[A thousand-year-old chill has penetrated deep into your bones.]

[Your heart is frozen.]

The space itself was the last safeguard. The glacier dungeon, which resealed as soon as Grid entered, didn’t tolerate any living thing.

‘There is a reason why Pagma selected this place.’

The possibility was infinitely small, but if the Sword Grave were discovered by robbers, Braham’s body would still be safe.

[You have resisted.]

[Your body temperature is maintained due to the effect of Valhalla of Infinite Affection.]

‘Pagma...’ Grid felt a sense of compassion as he watched the notification window. The feelings that Pagma had when he constructed the Sword Grave would’ve been similar to Khan’s when he made Valhalla. However, Pagma’s heart wasn’t conveyed to Braham due to the great sin Pagma had committed. After Braham confirmed that his body was safe, he only felt relieved and still hated Pagma.

Of course, Pagma would’ve known it would be like this. He must have known that he would never be forgiven by his friend whom he had killed with his own hands.

‘He must’ve been lonely.’

Pagma had died with pain and regrets. Grid had no intention of defending or understanding Pagma, but he couldn’t help feeling a bit bitter. However, these thoughts only lasted a short time. Grid wanted to quickly check the information of his newly acquired skill.

[Mineral Creation]

[-Create new minerals by mixing multiple minerals. The cooperation of a magician is required for the skill.

Skill Usage Conditions: Sign a research contract with a magician.

Duration required for the skill research: ?

Number of minerals that can be created: 1.]

‘As expected.’

Grid thought of pavranium when he heard the name ‘Mineral Creation.’ Pavranium was the strongest mineral that Pagma and Braham had created after studying together for a long time. It had infinite durability and its own will.

‘The mineral I create may have other characteristics.’

The skill stated that a new mineral would be created by mixing together several minerals. It was highly likely that the characteristics of the mineral would vary depending on which minerals were mixed.

‘By the way, isn’t the description pretty ambiguous?’

It was disconcerting that the period of the skill research was unknown. It was possible to mix several minerals, but the exact number of minerals wasn’t specified. Braham sensed Grid’s questions and explained, -The number of minerals mixed in and the duration of the research will be determined by the level of the magician. It is impossible to guess accurately.

One thing was for sure.

-Signing a contract with this legendary body will allow you to create new minerals by mixing many types of minerals. It will also be fairly quick.

Braham had experience creating pavranium with Pagma. It wasn’t difficult to create a new mineral once a person involved had gained some experience.

“You sure are dependable.” Grid smiled. The chill that froze his bones and heart didn’t interfere with his smile.

Then Braham spoke unexpected words, -However, I’m not a legendary great magician right now. I’m just a hollow shell with little knowledge. I can’t help with your research.

“Isn’t it fine with just knowledge?”

-I am a magician. My knowledge is based on magic, so I need magic to implement my knowledge.

“Ah...”

This meant Grid couldn’t create a second pavranium with Braham until Braham’s soul was restored. Braham told the disappointed Grid, -I remember there was a magician among your subordinates?

How was there only one person? Grid had thousands of magicians as his subordinates. However, Grid knew the person Braham was referring to—Great Magician Ashur. He was the only person who met the ‘minimum’ qualifications to be considered a magician by Braham.

-If you cooperate with him, you can start your research right now.

Grid scoffed at Braham’s words and said decisively, “I will definitely do my research with you.”

-How annoying. I’m already trembling at the thought of doing research with an idiot like you... Well, it can’t be helped if that is what you want. Later, kiss my feet and say thank you. Braham’s soul shook. It seemed that he was happy.

“I understand. It is easy to kiss your instep.”

-H-Hey, look at this crazy guy! I don’t need your kiss!

“What are you saying...?”

Either way, it was useless to talk about it now. Braham had to restore his soul to become a legendary magician again, and the time period required wasn’t short.

“Well, let’s stop talking. Let’s concentrate on your recovery until the day we make the gravurnium that surpasses pavranium.”

-Gravurnium?

“It is the name of the new mineral we will create. Gravurnium, named after Grid and Braham.”

-Then where does the ‘vur’ come from?

“That...” Grid’s mind was stuck. He felt a sense of shame because he had subconsciously thought of ‘gravure’.

‘Am I sexually frustrated these days?’

Would it be better to name the new mineral something simple and nice like Overgeared Stone? No, he couldn’t. He wanted to add Braham’s name to the mineral because he would be making it with Braham.

-?? Braham’s face reddened as he couldn’t understand the scene of Grid shaking his head alone.

[The return scroll has been used.]

Grid’s field of view blinked.

***

-It’s okay. Braham was slightly impressed as he returned to Reinhardt Castle after a long time. Then he found the portrait of Grid decorating the castle lobby. -It is a good picture. It is 100 times better than the real thing.

“I know.”

-Why are you blushing? It is natural to have a portrait of the king in the castle. Do you need to feel ashamed?

“I’m just ashamed to have my squid-like face on display.”

-Hah? Compared to me, you’re a squid alright. As for human males...

Just as Grid was feeling embarrassed about the large portrait, Lord returned from training and discovered him. “Father!”

Lord was ready to literally dive into Grid’s arms, but wasn’t he too big for that now? So, he paused, conscious of the surrounding gazes, and then bowed politely. “Did your trip turn out well? I was very worried.”

Grid fell to his knees and hugged Lord. “Thank you for your concern. I returned safely.”

“Ah... My clothes are dirty.”

“It is natural to have dirt on your clothing.”

Certainly, Grid and Lord were different from ordinary royal families. Their clothes were always stained with dirt and sweat. Grid was a blacksmith and hunted, while Lord trained in many things. It was unavoidable.

-Your son is correct.

After taking a bath with Lord and spending time with Irene in the bedroom... omitted… Grid returned to his office. Braham, who had remained silent during Grid’s time with his family, finally opened his mouth. He was somewhat excited. -I felt he was a bit unusual from the first time I saw him, but your son is a thousand times more talented than you.

“Huhu. My son is a genius above geniuses.”

Even hedgehogs had beautiful babies. Grid was naturally proud of Lord, who was beautiful and had a talent that represented the continent. Braham spoke meaningful words to the grinning Grid, -Don’t teach him magic yet.

“Huh? Why? My Lord is so great and good at everything that I think he will soon learn magic.”

-Don’t teach him anyway.

“Why?”

-I don’t want to say it. It is frustrating and annoying to explain until you understand it.

“Ah, is that so?”

Just as Braham trusted Grid, besides the intelligence part, Grid also trusted Braham. Grid thought Braham had a deeper meaning behind this and immediately told Lord to stop studying magic.

“Then, the next thing...”

The only thing left was for Grid to be the demon king. Grid placed the things he had prepared in advance on the desk. He started to think about what to create using Item Creation, which could be used freely on the National Competition’s server.

***

The host of the 4th National Competition was China. As the National Competition on the 3rd of August approached, one column was making big waves in China. It was a column written by an old reporter who had been engaged in the e-sports industry for 63 years.

[Koreans will learn humility.]

[We know that South Korea is one of the smaller countries in Northeast Asia. Until the release of Satisfy, South Korea hadn’t been an important country for the majority of Chinese players, and some had not even known it existed.

However, for e-sports fans, South Korea is a historic country. South Korea was not only the birthplace of e-sports, but the majority of pro gamers called ‘legends’ from decades ago were Koreans. Yes, they were legends decades ago. In the end, what happened to South Korea? Now South Korea is just a part of history. There aren’t many people wondering about the e-sports nation, and the time when Koreans played an active role in the e-sports world was already decades ago.

60 years ago…

I still vividly remember the first time I visited South Korea. I can’t forget the imposing sight of the Korean pro gamers who swept the trophies in all game genres. For my youthful self, they were heavenly gods I couldn’t forget.

What about now? South Korea has fallen. Their last heroes were Faker, Wolf, and Bang. The Korean professional gamers being active in e-sports is just the distant past.

However, the South Koreans are still proud. They believe they are still a nation of e-sports and believe that the hero Grid will support the country alone forever.

I want to ask them. How many heroes do we have in China? How many heroes are there in the United States? Don’t they know that the Grid they praise as a hero is only an individual? South Korea has a limit. I have to admit that they are a nation that gives birth to heroes every few decades, and I can’t deny that Grid is supporting South Korea in the present day. But can the age of Grid last forever?

E-sports countries like China and the United States have built up infrastructure based on enormous capital. This infrastructure produces dozens of new heroes every year. But South Korea? They are in a different situation.

In a time when e-sports started to revive, the South Korean government was incompetent (at least in this area) enough to define games as a ‘drug.’ South Korea is an insular and outdated country. They hurriedly built infrastructure after Satisfy was released, but they don’t have the know-how and they have to go through all types of trials and errors.

Unlike us, South Korea can’t continue raising heroes and has to rely on one ‘genius’ hero, just as they did in the past. They are unaware of reality. South Korea believes they will once again reach the peak of e-sports.

This reporter thinks that Grid declared he won’t attend the National Competition this year as a wake-up call to the people. Grid will learn humility when South Korea loses this year.]

China’s public opinion was boiling over because of Grid. They started to praise Grid as the hero of the ‘small country’ they had ignored so much. Their superficial reason for praising Grid was the awe they had for the ‘thoughtful hero’, but what was the reality of the situation?

China was joyful because they thought that they could get first or second at the National Competition in Grid’s absence. As the host country, the billions of Chinese people were hoping that China would do as well as they expected.

Then a change happened. In the Battlefield mini-game that was held before the National Competition, there were no Chinese survivors. Yet one of the survivors was Korean. It was Coke—the young blood who had the 10 meritorious retainers as his mentors.