It was a beautiful night, with stars embroidered across the sky.

SHAAASH—

Listening to the sound of waves breaking, with several candles lit around him, the King of Stories sat in a chair with a brush in hand.

As he listened to the crashing of the waves, and felt the soft moonlight shining over him.

He closed his eyes and thought.

Long ago, when the king who had originally ruled this land received news that the enemy was advancing in hundreds of ships, he had already given up everything.

It was the moment when the king leading a small island had become certain of defeat and was waiting for death.

That day.

Armed with only a single sword, he, who had been nothing more than a general, fought on that ship everyone else had abandoned, with only a single bird by his side.

No one even knew how many days it had been.

And news reached the Island of Stories that he had fought for days without retreating.

He has not retreated for four days.

He has not yielded the road of the sea.

Though pierced by many spears and blades, he has not retreated.

The enemy commander, who had only tens of thousands at first, is now sending an army of hundreds of thousands.

So the king asked,

Then has he retreated now?

......He has not retreated.

The tale spread.

That tale began from the story of one small commander who quietly stood alone against an army of hundreds of thousands.

The commanders who had fled gathered in one place.

The king who had given up took up a sword.

Behind that small commander, who had been left alone and was collapsing from exhaustion.

A single bird cried out, and the flames of Fire Bird surged up, and on that day, they returned.

It had been his strength.

Because he had not given up, the commanders who had left returned.

Because he had not retreated, the king who had once despaired found his footing again.

On the day of victory, the king asked,

Why did you not flee?

Holding a single ruined Twin Dragon Sword, he could only kneel and say,

If I flee, then who will protect this sea?

.......

The king understood the meaning contained in those words.

It had been no more than a small island.

A miserable place, full of the cries of poor people and a shabby, cowardly king.

And yet, it had not been for wealth and glory, nor for a woman, nor because he coveted the king’s place.

He had simply known that he was someone who had to stand there.

That day, the king wept, and later entrusted the island to that small commander, and he became the new king.

“.......”

The commander opened his eyes, smiled bitterly, and then coughed.

“Cough, cough.......”

It was an old story.

And because it was old, it was also an island he had guarded alone for a very long time.

He would die.

And as always, he continued writing in his Story Diary.

—......It has now been 24 days since the Myriad Mile Bird disappeared.

“.......”

Where in the world had it gone?

On this place he had guarded in solitude, the one that had long stayed with him had been the Myriad Mile Bird.

Even if it was Bird-Brained and sometimes dropped him in absurd places, it had still been a close friend who had fought through long wars with him.

And.

......The Myriad Mile Bird and I have to find one.

There was not much time left.

He stopped writing his diary and began writing something new.

First, what he had found.

—Blacksmith Hyun.

He was someone who made him smile a little when he thought of him.

The image of him was still vivid before his eyes.

Ten Thousand People.

He had created a crafting method for a sword for everyone.

“That was a splendid idea, and the right state of mind.”

He knew that human beings did not make swords for everyone.

Because human beings desired to make swords only for those who stood in high places.

And so, one being who would soon fill the vacancy he left behind was Blacksmith Hyun.

May his arms and armor light this island.......

And then the next thing was needed.

With his brush, he wrote him down.

—General.

He needed a strong general who would not waver before what he wished to protect.

What he wanted.

Was someone who could fight alone even before tens of thousands of enemies.

A single existence who, as he once had long ago, could set everyone’s hearts ablaze.

But he knew.

......Can such a person exist on this land?

That day, the King of Stories had in truth been afraid.

He had been terrified, and he had wanted to run.

He had merely not shown it.

Is there anyone with such mental strength?

That was why, right now, he had needed the Myriad Mile Bird.

Because they had meant to search for such a person together.

And he had also planted a special power into the Myriad Mile Bird.

If it found such a person, the hidden power inside the Myriad Mile Bird would activate.

The problem, however, was that such a Myriad Mile Bird had disappeared.

“.......”

Again, he began writing down, one by one, the things that general would need.

Just when he started writing the last thing.

“......?”

Strength naturally entered his body.

FWOOOOSH—!

A ring of fire was descending before him.

......So you found one. Myriad Mile Bird.

As expected, it was Bird-Brained, yet clever.

Unlike usual, he felt his heart swell.

He was curious.

About the new general the Myriad Mile Bird had found.

And so he crossed the ring.

After crossing the ring, only his soul arrived at the place illuminated by the Myriad Mile Bird.

He looked around.

It was a place where endless monsters crossed a vast plain.

Then he discovered something he could not understand.

......Blacksmith Hyun?

Huh?

Why was the Myriad Mile Bird together with Blacksmith Hyun?

Hyun said,

“It’s dangerous, so stay off to the side, Kkoko.”

Why did the Myriad Mile Bird become Kkoko? As if it were his pet bir—

Soon, the King of Stories was able to understand. All the puzzle pieces fit together.

He kidnapped the Myriad Mile Bird?

The King of Stories drew a faint smile.

However, the veins bulging at his forehead showed just how dumbfounded and absurd he found this.

......Why did you call me to where Hyun is, Myriad Mile Bird?

Its mission had been to find someone who could protect the sea in his place.

And with Blacksmith Hyun, a contract had already been concluded.

......Is that how it is?

His chest ached as he felt that the Myriad Mile Bird had grown too old.

Earlier, he had once said that he wanted to meet Hyun.

Perhaps the Myriad Mile Bird, which had remembered that, no longer remembered the time when he and Hyun had met.

Was that why you summoned me by mistake?

It was an empty trip.

And sorrow, and pain, and proof that they were growing old.

At least Hyun looked brave.

That is the Twin Dragon Sword Hyun forged.......

He could feel it from the sword’s momentum.

If one merely held that sword, even the weak could become strong for a while.

But so what if a blacksmith became strong?

Just as the first clash was about to happen, he turned his body to leave.

He was only here as an onlooker.

And from that position, he did not want to watch him di—

SKRRAAAANG—!

He soon felt puzzled by the monsters being swept away in a single blow.

“......?”

Today, he had displayed more question marks than at any other time in his life.

And as he watched him clash, he realized he was no ordinary blacksmith.

Who is his master?

It was strange.

When he swung that heavy sword, he seemed like some legendary swordsman, but he was not.

And when he thrust the sword, he seemed like an excellent spearman with a light body, but again he was not.

“.......”

And those movements of his, imitating both styles.

He looked only a little better than a knight who had separately learned assorted tricks.

On the sword of the man who had leaped into thousands of monsters, Combo was engraved.

“Pull them in, telekinesis, Sever in Two, Grout’s Blood Ring.”

In an instant, after slaughtering and scattering six hundred, he rampaged like a wolf gone mad.

This time, around three hundred knights in full plate armor charged by his side.

Their momentum, now reaching level 480, was vicious.

And their armor looked sturdy, and their weapons looked truly formidable.

This is dangerous.

The lances of cavalry were meant to be sharp.

The moment those lances pierced Hyun, he thought it would inflict a fatal wound.

And it was laughable.

Can he not even dodge something like that?

That was right. He could not avoid it, and was struck head-on.

CRAAASH—!

And yet......

He did not suffer grave damage.

Instead, ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) he grabbed the shaft of the spear and overwhelmed the one standing atop it through a thing called stats, then cut him down.

After that.

“Twin Dragon Sword.”

Along with the brand engraved into the sword dyed gold.

KRAKKRAKKRAKKRAKKRAKKRAK—!

The armor and swords worn by six hundred knights shattered.

No, correction.

Every weapon and piece of armor within the range touched by where he stood was shattering.

He is a strange one.

Swordsmanship learned as if by imitation, spearmanship learned as if by imitation.

And unknowable techniques.

KIHEEEEHEEEEHEEK—!

And in an instant, even one strange trick where he forcibly controlled a sub-boss-class dragon and made it attack its allies.

Was that all?

“Summon, Fenrir.”

KRAKKRAKKRAKKRAKKRAK—!

Tamer power?

A giant wolf leaped in, trampled 1,300 monsters, and turned them to ash.

And when hundreds of magic monsters launched a bombardment, he deflected it and instead massacred them.

“.......”

He came to understand.

Users would call him a jack-of-all-trades, while he himself would only see him as a mercenary, someone who had learned all sorts of miscellaneous things in order to survive.

He is strong.

Much stronger than expected, and impressive.

He felt he was as strong as the legends of the continent.

But because there was not much time left, he judged more coldly than anyone else.

That level alone would not overcome the danger to come.

What a pity.......

If he had devoted himself to one thing, it might have been different.

If he had lived only for one thing, it might have been different.

As he was now, he was a man whose limit was clear.

Even if dozens of ordinary things were gathered together, they could not become one extraordinary thing.

And just as he had expected.

What was happening to him now, after using all those mysterious powers?

Lacking technique and skill, he relied on many techniques, and now he is losing the strength to endure.

His HP, now beginning to stagger, rapidly plummeted.

He could not even run because of skill cooldowns.

Like a human sinking beneath the water, slowly being consumed and meeting death.

He felt disappointment, and became certain this had been the Myriad Mile Bird’s misjudgment.

Before he knew it, the Myriad Mile Bird was now before him.

Carrying bitterness, he said,

“Let us go back, Myriad Mile Bird.”

He respected Hyun.

So he only intended to take back the Myriad Mile Bird Hyun had abducted.

“Let us find Bahala first.”

From the beginning, he had also heard the tale of one who walked the path of the Sword God.

To have Master Blacksmith Hyun create the arms, and to establish Bahala as the general.

And then his eyes surveyed this trial in contemplation.

He smiled.

“As expected, my prediction was right. That one called Bahala also reached this place, and he killed more than five thousand monsters.”

And what of Hyun?

He counted by eye.

Around 2,900.

And yet......

[Kkoko will not return.]

“......Why are you acting like this, Myriad Mile Bird? And your name is not Kkoko. It is Myriad Mile Bird.”

[Kkoko will not return.]

“......This time, let us admit that you were wrong. Have you perhaps grown attached after just a few days?”

It was strange.

At that moment, the Myriad Mile Bird was being unusually stubborn.

He turned his head and looked at the one called Hyun behind it.

At some point, he was surrounded and getting ganged up on.

“......I too am favorably inclined toward that man. So I will not scold him for taking you away. Let us simply return and let this be treated as something that never happened—”

At that moment.

“KIEEEEEE!”

The cry of the Myriad Mile Bird was conveyed to him exactly.

[He alone can protect our sea.]

He could not understand it, and he even felt hurt.

Because after living together for hundreds of years, the Myriad Mile Bird should know.

That not just anyone could protect their sea.

And.

“Myriad Mile Bird, do you not know that I do not have much time left.......”

We...... no, I do not have time left to test someone and watch them over time......

At that moment.

“Was I only this strong before I climbed the tower?”

Hyun, who had been collapsed and getting ganged up on, stepped on the horde of monsters and rose into the air.

It was strange.

He did not have the face of someone on the brink of death.

His HP was clearly below 10%, yet his eyes still burned like flames.

“Honor Shop. Invest all my remaining Honor Points into stats.”

His momentum transformed in an instant.

He felt at least 15% stronger than before.

Even more astonishing was the sword he drew after putting away the Twin Dragon Sword.

[The sword that leads an era appears!]

A single cherry blossom bloomed.

That cherry blossom cut through monsters, bloomed without end, and dropped petals without end.

It was a beautiful sight.

And it was also a magnificent proof.

It reminded him and showed him directly that he was not a mercenary, but a blacksmith.

“......!”

One blade of Full Bloom dropped five thousand petals.