and ID.

After running for two hours, Yura arrived at the Yatan Temple and placed the prepared spell book on the altar. The moment she was about to learn new magic after professing her deep faith in God Yatan...

[A foolish group of enemies hostile to God Yatan has appeared inside the temple.]

[Guardian of the Temple] 

[Difficulty: S

There are foolish people who have entered in order to rescue the sacrifice to God Yatan. You must defend the dignity of God Yatan and punish the blasphemous intruders.

Quest Clear Conditions: Repel attackers or defend the sacrifice for one hour.

Clear Reward: The title ‘Guardian of Yatan’s Temple.’

* Guardian of Yatan’s Temple: Faith +300, Health +1,000, Intelligence +60

You are an example to other believers after defending the dignity of God Yatan. God Yatan will bless you more, and the faithful will worship you.

Quest Failure: Level -2, Faith -250.]

Yura was surprised since she had only experienced an S-grade quest three times, despite being level 230. Then a lot of noise rang out in the distance.

‘Is this an auto-generated quest due to the advent of an intruder? I’m lucky I came to the temple at this time.’ 

Yura was very motivated. She greatly desired the ‘Guardian of the Yatan’s Temple’ title because it elevated all the important stats.

First of all, Yura grasped the location of the sacrifice and then went to the place where the disturbance was occurring. Upon her arrival, she witnessed an NPC in leather armor ruthlessly slaughtering the followers of Yatan.

‘An NPC who has finished the third class advancement...’

Indeed, an S-grade quest had a much higher level of difficulty. The NPC called Doran was a great threat to Yura.

‘Even if I borrow the power of the believers, it will be a difficult quest to succeed.’ 

She received an S-grade quest after a long time, but unfortunately, the chances of success seemed low. 

‘No, there is no point in guessing.’

Yura calmly dispersed her mana throughout the entire temple. This wasn’t a normal use of mana for black magicians. In other words, this was done to detect the enemy. While the detection skill was only available to those with a fine mana manipulation ability, it was but a simple matter for Yura. 

‘Including Doran, there are two people.’

Yura grasped the number of enemies and looked at the user following Doran. ‘ID: Grid. Looking at his equipment, he seems to be a level-80 user.’

It was surprisingly low for the person who must’ve triggered the S-grade quest. The only one to be careful of was Doran. If so, this quest could be cleared.

Yura meticulously observed the terrain of the temple while her enemies focused on fighting the believers. She made a judgment and went down to the basement where the sacrifice was located.

The temple was too spacious, and there was a lot of area to cover, which meant it was advantageous for Doran. Yura planned to use the hostage in the relatively small basement to limit Doran’s movement and increase the hit rate of her magic.

After a while, Doran and Grid finally entered the basement. Doran was already quite exhausted from dealing with all of the believers. 

“These ridiculous bastards! They need more people than that to be our opponents! Now, Doran! Get rid of them!” The user, Grid, shouted. 

Doran nodded as he fired his hidden weapons in front of him.

“3,600,000 won and the earl’s daughter, here I come!” Grid was confident about the quest succeeding. 

Yura felt sorry for him. Still, she also needed to clear her quest, so she acted without any hesitation.

Tatatang!

Yura defeated Doran’s hidden weapons with the recently learned Diamond Barrier and turned her gaze to the astounded Grid. “I’m sorry, but I can’t allow you to take away the sacrifice.”

Doran was strong. In order to focus on him, it was wiser to deal with the relatively weak Grid first. Yura summoned fire and attacked without any delay.

[Critical!]

The greatsword was a weapon that warriors specialized in. It was clear that Grid’s class was that of a warrior. If he was a warrior around level 80, then regardless of how good his equipment was, his maximum health would be around 4,000. Grid wasn’t wearing any special equipment, and he should have approximately 3,000 health. Furthermore, warriors were very vulnerable to magic.

As such, Yura calculated that she could deal with Grid in one hit by consuming one-fifth of her mana. It was a critical hit, so it was normal to think that Grid died. Yet surprisingly, Grid survived.

‘How?’ Yura questioned it.

Let’s say that Grid’s luck was so high that he survived the critical hit. However, it was common sense for a character to become stunned after received 40% or more damage in a single attack. Grid was standing without being stunned. It was as if his health hadn’t decreased by 40%.

“That was clearly a critical hit... Based on your equipment, you are probably only around level 80. So how are you fine after being hit by that attack?” Yura asked.

Yura was ranked fifth among the pool two billion users, and she was narrowing the gap between her and the fourth-ranked person. Her gaming skills were truly overwhelming. 

She knew that her magic damage calculations were never wrong. Her calculations had never been wrong while playing Satisfy so far. This was a new experience for her. 

That confusion it caused affected her greatly.

‘Why is this happening? Is his level actually far higher than the equipment he is wearing? No, that isn’t likely. A person who dares to wear low-level equipment during an S-grade quest... Did I overlook something?’ 

Yura tried to analyze the situation calmly, but Grid was approaching.

Step. Step. He was a warrior walking at a very slow pace. It was as if he wasn’t in a hurry to narrow the gap towards the black magicians. This was an attitude that seemed to disregard Yura’s fifth-place ranking.

Grid’s behavior seemed to be saying to Yura, ‘I am giving you enough time to chant a spell. Use your best magic.’

It was an obvious provocation! Yura, who had strong self-esteem, was furious. As Grid wished, she started to chant the top-level attack magic. She was determined to turn him into ashes, along with Doran.

“Great god of the darkness, your humble servant calls you. Fill this place with darkness and plant fear in the enemies’ hearts, show your power to those who worship you.”

As magic power started to rise, the torches lighting up the basement started to go out. The torches weren’t actually turned off; the magic just turned the flames black. Soon, the darkness swallowed up this area.

A normal enemy would lose their vision and stop due to the added ‘fear’ effect of this spell. In fact, Doran hesitated for a moment from where he was hunting the black magicians behind Grid. Yet Grid was approaching like it was nothing. He had a higher resistance than an NPC who had completed the third class advancement.

‘What is his identity...’

The ID was too strange. He wasn’t a ranker... Then how was he so strong? Yura’s confusion grew, and she couldn’t recover from it easily. 

Despite this, her spell was completed fully. “Dark Storm!”

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

A silent storm formed in the darkness and struck Grid. The effect of the storm caused the pillars supporting the basement to wobble, while cracks appeared on the ground and walls. It was a mighty power that could topple the whole temple! This was the moment when a high-ranking dark attack magic was revealed.

Kwaang!

Grid’s body, which was already damaged from the black magicians’ attacks, was overwhelmed by the storm. Yura believed that Grid would turn into a gray light. Nevertheless, Grid was still fine as he kept walking forward, penetrating through the storm without pause.

On the other hand, Doran’s body was being torn to rags behind Grid. Doran was barely following Grid as a green light emerged from his ring. Even a third advancement NPC couldn’t cope with the magic, so why was this user fine?

“You... What are you?” Yura uttered.

Yura was a smart girl. She could see through anything with logic. In her 21 years of life, she had been praised by everyone she met for her beauty and intelligence. She used her innate insight on her work, earning her the reputation of a talented person who could be used everywhere. Satisfy was the path that she finally chose.  

Anyway, this brilliant Yura couldn’t figure out the man called Grid. 

‘This is an impossibility in the current Satisfy. This overwhelming presence isn't an NPC but a human... Is he a bugged user? No, Satisfy is controlled by the world’s leading supercomputer, Morpheus. So there are no bugs. There is clearly a rational way to get this strength. How did he gain such strength?’

It was the first time she encountered something beyond her common sense. She was baffled and very curious. At this moment, the person called Grid was deeply imprinted onto Yura’s mind.

On the other hand, Grid was coming closer to her with imposing footsteps. Yura couldn’t easily give up, so she prepared to fight. Then Doran stepped on Grid’s back, jumped up, and attacked her.

Kaaang!

Yura hurriedly blocked Doran’s attack magic and turned her gaze toward Grid, expecting an attack, only for her eyes to widen. The body of Grid, that had been fine just a moment ago, was covered with gray light and disappearing.

“......?”

Afterward, Yura received big injuries as she struggled with Doran and barely managed to subdue him. She stared at the place where Grid disappeared, ignoring the system window that informed her of the success of the quest.

‘Even if he were hit by Dark Storm, he wouldn’t have died so suddenly. He must’ve been penalized and forcibly logged out. Why?’

Yura’s expression gradually worsened as she thought about it.

“Did he yield the quest to me...?”

She felt helpless as she received Grid’s sympathy. That day became the worst day for Yura, of when her sturdy pride was thoroughly shattered.