Positive energy had returned to King’s Land.

King sat at the desk in his private quarters, the door locked, the room silent except for the faint hum of the estate’s ventilation system. Few days had passed since the Second Woe concluded. Days since he’d collapsed onto this bed, staring at the ceiling and feeling nothing.

But today was different.

Today, focus had returned.

He opened his interface and navigated to the rankings tab.

The Power Rankings displayed first, the familiar list of names and point totals materializing before him.

[POWER RANKING]

1. King – 4,500 pts

2. Pantheon – 3,500 pts

3. Hunt_Starbuster – 3,500 pts

4. Alita80 – 3,100 pts

5. Lady_Geladria – 2,900 pts

6. Zoro – 2,500 pts

7. Tagr – 2,300 pts

8. Isaac_Craig – 1,900 pts

9. Cain – 1,900 pts

10. Liz _Starbuster – 1,900 pts

Cain had plummeted to ninth. The Second Woe had cemented King’s position at the top, and with the way Cain’s power points dropped, whatever damage he took from king had done quite a lot.

Pantheon was back in second place, his strategic approach keeping him competitive despite avoiding direct confrontation. Lady Geladria’s name caught his eye, her creation of the Points Transfer rule and their previous encounter had earned her a substantial recognition from him. Hunt had gained ground, moving onto third with pantheon, but still far below him.

Although his rise was something to watch out for. Was

King switched to the Popular Rankings.

[POPULAR RANKING]

1. King - 9,900 pts

2.Hunt_Starbuster – 8,000 pts

3. Lady_Geladria– 7,600 pts

4. Cain– 6,800pts

5. Liz_Starbuster – 6,200 pts

6. Alita80– 5,600 pts

7. Zoro – 5,500 pts

8. Isaac_Craig – 5000 pts

9. The_Table_Turner – 4,300 pts

His popular ranking had exploded. The dramatic confrontation with Cain, and helping the Arcbearer’s alignment win the second woe, had generated massive viewership. King had become a symbol, a proof that skilled strategy was just as effective as power, and that intelligence could triumph over brute force.

But more importantly, his fan count had increased.

King checked his fan list. Eighty

-six thousand, one fans. The Almighty still dominated his patronage, her single fan value accounting for a good part of his total.

He dismissed the rankings and moved to his next priority.

King pulled up the unchecked notifications from the Second Woe rewards. The golden text materialized before him.

[YOU HAVE RECEIVED: 5,000 GOD RUNES]

[YOU HAVE RECEIVED: 5,000 RUNES]

[LEVEL UP AVAILABLE]

[BONUS: CLAS UP AVAILABLE]

And below each reward, the familiar prompt glowed.

[ACTIVATE GOD’S HAND: 100x REWARD SKILL. Y/N]

[ACTIVATE GOD’S HAND: 100x REWARD SKILL. Y/N]

[ACTIVATE GOD’S HAND: 100x REWARD SKILL. Y/N]

[ACTIVATE GOD’S HAND: 100x REWARD SKILL. Y/N]

King studied the options carefully, his mind already working through calculations and strategic projections. He could only use God’s Hand on two of these rewards, and he needed to conserve them for maximum impact.

The question was which two would provide the greatest advantage moving forward.

King leaned back in his chair, organizing his thoughts. The Third Woe was inevitable. Whatever came next would be worse or trickier than what came before, that was the pattern established by the game’s progression. He needed to prepare comprehensively, shore up weaknesses, and maximize strengths.

The Second Woe had exposed a critical vulnerability. King excelled at dealing damage, both through spells and the Gauntlet of Ruin’s devastating touch.

His Mind stat was high, his offensive capabilities were high-tier. But his defense was limited. When battles shifted to close combat, when enemies closed the distance and forced direct physical confrontation, King had to rely on dodging and evasion rather than actually withstanding hits.

Cain had demonstrated that weakness brutally. The berserker had tanked King’s strongest spells and kept coming, his enhanced Constitution and regeneration negating damage that should have been fatal.

If Cain had been slightly smarter, slightly less overconfident, the outcome could have been very different.

King needed to plug that defensive hole.

He made his decision.

King selected the god Runes reward first and activated god’s Hand with the quantity modifier.

[ACTIVATE GOD’S HAND: 100x REWARD SKILL. Y/N]

[MODIFIER SELECTED: QUANTITY]

[CONFIRM?]

King selected yes.

[ACTIVATION SUCCESSFUL]

[5,000 GOD RUNES HAVE BEEN MULTIPLIED x100]

[ YOU HAVE RECEIVED 500,000 GOD RUNES]

The number updated in his inventory immediately, the massive influx of divine currency registering with a soft chime. Five hundred and two thousand god runes.

Enough to fund multiple class upgrades.

King dismissed that notification and moved to the next decision.

He looked at the remaining rewards. The standard runes, the level up and the class up. They were all valuable, but he could only enhance one with god’s hand.

After several seconds of deliberation, King selected the class up option.

The standard runes could be acquired through conventional means. Grinding dungeons, completing quests, farming NPCs, runes were farmable resources. And the level up could be gotten with runes.

But class progression was different. And with it, he could her a new class entirely, something no amount of runes or god runes could grant him.

King activated god’s hand on the class up with the quality modifier.

[ACTIVATE GOD’S HAND: 100x REWARD SKILL. Y/N]

[MODIFIER SELECTED: QUALITY]

[CONFIRM?]

King selected yes.

[ACTIVATION SUCCESSFUL]

[QUALITY OF CLASS UP IMPROVED BY 100x]

[ANALYZING CURRENT CHARACTER BUILD...]

[NEW CLASS SELECTION AVAILABLE]

The interface expanded, presenting King with a full class selection screen.

The selection menu materialized, displaying all the available classes organized. King looked at the display

RANGE CLASS

TANK CLASS

ASSASSIN CLASS

SUPPORT CLASS

COMBATANT CLASS

MAGE CLASS

Each class had its advantages. He had two already, and the three members of his guild had three others, leaving only one lacking class to completely perfect a balanced guild.

And it plugged the hole in his weakness as well.

[TANK CLASS].

King selected it.

[CLASS SELECTED: TANK]

[INITIATING CLASS INTEGRATION...]

[BASE SKILL SELECTION REQUIRED]

A new prompt appeared, displaying five Tank-specific skills. Each one represented a different specialization within the archetype.

Provoke - Generates massive aggro, forcing enemies to target the user instead of allies.

Crying Berserker - user enters a maddened state that Increases attack power proportionally to damage taken.

Walking tremor - creates a tremor effect with each step, that acts as crowd control.

Titan’s Might - Enhances attack power and weapon damage at the cost of speed.

Unyielding Fortress - User gains a darkened skin, the defense grants crowd control immunity, knockback and stun resistance.

King studied each option carefully. Provoke was useful for group combat but less effective when fighting solo. Crying Berserker conflicted was a no for him. Walking tremor had an interesting effect but was still offensive oriented and didn’t address his vulnerabilities. Titan’s Might sacrificed speed, which King relied on heavily.

Unyielding Fortress was the clear choice.

The skill provided exactly what King needed, increased fortitude for raw damage mitigation, and immunity to stun effects. Stuns had nearly cost him in the war. Enemies abilities to interrupt spellcasting and lock King in place had forced him into desperate defensive positions.

With Unyielding Fortress, that vulnerability would be eliminated entirely.

King selected Unyielding Fortress.