The members of Radiance were always amazed whenever they looked at Hyunsoo.

When Nell first met him, he had been in the level 50s.

When Bark met him, he had only been around level 60, and when Ressel met him, it had been similar.

The people here had once been better than Hyunsoo, and stronger.

But not anymore.

And under the name of “lord,” it felt like they were only leaning on his growth.

At this time, the Guild Quest: Strengthen National Power that Barad gave greatly helped lighten that burden.

[You have reached total contribution 265%.]

[The Kingdom of Goyard’s national power increases by 2.6%.]

[You acquire 130 Charisma.]

[You acquire 100 Fame.]

In a guild quest, the contribution raised by guild members is added together.

[You have completed the guild quest with astonishing results.]

Those who had proven their contribution through the Appraisal Sword talked.

“By contribution, that means we can gain 130 soldiers. Since the current garrison is only 200, this is a visible result.”

“Hyunsoo will like that.”

Nell gave a bitter smile.

“But it’s still not enough. I heard Hwarang’s total force surpassed 1,000.”

“Ah......?”

Nell liked to throw cold water on a finished pot of rice.

But it was clear what they had to address.

“We don’t know what will happen soon.”

Nell was mobilizing every method to strengthen their forces.

“We killed the Fifth Calamity and the Fourth Calamity, and we even killed a demon.”

The calamities worship demons.

“Enter, please.”

Bella, Bolson, and Philip stepped forward, and the people of Radiance entered with Nell as their representative.

Barad, looking at them, went straight to the point.

“I acknowledge your contribution and will support Vallas with 300 soldiers.”

“......!”

Nell was shocked. The force they were originally supposed to gain had been only around 130.

“I saw great potential in the kingdom development projects I heard from you. Though each of those projects will not fill the treasury immediately, I judged that later, through them, national strength will be filled not by 2.6%, but by 5% or more.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Barad, holding them in his gaze, said,

“My worries have eased.”

Nell saw the king give a small smile.

He had a formidable, iron-hard constitution and bore the name Sword King, yet more gray hairs had appeared on his head.

“The talents who suffered at Boldrom Fortress not far from the capital will ease their hearts and return tomorrow, so you also enjoy the banquet.”

“......Thank you.”

Nell felt Barad’s consideration.

It meant to build connections with other nobles there.

In fact, nobles from all across the country had gathered for this event to strengthen national power.

Nell and the members of Radiance moved.

Nell told Hyunsoo this happy news.

[Guild Master Hyunsoo: That’s reassuring. Are you coming back after the banquet ends?]

[Nell: Yes. You miss us, right?]

[Guild Master Hyunsoo: A little^^?]

[Nell: Haha, I’ll come as quickly as I can. More importantly, is the crafting to become a legend going well?]

[Guild Master Hyunsoo: ......It’s not easy.]

Nell tilted their head.

Those words didn’t come easily from Hyunsoo.

‘I should hurry back after the banquet ends.’

[Nell: I believe in you!!! The best blacksmith, Master Artisan Hyun!]

After ending the guild chat, Nell headed for the banquet hall.

******

Hyunsoo looked at Nell’s guild chat window and gave a bitter smile.

He looked at the Twin Dragon Sword that was about 80% complete.

Hyunsoo, who had lifted the hammer to forge again, stopped without realizing it.

“Hoo, hoo.”

Hyunsoo panted.

“It’s too heavy.”

What Hyunsoo meant by “not easy.”

It was because pressure that was too strong was surging in.

In this world, there was only this much Story Stone in existence.

‘If I fail this, when will I become a legend?’

At the very least, he would have to surpass level 450.

You could tell just by looking at the levels of the legends right now.

Among the Ten Legends, there wasn’t a single one below level 450.

“I have to create the first grade. Can this Twin Dragon Sword make that possible?”

Normally, Hyunsoo was always overflowing with confidence, but this was a different matter.

Creating the first grade that had never appeared in the world.

That weighed down on Hyunsoo’s shoulders, kept him endlessly tense, and made him look back at his own work.

In that anxiety, he was doubting.

“Did I make this sword to the point it can become the first grade?”

Hyunsoo was approaching it more cautiously than usual.

But excessive caution was, instead, choking him.

He stopped the crafting he hadn’t stopped for days, for a moment.

In the forge in Gyeongju, there was a Twin Dragon Sword burned pitch-black.

The one his father and Hyunsoo had made together.

‘I need to see it.’

Hyunsoo logged out.

Meanwhile.

“?”

“......?”

“?”

“......?”

CEO Lee Sejin of Pureum Co., Ltd. and the Special User Management Team’s interest was on the artifact Hyunsoo was making.

And originally, the new grade of artifact was something planned to be opened only a year later.

The reason they made puzzled expressions was because of the notification they saw—unlike Hyunsoo’s words.

[Story Stone reacts most intensely.]

“You’re crafting something this incredible, and you say that?”

At Jihee’s words, Sejin understood.

“It’s like a linked chain. For a mere outsider to become a king, they must be recognized, and for that, becoming a legend is a necessary thing. At such a time, the mineral that opened that path is only enough to make two artifacts. Not just me—anyone here would have suffered immense pressure.”

“......Even under that pressure, he crafted it most perfectly. That’s incredible.”

Taeseok admired.

“What Hyunsoo needs right now is simply this—confidence that he’s crafting it well.”

And there was something Sejin was looking forward to.

‘A year from now, we planned to release a new grade artifact on our side.’

But if Hyun crafts such a sword within a year, what happens?

‘How big of a ripple could it cause?’

All of a sudden, the content of an article he saw recently brushed past.

[World Ares says it’s time for a new “the one” to appear......]

[It is known that the public no longer places their hopes on a single most influential user......]

Sejin felt their heart pounding.

Hyun rose onto World Ares as the first Korean.

‘But if he becomes “the one”.......’

It would become a historic event in Ares history that could flip the Republic of Korea—no, the world—upside down.

‘Can he make it? With Story Stone only enough to make two artifacts?’

Sejin looked at the monitor with an expectant expression.

*****

Hyunsoo arrived at the forge in Gyeongju and took out the great saber from the storage.

On the day of the fire, this Twin Dragon Sword that he and his father had made together had burned.

Part of the grip had melted, and the hard blade face had been dented as it was crushed under a fallen pillar.

Hyunsoo brushed the blade face with his hand.

‘My father and I made it together, but I did all the crafting.’

His father had assisted and taught him the ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) method of crafting this sword.

As Hyunsoo brushed the blade face and removed the black grime stuck to it, he was shocked.

‘......What?’

Great blacksmiths have an eye ordinary people can’t see.

A sword’s sound.

Its feel, texture, weight.

And the completeness that follows.

What flustered Hyunsoo was this.

“The one made in the game is better?”

A full seven years had passed.

And Hyunsoo knew the clear reason.

In the game, he had truly made countless swords.

Originally, his father had been a sword artisan, and Hyunsoo had been a bow artisan.

But through the repeated crafting in the game, he had surpassed his former self.

Memories are sometimes exaggerated.

Hyunsoo remembered the Twin Dragon Sword he made back then as the most perfect Twin Dragon Sword he had made.

Of course, if this were shown to the world, it would have been praised as fine craftsmanship.

‘Excellent. At this level, you’ll be at least on par with the original maker.’

His father’s words flashed by.

Which meant—

‘It means I became able to make something that surpasses the original work?’

Hyunsoo’s chest boiled up.

Proof that his understanding of swords had improved compared to before.

The Twin Dragon Sword in Ares, whose crafting he had stopped due to doubt and anxiety—and caution.

‘That sword is far superior to this one.’

He gained confidence.

Hyunsoo went back quickly.

He wanted to finish it as soon as possible.

A sword superior to the Twin Dragon Sword he had made seven years ago.

Inside the bus.

As Hyunsoo was returning to Seoul, he felt his phone vibrate.

BZZZZZ

“......!?”

Hyunsoo’s face twisted.

-BREAKING, Boldrom Fortress located in the Kingdom of Goyard’s capital—The First Calamity and the Second Calamity descend.

Hyunsoo’s eyes wavered.

‘The First Calamity and the Second Calamity descended together in the capital?’

Nell and he had been endlessly on guard.

A demon.

And as the price for killing the Fifth Calamity and the Fourth Calamity, that they might target them.

He hurried into JoyTube.

He clicked the broadcast titled “Kingdom of Goyard Crisis!” on the main screen.

Experts were explaining the current situation.

[This is complete isolation. The First Calamity and the Second Calamity have seized Boldrom Fortress and formed a barrier, preventing external forces from entering.]

[What kind of place is Boldrom Fortress?]

[Boldrom Fortress is a fortress within the capital that the Kingdom of Goyard used during the war one hundred years ago, and now it has lost its function as a fortress as other fortresses were built. Because of that, the interior was remodeled and used as a massive banquet hall......]

[This is breaking news. A national emergency order has been issued in the Kingdom of Goyard, and a kingdom message has rung out.]

A kingdom message.

An inferior version of a world message—a message that rings out to users within the kingdom.

[It is said that about 600 nobles of the Kingdom of Goyard were holding a banquet inside Boldrom Fortress......]

[It is said that about 30 have died so far......]

[This is a crisis for the Kingdom of Goyard and Sword King Barad.]

[Why is it a crisis for Sword King Barad and the kingdom?]

[The Kingdom of Goyard had gathered nobles from all across the country and was holding a banquet. Hundreds of the kingdom’s outstanding talents were gathered there, and in the worst-case scenario, they will be annihilated.]

[Fortunately, it appears they are still engaged in fierce back-and-forth.]

[It has been confirmed that Knight Commander Bella of the kingdom is currently inside the fortress. Bella is responding to the enemy......]

Hyunsoo knew.

‘They won’t last long.’

The moment he arrived home, Hyunsoo connected to the capsule.

[Guild Master Hyunsoo: Are you okay?]

[Nell: I’m one step from dying^^;;]

[Bark: Hyunsoo, your uncle’s dying^^]

[Ressel: Guild master, send backup—seriously. The First Calamity and the Second Calamity are over level 400.]

[Hyeji: Damn it! If I were just 70 levels higher, I’d wipe them all!]

[Guild Master Hyunsoo: How long can you hold?]

[Nell: We can hold for about two hours. Can you get here in time?]

Hyunsoo looked at the sword that was about 80% complete.

[Guild Master Hyunsoo: No.]

[Nell: No way......]

[Guild Master Hyunsoo: Instead, I’ll send someone smarter than me first.]

[Nell: What does that......]

[Guild Master Hyunsoo: Nell, for now......]

Hyunsoo delivered instructions to Nell.

[Nell: Understood. But are you confident about crafting that sword?]

Hyunsoo gave a bitter smile.

[Guild Master Hyunsoo: I’m confident.]

[Nell is located in a guild chat-disabled area.]

The chat was cut off by the calamities.

Hyunsoo resumed crafting.

A Twin Dragon Sword that surpasses the original maker.

Time flowed quickly as it neared completion.

And the Story Stone and the system, which had only been quiet, finally responded.

[The story that protects the nation reacts most intensely.]

[The system reacts to sword forging.]

[The system has been storing your forging process as data until now.]

[Among all those forging processes, it is showing the finest method for forging a sword.]

[Effect application rate 100% is applied.]

[Story Stone’s power draws out an even more maximized power.]

[It will be the most perfect forging method.]

[The system searches for information on the Twin Dragon Sword.]

He engraved the crest and neared completion.

[The Twin Dragon Sword is a total of two blades.]

[Only when the two blades meet will it shine with its greatest light.]

“.......”

Regrettable, but true.

This Story Stone reacts to story, and it wants the most perfect story.

But with his skill, even just one blade exerts tremendous power.

Only now did he realize.

Legend—the name that comes next.

[The first Transcendence is written.]

A Transcendence artifact.

A one-of-a-kind artifact that exists as the only one in this world.