Genius Blacksmith's Game

Hyunsoo’s visit to the Papal Palace ended with a face-to-face meeting with Pope Carsel.

Carsel was extremely favorable toward Hyunsoo.

“I am thinking of designating this Four Tigers Sword as a holy relic of our Ares Church. You have my thanks; this sword will raise our name even higher.”

[The Four Tigers Sword you crafted has been designated as a holy relic of Ares Church.]

[You have gained 100 Renown.]

[You have gained 30 Charisma.]

“Aria said she would add thirty percent to the price, did she not? My thoughts are different.”

Hyunsoo’s heart started pounding for reasons he couldn’t explain.

He was the Pope.

And that Pope was going out of his way to get on Hyunsoo’s good side.

“The value of this Four Tigers Sword is greater and more magnificent. So I have decided to add another ten percent and pay you 1.6 million gold.”

It was a staggering amount.

In real-world money, 1.6 billion won.

“If I have something to ask of you next time, may I leave it in your hands?”

Carsel had heard that Hyunsoo was not only an outstanding warrior, but an outstanding blacksmith as well.

It meant he was prepared to entrust him with any kind of mission.

“Of course.” 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

With that, Hyunsoo left the Papal Palace at once and logged out.

He immediately applied to exchange the gold.

Wanting to see the money stamped in his passbook with his own eyes, Hyunsoo went to the counter and checked it there.

1.6 billion won.

With roughly 700 million won of hospital bills remaining, even after clearing them he would still have close to 900 million won left.

For no real reason, Hyunsoo’s eyes filled with tears.

The hospital bills that had once climbed into the several billions.

He had practically decided his life was over, and yet Hyunsoo’s life had begun anew.

After hearing an old man’s words, he resolved once again to live happily, then left the bank.

He went straight to the hospital and paid off every last won of the hospital bills.

He still hadn’t decided what he would do with the remaining money.

But Hyunsoo now had a little room to breathe.

What should he do with that spare time?

Hyunsoo was able to decide quickly.

‘I’ll recreate the Coat of Calamity.’

The telekinetic power generated by Calamity’s Command, housed within the Coat of Calamity, looked incredibly strong.

And as far as Hyunsoo could see, the Coat of Calamity contained plenty of powers he simply didn’t need.

‘Tuning an artifact and fitting it to me is the same thing as my growth.’

Hyunsoo’s level was still only in the 220s.

And as he grew, the levels of the players still playing Ares were skyrocketing as well.

To close that gap, excellent artifacts would have to become Hyunsoo’s strength.

[Connecting to Ares.]

*****

“It’s all right, Bella.”

Having had all her illness driven out by Saint Aria’s prayer, Bella lay in her hospital bed and confessed her disloyal heart to Barad.

Barad, however, merely nodded with a broad, forgiving air, as if it was rather a relief.

Bella carefully voiced the doubt weighing on her mind.

“Why did you let that assassin Brock go alive, Your Majesty?”

He was a man who had tried to assassinate the king. Bella could not understand why such a man had been spared and sent back.

“I grow old, and that child ripens.”

It was a terribly sad thing to say.

And yet, strangely enough—

Barad seemed full of excitement.

“Fifteen years have passed in a state of cold war with Praham Kingdom.”

Praham Kingdom was a nation at least twice the size of the Kingdom of Goyard.

“For all that time, we have been fighting a silent war.”

They had simply not marched armies against each other.

A war could break out at any time, and it would not be strange.

“So I thought it over. Hyunsoo has to keep growing day by day. He needs to be more and more recognized by the people—and by the nobles beyond that.”

Bella agreed.

He was only a Junior Baron so far. A title in line with a knight.

“He’ll have to accomplish countless things before he reaches this seat. By the time he does, I want to see his growth, the end of this long, weary war—and I want him to gain even more.”

For a moment, Bella couldn’t understand what he meant.

“What do you...?”

“Do you know how I felt when I first heard of Blacksmith Hyun?”

Bella caught her breath as she glimpsed Barad’s foresight.

Back then, Barad’s feelings seemed to be like this:

‘Blacksmith Hyun. I want to meet him so badly it’s driving me crazy.’

That was the emotion Barad had harbored—and it was surely the same emotion the king of Praham Kingdom would feel.

At that same time—

Brock, who had somehow managed to return alive with one arm missing.

He received treatment from Goyard’s priests and, aside from the missing arm, was fine.

The king of Praham Kingdom received his report.

He was Spear Heaven, one of the Ten Legends of the continent—and an old man.

As he listened from the throne, King Ben was astonished.

“Though I failed in the assassination, I opened all my ears and brought back every story I could hear, Your Majesty.”

Ben felt something he couldn’t quite name.

It was about Blacksmith Hyun.

Curiosity about him.

And it made Ben stroke his own worn-out spear.

He was feeling exactly what Barad once had.

But then Ben shook his head.

“It isn’t that you heard it. It’s that ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) Barad made sure I would.”

He had spared Brock and sent him back, carrying that story.

Ben grasped his intent with perfect clarity.

‘You don’t want a magnificent spear as well? But what a shame—its maker is a noble of our kingdom.’

Barad was a sly old snake.

He was extending a hand for peace—while trying to seize control of that peace.

And there was something else that puzzled Ben.

‘Why would he advertise such a precious talent...?’

Ben’s eyes flew wide.

‘Is he that confident?’

Barad was also making a choice for Hyunsoo’s sake.

He had already taken him to his side, but he wanted Hyunsoo to go even further, to pile up even more wealth and renown.

It was like this:

‘My dear friend—impressive, isn’t he? Please treat him well from now on.’

He was confident Hyunsoo wouldn’t be taken from him, yet he still wanted to show Hyunsoo’s power off.

And he had half succeeded.

Because Ben felt an unbearable greed.

But that didn’t mean he intended to hand over the initiative.

‘I do want to have an outstanding spear, that much is true.’

Even so, Ben was an even more slippery man than Barad.

“This will be entertaining. Blacksmith Hyun. If I ask him to craft a spear that cannot be crafted, I’ll be able to disgrace both Barad and this blacksmith Hyun.”

He could see it right before his eyes.

Blacksmith Hyun, that man, drenched in cold sweat after receiving a ridiculous spear request.

He immediately summoned his blacksmiths and gave his command.

“Study what kind of spear would be absolutely impossible to make.”

After the blacksmiths withdrew, Brock asked a question.

“It would be a spear that cannot be made, but if it actually is made...?”

“It won’t be easy. The whole point is to propose something that cannot be made in the first place.”

With that, Ben turned to go.

And then another thought struck him.

If a spear truly could be crafted that other people could never make—what should he do then?

‘It’s a foolish question.’

If such a spear were crafted, the one sweating bullets on that day would not be the blacksmith.

It would be him.

Because he would want that spear so badly.

*****

Hyunsoo had a clear grasp of the advantages of being the Successor of Asca.

Custom Crafting.

An artifact’s grade is determined not only by Defense and Attack, but also by how many different effects it has and how powerful those effects are.

In other words, as long as the number of skills and the increase rates of any given stats are high, a high-grade item will result.

Custom Crafting was different.

‘I tailor it to contain only what I need, and I completely cut out anything unnecessary.’

That was why Hyunsoo had decided to recreate the Coat of Calamity.

He had once obtained God’s Custom Repairing.

The power to delete unnecessary effects and insert new ones.

It covered not just repair, but restoration and even recreation.

The reason Hyunsoo had decided to recreate the Coat of Calamity was simple.

‘It has too many skills I don’t need.’

First of all—

The Coat of Calamity possessed a power called Instant Death.

The passive skill Instant Death had the following effect:

‘Randomly kills one target among those who feel fear toward you with a 0.4% probability.’

What kind of bullshit skill was that supposed to be?

Of course, if Hyunsoo were truly a Calamity, it would be necessary.

Simply facing a Calamity would be enough for someone to die, and the fear they felt would be pushed to the extreme.

But if Hyunsoo really became that kind of existence, he’d probably be banished from the kingdom.

‘Looked at another way, it’s still incredible.’

Absurd as it was, it was undeniably a powerful ability.

Wouldn’t it be better to upgrade it into some other effect?

The power Hyunsoo wanted to upgrade was Calamity’s Command.

The ability to halt all objects in the vicinity for six seconds using telekinesis.

[Beginning God’s Custom Repairing.]

He deleted Instant Death, as well as Calamity’s Majesty, the fear-inducing power.

In exchange, he rewrote the effect that had frozen all objects for six seconds with telekinesis.

How?

‘I want true telekinesis that I can control freely.’

There was a world of difference between simply stopping things and Hyunsoo personally manipulating them with telekinesis.

He stayed up for two full days straight, and finally completed it.

[You have recreated it with craftsmanship superior to that of the original creator.]

[You have changed its name to Lord’s Coat.]

[The effects of Lord’s Coat have improved by 6%, and it boasts a new appearance.]

For once, Hyunsoo was genuinely impressed.

(Lord’s Coat)

Grade: Unique

Durability: 9,000/9,000

Defense: 431

Restriction: Level 200+

Special Abilities:

· Charisma +30.

· Active Skill: Lord’s Command.

· Passive Skill: Calamity’s Command.

· When additional Calamity Artifacts are equipped, all effects increase by 5%.

Description: Once an artifact symbolizing Fifth Calamity Jack and closest to Legendary grade, it has been newly recreated after being handled by a greater blacksmith.

Calamity’s Command was what Hyunsoo had aimed to maximize.

It now existed in both active and passive forms.

To distinguish the two, he renamed the active to Lord’s Command.

The passive he left as Calamity’s Command.

And their effects were slightly different.

What Hyunsoo wanted to change was the active skill, Lord’s Command.

(Lord’s Command)

Active Skill

Mana Cost: 500

Cooldown: 20 minutes

Effect:

· Allows you to freely control all objects within a 50m radius with telekinesis for 12 seconds.

· Cannot be used on targets more than 100 levels above you.

What had once merely frozen what he wished for six seconds had now been massively expanded to twelve.

‘Should I try it?’

Hyunsoo activated his newly obtained Lord’s Command.

*****

Manager Nell was on their way to the guild base, Hyun’s Forge, to meet him.

They were, in truth, quite worried.

‘He might become a king someday...?’

Of course, if Guild Master Hyunsoo really did become that, it would be something to celebrate.

But Nell couldn’t help thinking it was too soon.

It wasn’t as if it was happening right this moment, but it had only been a few months since they had first met Hyunsoo.

‘A noble’s life isn’t easy.’

The Hyunsoo they had first seen was definitely impressive, but in ways that weren’t obvious, he’d been full of darkness.

Crushed by hospital bills and so many other burdens, he’d been steeped in worries; his shoulders were broad, but somehow he’d looked drooped.

Naturally, part of Nell’s reason for coming was to congratulate him now that he had solved the hospital bill problem.

But the fact remained: just a few months ago he’d been like that, and now he would have to live the life of a noble going forward.

‘Maybe he needs a little more time?’

It was genuine concern for Hyunsoo—and for the sake of Radiance. And since what’s done is done, all they could do was worry.

Nell opened the door to the forge that served as their base—

And was struck speechless.

‘It wasn’t too early...’

People are born with certain things.

Even if what they’re born with is hidden, it never disappears.

What Nell was seeing right now was nothing short of awe-inspiring.

Hammers, anvils, nails, screws, the countless materials used to make artifacts.

All of those materials were floating gently in the air around Hyunsoo, who stood there wearing a coat.

The furnace, where the blazing fire should have been raging with a sound like whoosh, like a sheet of fire—

It was frozen still, like a photograph of flames someone had snapped with a camera.

Hyunsoo flicked his fingers.

Then the objects floating around him arranged themselves one by one and silently settled back down.

Fooooosh—

The furnace flame, which had been frozen like a still image, began to burn again.

As Hyunsoo turned and gave Nell a small, easy smile, they became certain.

He had been born for that place from the very beginning.