Hyunsoo held his father’s hand and, without realizing it, squeezed.

The words still echoed—vivid and sharp.

That day, someone was in the forge.

His father pulled him in tighter and spoke.

I heard it now and then, drifting in and out of sleep... but I can’t forget the single word he muttered.

Wrapped in his father’s arms, Hyunsoo listened as the word came into focus.

He was definitely talking about Ares.

In other words, it had to be connected to someone tied to Ares—or something tied to it.

The problem was, there was nothing beyond that. No name. No face. No trail.

Still, the sentence his father left him—Become a king—kept growing heavier.

Whether the culprit was an Ares insider.

Whether they were after something linked to Ares.

Or whether “Ares” had slipped out like an accident—

One thing was certain.

“I’ll reach the top so you can’t touch me ever again. No... I’ll make you pay.”

The first king among users.

That alone was power enough.

What’s a kingdom worth in Ares, anyway?

A program once tried to estimate it—just for fun.

Even the smallest nation in Ares was valued at 30 billion won or more.

And that was in won. In Ares terms, the figures would be astronomical.

And Hyun’s Forge is about to receive a territory, too.

It would need development funds.

Hyunsoo realized his work was far from over.

He looked at his father lying there.

“Don’t worry, Dad. I’m not going to live swallowed by rage.”

A small smile touched his lips.

He could almost hear his father’s voice.

That’s my son. Keep living with joy—just like that.

Live with joy. That would be priority number one.

When Hyunsoo stepped out of the room, he sat down near the bus stop.

He understood Ares now.

And he knew what to expect after the continental war.

A flood of sponsorship offers.

This won’t be like before.

Up to now, most proposals had been the standard “personal streamer” kind.

But now it would shift.

Corporate endorsements are coming.

For the first time in a while, Hyunsoo opened Hyun’s Forge inbox.

What... why are there over thirty thousand messages...?

He typed ad into the filter.

Around five hundred commercial proposals surfaced immediately.

-Hello, I’m the head of the Crown Director’s advertising team...

There were stamina-tonic pitches.

They wanted a script along the lines of: I drank this and power surged through me while crafting!

Then another offer popped up.

“...Why am I getting a cosmetics deal?”

What were they expecting—I dabbed this cushion, and it doesn’t smudge even in front of the forge?

But that wasn’t what Hyunsoo wanted.

He wasn’t looking for a simple “promote us, get paid” arrangement.

He wanted partnerships that benefited him—and grew the forge.

Do I put these on hold?

Just ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ seeing this many offers made his heart race.

But the angle was different from what he had in mind.

Then—

[A new message has arrived.]

[It will be pinned to the top.]

Pinned?

Hyunsoo stared at his phone, puzzled.

Pinned to the top?

A thought slid through his mind.

The forge was a special system usable only inside Ares.

So if a message could be pinned... it might be tied to Pureum Co., Ltd.—the developer itself.

He opened it.

His eyes widened.

Holy shit...!

There it was.

Exactly the kind of deal he wanted—one that didn’t just benefit the company, but maximized the upside for Hyun and the forge.

*****

The continental war had only been possible because of a server merge.

Ares Play nations were separated by continents.

Now nearing the fifth year, users wanted more content.

A merge would open the door to experiences they couldn’t get before.

And there were two major steps of groundwork required before the merge.

First: run a continental war for each nation.

With Korea vs China concluded, America vs Russia was now underway.

The entire set of continental wars would end one month from now.

The moment that finished, the second step would roll out.

“We should put Hyun in the server-merge trailer. Good idea.”

A trailer to announce the server merge.

The instant the update hit, all servers would fuse into one.

And a preview was being prepared to spotlight him.

Regional branch heads were in a meeting at Pureum Co., Ltd. headquarters.

The woman who spoke was Ayaka—Japanese, head of the World Promotions Team.

No one objected.

Because it was the opinion of CEO Lee Sejin, founder of Ares, and John, head of the U.S. branch—currently the strongest nation.

“It’s only natural. The hottest user in the world should appear.”

“Ayaka. I’m placing high expectations on this merge preview.”

Every branch head turned to her.

Her competence had long since been proven.

She would oversee the footage from start to finish.

Because the visual style produced by Ayaka and her team was, frankly, unreal.

Japan had once been called the land of manga.

That label still held—but now it had also claimed another: the land of video.

Ayaka, in particular, had gone to Hollywood as a teenager, doing grunt work and learning whatever she could.

In her mid-twenties, she’d joined the Japan branch promotions team and climbed to team lead.

Many of the Ares trailers that spread worldwide were made by her and her team.

And since this plan was now effectively decided, Ayaka had one thing she needed to do first.

“I’ll start by signing a contract with Hyun.”

The meeting ended.

The moment she stepped out, Ayaka sent a contract proposal to Hyun’s Forge.

*****

At the bus stop, Hyunsoo read the message—and froze.

Just as he’d suspected, it was from Pureum Co., Ltd.

The message read:

[Hello, I’m Ayaka, head of the World Promotions Team at Pureum Co., Ltd. I have a proposal I’d like to make to you, Hyun—First Legend. Regarding this server merge, Pureum Co., Ltd. plans to release a preview...]

“A preview?”

Hyunsoo stared, stunned.

A global trailer... with me in it? Broadcast worldwide?

For the first time, he felt the weight of being the First Legend in his bones.

He read everything.

His heart wouldn’t stop pounding.

Then he replied—because a contract had to come first.

A response came back quickly.

[Tomorrow, 2 PM at Korea Hotel. Would that work?]

Hyunsoo set the appointment immediately.

Then Ayaka added:

[I was disappointed that I couldn’t find any videos related to you, Hyun. If you have any clips or highlight reels, I’d appreciate it if you could bring them.]

Hyunsoo shared the news with his guildmates.

In the group chat, Kim Hyein sent a message that made him pause.

[Kim Hyein]: Tomorrow at 2 PM... If you’re heading into a battlefield, you’ll need a gun and bullets, right?

Hyunsoo frowned.

Gun and bullets... what?

*****

The next day.

“First Legend isn’t any different, either.”

Ayaka remembered yesterday.

The instant she sent the proposal, she was able to set a contract meeting with First Legend Hyunsoo.

That was why she’d smiled.

“He’s naive.”

Before filming the merge footage, the most important step was signing the contract.

Ayaka had deliberately suggested 2 PM the very next day at Korea Hotel.

Normally, an elite corporate employee would hesitate.

Isn’t this too fast?

They’d try to secure time to prepare.

But Hyunsoo accepted without blinking.

Right... most of them were like that.

Ayaka smiled faintly.

As head of World Promotions, she’d met countless people—rankers included.

And among a hundred rankers, most were naive.

Statistics said the average ranker played 14 hours a day.

That effort cut them off from the world.

Most rankers were like that.

So many contracts ended up skewed toward Pureum Co., Ltd.

In truth, Ayaka intended to set Hyun’s fee properly and fairly.

That was part of her job.

Then another thought crossed her mind.

What does the real Hyun look like?

Ayaka knew this well, too.

Ares shows you a false version.

Ares didn’t allow drastic changes.

You could adjust weight to a degree.

So the avatar’s appearance always deviated from the truth—at least a little.

Rankers flashed through her mind.

The so-called “lightning rankers” tended to neglect self-care.

They’d spent so long clawing upward that, once famous, they scrambled to “fix” themselves after the fact.

On the other hand, Pureum Co., Ltd. employees cared about presentation.

“Team Lead, we’re ready.”

Her team stood outside, prepared to head out and finalize the contract.

Ayaka let out a small, bitter smile.

An elite group like them steering the agreement in their favor—

This will be easy.

She stepped out of the office.

At the same time—

The Vermes VVIP Room, accessible only to VVIP clients.

The owner of this department store was Lee Taeha, youngest son of Hansung Group.

Following Taeha’s instructions, staff member Kim Minhee had prepared clothes to fit him early that morning.

When the young man stepped out of the fitting room, her cheeks flushed.

What...?

She’d dealt with plenty of VVIP customers.

But she’d never felt this kind of tremor before.

His height and frame made the suit look custom-made.

It didn’t feel like the fabric merely followed lines.

It felt like the suit was being drawn by his body.

Broad shoulders. Clean silhouette. Hair neat to the point of perfection.

She stared, briefly dazed.

Then the young man asked,

“How are my bullets?”

“Pardon? Bullets?”

Bullets—what?

“Oh. Sorry. That’s just something I say.”

“It’s fine. Hee-hee.”

Then he added,

“I should go get a gun now. Thank you for taking such good care of me.”

Watching him go, Kim Minhee thought:

What is this... he looks even better in person.

That day, she joined Hyun’s fan cafe.

*****

[Lee Taeha: Time to use the Dad Card.]

Dad Card?

Hearing the familiar phrasing, Hyunsoo got into a taxi.

Hyunsoo wasn’t perfect.

He was still young—about to turn twenty-four.

But fortunately, the people around him covered what he lacked.

And when Hyunsoo arrived at the place where Taeha planned to use the Dad Card, he froze.

The moment Taeha flipped a switch—

WHOOOSH—

“N-No. This is... the Dad Card?”

Hyunsoo panicked.

Dozens of the world’s top luxury cars lined the space.

“Yes. If you don’t like it, there’s also the Mom Card.”

“Mom’s car?”

“Yes. The showroom next door. Fewer, though. About fifteen.”

“...?”

Hyunsoo picked one.

“The best Dad Card choice. If we take this, I might get yelled at... but that’s the fun. You’re supposed to get yelled at when you use the Dad Card.”

“...?”

BEEP-BEEP—

Taeha pressed the key fob, and the engine woke.

VRRRRM-!

“It’s the Black Pearl Edition. Rolls produced only thirty units.”

“How much is this?”

“About 3.5 billion won. Get in.”

It felt unreal.

Hyunsoo sat in the driver’s seat like he belonged there.

He pictured himself pulling up in it.

“Why aren’t you leaving?”

“I don’t have a driver’s license.”

“...?”

Taeha froze at that fatal flaw.

“We’ll go with my personal driver.”

Hyunsoo took what people commonly called the chairman’s seat.

When the car hit the road, passersby couldn’t stop staring.

Someone even posted a sighting on a car forum.

Anyway—armed with the perfect “gun and bullets,” a soldier carrying a nuclear-grade arsenal set out.

Destination: Korea Hotel.