It rained. It was a rain of fire that covered the entire south.

“Ah... Ahhh...”

Flames appeared in the pupils of the people of the Cho Kingdom, who ran out of their homes and looked up at the sky. The animals in the heat-filled forest stopped their activities and looked up at the sky. The beasts made a ruckus.

“God...! Our god...!”

The people cried. The rain of fire wasn’t a disaster and they weren’t crying out of fear. Both humans and beasts welcomed the rain of fire from the sky. Their arms widened as they embraced the rain. They instinctively felt that this was a blessing of the old god, who had been long forgotten.

[The protection of the red phoenix will be imbued in all things in the south.]

[The level and stats of all beings living in the south are greatly increased and recovery has risen.]

[Some of the weakened sacred creatures have regained strength.]

[The scattered traces of the false myths are burned.]

[All those living in the south have become hostile to the Hwan Kingdom.]

[The news isn’t transmitted to the three kings of Pa, Xing, and Gaya due to the interference of the Hwan Kingdom.]

“...Grid!”

“...!”

In the capital of the Cho Kingdom, Kars...

Grid had been overcome with emotions after knocking down Garam only to come to his senses. He left behind the updated notification windows and looked back to see the Cho king and his ministers on their knees and bowing to him.

“Grid, thanks to you, the Cho Kingdom was protected and the red phoenix resurrected. I would like to thank you on behalf of all the people of the Cho Kingdom.”

The Cho king was unreserved—no matter how much grace he had received, the Cho king’s attitude was beyond the attitude that should be shown to another king. The kneeling man was hurriedly pulled up by Grid.

“I was fighting for myself. Additionally, didn’t you fight with me?” Grid’s attitude was also polite. If he wasn’t polite to the kneeling Cho king while his people were watching, he would’ve insulted the entire Cho Kingdom.

The people roared.

“He is so humble.”

“It is completely different from the yangbans.”

“This is what a real god looks like.”

Change was coming.

[The Cho king and all the people of the Cho Kingdom are deifying you. Your deity stat has risen by one.] It was an achievement that exceeded expectations.

Originally, the deity stat was one where it was hard to gain a point in half a year. Now within a few days of coming to the East Continent, three points had already been accumulated. Furthermore...

[The Cho king and all the people of the Cho Kingdom are deifying Braham. Braham’s deity stat has risen by one.]

Braham’s deity stat also rose. It was natural. Grid wouldn’t have been safe without Braham’s help and the red phoenix wouldn’t have been resurrected. Braham’s majesty that overwhelmed the yangbans would be talked about and praised by the Cho Kingdom forever.

“Hoh...?” Braham sensed his change and responded with interest. He had seen the possibility of regaining eternal life.

“In the future, you should treat others well for your own sake,” Grid rebuked him.

“Bah.” It was unpleasant but Braham didn’t hate it. He remembered the joy and emotions he felt after being saved by Grid. He realized how those in power should act and was also changing.

Divine flames sprang up. The red phoenix appeared in front of the people after opening its eyes. A guardian god born of the aspirations of humanity—the shockwave caused by the emergence of a real god was great. Hundreds of thousands of people in the Cho Kingdom felt infinite compassion from the warm flames and shed tears of emotion, bowing their heads.

“Please don’t forgive those who dared to forget a god...!”

The Cho king was sobbing.

He couldn’t raise his head. The 10 meritorious retainers silently gulped because they were overwhelmed by the presence of the red phoenix while Braham’s pride was greatly wounded and he gritted his teeth. In the silence...

『 Noble one. 』

The red phoenix opened its mouth. It faced Grid, not anyone else.

『 With your courage and sacrifice, you have defeated the fake gods and returned the south to its rightful place. You have created a crack in the providence forced by Hanul. 』

Everyone’s eyes were focused on Grid. In particular, Hera and the other players were looking at Grid with respect.

『 Thank you. You vowed to fight against the providence that even us sacred creatures couldn’t change. 』

『 I am a god who exists for the protection of the south... I can’t walk with you but I’ll watch you and cheer you on from afar. 』

『 I admire you. 』

The divine flames that made up the red phoenix scattered in all directions. The flames that will spread throughout the south will bless all things and burn out the unclean.

[★Hidden Quest ★ ‘Red Phoenix Guardian’ has been cleared.]

[The Red Phoenix Breath is absorbed into your body as a quest clear reward.]

[The 999th Red Phoenix Heart has been acquired as a quest clear reward.]

[The 999th Red Phoenix Heart has been absorbed by the 9th Red Phoenix Heart already in your body.]

[The 9th Red Phoenix Heart has grown to the next level. Health recovery rate has increased from 20% to 30%.]

[A new field effect has been added to Storm of the Fire God.]

[Affinity with ‘Blue Tiger’ has increased by 50.]

[Affinity with ’Red Phoenix’ has reached the maximum.]

[The red phoenix will cherish your equally along with the land it defends.]

[Red Phoenix Breath Lv. 1]

[Once activated, health recovery rate is doubled and the skill ‘Fire of Life’ will be activated.

* This skill can be stacked with Incarnation of Fire but not Incarnation of Lightning, Incarnation of Earth, and Incarnation of Death.

Duration: 10 minutes.

Cooldown Time: 3 hours.

Resource Consumption: None.]

[Fire of Life]

[Burn the health of the target to restore your health.

Cooldown Time: 3 hours.

Resource Consumption: None.]

“...!”

Incarnation of Fire was a skill attached to the Red Phoenix Bow currently owned by Jishuka, increasing health recovery rate and stamina recovery by 90%. It also prevented stamina from falling below 5 points. Just like when Grid created the Blue Dragon Boots and gained Incarnation of Lightning, Red Phoenix’s Breath caused his health recovery rate to exponentially rise.

‘Incarnation of Fire is a persistent passive... as the level of Red Phoenix Breath increases, the longer the duration will be. Won’t it be like I’m in a state of always taking potions?’

Generally speaking, the health recovery rate per second was two points per 100 stamina points. Please note that the health recovery per second didn’t increase with the stats awakening. Unlike the other additional effects, the health recovery per second growth rate wasn’t affected by the effect of titles, skills, and items that players gained as they grew.

Grid alone could raise the health recovery per second rate many times through the blessings of the gods imbued in Greed, the Red Phoenix Breath, the Storm of the Fire God, and the Queen of Fire power embedded in the Rune of Gluttony. The effect of Duke of Virtue increased his stamina stat by 35% and there were a number of items that could raise the health recovery per second rate.

It meant that if Grid intentionally focused on raising health recovery per second, he could temporarily restore thousands of health per second. This was why there was no health recovery per second growth in the stats awakening effect. If even health recovery could be increased like other factors, potions would gradually lose their value and this would cause all sorts of problems.

‘I’m certain. Right now, I have to activate Storm of the Fire God and the Red Phoenix Breath to keep in top shape but I can always stay in great shape with Incarnation of Fire.’

Every second would be at the level of taking an advanced potion. If he activated the Storm of the Fire God as well, it would be like taking the highest quality potions The S.A Group’s effort to keep the health recovery per second in check was ineffective and a player possessing the health recovery per second of a boss monster was born.

“......”

Grid measured the possibilities and was speechless for a moment. He felt like he was increasingly becoming a monster...

He was scared of himself.

“...?”

Grid was shaking his head when he belatedly sensed a strange atmosphere. The Cho king, the people of the Cho Kingdom, Hera and the players, and even the 10 meritorious retainers, were staring at him silently. It was with a bemused expression.

“Why are their souls gone?” Grid asked Braham, who was standing beside him, in a whisper.

“It is amazing for a man to be revered by a god,” Braham replied.

Then Grid’s heart was overwhelmed as he recalled the words of the red phoenix again. Yes, he wasn’t going to be a monster. He was on the right path.

***

At the VIP room provided by the Cho king...

Grid and the 10 meritorious retainers met after a long time and shared their stories. All of them had enjoyed adventures over the past few months and they naturally exchanged information.

“So how did you end up sabotaging Baal’s ritual?”

Grid was particularly interested in Yura’s adventure in hell. The help he received from her at that time had been so intense. Yura replied like it was inconsequential, “It was a coincidence. I was on a quest to wipe out the demonkin nearby and was disturbed by the ritual.”

“Doesn’t Baal rule the 1st Hell? Are you already on a quest to hunt in the top hell?”

“Yes, it was by chance.”

“......”

It wasn’t a joke. Grid stared at Yura but her expression was so consistent that Grid didn’t dig deeper.

“Don’t sacrifice yourself for me.”

“I won’t.”

“......”

She had answered too easily to be believed. However, it would be nagging if he said anything more.

Grid confirmed that the cooldown of Red Phoenix Breath had returned and once again activated it. Vantner was intrigued. “How is it? Did your skill experience rise this time?”

“It didn’t rise.”

Grid’s expression was complicated. He had already activated Red Phoenix Breath twice but the skill experience hadn’t improved. It seemed that Jishuka’s opinion was correct. It was agreed that in order to raise the skill level of Red Phoenix Breath, he needed to consume a Red Phoenix Breath.

“Damn... how can I chew on a lump of stone?”

Grid’s expression was weary. The Red Phoenix Breath might be a divine material but it was a mineral after all. There was even a burning fire inside it. The taste was unimaginable.

“Eat it once. Once it’s confirmed, I’ll ask for the Red Phoenix Breath as compensation for the gold medal.” Jishuka smiled and urged.

Her playful smile made Grid feel even more complicated. “You are serious...”

Should he really eat this? Grid had a complicated expression as he pulled out the Red Phoenix Breath dropped by Garam. Was it possible to directly eat it in this form? The atmosphere remained cordial as Grid hesitated.

Time passed and the group separated. Now the 10 meritorious retainers had to return to the real world to participate in the National Competition while Grid had to plan for his future adventures.

Deep in the night...

Grid turned his head and looked up at the sky, breathing in the air of the Cho Kingdom that seemed clearer, perhaps due to the red phoenix’s blessing.

“Do you intend to resurrect the rest of the auspicious beasts?” Braham dressed in Eastern clothing was seen. The gorgeous purple robes accentuated Braham’s shining appearance. “You shouldn’t overdo it right now. You should return to the West Continent while trying to gauge the level of the other yangbans that Harang warned you about.”

“I think so as well. Sometimes rest is more helpful.”

“Yes.”

Rest was important. During the break, he could check and maintain himself in order to provide a springboard for a bigger leap forward. Above all, Grid wanted to see Irene.

‘I don’t think a new epic is likely to be written right now...’

As his level progressed, his growth seemed to slow and so did his epics. It was clear based on the fact that there wasn’t an epic despite killing four yangbans and resurrecting the red phoenix.

“However, I have to meet those kids before leaving.”

He was referring to Blue Tiger, Tosun, and the other sacred beasts. Grid had believed he needed to resurrect the red phoenix due to their memories and they believed he would be the one to do it.

“Would you like to accompany me?”

Grid reached out to Braham. He no longer worried about Braham’s safety because Braham was much stronger than himself.

“Now you are relying on me, the strongest magician of all time?”

Braham gave a rare smile and grabbed Grid’s hand. The quiet scenery blessed the reunion of the two men.

***

『 The players of the 5th National Competition are entering! 』

This year, the National Competition had suffered from a number of crises. It was because Grid took away all the attention from the National Competition. He killed a half-god, wrote a new epic, and resurrected an old god called the red phoenix. It was no wonder that attention was focused on Grid, who made a ridiculous feat every few days. The backlash was that interest in the National Competition was reduced.

Still, it was fortunate. Fortunately, the ratings for the opening ceremony of the 5th National Competition wasn’t much different from the previous ones.

-Where is Grid right now?

-He still seems to be on the East Continent.

-There should be a boycott of the National Competition without Grid.

-Praise God Grid!

The problem was that the audience chat window was bombarded with talk of Grid. In Shin Youngwoo’s house...

“They keep talking about our son.”

Youngwoo’s parents were watching the opening ceremony together and laughed. The two of them chatted well as they watched it on the latest TV model released by Daejin Electronics.

The Korean players were entering the stage. Yura and Jishuka—Youngwoo’s mother clapped and cheered as her beautiful daughter-in-law candidates appeared. Then she soon became worried when Sehee and Yerim appeared.

“Their levels are still low. Will they be okay?”

“Low level...”

Youngwoo heard his mother using game terminology and laughed. “Don’t worry, their levels aren’t low. They are really strong.”

Sehee and Yerim told him that they would only compete in duo events. Who could stop the combination of the Saintess and Saintess’ Knight who had grown hunting in the Galgunos Temple.

His father asked Youngwoo, who was smiling and drinking Coke, “So who do you think will win this year’s National Competition?”

“Our country,” Youngwoo replied without any hesitation. The growth of the 10 meritorious retainers he had recently been reunited with was shocking. In particular, the development of Yura and Jishuka, who received the red phoenix’s blessing, was remarkable.

Youngwoo was convinced. “There’s no one who can stop Yura and Jishuka except for Kraugel and Chris.”

“Haha...”

Youngwoo’s parents laughed. Youngwoo cocked his head at their reactions and his mother spoke through her laughter, “It is nice to see you already taking care of your wife. Hey, so who is it among the two of them?”

“...No, what?”

Most professionals and viewers expected the United States to win. Many reporters argued that it would be strange if the United States didn’t win. His parents were bound to misunderstand. They thought that Youngwoo was being protective of the person he was interested in and that it was a personal matter.

“...Don’t be surprised in a few days.”

Youngwoo blushed as he cleaned the table. It would soon be time for his access restriction to end. He planned to wash the dishes and return to the capsule. He wanted to reduce the household burden of his mother, who often struggled every day.

’Let’s hire a housekeeper. Someone like Yang Fei...’

No, it would take a long time if he looked for someone like that in reality. Youngwoo decided to contact the domestic help companies tomorrow and concentrated on washing the dishes.

***

“Are you sure Grid is coming?”

“The information is definite.”

“Yes...”

Veradin, the necromancer who lost everything due to the Overgeared Guild’s kill order—he stood with dozens of jiangshi at the entrance of the forest where a monster colony was located and burned with killing intent. After escaping to the East Continent, he met an evil daoist and developed his strength. He had no intention of missing out on this opportunity for revenge.