I'll be stopping the updates, as many readers are complaining about plot holes.
So ill rewrite it, make them as rigid as original novel, till then its on Hiatus.
I've even wrote till chapter 180. Oh boy lots of edits.
Proof.
Chapter 180: The National Summons
The air in the apartment was thick with the scent of cheap ramen and the humming static of an overworked air conditioner.
Inside his Entry-grade capsule, Shin Youngwoo—known to the world of Satisfy as the Legendary Blacksmith, Grid—was mid-transition, his consciousness drifting in the liminal space between a digital fantasy and the mundane reality of a South Korean suburb.
"Oppa! Come out! Quickly! Right now!"
The voice shattered his trance. It wasn't the usual nagging tone his sister, Sehee, used when he forgot to take out the trash. It was sharp, jagged with an edge of genuine urgency.
Youngwoo's eyes snapped open. He practically tumbled out of the capsule, his legs tangling in the power cables. His mind, conditioned by years of debt-driven paranoia, immediately spiraled into a vortex of worst-case scenarios.
'Is it the loan sharks? Or is it a robber? Wait—did the tax office find out about my recent gold-to-won conversions?'
Despite his skyrocketing success and the millions of won sitting in his bank account, Youngwoo was still, at his core, a man who jumped at his own shadow.
He was the type of person who needed a stiff drink just to walk through a dark alleyway and who reflexively lowered his gaze whenever he saw someone with a "tough" exterior.
But as he stood in his bedroom, his heart hammering against his ribs, a different instinct took hold. It was a primal, protective heat that flared up in his chest. Sehee was his only sister.
"What bastard dares?" Youngwoo roared, his voice cracking with a mix of terror and fury.
He scanned the room for a weapon. His eyes landed on a heavy, stainless-steel clothes hanger. He snatched it up, gripping the cold metal so hard his knuckles turned white.
"I will kill anyone who puts their hands on my sister!"
He kicked his bedroom door open with a resounding bang, charging into the living room like a crazed berserker. He was ready to face a knife-wielding intruder, a gang of thugs, or even a swat team.
He swung the hanger upward, prepared to bring it down on the skull of whoever was threatening his home.
Then, he froze.
The scene in the living room was not one of violence, but of surreal, high-society elegance. Sitting on his modest, slightly sagging couch was a woman who looked like she had been photoshopped into reality.
Her skin was like polished marble, her eyes sharp and intelligent, and her presence so commanding that the cramped apartment suddenly felt like a throne room.
It was Yura.
The "Jewel of South Korea." The 5th ranked player in the world. The granddaughter of the Chairman of the Daejin Group empire.
She was calmly sipping a cup of milk tea.
"Hello," Yura said. Her voice was like silk, carrying a hint of suppressed amusement as her eyes traveled from Youngwoo's wild hair down to the stainless-steel clothes hanger held high above his head.
Youngwoo stood paralyzed. He blinked once, twice, then rubbed his eyes with his free hand, certain he was experiencing a post-capsule hallucination.
It didn't make sense. Why was the most famous woman in the country sitting in a place that smelled faintly of laundry detergent and old sneakers?
"Don't you really care for your sister?" Yura added, her gaze lingering on the improvised weapon. "That's quite the… armament you have there."
"Oppa, what… what on earth are you doing?" Sehee sighed from the kitchen doorway. Her face was flushed a deep, agonizing crimson.
"Can you please not advertise yourself as a sis-con the moment a guest arrives? It's humiliating. Put the hanger away."
"Eh? Ehhh?!" Youngwoo stammered, his brain finally catching up to his eyes. "Why is… why is the Jewel of South Korea sitting in our house? Did we win a lottery? Is this a hidden camera show?"
He slowly lowered the hanger, feeling the sudden, crushing weight of his own absurdity.
The front door, which Youngwoo had forgotten to lock in his panic, swung open again. Arthur walked in, followed closely by his sister, Soha.
Youngwoo looked at Arthur, expecting to see the same shock reflected on his friend's face. But Arthur didn't look surprised at all. He looked bored—the way a person looks when they arrive at a mandatory dental appointment. He was carrying a bag of snacks, which he handed to Soha without a word.
"Arthur. Soha. It's been a long time," Yura greeted them.
The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly. The "celebrity" aura Yura usually projected for the cameras vanished, replaced by something warmer, more easygoing—the posture of the upper echelon vanished. She didn't look like a pop star or a CEO anymore, she felt like a girl next door.
"Five years? Six? I lost track after the third charity gala," Arthur replied. He pulled out a kitchen chair, turned it backward, and sat down with a heavy thud.
Youngwoo's jaw dropped. The room felt smaller than ever. On one side was Youngwoo (Grid), the "hidden" legendary blacksmith who had spent his youth dodging debt collectors. On the other was Arthur, the "Silver Knight" who had recently made headlines for single-handedly massacring 13 pope of Rebecca's Church, Drevigo. And between them was Yura, the 8th Servant of Yatan.
"Arthur, I should thank you," Yura said, her tone turning serious. "Because you decided to yield the quest of guarding Yatan Temple to me, I was able to secure my position and eventually become the 8th Servant. I owe you a debt of gratitude for the opening."
"Don't mention it," Arthur waved it off dismissively. "You were always better at the political side. Navigating the church of Yatan requires a level of patience for bureaucracy and cultish nonsense. Besides, You are the pride of South Korea, Rank 5. I bet that quest has some serious drawnack, yes?"
"Hah. Yeah, my 2000 faith and 2 levels were on the line. I was seriously scared that time, losing means I'll have demoted to rank 6." Yura admitted, that time during Doran's quest, she got that for good.
Then Yura's eyes sparked with a glint and she said, "It seems the army life made you more of a 'hit first, talk later' kind of guy."
Youngwoo looked between the two of them, his head spinning. "Wait… wait. You two know each other? Like, in real life? Since when?"
"Our families belong to the business circles of South Korea, Youngwoo-Oppa," Soha explained, emerging from the kitchen with a plate of fresh cookies. She looked at Youngwoo with a sympathetic smile.
"My brother is the heir of our family business, Kim Agrotech. Yura-unni is the heir to the Daejin Group. They grew up attending the same boring meetings and expensive galas since they were in elementary school."
Youngwoo felt a sudden, sharp pang of reality. He had known Arthur was wealthy—the man didn't seem to worry about money and possessed a quiet confidence that only comes from security. But seeing him casually trade barbs with Yura made Youngwoo's "800-million-won car" feel like a plastic toy.
He realized that while he had climbed out of a hole to reach the surface, people like Arthur and Yura had been born on the mountain peak.
"Let's skip the pleasantries and get to business," Yura said. She set her teacup down on the table with a precise clack. Her tone was now sharp and professional.
"I'm not here as a family friend or a fellow player. I'm here representing the South Korean government. Formally, I am asking both of you to join the national team for the first Satisfy World Championship."
Youngwoo blinked, the gears in his head turning slowly. "National team? You mean that event the news has been screaming about? May 1st?"
"Yes," Yura explained. "For decades, South Korea was the undisputed powerhouse of e-sports. But in Satisfy, we've become something of a laughingstock on the global stage. Our high-rankers are scattered, and as a collective, we are falling behind the United States, Russia, and China. The government wants to use this championship to revive our national image. They want gold medals, Youngwoo-ssi. They want dominance."
"But you're 5th in the world," Youngwoo argued, crossing his arms. "You're practically a god in the game. Can't you just go in there and win everything yourself?"
Yura sighed, a rare look of genuine frustration crossing her perfect features. It was the first time Youngwoo had seen her look human.
"It's not that simple. I'm 5th in the rankings, yes, but those rankings are based on level. They don't account for the 'combat monsters'—the players whose control defies logic. There are at least seven people in the world I cannot beat in a pure 1v1 PvP duel. Kraugel, Zibal, Chris, Agnus, Hurent, Bondre, and Hao. And that's not even counting unlisted monsters like you two."
Youngwoo tilted his head, a confused expression on his face. "Wait… are you saying you're… useless?"
The room went deathly silent.
Sehee and Soha froze in the kitchen doorway, eyes wide. Arthur choked on a cookie, coughing into his hand.
Yura's eyebrows twitched. Her grip on her tea cup tightened until her knuckles turned white. For a moment, the temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.
"I am the 8th Servant of Yatan," Yura said through gritted teeth, her voice trembling with suppressed annoyance.
"I am a target precision specialist. My magic and sniping capabilities are top-tier. But I cannot win a Siege, a Boss Raid, or a Pet Marathon alone. We have no one in Korea who can compete with the top tier in those specific categories. If we want to win the overall trophy, I need more than just myself. I need heavy hitters. I need monsters."
Youngwoo, oblivious to the fact that he had just insulted one of the most powerful women in the world, scratched his chin. "Is Kraugel really that great? I keep hearing his name."
He looked toward Arthur, seeking a second opinion.
"He's beyond common sense," Yura answered for him, her voice regaining its composure. "He calculates damage, cooldowns, and movement patterns in real-time. He doesn't just play the game; he deconstructs it. He is a genius of geniuses. He has never lost a 1v1. Not once."
"Arthur, isn't Kraugel the guy you have targeted?" Youngwoo asked. He meant it as a question of rivalry, but in the context of the room, it sounded like he was accusing Arthur of being obsessed.
Arthur leaned back, his eyes narrowing into slits. The casual air he had been projecting evaporated, replaced by the cold, predatory aura of a high-level predator.
"Hyung, I told you before. I'm not 'chasing' Kraugel because I have a crush on his rank," Arthur stated firmly. "I'm chasing the 'Pioneer' title, Which currently Kraugel holds. Kraugel has been monopolizing the most important information in the game since Day One. He's the gatekeeper of the world's secrets."
"What information?" Yura asked. Her curiosity was piqued. As a top ranker, information was the only currency that mattered more than gold. She hated the idea of a gap in her knowledge.
Arthur looked at Yura, then at Youngwoo. He seemed to debate whether to speak, then shrugged. "The Tower of Wisdom."
Yura leaned forward. "The Tower of Wisdom? I've searched the Great Library in the Saharan Empire. I've gone through the archives of the Yatan Church. There is no mention of such a place."
"That's because it's not in the books," Arthur said. "The title of Pioneer allows access to a hidden location—a sanctuary where the nine strongest beings in the history of the West Continent's humanity reside. These aren't just NPCs. They are the 'Legends' of previous generations. Legendary magicians, giants, an older generation Sword Saint… and most importantly, the only Dragon Slayer."
Yura sat in stunned silence. The tea in her cup was now cold. She had been playing Satisfy for over a year at the highest possible level, interacting with dukes and demons, and she had never heard even a whisper of a "Dragon Slayer" or a "Tower of Wisdom."
"A Dragon Slayer..." Youngwoo muttered. As a blacksmith, the word 'Dragon' made his heart race. The materials he could get from a dragon... the things he could forge...
"Kraugel has been licking that sweetness alone for too long," Arthur said, a predatory grin spreading across his face. "He's been getting tutored by the legends of the past while the rest of us are fighting over scraps in the dirt.
Chapter 181: The Architect of Legends
The air in the Shin family living room had turned heavy, saturated with information that felt like it belonged in a top-secret intelligence dossier rather than a casual conversation.
Yura, who had prided herself on being at the pinnacle of Satisfy's knowledge base, found herself leaning forward, her tea forgotten and cooling on the table.
"Besides, your info about Agnus, Hurent, and Hao seems to be old," Arthur said, leaning back with a casualness that belied the weight of his words.
Youngwoo's eyes widened. "Old? What do you mean? They're the top rankers!"
Arthur gestured toward the window, as if looking back at the distant Gravelmark Mountains. "In my last hunting trip to the Saharan Empire, I ran into Hao. He was deep into a hidden SS-rank class-change quest. It's a path that will turn him into a Half-Draconian. His physical stats and magic resistance will soar to the point where common rankers won't be able to scratch him. Though," Arthur added with a smirk, "I killed him easily enough when he tried to interfere with my grind."
Yura's heart skipped a beat. Hao, the pride of China, had been soloed by the man sitting across from her? And Arthur spoke of it as if he'd simply stepped on an annoying bug.
"As for Hurent," Arthur continued, "he's not just a warrior. He has a Rare-grade Growth class called 'Aura Master.' It's a sleeper class. If you invest seven or eight Satisfy years into it, it evolves into a Legendary rank. I was actually offered this class at the beginning of my satisfy journey, but I declined. The grind is too slow for my taste."
"You declined a path to a Legendary class?" Youngwoo gasped, his heart aching at the thought of such "waste."
"I have my own path, Hyung," Arthur said, his gaze shifting to a darker intensity. "But the real monster you should worry about is Agnus. He didn't just find a hidden class; he found the shadow of the apocalypse. He has an Epic-grade Growth class: Baal's Contractor."
The name "Baal" sent a visible shudder through Yura. As the 8th Servant of Yatan, she knew the hierarchy of the demonic realm better than anyone. Baal was the 1st Great Demon, the ruler of the first level of the thirty-three hells, and the absolute monarch of all demonkind.
"Agnus is the contractor of humanity's greatest enemy," Arthur explained. "The more cruel he is, the more mass slaughter he performs, the faster the class upgrades toward Legendary rank. He can command death knights and liches at ten times the capacity of a normal Necromancer. He isn't just a player; he's a one-man army."
"Oh my god..." Yura whispered. She had imagined she was strong, but the thought of Agnus—a man known for his chaotic and violent tendencies—wielding the power of the 1st Great Demon was terrifying.
"And it gets worse," Arthur said, his voice dropping to a low, chilling register. "Imagine the previous generation of Legends—the ones who died and were buried. Agnus has the power to dig up their corpses and turn them into his puppets. If he succeeds, he won't just be a player. He'll be a walking disaster."
Youngwoo felt a cold sweat break out. "Who... who could he actually bring back?"
Arthur began to list them, each name sounding like a hammer blow to their morale. "Lantier, the legendary assassin. Gis, the legendary miner. Povia, the legendary archer. Kruger, the legendary tailor. Alex, the Demon Slayer. Mumud, Braham's greatest disciple. Plaud, the Great Magician. And the two most dangerous: Madra, the Undefeated King, and Braham, the Legendary Great Magician."
The room went silent. Nine Legends under the thumb of one erratic player. The sheer despair of the thought made Yura's knees feel weak. If Agnus achieved even half of that list, the balance of the world would be permanently shattered.
Arthur turned his gaze to Yura. "And that brings us to you, Yura. You're standing at a crossroads. Yatan is the God of Darkness, the progenitor of all demons. The path you're on will eventually give you a choice: become a Half-Demon."
Yura's breath hitched. She had suspected as much from her recent quest logs.
"If you accept," Arthur warned, "you leave humanity behind forever. You become a creature of the hells. But if you decline the offer of the Yatan Church, there is a ninety percent possibility you will trigger a hidden chain to acquire the Legendary class: Demon Slayer."
Yura stared at Arthur in shock. He wasn't just playing the game; he was reading the very blueprint of its destiny. "How... how do you know all this?"
"I told you," Arthur smiled cryptically. "I'm looking for the Tower. Information is the only currency that matters there." Arthur shift the reason of his previous life knowledge to Tower.
Youngwoo, however, was stuck on a different detail. "Arthur, why wasn't Pagma on your list? If Agnus can dig up Legends, surely he'd want the legendary blacksmith?"
"Because Pagma was the previous Baal's Contractor," Arthur revealed, causing Youngwoo to jump. "Pagma sold his soul to Baal to gain the power to save the world from the Great Demons. It's a tragic irony. Right now, Pagma's soul is likely being tortured in the 1st Hell. Hyung, your class quest for 'Pagma's Successor' isn't just about making items. It's eventually going to lead you to a raid against the 1st Great Demon to free your predecessor's soul."
Youngwoo's face went white. "I have to raid... the ruler of Hell? I'm just a blacksmith!"
"A blacksmith who can forge the weapons good enough to fight the 1st great demon," Arthur reminded him.
"Enough knowledge distribution," Arthur said, clapping his hands together. "Let's talk about the competition. I'm in. But Hyung, you're still hesitating?"
Youngwoo shook his head. "I don't want to disclose my identity. If people find out I'm Grid, the blacksmith who's been making all those items, I'll never have a moment of peace. I have to decline."
Arthur caught Yura's eye and gave a subtle, practiced wink towards his Wallet—the look of a man who knew exactly where Youngwoo's "on" switch was located.
Yura, a genius of corporate negotiation, instantly shifted gears. "Youngwoo-ssi, I forgot to mention the rewards. Aside from the national prestige, the government is offering a cash prize for every gold medal earned. It's 200 million won per medal."
Youngwoo's ears practically perked up. The "sis-con" and "timid gamer" disappeared, replaced by the greedy "Money-Grubbing Blacksmith."
"Hyung," Arthur added, leaning in like a devil on his shoulder. "Think about that 10-billion-won building you want to buy for the family. Three gold medals... that's 600 million won falling from the sky just for playing a game you're already playing. You can wear a helmet or a mask to hide your face. It's a win-win."
The internal struggle lasted all of three seconds. Youngwoo slammed his fist on the table. "I'll do it! For the sake of South Korea! And for the sake of... South Korean real estate!"
"Good," Arthur said, the predatory glint returning to his eyes. "Yura, what are your events?"
"I'll participate in the Siege Battle, Target Practice, and the Boss Raid," Yura replied.
Arthur nodded. "Then here is the plan. Youngwoo-hyung will take Boss Raid, Item Production, and the Pet Marathon. I will take Boss Raid, Target Practice, and PvP."
"Wait a second!" Youngwoo protested. "Item production is one thing, but the Pet Marathon? I don't even have a pet! Huroi has a Drake, and most top rankers have Drakes. Am I supposed to run the race on my own two feet?"
"And the production game!" Youngwoo continued, grumbling. "My luck is legendary for being absolute trash. I make normal items out of precious metals! How am I supposed to win a production competition against the world's best?"
Arthur laughed and reached into his pocket, pulling out a shimmering silver chain with a green gemstone. "Don't worry about your luck. I'll lend you my Lucky Necklace. It provides a flat +50 to the Good Luck stat. It's a hidden item I found in the north. With this, your 'bad luck' will be neutralized."
Grid stared at Arthur, his eyes turning into gold coins. "+50 Good Luck? The game really is unfair!"
"And as for the pet," Arthur whispered, "I have a plan. Trust me, you'll have the most unique Pet in the history of the world championship."
"The Yatan Church is attacking the Tzedakah Guild's territory," Yura said. "The 4th Servant Naberus and 5th Servant Balak are leading the charge. I actually did you a favor by calling you out of the game, Arthur. The guild is in chaos."
Arthur stood up, his casual demeanor evaporating into a cold, sharp aura. The pressure he emitted was so intense that even Sehee and Soha, coming from the kitchen with cookies, stopped in their tracks.
"The 4th and 5th Servants?" Arthur checked his watch. "They aren't threats; they're experience packets. Hyung, let's log back in. My road to Level 300 just got a lot shorter."
Yura blinked. "Road to 300? Arthur, the highest ranker is Kraugel at 297. Zibal is 289. Are you saying..."
"Arthur is currently level 293," Youngwoo said, a hint of pride in his voice for his friend. "He's planning to hit 300 and take the 'Pioneer' title before the National Competition even starts."
Yura stood in stunned silence as the two men headed back to their respective capsules. If Kim Arthur—the heir to a multi-billion won empire and a combat monster currently ranked higher than the world's public #2—actually registered on the leaderboard, it wouldn't just be a news story. It would be a global tsunami.