Ben and Farraden’s story was unfortunate and tragic.

Ben, who was intoxicated by power, fought and killed many powerful men on the continent. However, even if Ben was like that, many people stayed by his side, laughing and chatting. One of them was

Farraden had always criticized and tried to restrain Ben’s unsightly behavior. Ben found Farraden disgusting. However, he maintained his friendship because he knew Farraden was only thinking about him. When their friendship grew stronger, Ben started listening to Farraden and examining himself and his actions. But then, things happened one after another.

News about Ben’s son dying in the Dragon King’s Sea reached him. Ben wallowed with grief and spent his days under the influence of alcohol as he blamed and resented himself.

“He murdered Farraden’s daughter, right?”

When Farraden arrived, he saw Ben holding a bloody spear while her daughter lay dead on the ground. The two immediately fought fiercely. But after dealing a severe injury to Farraden’s eye, Ben ran away.

“That’s the reason why he left the Pinnacle Strong Men. But why would the Pinnacle Strong Men relate the death of Farraden’s daughter to the fact that Ben came to the Beyond the Heavens Empire?” Kim Dae-Il asked. If it’s like that, then could this be considered a bug? Why would Minggyu think like that?

“Yes, Ben killed Farraden’s daughter. However, he did not commit murder.”

This was also true.

“Amoure felt that Ben's rapid growth in power threatened his position. So, he took advantage of Ben, who was left weakened and drunk, and cast an ‘illusion’ upon him.”

This was also a fact. Ghost Spear Ben was ranked eighth among the Pinnacle Strong Men only because he had the fewest disciples. Ben’s power was actually on par with, or perhaps even more significant than, Amoure’s.

Team Leader Park stared at the monitor and asked, “Do you think Farraden was unaware of this?”

“...”

Kim Dae-Il remained silent. Even he, an insider, was unaware of what was happening inside the game. But what if he was in the same position?

“He might have some suspicions. His close friend, who was drunk, suddenly murdered his daughter?”

That was highly unlikely, no?

“If you look at it, there are various irregularities that can help clear the misunderstandings between the two and help guide them to a new path.”

Manager Kim Dae-Il looked at the monitor and pondered about these irregularities. That was when he remembered the game's most significant irregularity.

Then, something suddenly occurred to him. Manager Kim Dae-Il always strived to make Athenae prosper and help steer it in a better direction.

“You said earlier that the bond between Player Minhyuk and Ben is almost at the level where he could receive a ‘reward,’ right?”

“That’s right.”

There was also Jackson, who was familiar with Ben’s story and was already almost at the final stage of Ben’s advertisement video production process.

If they wanted more players to see their ads, broadcasting it on Ztube and the TV might still be lacking.

“...The moment Minhyuk and Ben’s bond reaches the highest level… Let’s make it so the ‘You can now view the advertisement video’ notification rings in the ears of all of the players currently playing Athenae at that time.”

“Yes…?”

“This will be amazing! The story of Ben and Minhyuk will unfold and play in front of every player inside the game!”

“???”

Team Leader Park could not understand what came over Dae-Il. But he did not have the time to question it. Manager Kim Dae-Il quickly jumped to his feet and ran out.

“I’ll have to hurry and report this to the president!” Kim Dae-Il shouted as he rushed out of the Special Players Management Team.

***

After talking with Carron and laying down their terms and conditions, Minhyuk gladly accepted their request for an alliance.

The Beyond the Heavens Empire’s vassals were all famous and well-known. So, there wasn’t anything that they could hide about them. Besides, he did not need to worry since the advertisement videos that they would produce would not reveal their current level or power.

After signing the alliance, Minhyuk had a moment to himself. He looked down at the bloody key that Carron had given him and thought it would be nice if the place where this key led housed something delicious.

–

Minhyuk then climbed the empire's walls and looked out in the distance.

Sporting a flushed and excited face, Ben came to visit Minhyuk before leaving the empire.

–

Ben looked extremely delighted, like a child who had received a gift. Minhyuk was very, grateful to him. He knew that the old man was doing his best because he wanted to make him happy.

–

Ben left after leaving those words to him. Minhyuk flashed a faint smile as he watched the older man's path.

Ever since the video was broadcast, the Beyond the Heavens’ migration rate had witnessed a steady increase. And as strange as it was, even the Luvien Empire, which was showing several signs that it was preparing to go to war, calmed down.

Since he had nothing else to do for the time being, Minhyuk, who held the bloody key tightly in his hands, left a message in the guild chat and told his guild members that he would go somewhere.

Minhyuk disappeared in a flash of bright light. Opening his eyes, he was greeted by a gushing waterfall and a sparkling, clear, and mesmerizing river.

“...!”

Minhyuk could not help but be shocked.

The reward was truly beyond anyone’s expectations. If his level would increase by 1% of Minhyuk’s current level, then that meant that his level would increase by at least six.

For rankers at Level 600 or above, it would take at least two months of clearing high-risk, high-reward quests while drinking countless bottles of EXP buff potions to increase their level by that amount. But that was only the bare minimum. Usually, it would take them more than three months to achieve such an increase.

Of course, this reward would be special for all players over Level 600. But the rewards became even more special because Minhyuk received them. Why? Because Minhyuk was the current number one in the official global rankings. He was the strongest, excluding the unofficial rankers. This meant that the combination of the best reward and the strongest player would create a tremendous synergy effect. However, there was a problem.

His movements would be restricted to the River of Growth for two days.

However, that did not mean he could not do anything while submerged in the waters of the River of Growth.

The only thing that made it difficult was not being able to contact the outside world. But since he left a message in the guild chat and the executives were there, he did not need to worry too much and could confidently enter the River of Growth. At the same time, he wondered if something special would happen three days later.

Then, Minhyuk slowly submerged his body in the waters of the River of Growth.

***

Spear God Ben looked at the dark, gloomy forest that spread before him.

Those coffee beans were growing in that place. Ben wanted to obtain those coffee beans, not to reach a much higher realm or live a better life. He just wanted to be able to make the world’s most delicious coffee with those beans and serve a cup to Minhyuk at least once in his life.

The moment Ben stepped inside the forest, the dreary voice of a woman rang in his ears.

Ben was aware of the story of this forest that had remained hidden for a very long time.

Hundreds of years ago, a beautiful woman was born with a strange power. The woman was said to have the power to control and rule over the forest. But because of this power, one of the kingdoms called her a ‘witch’ and almost burned her at the stake. This incident made the woman furious with the entire world. According to the records, the woman stabbed the neck of the king, who tried to kill her, with a branch of a tree and killed all of the people who scoffed and threw stones at her before she fled.

But even after hearing this story, the world’s strongest men continued to hunt and challenge her, hoping to obtain the name: ‘Witch Hunter.’ And the woman? She had been forced to kill those challengers time and time again.

From what Ben had gathered, the woman grew disillusioned after witnessing the ugly and dirty side of the human race and had hidden herself in this forest. Everything that Ben knew about the woman and this forest ended here. Anyway, he only wanted the coffee beans that bloomed among ten thousand flowers from this place.

Ben understood what the woman meant. However, he chuckled and said, “I have never learned how to back down.”

Ben continued to march forward with a faint smile. The moment he reached the small entrance leading to the depths of the forest, vines sprung up and blocked his path.

The woman’s voice turned vicious. It sounded just like the voice of a ‘real’ witch.

At the same time, Ben’s strength left his body. Because of that, he was also restricted from using the ‘God Piercing Spear’ he held in his hands. At that moment, Ben became an ordinary human being—an ordinary human being who was outstanding in wielding his spear. If Ben were a player, he would have heard the notification saying, ‘Your level has been set to Level 1.’

Ben hung the God-piercing Spear on his back before grabbing a long branch to use as a makeshift spear. Then, he ran swiftly through the long and winding forest with no end in sight as the trees, vines, roots, and branches grew thorns and stretched out to put pressure upon him.

Ben swung the branch in his arms and continued running deeper inside the forest. He completely ignored the thorns that were stabbed all over his body.

Then, at that moment, one of the vines wrapped around Ben’s legs and restricted his movements while a colossal tree fell from the sky and smashed him down.

Everything happened in an instant. Just like that, Ben, who was flattened by the tree, died with blood all over his body.

“Hoho…”

Ben, revived and reappeared by the tree that fell upon him, realized that the witch’s resentment toward the humans was greater than he had expected. A bitter smile flashed on his face. However, he kept on running and dying. He died standing, hanging in the air, and being stabbed by hundreds of thorns.

Yet he would continue to run and move forward every time he reappeared.

Tree branches that were as sharp as the blade of a sword shot out and tore Ben’s body apart.

When he appeared once again, a boulder fell from the sky and flattened him to a bloody pulp.

There were even times when the vines grabbed all of his limbs and pulled them away from his body.

There were times when the vines would grab him by his legs and drag him to the river until he choked and drowned to his death.

Ben continued to die one tragic and painful death after another.

However, there was no fear in his body. He just continued to move forward as if the deaths that he experienced were nothing. He did not even get exhausted.

He only thought about the cup of coffee that would bring joy to Minhyuk.

Ben was not aware that the reward created specially under President Kang Taehoon’s instructions, which could only be obtained when the bond between a player and an NPC reached its peak, was showing signs of being triggered.