Legend Stat (1)

Ben and Hyun-soo chatted for several hours.

Strategist Pan watched their conversation with a small smile.

'They look like they're enjoying themselves.'

Pan had noticed it.

Hyun-soo would use their friendship as an excuse to come visit Ben.

And Ben would happily welcome him.

'Barad must have realized we're trying to pull Hyun-soo to our side.'

Both Pan and Ben now truly understood what Barad's offer of peace had been about.

And Hyun-soo found his friendship with Ben quite enjoyable.

Now, he could freely take on quests from Ben—and by extension, many things in the Praam Kingdom.

"May I come in?"

Prak's voice came from outside.

Hyun-soo still had a reward he hadn't claimed yet.

Prak brought something precious, wrapped in cloth.

When he unwrapped it, two fruits appeared.

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One was the most appealing fruit from the small World Tree—a golden apple.

"You should eat that apple right away."

As Ben suggested, Hyun-soo bit into it immediately.

Crunch—

The juice was far sweeter than any ordinary apple.

It was an apple with truly tremendous effects.

A 1% increase across all stats was overwhelmingly better than flat numerical gains.

Considering Hyun-soo's already high total stats, this single apple had boosted them by over 50 points.

And that wasn't all.

"……!"

It seemed the consumer of the golden apple received a hint.

'It was odd.'

World Tree was World Tree—what did "small" mean?

Hyun-soo recalled the breathtakingly beautiful small World Tree.

'Somewhere, there's a true World Tree, far vaster and more powerful.'

Its power would surpass even that of the small one.

The grapes from the small World Tree numbered five in total.

Each had a different buff effect.

One boosted experience gain by 50% and artifact drop rate by 50%.

Another maximized skill power.

One allowed skills to activate twice in succession.

Another maximized all stats.

The final one restored HP and MP by about 60% in one go.

'These grapes alone are worth at least 30,000 gold...?'

Thirty million won.

There was good reason for pricing these buffs so high.

Even top-grade potions, called the best consumables, only restored 30% HP.

But these filled both HP and MP by 60% at once.

'And crucially, no cooldown on reuse.'

No cooldown on consumables was huge.

It meant he could use them all right away if needed.

Ben stood up and said,

"Now, I'll teach you Ghost Step."

Hyun-soo followed Ben to the training hall.

His heart pounded as he trailed behind.

'Lord Ben's Ghost Step is a completely different power from Lord Barad's Sword King's Swordsmanship.'

Both were legendary powers.

But Sword King's Swordsmanship was a comprehensive skill with multiple forms.

Ghost Step was a single skill.

'And single skills can be overwhelmingly superior.'

Besides, Hyun-soo's level wasn't yet comparable to Korea's high rankers.

'We haven't clashed yet, but it might happen soon.'

In that case, Ben's Ghost Step could be a major lifeline.

Upon arriving at the training hall, there were about twenty soldiers present.

"I'll show you just once, so watch closely. All this happens in 1 second."

One second?

Hyun-soo looked puzzled.

One second was an incredibly short time.

It could be called a fleeting instant.

Ben, hands behind his back, walked toward the soldiers.

And activated it wordlessly.

Ghost Step.

One second passed.

Hyun-soo couldn't believe his eyes.

'Wh-what did I just see?'

No sound reached Hyun-soo's ears.

It was like a ghost walking.

But Hyun-soo didn't miss Ben flashing past in that one second.

Soon, unlike Ben who stood calmly with hands behind his back again, fourteen of the twenty soldiers screamed simultaneously.

"Urk!"

"Ugh!"

"Gah!"

Some soldiers flew back as if struck in the gut.

Others retreated, clutching their solar plexus.

Some had their weapons snatched and dropped to the ground.

Fourteen soldiers had been hit or disarmed in various ways.

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Ben straightened his sleeve cuffs with an nonchalant expression.

"This is Ghost Step."

"……!"

Hyun-soo formed a hypothesis.

'If they weren't soldiers but enemy knights, and if Lord Ben had held his spear...'

In that instant, fourteen would have died.

It was definitely different from learning from Sword King Barad.

Back then, Barad had guided his stance step by step over days of training.

But now, he had acquired it—just acquired it, nothing more.

From the skill info, Hyun-soo realized.

'It's a power that changes entirely based on how I lead it.'

And the "path"—Ben's path in that single second had clearly connected.

'A path is ultimately a line of movement.'

Ben, hands behind his back, said,

"Try it on me."

Hyun-soo took a deep breath and received a wooden sword from a soldier.

[Ghost Step]

The moment he activated it, Hyun-soo felt silence descend in that instant.

He plotted his path using visible points in his vision.

And then—

Clatter—

Hyun-soo swung the wooden sword at Ben's chest, then targeted behind, and as he tried to slash down from above—

Thud.

He tumbled to the floor.

The path had tangled.

Ben grinned slyly at the fallen Hyun-soo.

"Not easy, is it? With training, you'll increase the count. But there's also a faster, simpler way."

Ben was a truly sly old man.

"Three days. If you master four paths exactly within that, I'll add 0.1 seconds."

His "simple" way was extending the activation time.

0.1 seconds.

It seemed trivial, but not for Ghost Step.

It would make wielding it much smoother.

"Of course, only if you succeed."

Ben didn't rate the odds highly.

By his standards, even regular knights might not achieve four paths after a week.

Ghost Step was that remarkable—and its power varied by user.

Then.

"What if it's more than four?"

Hyun-soo stood, his eyes burning with resolve.

Not 0.1, but 0.3 or even 0.4 seconds.

That would allow one more swing.

Ben laughed.

"Haha, if more than four, I'll add 0.1 per extra success."

A quest had appeared.

Hyun-soo felt his motivation ignite.

Ben and all the soldiers stepped forward.

After they did, Hyun-soo activated it immediately.

[Ghost Step]

He moved along the path.

Once, twice, three times...

Thud thud—

Hyun-soo tangled again and couldn't move properly.

After ten attempts, he assessed the results.

Stably, he could only manage two.

On the third, the path tangled.

'Three is achievable with effort.'

Hyun-soo had forged without sleep for days on end.

And Ben's "four" surely included effort.

But Hyun-soo wanted to exceed expectations perfectly.

He kept repeating.

After 24 hours of practice, he finally nailed three actions perfectly.

'Good, at this rate...'

He thought he could hit six or more within three days.

But his face twisted.

Hyun-soo looked puzzled.

'Why is this alert here already?'

This usually came during all-nighters forging, around the transition from day two to three.

Yet it appeared after just one day.

And after this, he usually passed out a day later.

'Repeating unfamiliar actions...?'

Mental fatigue—that was likely.

And physical fatigue...

'No way...!'

Hyun-soo finally realized.

Each activation moved his body 3-4 times along the path.

During it, as a skill, he had little awareness of the speed and force.

That he'd moved four times so fiercely in one second.

But his body remembered.

The fatigue accumulated.

'That's why four or more is...'

Hyun-soo understood why Ben mentioned four.

After 100 activations of Ghost Step, his body had effectively moved 300-400 times.

Now he felt the spasms.

His legs, arms, whole body twitched intermittently.

After a short rest, Hyun-soo resumed Ghost Step.

But the buildup wasn't erased by a brief break.

27 hours in, he was utterly spent.

The urge to sleep, muscles screaming for rest.

Facing the swift mental and physical limits, Hyun-soo bent over, hands on knees, gasping.

"Huff... huff..."

A helplessness he'd never felt before.

'If I sleep, I can't complete four.'

He closed his eyes, breathing steadily.

And started again.

Like the beastman said.

Break but Do Not Yield.

But he hit another limit.

And tried again.

Break but Do Not Yield.

He chanted inwardly.

I can do this.

Amid countless chants.

Hyun-soo collapsed, hitting his limit.

Mental and physical fatigue had reached blackout stage.

His body wouldn't obey.

Thud—

He even dropped the wooden sword.

Staring at the ceiling, he realized some things couldn't be forced.

And Hyun-soo closed his eyes briefly.

Break but Do Not Yield.

Good words.

Sometimes, even breaking and fighting won't work.

You need to know when to bend.

Maybe he could flexibly give up this test with Ben.

Even if he did, he'd still learned Ghost Step.

And with time, he'd master paths freely and excel.

'But...'

Even if breaking and fighting doesn't always work.

'That's got nothing to do with me. I want to keep challenging.'

Hyun-soo rose, body trembling sporadically.

Yes, you must know when to break.

But that didn't fit him.

He had much to overcome, and people who believed in him.

So, Break but Do Not Yield—even if he broke and shattered.

"I won't back down."

He'd continue.

He reached for the dropped wooden sword.

But his vision blurred.

Then, something extraordinary happened.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Hyun-soo's mind.

One line from the Break but Do Not Yield title.

'In a life-or-death moment, if judged to overcome with pure personal strength, acquire Legend stat ???.'

His trembling body stilled.

His dazed mind cleared sharply.

And he understood why this alert came.

'The stat ties to physical and mental fatigue...!'