“Employee Lee Jihui, which blessing do you think he’ll choose?”
Before Hyunsoo picked one of the four, Team Lead Kim asked the question.
Employee Lee Jihui thought for a moment, then answered.
“If it were me, I think I’d play it safe and receive the blessing through the Great Archdemon Gremory. What about you, team lead?”
“If it were me, warrior.”
“Why?”
“Because the user is Hyunsoo, and he’s facing an intense battle against Valhalla. At a glance, wouldn’t he pick warrior, since it can make him stronger?”
“That’s true.”
However.
Both of their predictions missed completely.
What Hyunsoo chose was Blessing for a king.
And if they excluded blessings Hyunsoo had already received before...
Even the Special User Management Team did not know exactly what kind of blessing would descend.
Because a blessing suited to the user Hyunsoo would descend.
And if they added up every king who had ever ascended to a throne, been deposed, been murdered, or died before living out their natural lifespan...
The total number was tremendous.
Ares had history too.
However.
Users only valued the present.
Since it was searching among figures from history, the range of the custom blessing was broad.
Team Lead Kim also felt regretful.
Because if it’s a king, the odds are high that it will unlock powers generally related to a kingdom.
For example.
Being more respected, or achieving a large increase in Charisma stat.
Or awakening some special power unique to a king.
Come to think of it...
A custom blessing was supposed to grant the blessing of a king suited to the person receiving it.
Team Lead Kim’s eyes narrowed.
I see. So there was a reason after all?
Were all kings strong?
In most cases, they were stronger than ordinary knights.
But broadly speaking, no.
Only the extraordinary ones were strong.
And Hyunsoo?
He’s on the strong side.
Even though he was a blacksmith.
In other words, because this was “custom,” what Hyunsoo was aiming for was the blessing of a king who had been strong, like himself.
Did he think that far in that short time?
He seemed careless, but he was sharp.
Team Lead Kim was impressed by Hyunsoo’s gamer ability, which grew sharper by the day.
However.
The reason Team Lead Kim had chosen warrior was that, in the end, there were more strong and outstanding figures among warriors.
And when the search rate reached its end...
Team Lead Kim learned the truth.
Both Lee Jihui and he had been wrong, and Hyunsoo’s choice had been the most correct one.
[Mercenary King Dante’s Blessing descends upon the user Hyunsoo.]
“Dante!!!”
Team Lead Kim shot up from his seat.
Mercenary King Dante was a figure who had led an entire era.
Like a king who had founded Joseon.
Long ago, he was the first person to become king of every mercenary across the entire continent.
He was different from a kingdom or empire.
A kingdom or empire belonged to “that place.”
But the Mercenary King was the ruler of all mercenaries across the continent.
Moreover, a great power.
His country possessed power as vast as five nations combined.
The most astonishing thing was...
“Dante is strong...”
The tale of how he climbed onto a horse with a single greatsword and defeated his enemies remained as a legend, passed down from generation to generation among mercenaries even now.
Come to think of it, the two had many things in common.
The fact that both were viciously stubborn.
The fact that both primarily used greatswords.
The fact that they had not inherited a throne, but founded one.
And more.
It became a better choice than warrior?
That was Team Lead Kim’s assessment.
Lee Jihui also noticed one thing.
“If it’s connected to Dante, then couldn’t he possibly receive that quest?”
Lee Jihui spoke with a worried voice.
That.
One of the things the Special User Management Team was watching.
Because they managed special users, everything they kept their eyes on had a danger grade.
Among them was a quest whose grade was lower than a god class, but existed directly beneath that level.
As Team Lead Kim stared at the monitor, he swallowed dryly and said,
“Right. A linked quest that might let him receive Dante’s legacy.”
*****
[It is the most perfect custom blessing.]
[Mercenary King Dante’s Blessing descends.]
[Strength increases by 5%, and HP increases by 5%.]
[Charisma increases by 15%.]
[When a greatsword is equipped, damage, cutting power, attack success rate, and skill damage increase by 30%.]
[When a greatsword is equipped, attack speed increases by 50%.]
[Mercenary King Dante’s Blessing is special.]
[He had vowed to grant his blessing only to the one who would become his successor.]
[However, because you have acquired the blessing through a custom blessing, a quest occurs.]
Ding!
[Hidden Quest: Meet Mercenary Captain Arden.]
Grade: A
Restriction: One who has received Dante’s Blessing.
Reward: ???
Penalty upon failure: None.
Description: You are one who has received Mercenary King Dante’s Blessing. Meet Mercenary Captain Arden, who knows Mercenary King Dante well.
...A quest?
A quest that had occurred because he received Dante’s Blessing.
Its grade was A, and there was no penalty upon failure.
In other words, it was not something he absolutely had to do.
Moreover.
If it’s A grade, there’s no real need for me to do it.
That was what he thought.
But one thing made him suspicious.
I received the blessing of someone named Dante, and it’s only an A-grade quest?
Hyunsoo decided he would meet this person called Mercenary Captain Arden when he had time.
It was because of the notification saying Dante had vowed to grant his blessing only to his own successor.
Then he decided to focus on the blessing.
Is this really a king’s blessing?
Hyunsoo had clearly chosen the title of king.
Because he had thought that, if it was customized to him, there would be a king who possessed the advantages of a king, the advantages of a warrior, and the advantages of a blacksmith.
But the blessing bestowed by this person called Mercenary King Dante was closer to a warrior-type blessing.
Of course...
His Charisma stat had risen by a full 15%.
It was a stat tied to a king’s majesty, to becoming more respected, or to adding weight to commands.
What he learned from this was that the odds were high that Mercenary King Dante had become Mercenary King through sheer military might.
Also.
He was a great swordsman?
Hyunsoo had constantly used the Twin Dragon Sword too.
Though the Twin Dragon Sword was not a Myth, it had high destructive power.
But even Hyunsoo understood the Twin Dragon Sword’s weakness.
It’s slow.
If he fought Valhalla, by the time Hyunsoo succeeded in attacking once, Valhalla might stab four times.
Now that I think about it, that’s horrifying.
But a 50% increase to greatsword attack speed was enough to make him gasp.
In reality.
SWHAAAAK—!
Hyunsoo drew the Twin Dragon Sword from his inventory and sliced through the air, then was shocked.
A 50% increase in speed could not simply be understood as being 50% faster by basic calculation.
At this rate, it’s almost more than twice as fast.
Something that had taken 0.6 seconds to swing had dropped to less than 0.3 seconds.
And the damage goes up too?
Hyunsoo had gone to the Japanese server because of Hwan.
The things he had gained during that time.
Level-ups from hunting Owlbears, the Transcendent Elixir, and now Mercenary King Dante’s Blessing.
Hyunsoo looked down at his own hand.
I want to test how much stronger I’ve become.
Because seeing it as numbers and experiencing it himself were clearly different things.
Should I ask the guild members or NPCs?
Hyunsoo had that thought, then shook his head.
The guild members were busy training or preparing for the Continental War, and because the executives were away, the NPCs were busy protecting the nation.
It was not right to take their time for a mere experiment.
At times like this, it’s got to be...
The Kabel chance.
[Hyunsoo: ...I want to test something... Do you know a place for that?]
Strictly speaking, Kabel was no longer a person of the nation of Hyun.
Also, if he, as a Korean, had participated in the Continental War, he would have given Korea another gold medal, but he had deliberately not joined the Continental War.
Hyunsoo knew that Kabel was currently with the Tyrant, and his reply came after a little time had passed.
[Kabel: Did you leave something with me...?]
[Hyunsoo: Yeah.]
[Kabel: ....]
It took a while before another reply arrived.
Hyunsoo assumed he was probably writing curses and deleting them.
[Kabel: There is a place called the Sanctuary of Wooden Dolls. Wooden dolls should be familiar to you.]
Wooden dolls?
That was certainly true.
The reason Hyunsoo had first started Ares had been a wooden doll.
Pureum had set up a wooden doll with conditions that beginners could never break.
Hyunsoo was the one who had broken it and earned the VVIP capsule.
And now, two years later.
He knew that even though they could no longer obtain a VVIP capsule, countless people were still challenging it.
[Hyunsoo: What kind of place is the Sanctuary of Wooden Dolls?]
[Kabel: People went wild for breaking wooden dolls, and you could say it’s the second installment Pureum made because of that. There are two differences between it and the wooden doll breaking you did.]
[Kabel: First. The original wooden doll breaking was like a place where the first “game starters” could challenge it, and if they broke it, obtain wealth and glory. But the Sanctuary of Wooden Dolls is a place for high-rankers. Users who don’t have a certain level of damage output can’t even scratch them. In fact, users evaluated as merely “high-level” rather than “high-rankers” found it nearly impossible to break even ten wooden dolls.]
[Hyunsoo: ...When you say even breaking ten is impossible, you mean it’s not about breaking just one?]
[Kabel: That’s the second difference from the original. The wooden doll breaking beginners do was about breaking one wooden doll within a time limit and a limit of ten attacks. But in the second version, the number of wooden dolls is infinite.]
[Hyunsoo: ...Infinite?]
Hyunsoo looked surprised.
[Kabel: That’s why it’s called the Sanctuary of Wooden Dolls. You have to destroy as many infinitely placed wooden dolls as you can within the time limit.]
After hearing the full explanation, Hyunsoo nodded.
As expected of Kabel.
The Sanctuary of Wooden Dolls that Kabel had told him about.
There was no easier way than this to evaluate his current military power.
Depending on the number, I’ll be able to tell roughly where I stand compared to everyone else right now.
Finally, he thought of the thing he was most curious about.
[Hyunsoo: Who reached the highest number?]
Soon, a reply came from Kabel.
[Kabel: Valhalla.]
The smile vanished from Hyunsoo’s mouth.
Kabel, you...
He understood that this was the message Kabel was sending him.
If you can’t do this, don’t challenge him, Hyunsoo.
That was what Kabel was saying indirectly.
A moment later.
A pigeon flew in.
[A gift sent by Kabel has arrived.]
[You have acquired the Sanctuary of Wooden Dolls Entry Ticket.]
“....”
Hyunsoo took it and looked down at the entry ticket.
...Kabel.
He felt like he might get a little angry, but Kabel seemed to know what would happen if Hyunsoo lost too easily.
This meant he was telling him to check through this before that happened.
Thank you, Kabel.
Hyunsoo thanked him inwardly, then tore the Sanctuary of Wooden Dolls Entry Ticket.
RIIIIIP—
Hyunsoo warped to the Sanctuary of Wooden Dolls to confirm just how much he had grown.
Meanwhile.
BOOOOOOM—!
[You have hunted the King of Giants.]
[You have consumed the Fairy’s Chalice.]
[You acquire x3 experience due to hunting a boss monster.]
[Experience...]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[One who walks the path of the Sword God is special.]
[You have achieved an astonishing accomplishment and acquire 1 point in all stats.]
The King of Giants, who was a full eight meters taller than a single human, collapsed.
Around the man who had brought him down, dozens of humanoid giant monsters lay fallen.
The Giant Dungeon was a place where Level-500-plus High Class users formed parties to hunt.
The one who had cleared that place alone was Valhalla.
Three days.
Valhalla had hunted there, and with what had just happened included, he had gained a total of four levels.
His level had already soared well past 550.
Also.
As Valhalla looked at the approaching time of the decisive battle, he grew bitter.
I’m sorry, Hyunsoo.
In truth, Valhalla had something he had not told Hyunsoo.
At the time he had challenged Hyunsoo to a duel...
[This will be completed if the one designated by the law approves it, and if you win against him, you will reach a higher rank.]
Valhalla had heard a notification saying he could reach a higher rank.
Fighting spirit? A rival?
Those were feelings he had held for a moment, but such feelings in Valhalla had quickly vanished.
He had learned it after watching Hyunsoo compete in the event “Endurance.”
Hyunsoo could never be his match.
No, perhaps it would be a fight that ended far too easily.
Even so, Hyunsoo seemed likely to be holding on to a thread of hope.
Because Valhalla had challenged him first, Hyunsoo might be under the illusion that they were evenly matched.
The reason Valhalla did not tell him, despite knowing all of that.
It’s for a higher rank.
That was why he was sorry.
Also, Valhalla was still growing even now.
That battle would end far too easily.
You are prey.
A beast did not recognize prey as an equal.
But Valhalla also had a dream he wanted to achieve.
Because of that, he had to devour Hyunsoo.
PSSSSHHH—
With that bitterness, Valhalla logged out of the capsule.
And Valhalla, who had logged out, was stunned.
—Breaking news.
What...?
On the news screen...
Wooden dolls were being swept away as if a typhoon had passed through them.
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