Pureum Co., Ltd.’s Audit Office.

Associate Lee Jihee of the Special User Management Team looked at the phone screen being held out to her.

[Hyun’s Forge subscribers: 2,316,013.]

[Current Korean forge subscriber ranking: 2nd.]

Hyun’s Forge.

That place had been in the 2.2 million range, but at some point it had already increased by another 100,000.

“......An incredible result. A lot of people around the world are still interested in Hyun.”

The person who took back the phone was John, the U.S. branch head.

The Time Attack dungeon rankings had suddenly swung.

It was enough to shock the world.

And it was something caused by just a single blacksmith.

When Pureum Co., Ltd. deems an audit necessary, it assembles a team from its global branches and dispatches them.

This time, U.S. branch head John spoke.

“The global branches suspect that valuable information might be leaking from somewhere in Korea—the country that created the game called Ares. And the one closest to users would be your Special User Management Team.”

“You mean that we would’ve leaked information to Hyun.......”

“Does that make any sense? The Hyun data we confirmed doesn’t make sense. Even the fact that he crafted six legends is bizarre. Sure, maybe it’s because he’s a genius blacksmith, but it still doesn’t add up. Even if we put that aside, how do you explain this?”

John leaned back in his chair.

“How can a single user have the skills of two legends? A way to learn swordsmanship from Sword King Barad, a way to learn Ghost Steps from Sky King Ben. Who let it slip?”

Under John’s cold gaze, Lee Jihee gripped her collar tight.

The pressure choked off her words.

Just then.

BANG

The door flew open.

A man wearing horn-rimmed glasses strode in and swept his eyes over the audit team.

U.S. branch head John.

He curled an interested smile.

“So it’s you. The one they say graduated top of the class from Massachusetts—the best university in the world—and then boldly refused recruitment calls from every branch, choosing to stay on as a team lead.”

It was Team Leader Kim Taeseok.

Lee Jihee looked surprised—she was hearing it for the first time.

“I’ll take the audit. Step out, Associate Lee Jihee.”

With a gentle touch, Taeseok guided Jihee out.

Taeseok sat down, listened to what she had heard without interruption—

and then said,

“One thing’s missing.”

John’s expression turned curious.

“There’s also the legend stats that User Hyunsoo obtained.”

“Come to think of it, there are those stats too. Did you tell him how to obtain those stats?”

Taeseok smiled faintly.

“Do you know how a user obtains legend stats?”

Taeseok pulled out a USB and held it out.

It contained a compressed archive of all of User Hyunsoo’s gameplay footage.

“To unlock legend stats, a user has to hit their limits multiple times. To put it simply, they have to go without sleeping for at least four days while obsessively focusing on one thing.”

Four days.

“And that’s not all. Those kinds of things have to stack up over and over before you can reach the unlock conditions.”

One of the audit team members asked.

“So you’re saying User Hyunsoo is some bizarre user who doesn’t sleep even once, repeats that multiple times, and puts in effort other people can’t?”

“Who knows. The answer will be in that USB.”

They were dumbfounded.

Who the hell plays a game like that?

Soon, every member of the audit team checked the contents of the USB.

The more they watched, the more John’s expression changed by the second.

The shocking part was that, for over ten hours, without even realizing it, they stayed glued to the compressed footage of User Hyunsoo as if they were bewitched.

‘So that’s how he won over Sword King Barad?’

‘He’s friends with Sky King Ben?’

‘He goes days without sleeping to master Ghost Steps?’

‘So this is how the sixth legend was born?’

After watching everything, they were left speechless.

“Watching that footage, I thought this: Ah, even if someone ordered me to do it, I couldn’t do it like that.”

“.......”

“.......”

The audit team fell silent.

They agreed.

John couldn’t understand it.

‘Why play the game this far?’

The synergy created by a genius blacksmith and his obsession.

“Even if it breaks.”

The audit team looked at Taeseok.

“That’s something that user says often. Even if he breaks, he gets back up—he doesn’t retreat, even if it happens over and over. That’s User Hyunsoo.”

Taeseok snickered.

“The global branches say this: we should suspend Hyun’s account. Someone leaked information. It’s ridiculous.”

He met the audit team’s eyes.

“He sleeps less than others and tries harder than others. Balance collapse? Maybe. But that user created it. At times like this, you don’t call it a balance collapse—you should call it this, shouldn’t you?”

Taeseok spoke about Hyunsoo the way he saw him.

“That user is seriously cool.”

*****

John dismissed Taeseok.

Not long after, CEO Lee Sejin walked in.

To John, who was preparing to leave, CEO Lee Sejin asked,

“How was it?”

Branch head John disliked CEO Lee Sejin.

A genius developer who built Ares in a small country called Korea.

But John said,

“He was the best user I’ve ever seen.”

The United States was the country that held world ranking 1st.

Lee Sejin smiled faintly.

John had also seen something else.

“......You already know too, don’t you?”

Lee Sejin looked puzzled.

“......That user is growing.”

He didn’t mean system growth.

“Beyond Sword King swordsmanship and Ghost Steps, he keeps meeting all sorts of incredible people, and his skill keeps improving. If he was 40% before, he’s reaching 70% now.”

John couldn’t even imagine it.

You could say rankers were at 80%.

“As time passes, I’m looking forward to how far he’ll go. And.”

John had a fun idea.

“Right now, we’re talking about a server merge. And on the day it happens, we decided to run a main advertisement to the world.”

It would be the largest advertisement ever—without precedent.

“I think it would be amazing if User Hyunsoo stood as the main face of that ad.”

“......!?”

The main face of the ad is chosen by a branch-head majority vote.

Excluding Sejin, the person with the greatest influence was U.S. branch head John.

“However, it would have to be a user who becomes a legend first.”

In other words, if Hyunsoo became a legend, John would throw his weight behind him.

“Branch Head John, you must have been quite impressed?”

At Lee Sejin’s smile, John let out a big laugh.

In truth, it was the hottest thing he’d watched all year.

And now John and Lee Sejin were picturing the same image.

The image of a master blacksmith who would be broadcast in the world’s main advertisement.

*****

The entrance of the Beres Mountain Range.

Hyunsoo had just arrived there.

As he walked into the Beres Mountain Range, a notification rang out.

[You have entered the Beres Mountain Range.]

[You are in progress of Class Quest: Sage Arte.]

[If you fail to meet Sage Arte within 3 days, the quest fails.]

‘Quest failure?’

Hyunsoo’s face twisted into a frown.

‘There’s a valid reason Sage Arte built their tower in the Beres Mountain Range.’

For one, the path up the Beres Mountain Range was brutally harsh.

On top of that, the Beres Mountain Range was widely known as a high-level hunting ground.

‘Climb this alone within 3 days.’

The biggest problem was that he knew the Sage’s Tower was somewhere in the mountain range, but he didn’t know exactly where.

That was because the Sage’s Tower’s location changed every two weeks.

Of course. It was Sage Arte.

They didn’t allow anyone to meet them easily.

“Ugh.......”

Hyunsoo felt a chill so intense it made him shiver, and he equipped the Fenrir set.

In particular, Fenrir’s helmet was shaped like a wolf’s head made of fur, so it was excellent for keeping warm.

‘If I just go in blindly, it feels like something’s going to go wrong.’

Hyunsoo stared at the snow-covered mountain with a worried expression.

And someone was watching him.

His name was Doon.

He was a Mountain Warden— a Hidden Class.

A Mountain Warden class was, as the name implied, a class for climbing and pioneering mountains.

Most of its skills were specialized for ascending mountains.

And because he understood mountains better than anyone, a Mountain Warden like him could guide people to wherever they wanted.

But Doon used that advantage for something completely different.

‘Fenrir......?’

One of the continent’s legendary monsters.

The man wore a helmet that reminded you of Fenrir.

And the necklace around his neck and the coat he wore were obviously expensive at a glance.

‘Jackpot......!’

Doon realized he’d hit the mother lode.

‘If I take that bastard to the Snowfield Blessing Grounds and kill him, how much will he drop?’

The Snowfield Blessing Grounds.

A special field in this Beres Mountain Range.

The moment you enter the Snowfield Blessing Grounds, all users gain triple drop rate and triple experience acquisition.

If you only heard that much, the Snowfield Blessing Grounds would sound incredible.

But it wasn’t.

Would Doon be trying to take him there for no reason?

If you enter the Snowfield Blessing Grounds, even if you are forcibly logged out, your drop rate increases by 3x, and you also lose 3x more experience.

In other words, the Snowfield Blessing Grounds were a double-edged sword.

[Doon: I hooked a good piece of prey.]

And in the Snowfield Blessing Grounds, Doon’s fellow hunting dogs were waiting.

Having chosen his target, Doon started walking.

“Hello.”

“......?”

Hyunsoo looked at him, puzzled.

First, Doon brought out a special power to win his favor.

When Doon spread his palm toward him, a warm energy gathered on him.

[Mountain Warden’s Blessing]

[Attack power against Ice-attribute monsters ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) increases by 5%, defense increases by 5%.]

[Some of the cold fades, and you feel warmth.]

Hyunsoo felt warmth settle inside his body.

“Oh......?”

“I’m Doon, a Mountain Warden of the Beres Mountain Range.”

“A Mountain Warden?”

Doon explained his job group.

“For an appropriate fee, I can guide you to wherever you want.”

It was a tempting offer for Hyunsoo.

“And because I can see through this mountain, I can also make sure you don’t get lost. No matter how much Ares is a game, getting lost on a snow-covered mountain and freezing to death is a much more horrible pain than you’d think. And if you go deeper in, you won’t even be able to use a Return Scroll.”

Hyunsoo definitely felt the need for a Mountain Warden.

At that moment, a whisper came from Nell.

[Nell: Hyunsoo, I looked into the Beres Mountain Range. First, the Beres Mountain Range is.......]

Nell—Hyunsoo’s reliable ally—gave him the key information.

[Nell: And especially the Snowfield Blessing Grounds.......]

‘Huh?’

Hyunsoo made a puzzled face.

It was a strange place.

Doon said,

“Are you here to find Sage Arte’s tower as well, traveler? I know where Arte’s tower is right now.”

And that was true.

To hook a fish, you need to base it on some truth.

So you speak half lie, half truth.

“There’s a shortcut. If you pass through a place called the Snowfield Blessing Grounds, you can arrive quickly.”

Hyunsoo didn’t miss the words Snowfield Blessing Grounds.

And one part of Nell’s whisper—

[Nell: I’ve also heard that lately, hunting dogs made up of high-rankers have been active, luring people into the Snowfield Blessing Grounds.]

Hyunsoo explained.

[Hyunsoo: ......It might not be, though.]

[Nell: What are you going to do?]

Hyunsoo looked at the mountain filled with white snow.

[Hyunsoo: Either way, traveling together will be more convenient for me. And there’s a good method.......]

[Nell: Oh...... Good idea. So this is the backstab-of-a-backstab I’d only heard about.]

And Hyunsoo was a better actor than you’d expect.

In the Frost Mine.

And in Vallas Territory, he gained many things.

“Hm, but I’m a blacksmith, so I was thinking I might just go back.”

“Oh, I see. But don’t worry. The fee will go up a bit, but as a Mountain Warden, I’m pretty strong in the mountains—so even if you’re a blacksmith, I can escort you up.”

A sliver of certainty formed.

Even for a Mountain Warden, escorting a blacksmith up would be hard.

The reason he was forcing it—

“No, I’m not doing it. I’m too scared.”

“Ahahaha, sure, as a blacksmith, monsters might scare you. I’ll tank in front. I’ll protect you for sure. Just trust me.”

Doon put on a confident expression.

And Hyunsoo, as if he couldn’t win, agreed to go with him.

“Want to try going together?”

Doon nodded kindly.

‘Stupid bastard. The moment you reach the Snowfield Blessing Grounds, you’ll die miserably. Keh-heh-heh-heh......!’

Doon laughed.

And Doon led the way. His various artifacts caught Hyunsoo’s eye.

‘Heh-heh-heh-heh.......’

Hyunsoo’s mouth split into a grin.

‘Ehehehehehehe......!’

There was one who flies above the runner.