Bjorn Yandel the Barbarian

Two high-ranking wizards

Lee Baek-ho and I, both gamers

And two local top explorers:

It was a mysterious armor that came out of a mystery box, but when several people started studying it, results were quickly achieved.

And let me tell you the first one:

“It definitely looks like a number item.”

“···A number item? I’ve never heard of it before.

“I’ve never heard of it either, but surprisingly, there’s no doubt that it’s a number item. The way it was classified in the first place was whether or not it showed a specific magical power reaction.”

“How can that be···?”

“Actually, if you look at the history of the labyrinth, not all the numbered treasures existed from the beginning. There was even a time when there were no ‘numbers’ in the first place.”

“Oh! The time when there were no numbers? Was there a time like that?”

“Yes, the number was created after 10,000 treasures were compiled into one book by a fortune teller.”

“Perhaps this armor is a new number item that no explorer has discovered since the creation of the labyrinth.”

“···New number?”

“I think there are more cases similar to this armor. So I would like to name it ‘No Number’ or ‘Mystery Number’…”

GM started to get greedy for proper nouns, but unfortunately, someone had already taken the name.

“The official name is Secret Numbers.”

“yes···?”

“Arua Raven discovered it first and named it.”

It would be a shame if someone else stole what I had finally found.

When I said it bluntly, GM looked more studious than upset.

“By any chance… were there more treasures like this?”

I hesitated for a moment at those words, but I answered honestly because it could be a clue to overcoming the current situation.

“I found just one in the labyrinth.”

“Can you see it?”

“Unfortunately, it is not in my possession at the moment.”

“I see…”

Everyone seemed curious about what the item was, and I simply answered that I had gotten it from exploring the basement level.

“The ‘Secret Number’ came from the first opened area… There may be many more Number items that have not been discovered yet.”

Well, I think so too.

The outside of the castle walls and the basement floor that I visited a while ago, places that explorers had not been able to visit for a long time have been revealed one by one in the past few years.

Anyway, let’s organize the things we found out other than the information about the secret number:

“Wow, it was a treasured item?”

This armor already belongs to me.

“A engraving of your ear… Then I can’t get it back, right?”

There was a time when GM got really upset when he found out about this, but what could he do?

I just pretended not to hear it and just sniffed around.

“Anyway, so explain it to me. It’s a bound item… Are you sure?”

“Yes? Oh yes… When someone else tries to wear it, the shape adjustment doesn’t work, and if they force themselves to wear something that doesn’t fit, it turns into an ordinary armor with no effect. It’s a typical pattern of a homing engraving… ”

“I guess the ambiguous wave that you and I were talking about last time was the circuit related to the owner’s imprint.”

“Yes, that is very likely.”

For reference, in addition to being bound, it had an ‘indestructible’ option and also had options that directly affected the wearer’s specs.

‘Increase all playback speeds’

This option, named by GM, was the flower of this armor.

“It’s a very rare trait. It’s not a specific resource like soul power, magic power, or divine power, but a trait that literally encompasses everything that can be ‘regenerated.’”

I’m not just talking about resources that are used like MP.

The ‘Increased Regeneration Speed’ option also affects ‘Natural Regeneration’, so even if I eat other skills and use special resources, I will still be able to benefit from the trait…

“But if it’s a number item, shouldn’t it have an appropriate name?”

As Baekho Lee said, I couldn’t just call it armor, so I gave it a name.

“Oh! Then let me make something cool—·”

“Aegis’s Dragon Armor”

“···huh?”

“This is the Aegis Dragon Armor. From now on, the name of this armor is…”

When I said the name I had thought of, Baekho Lee nodded.

“Hey, the name is nice. The color is nice too, so it looks like a set item.”

While Baekho Lee responded positively, Jaina, who was next to him, tilted her head.

“I understand about Aegis, but why is it dragon armor? It’s not like it’s made of dragon skin or has a dragon heart in it.”

“uh····”

It was quite a difficult question to ask casually.

But still, let me answer honestly:

“If I just say armor, it’s a little boring…?”

“Oh, I see…”

This time, Jaina made a face that seemed to be incomprehensible, while the men in the group all nodded.

All the men seemed to like dragon armor much more than armor or iron armor.

‘Anyway, they say women don’t know men’s minds at all.’

In any case, the name ‘Aegis’s Armor’ was completed, and strangely enough, new results were achieved through this process.

“···What a coincidence. Just in case, I did a comparison test with the ‘Aegis Wall’ and it really did resonate…”

“So, in simple terms, it was a real shield and set item?”

“Yes, Aegis’s Dragon Armor and even the barrier… both were resonance treasures.”

Resonance Noble Phantasms are set items that provide additional effects when equipped together.

For example, No. 7611 ‘Deception of the Corpse Maker’ used by Mr. Bear in the past is representative.

No. 7612 When wearing a skull-shaped belt called ‘Corpse Sorcerer’s Arrogance’ at the same time, you can obtain the ‘resonance effect’.

‘It was an effect that additionally restored 50% of blood when one of the two effects was activated.’

Anyway, as I found out that it was a set item, the information that existed before was also updated.

“Then what is the resonance effect of this armor and shield?”

“Hmm… Now that I look at it, it seems like the regeneration effect is the resonance effect.”

All the regeneration speed increase options were the resonance effects of the Aegis set.

“Oh, so there’s a separate passive effect?”

“Yes… It looks like there is one permanent ability and one usable ability.”

In other words, it means that each piece of armor has one passive and one active option····

The active effect itself could be easily discovered through several experiments.

“Yurven Havelion casted the 5th-grade attack magic [Thunder Spear].”

The effect was very simple.

“Yurven Havelion cast the 4th-grade attack magic [Storm Rush]”

First of all, it was a defensive series as an option attached to ‘armor’.

“Yurven Havelion casted the 4th-grade attack magic [Ice Sword]····”

That would be the case···

“The character used [Aegis’s Dragon Armor]”

There’s a saying that the best defense is a good offense, right?

***

“Reflects accumulated damage”

***

The effect of using the Dragon Armor is similar to the essence of ‘Gachabon’ in some ways.

The mechanism called ‘counterattack’

and····

Shh …

A sort of summoner appears behind me, as if a disposable skeleton is being created for a counterattack.

These two features are similar to ‘Gachabon’.

But if there is a crucial difference,

“···Why is it so big?”

The scale is so overwhelming that it cannot be compared to skeletons and the like.

“···Is it the ability to summon things?”

“Uh… but is it moving?”

A giant Viking warrior in the form of a soul wielding a greatsword.

Towards the GM who attacked me for the experiment.

“Fuck!! Stop it!”

With Baekho Lee’s shout, the old man of destruction summons a magic barrier to block the sword’s trajectory.

Kwajijik-!

However, since it was a hastily deployed magic, it was not strong enough to block a great sword.

“Come out!”

Then Rex Aures hurriedly stepped forward and raised his shield…

“Cough-!”

The situation ended with Rex Aures spitting out blood after blocking the greatsword with his giant shield.

Dang-!

The giant shield that Aures was carrying fell to the ground with deep dents, and the spirit giant that was swinging the greatsword disappeared as if all its work was done.

“Are you okay?”

Healer Jaina runs out to see the details of Rek Aures, and only then does GM realize that he almost died and sits back down.

“Wow… This is no joke.”

Baekho Lee, who had been watching this entire process, observed with shining eyes.

“It’s clear that being hit is the activation condition, but does that mean it reflects in proportion to the damage inflicted? Or is it not a proportional damage, but rather something that can be activated when a certain amount of damage is accumulated?”

“······”

“Well, depending on which side you’re on, the attack method will be a little different. Well, it’s not an unavoidable hit, so I don’t think it’ll be that difficult.”

Oh, that’s why I was planning to study it on my own later on.

“Hey! What are you all doing? No one got hurt! Stop making a fuss and get back to your research.”

“Huh? Baekho? Didn’t you see it? Blood just came out of my mouth—·”

“But it’s not coming out anymore.”

“······”

Afterwards, research was resumed again through Baekho Lee’s active progress, and the active effect was thoroughly investigated.

“A mechanism where a stack is built up as you get hit, and physical damage is dealt in stages proportional to the stack.”

“The cooldown is only 5 minutes and it doesn’t consume any resources. But if you just fill up the stack 4 times, you can deal enough damage to break through twenty magic barriers like a piece of paper?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah. I guess that’s because it’s an indestructible number item.”

“But since it’s a set item, if you wear it together, the regeneration speed increases tremendously, and there’s even one more passive effect that I haven’t figured out yet?”

Uh um···

To sum it up, it’s something like that…

“What the hell is this fraudulent armor?”

“······”

I have nothing to say.

Well, I agree with that part too.

It may vary depending on what the passive is, but if you look at just the active, it’s not lacking even if you say it’s a single number level.

If the passive is also a single number level… you can think of it as having just acquired a new real single number—·

“It’s mine··· originally····”

My conscience prickles as I listen to GM’s mutterings, but what can I do?

It’s not like I can return it now.

“Jurven Haveli, stop whining.”

“Ha, but······”

“Isn’t it inevitable? It’s not like I want to make you belong to me or anything.”

“······”

“Or do you think our relationship will end with this one expedition?”

“That’s not it, but······”

“Then if I become stronger, wouldn’t it be good for you too? I’m not the kind of person to forget a favor.”

Let’s try to convince him logically. GM also has nothing to say and keeps his mouth shut.

I feel a little gloomy, but time will heal this.

“Wow, Baron, are you gaslighting me?”

I just let Baekho Lee’s words go in one ear and started researching the equipment again.

The decision was to properly check the passive that has not been revealed yet.

but····

One day, two days, three days···

No matter how much time passed, the passive effect of the dragon armor remained a mystery.

“Ha… If there were monsters, I think I could figure something out.”

“I think I’ve tried everything I could without a monster.”

“Unless there are really special conditions or hard-to-find effects, I guess we’ll have to have a monster to figure it out.”

So, I’ll give up on finding out the passive at this point.

However, when things ended like this, the situation became difficult again.

The reason I started researching dragon armor in the first place was to find a way to escape from here.

“Then it’s back to its original place?”

Baekho Lee’s emotions, which fully reveal his feelings of despair, spread to everyone like they were transmitted through the air.

The more it’s like this, the more the leader has to keep his mouth shut.

“Let’s start again with something we can do slowly.”

After that, I somehow encouraged him and started searching for the golden relics again.

They searched all the passages once more and even resorted to physical means, such as breaking down walls.

There was also an opportunity to go back up the stairs at the entrance and visit the hidden piece of the golden relic, the stone chamber of Makairo.

“···uh?”

What on earth is going on?

“···Wow, this is a bit creepy…”

Makairo’s body, which should have been in the coffin, has disappeared.