Chapter 306: Counterattack Quest: Defend the Huo Family Manor
The Equipment Rankings
evaluate all players' gear and rank them by power.
As a swordsman, Mihawk could be said to live and breathe blades.
Unlike regular players who swap weapons as they level up,
he had always carried the same sword—his iconic blade as the world's greatest swordsman.
Rank 1 Equipment: [Black Blade – Yoru]
For items on the rankings,
as long as the player allows it, the full stats are made visible.
Mihawk, naturally disdainful of secrecy, made his public.
[Black Blade – Yoru]: Power Value – 100
Base Attribute: Lv.15 Purple Weapon (+30 Power)Sharpening: Tier-1 Whetstone x300 uses (+30 Power)Rule Attributes: Enhancement Lv.5 (+25 Power), Forging Lv.3 (+15 Power)
"Enhancement and forging are the two main ways to strengthen gear—
But the failure rate is just too high."
In Mihawk's sharp eyes, a trace of frustration could be seen
as he gently stroked the blade, black as ink.
After the game update,
many towns across the Arad continent gained new, old-looking enhancement machines.
Place your gear inside, and it could be strengthened.
Enhanced gear
would receive stat boosts across the board—
and the higher the enhancement level, the greater the boosts.
Forging worked similarly.
Most of Mihawk's recent Reward Points had gone into enhancing and forging his Black Blade.
But if enhancement failed,
the gear's enhancement level would drop randomly.
That's why his sword had stagnated at +5 for so long.
At one point,
his luck peaked—he pushed Yoru to +7. The sharpness and boost to slash effects put it far beyond any comparable weapon.
But Mihawk got greedy—
tried to push it even higher—
and dropped it back to +5.
That endless loop of progress and regression was nearly driving the usually stoic Mihawk mad.
Many times, Adventurer's Guild members had seen him walk cheerfully into town,
only to return radiating a murderous aura as he marched back into the wilderness to hunt monsters.
And what was bothering Mihawk now—
was the junk ranked near the bottom of the Equipment Leaderboard.
Rank 17: [Broken Skyrealm Rifle] – Power Value: 47
Base: Lv.15 White Weapon (+2 Power)Other: Enhancement Lv.9 (+45 Power)
"Who the hell wasted so much on enhancing a piece of trash to +9?!"
Mihawk took a deep breath.
He thought of many potential suspects—then dismissed them all.
Enhancement was expensive.
Depending on the item's tier, each attempt cost thousands of Reward Points—plus there was always a failure chance.
His own Black Blade Yoru had cost him over 300,000 Reward Points.
Who in their right mind would throw that kind of money at junk?
Fighting the urge to slash someone, Mihawk looked further down the list.
Rank 3: [Rusty Rose Beast Taming Whip] – Power Value: 42
Base: Lv.15 White Weapon (+2 Power)Other: Enhancement Lv.8 (+40 Power)
Even Mihawk's self-control nearly snapped.
Broken. Rusty.
And both pieces of trash stood on the same leaderboard as his treasured blade?!
He looked further—
Rank 4: [Faded Venom Claw] – Power Value: 41
Base: Lv.10 White Weapon (+1 Power)Other: Enhancement Lv.8 (+40 Power)
Broken, rusty, faded.
The trio was complete.
Mihawk shut his eyes tight, fists clenched.
Normally, an unenhanced or unrefined Lv.15 purple weapon was worth 30 power.
Which meant—
These three worthless white weapons had surpassed that benchmark simply through enhancement.
BOOM.
Standing on the deck of the Adventurer's Guild ship, Mihawk released a furious slash,
his frustration and questions taking the form of a wave of sword energy.
"Again?"
Beckman sighed, puffing on a cigar. "He's been like this ever since the update, hasn't he, Guildmaster Red-Hair?"
As the Guild's president, Shanks scratched his head with a smile.
"Yeah… ever since the update, he's been acting like that. Seems enhancement failures are driving him mad."
With the first Tier-2 player now emerged,
there was no more reason to block further advancement.
Most players who had been at the Tier-1 peak had now successfully broken through.
To be honest,
Shanks didn't feel that much stronger after reaching Tier-2.
Until he started hunting.
Then he noticed—monsters that once took serious effort to kill could now be taken down with ease.
After breaking into Tier-2,
his internal energy went from clean water to thick syrup—its quality skyrocketed.
Even his trusty blade,
[Griffin], one of the finest greatswords, could no longer keep up.
Curiosity got the better of him—
He went into town to try enhancing it.
But the high cost and steep failure rate made him quit at +3.
He'd even tried talking Mihawk into stopping—
but the world's greatest swordsman saw Yoru as a companion. There was no stopping him.
So Shanks had to watch helplessly as Mihawk threw money into a broken machine over and over.
"Mihawk, I heard the reward for completing a Counterattack Quest includes lots of Reward Points… and enhancement protection scrolls."
His voice reached Mihawk's ears.
The brooding swordsman turned, eyes sharp. "Enhancement protection scroll?"
"A scroll that prevents downgrade on enhancement failure."
Shanks had just heard the news himself.
Counterattack Quests
were the centerpiece of the Reincarnation Game update,
redefining how items were acquired.
All factions were approaching them with extreme caution.
The process:
Players had to visit a game town to accept a [Counterattack Quest].
The quest's content would be randomized based on the player's strength—
sending them to corrupted alternate worlds with dynamic main missions.
Complete it to return.
But the catch—
Failure meant losing an enormous amount of Reward Points.
And death in the mission meant permanent death.
Even a strategist like Sengoku,
who had amassed several resurrection coins by exploiting loopholes,
would never send Navy officers in lightly.
Resurrection coins were extremely rare—only dropped by lord-level monsters.
Even the Fire Empire, which had slain two lord-level monsters, didn't have enough to waste.
That's why Sengoku used one to revive Sakazuki,
but winced so hard afterward he couldn't eat.
Those coins were worth entire Navy bases.
Shanks grinned. "It's a new adventure. If you're interested, I'll go with you."
"Sounds more like you're the one who wants to go."
Mihawk, dressed in noble garb, glanced sideways at the eager redhead,
then hesitated. "Aren't Counterattack Quests solo only?"
Even if two players accepted quests from the same world,
they wouldn't be sent to the same location.
Often, they'd end up continents—or even planets—apart.
"You think I'd come unprepared?"
Shanks grinned, opening his inventory and pulling out a newly purchased rule-type item.
As much as he craved new adventures—
He didn't want to risk his crew.
So he would go first—test the water.
Gauge the difficulty.
Mihawk's eyes fell on the item, and his lips curved slightly. "In that case, let's go."
[Huo Butian's Jianghu Order]:
From the Storm Realm. Manor Lord Huo Butian refused to submit to the Tyrant of World Society,
and now faces extermination by the Twelve Killers of Heavenly Pool.
He begs for heroes to defend Huo Manor.
Note: Using this item locks the Counterattack Quest to [Huo Manor] faction. Main mission: [Prevent the Huo Manor Massacre]. Team entry allowed (5/5).
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