A little while earlier, Golemmy, who had been given a new life by Lucky Lump, heard something.

“Mang...!”

That there were two older brothers and one older sister.

“Mang!”

You’re the youngest now!

Golemmy was puzzled.

Those creatures Golemmy had never seen before were supposed to be Golemmy’s older brothers and older sister?

Golemmy could not accept that.

And Golemmy was, by nature, much more timid and skittish than expected.

I am... Golemmy...

That was exactly why Golemmy thought Golemmy could not afford to be looked down on from the very beginning.

On top of that, Golemmy knew Golemmy’s potential had been unlocked by Lucky Lump and that Golemmy had gained new power.

Wasn’t power what determined authority in the first place?

I am Golemmy...!

Right.

Now Golemmy was a being stronger than anyone else.

So Golemmy would become second in command and establish order!

Golemmy puffed out Golemmy’s shoulders.

Like a gym veteran eight years deep spreading wide lat muscles, Golemmy flared out grandly.

And then Golemmy met them for the first time.

[The Heroes’ Resting Place.]

When Golemmy arrived at the Pet Storage, they were there.

Lucky Lump was sprawled belly-up on a personal cushion, its pink little stomach fully exposed.

And the moment Golemmy saw the elegant, beautiful black cat perched up in the tree, Golemmy’s shoulders drooped a little.

G-Golemmy...?

In the end, Golemmy was still a monster.

And higher monsters possessed something instinctive.

It was a sense that users and ordinary humans could never have.

“Meow.”

So you’re Golemmy?

At the gaze of the one looking down from the tree, Golemmy shrank back on reflex.

It was a being that possessed the power of the moon, something utterly outside common sense.

And then—

WHOOOOSH—!

A blazing hawk flew in from somewhere.

“Kkooo—”

A legendary bird that had lived for hundreds of years floated in the sky, looking down at Golemmy.

“G-Golemmy...”

Golemmy met the eyes of that noble being and panicked.

“Kkoko.”

It asked:

Are you the youngest?

But a moment later...

“Kkoko.”

“...Golemmy?”

It asked again if Golemmy was the youngest.

“???”

And then again, a moment later—

“Kkoko.”

“???”

The Myriad Mile Bird just kept losing its memory!

Anyway, Golemmy realized that the world was a vast place.

But just when Golemmy tried to harden Golemmy’s gaze, thinking Golemmy could not retreat like this—

RUMBLE—!

“...!!”

Golemmy startled at the enormous pressure.

Not far away.

The true power behind the throne had appeared.

A certain being was striding forward in full dignity, wearing a flower necklace around its neck and carrying countless snack bags in one wing!

The arrogant smile hanging at the corner of its mouth, as it walked from the distance, seemed to play out in slow motion.

Like a king making an entrance, it walked over with complete confidence, passed right by Golemmy, then leaned against one side of the fence and looked at Golemmy.

Then that being, KyooKyoo, gave a cool little smile.

“Kkyu—.”

KyooKyoo lifted one wing and welcomed the new younger sibling.

Golemmy’s body shrank in on its own.

At the sight of Golemmy standing there with both hands politely clasped together, KyooKyoo remained as cool as ever.

“Kkyu.”

You look well-behaved.

“......”

Golemmy felt smaller and smaller.

Then KyooKyoo shook its head.

“Kkyuu.”

I’m not actually that mean.

And with that, KyooKyoo spread both wings behind itself, wrapping around the fence.

Then KyooKyoo said,

“Kkyuu?”

Can’t you make yourself smaller?

KyooKyoo felt genuine pity looking at Golemmy, who really was far too huge.

Golemmy was puzzled.

Big and heavy things could project plenty of intimidation.

On top of that, being solid made you look cooler, didn’t it?

“Golemmy?”

That was exactly what Golemmy said.

KyooKyoo shook its head.

“Kkyu.”

You know one thing but not the other.

And then KyooKyoo’s explanation of why Golemmy absolutely had to become smaller was incredible.

“Kkyu.”

If you get smaller—

“Kkyu.”

You’re cute, so they give you lots of snacks.

“!!!!!??!?”

It was an earth-shattering revelation.

*****

After returning to Atlas, Hyunsoo immediately looked for Takashi first, but could not find him.

“He went out for soup and rice.”

“...?”

Hyunsoo turned away and headed somewhere else.

Straight to where Golemmy was.

[Golemmy’s entire potential has been unlocked by some kind of power.]

And when Hyunsoo met Golemmy, he was startled.

“Why did you get so small?”

Compared to when he had first met Golemmy, the little monster had become much cuter.

Like a tiny pebble creature, almost.

And seeing it standing there in that size with an I am Golemmy kind of posture was incredibly adorable, while also telling him that Golemmy possessed the ability to shrink.

Then Golemmy lowered Golemmy’s head deeply.

[Golemmy grows dejected.]

“Why?”

[Golemmy realizes its own weakness.]

That was because the other four pets were all so bizarrely unusual.

And Golemmy really had fallen into a serious panic.

I am... Golemmy...

Golemmy thought Golemmy was far too useless compared to them.

With a bitter smile, Hyunsoo checked Golemmy’s information—then his eyes widened.

T-This...

It was because of a certain skill.

[One Who Protects No Matter What]

I’ve never seen a skill like this before.

This skill was a special power that activated when Golemmy felt fear.

And Hyunsoo could tell that when this power activated, it would overwhelmingly surpass the power of the other four monsters.

But Hyunsoo deliberately chose not to tell Golemmy that.

Sometimes, not knowing was better than knowing.

Hyunsoo started walking again.

Who should I ask?

Right now, he wanted to test out the Sword for the One Who Follows the King immediately.

Just then, an old friend he had not seen in a while approached him and greeted him.

“Long time no see.”

It was Kabel.

“Weren’t you in the middle of getting power-leveled?”

“I was. There’s still one day left in Karsel’s power-leveling period, but I came back to the territory for now.”

“For now, huh. Remember this, Hyunsoo—we don’t have the luxury for that.”

With a bitter expression, Kabel jabbed at Hyunsoo.

“Even I just got back after hunting in a hunting ground for a full week. And you’re throwing away a whole day of that kind of opportunity. Remember this, Hyunsoo. You’re carrying a great deal on your shoulders.”

Hyunsoo could not really argue with that.

Just like Kabel said, Kabel himself had spent no less than an entire week hunting.

And yet Hyunsoo was wearing a faint smile.

Thanks, Kabel.

When Kabel had first revealed his identity and fully come here, he had only seemed interested in protecting Lucky Lump.

But just now, Kabel had said, we don’t have the luxury for that.

Which meant that now Kabel wanted to protect this entire territory.

“Did you gain a lot of levels?”

Just as Hyunsoo had turned his ranking private again—

Kabel’s had been private from the very start.

“I gained quite a lot. At this rate, it feels like I’ll be able to get my second advancement before long.”

Second advancement.

That meant level 500.

The fact that Kabel was already near that point genuinely surprised Hyunsoo.

Then Hyunsoo explained why he had come back here.

He wants to check how much damage he deals to a user?

That gave even Kabel something to wonder about.

Come to think of it, what mattered most for a user was what they could do in an ordinary state.

Kabel only remembered Hyunsoo’s ordinary state from before Hyunsoo had entered the Tower of Honor.

“I can see why that would be important.”

It also stirred a simple curiosity inside Kabel.

Kabel could define it clearly.

Hyunsoo, before climbing the Tower of Honor—

Kabel could have defeated him overwhelmingly.

“I’ll help you with that test.”

“You?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re an assassin.”

Compared to a warrior, an assassin had only half the total HP.

And with lower defense on top of that, it was more accurate to think of them as having only about one-third the effective HP.

Kabel looked dumbfounded.

“I’m offended that you’d think of me as an ordinary assassin. I alone have three titles that raise my defense. And not long ago, I completed the Asura’s Black Robe Set, which dramatically increased my defense, and also raised my total HP by 20%.”

The Asura’s Black Robe Set.

It was class gear for Asura.

With the outstanding information network of an Asura, Kabel had gathered all the materials in just one month for something others would need half a year to obtain.

Each part was a Legendary artifact, and fundamentally they were made of cloth.

But astonishingly, compared to the fact that it was cloth, the defense it offered was absurd.

“Of course, it’s true that compared to warrior users of the same level, my defense and total HP will still be lower. But this black robe set also has an effect that cuts damage in half if the damage taken is below a certain threshold.”

“...If it’s below a certain threshold, it cuts the damage in half?”

Hyunsoo could not hide his shock.

Because he was feeling more clearly than ever that just as his own crafting ability exceeded common sense, Kabel’s artifact acquisition through sheer information-gathering ability was also far beyond common sense.

“Exactly three times. I’ll let you hit me three times. Basic attacks only, of course. That should be the most important benchmark to check. Passives included, of course.”

“With passives included... I kind of hope Longing goes off.”

“...Well, I suppose that’d be fine too.”

Kabel too did not feel some huge oppressive weight from the modifier Longing itself.

Because he also judged that the number of modifiers formed out of words might as well be limitless.

Hyunsoo gave a grateful smile.

“Then I’ll hit you exactly three times.”

Hyunsoo pulled back the Sword for the One Who Follows the King with all his strength.

Then he swung down in one huge slash with everything he had.

KABOOOOOM—!

FLAP—!

At that, the black robe Kabel was wearing whipped in the wind, and a wound was carved across it.

“Hm.”

But Kabel maintained his poker face.

And on top of that—

[This target is wearing Asura’s Black Robe.]

[While Asura’s Black Robe is active, damage cannot be checked.]

Damage values between users were a sensitive matter.

Perhaps because of that, Asura’s Black Robe concealed that information.

Even so, when Kabel kept his poker face, Hyunsoo ground his teeth.

One more time.

KABOOOOOOM—!

[Critical Hit!!]

This time, Hyunsoo thought Kabel would definitely react.

But Kabel still kept a poker face.

“Can’t you turn off the Asura’s Black Robe? I can’t check the damage.”

“...Wouldn’t it be fine if I just tell you myself? It’s still one of my vulnerable points.”

That was true.

Even among allies, you could not just expose each other’s weak points.

And then came the final moment.

SLAAAAASH—!

[Longing activates!]

[??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!]

A tremendous power began swirling inside Kabel’s body, then violently churned as if it were about to tear his stomach to shreds.

KABOOOOOM—!

At the earth-shaking impact, Hyunsoo flinched in alarm.

“K-Kabel!?”

But Kabel had only stepped back two steps.

That left Hyunsoo flustered.

Could Longing just be a skill with flashy effects and nothing else?

No, that did not seem right.

Even so, the fact that Kabel had been pushed back two steps seemed to mean that it had dealt him a pretty serious shock.

Once the test ended, Kabel calmly said,

“Try testing it through a tanker too, or through other guild members. Just not on NPCs. The pain they feel is real.”

Just then—

RIIIING—

One of Kabel’s notifications went off.

“It’s Lucky Lump’s walk time.”

Kabel observed Lucky Lump’s walking time without fail.

Even if he skipped his own meals.

As Kabel passed him, he patted Hyunsoo on the shoulder. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

“There’s only one thing I can tell you. Unless users have reached second advancement, you won’t have any real rivals. I’ll be going now.”

And with that, Kabel disappeared.

Hyunsoo made a puzzled face.

To be honest, even before climbing the Tower of Honor, he had not really had rivals aside from a select few.

...So I was right after all?

Hyunsoo gave a bitter smile.

He was not the only one growing.

Even now, everyone else was growing too.

Thinking he needed to stay humble, Hyunsoo moved off to find Bark, the tanker.

*****

As Kabel walked away, he thought to himself,

The power of the Sword for the One Who Follows the King exceeded my expectations. Takashi’s power really is incredible... or no, is it the synergy between Hyunsoo’s growth and the sword?

Kabel was Hyunsoo’s good-faith rival.

And he was also a man with a strong pride, and he had judged ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ that Hyunsoo might become arrogant if left unchecked.

That was why.

After reaching a place where Hyunsoo was no longer around—

Thud.

Kabel collapsed.

Dropping to both knees, Kabel could not believe it.

H-How...?

Just three hits.

And the amount of damage he had taken from those attacks had gone beyond common sense.

He had suffered such an enormous shock that it had been difficult even to keep up his poker face.

Soon, he was on the verge of the status ailment stun.

Before he blacked out, Kabel used extreme mental force to check his remaining HP, then let out a hollow laugh.

That line about users before second advancement being unable to beat you...

Thud.

That includes me too.

[HP falls below 20%.]

Kabel lost consciousness.