I Gain Infinite Gold Just By Waiting-Chapter 219: Episode 46_The Ice Castle Lord (1)

1.

Was he confident? No.

The raid party consisted of 123 people—121 Fly Guild members and Buja himself—and not a single one of them was confident. It wasn’t a matter of self-belief.

“We’re going after a boss monster that’s at least twenty levels higher than we are. If you ask whether we’re confident, of course the answer is no. Even our ace in the hole, Fly, is more than fifteen levels below the boss.”

So why were they going? The Fly Guild members trembled, but they still answered.

“We’re not confident, but we believe in him. In our guild master.”

Every time Fly had taken on a dangerous, seemingly impossible challenge, he had never once failed. And you couldn’t just hide failures in dungeons, so everyone acknowledged his perfect record.

That same Fly—who hadn’t so much as set foot near the Ice Castle Lord’s chamber and had spent over a month just farming in the Ice Castle—was now saying he had found an angle and was going to attempt a clear.

They were scared and anxious, yet excited. Were they about to write another Chapter of history? Even if the record only listed them as “Fly and company,” just having their names in that history was worth risking their lives for.

“That’s why we’re going, really.”

Their lacking levels, gear, and stats would be covered by Fly. His guild members didn’t resent being his backup or feel that it hurt their pride.

“In any party, tanks and supports exist so the damage dealers can do their job. In our party, we have one damage dealer doing the work of a hundred, so if we help him maximize that damage, we’re doing our part, aren’t we?”

With that mindset, they prepared. No one pointed fingers at people who took pride in that role. They only applauded.

Instead, all the curiosity was focused on one guest.

—So what’s Buja’s deal? Where’s all that confidence coming from?

—Isn’t he just there to get carried?

—Why would Fly carry someone who’s not even in his guild?

—Maybe he’s just trying to promote his Legendary class?

—Still, this is a bit much. You don’t tag along on something you might die in unless you’re sure of yourself.

Buja. The first non-guild member ever to join a Fly Guild raid.

Why? For what reason?

Leaving the why aside, people’s attention turned to the question of whether he could actually do anything.

—What level is he now?

—No clue. He hasn’t shown his status in a while.

—He disappears for months at a time. How are we supposed to know what’s changed?

—What can he do in a few months? Last time he was around level 30, right? At most, he’s what, 32 now?

No matter how much Legendary gear he had, no matter how much attention his Legendary class drew from every player out there... could someone whose level was that far below the requirement really clear an 8-star dungeon, and a Legendary-grade one at that? Even if he were just a participant, could he survive?

To that, Buja answered with confidence.

“If Fly had made this offer a week ago, I would have turned him down. But now, I can do it.”

The bright red ring gleaming on his hand as he spoke drew every eye.

* * *

The Red Dragon’s Essence.

Because of it, Buja was certain he could clear a 6-star Legendary dungeon without much trouble. In fact, just looking at his boosted stats, he felt he could stand toe-to-toe with entry-level rankers. Of course, rankers also had at least one or two good items and had invested heavily in their base stats, but not every ranker could wrap themselves in Legendary gear the way Buja could.

In any case, starting from the third floor of the Tower of Trials, he had grown enough that it was no exaggeration to say he had finally stepped into the ranker tier.

But that alone was not enough.

If he were just going to the Ice Castle to hunt, he might have agreed. He had grown enough that, if he played it smart and teamed up with other players, he could probably manage.

But joining a fight against the Ice Castle Lord, who was in the high 80s? He had learned from countless games what happened when you got caught in the crossfire between titans. In real life, you could get your teeth knocked out just trying to break up a fight. If you got caught up in a battle between high-level monsters who could wipe out a mountain with a single blow, you might vanish without a trace.

So he had been thrown off by how early Fly had declared the raid. Even so, he accepted because he had confirmed something beforehand.

[You have been promoted to SVIP.]

A painful 2,000,000 gold and the three SVIP Promotion Stones he had saved up vanished. A hologram announcing the end of his months-long journey appeared, followed by a flood of new holograms filling his vision.

[The rank of Wait for Free Gold has increased. Legendary → (S)Legendary]

[The rank of Gold Enhancement has increased. Legendary → (S)Legendary]... 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Just as promised, most of the skills related to the Gold Maker had ranked up. They had evolved and been enhanced.

’So this is what that kind of change meant.’

Just reading through the rank-up notifications was enough to make his heart pound. Any player would feel the same. Legendary rank was something you might never see in a lifetime of leveling, and now he was looking at a rank above that. A rank he had never seen or even heard of. A rank granted only to the Gold Maker.

’How special is Special Legendary supposed to be, anyway?’

Or maybe other Legendary-class players already had one or two skills at that rank.

The excitement didn’t end there.

[VIP Token has evolved. VIP Token → SVIP Token]

[Daily Gifts Galore! has evolved. Daily Gifts Galore! → Daily Gifts Overflowing!]...

He really wanted to meet whoever came up with these names and have a word, but it looked like all of his Gold Maker skills were being overhauled across the board. Since the core of it all, his ‘VIP Level,’ had been completely revamped, his expectations only grew.

[SVIP Level]

▶ Rank: (S)Legendary

▶ Type: Passive

▶ Level: 1

▷ SVIP 1 skill benefits are currently in effect.

▷ You can spend 3,000,000 gold to increase this level.

“Wow.”

His SVIP level had reset to 1, but he didn’t have time to worry about that. Dropping to level 1 didn’t mean his benefits had suddenly been nerfed; if anything, it only made him more excited for the new perks.

The only thing that made his jaw drop was the gold required to level up SVIP.

“Three million?”

When he had reached VIP level 7, he had needed 30,000 gold. Now, the moment it switched to SVIP, the cost had jumped a hundredfold.

’Maybe I should’ve pushed VIP to level 10 before going SVIP.’

For a second, that thought crossed his mind as he frowned at the sudden spike in cost. But he quickly forced himself to look at it in a positive light.

’It was a trial I would have had to face sooner or later anyway.’

Even if he had maxed out VIP to level 10 before upgrading to SVIP, it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference. It was a whole different league, and there was no need to rush a decision before he had taken a proper look at everything.

Next, he checked the most crucial skill of the Gold Maker.

[Wait for Free Gold]

▶ Rank: (S) Legendary

▶ Type: Passive

▶ Level: 1(+1)

▷ Generates 1,000(+1,000) gold at 12:00 and 24:00 every day.

▷ You can spend 100,000 gold to increase this level.

▷ At level 10, you can spend 1,000,000 gold to unlock (S) Trait (1).

▷ Level is increased by 1 due to the Constellation effect.

▷ Base Traits are now active.

1. Sweet Taste of Patience Lv10

→ With a (Gold Power)% chance, the amount of gold you obtain is multiplied by 10.

2. Free Buff If You Wait Lv4

→ With a (Gold Power)% chance, one of the level 4 buffs is applied.

3. Bitter Taste of Patience Lv5

→ With a (Gold Power)% chance, the cooldown of ‘Wait for Free Gold’ that triggers that day is reduced to 6 hours.

4. Discount! Lv1

→ All level-up costs for ‘Gold Maker’ content are discounted by 50%.

The traits he had previously activated had been converted into Base Traits, and the skill itself had been buffed to an absurd level of efficiency.

Considering it had only given him 100 gold a day even at level 100 before, these new numbers were ridiculous.

“This is insane,” he muttered involuntarily.

He would now get 2,000 gold a day, and if he factored in the Base Traits on both payouts, he could receive up to 8,000 gold. On top of that, if Sweet Taste of Patience proceeded, he would basically be pocketing tens of thousands of gold for free.

“Wow.”

’Is it really okay for the system to be this generous?’

The skill’s improvement was staggering.

Of course, in line with that, the cost to level it up had climbed to match his SVIP status.

It now costs 100,000 gold to raise it by a single level and 1,000,000 gold to unlock a trait.

Considering how much it handed out, though, it actually felt like a pretty decent investment.

On top of that, the ability to raise the level without investing gold made those other elements stand out to him all over again.

“I guess I really should work on the Constellation stuff.”

He had practically forgotten about the Constellation content and hadn’t paid it any mind for a while, but now he couldn’t help thinking that it was finally going to pay off.

Naturally, if his passive gold income increased, then the gold he earned from hunting would also go up. This would broaden his investment options and let him grow even faster.

That was the real foundation of everything.

A massive amount of gold.

Because of that, he would be able to use ‘Gnawing Soul’ far more efficiently.

However, that wasn’t actually the biggest reason he had agreed to Fly’s request.

In the end, ‘Gnawing Soul’ was just a temporary buff. If his buffs were stripped away by some kind of debuff, then all of it would be meaningless.

The fundamentals had to be solid.

And among those fundamentals, the thing Kim Buja valued most was, of course, enhancement.

[Gold Premium Enhancement]

▶ Rank: (S) Legendary

▶ Type: Passive

▶ Level: 1

▷ Enhancement Stage Level 1 effects are currently in effect.

▷ The currently enhanceable slots are: ‘Weapon / Hat / Top / Bottom / Gloves / Shoes / Ring / Necklace / Earrings.’

▷ Upon reaching SVIP2, you can spend 500,000 gold to increase this level.

▶ Enhancement Stage Level: 1

1. Weapon Level: 1

2. Hat Level: 1

3. Top Level: 1

4. Bottom Level: 1

5. Gloves Level: 1

6. Shoes Level: 1

7. Ring Level: 1

8. Necklace Level: 1

9. Earrings Level: 1

▷ (S) Legendary rank effects are currently in effect.

→ Attack Power +300, Attack Power +22%, Mana Absorption on Hit +12%, HP Recovery on Kill +4%, Strength +5, Defense +150, Agility +5, Vitality +5, Enhancement Chance +5%

This, too, had been reset.

However, his previous bonuses were all still included within the (S) Legendary effects. On top of that, most of the old levels seemed to have been boosted by the equivalent of +1 in terms of actual effect.

This was more than enough.

He could say it with confidence.

“At the crucial moment, I can at least pull my own weight.”

His promotion to SVIP was the stepping stone he needed for the Ice Castle Lord raid.

* * *