Chapter 599: 1 vs. 500,000

Why was the virtual reality game Ares so beloved?

Was it because players could enjoy sensations of touch, sight, smell, and more with a synchronization rate close to 100%?

Or because it possessed such an enormous world that it was called a second reality?

Or because NPCs could think for themselves and share emotions with players?

In the end, all of those answers were correct. Of the dozens of reasons people gave, some considered this one the greatest.

—Ares. The fairest game in the world.

The virtual reality game Ares was fair.

Complete an easy quest or overcome an easy challenge, and you received a paltry reward befitting it.

But accomplish something no one else could do—something that made every user think, How the hell are you supposed to do that?

Then you received the greatest reward.

That was why Ares was so beloved, and why Hyunsoo, who had achieved something no one else could accomplish, had received such extraordinary rewards today.

(Scar Engraver’s Ring.)

Grade: Legendary.

Durability: 3,000/3,000

Defense: 75

Restriction: Combat class, Level 400 or higher.

Special Abilities:

· Cutting Power +35%.

· Active Skill: Indelible Wound.

Description: A ring that allows you to leave an indelible wound on an opponent.

(Indelible Wound.)

Active Skill.

MP Cost: 4,000.

Cooldown: 24 hours.

Effects:

· Inflicts an indelible wound on an enemy. At times, it may leave a disability and inflict a permanent status ailment.

· The effect lasts only 24 hours on users, but may be applied indefinitely to NPCs.

(100,000 Massacrer.)

Unique Title.

Grade: S.

Special Abilities:

· When facing at least fifty enemies, all stats, attack power, defense, and skill levels increase.

· The more enemies there are, the greater the increase becomes, and you tire less easily.

No matter how many times I look at it, I love this...

To Hyunsoo, this battle had been harder than the Great Atlas War.

For one thing, he had needed to keep the nation of Hyun’s involvement from being exposed as much as possible.

Users were an exception, of course.

Under those circumstances, the battle had effectively been carried by only a handful of people.

Aside from the unnamed soldiers BJ Rollo had brought in through his efforts, the victory had been won through the work of a very small group.

The difficulty was that insane.

But what he had gained was worth far more.

The Legendary-grade Scar Engraver’s Ring.

When Pedro had taken his eye, Hyunsoo had been puzzled that it did not recover. The system notification had stated, with absolute certainty, that recovery was impossible.

Absolute recovery prevention meant that even Saintess Aria could not restore it.

Now he understood that the cause had been this artifact.

How would he use it?

Hyunsoo would face countless opponents he could not defeat in the future. He would be forcibly logged out.

Nell had told him before.

“Your greatest weakness, Hyunsoo, is that you are not accustomed to forced logouts.”

At first, Hyunsoo had wondered why that was a weakness.

Then he had realized.

The average top ranker had been forcibly logged out more than fifty times.

They had grown through that much trial and error.

But Hyunsoo had been forcibly logged out fewer than five times.

Nell had warned that when he lost to an opponent beyond his reach, he could fall into immense helplessness and depression.

Hyunsoo understood that.

But now—

Even if I get logged out easily...

Couldn’t he at least leave one indelible wound behind?

Even if the opponent was a Transcendent species like a Great Archdemon.

And then there was 100,000 Massacrer.

This was what he liked most.

First, the fact that it was a Unique Title proved that he had been the first to earn the achievement.

And—

The more enemies there are, the stronger every effect becomes.

Of course, the scale of that increase mattered.

How much stronger did it make him against the minimum of fifty enemies?

And how powerful would it make him against a number of enemies with no upper limit?

When he had received 50,000 Massacrer, it had not possessed such an effect.

It had not scaled with enemy numbers. The number had been fixed.

That was why his expectations were so high, and why he needed to test it.

Could ordinary people even do that?

No. It was impossible.

Fighting fifty people out of nowhere.

Or testing the title against enemies too numerous to count.

Ordinary people could not do that.

But Hyunsoo was not ordinary.

He had people he could use to test it.

He could not forget that he was the king of a nation.

And so, Hyunsoo went to see the blacksmiths.

“Ahem.”

“You have come.”

The blacksmiths looked at Hyunsoo with eyes filled with boundless respect and affection.

Everyone bowed their heads. It was a perfect display of what it meant to be the King of Blacksmiths.

“There’s something important I need to say.”

Everyone’s eyes sparkled at Hyunsoo’s words.

“Direct killing intent at me.”

“Pardon?”

Everyone present looked confused.

“Aim whatever you’re making at me.”

What is His Majesty talking about now?

Hyunsoo occasionally said strange things, so they were puzzled, but they did as instructed.

They picked up whatever they had been crafting, or weapons they had made themselves.

One of them even picked up something particularly unusual.

SSSSSSIZZLE—

“Wait. Put down the heated one.”

It was a skewer that had just been heated and glowed like molten lava.

“Now, think as though you’re about to rush me!”

“Yes!”

They did their best.

They imagined charging at him, and Hyunsoo expected the 100,000 Massacrer effect to trigger soon.

But...

No notification appeared.

“...”

Hyunsoo scratched his head.

What’s the problem?

Then, looking at the blacksmiths, he understood.

Their eyes were filled with boundless respect.

So it doesn’t work just because they fake killing intent?

And they were blacksmiths to begin with.

They were the people who respected and cherished him more than anyone.

He could not expect even false killing intent from them.

Tch.

Having figured it out, Hyunsoo left with a disappointed expression.

“Good work, everyone.”

His shoulders drooped as he failed the experiment.

Testing 100,000 Massacrer was important.

It seemed likely that Hyunsoo would fight large numbers of enemies many times in the future, and testing it beforehand would be a tremendous help later.

Then, at that moment—

[Nell: The blacksmiths are saying you’re pulling a Hyunsoo Again. What happened?]

Hyunsoo Again.

It was short for, “Hyunsoo’s at it again.”

The phrase had originated from “Hyunsoo Passed Out Again,” and people in the nation of Hyun used it all the time.

After Hyunsoo explained the situation, Nell replied.

[Nell: Why not go to the training grounds instead?]

[Hyunsoo: The training grounds?]

[Nell: Yes. The blacksmiths do not know how to fight in the first place. And have you forgotten how many soldiers the nation of Hyun has?]

[Hyunsoo: Oh...]

The total number of soldiers in the nation of Hyun had now easily surpassed 500,000.

Since the effect increased with the number of enemies and the intensity of their hostility, it would be better to test it with soldiers rather than blacksmiths.

And Hyunsoo had not visited the training grounds to see the soldiers in quite some time, so his steps were light.

Have they all been doing well?

Thinking of the soldiers made him walk more cheerfully. It reminded him how much he cared for them.

Every single one of their lives felt precious to him.

Crossing the kingdom, Hyunsoo arrived at the training grounds.

Then he frowned in confusion.

What is this?

Nearly 500,000 soldiers stood in the training grounds.

Yet every last one of them looked dispirited.

Then Commander Luxiu approached.

“You have arrived, Your Majesty.”

“Why does everyone look so down?”

“That... may be because of you, Your Majesty.”

“Because of me? What do you mean?”

“News that Your Majesty defeated one hundred thousand men alone has naturally reached the soldiers of the nation of Hyun as well.”

“And what does that have to do with their morale dropping?”

Hyunsoo genuinely could not understand.

The nearly 500,000 soldiers had naturally been overjoyed when they heard that Hyunsoo had defeated 100,000 Parion Empire soldiers by himself.

But afterward, overwhelming helplessness had set in.

What was I doing while His Majesty cut down one hundred thousand men alone?

If he can cut down one hundred thousand alone, aren’t we unnecessary?

We might not even be capable of facing one Parion Empire soldier alone...

Of course, those thoughts were wrong.

Who had trained them?

Luxiu, Bella, Boun, Akao, and countless other geniuses.

Yet because they had never fought the Parion Empire Army themselves, they were beginning to doubt whether they were needed at all.

Hyunsoo understood what was happening.

If I’m too strong, other people feel powerless. Next time, I should be more careful about letting news of my victories spread... My ass. Have they lost their minds?

Hyunsoo faced the 500,000 soldiers.

For the first time, he nearly forgot that he had originally come here to test the 100,000 Massacrer title.

When Hyunsoo stepped onto the dais and looked down at them, Luxiu wore a puzzled expression.

What is he planning to do?

Luxiu and the deputy commanders felt a faint sense of unease.

Was he planning to comfort and encourage them?

But Hyunsoo’s expression was not good.

Then he spoke.

“Pick up your weapons.”

“Yes! Everyone, pick up your weapons—what?”

“Pick up our weapons?”

Their answer had been forceful.

But after that forceful response, none of them could understand.

Hyunsoo picked up a wooden practice sword lying nearby.

“Stop me from this moment on.”

Luxiu sensed that something had gone wrong and shouted, but it was too late.

“Your Majesty...!? What are you saying!?”

Hyunsoo had already jumped down to the ground and begun striking the soldiers standing before him with the wooden sword.

THWAAANG—!!!

Three or four soldiers were sent tumbling across the ground by the tremendous impact.

“Gah!”

“Urgh!”

“What is happening?”

“Do you truly mean for us to attack Your Majesty?”

“How could we attack Your Majesty?”

“Didn’t you defeat one hundred thousand men alone!?”

At those words, Hyunsoo twisted his lips and swung the wooden sword even harder.

THWAAANG—!

Several more soldiers went flying.

“Pathetic fools. Do you know why that army of one hundred thousand was routed?”

“Because Your Majesty is overwhelmingly powerful and strong enough to defeat one hundred thousand men alone!”

One courageous soldier shouted, and Hyunsoo struck him with the wooden sword.

“Not even close.”

THWAAANG—!

Watching him fly away, Hyunsoo said,

“It was because they did not even try, just like you. I cannot defeat an army of one hundred thousand head-on. So why was I able to take them down? There is only one reason. The strength I showed at the beginning scared them into not even trying—just like you are doing right now!”

THWAAANG—!!!

Hyunsoo sent more soldiers flying, and his sharp words shook them.

Just as Hyunsoo said, they had not even tried.

Then Hyunsoo struck at the heart of it.

“Lance. Are you incapable of even trying? Ridiculous. You were there when I first built this territory, weren’t you? I wasn’t strong from the beginning!”

BANG—!

“Gah!”

Lance, the soldier who had been struck and knocked down, remembered those days.

His Majesty had not been this strong back then.

So how had he become so powerful?

Was it not because of tireless effort, because he had never given in to the words, I can’t do it?

GRIT—

Lance forced himself back to his feet.

“Your Majesty, take my sword!”

Then another soldier.

“Paro. Are you going to die alone on the battlefield when you are the only one caring for your elderly mother?”

Paro.

He was still only twenty, a young man who had lived with the sole determination to care for his elderly mother.

GRIP—!

He raised his spear and charged forward.

“Areo, Kopu, Hepa, Rua!”

Most of the soldiers Hyunsoo called by name had known him since the earliest days.

They realized that Hyunsoo had not been strong from the beginning, and they began rushing forward.

But the soldiers as a whole still had doubts.

Why do we have to fight His Majesty five hundred thousand against one?

Why are we doing something this pointless!?

Does His Majesty really think he can win five hundred thousand against one!?

One soldier shouted.

“Your Majesty, no matter what, isn’t five hundred thousand against one ridiculous!?”

Similar cries echoed from all over.

Then Commander Luxiu understood.

At first, he had wondered why His Majesty was doing something so reckless.

Then it hit him.

Could it be?

He realized one chilling truth, raised his sword, and shouted.

“This is an order. Bring down His Majesty! If you cannot bring him down, I will double the intensity of your training!”

Double the training intensity.

To 500,000 soldiers, that was no different from telling them to die.

“Pardon!?”

“Why do we have to do something like this!?”

The aggrieved cry of one soldier represented the feelings of all 500,000.

But Luxiu knew that words from another person could carry greater weight than words spoken directly by Hyunsoo.

“Why do you not understand?”

Everyone listened.

“That you could become the one hundred thousand Parion Empire soldiers who died this time!”

“????”

The soldiers understood.

There were opponents whose strength transcended common sense.

Perhaps before Freng, commander of the Parion Empire’s 1st Knight Order, they could become one hundred thousand people slaughtered at any moment.

Perhaps they could become 500,000 people massacred by a single person.

But Hyunsoo was teaching them through his own actions.

How to survive against someone strong enough to cut down one hundred thousand men.

How not to retreat from a single overwhelming enemy.

“Let’s go.”

One soldier understood his intent and raised his sword.

“Go together!”

Ten soldiers joined forces and began charging.

“Deploy your tactics!”

A hundred soldiers combined their strength and rushed forward.

At the center of them, Hyunsoo taught them as their king—and as someone who cherished them.

[The nation of Hyun’s soldiers’ chance of surviving against someone with transcendent strength increases by 0.4%.]

Any way at all to help them survive a little longer.