Pond. They are the disgrace of China.

After China lost the Continental War,

the arrows of resentment flew toward Pond, China’s #1 ranker who had commanded them.

If they hadn’t run their mouth, it wouldn’t have been this humiliating.

Chinese users agreed.

Before the Continental War, Pond had shown a confidence at a press conference that didn’t even allow the thought of losing.

And what was the result?

More than 300 of China’s top rankers—Pond, Liu, Wei, Yongwol—got wiped out by a single user.

Even if it was the very end of the Continental War, and even if Hyun forged the first Transcendent, losing 300 to one is still absurd.

Pond and Liu couldn’t even last a minute against the overwhelming power of the user Hyunsoo, so they deserve the criticism.

China’s fallen pride.

Because of that, Pond wanted to tear Hyunsoo apart.

They didn’t realize that the public was even angrier because of the arrogant things they themselves had said—and they made an announcement.

“After the server merge, I will make up for my mistake. Once the server merge happens, Hyun’s Forge will disappear without a trace.”

Someone asked:

What if you lose again?

Pond answered with absolute certainty.

“That won’t happen. If it does, then I will accept defeat without complaint.”

Before departing, Pond stood before 2,000 Chinese users and said:

“It’s an obvious fact that Hyun’s Forge has fewer than ten guild members. The forces in a place called Valas Territory are small, and it’s mostly blacksmiths. The new territory they received? Data proves everything.”

Those 2,000 Chinese users were special.

Pond—the descendant of the Sword Emperor—was a count-holding user, and the head of China’s largest guild.

They selected only the elite from their forces, and half of those elites received resources from Chinese users.

Those resource-backed users were famous in China for their high rankings or skill.

“Just like users from various countries became MVPs, the guilds that performed the best in the Continental War received territories—and according to the data, most of those territories were almost identical.”

That was information Pond could know in advance precisely because they were Pond.

“An average of 3,000 residents and 400 forces. Even if you add up all the forces from the Valas Territory Hyun already had, it doesn’t even reach 600.”

It was a gap too large compared to Pond’s guild.

“The one who loses this is an idiot. Using the information we obtained this time, we’ll ambush Hyun’s new base and crush it. We’ll kill all their forces, turn the adults into our slaves, and sell the children at the slave market.”

Unlike Sword Duke Roman, Pond was honest.

“By slaughtering them, we’ll calm our rage—and watch Hyun’s despair together.”

Some volunteers had joined because Hyunsoo had brought humiliation to China.

Pond’s plan looked perfect.

But then—the very first button went wrong.

For Kabel to feed me false information... was that an impersonator?

The endless maze ground the mind down into dust.

As Pond and their elites wandered inside it, they grew more exhausted by the hour.

“To circle the same spot fifty times... what the hell is this...?”

They couldn’t even use a Return Scroll, and even after logging out, they were still there.

Then, after who knew how many days of wandering—

they ran into a group with more forces than theirs.

And the young swordsman at the very front, gripping a blade, made Pond freeze.

[Sword Duke Roman Lv.429]

A named NPC...?

Not just any named NPC, either—one of the few a kingdom could have.

Even if a named NPC and a user were the same level, a named NPC carried strength that surpassed them overwhelmingly.

And their numbers are double ours.

A huge portion of those 4,000 looked like knights.

That many knights gathered in one place? Were they on their way to a war or something?

Pond’s guild members raised their weapons, tense.

Meanwhile—

Sword Duke Roman was tense as well. A knight asked:

“Who are they?”

“I don’t know. But one thing is certain—they aren’t from the Asgan Continent. They said all continents were connected by the will of the gods...”

Sword Duke Roman didn’t trust foreigners to begin with.

Just looking at greedy, grasping outsiders made his teeth itch.

But he remembered what he had come here to do.

I ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) have to accomplish the great undertaking. I should avoid a pointless clash.

If there was no need to fight, there was no reason to engage.

That was when—

Roman saw a bright light appear in the center of their formation.

Warp light?

And Sword Duke Roman’s eyes went wide.

The one who emerged from it—

was Count Hyunsoo.

Then Roman’s jaw clenched hard.

“Crossing the far sea to come all the way here... I knew you’d come.”

Because Hyunsoo had just shared a burning(?) embrace with the commander standing at the front of that other force.

*****

The moment Pond saw Hyunsoo, their teeth ground together.

They assumed Hyunsoo was the one who had sent them into the endless maze.

But then Hyunsoo pulled them into a hug.

“Crossing the far sea to come all the way here... I knew you’d come.”

Pond froze. Staring at Hyunsoo suddenly hugging them, they couldn’t help thinking the bastard had lost it.

“What the hell are you—”

“You must’ve suffered, coming so far.”

Pond and the Chinese users were dumbfounded.

After letting go, Hyunsoo gently straightened Pond’s collar.

“I’ve seen what you’ve been saying, too.”

Hyunsoo knew that among the people claiming they were coming for them, Pond and the Chinese users had posted the most.

Pond in particular had been declaring they’d destroy the guild Hyunsoo had built with blood and sweat—and turn the territory into a sea of fire.

“But what are you going to do? Do you see the people from the Kingdom of Goyard behind you right now?”

At those words, Pond’s eyes bulged. They took a step back.

No way...?

Rumors were everywhere that the user Hyunsoo was the Sword King Barad’s disciple.

Was Pond supposed to believe the Sword King had sent an army for Hyunsoo?

Was that even possible?

But right now, the people behind Hyunsoo were starting to glare like they wanted to kill them.

Those eyes said—

It was those bastards.

You’re dead, you motherfuckers.

How dare you come for our Hyunsoo(?)!

Pond swallowed dry.

GLUG—

“How about you go back now?”

Pond had no intention of turning back.

They looked over at the guild members beside them.

Those members began preparing skills with savage intent.

And Hyunsoo turned around.

I didn’t lie.

It was true.

Hyunsoo had never said, “They’re my army.”

They had just asked if Pond could see the people behind them.

The next place Hyunsoo walked was straight toward Sword Duke Roman—whose eyes were blazing and whose body was trembling with fury.

Roman could tell they had crossed the continent to get here.

And they’re foreigners, too.

They had even crossed the sea—untrustworthy stock. To Roman and the rebels, they were barbarians.

So many came... to help Hyunsoo? I was careless.

Hyunsoo gave Roman a respectful bow.

Even if they were both counts in rank, Sword Duke Roman stood higher in the hierarchy.

“You truly are—”

“As you can see, they crossed the continent for one reason only—to meet me(?)”

Roman glanced at the force behind Hyunsoo.

They took battle stances and stared like they wanted to kill Roman’s side.

We came all the way here to meet Hyunsoo.

You’re all dead.

It’s all or nothing.

GLUG—

But Roman had nowhere left to retreat.

The rebellion had already begun, and if he failed to kill Count Hyunsoo, there was no going back.

Once he had earned the king’s wrath, there would be no place left for Sword Duke Roman to stand.

“Kill them all, Count Hyunsoo. And then I’ll decorate the field with you as well.”

“So you truly won’t step aside. Underst—”

Hyunsoo didn’t get to finish.

A massive pressure crushed down on Sword Duke Roman and the knights.

When Hyunsoo turned around, a nine-headed Hydra was descending.

SKREEEEEE—!

[Legendary monster. Hydra’s appearance!]

[Hydra Lv.511]

“What is that animal!?”

“This is impossible!”

From Liu, the massive Hydra revealed itself.

[Hydra’s Wrath]

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

[They fall into a 2-second stun, and poison fills their entire bodies—blood flows from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.]

With the majestic Hydra’s arrival, every single knight—including Sword Duke Roman—stiffened, bleeding from all over.

[The title First Legend shines.]

[A legend of the same kind cannot suppress another legend.]

The Hydra couldn’t suppress Hyunsoo like it had before.

The moment you summon a Hydra, the fight has already started. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Hyunsoo hurriedly pulled themself out of sight.

FWOOM—!

The Hydra’s poisonous Breath smashed into them, and the battle began immediately.

Watching it, Hyunsoo smiled softly.

Catch barbarians with barbarians. Thanks, Kabel.

Hyunsoo looked at a total of 6,000 enemies.

Their level was beyond common sense.

First—Sword Duke Roman.

True to a sword-family head, he had dragged in the knights of famed sword families.

The knights’ average level was 320.

But knights—those bound vassals—were far stronger than ordinary knights to begin with.

The average level of Roman’s knights was so high it reached 370.

And there were 4,000 of them.

But the force Pond had brought wasn’t weak either.

China has 2,000.

Even so, they had the capacity to overwhelm 4,000.

Because China’s server population was enormous—and these were elites selected from it.

Right away, Hyunsoo could see Liu, Yongwol, and Wanggang—names inside the world rankings.

And since most of them were top 1% users in China, their average level sat between 380 and 410.

If you compared individual strength, the Chinese users had the edge.

And as Hyunsoo watched them, their mouth stretched wider and wider.

Heh. Heh. Heheheh.

Hehehehehehehe!

Hyunsoo knew they would soon learn the truth.

But Hyunsoo also knew what would happen by then.

Both sides will have taken catastrophic losses. The severely wounded will pour out, and there’ll be no choice but for them to end up half-dead and crawling.

Hyunsoo was certain.

If Atlas fought them at full strength, Atlas would lose 100%.

But fighting them after they’d poured everything out—when they were half-dead—

that was possible.

And Hyunsoo had another reason to smile.

The metaphor Nell used really is perfect.

******

“They’re going to become golden goblins.”

“Golden goblin” was a term users used in RPGs twenty years ago.

“A golden goblin is the kind of thing that goes ‘urk!’ and dies the second you touch it, but drops an outrageous reward. What could possibly be a better metaphor?”

Nell checked the post-server-merge announcement again.

[Chapter 2, King’s Path begins.]

[Territory wars and large-scale battles will occur everywhere.]

[When you win a territory war or large-scale battle, you will be able to obtain Territory Contribution.]

[A ‘Territory Contribution’ shop opens in all territories.]

[When soldiers and knights who participate in a territory war or large-scale battle win against those who are similar to them—or stronger—they obtain experience.]

[Gold drops according to the strength of those who participate in a territory war or large-scale battle.]

[However, if the level difference between participants in a territory war or large-scale battle is 100 or more, the drop rate for contribution and experience decreases significantly.]

To climb King’s Path, it was only natural that users would wage war.

And to fuel motivation, Pureum Co., Ltd. had added new systems along with the server merge update.

Nell arrived at a forest with 4,000 of Atlas’s forces.

Their heart began to pound.

This is insane....

This was unbelievable—

and it also made them curious.

How strong would Atlas become from this?

And how far would Hyunsoo’s standing rise?

And the forest where Nell stood—

was the entrance into the endless maze.

Let’s go. Time to hunt 6,000 golden goblins.

[You have entered the endless maze.]

Atlas’s army of 4,000 marched to carve a new legend.

“Count Hyunsoo drove out 2,000 plunderers who crossed the continent!”

“Count Hyunsoo crushed rebellion and advances proudly as the king’s descendant!”

That legend would remain for a long time.

Because Atlas wouldn’t lose even a hundred soldiers.