In the world of Ares, there existed four absolute monsters.

They represented and symbolized certain things, and to certain people, they became objects of worship.

Hydra, symbolizing evil.

Phoenix, symbolizing good.

Black Tortoise, symbolizing protection.

And White Tiger, symbolizing strength.

People called them divine beasts.

*****

Pureum Co., Ltd. was in an uproar.

While multiple teams remained tense over the possibility that Gremory might revive, a being that still should not have revealed itself had shown itself to one user alone.

The employees in the Ares Control Room rose to their feet as they watched the alert flashing red.

“How......?”

The employees of the Story Team.

“When Gremory awakens soon and the Ares Church collapses, we’ll have new stories to—”

“Team Lead!”

“What!?”

The Story Team too was shocked by those words.

That being was different from all the others until now.

Unlike the other divine beasts that had revealed themselves, this one had completely hidden its identity.

“Why on earth......?”

“How......?”

“Why did White Tiger reveal its identity of its own accord!?”

The question on everyone’s mind.

In the emergency meeting that was hurriedly opened, everyone whipped around toward one person.

It was Team Lead Kim of the Special User Management Team.

“......”

He too had risen from his seat and was staring at the monitor.

Everyone looked at him, but soon turned their heads away.

They knew how pointless the thought in their minds was.

Yes, it was a pointless thought.

No way, right?

No way he’d actually do it?

No way?

No way.......

No way!

It was all superstition, baseless nonsense with no scientific proof.

And besides, it was just something they had jokingly attached to User Hyunsoo’s actions for fun.

And as for Team Lead Kim......

It’s superstition. It definitely is.

Did they know?

That Team Lead Kim’s planting of a flag

had been half intentional?

But it was neither a wrongdoing nor a deviation.

Why did you plant a flag!?

If any user protested like that, they would only make themselves look foolish.

He had only said it because, just maybe, he hoped.

The same way someone might wish for something.

Why was that?

Because he knew Gremory would awaken.

Because he knew Atlas would collapse.

So did that mean Team Lead Kim had rigged things in Hyunsoo’s favor the way people claimed?

No. He had never once done such a thing.

Because this was nothing more than a pure wish.

From now on, even now, forever, Team Lead Kim was not the kind of man who would ever do something like that.

And within that wish, there was this as well.

“How do you think the story will unfold?”

“Well...... for now, White Tiger has effectively revealed its identity.......”

“From here on, won’t it depend on User Hyunsoo?”

That was right.

Just as people said, it rested in his hands.

What would bloom at the end of his wish?

The power of White Tiger, which would dwell in the Four Tiger Sword.

And those standing there before the monitors wondered:

what kind of power would the blessing of White Tiger, symbol of strength, unleash?

*****

Can I really do this?

He thought of ordinary people.

Go to war.

Then they would have gone to war.

Or else—

Use a Black Tortoise material on something this minor? What a waste. No thanks.

They would not have used it.

The easy and fast road had definitely been right in front of him.

Maybe Hyunsoo could already have finished everything and forged the Four Tiger Sword by now.

But to look into the story hidden within the essence.

And to know that the result achieved at the end of it would definitely be more valuable than the easy road one could have taken.

Everything Hyunsoo had gone through until now proved that.

If the path was harder than the one ordinary people would choose, then all he ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) had to do was walk farther.

A waste?

It was not a waste, not if one understood the principles and stories of the game called Ares.

Because they gave rewards worthy of that.

Above the North King’s head,

the image of a certain being was briefly projected.

It radiated a power that could not even be compared to something like Fenrir.

Its snow-white fur gleamed, and its courageous eyes looked nobler than any other existence.

And before its enormous forepaws, it felt as if nothing in existence could ever stop it.

Even standing still, Hyunsoo found himself nearly unable to breathe.

Though no status ailment was upon him right now, its sheer majesty alone was enough to make his legs tremble.

And in that moment, he understood something.

The West King.......

He had been born carrying the energy of a White Tiger like that.

Every clue fell into place.

For a mere small vessel to hold the immense power of a divine beast had been impossible.

Yes.

It had been impossible.

As he thought it over again, he realized it.

Now, it might become possible.

The Armor for the West King in the North King’s arms proved it.

Soon, White Tiger became a white light and flew up through the air.

And then—

FWAAAGH—

it plunged into Hyunsoo’s arms.

[You have found White Tiger.]

[You obtain 1,000 Fame.]

[White Tiger is the divine beast that symbolizes strength.]

[White Tiger’s blessing descends upon you.]

It was White Tiger, symbol of strength, yet in this moment Hyunsoo felt that energy wrapping around him.

And then something reached his ears and vanished.

“Thank you.”

He knew that those words held many meanings.

For making armor like this.

For trying to lead things toward reconciliation instead of war.

And for wanting, no matter what, to see it through to the end.

[You obtain All Stats 5%.]

[Total HP and MP increase by 20%.]

[Sword King Swordsmanship increases by 2 levels.]

[The Pride of the Master Blacksmith grade is upgraded.]

[All weapon attack power and magic attack power increase by 22%.]

[All weapon defense and magic defense increase by 20%.]

[Critical hit chance increases by 40%.]

[The cooldown of all skills is reduced by 25%.]

Several hundred stats had risen all at once.

And the total HP and MP that all users wanted to increase had soared dramatically.

The true core was The Pride of the Master Blacksmith.

(The Pride of the Master Blacksmith)

Grade: Transcendence

Level: 1

Penalty: None

Mana Cost: 100

Effects:

·Even enemies stronger than you may sometimes fall into status ailments simply by facing you.

·Feeling the pride of you, who rose from the bottom to legend, they may fall into the status ailments “Powerlessness,” “Dignity,” “Self-Reproach,” and “Fear,” and be greatly weakened.

·If you show your pride once more during battle, you may weaken them further.

·Depending on the situation, The Pride of the Master Blacksmith activates even against those of similar or higher level than you.

·You resist any and all status ailments without exception.

·An on/off function exists.

Originally, The Pride of the Master Blacksmith had been a status ailment that activated against those fifty levels lower than the user.

But not anymore.

And on top of that, “Fear” had been added to the list of status ailments, but the core of it was this:

The Pride of the Master Blacksmith is not universally effective against all status ailments.

According to the original description, it had said that at times it resisted any status ailment.

It resists without exception.

And there was one more thing.

“I will give you your commission fee after everything is finished. This is a gift for you.”

(North King Stone)

Grade: Transcendence

Restriction: blacksmith level 500 or above

Difficulty: highest grade

Special Abilities

·It holds the power to restore allies’ HP and MP by up to 50%.

·It holds various buffs that can make allies up to 30% stronger.

·Its radius will vary depending on the artifact that is crafted.

Description: The Three Kings bestowed three minerals symbolizing White Tiger, and this is one of them, the North King Stone.

The effect of the North King Stone lay in healing and strengthening allies.

Damn, that gave me chills.......

The reason lay in the radius.

The limitation on the radius varied depending on the artifact.

Which meant that if it became an excellent artifact, there was no telling how far that radius might extend.

It could be hundreds. It could be thousands.

And because of that, he came to understand something else.

The materials of the Three Kings really are the finest materials for the Four Tiger Sword.

The North King Stone unleashed power for the sake of allies.

If his guess was right, the West King Stone would contain “the energy of White Tiger.”

“Take this armor to the West King.”

Hearing those words, Hyunsoo understood that the story of setting things right was not over yet.

So after asking one thing, he headed to where the West King was.

With the North King’s power, he was able to teleport straight to the kingdom where the West King was.

Hyunsoo held the armor meant for the West King, but he was deeply worried.

The North King and East King had not gone to see the West King for a very long time.

Because of his immense power.

Hyunsoo felt that alone would have been more than enough to wound the West King.

The instant Hyunsoo appeared before the bedchamber where the West King stayed and opened the door to step inside—

KRAAAAAAGH—!

Hyunsoo felt his heart pound.

A tremendous power tried to press down on him.

It was so intense that the air around him churned violently and tremors rippled through the ground.

And those tremors were powerful enough to spread through the entire castle.

Now that he knew the owner of this power was White Tiger, Hyunsoo found it truly astonishing.

[The West King’s Wrath]

[The great energy of the Great Tiger spreads.]

[Status ailment Submission activates.]

[Status ailment Death activates.]

[Status ailment......]

[The Pride of the Master Blacksmith.]

[You resist any and all status ailments.]

The dark bedchamber.

The West King, who had kept himself imprisoned there for so long, was slowly turning his head.

Just as the North King had said.

He had the appearance of a young child.

But his upturned eyes and firm lips like those of a tiger

proclaimed that the energy emanating from him itself belonged to the strongest tiger of all.

“How remarkable. That you are not disturbed in the slightest by my energy.”

“The North King sent me. He told me to deliver this armor to you. This armor will control your status ailment—”

“......The North King? Ah...... you mean the king who, together with the East King, nearly fainted after seeing me and never once came to visit me again after that?”

He sneered.

“How absurd. You all must have known. That the one attached to my side was using me like a puppet.”

“And even so, they must have said this: kill the West King. It is all because of the West King. This war is being brought about entirely by the West King’s land.”

“And now that a real war is about to break out, they sent a gift? What cruel and vile kings they are!”

“I do not wish to see them. They disgust me, they make my skin crawl, I hate them. Do you know why? Even now, after sending this gift, they still did not come themselves. Why? Because I am disgusting and frightening to them! So never again—”

Then Hyunsoo’s words made the West King realize it.

“Then why are you crying?”

The West King had been speaking through tears, as if pouring out the sorrow of all those long years.

And the West King was completely wrong.

“......We came.”

Two kings were entering.

[North King.]

[East King.]

They were the two Tiger Kings.

What Hyunsoo had asked of the North King—

......How can you wish for reconciliation and still send only me? You must deliver this yourself. And the East King must come with you as well. From the story I heard, the East King must feel the same as Your Majesty.

And in truth, the East King had accepted that.

And now—

“......Don’t come any closer, you idiots!”

the West King shouted.

There were two meanings in it.

One was because he hated them, and the other was because of the state they were in right now.

The West King’s immense power was crushing even the two kings.

The two kings, cold sweat pouring down their faces, ignored that and kept walking.

And at the end of it, the North King handed over the armor in Hyunsoo’s place.

“......I’m sorry, West King.”

At last, the West King put on the armor.

All of his status ailments were suppressed by the armor, and he was set free.

Watching the three of them, Hyunsoo turned around without hesitation.

This was now a story the three of them had to resolve.

And then, freed from being a puppet, the West King issued an order to the entire nation.

“Blen, who incited the war, is to be executed.”

The North King said:

“This war was something that should neither have been achieved nor allowed to happen.”

The East King said:

“The war is over. Just as we were once one, we will lead this nation as one again.”

And after everything had calmed—

the three kings spoke.

“You truly listened to our story?”

“And he says he wishes to forge a certain sword?”

“He said that when something is crafted, power dwells in the story?”

The three kings walked together and entered the forge where he was.

The North King approached him.

“Are you making it now? The sword called the Four Tiger Sword?”

“......Yes. I have to.”

The North King gave a small smile.

“But there is something I’m curious about.”

“......Yes?”

“Why do you forge armaments only from the stories of others?”

“......?”

“Tell us your story.”

That was right.

The Four Tiger Sword.

It would be the first sword forged from Hyunsoo’s own story.