"I did it!"
Shouts of a black-haired man resounded, as he achieved his dream.
He had...
...achieved level 999 in an online game!
("The perfect character I had created... you are finally the strongest!")
He thought as he looked at his masterpiece, which had finally hit the level cap.
"Well, I guess I should celebrate? Maybe call some friends over?" He contemplated, "Though, they may think I'm making fun of them if I call them to celebrate me level-capping my character.
After all, all their characters are around level 300."
He finally decided to just celebrate alone.
"Though, I have something to do first..."
As he clicked a few buttons, his inventory opened.
Then, he selected and equipped a certain item.
The Orb Of Infinity
An Unknown-Grade Item which can only be equipped by a LV999 character with the title of the [Archmage (SSR)].
You see, in this game, 'Balance Breaker Online', there are 7 rarities for Items. From the lowest to highest, they are: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Mythical, Unknown.
There can be stat bonuses on equipment, but that which is the most valuable is something else.
Effects, Special Effects, and a certain something else.
Effects can appear on any equipment, and Special Effects can only be on equipment that are Epic-grade or above.
The third is the 'Balance Breaker'. Each and every Unknown-Grade Equipment has a Balance Breaker.
Just like its name, Balance Breakers are capable of breaking the game's balance, although they come with limitations.
The Balance Breaker for 'The Orb Of Infinity' causes just about any effect to go on forever.
Fires can burn perpetually, Diseases will become incurable. It is considered the most powerful item for magicians.
Of course, it can only be used once a day, but it's still worth it.
Besides, it's better than any Mythical Grade item with its Stat Bonuses of Intelligence+300 & Mana+500. It also has the special effect of reducing mana cost for all spells below 10th Tier by 90%.
("I had this in my inventory for a while, but I couldn't use it. Well, A LV999 Requirement is as expected of a drop item from the last boss.")
There were five equipment that dropped from the last boss, the 'Evil God'. And each of them were Unknown Grade.
This is quite a bit of a fortune, considering the fact that less than 100 players are in possession of such an item.
As the strongest player in BBO, he has 79 of them, including the newest 6... (Except certain consumables.)
Also, the other Unknown-Grade drop equipment were the 'All-Armament', the 'Perfect Cube', the 'Enuma Elish', and the 'Imperial Great Wall'.
A few 'Caloric Stones' also dropped, and they also happen to be Unknown-Grade Items.
Out of those, he can't use the All-Sword as well as the Imperial Great Wall, since they respectively require the titles of [Perfect Warrior (SSR)] and [Sentinal of Heaven (SSR)], along with a LV999 character. He don't have those titles.
He still can use the Perfect Cube and the Enuma Elish, though. After all, their title requirements are [Wisdom King (SSR)] and [Creation King (SSR)] (along with the level requirement of LV999). He just so happens to have both of them.
As for the Caloric Stone... Well, that's a special case. It can be considered to be a crafting material. But actually crafting anything with it requires you to have the title of [Alchemy King (SSR)] or [Smithing King (SSR)]. He had both of them, so he can use it.
("Though, I could play a bit more... Damn it, let's just play a bit more! First though...")
He looked at his inventory once again and selected an item.
The Essence of Transcendence.
In BBO, there exists the initial limit of LV99, followed by further limits.
Once you reach LV99, you are essentially capped. There is only a single practical way to break the limit.
An Essence of Transcendence is the way. It's a Mythical-Grade Item that is only dropped by high-quality enemies (mostly bosses).
It can help you overcome those limits.
Once you use this Item while level capped, there is a certain chance to break your limit. You will rise to the next level and will continue until you reach the next level cap. The level caps go like this: 99 > 199 > 299 > 399, and so on...
The main limitation is that the chance of success drops lower and lower every time you use an Essence.
Now that he reached LV999, he wanted to use another Essence of Transcendence.
As he clicked the use option, a notification appeared.
{Unable to use this item.}
"Hmmm... As expected, LV999 may be the absolute level limit." He sighed, "I had a few thousand more Essences remaining... what a waste. And the Essences are untradeable. Really, this is disappointing."
He departed for the convenience store, but just as he got out, something big crashed into him from his left side, crushing him without giving him a chance to react.
----
("Ahh... I'm dead, huh.")
Right before the accident, he had seen memories flash by. Everything that he regretted, everything that he had seemingly forgotten, resurfaced.
And then, he died.
He now found himself floating within a black background, with nothing else in sight.
("I... wish I could play more...")
He wished he wouldn't have died.
More importantly, he wished that he had at least died after cursing at the developers for making LV999 the absolute level limit.
("But, this may just be for the good. After all, I at least got to achieve the goal I set for myself, 30 years ago.")
Just as he was contemplating life, something appeared in front of him.
("Wait...! This... is a notification?")
It was a notification. More precisely, it was the same kind of notification as in BBO.
He had never seen this message before, but it was apparently the death message for players in BBO.
{You have died.}
As he contemplated the implications of this bizarre phenomenon, the notification disappeared and another one appeared.
{Would you like to use the Unknown-Grade Item 'Reincarnation Stone'?}
As he looked at the message, he found the mentioned item familiar.
("Ah... That one! The useless one!")
He had acquired this item in a solo boss hunt 13 years ago, back when he was around LV560.
This one was a one-time use Item whose Balance Breaker activated at death, and reincarnated him in another 'World', and gave him several permanent bonuses, most of which weren't properly mentioned.
In BBO, a 'World' referred to a game server, so he could understand that.
However, those bonuses were quite a bit confusing to him, and he didn't intend to die anyway, so this item was forgotten.
However...
("Uhmm... Yes?") He spoke in his heart.
However, he was actually thinking along the lines of "OMG! Is this Isekai?! Finally?!".
{Acknowledged. Reincarnation will now begin.}
He was a bit confused, but mostly excited, as he lost consciousness.
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