[Passive Skill: Loyal to Hyunsoo]

[Passive Skill]

[Grade: Legendary]

[Level: 1]

[Penalty: None]

[MP Cost: None]

[Effects:]

·Proves the most noble chivalry.

·In the moment your lord falls into crisis, dramatic power boils up, making you 10–20% stronger than usual.

·Simply by being with the lord you are loyal to, all stats increase by 3%, and attack power, defense, and skill damage increase by 3%.

·When fighting to protect your lord from enormous danger, you do not fear or yield even a little.

·A slightly higher-tier skill may be unlocked, and once unlocked, it becomes far superior to ‘Unconditionally Loyal to Brad.’

[Description: A skill forged by a lord who stopped at nothing to save you, a skill only a single knight can obtain.]

[This can be said to be an outstanding power born from Luxiu’s innate nature and their heart that cherishes their lord.]

After waking from fainting, Hyunsoo checked this skill first.

The skill name, which had originally been the alien-sounding ‘Unconditionally Loyal to Brad,’ had been changed to ‘Loyal to Hyunsoo.’

Even better.

Just the name alone was clearly different.

The word “unconditionally” was no longer attached.

Instead, all the abilities got nerfed... but now this skill can grow.

It was written plainly in the effects.

A slightly higher-tier skill could be unlocked, and once unlocked, /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ it would become a higher concept than the former ‘Unconditionally Loyal to Brad.’

Meaning, once that power unlocks, Luxiu’s loyalty will pierce the sky.

Hyunsoo looked forward to it.

Right now, Luxiu was living for him, but it wasn’t the kind of loyalty that would throw away their life.

But the possibility had opened—one day, Luxiu could live while devoting everything for Hyunsoo.

There was nothing that could make him happier than that.

And Hyunsoo had already seen it, hadn’t he?

The Undefeated Knight without even holding the Twin Dragon Sword was a super-named NPC around level 500.

That was a level that could be called superior even to Bella.

And as things stood, the only legitimate wielder of the buff-type Twin Dragon Sword was Luxiu.

If they regain their full power, they’ll be able to bring out strength in the 530s.

It was, truly, an incredible thing.

And in this Kingdom of Enya, Hyunsoo hadn’t gained only Luxiu.

The powers he’d earned while running to reach the Blood King.

(무아지경)

Multi-title

Grade: S

Special Ability:

·All stats increase by 15%.

·All attack power and all defense increase by 15%.

·Critical hit chance increases by 41%.

·Reflexes maximized.

·You can check performance notifications from Trance.

Description: Without realizing it, you fall into an extreme state of Trance. For as long as it is activated, you dominate the battlefield, and it is granted only to five users who fall into an extreme level of immersion recognized by the system.

Hyunsoo had broken through tens of thousands alone atop the wall, with all hearing cut off, forgetting pain.

He’d also felt as if adrenaline was boiling inside him, and he was sure he’d moved far beyond what he normally could.

I thought I only felt stronger than usual, but it wasn’t my imagination.

When he entered combat while submerged in the extreme Trance the system recognized, he truly became stronger.

This is a multi-title.

A title granted to only five users across the entire world.

In this Ares, played by more than two billion users, the fact that he’d made it into the top five itself was astonishing.

So I can reach that level of immersion in battle now?

This, too, could be counted as one of Hyunsoo’s growth points.

A huge number of kids who dream of becoming baseball players can’t fall into extreme immersion like real major leaguers.

But it’s like that kid, after growing, one day drawing out extreme immersion in the major leagues.

This, too, was Hyunsoo’s growth—his own power.

And then, a result born from that Trance and Hyunsoo’s growth.

[A total of 3,701 have been purified.]

[You leveled up.]

[You leveled up.]

At the time, Hyunsoo’s level had been 415.

Two levels at this range—enough to call it a massive level jump.

But that wasn’t all.

[You killed the Blood King.]

[The world message rings.]

[The first king falls.]

[By bringing down the Blood King, one of the kings of the five thrones, the other kings become wary of you, an unknown existence.]

It was fortunate.

The other kings seated on the five thrones didn’t know who he was.

And they could never find out.

The Kingdom of Enya itself had been a nation being abandoned, and the one million in that country had come to cherish him.

There were no birds to hear words in the day, and no rats to hear words at night.

The Blood King had been, from the start, an existence Hyunsoo could barely kill.

So he gained an unbelievable amount of experience, too.

[You leveled up.]

[You leveled up.]

[You leveled up.]

[You leveled up.]

[You leveled up.]

[You leveled up......]

Back then, more important than these notifications was how many people would follow him, so he hadn’t paid attention.

But looking now, it was awe-inspiring.

Thirteen levels...?

In one breath, he’d become level 430.

A thrilling shiver rushed in late.

Now, Hyunsoo’s conviction sank in hard—he could defend this territory splendidly in the Great Atlas War.

Ha....

The raid results he was only checking now made him giddy.

Now all he had to do was get good drops and a lot of gold, wasn’t it?

Hyunsoo, who’d been expecting that, froze.

[64,031 gold drops.]

What the Blood King dropped was sixty thousand gold—money worth roughly 64,031,000 won.

Hyunsoo was utterly dumbfounded.

Up to now, the named-class monsters he’d fought had, literally, dropped amounts that made your jaw drop.

How does a bastard sitting on one of the five thrones...

Hyunsoo had thought the Blood King would drop at least 500,000 gold.

Because they were a king in name, at least.

Then he realized one fact.

“......”

The Kingdom of Enya was like a kingdom of the dead.

It had been a country on the verge of collapse.

“......”

His eyes reddened.

Because the country he believed would give the greatest rewards had been a beggar nation—and because he’d realized the king was penniless.

It didn’t even drop anything....

All the bastard had dropped was junk loot.

Then Hyunsoo shook his head.

No. It’s fine anyway.

Hyunsoo swallowed the tears.

It was fine.

Because there was a magical notification that could make him feel better in an instant.

[Atlas’s total war power becomes 254% stronger.]

[You have met the conditions to rise to marquis.]

[Congratulations.]

[You have become the user who possesses the most civilians and forces of any noble in the world.]

[Congratulations.]

[You have become the user who possesses the most special NPCs of any noble in the world.]

[You acquire Overwhelm 200.]

[You acquire Fame 500.]

Heh....

[Total Atlas Status.]

[Civilians: 183,101.]

[Forces: 9,974.]

Hehehehehehehe.

Hyunsoo knew that even the noble with the most civilians in the world had fewer than 100,000.

And their forces would be under 5,000.

Of course, that was only what was known—some noble could be growing power somewhere unseen.

But even by known data alone, Hyunsoo was walking an unrivaled path.

Grinning, Hyunsoo scrolled down—and his smile turned bitter.

A fact he’d already known revealed itself.

[Atlas’s financial status is at the lowest.]

Unfortunately, that fact had not changed.

No... it did change...

DING!

[Atlas’s finance report is updated.]

[Atlas’s finances are the worst.]

It had gotten worse.

The notification told him why.

[Compared to the increased number of civilians, the finances accumulated in the treasury are infinitely insufficient.]

[Compared to the increased number of civilians, there is a shortage of places for them to stay.]

[Compared to the increased number of civilians, there is a shortage of land to farm.]

[Compared to the increased number of civilians, there is a shortage of specialties.]

In simple terms, there were more mouths. About five times as many as before.

If he’d been able to give one loaf of bread to one person, now he had to tell five or six people to split the same loaf.

This was also one of the side effects of explosive growth.

And on top of that, even after killing the Blood King, he was miserably broke—another piece of bad luck.

Hyunsoo saw more.

[Lord Hyunsoo promised to give a portion of a true World Tree to the Kingdom of Praham.]

[If you do not fulfill the promise, your relationship with the Kingdom of Praham may be damaged.]

[Lord Hyunsoo must pay bereavement support for the fallen to the families, in exchange for receiving support of a 100,000-strong army from the Kingdom of Goyard.]

[If you do not pay, you may be met with the civilians’ resentment.]

The situation was not good.

The side effects of explosive growth were slamming into him too hard.

Of course, in normal circumstances, it couldn’t have turned out like this.

Because after killing a king, he should have received astronomical rewards and been able to fill all of it.

It’s not just food. They don’t have enough places to sleep. And Atlas’s actual scale has become suitable for a great territory.

But the notification said this.

[It is insufficient to become a great territory.]

Not people—money.

Hyunsoo’s mouth tasted bitter.

I made the best choice.

No matter what anyone said, it was true—he’d made a choice that didn’t deserve blame.

It was just that this result came because he’d been unlucky.

And there was one thing Hyunsoo still didn’t know.

It was something he could have figured out more easily than he thought, but the notifications about the worst situation had kept him from realizing it.

Resting in the Kingdom of Enya’s relatively decent residence, Hyunsoo soon faced Luxiu again as they returned.

“Four days from now, the people of the Kingdom of Enya will become dirt—or they’ll go with you.”

To Hyunsoo, now aware of Atlas’s finances, it felt like a death sentence.

How do I feed and house 130,000 mouths?

But Luxiu was smiling oddly.

“......It’s all something you did.”

What did that mean?

Was Luxiu saying it because they were a knight, because they didn’t understand a lord’s burdens?

“Come with me.”

Hyunsoo trudged outside, shoulders slumped.

Then he froze.

“......This is...?”

Hyunsoo rubbed his eyes.

And there, in front of him, stood Sun—the former captain of the Blood King.

Sun greeted Hyunsoo with a completely different smile than before.

Unfortunately, Sun had chosen rest.

But their expression looked far too peaceful.

“Saint Aria will offer prayers for our rest four days from now. It’s all thanks to you, Lord Hyunsoo.”

Even if you want rest, humans naturally feel fear of death.

But with Saint Aria, it was different.

With her, they could meet the most comfortable, beautiful rest in the world—without any fear or dread.

And then, something Hyunsoo hadn’t even thought of was revealed.

“We’re going to rest anyway.”

Sun looked around.

The people filling the residence where Hyunsoo was staying were all looking at him.

“Those of us who go into rest have no more greed, no more craving for money.”

That’s right.

Even if the king was broke, even if the country was collapsing—

There were still one million people in the Kingdom of Enya right now.

And do you know the funny part?

If one million people each gather one won, that’s one million won.

“Please accept it. This is our final gift.”

Hyunsoo looked around, and a burning thrill wrapped around him.

[860,000 civilians devote everything for you.]

Someone offered a rusted pickaxe, a stained heirloom, an old antique, emergency cash they’d saved to use someday, or property.

A line of wagons carrying it all stretched for 200 meters.

To raise the finances Hyunsoo had considered “the worst” back up to “the lowest,” he needed at least 2 billion.

And from “the worst” to “low” was 2.5 billion.

To pull it from “the worst” to “medium,” about 3.5 billion. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

But the notification said—

DING!

[Atlas’s finances change from worst to best!]

Hyunsoo was so grateful, so thankful.

140,000 live for me.

And 860,000 leaving behind rest, leave something for me.

So he became curious.

That “final gift” they had given—enough to pull him from worst to best.

How much was it, exactly?