Hyunsoo would never forget that day.

The day we sealed Gremory—and became known as Lamp.

Bahala and Kabel handed over Gremory’s Ring without hesitation.

Gremory’s Ring was a Transcendence-grade artifact.

Its value was in the tens of billions—no, it was ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) more accurate to say it was an artifact you couldn’t obtain even if you had money.

When Hyunsoo tried to refuse, Kabel and Bahala laughed and said, “Because you’re the one with the least money.”

Of course it was a joke.

It was goodwill—done for Hyunsoo’s sake.

But Hyunsoo, the one receiving it, didn’t feel light about it.

And even when Bahala told him about this Tower of Honor, Bahala did it while joking around, like it was nothing.

Thanks, Kabel. Bahala.

Hyunsoo knew.

They wanted him to grow—and they joked like that because they were worried he’d feel uncomfortable, or start watching their faces.

And he also knew something else.

Bahala and Kabel probably knew more high-level dungeons than anyone.

More ways to get stronger.

More everything.

And yet Bahala had singled out this place.

I’ll grow here until I don’t have to rely on you anymore.

Bahala had reached Floor 9. Kabel had reached Floor 7.

No. I’ll climb higher than you.

Hyunsoo wanted to say it here, proudly.

That he didn’t want to keep receiving—he wanted to stand as an equal.

No.

He wanted to take their seats.

I don’t care what it takes.

[Tower of Honor entry confirmed.]

[Break through hundreds of monsters and ascend to Floor 2.]

Hyunsoo had already watched Rund’s video.

The difficulty was so high that even Hyunsoo couldn’t help doubting whether he could clear it.

But everything changed depending on whether you had Kkoko or not.

“Fire Bird.”

Before he had Kkoko, he’d thought he’d be lucky just to barely make it through.

But now that he had Kkoko, a way existed that was simply too easy.

Originally, the Tower of Honor was a place where you couldn’t summon pets.

Unless you were a necromancer or a summoner.

Normal pets couldn’t be summoned at all.

But Kkoko’s Fire Bird was written as something you could summon even in places where it was impossible.

“Lucky Lump.”

FWOOOOSH—!

“Maaang...”

Lucky Lump appeared in fire, eyes half-lidded like it had been sleeping a second ago.

Like some shamanic monkey in The Lion King announcing Simba’s birth—

Hyunsoo lifted Lucky Lump up with both hands.

But Lucky Lump didn’t react at all, so Hyunsoo leaned in and whispered:

“I’ll give you a chew.”

“Mang...!?”

Lucky Lump’s sleepy eyes snapped wide open.

Like a normal dog hearing “treat?” and instantly perking up, awake in a heartbeat.

And with that, Lucky Lump’s strongest active skill manifested.

It could only be used once a month.

But the effect was unmatched.

[Lucky Lump Is Passing Through]

[Nothing can block Lucky Lump’s path.]

[Normal-grade monsters can never threaten it, and sometimes they will revere it.]

Lucky Lump, desperate to get that snack, was suddenly overflowing with greatness and valor.

Held in Hyunsoo’s hands, Lucky Lump bared tiny rice-grain teeth and roared.

“Mang!”

Lucky Lump is passing through!

Monsters that saw Lucky Lump backed away in fear, and some actually bowed in reverence.

RUMMMBLE, THUD, RUMMMBLE—!!!

Hyunsoo didn’t waste that opening.

Hugging Lucky Lump tight, Hyunsoo sprinted at full speed.

The new record the archmage Rund had set—

2 minutes 37 seconds.

Even after Rund’s interview—arrogant as it was—no one who had climbed the Tower of Honor really challenged him.

That alone proved how insane his record was.

But Hyunsoo cleared it effortlessly.

“Flame.”

FWOOOSH—!

A small flame ignited.

The moment Floor 1 was cleared, the cooldown would reset anyway.

So Hyunsoo added another layer of “special.”

“Ghost Step.”

Until now, Hyunsoo had used Ghost Step only to attack.

But Ghost Step was movement executed in just one or two seconds.

TAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAP—!

Hyunsoo used it for running, leaving afterimages as he surged forward.

You think I’m using too much?

Bullshit.

In Ares, the better you perform, the more valuable the rewards become.

A difference of one second could change a reward on an astronomical scale.

DASH—!

Hyunsoo reached the door in an instant, bracing himself against it and sucking in rough breaths as he waited.

How many seconds?

If you listened to Rund and everything around him, Floor 1 really did seem unusually hard compared to the other floors.

[Tower of Honor is measuring your record.]

[Tower of Honor cannot easily measure it.]

[Measuring.......]

“...?”

Hyunsoo let out a hollow laugh.

Well, of course.

He’d activated Flame, sprinted at full speed, and used Ghost Step’s principles to take thirty steps in a blink.

DING!

[Measurement complete.]

[Time elapsed: 2 seconds 39.]

[New record achieved.]

[This fact will be delivered to the previous record-holder, Rund.]

[The existing reward is ‘Raise Anything’ Points.]

[‘Raise Anything’ Points can be used up to Unique and S-rank.]

[You can raise titles, skill levels, stats—anything.]

[However, you cannot raise anything related to damage.]

DING!

[Your reward improves in accordance with this astounding result.]

[The existing reward of ‘Raise Anything’ Points 1 is changed.]

[You obtain ‘Raise Anything’ Points 2.]

[It is changed so that legendary or SS-rank titles are also possible.]

“...!?”

Now Hyunsoo understood why Bahala had singled out the Tower of Honor.

The original reward is Raise Anything Points? And you can raise a Unique or S-rank by one step?

It was insane.

Some skills and titles explicitly stated that no matter how badly you wanted it, they could not be raised.

Just the fact that you could raise those was broken.

You can use it like this, too.

The simplest way to raise a skill level was to raise proficiency.

Proficiency went up through repeated use.

If a skill is at 0% proficiency and I invest one of these points, it goes up immediately.

And that worked even for Unique-grade skills.

But Hyunsoo’s situation was even more special.

I can level up legendary to SS-rank titles? And I get two of them?

It really was a crazy reward.

It was true that skills designated as legendary typically only went up by one level—

But titles were different.

Upgrade an SS-rank title to SSS-rank...

Ares had been out for quite a while, but Hyunsoo knew there were only about a hundred SSS-rank titles.

SS-rank titles were close to two thousand.

Hyunsoo felt a small regret.

If I could raise something related to damage, I would’ve raised Sword King Swordsmanship by one immediately.

Sword King Swordsmanship was a package—multiple skills bound into one.

So raising Sword King Swordsmanship by even one would raise every chapter inside it.

...I’ve decided.

Rather than raising a skill, Hyunsoo judged it was better to raise an SS-rank title to SSS-rank.

Something that can keep making me stronger, continuously.

After careful thought, his first choice was:

Pledge Your Loyalty to Me.

Pledge Your Loyalty to Me was already a broken ability.

Depending on the strength of the person who pledged loyalty to Hyunsoo, Hyunsoo received a blessing and grew stronger.

It was also an upgraded version of Grant Me Your Blessing.

The original Grant Me Your Blessing was far stronger in terms of immediate growth.

But—

Grant Me Your Blessing is consumable. Pledge Your Loyalty to Me is permanent.

In the long run, the permanent one was overwhelmingly better.

Still, it was true that Pledge Your Loyalty to Me had always felt disappointing, because it only absorbed 50% of the blessing gained through Grant Me Your Blessing.

What if...

High-level rankers could often predict what a skill would become before leveling it up.

Raising Pledge Your Loyalty to Me won’t suddenly let me recruit subordinates more easily or something.

That would destroy balance.

With that prediction in mind, Hyunsoo invested Point 1.

DING!

[‘Pledge Your Loyalty to Me’ is upgraded from SS-rank to SSS-rank.]

(Pledge Your Loyalty to Me)

Unique Title

Grade: SSS

Special Abilities:

When someone recognized by the System as possessing strength pledges loyalty to you or wishes to join your guild, you may receive a blessing.

However, the blessing you receive is 70% of ‘Grant Me Your Blessing.’

When you receive a blessing from someone, it increases by an additional 20%.

If you first recommend that someone become your subordinate, it may be possible—depending on various factors beyond that person’s story—to stir stronger feelings such as respect and loyalty toward you, causing that person to become your subordinate.

If someone who may pledge loyalty is nearby, it may react.

However, that person must be someone recognized by the System as possessing strength.

“Kh...!”

Hyunsoo shook with emotion.

The parts he’d predicted—just in case—

They matched exactly.

What used to be only 50% became 70%.

But something was even better than that.

An additional 20% increase when receiving a blessing from someone.

In the long term, for Hyunsoo the “blessing collector,” it was an incredible reward.

I’ve still got one shot left.

Hyunsoo hesitated over where to spend the last one.

He had plenty of options.

Pride of the Master Blacksmith, Gathering, A Lord’s Grace, Creator of Babylon, One Who Will Be King, and more.

And from among them, Hyunsoo chose the most efficient title.

Creator of Babylon.

This title meant that every time Bahala achieved something outrageous, Hyunsoo—doing absolutely nothing—gained stats.

In other words—

A stats macro powered by World Rank #1.

Thanks to Bahala working like a beast, Hyunsoo had already gained about thirty-six stats just by sitting still.

If Hyunsoo said he felt no guilt at all, that would be a lie.

But it’s not like I stole this title. The System recognized it and gave it to me.

Meaning it wasn’t Hyunsoo’s fault at all.

And Creator of Babylon had one big weakness.

[This title will disappear in 198 days.]

Creator of Babylon was a consumable title.

Hyunsoo decided boldly.

This time, it’s this.

Hyunsoo wanted one thing.

Permanence.

[Creator of Babylon is upgraded from S-rank to SS-rank.]

(Creator of Babylon)

My Own Title

Grade: SS

Special Abilities:

Creator of Babylon is special.

Each time the owner of Babylon achieves an astounding feat, you obtain 1–5 stats at random.

When the owner of Babylon successfully hunts a normal demon, you obtain 20–50 stats at random.

When the owner of Babylon successfully hunts a great archdemon, you obtain 50–80 stats at random.

This is a special title created by the bond between Babylon’s owner and its creator.

It should have disappeared originally, but due to arbitrary power, you possess it permanently.

It was exactly as Hyunsoo expected.

Creator of Babylon became permanent.

Meaning that from now on, whenever Bahala achieved something, Hyunsoo’s stats would continue rising.

And even the stat gains improved noticeably.

Where it used to be 1–3 per feat, it became 1–5.

And when demons were hunted, Hyunsoo could gain as much as eighty stats.

Bahala kills it, and I go up by eighty...?

Of course that wasn’t something that would happen immediately.

But Bahala, walking the path of the Sword God, had a mission: protecting the human realm from demons.

Someday, inevitably, Bahala would hunt demons.

And Hyunsoo would just sit there and eat stats.

Thanks, Bahala... I’ll keep making artifacts for you...

Hyunsoo pictured Bahala being sad because he was blocked.

From telling him about this tower to helping Hyunsoo grow—Bahala really had done it all.

Hyunsoo thought he’d received all rewards, then shook his head.

Come to think of it, the most important reward is still left.

Hyunsoo whispered to someone.

Meanwhile—

[Tower of Honor: A new record has been achieved.]

“...?”

Rund, the Floor 1 record-holder, had just logged into Ares—and froze.

It had already been a full year since he’d set that record.

And in an interview a few months ago, he’d bragged that a new record-holder would never appear.

Because he’d done it himself.

Because he knew it was difficult even for other top-tier high rankers around him.

And yet someone had taken first place.

Who the hell is it?

The Hall of Honor didn’t have many latecomers.

Newcomers were far fewer than active players—and most world messages had already rung as much as they were going to.

And when a new record is achieved, you can’t directly see who did it.

What I can check is who entered the tower recently...

Then a thought struck him.

An unofficial ranker?

The probability was extremely high.

A latecomer like that would hide his strength.

That way, he wouldn’t catch the eyes of the strong, and he could grow safely.

With that, Rund relaxed.

Hadn’t he said this?

If some bastard pulls it off, that bastard is my older brother!

And he’d even said this:

An older brother who brings me water and runs errands! I’m telling you, it’s that impossible!

It was just words—something he’d said because it was obviously impossible.

And if it’s an unofficial ranker, he’ll let it slide quietly.

Rund felt relieved.

He was forty-seven years old this year.

A new older brother, at his age?

Pointless worry.

Rund smirked.

Sure, the record being broken was shocking.

But what kind of lunatic would take a joke like that seriously?

Then, a whisper arrived—from the last person he expected.

[Hyunsoo: Hey, Rund.]

Why is he whispering me? And he’s talking down to me...?

[Hyunsoo: I’m your older brother^^.]

“...What!?”