Hyunsoo couldn’t forget Vallas Territory.

When he first visited Vallas Territory, it was on the verge of collapse.

In fact, some nobles were insisting Vallas Territory should be abolished.

After going there, Hyunsoo understood why those words spread.

Vallas Territory had been thoroughly exploited by someone called Inspector Books, and Lord Belin had fallen into being a puppet.

But after Hyunsoo left, many things changed.

Once called the territory of blacksmiths, the blacksmiths there—who had been declining—received Hyunsoo’s teaching, produced Masterpieces, and began making far better crafted goods than before.

And by coincidence upon coincidence, a JoyTuber with one million subscribers visited, and customers increased sharply.

If Hyunsoo said he had no affection for that place, it would be a lie.

His hands had passed through it, and the blacksmiths there had grown.

But he had thought it was something he couldn’t help.

And then what Barad said—

“I grant Vallas Territory to Viscount Hyunsoo.”

Those words made Hyunsoo’s heart pound like crazy.

There was a reason every guild master ultimately wanted to secure territory.

‘Because you can secure taxes and gain limitless funding.’

Then Barad said,

“However, it will require Lord Belin’s approval. It is a procedure that must naturally be followed. If she refuses, we will have to consider another territory.”

Barad was not a tyrant.

With Belin standing right there, he couldn’t forcibly replace her seat just because Hyunsoo was better.

‘That’s true.’

Hyunsoo could accept it.

Suddenly, he remembered meeting Belin before leaving Vallas Territory.

‘Become a noble. I believe you have that strength. And when you rise high and return ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) to Vallas Territory, I will divide shares of Vallas Territory according to what kind of noble you became.’

At the time Hyunsoo left Vallas Territory, he had been nothing but a commoner—and it was only a few months ago.

And after receiving that proposal from her, a quest had appeared.

For the first time in a while, Hyunsoo opened that quest.

[Hidden Quest: Noble]

Grade: S

Restriction: Someone to whom Belin has conveyed her intent

Reward: Territory shares

Failure Penalty: Affinity with Belin drops to the lowest.

Description: Lord Belin of Vallas Territory has firm faith in you. Live up to that faith and return to this territory.

It felt new.

Back when he first received this quest, Hyunsoo had wondered when he would ever become a noble.

And as the quest description said, it wasn’t “become a lord,” but “gain shares of the territory.”

And the final line of the description left an impression.

‘Live up to that faith and return to this territory.’

Hyunsoo would be going there as someone completely different from back then.

“I have high expectations for you.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

After greeting Barad, Hyunsoo looked around.

The other nobles were also looking at Hyunsoo with faces full of expectation.

Soon Hyunsoo greeted Barad again and left the audience chamber.

‘Let’s see.......’

When he became a Viscount, a lot of notifications had sounded for Hyunsoo.

But there were things that hadn’t even reached his ears because he was too shocked—and because he was before Barad.

Hyunsoo checked them.

[As a Viscount, you may designate a crest that proves yourself.]

[The designated crest can be applied to guild members, territorial people, soldiers, and knights.]

‘Oh...?’

He thought it would be truly impressive if that crest were applied to soldiers or knights.

[You have acquired the title Viscount.]

(Viscount)

Multiple Title

Grade: A

Special Ability:

· Charisma +10%.

· You may receive proper treatment from those whose titles are lower than Viscount, or impose punishment for just cause.

· As a Viscount, your words will carry greater weight.

· Wherever you go in the Kingdom of Goyard, you will receive treatment befitting a Viscount.

· You may announce the appearance of a Viscount.

· You are someone who has built a high Negotiation Progress, and for 3 days you may make an even more special appearance notification be heard.

Description: A title granted to a user who has obtained the Viscount title of the Kingdom of Goyard.

The title Viscount felt intensely formal, but it wasn’t bad.

And for now, Hyunsoo planned to leave the prisoners here in the capital.

There were places he needed to stop before going to Vallas Territory, and Vallas Territory still wasn’t fully confirmed as Hyunsoo’s territory yet.

Just as he was about to leave the royal castle, Hyunsoo stopped walking.

[The Wolf Egg reacts.]

‘Oh?’

The Wolf Egg seemed to consume Nutrient Ratio based on the many things Hyunsoo accomplished.

This Negotiation Progress probably made it consume Nutrient Ratio once again.

Wondering how much Nutrient Ratio had risen this time, Hyunsoo waited for the notification.

*****

The VR game Ares is serviced in over 100 countries.

With one-third of the population playing, calling it a second world is no exaggeration.

And furthermore, branches exist across the world, and even Lee Sejin cannot touch those branches.

And Lee Sejin’s face grew dark as he conducted a video chat.

The video chat included the heads of branches from the top thirty or so countries that occupied a large share of Ares.

And in the case of the Korea server, Lee Sejin participated.

John, the head of the U.S. branch, spoke from beyond the screen.

-Korea server will be facing the China server. I’m looking forward to the mettle of Korean users who were once called the strongest gaming nation.

Lee Sejin nearly let out a shallow groan.

Right now, all world servers were separated under the name “other continents.”

Simply put, it was like Earth.

Just as a single huge Earth contains over a hundred countries.

And users constantly demanded content, and each server wanted to see more worlds.

So in the end, Ares would inevitably go through a server merge.

And before the server merge, content was needed that could entertain users.

That was the continental war.

Continental war was content built around a story in which one country invades another.

And among Ares’s dozens of countries, only those judged stable would participate.

In reality, the continental war involved dozens of countries, and Korea was matched with China through a computer draw.

The exact outline had not yet been revealed, so how it would proceed was not finalized.

But one thing was certain: NPCs would not participate, and users would compete with a fixed number of participants.

‘The one thing decided is that they will be divided into attackers and defenders.’

China became the attacker and would invade, and Korea became the defender and would protect.

And since defenders were usually far more advantaged, something special was added.

‘For fairness, the attackers can have 10% more users participate.’

The number of Chinese users would be 10% higher than Korea’s.

“Let’s talk more about the continental war later.”

Since the timing wasn’t decided yet.

At the earliest, in one or two months. At the latest, within six months to a year.

After ending the video chat, Lee Sejin let out a sigh.

‘Can Korean users respond well?’

As CEO, Lee Sejin stood at the center of fairness.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t a citizen of his own country.

The power gap between Chinese and Korean users was too large.

‘It’s not because our people are lacking.’

It was population.

Only a selected number could participate from both countries.

Because it was a selected number, only China’s very best users would participate.

From the start, the gap between Korea’s top-100 rankers and China’s top-100 rankers—with a population over twenty times larger—was enormous.

‘A tiny number of powerhouses could still flip the board.’

That was what strength was like.

Even among knights, just as Bella of the Kingdom of Goyard could defeat twenty knights.

If there was someone with overwhelming strength, the story changed.

Then Lee Sejin thought of one user.

‘Not yet. Still far from enough.’

In Lee Sejin’s eyes, he might only be one of the high-rankers within the top 100 right now.

‘But if he grows steadily in the time remaining?’

And if...

‘If he becomes the world’s first user legend?’

Master Blacksmith Hyun.

Then maybe the story would change—an expectation tinged with hope.

But it was only Lee Sejin’s small wish.

Of course, Hyunsoo now only needed to create one more legend to gain the qualification to challenge it.

It was, literally, only the qualification to challenge it.

He still had to pass one more trial.

For now, Lee Sejin decided to set that expectation aside.

Just then—

[The Wolf Egg has finished absorbing Nutrient Ratio.]

Lee Sejin wore a puzzled expression.

As far as he knew, the Wolf Egg’s Nutrient Ratio absorption period still had several days remaining.

‘No way...!?’

Because of the continental war story, Lee Sejin hadn’t been able to pay attention to User Hyunsoo.

First, he checked the Negotiation Progress User Hyunsoo had built.

[User Hyunsoo achieves Negotiation Progress 227%.]

“What...?”

This was an impossible realm.

Skill.

Luck.

A stroke of fortune.

Maximized grateful hearts.

An astonishing number created by many factors coming together.

And the result that number produced—

[The Wolf Egg’s Nutrient Ratio reaches 112%.]

Lee Sejin swallowed dryly.

A Wolf Egg Nutrient Ratio of 80% produces a Fenrir-class legendary wolf.

And 80%—no, in fact, from 100% or more, a Divine Beast might be born.

It was, literally, might.

The right to choose belonged to the supercomputer Ares.

Lee Sejin rubbed his face hard.

‘What choice will the supercomputer Ares make?’

Usually, Ares made the same judgment as Lee Sejin. Their judgments matched almost 90% of the time.

He waited for the supercomputer Ares’s decision.

‘If it’s like I think, Ares will...’

Soon, a notification appeared.

[The supercomputer Ares intends to decide the being inside the Wolf Egg as a legendary monster.]

‘As expected...’

It was thinking similarly to Lee Sejin.

‘It’s difficult for an individual user to control a Divine Beast...’

Even the legendary wolf Fenrir reached the level 400s.

But a Divine Beast surpassed even that.

A user at level 290 controlling a Divine Beast with immeasurable power?

‘Instead, User Hyunsoo might be suppressed.’

Yes. It might be disappointing for User Hyunsoo, but it couldn’t be helped.

At that moment—

[The supercomputer Ares reverses its decision.]

“...?”

Lee Sejin wore a puzzled expression. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Even Lee Sejin didn’t often encounter cases like this.

Come to think of it, the notification had said, “intends to decide.”

‘Why?’

Why reverse it?

‘What are you trying to do, Ares?’

Hyunsoo couldn’t control a Divine Beast.

So why reverse it?

Soon, the reason revealed itself.

[The third Divine Beast chooses User Hyunsoo.]

Lee Sejin was horrified.

‘A-a user chosen by a Divine Beast?’

One Divine Beast was more valuable and greater than five legendary monsters.

And that Divine Beast had chosen a user?

‘Is it because User Hyunsoo is the God of Blacksmiths?’

No—Lee Sejin soon understood the reason.

‘Astonishing Negotiation Progress....’

Hyunsoo had done what no one could believe was possible, and the Wolf Egg had watched him.

But the problem was how Ares would solve this challenge.

Soon, a notification came.

[Ares finds a new answer.]

[The third Divine Beast will be born as a growth-type Divine Beast.]

[A growth-type Divine Beast will be an existence that repeatedly grows together with its master.]

“There was a method like this. Perhaps it’s the most ideal method.”

Once he let go of the assumption that a complete being had to be born, it seemed excellent.

Hyunsoo, who was not yet a legend, meeting a Divine Beast that would still be nothing more than a baby.

Lee Sejin gave a small smile.

‘User Hyunsoo has taken one step closer to becoming a variable in the continental war.’

And there was something Lee Sejin was most curious about.

‘Then when will this thing hatch?’

*****

[The Wolf Egg’s Nutrient Ratio reaches 112%.]

‘This is really good, right?’

Hyunsoo had learned the formula that if anything went over 100%, you got something incredibly good.

And he thought the Wolf Egg would, as always, shamelessly demand to be petted.

But it didn’t.

[The Wolf Egg is grateful that it was held in your arms.]

[The Wolf Egg cherishes you.]

Hyunsoo let out a small smile without realizing it.

And he was curious.

What kind of little bastard would come out of this—and when it would be born.

Soon, a notification rang out.

[The Wolf Egg will hatch within 96 hours.]

CRACK—

A fracture formed on the egg.