Special User Management Team.

Intern Park Mingyu was staring at the monitor with a startled look.

While observing Hyunsoo, Park Mingyu had become captivated by one particular being.

It was KyooKyoo.

KyooKyoo really was a good pet.

Unlike Lucky Lump, the eldest who embraced everyone, KyooKyoo, as the second, was the one that created and enforced order among the pets.

At times, KyooKyoo could look a little cheeky, but that was not what it was really like.

At least Intern Park knew why KyooKyoo got greedy for snacks.

Whether it was Hyunsoo or the people of Atlas, KyooKyoo was afraid they might feel sorry for it, so it made a show of being delighted and satisfied with something as small as snacks.

And when night came, KyooKyoo would wake up once every four hours.

As the second, it stood watch on its own, checking whether anyone was hurt and whether anyone might be targeting them.

That was why Intern Park Mingyu had truly come to like the pet called KyooKyoo.

But then.

[Pet KyooKyoo is being tainted by Absolute Evil.]

“What does that mean...?”

Intern Park could not understand.

Associate Lee Jihee wore a bitter expression.

“From the very beginning, KyooKyoo was formed from Dragon Balladra, the Dragon of Ruin. Balladra was turned into a Bone Dragon in the past by Saint King Harun, and the one who killed that Bone Dragon was Hyunsoo. The moment the Bone Dragon vanished, KyooKyoo appeared in the form of a Bone Dragon. And from birth, KyooKyoo was Absolute Evil.”

“From birth...? But it has never shown anything like that until now, has it?”

“That’s the KyooKyoo you saw, Intern Park. Not the KyooKyoo we saw. KyooKyoo’s original fate was to become Absolute Evil, and with time, become the being that would instead have to destroy Atlas. But one being intervened and changed that.”

“...?”

“Lucky Lump. Lucky Lump purified the energy of Absolute Evil. And that’s where the problem started. Before fighting Atlas, Balladra hid several things inside Dragon’s Mine, and one of them is the Dragon Guardian. The energy of Absolute Evil flowing out from that Dragon Guardian is trying to turn KyooKyoo back into that again.”

At that, Intern Park asked the most important question.

“Then what happens if KyooKyoo becomes Absolute Evil?”

“...Absolute Evil cannot coexist with humans. Instead, once KyooKyoo becomes Absolute Evil, it’ll gradually begin awakening Balladra’s memories. And then...”

“...”

“User Hyunsoo will have to kill KyooKyoo with his own hands.”

*****

[Longing activates!]

[2% activation!]

[You attack the enemy with 1,100% damage!]

[Critical Hit!!]

From the Sword for the One Who Follows the King in Hyunsoo’s grasp, the letters spelling Longing blazed with light.

With attack power in the one-thousands, higher than the Twin Dragon Sword, and with the force to deal 1,100% damage, it smashed into the bastard’s head.

THUUUUD—!

At that moment.

[You dealt 51,311 damage.]

Hyunsoo could not believe it.

Most beings could not avoid a critical hit once Longing’s 1,100% attack went off.

The clearest example of that was Kabel.

Kabel had told him later that after taking that strike, they had briefly blacked out.

In other words, Longing was supposed to deal at least several hundred thousand damage.

Yet Hyunsoo hoped again.

[It applies one more time!]

But.

[You dealt 25,391 damage.]

The damage he dealt dropped off even more viciously.

That second attack had not landed as a critical.

[Dragon Guardian HP falls below 97%.]

[Dragon Barrier protects the Dragon Guardian.]

[The Dragon Guardian, wrapped in Dragon Barrier, only takes 1/3 of all damage.]

“What kind of absurdly broken power is this...?”

But Hyunsoo thought about where he had come.

He had assumed it was just a mine that “contained the power of dragons.”

But it wasn’t.

Dragon Balladra, the Dragon of Ruin.

In other words, the being KyooKyoo had originally been was savage and powerful even among dragons.

A creature like that had stationed a Dragon Guardian here.

There was no way that Dragon Guardian could be an easy opponent.

What the hell did they hide here to station something this strong as its guardian?

At that moment.

A beat late, after the notification about a new story had appeared, a quest triggered.

[Sudden Quest: Dragon’s Heart]

Grade: SS

Restriction: One who has entered Dragon’s Mine

Reward: Dragon’s Heart

Penalty on Failure: Eternal failure

Description: Dragon Balladra. They were a cunning dragon. Before heading to Atlas, in preparation for the worst, they arranged things so that after their death, they could survive at least in the state of a Bone Dragon. Moreover, a Bone Dragon is ultimately no more than an inferior version of a dragon. Because of that, they used their own power to leave behind a mineral-form Dragon’s Heart.

The Dragon’s Heart possesses the power to let Balladra, even in the state of a Bone Dragon, regain their original form if they obtain it.

What is this even talking about?

Hyunsoo needed the long explanation compressed, and the system was kind enough to oblige.

[The Bone Dragon planned to use the Dragon’s Heart in Dragon’s Mine to regain its original power.]

[But your interference disrupted that plan.]

[You learn about the effect of the Dragon’s Heart!]

DING!

[The Dragon’s Heart possesses the power to evolve any being by one stage!]

“...!?!??!??!”

Hyunsoo looked around in shock.

That meant—

Golemmy, Pretty, the Myriad Mile Bird... and even KyooKyoo can evolve?

Of course, in Ares, things that could evolve “pets” or “monsters” did exist.

But those too were divided into grades.

Low-Grade Evolution Stone.

Mid-Grade Evolution Stone.

High-Grade Evolution Stone.

Highest-Grade Evolution Stone.

Evolution stones divided like that.

And even the most expensive of them all, the Highest-Grade Evolution Stone, had a limitation.

It could only evolve Epic-grade monsters.

In other words, at best, it could only evolve monsters in the Epic-to-Unique range.

For Legendary monsters, no method to evolve them had been unlocked yet.

And also—

There’s no way to know how far that evolution would go either.

If a Legendary evolved, would it immediately become Transcendent?

He did not know that either.

But at least two things were certain.

This too would be affected by potential.

And if that potential were applied to two beings like Lucky Lump and KyooKyoo, who practically possessed limitless potential, it could produce growth beyond common sense.

The problem was—

KRAAAANG—!

That was only if he defeated the Dragon Guardian first.

Hyunsoo’s body lurched violently after taking a direct hit from the greatsword.

[HP falls below 77%.]

The instant he took the direct hit, Hyunsoo even heard this notification.

[Overlord activates.]

[The target’s resistance to magic attacks exceeds common sense.]

[The target resists Overlord.]

Even Overlord, the passive skill that returned an attack with triple damage, did not stick to every enemy.

Since it too was ultimately a passive skill, anything with sufficiently high magic resistance could resist it.

BANG, BANGBANGBANG, BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG—!

But Hyunsoo was not simply taking the beating.

Driven by the Sword for the One Who Follows the King, which he swung nearly five times per second—

[Critical Hit!]

[Critical Hit!]

[Longing activates!]

[Longing activates!]

BOOOOM, BOOOOOOM—!

He kept piling on damage, first aiming to destroy the Dragon Barrier.

[Dragon Barrier durability falls below 75%.]

But its durability dropped slowly, while Hyunsoo’s HP dropped quickly instead.

Still, the continued decrease made the Dragon Guardian sense danger.

At that moment.

[Dragon Aura activates.]

[For one attack, the Guardian’s greatsword attack power increases by 850%.]

The instant the sword, shimmering with white light, swung down, the mere wind pressure of it shoved Hyunsoo and the pets backward.

And Hyunsoo’s face plainly showed his alarm at the fact that this monstrous being could even use a skill.

And then.

[High Speed]

KABOOOOOM—!

Contrary to its heavy body, the thing arrived right before him in an instant, and Hyunsoo had the illusion that the Dragon Guardian was sneering.

Its eyes seemed to say, How dare someone like you keep Balladra at your side?

And as he watched it close in, Hyunsoo’s face twisted in dismay.

Because he was certain of one thing.

He could not dodge this attack.

Meanwhile.

[Absolute Evil flows.]

[If you become Absolute Evil, all existing memories will be lost.]

SHIVER—

KyooKyoo, its eyes darkening as it was being protected by the other pets, hated this.

To lose all its memories meant that its current self would disappear.

And KyooKyoo knew.

That barrier would be hard for Hyunsoo to break with his strength.

And if Hyunsoo lost, it too would vanish from this land.

What was more, Hyunsoo’s expression plainly showed that he was flustered.

But then.

GRIN—

Hyunsoo smiled.

“I am Golemmy...”

Golemmy started running toward Hyunsoo.

When he had first obtained Golemmy, Hyunsoo had seen the power Golemmy possessed: One Who Protects No Matter What.

And he had also seen that this little guy possessed power beyond his expectations.

But something unexpected happened.

The Guardian’s swing was overwhelmingly faster than the charging Golemmy.

Hyunsoo made a split-second decision.

“Kkoko!”

“KIEE!”

FWOOOOSH!

Kkoko shot off at the speed of light, and Kkoko and Golemmy vanished, only to appear right in front of Hyunsoo.

Hyunsoo quickly snatched up the suddenly appearing Golemmy.

“I am, Golemmy...”

And in Hyunsoo’s hand, Golemmy.

The timid, skittish Golemmy turned its head and looked at KyooKyoo.

Then Golemmy, gathering its courage, glared at the Guardian with all its might.

The descending greatsword came crashing straight down.

Seeing it, Golemmy tried to activate its trait instead of dodging.

But soon Golemmy lost its nerve again.

[Golemmy is afraid.]

Because of fearful Golemmy, the activation of that power was on the verge of failing.

Golemmy was sad, felt self-reproach, and had begun to hate itself for being like this.

But there was something Golemmy did not know.

Whether it was a coward or not.

Its master, Hyunsoo, had the authority to force-activate what timid Golemmy could not activate on its own.

“One Who Protects No Matter What.”

[The Golem King’s trait activates.]

Light poured into Golemmy’s body, no bigger than a chicken, and it took the 850% attack of that “masterpiece forged by dragons.”

KRAAAAAAAAAASH—!

The Guardian, which had brought its greatsword down, first mocked the golem as though it would be split in two by that blade, then froze in shock.

[You take 1 damage.]

“...?”

Because there was not so much as a scratch on Golemmy’s body.

And the power of One Who Protects No Matter What was not over yet.

[It absorbs the damage inflicted by the opponent.]

Golemmy, which had been in the form of a mini-golem, rapidly changed into its original golem form at that moment.

KOOOOOOH—!

“...!”

When the startled Dragon Guardian staggered back a few steps,

the true power of One Who Protects No Matter What came into being.

[It returns twice the damage it absorbed.]

Golemmy’s charging fist landed one clean hit on the Dragon Guardian’s body.

KABOOOOOOOM—!

[You deal 841,311 damage!]

[The Dragon Barrier shatters!]

Now forced to take 100% of all damage, the Dragon Guardian was blown backward and slammed into the wall.

And then, Golemmy, having found its courage, and Hyunsoo charged at the same time.

“Golemmy!”

“I am, Golemmy!”

The Dragon Guardian, thrown back, hurriedly tried to swing its sword with all its /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ strength at Hyunsoo and Golemmy in confusion.

At that moment.

“You there, kneel before me.”

The Dragon Guardian was shocked.

Because it had gripped its greatsword tightly with both hands and pierced its own stomach!

SHHHHUK—!

[Dragon Guardian HP falls below 64%.]

Using that to seize the advantage, Hyunsoo swapped to the Twin Dragon Sword like a flash.

“Gathering.”

SHRRAAAK—

He dragged the Dragon Guardian in with all his strength, loaded power through his whole body, drew the sword behind his back, and struck with a single slash.

“Cut them in tw—”

At that moment.

Light burst from the Dragon Guardian’s eyes.

[Guardian Bombardment]

[For 10 seconds, all of its power is restricted.]

[Instead, it bombards the enemy with all of that power.]

Sections all across the Dragon Guardian’s body clicked open, and dozens of forces fired at Hyunsoo all at once.

KABOOOOOOOM—!

[HP falls below 43%.]

[HP falls below 26%.]

[HP falls below 11%.]

[Your HP has reached 0.]

[You have been forcibly logged out.]

As his body slowly began to scatter away, Hyunsoo’s eyes turned sorrowful as he looked at KyooKyoo.

No...

But then, he could feel it.

His body was not disappearing. It was standing firm right there, and one of the things he had forged until now was rising.

[Hero does not retreat.]