Genius Blacksmith's Game

Hyunsoo found the answer as he watched the Small World Tree blaze.

Pouring water on it didn’t work, and leaving water running like a faucet didn’t work either.

So the answer was to make a small sea and place the World Tree inside it.

But he couldn’t create a sea wide enough to fill an athletic field.

A spear crafted through God’s Emergency Crafting.

[It is Epic grade.]

[Effect application rate is 58%.]

To be honest, it wasn’t satisfying. The effect application rate came from how well he understood the artifact he was crafting.

Understanding.

The very idea of “understanding” an artifact that created water was absurd for Hyunsoo, a real-world blacksmith.

But there was something it could provide.

Inspiration.

Hyunsoo gained tremendous inspiration by crafting that spear just now.

Hyunsoo looked at the “sea” holding the Small World Tree.

It was like looking at an aquarium.

An aquarium shaped in a circle.

An invisible, translucent barrier prevented the water from leaking out.

A radius of about eight meters.

And to contain the Small World Tree, its height was towering—about twenty meters.

‘The artifact I craft next will be far superior.’

Soon, the spear created through God’s Emergency Crafting vanished.

Swoooosh—

[You have avoided the small fire.]

[The legend contained within the Small World Tree is revealed.]

[The Small World Tree is a tree that can only live in the sea. If you enable such a Small World Tree to live on land, it bears special fruit.]

Ding!

[Quest: The Real Small World Tree]

Rank: S

Restriction: One who stopped the Small World Tree’s small fire

Reward: Negotiation Progress, special fruits.

Failure Penalty: Negotiator ends.

Description: Within a few days, a massive disaster will strike. If you stop that disaster, the Small World Tree will finally become the Prahum Kingdom’s.

Special fruits.

It said they could be obtained if the Small World Tree could take root in this land and live fully.

And Hyunsoo heard Ben mutter as he stared at the Small World Tree.

“...So the legend was true.”

Hyunsoo had just heard a notification that his Affinity with Ben increased.

In other words, Hyunsoo had succeeded in earning Ben’s heart.

Ben began saying things Hyunsoo didn’t understand.

“Fawn mane hair, fairy dust, orichalcum, black mithril, the Mountain King’s claw, Cradan spear techniques... tell me.”

Hyunsoo was puzzled.

Every single thing Ben recited was a priceless artifact material within the Prahum Kingdom.

Astronomical things that couldn’t be bought even with money.

‘What is he telling me to say?’

Hyunsoo was confused.

“If you save the Small World Tree, I will give you one of these.”

“...!”

Hyunsoo was shocked.

Ben’s expression had changed from before and after Hyunsoo left this place earlier.

Hyunsoo had saved Frak.

But that wasn’t proof of skill.

That was why distrust had been in Ben’s eyes.

Now, with that distrust gone, Ben spoke.

“I don’t know what you’ll make, but if it saves the Small World Tree, and if it can make me even stronger than I am now, what would be too precious to give? Of course, I’ll pay money separately, so think it over carefully and tell me.”

Of course, that was only if Hyunsoo actually succeeded in making such a thing.

“The artifact you make will be the key that decides the negotiations and the Small World Tree.”

Hyunsoo felt heat bloom in his chest.

Hyunsoo had answered Ben’s question—why didn’t you run—straight.

Because it was something Ben cherished.

Even if it sounded cheesy and made his intent to buy the king’s heart obvious, he believed it.

That Ben’s treatment of him would change.

“I ask you—protect my memories with your spear.”

One of the Asgan Continent’s Ten Legends.

The supreme master of the spear.

A truly famous NPC.

The ruler of a nation twice as large as Goyard.

At his polite voice, Hyunsoo’s chest thumped.

The eyes of trust looking at him.

“I’ll do my best.”

Hyunsoo gave a small nod and showed courtesy to the king of an enemy nation.

And Ben, with a small smile, started walking.

“There’s a forge right next to this, so begin work immediately. I need to prepare to stop the ‘villains’ now.”

With nobles and blacksmiths who had already seen the small fire, the story would be spreading rapidly.

Endless talk would be pouring out that they should cut down the Small World Tree.

Even Hyunsoo wondered if it was worth taking that level of risk.

“Will it be alright?”

At that question, Ben threw away nostalgia and his tenderness toward the Small World Tree, and spoke coldly.

“The number of people who starve to death in the Prahum Kingdom each year exceeds tens of thousands.”

Yes. Saving the Small World Tree wasn’t simply Ben’s greed.

The Prahum Kingdom was a blacksmithing nation, and as such it also had what it lacked.

“One of the Small World Tree’s fruits is known to ease hunger. If we can reduce the number of those who die starving, isn’t it worth trying?”

Hyunsoo understood.

Ben was a cranky old man, but deep down he was a king who cherished his people.

That his heart was greater than clinging to memories and such.

Soon, after Ben left, Hyunsoo followed immediately as well.

And he opened the door to the forge right beside the garden and walked in.

Hyunsoo had already gained inspiration for what artifact he would make.

‘That spear is a spear I made countless times when I was a kid.’

And he thought it was a spear that would fit Ben, who mainly wielded a spear.

Just imagining Ben holding that spear made his chest flutter.

‘This one artifact will become the greatest link connecting me and Ben.’

There was far too much decided by a single artifact.

Negotiation Progress, Kingdom Contribution, and activity in this world called the Prahum Kingdom.

All of it was connected to Hyunsoo’s growth.

Before he knew it, smelting and refining the materials that would compose Spear Overcome were finished, and only forging and polishing remained.

He finished the forging and polishing in an instant, and this time he produced the spear shaft.

An unknown sound hummed near his ears.

He was so focused that he didn’t even hear what the notification was.

That was how deeply Hyunsoo had fallen into a trance.

So much that he couldn’t tell how much time had passed.

And then Hyunsoo snapped awake at a single notification.

[You are approaching legend.]

It was a sound that made his heart pound every time.

But he couldn’t relax.

‘It says I’m approaching legend. It doesn’t mean it’s legendary yet.’

The spear shaft’s completion was nearing its end.

Without relaxing, he had to pour in even more care.

Then—

“...!?”

Hyunsoo’s face twisted horribly. The hair on his back stood on end.

‘What...?’

The higher his level # Nоvеlight # rose, the stronger he became, the more special his five senses were becoming.

A massive danger was being felt from the Small World Tree’s direction.

And then—

KABOOOOM—!

A tremendous roar rang out.

It was an explosion three times the force of the one Hyunsoo had felt before.

[A new story begins.]

And the notification that followed made Hyunsoo uneasy.

[The Small World Tree is greatly enraged.]

[The firestorm will not stop until the Small World Tree’s rage burns everything around it.]

Ding!

[Sudden Quest: The Small World Tree’s Wrath]

Rank: SS

Restriction: One who received the Small World Tree’s proposal

Reward: Highest-grade Small World Tree.

Failure Penalty: Negotiator qualification revoked.

Description: Someone has enraged the Small World Tree. Suppress the massive fire to stop the massive fire.

Hyunsoo frowned at the description.

A Sudden Quest.

It could be something someone triggered, or it could simply be something the system granted.

But in the restriction for this Sudden Quest, it said this.

‘One who received the Small World Tree’s proposal.’

He had been pushed into a situation he didn’t even want. And the reward was unbelievable.

‘Originally, the Small World Tree was a mid-tier legendary material.’

But it said it would offer a highest-grade Small World Tree as the reward.

Rumble—

Hyunsoo listened to the continuing roars.

But Hyunsoo decided to act like himself.

*****

Pan, the Prahum Kingdom’s strategist.

He was the top contributor who had made the Prahum Kingdom what it was today.

The one who advised Ben and taught him strategies.

He, too, was someone who wanted this nation’s safety and development.

But this time, he clashed with Ben.

“Others didn’t see it. Everyone ran in the blazing firestorm. But I saw it. Blacksmith Hyun will stop the massive fire.”

Pan shook his head.

“It is something even one hundred masters could not accomplish.”

In the Prahum Kingdom, there was a rumor that there were one hundred master blacksmiths.

That was how extraordinary its blacksmiths were.

“We must cut it down immediately. So it cannot burn a massive fire.”

Ben said,

“It is something that must not be done. The legend says if you cut or harm the Small World Tree, it creates an even greater fire.”

Pan’s chest felt tight.

To believe such a mere legend?

“If Hyun fails, I will personally uproot the Small World Tree and take it to the sea. So wait.”

The king closed his ears.

And Pan stepped outside.

He met with the nobles.

The nobles who had already seen the small fire despised the Small World Tree.

And Pan made a decision.

“I will take all responsibility. Cut down the Small World Tree immediately.”

He put axes into the hands of hundreds of powerful knights.

And Pan denied the fruit the king hoped for.

‘There is no way a fruit that prevents hunger exists.’

And the hundreds of knights the nobles had sent.

Together with them, he stared at the Small World Tree.

‘Your Majesty, forgive me.’

Pan could no longer measure the heart of a king possessed by memories and delusions.

“Strike!”

Hundreds of axe-wielding knights began hacking at the Small World Tree.

Bzzzt—

Bzzzt—

Bzzzt—

In the end, it was still just a tree.

The Small World Tree began to be gouged deeply.

And there was another reason Pan made this decision.

‘Your Majesty, were you truly going to hand the initiative for peace to the Kingdom of Goyard?’

It was the part he couldn’t understand.

They had laughed together, saying they’d present Blacksmith Hyun with something he couldn’t do.

But now Ben said he trusted him completely?

‘What on earth has bewitched you?’

Then—

[The Small World Tree is enraged.]

Whooosh—

The Small World Tree suddenly blazed up into a massive firestorm.

“W-What is this?”

THUUUUD—

A translucent barrier of unknown nature formed across the entire garden.

Inside it were ten nobles and hundreds of knights.

[The Small World Tree will not stop until it kills all who tried to harm it.]

[A massive explosion will occur in 30 seconds.]

Hearing that, Pan fell into panic.

Whooosh—

The flames intensified, and the knights plunged into chaos.

Fortunately, the thirty seconds hadn’t passed yet, so the explosion hadn’t happened.

The problem was this.

Fwooo—

A choking smoke spewing out from the Small World Tree.

That smoke seized the entire garden.

“Cough, cough!”

“Kghaaak!”

“L-Let me out!”

“U-Uaaaa!”

Pan’s face twisted.

‘...Was my judgment wrong.’

Only then did he realize it.

‘Did I kill all of them?’

Pan retreated all the way to the wall, leaned his back against it, and slumped down.

Pan, effectively the kingdom’s second-in-command.

He was facing death because of his own foolishness.

Then—

[An explosion occurs.]

KABOOOOM—!

A massive explosion erupted, and the knights and nobles naturally shrank back.

Fortunately, the explosion shot out in the exact opposite direction from where they were clustered.

Rumble—

A wall where the blast struck collapsed.

And everyone there froze at the same time.

In the opposite direction from where they stood.

Beyond the shattered wall, the view opened wide.

Inside, a blacksmith was bracing against the firestorm pushing in, with a shield labeled Aegis set behind him.

‘Why would he go that far...?’

His hands moved as if possessed.

Even in this situation, he didn’t seem to be giving up.

Pan remembered his conversation with Ben.

‘Why have you come to trust that negotiator so much, Your Majesty? In the end, he is a man from an enemy kingdom.’

Ben had smiled bitterly.

‘Because what he said impressed me.’

What did he say?

‘Even if it breaks.’

Pan’s heart pounded.

“Please...!”

The nobles looked at him as if begging.

“That blacksmith... just what is he—”

The knights muttered with puzzled expressions, wondering what he intended to do with mere blacksmithing.

Then—

[A fourth legend is written.]

A new legend was born into the world.

And everyone there heard a familiar sound.

Swoooooosh—

It was the melody of waves spreading softly.