‘This can’t be.......’

The first thing that frightened Yongwol was simple: Hyunsoo’s HP, shaved down to 40%, had surged back to over 90%.

‘A self-healing skill is priceless.’

For melee users who weren’t priests, restoring the body carried an absurd value.

Potions always came with cooldowns, and when a crisis hit, you needed another source of recovery to cover that gap.

A recovery skill that could apply to melee users—without being a priest’s prayer or a “heal”—was extremely rare.

Even restoring just 10% HP was enough to make high-rankers come running with piles of cash.

‘That much recovery......? Does something that can even recover like that exist? Healing artifacts or skills are usually boss drops...... huh?’

Yongwol froze.

A world message she’d seen in passing months ago surfaced in her mind.

[He has hunted a demon for the first time among users.]

Back then, Yongwol had thought exactly what everyone else had thought.

‘Blacksmith Hyun hunted a demon? A demon is a top-named monster that’s never been hunted. After Blacksmith Hyun crafted someone an artifact, he must’ve attached a condition. If you succeed in the hunt, put my name on it.’

It was possible. That was the trap in a world message.

And yet, it could also be not a trap.

Unless it was an exceptional case, users didn’t put someone else’s name up instead of their own.

‘He really hunted a demon......?’

Yongwol had said she could force Hyun to log out in twenty seconds because she trusted her own record—because she’d hunted boss monsters.

‘And he did it fighting like a blacksmith?’

That was an achievement she couldn’t even dare compare herself to.

No—an achievement nobody in the world could compare themselves to.

A wave of terror swallowed her whole.

[You have been afflicted with the status effect Fear.]

Her face went bloodless as the last fear hit.

Turning her head, Yongwol stared at the damage numbers rising above the twenty-one users—and her breath caught.

Damage floating above someone’s head was a blunt, honest metric. It showed you exactly what kind of power had struck.

[You have dealt 217,513 damage.]

Cutting power wasn’t far from raw attack power.

When cutting power spiked at the moment a skill manifested, the sword’s actual killing power rose with it.

And being “cut” wasn’t just a hit—it was extra damage on the level of a critical.

The one who took that 200,000-plus hit was a mage.

Assassins. Archers. Every one of those classes shared a single trait.

‘The weakest defense. The lowest HP.......’

[You have dealt 173,741 damage.]

[You have dealt 185,319 damage.]

[You have dealt 199,991 damage.]

FWOOSH—!

Eighteen users, cleaved straight across, turned to ash and scattered in a single breath.

That was the crux of fighting in a blacksmith’s way.

‘Artifacts.......’

And Hyunsoo—holding that power—had said it himself.

“......The Twin Dragon Sword still has more power left.”

He understood his strengths.

He understood the battlefield.

And he knew exactly how to crush an enemy in the most efficient way possible.

‘Don’t let your guard down. I have to tell them......!’

That he hunted a demon.

Yongwol tried to speak, her torn abdomen refusing to hold itself together.

Hyunsoo didn’t give her the chance.

THUD—!

Even Yongwol, who had held on only because her level and skills were the highest among them, began to scatter.

‘Twenty seconds? I didn’t even last five.’

She was one of the assassins you could count on one hand in the world.

For someone like her to be forced to log out in five seconds sent a massive shock through the world. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

And Hyunsoo didn’t stop.

The remaining three took a hit each, slammed into the wall, and scattered.

-T-Twenty-two kiiiiills—!

-The skill User Hyunsoo recited, One Cut, Two Halves. That was the exact expression!!!

-Master Craftsman Hyun. In his own way, he split nearly half of the Chinese users in two.

-It’s clear there were no flashy or extraordinary movements. But remember this: the first Transcendence ever forged in the world is in his hands.

-A single blacksmith holding Transcendence removes every ranged dealer that’s the biggest threat right now!

-There’s no denying that’s an incredibly smart strategy!

-And there’s a reason he said out loud that the Twin Dragon Sword still has much more power left!

The surviving Chinese users swallowed hard.

‘He says there’s still a lot left?’

‘The power inside a Transcendence grade......?’

It didn’t feel like a lie. The higher an artifact’s grade, the better the effects—and the more power its skills carried.

That one line alone pressed down on everyone still standing.

And.

‘That f*cking bastard......!’

Pond felt it, vividly.

Hyunsoo had seen straight through their weakness—and was using it.

Melee users locked behind cooldowns.

On top of that, the Twin Dragon Sword skill had already shattered their artifacts.

Their damage output was weakened by about 20% compared to normal.

Meanwhile, Hyunsoo wasn’t stuck behind many cooldowns at all.

And the Chinese users were exhausted from fighting the Korean users.

That was the problem.

-What are China’s users doing against just one guy?

-Embarrassing. Those people represent China?

-Isn’t it only natural if the opponent is the First Legend?

Chinese viewers held back.

Korean viewers didn’t.

-He was F-tier trash, huh LOL.

-Hey! You don’t have a First Legend, do you!? You don’t have Blacksmith Hyun, do you!?

-Getting smashed by one guy, huhhhh!?

No matter what the circumstances were, what people could see was this: Hyun looked like he was crushing China’s users.

Pond couldn’t see the posts.

But he could feel what it looked like.

‘It looks like we’re the ones getting crushed?’

And MVP wasn’t something you got just because you won.

‘It goes to the one who contributed the most, and performed the biggest.’

Which meant viewers’ reactions mattered.

‘Even if we win, if it’s like this......?’

At that moment—

[Liu: I will summon Hydra. If Pond overwhelms him while he is greatly weakened, there will be no problem rising to MVP.]

Liu gave a small nod.

Poison King Liu served the divine beast Hydra.

What he summoned wasn’t the real Hydra.

It was a child born of Hydra—one that looked exactly like it.

Not the true Hydra, and yet still terrifyingly strong.

There was a famous tale on the Chinese continent: it had swept through an entire territory in half a day.

And as one of China’s legendary monsters, Liu could only keep it summoned for about ten seconds.

‘Even so, it’s strong. Especially.......’

Attack and poison at the same time.

That poison weakened the target.

In that weakened state, Pond could toy with Hyun.

[Liu: After the continental war ends, please grant me a good position.]

Pond was known as the person closest to the king in China.

Trusted by the emperor, he was also the master of China’s strongest guild.

[Pond: I promise.]

In this moment, China’s two greatest rankers joined hands.

[Liu: When the fighting breaks out, I will look for the timing and summon it. It’s coming.]

It was true—Hyunsoo’s earlier display had made the Chinese users shrink back.

But no matter what they tried, one fact remained.

“Just {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} one guy......!”

“If we hit him once each, we can take him.”

“Kill him!”

The leading user drove a spear into Hyunsoo’s abdomen.

‘This bastard—his control is trash!’

They were top-tier rankers.

Pride of China’s users—boasting a population over a billion—standing here because they had godlike control.

That user froze a heartbeat later.

[You have dealt 20,319 damage.]

‘Why is the damage only this much......?’

It was interaction.

His weapon had weakened.

Hyunsoo, after becoming legend, was receiving multiple stat adjustments.

And the Calamity Armor on Hyunsoo’s body was still intact.

And there was more.

Hyunsoo had more than Sword’s Cry.

[Sword of Raging Waves]

A power that dealt additional damage when a vital point was struck.

By default it added 150% additional damage—200% on a successful vital point hit.

And against someone holding the Twin Dragon Sword—

Against someone whose armor had already shattered by nearly 40%—

That power hit harder for both sides.

One exchange taken.

One exchange returned.

SLASH—!

[You succeed in a weak point attack.]

[You have taken 129,301 damage.]

That user’s HP had been at 53%.

In a blink, it dropped below 15%.

Shock landed—brief dizziness—

and another cut followed.

SLASH—!

FWOOSH—!

One user scattered.

But Hyunsoo knew exactly what kind of fight this was.

There were still thirty Chinese users.

If he allowed even one hit each—no, even one hit from fifteen of them—he would die.

His mind spun.

This wasn’t a sprint.

Facing many meant he couldn’t afford to mindlessly pour skills into everyone here.

‘If I do that, I lose in the end.’

All that mattered now was keeping his rhythm—and not letting them surround him.

The problem was, both sides were moving.

They were closing in.

He was forcing space.

And his HP was dropping fast.

“No chance!”

“You bastard!”

Any time he tried to cut someone down, allies jumped in to disrupt him.

In that grinding exchange—

[HP drops below 50%.]

The Chinese users were stronger than Hyunsoo had expected.

‘No choice. I have to break through.......’

Right then—

a massive pressure suddenly bore down on him.

“......!?”

And the Chinese users, seeing the huge shadow appear among them, erupted in cheers.

Hydra’s Awl—the spear of Poison King Liu.

A presence that dropped in as fast as poison, and made them feel safe.

[A legend monster. The appearance of Hydra!]

[Hydra Lv.511]

The Chinese users marveled.

Hyunsoo’s face twisted.

That cheering had a reason.

Legend monsters were different.

The moment they appeared, they typically delivered a fatal status effect to whoever they recognized as an enemy.

Fear. Stun. Fainting.

Hydra’s was Stun.

[Hydra’s Fury]

[Before a legend monster, the enemy loses momentum and stops.]

[They fall into Stun for 2 seconds, and poison fills their whole body so blood flows from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.]

Liu smiled.

Watching Hyunsoo’s wavering gaze, a sharp, thrilling pleasure ran through him.

A level 511 Hydra overwhelmed the battlefield, dragging cheers out of every Chinese user still standing.

And Liu began to look forward to the blood that would spill from that arrogant Hyunsoo.

But what happened next made Liu freeze.

Without realizing it, he stepped back.

‘W-What is this......?’

He couldn’t understand what he was seeing.

Hyun wasn’t afflicted by Hydra’s Fury.

And that wasn’t even the worst part.

Nine heads.

A Hydra that had been about to spew breath at Hyunsoo—

whipped around in a sickening blur, and unleashed that toxic breath on the Chinese ranks instead.

FWOOM—!

“K-Kuhhhhhh!”

“W-What is this!?”

“U-Ugh— I-I’m melting!”

HISSSSS—!

Bodies melted under the breath.

Hyunsoo looked at Liu and smiled coldly.

In one hand, he was gripping a necklace Liu had never seen before.

‘What is that necklace......!?’

Hyunsoo’s words—creating an anomaly—reached viewers around the world.

“An artifact.”

A line that fit a Master Craftsman.

“You don’t use it.”

“You put it to work.”

The identity of the necklace in his hand.

(Calamity Necklace)

Grade: Legend

Durability: 3,000/3,000

Defense: 108

Restriction: Level 300+

Special Abilities:

· Attack power against evil increases by 30%.

· Defense against evil increases by 30%.

· Active Skill Calamity Leap

· Active Skill Absolute Domination

· Passive Skill Damage X2

· When additionally equipping Calamity artifacts, all effects increase by 5%.

Description: An artifact that symbolizes Fourth Calamity Ronso.

This necklace carried the special power called Absolute Domination—and by putting it to work, Hyunsoo had seized control of the battlefield.