Flying Above the Runner (2)
Purum Corp's Audit Office.
Lee Ji-hee, a staff member of the Special User Management Team, stared at the smartphone screen being held out to her.
Hyun's Forge.
The subscriber count, which had been at 2.2 million, had somehow swelled by another 100,000.
"...An incredible result. The world still has so many eyes on Hyun."
The man who took back the phone was John, the head of the US branch.
The sudden upheaval in the time attack dungeon rankings.
It was more than enough to shock the world.
And it had all been caused by a single blacksmith.
Purum Corp dispatched audit teams from branches around the world whenever they deemed it necessary.
This time, US branch head John spoke up.
"The global branches suspect that precious information might be leaking from somewhere in Korea, the birthplace of Ares. And who better than you, from the Special User Management Team, the group closest to the users?"
"You think we leaked info to Hyun...?"
"Does that even make sense? The data we've confirmed on Hyun doesn't add up. Crafting six Legends? That's bizarre enough. Sure, he's a genius blacksmith, but it still doesn't make sense. We can set that aside, but how do you explain this?"
John leaned back in his chair.
"How can a single user possess skills from two Legends? The method to learn Swordsmanship from Sword King Barad. The way to acquire Ghost Step from Spear Heaven Ben. Who spilled it?"
Under John's cold gaze, Lee Ji-hee clutched the collar of her shirt tightly.
The pressure left her speechless.
Then.
Bang!
The door flew open roughly.
A man in horn-rimmed glasses entered and scanned the audit team.
US branch head John.
He broke into an intrigued smile.
"It's you. The one who graduated top of his class from the world's top university, MIT, turned down love calls from every branch, and stayed on as team leader."
It was Kim Tae-seok, the team leader.
Lee Ji-hee, hearing this for the first time, looked stunned.
"I'll handle the audit. You're dismissed, Staffer Lee Ji-hee."
Tae-seok gently ushered her out with a soft touch.
Sitting down, he heard the exact same spiel she'd been subjected to.
And then he spoke.
"You're missing one thing."
John looked puzzled.
"Hyun-soo also gained a Legend stat, didn't he?"
"Come to think of it, yeah, that stat too. Did you tell him how to get it?"
Tae-seok smiled faintly.
"Do you know how to obtain a Legend stat?"
Tae-seok pulled out a USB drive and offered it.
It contained compressed footage of every moment of User Hyun-soo's playtime.
"To unlock a Legend stat, a user must push through multiple limits. Simply put, they have to immerse themselves in one task for at least four straight days without sleep."
Four days.
"And that's not all. Those efforts must stack up over and over to meet the unlock conditions."
One of the auditors asked.
"So you're saying User Hyun-soo is some freak who didn't sleep a wink, repeated that madness multiple times, and put in efforts no one else could?"
"Who knows? The truth's in that USB."
They looked dumbfounded.
Who the hell plays a game like that?
Soon, the entire audit team reviewed the USB contents.
The more they watched, the more John's expression shifted moment by moment.
The shocking part? They'd been glued to User Hyun-soo's compressed footage for over 10 hours without realizing it, utterly entranced.
'He won over Sword King Barad like that?'
'Friends with Spear Heaven Ben?'
'Learned Ghost Step without sleep for days?'
'That's how the sixth Legend was born?'
After seeing everything, they were speechless.
"Watching that footage, I thought: No way could anyone do that, even if ordered to."
"......"
"......"
The audit team fell silent.
They agreed.
John couldn't comprehend it.
'Why go that far in a game?'
The synergy of a genius blacksmith and his unbreakable resolve.
"Break but Do Not Yield."
The auditors turned to Tae-seok.
"That's a phrase that user says often. Even if he breaks, he stands back up. No matter how many times it happens, he doesn't back down. That's User Hyun-soo."
Tae-seok chuckled softly.
"The global branches say we need to suspend Hyun's account. Someone leaked info. Ridiculous."
He met the auditors' eyes.
"He sleeps less than others, gives more effort than anyone. Balance-breaking? Maybe. But he earned it. Instead of calling it balance-breaking, shouldn't we say this instead?"
Tae-seok shared his thoughts on Hyun-soo.
"That user's seriously cool."
John dismissed Tae-seok.
Not long after, CEO Lee Se-jin entered.
As John prepared to leave, Lee Se-jin asked.
"How'd it go?"
John didn't like Lee Se-jin.
A genius developer from tiny Korea who created Ares.
But John said,
"The best user I've ever seen."
America held the world rank 1 spot.
Lee Se-jin smiled subtly.
John had seen something else too.
"...You know it too, right, CEO?"
Lee Se-jin looked puzzled.
"...That user is growing."
Not system growth.
"Sword King's Swordsmanship, Ghost Step—meeting all those incredible figures, his skills are sharpening. If it was 40% before, it's 70% now."
John couldn't imagine.
Rankers hovered around 80%.
"I'm curious how far he'll climb with time. And."
John had a fun idea.
"We're talking server integration now, right? And on integration day, we're running the biggest main ad the world's ever seen."
This ad would be unprecedented in scale.
"I think having User Hyun-soo as the main feature would be awesome."
"...!?"
The ad's lead was chosen by majority vote of branch heads.
Excluding Se-jin, John from the US wielded the most influence.
"But only if he's the first user to reach Legend."
In other words, if Hyun-soo became a Legend, John would back him.
"Quite impressed, Branch Head John?"
At Lee Se-jin's smile, John laughed heartily.
Truth be told, it was the most stirring footage he'd seen all year.
And John and Lee Se-jin pictured it now.
The Master Craftsman starring in the global main ad.
The foothills of the Beres Mountains.
Hyun-soo had just arrived.
As he stepped into the Beres Mountains, an alert sounded.
You have entered the Beres Mountains.
Job Quest: In Progress - Sage Arte.
Quest failure if Sage Arte is not met within 3 days.
'Quest failure?'
Hyun-soo's face darkened.
'Sage Arte built his tower in the Beres Mountains for good reason.'
For starters, the paths up the Beres Mountains were brutally treacherous.
On top of that, the Beres Mountains were a notorious high-level hunting ground.
'Climb this alone in three days...'
The biggest issue? He knew the Sage's Tower was somewhere in the mountains, but not exactly where.
The tower's position changed every two weeks.
Of course. It was Sage Arte.
He wouldn't let just anyone meet him easily.
"Ugh......"
For now, Hyun-soo donned his Fenrir set against the bone-chilling cold.
Fenrir's helm, shaped like a wolf's head with fur, was especially excellent for warmth.
'Charging in blindly could be disastrous.'
Hyun-soo eyed the snow-blanketed mountain with worry.
And a certain man was watching Hyun-soo.
His name was Dun.
He had the hidden class Mountain Guardian.
Mountain Guardian was, as the name implied, a class specialized in climbing and pioneering mountains.
Most of its skills were tailored for mountain ascents.
Plus, as a Mountain Guardian, he understood mountains better than anyone, so he could guide people exactly where they wanted.
But Dun misused that advantage for something else entirely.
'Fenrir...?'
One of the continent's legendary monsters.
The man wore a helm reminiscent of Fenrir.
The necklace around his neck and the coat he wore screamed high-end artifacts at a glance.
'Jackpot...!'
Dun knew he'd struck gold.
'Take him to the Snowy Blessing Zone and kill him—what'll he drop?'
The Snowy Blessing Zone.
A special field in the Beres Mountains.
Entering the Snowy Blessing Zone granted all users triple drop rates and triple EXP gains.
That alone made it sound amazing.
But it wasn't.
Why else would Dun lure him there?
Forced logouts in the Snowy Blessing Zone still tripled drop rates—and tripled EXP loss.
A double-edged sword.
Dun's hunting dog allies waited in the Snowy Blessing Zone.
Target decided, Dun approached.
"Hello there?"
"...?"
Hyun-soo looked puzzled.
Dun first tried to win him over with a special power.
Dun extended his palm toward him, and a warm energy gathered around Hyun-soo.
Mountain Guardian's Blessing
Attack power vs. ice monsters +5%.
Defense vs. ice monsters +5%.
The cold fades somewhat; you feel warmth.
Hyun-soo felt warmth seep into his body.
"Oh...?"
"I'm Dun, Mountain Guardian of the Beres Mountains."
"Mountain Guardian?"
Dun explained his class.
"I guide people to their destinations for a fee."
Music to Hyun-soo's ears.
"I know these mountains inside out, so I won't let you get lost. Even in Ares, freezing to death lost in a snowy mountain is brutally painful. Deeper in, even return scrolls won't work."
Hyun-soo definitely saw the value.
Then, a whisper from Nel.
⊳ Hyun-soo-nim, I looked into the Beres Mountains. For starters...
Hyun-soo's reliable ally Nel relayed the key info.
⊳ Especially, the Snowy Blessing Zone...
'Hm?'
Hyun-soo looked puzzled.
It was a peculiar place.
Dun said,
"By any chance, Traveler, are you here for Sage Arte's Tower? I know where it is now."
And that was true.
You needed some truth to hook the fish.
Half lie, half truth.
"There's a shortcut. Go through the Snowy Blessing Zone, and you'll get there fast."
Hyun-soo didn't miss "Snowy Blessing Zone."
And one bit from Nel's whisper.
⊳ Word is high-rankers posing as guides are luring people to the Snowy Blessing Zone—hunting dogs.
Hyun-soo explained to Nel.
⊳ ...Might not be, but.
⊳ What'll you do?
Hyun-soo gazed at the mountain blanketed in heavy snow.
⊳ It'll be easier with company anyway, and I've got a good plan...
⊳ Ooh... Great idea. The counter-ambush we've only heard about!
And Hyun-soo turned out to be a master actor.
From the Frost Mine.
And Ballus Territory.
He'd gained much experience there.
"Hmm, but I'm a blacksmith, so I was thinking of heading back."
"Oh, I see. No worries, though. The fee might go up a bit, but as a Mountain Guardian, I'm pretty strong in mountains. Even a blacksmith like you, I can escort safely."
A hint of conviction crept in.
Even for a Mountain Guardian, protecting a blacksmith on the climb wasn't easy.
His reason for pushing.
"Nah, I don't wanna. Too scary."
"Haha, yeah, as a blacksmith, monsters must freak you out. I'll tank up front. I'll protect you for sure. Trust me."
Dun put on a confident face.
Hyun-soo pretended to relent and agreed.
"Shall we give it a shot together?"
Dun nodded benevolently.
'Stupid fool. You'll die miserably the moment we hit the Snowy Blessing Zone. Kehehehehe...!'
Dun laughed inwardly.
Dun took the lead. His various artifacts caught Hyun-soo's eye.
'Heh heh heh heh...'
Hyun-soo's lips split into a grin.
'Ehehehehehe...!'
Even above the runner, there was one flying higher.