Pureum Co., Ltd. Headquarters.

Five interns walked along with the Story Team Lead.

“Everyone signed the non-disclosure agreement for confidential information, right?”

“Yes.”

“And what did I say would happen if confidential information was leaked?”

“The moment we leak confidential information, we’ll be fired from Pureum Co., Ltd., receive multiple lawsuits from Pureum’s legal team of over a hundred and fifty people, and because of the fact that we leaked it, it’ll become difficult for us to get hired anywhere else!”

“Perfect.”

Pureum Co., Ltd.’s protection of private information was flawless.

Among this round of interns, the ace, Park Mingyu, could not help but be impressed.

Intern Park was also a user himself, which made it even more impressive.

As the Story Team Lead kept walking, he asked,

“Got anything you’re curious about?”

Most of the interns only looked at each other, but Intern Park opened his mouth.

“What do you personally think proves Pureum Co., Ltd.’s claim that Ares has a high degree of freedom?”

The other interns looked at Intern Park as if they could not understand him.

But the Story Team Lead was different.

People with a lot of questions learned information faster, and they learned faster in general.

“The monsters.”

“The monsters?”

The interns leaned in.

“Take a goblin dungeon, for example. When you go into a goblin dungeon, there are, what, around thirty goblins in there? Do all of them show the same movement patterns and the same levels like in an RPG game?”

Intern Park shook his head.

“Not at all.”

“Right. Even inside a single goblin dungeon, all the goblins have different levels. Some are better at horizontal slashes, just like humans. Some are better at thrusts. Some are one or two levels higher for no reason. That’s because of the freedom.”

“What’s even more interesting is that even among those ordinary mobs filling the goblin group, there can be special existences. What kind of existences do you think those are?”

Intern Park answered quickly.

“Just as with humans, even among the same goblin type, there are ones born with higher intelligence, higher attack power, or greater talent. Those factors are all condensed into one thing: monsters also possess potential.”

“Correct. Even if they’re not boss monsters, special individuals can exist among ordinary mobs. And they can evolve too.”

“Ooooh.......”

“That’s incredible.”

“Wow.......”

The interns were impressed.

“Shall we head there now?”

Their expressions soon stiffened.

Because within Pureum Co., Ltd., there was a department that existed like a legend.

They say there are evil spirits at headquarters that haven’t gone home in thirty days.

They say those evil spirits roam all over the place with dark circles hanging under their eyes all the time.

The amazing part is that they treat overtime like eating meals, and actually seem to enjoy it.

And Intern Park had assumed the rumors were exaggerated.

Then the door opened, and the evil spirits of Pureum Co., Ltd. revealed themselves.

“Hello, everyone~”

The Special User Management Team.

Team Lead Kim and Associate Lee Jihee welcomed them.

“Come monitor with us, interns. Hoho, I really hope at least one of you applies to our team!”

Associate Lee Jihee laughed, long dark circles hanging under her eyes.

Why would we!?

The number-one department interns absolutely refused to apply to!

That was the Special User Management Team!

Soon, they began watching the monitors together behind Associate Lee Jihee.

As Lee Jihee scanned dozens of monitors, she soon brought up one video.

On it was the one person everyone admired.

It was Hyun.

“Wow!”

“Master Blacksmith Hyun!”

In the country called Korea, Hyun was a hero among heroes.

Soon, they focused on the video.

T-The Pope!?

Intern Park recognized Pope Karsel first.

What followed was Hyunsoo handling a golem like it was an infant, and then everything that came after.

“All right, what’s strange here?”

The ordinary interns failed to notice the oddity.

But Intern Park, who had listened carefully to the Story Team Lead’s words, was different.

“......Ordinarily, golems are beings without intelligence. But that golem is a special species with intelligence. This is only possible because only User Hyun possesses the title A Lord’s Grace, and among monsters, it would only work on these kinds of special species. Because they have intelligence.”

“That’s right. As expected of the ace.”

Lee Jihee sounded impressed.

Then she showed them the tamed being called Golemmy.

“If ordinary lava golems are just high-level, this one is a monster approaching named status. If it grows later, it could become a boss monster.”

Sure enough, once they looked at the status windows of an ordinary lava golem and Golemmy, the difference was obvious.

“So User Hyunsoo obtained Golemmy, who could become a boss golem?”

“That’s amazing.”

But then they witnessed something shocking.

[Golemmy begins to die.]

“It’s the law of nature. Golemmy has to live in a place where lava boils. It can’t survive in an ordinary territory. Golemmy is going to die. Because there’s no lava.”

“......” 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

“......”

“......”

The interns felt sorry for that law of nature, which was just like real life.

And on the screen, Golemmy could be seen starting to die, steam hissing off its body.

Intern Park said,

“......Hyun is irresponsible. If he was going to do this, he should have just killed it in one blow.”

It was the moment they began to feel disappointed in the person called Hyun.

The other interns agreed, but Lee Jihee shook her head.

“No. Hyun isn’t irresponsible. He’s the most responsible user I’ve ever seen, and because of that, he led the Continental War to victory and forged the first White Tiger Sword.”

Intern Park could not understand it.

Could she not see that pitiful golem dying right in front of them?

Of course it was just an NPC, just a monster, but it was still hard to watch it suffering and dying on the other side of the screen.

Then Team Lead Kim, who had been silent until now, finally stood up.

“Everyone, Ares has a high degree of freedom and is like reality. That’s why sometimes we imagine things like this in real life.”

Team Lead Kim looked around at the interns.

“The kind of thing where you carry an old lady’s luggage for her, and it turns out that old lady was a billionaire.”

The interns looked puzzled, and Team Lead Kim pointed at the monitor.

“Golemmy has high potential, but because it still carries the limitations of an ordinary monster, it cannot, in scenario terms, ultimately become a boss-level monster. But Golemmy has high intelligence, so in its desire to live, it begged to be saved. Because of that, several layers of freedom tangled together and produced this phenomenon. And that thing I mentioned earlier—the old lady’s luggage, and the old lady being rich. What do we call that?”

Heaven’s Fortune?

A lucky day?

There were all kinds of answers, but Team Lead Kim said this:

“A fortuitous encounter.”

It meant a bond formed through a certain opportunity, the kind of thing everyone wished for.

With a face full of anticipation, Team Lead Kim looked at the monitor.

“Soon, a fortuitous encounter is going to happen. If it’s that being I know, it won’t let this pass.”

*****

Golemmy was different from ordinary golems.

Unlike the other golems, which were all but mindless, Golemmy had been born with intelligence.

And it came to realize something.

That it was stronger than ordinary lava golems.

But then it met a human who possessed an absolute kind of power.

Want......to......liiiive.......

Golemmy, who had lived in arrogance, knelt before a being it could not defeat.

Because it wanted to live.

And because of that, an unknown, infinite loyalty suddenly took root toward the human who had accepted it.

That was the power of A Lord’s Grace.

And believing it would now live, Golemmy entered the pet summoning room.

The moment it did, the flames covering its whole body began to fade.

It had not known this either.

That it was a being that could not survive anywhere without lava.

FSSSSSSHHH—

Don’t......want......to......dieeeee.......

Because everything about Golemmy was slow, it rolled across the floor like a person whose whole body had caught fire.

But the burning heat clinging to its body was steadily disappearing.

And like that, Golemmy’s consciousness was fading in agony.

Right then—

“Maang?”

“.......”

It met a fortuitous encounter.

A baby puppy with fluffy fur and snot dripping from its nose.

It walked over to the front of Golemmy, who was on the verge of passing out.

FWOOOSH—

Then that baby puppy pressed its body against Golemmy.

A strange warmth settled over it, but instead, the puppy’s snow-white fur began to burn black.

“Maaang......!”

“Y-you......will......die......too.......”

But the baby puppy did not back away.

It hugged Golemmy even tighter with all the strength it had, and then an unknown bright light began bursting out.

*****

[Hyunsoo: I got a new friend named Golemmy. It’s a guy covered in lava from head to toe. If you’re in the territory, could you figure out a way for it to survive even somewhere without lava?]

Kabel gave a bitter smile.

He had already heard how Hyunsoo had come to obtain this new pet.

Kabel thought this.

If it were me, I would’ve killed it.

But Hyunsoo still had a soft side left in him.

And because Hyunsoo himself had been overwhelmingly stronger from the start, Kabel could almost feel that he must have hesitated for a split second between EXP and pity.

[Kabel: Next time, don’t leave something alive out of pity. You have to lead us, so you need to get colder.]

[Hyunsoo: ......Huh? I only didn’t kill it on purpose because of the experiment.]

“What......?”

Goosebumps ran over Kabel’s body.

He didn’t spare it out of pity? He intentionally chose not to kill it?

Hyunsoo had noticed that Golemmy was different from ordinary golems.

A golem with high intelligence.

And ordinary users, even if monsters begged to be spared, killed them anyway for EXP and gold drops.

But Hyunsoo had deliberately not killed it.

To see what would happen if he made a different choice from ordinary users.

That means Hyunsoo has learned one more thing.......

That if a monster begged for its life and he spared it, some beneficial effect might occur for him.

That effect was taming.

Taming belonged exclusively to summoners.

And yet User Hyunsoo had become able to tame by using the effect of a single skill.

He keeps growing. It’s getting frightening.

It was not just character growth. His understanding of Ares itself was deepening.

And since Hyunsoo had given permission, Kabel headed toward the Pet Storage, because he could call Golemmy out there.

Then—

THOOOOM—

THOOOOOOM—

THOOOOOOM—!

“......?”

The ground shook.

Kabel saw a golem walking toward him from the front.

That’s...... not a lava golem?

It was holding Lucky Lump in its arms, blackened and unconscious.

“......!”

Kabel ran forward, and Golemmy carefully handed Lucky Lump over to him.

Fortunately, Lucky Lump had only fainted for a moment, and Golemmy, looking at the blackened Lucky Lump, dropped to its knees.

THOOOOOOM—!

[Golemmy will protect Lucky Lump even «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» at the cost of its life!]

[The power of an absolute being is infused, and all of Golemmy’s abilities, skill power, and even potential value grow or are altered!]

Ding!

[Golemmy is a Unique-grade monster.]

[Golemmy has evolved into the Legendary monster, Golem King!]

What......?

There had been something Kabel had never been able to understand before.

It was KyooKyoo.

KyooKyoo, which had originally appeared from a Bone Dragon.

While tracing information about it, Kabel had learned one thing.

Originally, KyooKyoo had been a being that should have been stained with Evil and plunged Atlas into danger.

But one day, its Evil alignment had been completely erased, and it had become Lucky Lump’s second child.

Kabel, who had not been able to understand that strange phenomenon, finally understood now.

What in the world are you......?

That all of those phenomena had been brought about by Lucky Lump.

The information on the Four Divine Beasts had already been uncovered, so Kabel knew that Lucky Lump was not one of the Four Divine Beasts.

“Maang.......”

Then Lucky Lump woke up.

And then—

“Heh heh.”

As Kabel looked at Lucky Lump smiling brightly, he understood.

[Lucky Lump says not to worry anymore!]

“Not to worry anymore...... ah......!?”

He remembered what they had been saying in the meeting room just a little while ago.

Soon, the power of the pact that forbids the invasion of Atlas, which we obtained as a reward for victory in the Great Atlas War, will expire.

Territory wars will begin breaking out, and their target will be us.

“.......”

At that time, Lucky Lump, which had seemed to be asleep, had run off somewhere.

Of course, even Lucky Lump probably had not known that Golemmy possessed this much potential.

But one thing had become certain.

Kabel hugged Lucky Lump even tighter.

......Thank you.

Atlas.

It had been growing stronger because of our Lucky Lump.

And Lucky Lump had been protecting it with every ounce of its strength.