China Branch Head Tao rolled the three kings around in their head.

Overlord King(?). Tyrant. Virtuous King.

And Atlas, the Saint, and the Virtuous King—those were all designed in China.

The power the Virtuous King holds... the king of the entire continent.

A king with overwhelming strength who never loses, and a slaughter-king who rampages like a madman—

Those two certainly did possess terrifying kingly power.

But Tao thought the Virtuous King was no less than them.

Virtuous King meant a kind, good ruler.

Did it end there?

No.

Because the Virtuous King was kind and good, it was a different concept from the Overlord King(?). and the Tyrant—whose individual strength shattered common sense.

It was talent you couldn’t even compare to an ordinary kingdom.

The Virtuous King was someone who would gather more talent than any other king.

But just as Sejin had said—

Even if he meets the qualifications for Virtuous King, he can’t obtain it right now. He’ll get it once he becomes a king.

And also—

There’s no setting where collecting Seeds of Life lets you reach Virtuous King in the first place. For that to be possible, you’d have to collect an amount that makes no sense.

Only then did Tao finally let out a relieved smile.

No one understood the true nature of Seeds of Life better than Tao.

I’ll admit it. Hyun’s Forge is the best small elite unit there is.

But that was the problem.

The Seed of Life quest can be received by every existence in the territory. But Hyun’s Forge has too few people, so even after completing quests, the amount they receive will be too small.

Sure, if they bulldozed quests with absurdly superior power, they’d earn more.

But still—Hyun’s Forge, compared to normal territories, was operating under disadvantageous conditions for obtaining Seeds of Life.

Then Tao thought of something.

“Ah, CEO Lee Sejin.”

-Yes.

“China Special User Management Team said it seems fine if we stop monitoring. Should we delegate the authority back to Korea?”

China Branch Head Tao’s stomach burned.

One reason they’d taken over monitoring User Hyunsoo in the first place was surveillance—

Surveillance for ties to the Korea branch.

But now, the China Special User Management Team acknowledged User Hyunsoo.

No—this went beyond acknowledgment.

Before Tao came here, Team Lead Wang had said with a hollow look on their face,

“Branch Head, User Hyunsoo is insane. I think it’s fine to hand monitoring authority back to Korea now.”

Lee Sejin replied.

-That will be difficult. We still have one more week left in the agreed period. The Korea branch puts a lot of weight on keeping promises.

Then Sejin gave a wry smile. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

-And the Korea Special User Management Team acknowledged their workload has been intense, so they took a special vacation. As far as I know, they’re doing a hotel vacation right now.

Two scenes flashed through Tao’s mind.

First: the Korea team stretched out on poolside sunbeds, sipping mojitos.

“SKRAAAK! Mojitos on vacation!”

“Right, right! Hahahaha!”

Second: the China team, steeped in alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine.

“P-please... save me....”

“I wanna go home....”

“Huh...? Where am I...? Ah... overtime is hell.”

Tao’s eyes stung.

Because, in truth, Tao was working overtime too.

*****

CLICK—

Sejin pressed the button to end the video call and let out a bitter smile.

“Looks like Branch Head Tao didn’t see that.”

Tao seemed anxious, so Sejin hadn’t bothered saying it.

“He misunderstands the Virtuous King.”

Tao assumed the Virtuous King’s defining point—possessing talent more incredible and greater than any kingdom—was something you only enjoyed after becoming a king.

“If Seeds of Life truly reach that point, the story won’t play out that way.”

Not after becoming a king—during the period of becoming one, Hyunsoo might gain the power to obtain even more talent.

And those countless talented people would finally form a kingdom.

Still, Lee Sejin also shared Tao’s core thought.

“Hyun’s Forge’s guild members, the territory residents they possess, and their troops are all too few.”

It was far too limited for obtaining Seeds of Life.

“And if they obtain too many Seeds of Life, side effects will occur as well.”

Those side effects could instead push Hyun’s Forge into a crisis.

Back in the CEO office, Sejin muttered,

“To obtain a lot of Seeds of Life with a small headcount, you’d need huge, powerful forces.”

Sejin smiled wryly.

“What kind of powerful forces would those be?”

*****

[The Seed of Life collection quest begins.]

[Throughout Atlas Territory, you can obtain Seeds of Life, and it includes countless things such as quests, monsters, territory development, and more.]

Every single one of them—guild members Hyun had relocated, troops, territory residents—

Quests began erupting everywhere.

“As you can see, everything in Atlas has been destroyed by the Bone Dragon. The houses have been in ruins for centuries. For people like us, could you build us warm homes once again?”

A construction quest.

“Ah... Atlas is desperately lacking food. The land is barren—crops won’t grow even if we sow seeds—and the specialties of long ago can no longer be found. Could you cultivate the barren land into fertile fields, and develop new local specialties for us?”

“We don’t have any farmers.”

“.......”

A farming quest.

“As you know, Atlas is isolated. Trade with the outside is not easy. This is all because of the monsters that threaten us near the territory. Could you hunt them down for us?”

“How many monsters are there?”

“About 7,000?”

“......We don’t even have 200 troops.”

“.......”

A monster-hunting quest.

“Oh, Priest. A plague has spread through the territory—everyone is sick. Heal them and restore the territory residents to health!”

“Where should I start?”

“With me.”

“.......”

Quests kept erupting like this without end.

At the center of it all, Hyun’s Forge’s guild members were left speechless.

“.......”

“.......”

Their guild still hadn’t even reached ten people.

Only a few dozen territory residents they’d brought this time.

Almost no troops.

In the end, it was basically just Bella—who had become the Knights Commander—and the knight she’d brought.

How are we supposed to do all this with these numbers?

Oh my god....

As their vision went dark, Hyun’s Forge pushed through the quests anyway, doing their best.

But then...

[You obtain 5 Seeds of Life.]

[You obtain 3 Seeds of Life.]

[You obtain 3 Seeds of Life.]

A problem surfaced.

The number of seeds they received for completing quests was smaller than expected.

Even if everyone worked together all day, it felt like they’d struggle to gather even 100.

And the 550 seeds Hyunsoo had obtained—

“So was it because hunting the Bone Dragon and drawing the Saint’s Sword were impossible for others, so I ended up getting an absurd amount?”

“I had no idea obtaining Seeds of Life would be this hard.”

After spending the entire day running around to execute quests, they reached a conclusion, and Bark said,

“If you do something big and incredible, they give you a lot...”

“But that doesn’t look easy.”

Then Risel asked,

“Hyunsoo, you said you’re obtaining seeds through artifact repairs, right? Where did Nell go?”

“Yeah. Nell’s the only one we haven’t seen.”

They tilted their heads.

[Bark: Nell, where are you?]

[Nell: ^^ I came to drink coffee~]

[Risel: I hunted monsters all day today. Hff—hff.]

[Belia: Seriously...?]

[Nell: I’ll explain when I get back, but I’m planning to drink a lot~]

After that, Nell didn’t reply.

“Looks like they’re having a wonderful tea time!”

Belia puffed out their cheeks.

Bark looked puzzled.

“Nell does like coffee, but... ‘drink a lot’? What does that mean?”

They all tilted their heads.

Then the little cluster broke apart again so each of them could return to their work.

Watching them were Kern and the territory residents.

Kern and the territory residents—

Put simply, they were the elders of Atlas.

The makeup of the elders was simple enough.

The former lord, the lord before that, the lord before that, the lord before that... and so on.

They sighed.

“The numbers are far too insufficient.”

“At this rate, we won’t be able to awaken many.”

“Awaken many? At this level, they’ll only barely meet the minimum threshold for awakening.”

They were the ones who had protected this territory for centuries with nothing but faith in a legend.

Kern, bitterness on their tongue, spoke.

“It’s fortunate our lord secured over 500 seeds through their skill, so the minimum threshold is met. The problem is... once Seeds of Life begin to appear, after a certain period passes, the amount you can obtain decreases drastically...”

Which meant—

“If we can’t gather a lot soon, it’ll take a long time to awaken the great territory.”

“That’s right. It may even take decades.”

Of course, if it awakened at all, that would still be fortunate.

But by the time the true great territory awakened, they would be dead and gone.

They were old.

They’d spent birth, youth, and middle age waiting for a new lord.

But Kern said,

“Even so, I will live for the sake of our current lord.”

“Same here.”

“Me too.”

They could still picture it—how their lord hadn’t set down the hammer for days.

Then—

RRRRRUMBLE—

“Huh?”

“Mm?”

They felt it: the earth surging.

That surge was created by an enormous number of footsteps.

“If it’s that many footsteps...”

“Could it be... from a place called Ballas Territory...?”

Kern shook their head.

“They said Ballas Territory’s troops cannot move. They must defend that place.”

“Then what is this sound?”

At that moment, a soldier rushed in, frantic.

“P-people of unknown identity bearing the crest of the Kingdom of Prime are approaching the territory!”

“T-the Kingdom of Prime?”

The Kingdom of Prime.

Long ago—

They knew the Kingdom of Prime and the Saint’s country had not been on good terms.

And Atlas had been hidden like this because it had been exposed to countless threats.

There were many who wanted to seize this ancient great territory, Atlas.

Kern moved in urgency.

“Tell the soldiers to prepare for battle. Ask our lord if they know anything about this—”

“None.”

Hyunsoo appeared.

He felt the vibrations growing heavier.

He sensed danger too.

King Barad leads the Kingdom of Goyard. King Ben leads the Kingdom of Prime.

Which meant these couldn’t possibly be reinforcements sent by the two of them.

Soon, all of Atlas fell into chaos.

“Quick—children, the ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) elderly, women first!”

“Damn it! Looks like we’ll die before the ancient territory can awaken.”

“Run—RUN!”

“WAAAAAAH!”

Hyunsoo stared at the figures cresting the horizon.

3,000? No... 4,000?

As they drew closer, sweat began soaking Hyunsoo’s hands.

Then—

“......!”

Hyunsoo’s eyes sharpened.

*****

Nell was on the move—out to enjoy tea time.

They had no idea how many more cups of coffee they’d need to drink.

This was Nell’s unilateral action, yes—

But it was also tea time for Hyunsoo and Hyun’s Forge.

Nell knew something.

Sometimes, what someone else says hits harder than what the person involved says themselves.

Just a few hours ago, Nell had enjoyed the first tea time.

“...Continental Top Ten Legends master craftsman Hyun. What more needs to be said?”

The people sharing tea time with Nell had been horrified.

“...Why are you telling us this?”

They asked.

After sipping the last mouthful of coffee, Nell answered.

“Shouldn’t you make a good impression in front of the future king?”

After saying that, Nell handed them a map leading to Atlas.

Now it was time to enjoy the second tea time.

The Papal Palace came into view.

*****

Hyunsoo—eyes still sharp—asked the one at the very front.

“Why are you showing courtesy?”

“When I first met you, you were insignificant. That’s no longer the case.”

“Then why are they showing me courtesy too?”

“Because we are witnessing our myth with our own eyes.”

“All 4,000 of them?”

“That is correct. Successor of the god of blacksmiths.”

Hyunsoo’s chest began to tremble violently.

The single blacksmith at the very front.

Behind them, four blacksmiths—and behind them, thousands more.

Those blacksmiths shouted.

“We greet the god’s successor!”

[4,000 blacksmith believers have no doubt in your myth.]

Their identities—

The Tower Lords of the blacksmith towers, and the tower blacksmiths.

Hyunsoo could feel it.

The dream I held is becoming real.

A dream of building a country of blacksmiths.

And there was one more thing he wanted to know.

How many seeds do I get through them?