Reunion (2)
While the continental war raged on.
Whoosh—
The nurse and Doctor Jin-seop carefully lifted the once-again slumbering Hyun-tae from the capsule and laid him on the bed.
“……Are you satisfied now?”
A faint smile seemed to linger at the corners of Hyun-tae's sleeping mouth.
Doctor Jin-seop was a physician.
He should have been thinking only of his patient, Kang Hyun-tae, prioritizing his safety above all else.
When Hyun-tae entered the capsule, as a doctor, Jin-seop had felt compelled to pull him out.
But the VVIP patient capsule in the hospital room was different from a standard one.
Wires connected to machines monitored the patient's physical and mental state in real time.
A red light signaled danger; green meant stable.
Jin-seop had been about to force a disconnect, but he stopped when he saw the green light.
Of course, he could have overridden it.
Yet he judged that for a vegetative patient like this, voluntary logout was far better than forced termination.
And besides……
……I'm a father too.
Jin-seop clenched his fist as he murmured those words.
There was one reason for his excitement.
Mr. Hyun-tae, a miracle has occurred for you.
Michael, a world-renowned expert in vegetative states, had stated in his latest research that patients experiencing even a single day of miraculous recovery had overwhelmingly higher chances of full awakening.
In other words, Hyun-tae had taken a step closer.
And for attending physician Jin-seop, while Jin-tae was precious, there was another cherished soul.
Jin-seop stared at the ore materializing on the screen.
The continental war was captivating the entire nation, much like the World Cup.
Ji-hye, the nurse who harbored a crush on Hyun-soo, watched with bated breath.
Lee Ho-seok, the administrative director who had once received a shirt from Hyun-soo, rushed over at the news of Hyun-tae's awakening.
Everyone here knew Hyun-soo and had witnessed Hyun-tae's condition—they all gazed at the screen with tense expressions.
Contrary to the commentators' words, they knew the truth no one else did.
“……What could they be saying?”
Jin-seop crossed his arms with a chuckle.
“Our Hyun-soo is a blacksmith.”
The greatest one he knew, at that.
Soon, alarms blared across the screen, and cheers erupted from everyone in the room.
[The first legend is being written.]
***
Elsewhere.
In a dingy pub, a young man chowing down on beer and chicken with his guildmates had been cheering exclusively for Crazy Rookie.
“Ji-hoon, come on!”
“Heh heh……”
The young man called Ji-hoon—Hyun-soo's closest friend.
Ignoring his guildmates' teasing, he shouted “Crazy Rookie fighting!” from the chicken joint.
Then, suddenly.
“Sob, sob…… heh heh sob……”
He burst into tears.
One guildmate tilted his head, but Ji-hoon sobbed openly.
After his father fell into that state, Ji-hoon had gone with Hyun-soo to a pension up in the mountains.
And that morning, he saw Hyun-soo staring blankly down at the base of the mountain.
Ji-hoon had casually yelled for him to grab some food.
But he could never forget Hyun-soo's expression then.
Hyun-soo's world had crumbled.
And the father he'd longed to see again.
Learning that Hyun-soo had finally met him filled Ji-hoon with genuine joy.
“Damn……”
“Ah, we lost……”
“Screw this continental war crap!”
Unlike the weeping Ji-hoon, the crowd was losing interest, convinced of defeat.
The pub patrons whipped their heads toward the commentators' sudden remark, only for hope to crash instantly.
“Isn't he a Weapon Master?”
“Weapon Master, right?”
“Dunno, but the experts and rankers say so—probably.”
Ji-hoon snapped out of his daze and stood.
The crowd was already cooling off with lukewarm beer.
But Ji-hoon fixed his eyes on his friend Hyun-soo beaming from the corner TV.
His gaze trembled as he peered deep into Hyun-soo's eyes.
“Excuse me.”
“Hey, you're blocking the TV!”
He'd been friends with Hyun-soo for years.
Could tell just from his eyes now, perhaps?
From that gaze, Ji-hoon gleaned one truth.
Confidence…… certainty……
Voices from behind.
“Ji-hoon, you know that Weapon Master guy or something?”
Ji-hoon didn't answer.
Sweat dripped from his clenched fist as he shook his head.
Weapon Master? What nonsense.
And then the sound spread.
At “world message,” the shop's deflated stares snapped back to the TV.
He's the world's one and only Master Craftsman!
And it appeared.
With it, Ji-hoon roared.
“Go, Hyun-soo! Sweep 'em all!”
Elsewhere.
In a shabby two-story neighborhood.
Park Hae-su, Kim Hye-sook's only son, had returned home after ages.
Having watched the continental war on his smartphone, Hae-su bolted straight for the TV upon arrival.
Kim Hye-sook and Park Bong-sik, emerging to greet their son, felt slighted by his TV priority and nagged.
“Dad, TV before Mom? You brat!”
“Ah, come on! It was a crucial moment—Crazy Rookie was forging ore or whatever. You guys wouldn't get it!”
Hae-su glued his eyes to the screen.
Then came Hye-sook's startled voice, clueless even about the 'g' in game.
“I-isn't that Hyun-soo lad?”
Her husband Bong-sik reacted.
“Huh? Yeah! The Hyun-soo from the two-story house!”
“Oh my, really? But why's Hyun-soo doing that!?”
“Ah, Hyun-soo said last time—he earned big as a blacksmith in Ares or whatever.”
Hae-su blinked in confusion.
“Huh……? What're you talking about? He's a Weapon Master.”
Hae-su looked puzzled.
Suddenly, his parents squeezed in front of him.
“What's going on!?”
“Lemme watch too!”
Hae-su tilted his head, eyes trembling as he took in the alert.
“Wh-what……? The first legend……? You mean someone just became the first user to achieve legend status!?”
“Legend? What's that?”
“Good thing?”
“Uh…… like scoring a goal in the World Cup.”
Hye-sook and Bong-sik leaped up.
Hae-su focused on the follow-up alert, which typically revealed the feat after “something has been achieved.”
Hae-su gasped.
A brand-new artifact grade unseen in the world……!?
Bong-sik and Hye-sook demanded explanations again.
“Uh…… like being down 3-0, then one guy scores four in a row to turn it around……”
At that, Hye-sook and Bong-sik hugged and danced.
“Woooo!”
Unable to contain himself, Bong-sik thrust his arms in victory and yelled, while Hye-sook stretched hers forward, shouting.
“Hyun-soo laaad! Go, gooo!”
Elsewhere.
MVP awards for the nearing-end continental war were set to be presented by Pureum Corp CEO Lee Se-jin.
Though the war wasn't over, Se-jin was heading to prepare when he spotted employees gathered in the central hall.
Korea vs. China meant he'd set up massive screens in the headquarters' grandest hall for all to see.
As Pureum Corp staff, they knew the events unfolding better than anyone.
Se-jin approached to check what was happening.
At that moment.
The story team leader muttered.
“N-no way…… It wasn't supposed to be possible for at least half a year……”
Se-jin frowned in confusion.
Half a year from now?
Then his eyes widened at the rising alerts.
Wh-what……!
Se-jin had figured Hyun-tae's intrusion wouldn't sway the war.
It couldn't.
“S-CEO……”
Special User Management Team leader Kim Tae-seok and Lee Ji-hee arrived soon.
“User Kang Hyun-tae passed a paper with the Twin Dragon Swords blueprint to Hyun-soo user.”
Tae-seok showed Se-jin a phone-captured image of the Twin Dragon Swords blueprint.
Se-jin's eyes shook.
It looked just like engineering schematics.
Like a whole car.
Building one required hundreds of parts.
Even experts couldn't replicate it from a single glance.
“And it was via Emergency Forge.”
That made Se-jin's heart pound harder.
Emergency Forge took 4-8 seconds.
Understand and perfect the Twin Dragon Swords in that time?
Impossible, even for field geniuses.
If a scientist like Se-jin got a program blueprint, he couldn't do it that fast.
The implication was simple.
As the alert proclaimed, Hyun-soo was the sole user worthy of that glory.
And the latest alert.
The news of the first user-forged new-grade artifact was rocking the world.
“Kyaaah!”
A scream rang out—from Special User Management's Lee Ji-hee.
All eyes turned to the jubilant Ji-hee, mindful of CEO Se-jin's presence.
Se-jin pushed through the crowd.
“Dozens of legend candidates worldwide……”
These people knew it best.
Unconsciously, Se-jin punched the air with his fist.
“Korea did it first! Hyun-soo user did it!”
Proof he was Korean too, after all.
With him, the gauging employees erupted.
“Woooah!”
“Insane!”
“The first legend!”
“First among 2.5 billion—first!!!”
“Let's goooo!”
“The first Transcendent artifact!!!”
***
Inside the Korean fortress.
Chinese users who wiped out all Koreans were shattering the barrier.
Tough bastards.
Fond marveled. He'd never dreamed Korea's puny users could hold out so fiercely against China.
Only about 50 top Chinese survivors remained.
A red flag reading “Asgan” fluttered ahead.
Then, every user breaking the barrier froze.
[The first legend is being written.]
They couldn't hide their shock.
Rumors of dozens worldwide chasing legends, sure.
But this soon? Unthinkable.
“Keep going—it's got nothing to do with us……”
The next alert halted him cold.
“What……?”
He panicked.
New artifact grade?
Such a thing exists?
One user spoke up.
“One guy's still alive—gonna leave him?”
One guy? Crazy Rookie, spared for last.
Fond sneered.
Facing Crazy Rookie, he'd thought:
“Leave him—full of bravado and stubbornness.”
To Fond, Crazy Rookie owed his spot to blacksmith Hyun.
“I've faced many famed users. But none so pathetically unskilled despite the hype.”
Famed users had their reasons.
Not Crazy Rookie.
“Slightly above average skill, and Hyun's artifacts carried him. The user himself? Utterly mediocre……”
[His name: Blacksmith Hyun Lv.339]
Fond froze at the alerts.
Huh?
Then panic hit.
The final alert.
“……?”
The group stared in stunned silence.
Fond and the Chinese users' minds blanked momentarily.
Why? Super-named NPCs—legend-grade ones—triggered alerts upon entering range.
Screeech—!
The half-shattered gates swung open as Hyun-soo entered, and the alert rang.
[The one who recorded the first Transcendent appears.]
[Continent's Top 10 Legends. Master Craftsman Hyun's emergence!]
The world plunged into shock.