In the Second Ares, Transcendent species existed.

Every user in the world knew that.

There weren’t so many of them that any user could meet one, but among users—an extreme minority—some had even claimed fewer than four people had ever encountered a Transcendent.

People were curious.

When would a Transcendent species finally be hunted?

But the famous names among the world’s experts drove the stake in hard.

—Catching a Transcendent species in the Second Ares will take at least five years. Or it’ll only be possible in the Third Ares.

Users wanted to deny it.

Hunting a new species—or watching footage of a new species being hunted—

That was the kind of thing that made their hearts pound, planting hope that one day they could reach it too.

But the experts were cold.

—The user who encountered a Transcendent is America’s Stella. Stella qualified to encounter one because they were in the top 0.01% of users.

In reality, Stella’s level was high enough to be in the top 100 of the U.S. rankings.

—And that Stella, in the 450s, said they were subdued by status ailments and couldn’t even move. They allowed a single attack, then died while trapped under status ailments. And the demon was Dantalion, a lower-ranked one among demons.

Even so, there were users who kept denying it.

—Pureum Co., Ltd. said user growth is faster than they expected, did you not watch that? LOL. What level do you think Transcendent species are!

Their hope shattered when Stella’s screenshot—proof of encountering a demon—was released.

—Hello, I’m Stella, the person involved. It’s embarrassing, but I’m posting it. (Screenshot)

—......?

—......?

—Holy shit. You bastards at Pureum Co., Ltd.!

—Did you make it to be hunted... or to be admired...?

—Probably the latter...

—Yeah LOL

Dantalion’s level, shown in the released screenshot, was 692.

Even the unrivaled user Bahala still hadn’t broken the wall of 500.

And the average level of each nation’s high-rankers was 410–440.

The demon’s level revealed back then had been absurdly high.

—Don’t demons weaken when they come to the human realm?

—Even so, it’d still be in the 600s... fuck.

—This is insane LOL, and it’s even treated as a named monster, right?

Between a normal monster and a named monster, even at the same level, the difference in strength was several-fold.

The experts doubled down on Stella’s testimony.

—Right now, the only ones who could catch a Transcendent species would be NPCs.

Users were, quietly, competing with NPCs.

In the First Ares, NPCs held most of the initiative.

Now that the Second Ares had begun, users had grown a lot and raised their share.

But it was still low.

—Even for those NPCs, you’d need at least ten legendary-grade NPCs of the current era. Ah, of course, that assumes the Transcendent species descends into the human realm and is weakened.

Users couldn’t help feeling bitter.

They realized how weak users were.

And they felt CEO Lee Sejin’s past remark was still a story from a far-off country.

I believe that one day, Ares will be led by users.

It felt like something that would only be possible ten years from now.

Then users were hit by another wave of despair.

—Transcendent species didn’t appear so you can hunt them. They appeared so you can prepare. Imagine a Transcendent species attacking the kingdom you belong to.

—Wow... if a Transcendent species attacks, our kingdom just gets wiped instantly, doesn’t it...?

Users had grown attached to where they operated—the place they had started.

And some believed they had contributed to a kingdom’s growth.

The hypothesis that all of that could collapse in a single moment tasted bitter.

Then the experts, who had seemed like they only knew how to punch with facts, tried to soothe them.

—For us users, the best course is to face reality and prepare.

After the world’s experts reached that conclusion, users set out—finally—on the road of mere “preparation.”

And then some time passed.

[A world message rings out.]

The entire world marveled.

Because in a single day, a world message rang out twice.

The first had been about the Second Legend Asura’s job advancement.

And when they focused on the second, they heard it.

[The first transcendence collapses.]

“...!?”

“...?!”

“...!?”

The whole world fell into shock.

The experts, eyes wide like startled rabbits, could do nothing but flap their mouths like fish.

Their calculations had been detailed. A coalition of experts had met and run hundreds of variables to determine whether hunting a Transcendent species was even possible—

[They succeeded at sealing demon Gremory by creating continued possibilities within an impossible situation.]

And the target was a demon like Dantalion.

No—an even higher-ranked demon.

[They become a lantern that brightens the world, showing that in this land, there is no such thing as impossible.]

A lantern.

In a time when there # Nоvеlight # had been nothing but despair—like a single light shining from one place, blazing bright in the dark, guiding people.

They were carrying a message.

You can do it someday too.

In this Ares, nothing is impossible.

And also—

—You said only NPCs could do itttt!

—Yeah!? They did it, didn’t they!? They did it before the Second Ares even hit three months, didn’t they!? The experts can’t do it!? This is making me lose it!

—I’m unsubbing from every expert channel.

—Isn’t this the first achievement in the modern era where users built it faster than NPCs?

—It is.

The experts tried to push back.

—But demon Graut already......

But users were sharp, and they already had it figured out.

—Demon Graut isn’t even in the seventy-two thrones, that’s a nobody demon, idiot. Is that a Transcendent species? That’s a mutt.

—......

Faced with a clear fact, the experts could no longer speak.

The world heated up.

And as expected, all kinds of speculation exploded.

—What, did a hundred unofficial rankers living in the shadows gather up and hunt it?

—Even then they couldn’t.

—Then did twenty legendary NPCs gather and users only got the last hit?

—Last hit wouldn’t even land.

—......

—What if a god descended and helped?

—That’s honestly the most plausible, but why would a god help?

—......

It had reached the point where “a god helped” sounded credible.

Of course it did.

They didn’t know the annihilation of evil from Babylon—the power that deleted 80%.

That was the truth.

The achievement those users had made—was only shaving off 20% HP.

Even so, a hunt was a hunt.

But regrettably, they revealed their names as anonymous.

So users began calling them this.

—A lantern...!

—The ones who brighten the world!

—KYAHA!

A famous ranker said on TV.

—A new era is opening.

—This is a world led by users.

—And the ones who opened it are the lantern.

*****

“Let’s do it anonymously.”

It was extremely unusual for a world message to label the subject as “they.”

Most singular accomplishments came from an individual.

And a world message was also a way to reveal your name to the world and raise your value.

But that was a framework ordinary ranker users were trapped in.

Hyunsoo agreed for the sake of the Great Atlas War; Asura Kabel agreed because they intended to keep protecting Lucky Lump in silence; Bahala agreed because they didn’t feel much of anything about it.

All without knowing that they had become a lantern.

[You have succeeded at sealing demon Gremory.]

As the notification rose, each of them cheered for their own reason.

CLINK—

The Unyielding Knight, Luxiu, dropped their sword when demon Gremory began to disperse.

With revenge that had looked absolutely impossible now succeeded, they cried without end.

The other three understood Luxiu.

Luxiu’s quest had appeared, and they had been dragged toward demonization for a long time, like being tortured.

And another one—

Bahala, too, couldn’t help but marvel.

[Job Quest: Another demon completed]

[Several quests are ignored.]

Ignore quests. It meant they skipped unnecessary process quests and opened a new path immediately.

Ding!

[Job Quest: A Sword God who is not a descendant is created.]

Bahala’s chest burned as they looked at it.

They had believed it would take at least five years to become a true Sword God.

But this quest had cut that in half.

Meaning Bahala had grown stronger now—and gained a foothold to grow even faster.

And another one—

Someone who went to hell just to protect one puppy and their one and only friend.

[Hell King Asura was a worshiper of the legion commander demon Gremory, and it was no different from entering her domination.]

[As the next Asura, you are not subordinate to her, and you build an independent hell.]

[Countless ones rise to oppose the new Asura.]

[Subdue them and be reborn as the true Hell King.]

Ding!

[Job Quest: Hell King Asura is created.]

Asura Kabel, too, secured a foothold for further growth.

And then they saw it.

Their bodies were being wrapped in the light of leveling up.

And even if you formed a party, in the end everything changed based on each user’s contribution.

Bahala, wrapped in light, leveled up by five—an absurd amount for their level range.

Kabel was the same. They leveled up by seven, and the two had similar contributions.

And then—

“Snff, ngh... huh? I got stronger?”

“...?”

“...?”

“...?”

A true martial warrior—crying, then delighted they’d gotten stronger.

Luxiu had deleted 20% of demon-form Gremory’s HP and leveled up by ten.

There was something to note here.

Bahala and Kabel—

[You have achieved 14% contribution.]

[You have achieved 13% contribution.]

Their contributions were clearly similar.

Yet Bahala leveled up five, and Kabel leveled up seven, because of their current levels.

The lower your level, the lower the total experience required to level up.

Then they looked at Hyunsoo.

This contribution—Hyunsoo stacked the most. It’s not even comparable to ours.

Because the formula was simple: the one who shaved off the most HP earned the most contribution.

Hyunsoo was the weakest, but he had started by deleting 80% of Gremory’s HP using the annihilation of evil from Babylon.

And by the rule of total experience required by level, he was in the most advantageous position.

Also—

Hyunsoo is someone who produces power they shouldn’t be able to at their level.

They already got strong enough using Give me, your loyalty too, didn’t they?

If you totaled Hyunsoo’s raw power, it was enough to produce the strength of the 420s.

And Hyunsoo’s current level was in the 370s.

A lower level means you have more room to grow faster than someone higher.

Why Kabel and Bahala were paying attention.

Because they were afraid.

Every human was like that. When someone who was behind them starts closing in, they start to tense up.

They focused on the level that would update soon.

That level was proof of how far he had grown—

And proof of how much contribution he had gained alone.

*****

Hyunsoo could feel it.

The light of leveling up is surging the strongest around me.

Of course.

And he knew it himself.

He already possessed overwhelmingly strong power for his level.

A large number of level-ups would open the road of infinite possibility—

And what made him guess it was contribution.

[You acquire 66% contribution.]

When he saw the updated level, Hyunsoo marveled.

*****

A few days earlier.

[Sword Emperor Bolond Lv.581]

Bolond, the emperor of the Parion Empire, called the highest legend.

Before him, a vassal prostrated themselves.

They were a diplomat who had gone to Asgan Continent to negotiate, with every road now open.

“As Your Majesty predicted, King Barad of Goyard stated he cannot accept any of the negotiations.”

Bolond laughed as if it was exactly what he expected.

“A small kingdom’s king has nothing but pride.”

The difference between a kingdom and an empire was heaven and earth, and the Kingdom of Goyard was a small kingdom even in Asgan.

Parion’s size was thirteen times larger.

“Send the army and Fenrir. Goyard will become our vassal state.”

Before withdrawing, the vassal asked,

“What shall we do about Barad?”

“Kill him.”

As the vassal retreated, Bolond believed—

There won’t be any variables in a small kingdom like that.

The true Continental War was beginning.