Chương 127

The S. A. Group's main operations room was a mess. Red alert lights flashed across the ceiling. Programmers scrambled between their workstations, typing frantically. Director Yoon Sangmin stood in the center of the room, gripping his hair with both hands. He stared at the massive wall monitor. The global server message was frozen on the screen in bright platinum letters. [The two paths have harmonized into a singular existence. Satisfy's first Dual Legend has emerged!]"A Dual Legend?!" Sangmin yelled.

"Legends are the peak of a single path! How can two legendary statuses occupy the exact same NPC? The balancing algorithms are going crazy!" Yoon Nahee, the Head of Operations, walked over with her tablet. She looked remarkably calm compared to the panicking Director.

"The system is recalculating the world lore to accommodate him," Nahee said, pushing her glasses up.

"But the catalyst for this event is exactly who you think it is, Director." Sangmin let out a miserable groan.

"Rudra. It has to be Rudra. What level is he at now? Did he barely scrape back to Level 100?" Nahee tapped her screen. A new profile window popped up on the main monitor.

"He is currently Level 204," Nahee stated flatly. Sangmin completely froze. He stared at the number.

"Level 204? In a single month? That is physically impossible. Even if he hunted twenty-four hours a day without sleeping, a Level 1 player can't output enough damage to clear high-level zones. Did he find a bug?"

"The logs are clean," Nahee said, pulling up a video file.

"He just found a brutal way to optimize his experience." The executives watched as Mumud used a [Mana Compression] spell to instantly crush five Level 320 True Blood Vampires into the dirt, reducing their health to the point where they were weak enough for a one-hit kill. A second later, Rudra swooped in, completely flattened the vampires with his bone staff, and soaked up the massive kill experience all by himself.

"He used a genius magician as a glorified hunting assistant," Sangmin mumbled, totally baffled.

"But wait. Even a stray hit from a Level 320 monster would instantly kill a Level 1 player. How did he survive the deep underground?"

"Because he wasn't a normal Level 1," Chairman Lim Cheolho said, walking into the room holding a bucket of fried chicken. The Chairman sat down on a leather couch, pulling out a drumstick.

"When Rudra's level reset, the system wiped his level-up points. But it couldn't wipe the permanent stats he gained from cooking hundreds of dishes with rare, epic, and unique ratings. Not to mention all the raw stats he squeezed out of his physical training whenever he was hunting. He entered the vampire city as a Level 1 player with the health and defense of a vanguard knight. He completely bypassed the early-game frailty." Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent.

Report any sightings. Sangmin rubbed his face.

"Okay. Fine. He power-leveled. But what about Piaro? How did an NPC break our class limitations?" A deep, androgynous voice spoke from the room's speakers. It was Morpheus, the supercomputer.

"A Dual Legend has never existed in the history of Satisfy," Morpheus stated clearly.

"Even in the forgotten lore of the Destroyed World, no entity has ever harmonized two mutually exclusive legendary paths."

"What about Pagma?" Sangmin argued, looking at the ceiling.

"Pagma was a Legendary Blacksmith and a master swordsman. Didn't he have two classes?"

"That is a common misconception," Lim Cheolho corrected him, taking a bite of his chicken.

"Pagma developed his sword dances to become stronger and defend the world from various threats. His actual swordsmanship was weak compared to legendary swordsmanship, only hovering at the level of a Great Swordsman. The only reason his combat reached the legendary tier was because of the legendary swords he forged. He never actually acquired the 'Sword Saint' class itself." The Chairman pointed a greasy finger at the frozen server message on the screen.

"Piaro, however, fully achieved the 'Sword Saint' class and the 'Legendary Farmer' class at the exact same time. He merged them into a single, unified existence." Sangmin slumped into a chair. He looked completely exhausted.

"How?" Sangmin asked quietly.

"How did an NPC achieve that? Did he find a lost book? Did he fight a god?" Nahee tapped her tablet again.

"We pulled the audio log from the Reidan wheat fields. Listen." The main monitor shifted. It showed a dusty dirt patch next to a field of golden wheat. Piaro was standing in the dirt, holding a steel sword and looking completely miserable. The executives listened in dead silence as the audio played.

"Why are you trying so hard to be someone else?" Rudra asked. Piaro snapped his head up.

"What?"

"Muller was a great hero, but his era is over," Rudra said flatly.

"You're obsessed with him. You're trying to force yourself into his exact footsteps. But you aren't him." Piaro frowned, his face twisting in frustration.

"The path of the Sword Saint requires absolute devotion to the blade. I cannot be distracted by..." He looked over at the golden wheat fields.

"... by the dirt."

"Who made that rule?" Rudra asked, crossing his free arm.

"Did Muller leave a manual saying you aren't allowed to plant seeds?" Piaro blinked.

"If swinging a plow feels right, use the plow," Rudra said bluntly.

"If the sword feels right, use the sword. You're driving yourself crazy trying to choose between them. Just do both." The executives watched the screen. They saw Piaro drop his obsession, pick up an iron hand plow, and ascend into a Dual Legend bathed in blinding holy light. It was the birth of the strongest NPC on the continent. Then, the audio crackled as Rudra spoke again.

"So," Rudra asked, tapping his boot in the dirt.

"Does this mean you can grow potatoes faster now? Because I really, really want to make french fries right now." The video feed ended. The operations room was totally silent. Sangmin slowly lowered his head until his forehead rested against the cold glass of his desk. He closed his eyes. The rich, deeply woven lore of Satisfy—a world crafted over years of careful planning—had just been permanently altered because a player wanted a side dish.

Chairman Lim Cheolho simply chewed his fried chicken, swallowed, and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"Leave him be," the Chairman said quietly, looking at the frozen image of Rudra on the screen.