Hyunsoo always thought that every time he activated Ghost Steps, it felt like he was slowly winding up.

Everything around him became ten times slower than usual, and he became ten times faster.

“KYAAAA...!”

Before the woman’s scream had even finished.

During the time that scream spread, Hyunsoo moved.

He shot out like a flash of lightning, sliced past, and cut through the wrist of an assassin who was poised to stab a nobleman’s neck.

Once.

Right beside them, he cut through an assassin stabbing into someone’s solar plexus as he passed.

Twice.

And behind Pan’s wife, he kicked away the assassin trying to snap her neck.

Three times.

SWOOOOSH—

Pan, sliding backward after kicking off the wall, stared at his wife with a shocked expression.

Behind him, Hyunsoo drove his sword into an assassin’s abdomen, then yanked it out with all his strength.

Four times.

He loaded power into both legs, sprang up hard, and sliced past two assassins chopping down from above.

Five times, six times.

Hyunsoo always ended up tangling his route when he went past six.

A tangled route meant the movement he’d plotted in his head had gotten tangled.

Calm down.

A man presumed to be Frak’s father, who looked exactly like him.

A short dagger had already sunk partway into the end of his abdomen.

Move.

Without thinking about a complicated route, he emptied his head, moved, and cut the wrist.

Seven times.

Last.

Hyunsoo’s head snapped around.

In the center, he was swinging a dagger.

The man Hyunsoo had just warned.

With a huge, sweeping motion, he was about to cut down three of Pan’s children right in front of him.

SPLATTER—

A ghost walks.

Without sound, faster than anything that exists.

And a posture to cut down his wrist.

Eight times.

Hyunsoo’s face twisted.

In the split second, the man changed the dagger’s arc.

But even after changing the arc, he was still aiming for the children.

The one in front of him was their leader.

When the dagger swung toward three little kids—

Hyunsoo clenched his teeth and moved.

SKRAAAASH—

He snapped the sword that had been chopping down back up again, and carved open the man’s chest.

PHWAAAAK—!

Nine times.

The slowed time returned to normal.

*****

Rek, the deputy leader of the Red Dragon Brigade.

He had infiltrated the banquet hall in a knight’s uniform with his squad.

First, he checked the distance between Ben and themselves.

Then he measured the distance to the assassins and the targets as well.

In just a few seconds, everything would be over.

After it ended, he planned to throw a smoke screen and escape.

But then—

“If you draw it, you die.”

He flinched at the voice from behind.

But a smile quickly formed.

Everything was already perfectly planned, and he couldn’t stop what would happen in that instant.

There is no peace!

Shouting that, Deputy Leader Rek moved.

He swung his dagger toward the family the kingdom’s number two, Pan, treasured.

“KYAAAAAAAH!”

A woman screamed.

As he moved, Rek heard a voice he couldn’t understand.

“Ghost Steps.”

With that low voice, the ghost moved.

As it moved—no.

Every time it accomplished any action at all, an afterimage remained.

Something that happened in just one second.

SKRAASH

KWAJAJAJAK

PZZZT

KWAAANG

PHWOOK

KAAANG—!

And the unidentified ghost was coming for him.

About 0.8 seconds had passed.

When the ghost suddenly appeared in front of him, Rek reacted fast.

‘The mission has to be completed...!’

If there were even a single victim, the king would despair—and that would mean the Red Dragon Brigade’s mission was fulfilled.

In the instant he changed the dagger’s arc to evade the unidentified ghost’s sword—

SKRAAAASH—

This time, it rose from below to above.

Rek’s chest was cut, and he flew backward.

‘W-what...?’

Can an arc change in that split second?

No—this was because of the mysterious power he possessed.

Flying backward, Rek saw the man who had come to a stop with his coat fluttering, sword raised in the finishing posture.

“AAAHK...!”

The woman’s scream ended.

At the same time, blood burst from the bodies of Rek’s subordinates as well.

PHWAAAAAAK—

“U-UGHHHAAAHK!”

“W-what is this?”

“What just happened?”

It was a bizarre event, like a ghost had literally passed through.

Rek, his face twisted in confusion, hurried to attack the targets again.

But it was already too late.

After confirming everything, Ben gripped his spear and activated the real Ghost Steps.

PHUPHUPHUPHUPHUPHWOOK—!

Every Red Dragon Brigade member except Rek died with their throats pierced straight through.

And Rek, too, took a violent impact to the back of the neck and fainted.

Thud—

After everything was cleaned up, Ben looked at Hyunsoo as he sheathed his sword.

‘Nine times...?’

It wasn’t a stable posture.

On average, it looked like he could manage about six to seven times.

But the fact he had activated nine times even once was beyond Ben’s common sense.

Ben recalled his conversation with Hyunsoo in the training hall.

He had told Hyunsoo he wouldn’t be able to do it.

He now realized that thought was wrong.

Whether he overcame it through effort, or overcame it through skill—

Hyunsoo was someone Ben should never gauge, and never evaluate.

*****

Nine times.

Hyunsoo’s chest tingled with exhilaration after barely pulling off nine times.

If someone asked whether he could succeed at nine times again, he could answer no.

Just now, Hyunsoo had felt adrenaline surge.

But even if it was only a moment of luck, it was still something he had done with his own hands.

And there was something Hyunsoo hadn’t forgotten.

‘I’m the Negotiator.’

In the end, Hyunsoo had to return to the Kingdom of Goyard.

The more he drove Negotiation Progress up before returning to the Kingdom of Goyard, the more the rewards changed.

One of Hyunsoo’s current goals was promotion to the next rank of nobility.

And in fact, as far as he knew, there wasn’t a single user who had obtained the next rank within this short period.

To pull that off, he needed a lot of Negotiation Progress.

And the reward for this sudden quest was none other than that Negotiation Progress.

‘How much will it go up?’

Soon, a notification sounded.

[Sudden Quest: Red Dragon Brigade Rebellion Complete]

[You have completed it with astonishing results.]

[You gain 17% Negotiation Progress.]

Hyunsoo’s existing Negotiation Progress was 62%.

With a 17% increase, it became 79% Negotiation Progress.

Ben walked up and spoke.

“That was excellent skill. And well done—you saved many people here.”

For his friend, Ben got clever.

A small apology for predicting he wouldn’t be able to do it.

By saying that, he was also announcing once more that Hyunsoo had saved many people in an enemy nation.

[Quest: Ben’s Test Complete]

[Ghost Steps increases by 0.5 seconds.]

Hyunsoo’s whole body tingled.

Because his effort had produced a complete result.

‘Now I can reliably use it up to eight times.’

If time increased, that meant he could plot a route and move that much more.

With that, Hyunsoo had become stronger by another step.

And Ben quickly brought the situation under control.

“Tell every knight to strengthen the perimeter. Today’s banquet is canceled.”

Then Ben looked at Rek, the one he had knocked unconscious.

“Take him.”

The banquet hall was cleaned up quickly.

*****

Hyunsoo logged out, rested, then logged back in.

As soon as he connected, he headed to the forge.

‘Why did the Red Dragon Brigade suddenly rot?’

Even if he wondered, there was no way for Hyunsoo to know.

Rek had been captured, so the outline would come to light.

And Hyunsoo had secured the best possible material for making a bow and a spear shaft.

The highest-grade Small World Tree material.

He had already decided what to make: a bow.

In crafting, how you use something is extremely important.

Hyunsoo had decided that, too.

Not long after Hyunsoo arrived at the royal forge, Nell came.

“That’s incredible. Being the king’s friend.”

Nell spoke with pure admiration.

After telling the guards in front of the castle that they were in the same guild as Hyun, and the moment Hyunsoo approved it, entry was allowed.

Nell, who had come to visit, said,

“Everyone in Radiance except me is going to progress the mission to become knights of Goyard.”

Ressel, Bark, Belia.

The reason they were doing missions to become knights was simple.

“To secure territory under the guild leader, we need at least five knights under you, so we’ll push it quickly.”

Securing territory.

No one knew when that dream would become reality, but minimum conditions existed.

One was a rank of Baron or higher, and another was securing five knights.

“Soon all the guild members will be entering a dungeon together, so you might not be able to contact us.”

Nell asked something she was curious about.

“The person whose crafting request you accepted—was there a reason?”

Hyun’s Forge.

Hyun’s Forge, which had been quiet so far, decided to accept a request this time.

Hyunsoo smiled.

“Radiance only has four knights secured: Luk, Bark, Ressel, Belia. But that person is already a knight.”

“That’s true, but I’m still wondering. Will that person really become our knight?”

At that, Hyunsoo’s expression turned certain.

“Probably?”

Nell was curious why Hyunsoo thought so.

“He’s posted about a crafting request every single day for about a hundred days. That means he’s desperate about that bow. I know desperate people.”

Because Hyunsoo had been more desperate than anyone.

“If we resolve him, it’ll come back as an enormous result. And if a good bow comes out, it’d be fine if I used it, but we’re a group called a guild. Compared to a great bow I use, a great bow he uses will produce several times the power.”

Nell nodded.

She also thought it would be a very good thing if recruiting him succeeded.

She imagined it.

An archer who never missed, hitting everything, protecting them in battle.

“Did you send a message?”

“Of course.”

And that person was someone who had been the number one archer in the rankings until recently.

*****

Hobeom sighed. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

“Ah, I quit being an editor a long time ago.”

Sitting in front of the computer, he had multiple messages.

[Hello, Editor Jin. I’m a game broadcast BJ...]

[Hello, our company has about 20 famous BJs... we would like to recruit Editor Jin...]

Hobeom let out a short laugh.

“I get the feeling. But I’m doing something else now, so what can I do?”

Hobeom had once been a top-tier video editor.

In 2040.

When internet broadcasts were pulling ratings on par with terrestrial TV, a skilled editor was something you couldn’t buy even with money.

He made a lot of money with that skill, and based on that, Hobeom invested in a game.

Ares.

And Hobeom, who had shone in the Ares archer rankings.

He was now a target of ridicule.

Hyun’s Forge.

[He’s back again?]

[That guy never gets tired.]

[At first I thought, sure, maybe... but now I just feel bad for him lololol.]

[So damn pitiful lolol.]

And those comments were attached to the post he uploaded.

[Hello, Hyun. I’m Ian, former #1 in the archer rankings, now #6. I’m requesting a bow commission.]

Hobeom was Ian.

Users mocked him, calling him “Ian Who Goes Three Times.”

A long march of over a hundred days.

[“Ian Who Goes a Hundred Times.” Dropped to Rank #6. Will Hyun accept ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) the commission?]

At some point, people started mocking Ian with the name “Ian Who Goes a Hundred Times.”

Another blacksmith?

He couldn’t commission one.

There was a reason.

Hobeom was a user who specialized in the horn bow.

And horn bows were so rare in Ares that you might see one in a thousand—if that.

And on top of that—

‘My horn-bow mastery is top-grade Level 5... if I use another bow, beginner bow mastery applies, and I’ll be at least 30% weaker than I am now...!’

The bow he wore was rare.

That was how scarce horn bows were.

And the hope that Hyun might be able to make a horn bow came from seeing the Dragonlight Sword.

The Dragonlight Sword was an artifact made according to Korea’s traditional methods.

[Wake up, Ian.]

[“Ian Who Goes a Hundred Times,” lolol.]

It looked like Ian had no way but Hyun.

Then a message arrived.

[Hello, this is Hyun’s Forge. We accept Ian’s commission.]

“...WOOOOOOO!”

A hundred days of effort.

Literally, “going a hundred times.”

At the result he’d obtained at the end, Ian burst into a cheer.

And Ian showed sincerity: what he wanted, plus his Skill Window and Status Window.

Soon, an additional reply came.

[After factoring everything in, we have found the bow you absolutely need.]

Ian was curious.

He could only wear a traditional Korean bow.

Then, reading the reply, Ian’s expression turned stunned.

‘This is possible...?’

[We will craft Jumong’s Horn Bow for you.]