Nell watched the spot where Hyunsoo had disappeared and felt a wave of emotion.

‘Coming to Hyun’s Forge was the best decision of my entire life.’

It was because of the conversation they’d had before he left.

‘This time, I’ll go as Blacksmith Hyun.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes. I decided it’s better to go with my identity revealed.’

When they first met, Hyunsoo had been a bit awkward, and Nell had filled in for him in many ways.

But Hyunsoo had seen something Nell had not.

‘When I first met Ressel, I realized it wasn’t a good thing to meet while hiding my identity. With them, I might need to button the first button right.’

The first button.

Nell understood what that meant.

‘What would happen if that cursed trio came to Radiance?’

Nell’s thoughts differed from other people’s.

The public said that real talent and games were ultimately different and judged the three that way.

They also said the three of them had disgustingly bad luck.

But their luck had been bad—that was all. Their skill was real.

There was one thing Nell was certain of.

‘When they reach high-ranker levels, the high-rankers won’t even be able to pick their bones back up.’

The higher the level climbed, the harder it became for users to grow stronger.

Because of that, small differences exerted huge power.

That was why, once they reached that level, those three would stand somewhere others could not climb.

The problem was this.

‘They must have a reason they didn’t join a guild......’

Maybe that was nothing more than their own wishful thinking.

*****

Hyeji was stunned.

“......You’re saying you won’t just craft for us, you actually want to join us in the Labyrinth?”

“Yes. With less than a week left, it won’t be easy to craft artifacts for all three of you. Besides, believe it or not, I’m actually pretty strong.”

Pretty strong?

They had no idea what his standard of “pretty strong” was.

But one thought did come to mind.

‘How strong can a blacksmith be?’

Also—

Ares as a game was fairly well balanced.

If you were absurdly good in one area, you had to sacrifice the other.

So yes, a tiny bit of distrust began to sprout.

The three of them huddled for a strategy talk.

“What about the other applicants?”

“......No one that really catches the eye. I guess we underestimated this. Strong players don’t want to stand at the center of the hate storm.”

Another point came up.

“Blacksmith Hyun has kept himself hidden this whole time. If he’s stepping out this boldly, doesn’t that mean he’s got something? We’ve got five entries left. Let’s use one to test him.”

That argument made sense.

“Yeah. Just once. We try it with him just once.”

Soon, the discussion was over.

They showed him the videos of their previous attempts at the Savage Labyrinth.

“The Savage Labyrinth is a little unusual. Unlike normal Time Attack runs that always start under the same conditions, this one appears in three different forms. Pattern 1 is the easiest, 2 is the hardest, and 3 is the second hardest.”

To sync up with them, Hyunsoo carefully studied the footage.

Three hours later—

“Let’s go in.”

[ You have entered the Savage Labyrinth. ]

[ 4 entries remaining. ]

At last, the four of them entered the Savage Labyrinth.

“Once we pass through here, it starts. Get ready.”

The moment they stepped in, the three veterans’ faces twisted.

“Of all things...!”

Hyunsoo first needed to get used to this dungeon.

But of the three patterns, they had rolled the second, the hardest one.

Pattern 2 hit you with trouble from the very start.

As soon as you entered, a sub-boss–level monster, a Minotaur, slammed the ground and unleashed an Earthquake.

MOOOOOO—!

Maximum height 5 meters.

[ Minotaur Lv.331 ]

The Minotaur holding a huge axe crashed it down to the ground.

KUUUUNG—!

The floor split with a crack, and a shockwave spread out.

That shockwave stunned users for about two seconds.

It was completely irresistible.

Even if you jumped into the air, the aftershock reached all the way up to 6 meters.

Contrary to the word “labyrinth,” the ceiling height here was 10 meters.

But unless it was a high-tier Fly spell from a mage, that height......

“Hyunsoo, first, calm down and—!”

Hyeji shouted urgently, then froze with a baffled expression.

“......Huh?”

Wolf Leap

FWOOSH—

Hyunsoo vanished from her field of view.

At the same time, the Minotaur was flung into the air.

“......?”

They could not grasp the bizarre sight unfolding before their eyes.

With his left hand, Hyunsoo had launched the Minotaur high into the sky.

Moooo?

Hyunsoo’s sword moved.

Seeing that, all three of them groaned internally.

‘Minotaurs are famous for their high defense......’

SLAAAASH—

[ 6-hit damage is applied. ]

His sword was wreathed in light.

And wounds were carved all over the Minotaur’s body.

SLAASH

STAB

STABSTABSTAB!

‘T–the damage......?’

The Minotaur’s HP dropped to below 61%.

What exactly were they watching right now?

Blood spouted from the Minotaur’s body.

And then something even more astonishing unfolded right before their eyes.

“Ghost Steps.”

The sound of Hyunsoo’s footsteps vanished.

To the left.

STAB!

Above.

SLAASH—

Below.

THUD—

WHACK

KWA-KWA-KWA

CRACK

FWASH—!

After creating exactly nine afterimages—

He struck down the Minotaur midair with his sword.

KWHAAAAAAM—!

The Minotaur, slammed into the ground, turned to ashes.

Time taken to hunt the thing:

[ 5 seconds have elapsed since entry. ]

Immediately after—

“H–hiccup!”

Taehun could not help but hiccup.

Without thinking, Hyeji blurted out,

“T–thank you!!!”

*****

Compared to others at the same level, Hyunsoo’s stats were higher by the equivalent of 60 levels.

On top of that, he had White Night, a sword closest to Legend, and the passive skill 6-Hit Damage.

And the synergy with the Legend-grade skill Ghost Steps was enormous.

Landing lightly on the ground, Hyunsoo checked to make sure his party members were safe.

One was hiccuping, and Hyeji had suddenly thanked him.

“???”

“Ah, I didn’t even realize I said it.”

With that, Hyunsoo realized he had earned their trust.

“Let’s move.”

Hyunsoo also had his own reasons to put Korea into the top five.

They moved quickly.

Hyunsoo watched them as they fought.

‘They’re incredible......’

Considering their artifacts and their level range, the power they put out was unbelievable.

‘These people are supposed to be normal classes?’

They were called the cursed trio, yet they kept landing critical hits.

And then, at the boss monster’s lair—

“Cry of the Sword.”

KIIIIIIIIING—

The boss monster of the Savage Labyrinth was a Basilisk at Level 350.

As the boss appeared, Hyunsoo used Cry of the Sword to inflict a stun.

‘Unbelievable......’

‘Just having one excellent player added makes it this easy.’

‘And his damage output is flat-out absurd......!’

The three of them killed the Basilisk faster than usual.

And then they waited for the notification.

Their previous ranking had been 15th, with a record of 25 minutes 58 seconds.

[ Rankings are updated. ]

[ 9th Republic of Korea 19 minutes 59 seconds. ]

In an instant, they had skipped six places.

“Wooooow!”

“We did it!”

They were overjoyed to have finally closed the gap in rank.

Four entries remained.

If their first run had gone this well, they were certain they could narrow the gap even further.

And as they kept refining new strategies and plans, they put them into practice.

On their seventh run—

[ 8th Republic of Korea 18 minutes 31 seconds. ]

On their eighth—

[ 6th Republic of Korea 17 minutes 19 seconds. ]

Now they could finally believe they would no longer be the target of ridicule.

After promising to continue tomorrow, Hyunsoo logged out and drifted off to sleep.

*****

While Hyunsoo slept—

Nell could feel that the world was getting quite noisy.

‘Up until now, this Time Attack hasn’t gotten much attention in Korea......’

Once the ranking suddenly started rising, it began to draw notice.

And that created a surprising effect.

Participant lists for the Time Attack dungeon could be written anonymously.

[ Hanul, Hyeji, Taehun, Hyun’s Forge. ]

That final name, Hyun’s Forge, was heating up the world, as speculative articles poured out.

[ Hyun’s Forge suspected of crafting artifacts for Hanul, Hyeji, and Taehun. ]

[ Hyun, creator of a masterpiece, gives three Olympic gold medalists wings. ]

[ Global attention focuses once more on Blacksmith Hyun. ]

Seeing this, Nell was shocked.

Nell checked the skyrocketing subscriber count for Hyun’s channel.

‘Wow, that firepower is insane......!’

The global audience believed that the changing Time Attack dungeon rankings were thanks to Hyunsoo’s artifacts.

That belief was building anticipation.

And the subscriber count Nell had just checked looked like this:

[ Hyun’s Forge Subscribers 1,610,013 ]

[ Currently ranked 7th among Korean blacksmith channels. ]

From the previous 1.3 million, another 300,000 had joined.

‘If, at this moment, something happens that shakes the world one more time......’

Nell thought it might be possible to finally settle into the top four, a long-cherished dream.

The gap between being outside the top five and within it was quite large.

And soon, something like that did happen.

Nell checked the change in the Time Attack dungeon rankings.

[ Rankings are updated. ]

[ 1st United States 11 minutes 11 seconds. ]

The United States had instantly shaved their time down by four minutes.

It was something that shocked the world.

And unlike Korea, which had only just had the spark of interest in the Time Attack dungeon catch flame, the United States was already blazing hot.

Nell quickly clicked on an interview video that was spreading like wildfire.

The interview featured the American users participating in the Time Attack.

Every one of them was a big-name player in the United States and members of the Black Skull Guild, known as the best in the world.

CLICKCLICKCLICKCLICKCLICK—

As flashes popped endlessly, the reporters asked questions.

“How were you able to reduce your time so much in such a short period?”

To the reporters, it was hard to understand.

No matter what, how could you possibly cut four minutes?

“That’s something users from other countries will have to figure out for themselves.”

The Americans did not readily explain the reason.

A barrage of other questions followed.

In particular, Will, the one being interviewed, radiated absolute confidence.

“First place in this Time Attack dungeon is going to the United States without question, and that’s how it will be from now on as well.”

In fact, that had been the case for three years straight.

Then one reporter asked:

“Recently, Korean users have been causing some movement in the rankings. What do you think about that?”

With a mocking smirk of disbelief, Will answered,

“If it were China or Japan, maybe. But Korea?”

That was it.

As if Korea was not even worth mentioning.

And Nell, dumbfounded, watched Hyun’s Forge’s subscriber count rise even further because of this.

“This is a dangerous opportunity......”

If Korea took first place, Hyun’s Forge’s subscribers would skyrocket.

But if not?

‘Hyun’s Forge might end up being seen as a top-tier forge only in Korea......’

In other words, it was an opportunity that cut both ways.

*****

CEO Lee Sejin of Pureum Co., Ltd. was on a video call with the heads of the company’s branches in each country.

Just then, John, head of the U.S. branch, made a subtly mocking remark.

[ Korean users are truly impressive. To rise from 15th to 6th in such a short time. But I wonder if they can beat the United States, which has recorded 11 minutes...... What do you think, CEO Lee? ]

Sejin also understood the current situation.

Including the recent provocation from a famous American user who had stated that they did not even care about Korea.

“We estimate that, at present, it will be impossible {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} to break the 11-minute barrier.”

[ Oh? So that’s the extent of America’s strength, is it? Then again, the 11-minute barrier is higher than it seems. ]

Sejin gave a faint smile.

“Do you know what ‘the real beginning’ refers to?”

[ The real beginning. It’s the term all countries use to mean when a player reaches Level 300. ]

“The decisive reason for that is that, when most users reach Level 300, they open something new in their class or receive a quest and gain special benefits.”

[ What are you trying to say? ]

John furrowed his brow.

His expression said he could not see the point.

Sejin spoke with weight in his voice.

“Soon, user Hyunsoo will reach Level 300 inside the Savage Labyrinth. In other words, while it may be impossible right now, things might be different going forward.”

[ ......!? ]

[ ......!? ]

The branch heads’ faces all changed in shock.

Ignoring them, Sejin ended the video call.

Sejin himself was filled with anticipation.

‘What kind of power will user Hyunsoo unlock when he reaches Level 300?’ 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

And what sort of upheaval would he bring to the rankings of this Time Attack dungeon?

The answer would soon be revealed.