The Seed of Life collection was supposed to run for two weeks.

But the first day’s results were miserable—only about 120.

To get even those 120, Bella and the knights, and Hyun’s Forge guild members, fought tooth and nail.

Seeing it, Kern said it was nowhere near enough.

Pulling the Saint’s Sword and hunting the Bone Dragon.

Because Hyunsoo had accomplished what was impossible at the current stage, he’d gotten a huge amount at once and met the qualification requirements.

And if they kept gaining seeds at a pace of 120 a day and settled it over two weeks, Kern estimated this was about how many it would awaken.

Maybe around 500 territory residents and about 30 forces?

Hyunsoo’s mouth had tasted bitter at the time.

It was far too few people to hold this vast Territory Atlas.

Of course, there was something he could use as comfort.

Seed of Life collection was the fastest way to awaken the sleepers.

Slowly, little by little, someday they could awaken everyone.

The problem is, you have no idea whether that will take years.

Growth-type Territory Atlas wasn’t a place you could awaken easily.

But then Nell’s tea time introduced a ton of variables.

When 4,000 blacksmiths arrived, seed acquisition sped up by several times.

Hyunsoo mistakenly thought it was all because of the blacksmiths, but the Lucky Lump Lovers’ Club’s efforts pushed that speed even higher.

And Kabel—one of the core figures of the Lucky Lump Lovers’ Club—had the three legends coming for the housewarming prepare gifts.

Those three legends tore through every dungeon near Atlas.

Places that would take Hyun’s Forge days to clear—each and every one of them.

Anyway, by piling up seeds at this abnormal rate, Hyunsoo had once heard an alert like this:

[You approach one of the powers the Saint possessed.]

He’d obtained seeds at an absurd pace, so even without changing into the Saint class, he’d gained a special privilege.

And as a result, Hyunsoo unlocked the Legendary stat the Saint had possessed: Overwhelm.

After that, somewhere Hyunsoo didn’t know about, the three legends and the inspectors collided.

And Hyunsoo—who landed the finisher—ended up gaining the greatest number of seeds he could possibly receive from Bon.

How much was it?

[The Seed of Life collection ends.]

The collection that was supposed to last two weeks ended in only four days.

It was the system’s judgment that there were no more seeds left to gather.

And also—

[At the current level, you can awaken the maximum.]

What can be awakened at the current level.

Hyunsoo made a guess.

The answer was in the numbers.

Going by Bon’s words, Bon and the 1,000 elite troops still wouldn’t awaken.

And there might’ve been a lot of talent living in Atlas, too.

There was a high chance they wouldn’t awaken yet, either.

Just like Hyunsoo still hadn’t earned Bon’s eternal loyalty—at Hyunsoo’s current level, it still wasn’t enough to awaken them.

So for now, you could say he’d only gain half of the power growth-type Territory Atlas possessed.

But Hyunsoo knew the truth.

What crumbling, present-day Atlas needed—

was territory residents and forces to fill this place.

It wasn’t that talent didn’t matter.

Just that right now, more than talent, what they needed was a lot of people who would build this place together and raise it back up.

With that thought, Hyunsoo moved toward the Seed of Life usage point—then stopped short.

[The number of Seeds of Life used is 130,000.]

Meaning, even if he awakened the maximum, 70,000 Seeds of Life would still remain.

Then what about the remaining 70,000? I can’t use them? That’s not it, right?

It was proof of just how many seeds Hyunsoo had acquired.

And just as he started worrying that those 70,000 might be reduced to nothing more than worthless junk—

the same kind of thing that had happened when he gained a Legendary stat through abnormal seed acquisition happened again.

[You gathered Seeds of Life exponentially in a short period of time.]

[One of what the Saint left behind.]

[You can learn a passive skill.]

[Ultimate Art is Transcendent grade.]

“Tr-Transcendent grade?”

Hyunsoo was stunned.

Ares, right before Chapter Two began.

Hyunsoo was the only person who had forged a Transcendent Twin Dragon Sword first, back in Chapter One.

But now, at a point where Chapter Two hadn’t even started, he was about to seize a second Transcendent power.

GLUG—

Hyunsoo’s throat bobbed on its own.

Hyunsoo, as he was now—if he looked at it coldly, he was weak.

If Bon had been in perfect condition and they’d fought one-on-one, the chances Hyunsoo would’ve lost were overwhelmingly high.

And with the server merge coming soon, Hyunsoo would have to face the strongest in the world.

Hyunsoo’s face twisted sharply.

[Level restriction is 500.]

Hyunsoo panicked.

“Level restriction 500?”

He asked the system back, dumbfounded.

This was power that was never supposed to appear in Chapter One in the first place.

No—Atlas itself was a territory prepared for Chapter Two.

But Hyunsoo let out a short, bitter laugh.

Well, if it’s a Transcendent-grade passive, it makes sense it’d be absurd. A restriction like that is only natural.

Was that laugh him admitting he couldn’t have it?

But I know this much.

If that were the case, the reward would’ve been given at level 500.

Or it would’ve triggered a quest.

I did something incredible and 70,000 seeds are left. I’m more than qualified to have it!

The alert came again.

[70,000 Seeds of Life are used.]

[The passive skill, Ultimate Art, is changed into growth-type.]

Ding!

[You learned the Transcendent skill, Ultimate Art.]

Hyunsoo was amazed.

He hadn’t expected it to twist like that.

He checked immediately.

(Ultimate Art)

Grade: Transcendent

Level: 1

Proficiency: 0%

Mana cost: None

Effect:

·Activates at a 0.4% probability.

·On activation, the strongest power you have ever unleashed manifests while skipping every process.

·Proficiency rises when the level increases, or when Ultimate Art activates.

·A more outstanding Ultimate Art activates at a 0.1% probability.

·On activation, the strongest power you have ever unleashed manifests while skipping every process, and 100% damage is added.

·Once every 3 months, the strongest power is measured anew. If you fail to surpass your previous strongest power within 3 months, the previous damage is applied.

Description: The greatest passive skill in Ares that exists today. The activation probability is still very low, but it will shine as it grows.

Hyunsoo’s honest impression was this:

This is Transcendent grade...?

He almost doubted it.

Sure, it was growth-type, but he’d never seen probabilities this brutal in his life.

“Activates at a 0.4% probability...?”

And the power that triggered at 0.4% probability was written as the strongest power you have ever unleashed.

Suddenly, one terrifying strike surfaced in Hyunsoo’s mind.

“......!?”

During the Continental War, Hyunsoo had once created his single strongest hit through Accumulation, a power embedded in the Twin Dragon Sword.

It was so strong it even buffed the title The Most Powerful Single Shot.

And Hyunsoo was confident.

In Ares, cases of damage at that level are probably rare even now.

He had a reason he was sure.

Back then, Hyunsoo had taken a screenshot.

Because he’d wondered if he’d ever be able to deal damage like that again.

[By Accumulation, the attack power of one strike increases by 2,100%.]

Yes—back then, he’d unleashed 2,100% attack power in a single strike.

And because he’d formed a perfect trinity, his cutting power had tripled, too.

“Insane...!”

Yeah. I’ll say it plainly.

Ultimate Art, as it was right now, would be trash in anyone else’s hands.

First, cases like Hyunsoo forming a trinity were rare.

Second, there were statistics that said the maximum damage even high-rankers could output was around 1,000%.

The reason Hyunsoo could unleash power like that back then was because, during the Continental War, Accumulation had absorbed rankers’ damage.

“If this triggers in combat...?”

If it triggered during ordinary swings, in that instant, the enemy would take damage they’d never experienced in their life.

Even more terrifying was the Ultimate Art that triggered at 0.1% probability.

“Then it goes up to 4,000%? With me holding the Twin Dragon Sword?”

Percent damage only matters if the user is strong overall.

And Hyunsoo was the Twin Dragon Sword’s wielder, with high stats.

What was even crazier was that the stronger Hyunsoo got, the more this percent-based power would shine.

And it even checked every three months whether he’d surpassed his past record, swapping it out accordingly.

Hyunsoo defined that 0.1% skill like this:

“The only instant-kill in Ares....”

Instant-kill meant exactly what it sounded like—a skill that could kill someone outright in a single blow.

It’s not impossible.

Even most high-rankers would witness the “miracle” of full HP dropping to zero if that 0.1% power triggered.

Named monsters, too.

But Hyunsoo forced himself to face reality.

Ah....

At 0.1%, it was about once in a thousand.

There was no guarantee that one-in-a-thousand would land on a high-ranker—or on a named monster.

So right now, expecting instant-kill value was unrealistic.

Even 0.4% doesn’t sound easy....

Still, Hyunsoo saw possibility.

This passive is growth-type in the end.

As it grew, the percentage would rise higher, and that became his comfort.

And at the time, he didn’t know.

That Ultimate Art would end up triggering against a being that defied common sense.

*****

Hyunsoo was afraid.

That was what becoming MVP in the Continental War meant.

Even if I became the second count on the Korea server...

His growth was too steep, and he had no pillars holding him up.

After the server merge, the people who would flood in like a tide, targeting him and his guild.

He was afraid they would mock him for the fact that the “first legend” had been beaten so miserably.

Afraid he’d lose the precious guild members and everything he’d built.

But now, he had a way.

The awakened might change it.

He stepped forward and arrived at the Seed of Life usage point.

It was—

the top of the wall.

Standing at the highest point, Hyunsoo heard the alert.

[You can use Seeds of Life.]

[Would you ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ like to use them?]

“Yes.”

And with that, Hyunsoo saw it.

The 130,000 seeds he held.

They became light and soared high into the sky.

Hyunsoo’s gaze fell over shabby Atlas.

Even with 4,000 blacksmiths pouring effort into construction, they’d only managed a skeleton of a place.

Water and food were scarce, and the territory residents who’d waited for a new lord looked like beggars.

And into that place, 130,000 seeds rained down.

RUMMMBLE—

Something unbelievable happened.

The barren land where those seeds fell—

[Atlas takes on the appearance it had in the distant past.]

[Excellent structures designed not to collapse easily reveal themselves.]

Hyunsoo doubted his eyes.

Vast structures surging up with a deafening roar.

A nation—buildings tall and splendid enough to rival the capital of Goyard.

The seeds were scattered once more. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

[Abundant grain fills the territory residents, leaving no one hungry.]

The dry land plowed itself.

The soil grew rich, and countless stalks rose over the fields, bearing fruit or preparing to become grain.

[As if Atlas once flourished, resources hidden throughout are created.]

Dungeons beyond mines.

Even if they weren’t visible right now, they slept there.

They would become their grounds—and they would obtain them and offer them to Hyunsoo.

And the most important thing.

In stark contrast to Atlas’s splendid appearance, the streets had been emptied out.

Adults had hidden it from the children.

The dragon is going to kill us.

They couldn’t say that.

So children who had vanished exactly as they’d been playing in the streets awakened again exactly as they’d been running.

Merchants awakened again in a market that had been empty.

Soldiers who had gathered to fight the dragon and met their deaths.

People who had shared their last meal with family inside their homes.

People began pouring out from their houses.

Forces that had died while preparing for war began gathering again.

“Over there!”

Following a boy pointing up at the lord’s castle, everyone looked to one place—and walked toward one place.

Yes.

[23,071 territory residents awaken.]

[4,513 forces awaken.]

The place all the awakened looked toward.

The figure of someone still youthful, a brown coat fluttering in the wind, seared into them.

And the dignity and charisma of someone who inherited the Overwhelm stat after the Saint captured them completely.

Black hair, tall stature, and eyes a different color from theirs.

He hadn’t said it, but they knew.

That person is the new lord who will lead us....

The one who inherits the Saint.

The one who walks the path of the Virtuous King.

Hyunsoo slowly swept his gaze across all of them.

The awkwardness from when he’d first started the game was gone.

[You have become the true master of the great territory, Atlas.]

[Among counts, you are the user who possesses the most territory residents and forces.]

All the fears he’d carried after becoming MVP melted away.

And Hyunsoo stood at the highest point now.

That high place—

Ares Chapter Two, not yet opened.

From there, Hyunsoo was walking the king’s road from higher than anyone.