A few days earlier.

“Tell us your story.”

The North King, the West King, and the East King.

That was what they said when they came to find Hyunsoo in the forge.

My story...?

An alarm rang through Hyunsoo.

“Haven’t you said that sometimes you make excellent armaments from other people’s stories? Surely you don’t mean to say you’ve never made one from your own story?”

The alarm ringing in his head was this: despite having played for over a year and a half, he had never once let his own story take root in anything.

“So when an artifact with a story in it becomes more excellent, was that all just superstition in the end?”

The North King said that while recalling the time Hyunsoo had made armor for the West King.

Hyunsoo shook his head.

“It depends.”

“It depends?”

“Several mysterious powers I possess sometimes exert dramatic force depending on that, and something like a Story Stone does indeed shape excellent power when there is a story.”

When exactly did the blacksmith’s soul, the power that raised a crafted artifact’s grade by one rank, activate?

It activated when Hyunsoo pursued methods like empathy, understanding, and problem-solving after listening to their stories.

Then what about the Story Stone?

The Story Stone was a little different.

The Story Stone, as its name suggested, drew out power from old, trifling legends.

But it was true that the blacksmith’s soul, along with various other effects, helped Hyunsoo draw out more power after hearing someone’s circumstances, and helped him achieve a greater rise in grade.

“Why are you curious about that?”

“I remember a true blacksmith who listened to my story.”

The image was vivid before the North King’s eyes.

He had listened carefully to their story, proposed a single sword that could hold a blessing, and—

instead of choosing the easy and fast path, he had believed with all his heart that the story of Reconciliation was right, and led them down that path.

“...Wouldn’t there need to be someone who listens to your story too, at least once?”

“......”

A faint smile touched Hyunsoo’s lips.

“...All right. While I make the Four Tiger Sword, I’ll tell you my story.”

In all his life, Hyunsoo had never told his story to anyone.

“It’ll probably be that kind of story.”

Everyone had a story.

Didn’t people always believe their own circumstances were special, that their lives were dramas of their own?

The three kings nodded with gentle smiles.

They only wanted to hear his story. They were not looking for something special.

That alone proved how extraordinary this was.

They were the three kings born from the greatest tiger.

The three kings were parents who led enormous numbers of subjects and soldiers.

The reason they wanted to hear his story was because he was their friend.

Today, the three kings wanted to hear not some special tale, but the kind of ordinary rambling story one heard over drinks.

They simply wanted to sit by the furnace, seeing and hearing the flames rise like a cup of liquor that followed a close friend’s ordinary complaints.

“To be honest, I was embarrassed.”

The story began as the kind of “ordinary” one everyone had.

How, as a child, he had felt ashamed when a friend said, “Your dad’s a blacksmith, right? Make me an item!”

That was how his narrative began.

And after that embarrassment, it moved on to “a father’s love,” when his father chased that bastard down and beat him senseless.

“I once wrote, ‘A man who’ll become the king of blacksmiths,’ as my dream for the future, and my teacher scolded me for an hour....”

It was a story that began with a dream behind ridiculous words.

Listening to what should have been that kind of ordinary story anyone could have, the three kings smiled warmly.

I see. So it’s the sort of story anyone might have. Nothing particularly special.

The North King nodded.

The West King and the East King thought the same.

But then—

as they watched the crimson North King Stone melt and flow, the story changed violently.

...Ordinary?

It was not ordinary.

It was the kind of story perhaps one person in a thousand might go through.

And it became even less common.

How ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) many people could actually overcome that?

Wouldn’t the one who overcame it be one in ten thousand?

As they listened to their friend’s story, what had at first been ordinary became special.

CLAAAAANG—!

And they were captivated as they watched him begin hammering.

The North King Stone had grown by feeding on the North King’s energy.

That was why the North King could feel it.

This is absurd...!

The greatest power that mineral could possibly produce was being born.

CLAAAAANG—!

The blacksmith before him possessed a determination that transcended others.

CLAAAAANG—!

And he was no genius. If he had any talent at all, it was only the talent to endure and overcome countless processes.

CLAAAAANG—!

And in the face of such talent, that man shone all the more.

Then the three kings made puzzled expressions.

“...?”

“...?”

“...?”

The Four Tiger Sword he had told them about—

they had clearly heard it was shaped like a bladeless sword that could not attack.

And yet...

...Its edge is as sharp as mine, so how can it be unable to attack?

A greatsword? No, not a greatsword. Then is it a phantom blade?

The North King asked,

“Is that sword truly the Four Tiger Sword you spoke of before?”

“...No.”

The North King was startled.

“No? But didn’t you say you came here to make the Four Tiger Sword?”

“...After listening to the three of you, and while telling you my story, I realized something.”

Just moments ago, he had handled the North King Stone magnificently.

“What was it?”

“The Four Tiger Sword was, in the end, a sword that led the past. It was a ritual sword that could not truly cut an enemy.”

“I thought I only had to make it the same way, but I realized that was naive. In the end, that would only mean following the past. And while this world of Ares does acknowledge it when someone accomplishes something great, I judged that a bladeless Four Tiger Sword would still have a clear limit.”

“Then...?”

“Learn the old, know the new. It means knowing both what came before and what is new. The sword that led an era has faded, but I will not forget the nobility and the process that resided in that sword.”

The Hyunsoo of now—

intended to carry the lingering intent of the old Four Tiger Sword together with him, and make something new.

“And so, I intend to create something where the old and the new coexist. I’ve even decided on its name.”

He looked at the three kings.

It was from seeing these three tiger kings that he had found his inspiration.

“White. Tiger. White Tiger Sword.”

The old and the new would coexist.

The Four Tiger Sword made by the blacksmith of the present age was the White Tiger Sword.

Meanwhile—

“...White Tiger Sword. Excellent.”

Sejin let out a note of admiration.

The reason he liked the user Hyunsoo was simple: on a path that had not been fixed, he kept finding realizations and discovering direction.

Sejin knew what would have happened if it had been forged as the Four Tiger Sword.

...There was a high chance Transcendence would not have been created.

What kind of rule did the game Ares have?

It was hard to remake an excellent sword that had already been made once before.

If that sword had been something like Normal or Rare from the start, that would be one thing.

But the Four Tiger Sword had already once been forged as legendary.

Of course, with the effect of God’s Crafting Method, it would be possible to create it.

But could that truly serve as a counter to Gremory?

In Sejin’s eyes, the odds were higher that it could not. Then did that mean what Takashi had said in the past about a “fake” was wrong?

That was not wrong either.

At the time, if Hyunsoo had made the Four Tiger Sword by hand instead of using Emergency Crafting, it would indeed have been far more excellent.

The regrettable thing was that the Four Tiger Sword was a glass already filled to 60%.

A glass with not a single drop of water in it, and a glass already 60% full.

The capacity for how much more water it could hold was fixed.

And yet the path had shifted here—to the White Tiger Sword.

“......”

Taking the meaning of the Four Tiger Sword and Tiger Year and Tiger Month.

Receiving the power of the tiger.

All of that was the same, but the most important thing was different.

-“It is a crafting method completely different from that of the Four Tiger Sword.”

That was the voice of the supercomputer Ares.

Now, the White Tiger Sword that was being forged—

would proceed only according to the meaning of learning the old, knowing the new, and would be shaped solely within Hyunsoo’s own skill.

But—

What a pity.

Sejin had thought the East King and the West King would each give their own East King Stone and West King Stone to Hyunsoo, and that at last the White Tiger Stone would be born.

If that happened, he thought, then at least that Four Tiger Sword would be able to approach Transcendence.

-The West King and the East King will give the West King Stone and East King Stone to user Hyunsoo.

Yes, they would.

Later.

-The West King had not been fully restored until recently, and the West King Stone, which grows by feeding on his power, had not been able to become complete.

That was the regret of a single viewer.

Of course.

He did not have even the tiniest ant’s-eye-speck of intention to help him.

At that moment, Team Lead Kim from the Special User Management Team came in.

Sejin explained the entire situation.

“The White Tiger Sword?”

Team Lead Kim had been handling other work.

And Sejin made a bitter expression.

“Right. I heard not long ago that you planted a flag. That flag was that you wanted user Hyunsoo to gain minerals from the three kings, and for that to be forged into the birth of the true White Tiger Stone, wasn’t it?”

“...Pardon?”

But Team Lead Kim tilted their head.

“Because the West King’s condition isn’t perfect, user Hyunsoo won’t obtain those things until later.”

“...?”

Sejin was taken aback.

“Wasn’t it your hope that user Hyunsoo would obtain the White Tiger Stone?”

At that, Team Lead Kim shook their head.

And when Sejin heard what Team Lead Kim had actually wanted, he was impressed.

...Not the White Tiger Stone, but that?

In Lee Sejin’s personal judgment, that material—

was every bit as excellent as the White Tiger Stone.

And another interesting fact was that Hyunsoo himself had been the one to create that material.

*****

White.

Tiger.

White Tiger Sword.

The moment they heard those words, the three kings felt their hearts resonate.

That artifact, which would be made in their likeness—

they were looking forward to it tremendously.

And they were happy too.

Was it because he was telling his own story because of us, and arrived at a new realization?

That realization.

But the three kings exchanged glances and smiled slightly.

In truth, they had all already heard something from the North King.

“Originally, you proposed to me a sword that could hold our blessings. But you used something precious, Black Tortoise’s Shell, to save the West King. I am grateful for that, but it is unfortunate. In truth, each of us has a mineral of our own.”

“One each?”

Hyunsoo was shocked.

The North King Stone alone was already incredible.

But the existence of an East King Stone and a West King Stone as well shocked him.

Yet the greater shock was this—

“When those three minerals meet, one normally obtains the White Tiger Stone.”

Ding!

[Congratulations.]

[You learn of the divine mineral, White Tiger Stone.]

[The divine mineral White Tiger Stone only exerts its power when the minerals of the three kings are joined.]

[However, the West King’s power is not yet whole.]

[You will be able to obtain the White Tiger Stone in 6 months.]

“...?”

Hyunsoo was happy, but sad.

The White Tiger Stone.

It was obvious that after giving up his shell, this would be the mineral for a new, strongest sword.

But for now, he could not obtain it.

Is it because of balance?

Of course, that was part of it.

But—

“The West King has not been whole for a long time, so the West King Stone is not whole either. That is why I cannot give it to you.”

That made perfect sense.

But what disappointed him was this—

...Could there be anything better than the White Tiger Stone as the material for the White Tiger Sword?

And then—

...Even if I got the White Tiger Stone right now, would I be able to use it?

That was where time came in.

Gremory had already descended.

If Hyunsoo wiped everything out and obtained the White Tiger Stone, then from the very beginning he would have to make the White Tiger Sword all over again from scratch.

And also—

Divine minerals are difficult.

It was not a material one could handle simply because one was a handcraft blacksmith.

He had no idea what restrictions or dangers might come with it.

Yes, it was disappointing, but to be honest, there was a high chance Hyunsoo was not yet in a condition to use the White Tiger Stone properly.

But then...

Why are they smiling?

Hyunsoo felt a little hurt. He did not feel good, yet they were smiling.

“Make it.”

“Pardon?”

“I mean put into the White Tiger Sword the power that can contain the greatest blessing, just as we first promised.”

“...?”

Hyunsoo looked puzzled.

The North King, smiling awkwardly, said,

“...We’ve only returned to the beginning of the story. We will place our blessing into that sword.”

Soon—

[The North King promises to bestow upon the White Tiger Sword the blessing of Leading Tiger, which he can invoke only once in his lifetime.]

[The East King promises to bestow upon the White Tiger Sword the blessing of Valiant Tiger, which he can invoke only once in his lifetime.]

[The West King promises to bestow upon the White Tiger Sword the blessing of Mighty Tiger, which he can invoke only once in his lifetime.]

To Hyunsoo, who could only stare in shock, they said,

“We listened well to our friend’s story.”

“Our friend has to fight the great archdemon Gremory?”

“We know your steps will be heavy. They’ll remain heavy in the future too. It will be hard. There will be times when you want to collapse.”

And then the North King picked up the hammer Hyunsoo had dropped in surprise and placed it back into his hand.

“When that day comes, we will walk with you.”

[The three kings will protect you!]

In a distant land.

The friendship between the three tigers and the blacksmith, and—

[The three kings will become your steadfast allies.]

The story of these new friends was beginning like this.

All of it was something created by the man named Hyunsoo.