After the servers opened.

Ayaka checked the concurrent user count.

The reason concurrent users mattered was simple: it showed how badly people had been waiting for the Second Ares.

And from that number, you could also estimate daily active users.

Which also means that many people watched Hyunsoo’s preview.

Other than Barad—the NPC who headlined the piece—people couldn’t help but fixate on the main cast user, Hyunsoo.

“Most gamers are like that.”

A huge portion of users don’t care about high-rankers, the strongest monsters, the strongest whatever.

In reality, close to half of users only know one or two famous names and just play their own game.

But this server merge preview was different.

Even if they didn’t want to watch it, they had to.

Why?

Because after the server merge, the preview mattered that much—and there was no skip button.

Everyone had to sit through the roughly 1 minute 30 second video, and only after that did skipping become possible.

And that’s not even the end of it.

Ayaka looked out the window.

Pureum Co., Ltd.’s headquarters sat on some of the most expensive prime land in Gangnam.

And on the massive outdoor screens visible from there, the scene of Hyunsoo and Sword King Barad smashing blades together was playing on loop.

Early-morning Gangnam Boulevard was jammed tight.

Users stuck in the traffic couldn’t take their eyes off the screen.

And ordinary people who didn’t even play games found themselves thinking:

That’s the VR game Ares...?

That looks fun.

Of course, what the billboard showed was only a 20-second compressed cut of the preview—and that made the impact even bigger.

Because if they want to watch the full preview, they’ll have to log in.

Which meant people would end up seeing Hyunsoo even more.

And the moment it became known that Hyunsoo was the server merge preview’s lead, the shockwave spread fast.

People Hyunsoo knew.

Hyunsoo’s friend Jihoon logged in early just to watch the server merge preview—then froze when Jihoon saw his friend’s face.

Why are you in there...?

The National Museum.

The restored Seven-Branched Sword was already on display there.

Reporters were firing questions.

Who is the master craftsman who restored the Seven-Branched Sword?

We’ve heard appraisers are calling him a once-in-a-century genius!

Young people who want to forge Japanese blades are desperate to meet him!

The highlight reel still hadn’t gone out, so his identity hadn’t been revealed.

But even so, museum staff stared at the screen—at Hyunsoo trading blades with Barad—and couldn’t help marveling.

Then there were the chairmen of major conglomerates, riding to work in luxury sedans while listening to briefings.

“So that kid’s name is Blacksmith Hyun? And he became a king?”

“It’s not that he became a king because of the preview, but...”

“Still—our country’s guy got that spot over global figures.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“Get ready to bring him in. You know I don’t usually meddle with ads.”

Why would chairmen involve themselves in something that trivial? But this time was an exception.

“O-of course. What terms should we offer?”

“The best terms.”

And the political world, too.

“I want to shake that kid’s hand once... One photo—just one—shaking hands with the one walking the king’s road that will lead Korea. How about a title like that? Great, isn’t it? Make the offer.”

“We already did...”

“You did?”

“We got blocked.”

“...?”

Even political figures trying to use Hyunsoo as leverage.

And breaking news that kept spreading.

— Breaking news. It has been revealed that Blacksmith Hyun was the cast member in the Second Ares king’s road preview, drawing major attention...

— Viewers praise Pureum Co., Ltd. for signaling that even a user can become a king, and praise the user Hyunsoo for executing that role...

— Ares users around the world have started the Second Ares together with the user Hyunsoo.

— Breaking news.

— Breaking...

— Concurrent users...

— Hyun’s Forge subscriber count explodes...

— Hyun’s value is skyrocketing...

But there was one clear fact.

— Top users in countries worldwide are expressing discomfort.

That meant side effects would pile up—and there would be more to endure.

— We have an interview with the user Kali, who won MVP of the Continental War between the United States and Russia. Kali is known as the world’s #2 ranker and one of the few counts. Hello.

— Yes, hello.

— What did you think of Blacksmith Hyun’s preview?

— It was a good video, but it’s also true there were uncomfortable parts.

— What was uncomfortable?

— “Hyun walks the king’s road.” That implies that any user can walk the king’s road. But I don’t think the cast member drew empathy.

— Didn’t draw empathy?

— Yes. The total number of members in Hyunsoo’s Hyun’s Forge guild is under ten. And I understand that even if you add up all the territory residents across his Ballas territory, it doesn’t reach 4,000. Of course, he did achieve MVP in Korea, so he likely obtained territory recently and gained a lot of residents—but I still think it’s small. And I believe that isn’t just my view. I think it’s the judgment of noble users worldwide.

— For that kind of user to claim they’ll walk the king’s road feels like exaggerated advertising. Our guild Splin alone has a great territory with roughly 20,000 total territory residents. And China’s Pond lost the Continental War, but he has 2,000 guild members and about 17,000 territory residents.

— That’s incredible.

— It is. Which is why I question whether the appearance of the user Hyunsoo was appropriate. And now that the servers have merged, this will be proven soon.

— Proven?

— Because Hyun will have to face our Splin guild before long.

That was how it went.

Top-tier users—usually the ones representing entire countries—were doing interviews, paying attention to Hyun.

Pond, a ranker representing China.

— As of today, the server merge has happened, which means we finally have a chance to settle the grudge of the Continental War.

Musashi, representing Japan.

— The Korea and Japan servers are very close. I’m curious about Blacksmith Hyun’s power, but he won’t be my opponent.

Mio, representing Vietnam.

— My territory is special. My soldiers are full of people who hit level 260—higher than the average soldier level of 250. And our archer corps will defeat Korea very easily.

They were burning with competitiveness, dreaming of the glory they’d gain by taking Hyunsoo down.

And then a user from Russia—Kassandra—turned that arrow toward Korea’s ranker.

— I guarantee that Lee Hwan, Korea’s #1 ranker, thinks the same as we do.

A reporter found Lee Hwan and interviewed him.

— Do you feel the same way?

— No.

— ...?

— I think Hyunsoo was a perfectly valid pick. Out of everyone you interviewed, doesn’t Hyunsoo look the best? If it’s “I’m the king” coming from a handsome guy versus “I’m the king” coming from an ugly guy, you obviously cast the handsome guy. And he was selected as one of the influential people last year, right? And he’s the first legend, right? And the first Transcendent artifact... and... and... and...

— ...

— ...

— ...

— ...

They didn’t get a single useful soundbite.

Rankers worldwide fell silent, and Kassandra panicked.

Lee Hwan was exactly the person Kassandra expected to agree—and Kassandra simply hadn’t known.

Did Hyun watch this preview? If he did, maybe he’ll discount the rental fee... or even loan a better artifact than the Twin Dragon Sword.

Lee Hwan, the master of the Hwarang guild.

The fact that Lee Hwan was the first believer of the Hyunsoo faith.

*****

If you had to pick the user who’d been waiting for server merge the most, ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ most people would pick one name.

Pond.

China’s supreme user, called the Sword Emperor’s descendant.

Pond couldn’t even watch Continental War footage without wanting to crawl into a hole.

China’s rankers had been crushed that badly by the user Hyunsoo.

And now, on the very day the server merge happened—

Finally. A chance.

As Pond had said in the interview, Pond had overwhelming advantages in guild members and forces compared to the user Hyunsoo.

1,000 guild members.

And at Pond’s side, Poison King Liu.

With the server merge, Pond gained the glory of freely roaming the Korea server—and finally stepped onto it.

From the first day of server merge, Hyun’s Forge was in danger.

“The informant’s info is solid, right? Hyun’s territory location?”

At Poison King Liu’s question, Pond nodded.

“The informant is the most reliable person in the world when it comes to information. I even paid one million dollars for it.”

One million dollars.

That was how long Pond had been waiting for this day.

They marched through a dark, damp forest with 1,000 guild members.

Then Liu looked rattled.

“Didn’t we pass through here earlier?”

“Huh? Did we?”

Had they looped around?

“The Korea server’s paths are garbage.”

They walked again.

And then—

“This is the same place we...”

“What is this?”

They panicked.

They marked trees, went left, then went right—and yet the same direction kept appearing.

They didn’t know it, but this place was one of the highest-difficulty areas on the Korea server.

After an hour inside, you found out what kind of hell you’d stepped into.

[You are trapped in an endless maze.]

[You cannot leave for 2 weeks.]

Pond and Liu were stunned.

“Send a whisper right now.”

Pond whispered the informant.

[You have been blocked.]

“...?”

Then a single pigeon flew in.

When they received it, it included a gift: gold equivalent to roughly one million dollars.

They understood.

“We’re trapped here for two weeks...?”

*****

Server merge created countless changes.

Some people had to move to find better content.

Others had to fight to protect what they already had.

FLAP-FLAP!

Kabel returned the one million dollars by sending the pigeon back, then looked at Lucky Lump standing in front of him.

“...It’s fine. I don’t plan to live as an informant anymore.”

The birth of the first legend signaled that the second and third would arrive as well.

For Kabel, it was time to leave.

“WOOF-WOOF!”

Kabel smiled at Lucky Lump barking like it was begging him not to go.

Kabel had grown up an orphan.

Kabel had never lived a life where Kabel was loved.

And before Kabel knew it, Kabel had come to genuinely cherish this existence called Lucky Lump.

Nobody had ever waited for Kabel.

But the moment Kabel logged in, Lucky Lump ran to him, threw itself into his arms, and wagged its tail.

Whenever Kabel went anywhere, Lucky Lump came all the way to the territory entrance to see him off.

That was why Kabel didn’t want Lucky Lump to die.

So as a final gift, Kabel threw anyone asking for Hyun’s Forge’s location into a maze—or sent them into Korea’s highest-difficulty dungeon.

“They can survive two weeks.”

Now it was time to walk a new road.

Kabel’s gaze drifted to the forge.

What is he making with dragon bones?

For a week now, the user Hyunsoo had been crafting something.

Hyunsoo was more grave than usual—more focused.

And it was reaching its final stage.

Before Kabel left, Kabel stared at the forge and thought of Hyunsoo.

You were like me, too.

Kabel felt that Guild Master Hyunsoo was similar.

Kabel’s life had been nothing but frustration and darkness, and Hyunsoo’s had been the same.

But there was one difference.

People overflow around you. I have no one.

Maybe that was why Kabel felt an inexplicable envy.

What are you even making?

Curiosity rose, and Kabel used a skill Kabel possessed: Clairvoyance.

Clairvoyance let you peek at someone else’s alert window.

An alert appeared to Kabel.

[It is Unique grade.]

[The blacksmith’s soul activates.]

The blacksmith’s soul?

[While making this dagger, you immersed yourself more than anyone.]

[This is born from the heart that wishes for the future of a nameless friend.]

[More than any other moment, you obsessed, striving to create a better artifact. For an unknown friendship, you burned your soul—and at last, you completed it.]

[The eleventh legend is written.]

Kabel was awestruck.

The eleventh legend... That’s insane.

Kabel turned away, having seen Hyunsoo for the last time.

Now it was truly time to leave.

Then Kabel rolled the alerts around in his mind again.

Born from the heart that wishes for the future of a nameless friend... What kind of friend is that? He really has so many fri—

Kabel froze.

“Hey.”

At some point, Hyunsoo was standing in front of Kabel, blocking the way, holding out a dagger.

“Take this.”

WHOOOOOSH—!

Wind blew between them.

The story of Blacksmith Hyun and Asura Kabel was beginning.