Genius Blacksmith's Game

Red Hood Guild was a guild that belonged in the top-200 range of Korea’s guild rankings.

Guild Master Hel was a user who reached level 335, and ranked #3 among archers in Korea.

And Red Hood Guild was generally a guild people avoided clashing with.

Because the guild itself was a toxic guild formed from the Murderer Guild.

High-rankers avoided clashing with them not because they were afraid.

Do you avoid shit because you fear it? You avoid it because it’s filthy.

Anyway, Red Hood Guild like this had strong members, one by one.

The condition to join the guild was to be a high-level user of level 300 or higher.

And there were a full forty of them.

And the more a user enjoyed being toxic, the more they were welcomed.

Red Hood Guild, completed like that.

When Red Dragon Brigade Leader Kuhn came with an enormous sum not long ago, Hel welcomed them.

‘A massacre? That’s our specialty, so don’t worry.’

Hel and the guild members had participated in countless massacres up until now, and requests came in fairly often.

Why did people look for them?

Because they could kill a large number quickly, at high speed, in a short time.

Unlike knight or assassin classes that had to get up close to the enemy, they could kill people with a single arrow.

Why did people die to one arrow?

It was simple.

The targets being massacred were usually ordinary civilians.

‘Guilt? What guilt is there in killing NPCs?’

Hel had enjoyed hunts like that.

That exhilarating thrill of someone dropping dead with a single arrow!?

And today was the same as always.

When the guild members worked together and fired their arrows to sweep a hundred in one go—

Something strange happened.

FWOOSH—!

Their hundred-plus arrows scattered into ash in an instant.

Then their client, Kuhn, suddenly got blasted backward.

Hel couldn’t tell who had caused this bizarre event.

‘Who the hell is it?’

An unofficial ranker?

They even had a Legend above Legend artifact.

But Hel could only sneer.

What was one bastard going to do?

In that moment—

SHWEEEEEK—!

With a harsh ripping sound, an arrow buried itself into the heart of a guild member right next to Hel.

SPURT—!

An arrow whose shaft was far shorter than a normal arrow.

It pierced straight through the guild member’s armor and sent them flying about ten meters.

“Pils, are you oka—”

Level 301 archer Pils.

Hel, turning to look, was beyond flustered.

“U-Uaaagh, w-what, what is thiiis!?”

They flailed as flames clung to their body—then turned into ash and vanished.

“O-One shot?”

Hel couldn’t hide his shock.

In Ares, there were three job categories with the lowest HP.

Mages were the lowest, then assassins, and then archers.

Archers invested most of their stats into Agility.

Because that raised accuracy and destructive power.

‘Even so—one arrow?’

In that moment—

KWA-JIIIK—

SPURT—!

KWA-JAAK—!

Hel watched guild members get blown away by arrows arriving at two-second intervals.

“U-Uaaagh!”

“What the hell!”

“Ghk!”

“Kuhk!”

At first, Hel thought the enemy was shooting fire arrows. But no.

A normal arrow flew in—and the instant it hit directly, flames erupted.

‘T-That’s insane...... how is this even possible......’

And then—

SHWEEEEEK—!

Hel felt an arrow pierce through their chest.

“U-UAAAH!”

Archer ranking #3, Hel.

Blasted about seven meters, Hel felt scorching flames transferring onto their body.

[Flames that do not extinguish easily ignite.]

[You allowed a critical hit.]

[HP drops below 22%.]

Hel hurriedly put out the flames and stared with a disbelieving expression.

More and more unidentified arrows kept flying in.

KWA-JAAAK—!

Power that could even smash rock.

‘T-This is a basic attack?’

Only after getting hit did Hel understand.

They’d thought it was a skill being manifested, but this was literally just a basic attack.

‘Guild members got forced-logged-out by one basic attack?’

Jumong’s Horn Bow had attack power in the 600s.

And the bows ordinary users held had attack power in the 350–400 range.

On top of that, Jumong’s Horn Bow—because of its accuracy increase—greatly boosted the probability of critical hits.

And with the destructive power of the Baby Arrow, and then once more with the horn bow + Baby Arrow synergy, those forces rose again.

What was even more unbelievable—

KWA-JAAAK—!

An arrow that hit the guild member beside Hel again.

‘500 meters?’

A range that defied common sense.

The guild members fired arrows toward the enemy.

Those arrows lost power and fell to the ground.

Meaning, that bow’s effective range was nearly double.

[Ian has attacked you.]

[Because the target is a Chaos user, Ian does not enter the Chaos state.]

When Hel realized the target was the fallen ranker Ian, they were even more horrified.

Hel had been one of the users who anonymously mocked Ian while watching Ian post daily on Hyun’s Forge.

‘No way......’

Then Hel came up with a trick.

“Everyone, hide behind rocks and run toward the prisoners!”

If their ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ distance was far, then we just bring them into our range.

When all the guild members ran toward the prisoners, the incoming arrows stopped.

He was closing the distance with them.

300 meters.

250 meters.

200 meters.

When he finally arrived, Hel shivered.

‘Finally, within range......!’

Seeing Ian now close, Hel sneered.

‘Now you’re dead—’

Then Hel’s eyes went wide.

Around Ian, with a single arrow nocked, enormous flames surged upward.

FWOOSH—!

Flames rising up to five meters were sucked into Ian’s arrow.

TA-AT—!

The instant Ian released the bowstring, Hel’s eyes bulged.

A condensed mass holding a huge, rippling inferno.

[Inferno Fire Guided Shot]

That single arrow pierced through the guild member in the very front.

FWAAASH—!

Their flesh ignited in an instant, became the shape of a skull, and then even that shape scattered into bone dust.

But that single arrow didn’t stop as it traveled on—

Second.

Third.

Fifth.

“W-What the hell is this arrow!?”

KWA-JIIK—!

Sixth.

SPURT

Eighth.

“KRAAAAGH!”

Ninth.

SPURT!

“U-UAAAH!”

Only after burning ten did it fall to the ground.

‘An arrow that hits ten without fail?’

Only then did Hel realize one fact.

Ian, who had once fallen.

They would be recorded as Korea’s greatest archer in name and reality.

‘No—maybe......?’

As Hel was forced-logged-out by an arrow piercing their heart, they thought,

‘Maybe the best in the world.’

*****

It was always the same.

At the moment of a crisis he could only lose, Hyunsoo didn’t retreat—he burned his will to win.

[A story for you begins.]

He was startled by the notification. Hyunsoo had heard it many times before.

[A new story begins.]

But this was different.

[You have faced new stories that bring great crises, and you have overcome them in your own way.]

[Those stories have continued, and at last, today, you begin to create a new story that belongs to you alone.]

Ding!

[Your own story will grant rewards far more maximized than a new story.]

Hyunsoo understood.

The many hardships and difficulties he had overcome.

And the system’s special favor granted because of that.

Something that gives far greater and more tremendous rewards than the existing new story.

Ding!

[Your own quest: Defeat Red Dragon Brigade Leader Kuhn]

Grade: SS

Restriction: The one who triggered your own story

Reward: Astonishing Negotiation Progress increase

Failure Penalty: Death of all prisoners.

Description: A story for you alone has been triggered and the rewards have been maximized. Defeat Red Dragon Brigade Leader Kuhn.

A new story always made Hyunsoo’s heart pound.

Tension and fear—and then the anticipation and the joy of rewards that followed.

‘This story is prepared for me alone.’

The reward line: an astonishing Negotiation Progress increase.

He was looking forward to just how much it would be.

He chewed and swallowed the grapes in his mouth.

[EXP gain rate and artifact drop rate increase by 50%.]

[All stats are maximized.]

[All stats increase by 26%.]

Powerful strength surged up through Hyunsoo’s entire body.

[Please select a skill to activate twice in a row.]

Hyunsoo already knew the opponent wasn’t easy.

The wall of an 80-level difference.

‘My remaining HP is only about 12%.’

The enemy’s HP was 89%.

And—

[Assassin’s Domain]

[A 100m radius becomes their domain.]

[Within that domain, the assassin’s movement speed and attack speed increase by 2x.]

Because Kuhn knew the danger, they released their peak.

KWA-JIK—

The moment they stepped on the ground, they vanished from in front of his eyes.

Left.

Right.

Above.

At an untrackable speed, Kuhn appeared from everywhere, closed in, and drove a dagger into his heart.

SPURT—!

But Hyunsoo didn’t get pushed back. He seized Kuhn’s right hand with both hands.

In that moment—

[You are holding Asnium.]

[HP has dropped below 10%.]

[HP recovers to 15%.]

Hyunsoo’s eyes snapped wide.

It was true—it had been an attack he couldn’t block.

That was why he chose it.

In that split second, Hyunsoo plotted the route in his head.

Only these two activations.

‘In these two, I have to kill an assassin with 90% HP.’

So he drew it thoroughly in his mind.

[You have selected Ghost Steps.]

Stable total count: 16 times.

“Ghost Steps.”

His figure vanished.

Ghost Steps that activated toward only a single target.

KWA-JAAK—

SPURT

THUD-THUD

PIT-PIT!

CRUNCH

KWA-JAAAK—

SPURT—!

KWAAANG—!

“Ghk!”

Eight afterimages of Hyunsoo were carved into Kuhn.

And the final attack was an upward swing—

Kuhn was launched upward.

[Kuhn’s HP is below 50%.]

Kuhn was the leader of the Red Dragon Brigade.

They were someone who had once directly witnessed Ben’s Ghost Steps.

Hyunsoo didn’t know, but Kuhn knew that if Ben’s Ghost Steps went all-out, it could reach 24 times.

But this one—only eight times in one activation.

And even that was only eight within a time extended by just 0.4 seconds.

Kuhn was certain.

The moment this Ghost Steps ended, the last dagger they had planted would turn Hyunsoo into ash.

“Ghost Steps.”

Hyunsoo activated it once more.

KWA-JAAAK—

CRACK

KWA-JIIK

THUD—

THUNK

KRRK

And on top of that, by dominating this space, Kuhn had surpassed their usual self overwhelmingly.

TAAANG—!

They knocked away the sixth strike.

SPURT—

They blocked the punching fist with both forearms.

SWOOOOSH

They twisted aside and avoided the sword swung from the side.

The cunning worthy of the head of an assassin group went beyond common sense.

“You lost.”

[Kuhn’s HP is below 18%.]

Looking at themself still solid, Kuhn was sure of victory.

In that instant, Hyunsoo grew calm.

In the past, at the banquet hall, Hyunsoo had reached nine times in one second.

Feeling for that sensation, he recalled it.

‘This is how I did it.’

There was still 0.4 seconds of time that hadn’t passed yet.

Hyunsoo didn’t stop moving.

Ninth.

SKRAAAK—!

Cut in the side, Kuhn panicked.

‘W-What!?’

Then tenth, eleventh—his sword hammered down from all directions.

Kuhn wasn’t only taking hits.

SKRAAK—

KWA-JI—

They cut the Hyunsoo scattering into afterimages and dealt damage to him.

Hyunsoo’s afterimages didn’t stop moving.

Twelfth.

KWA-JIIIK—

Thirteenth.

SPURT—!

Kuhn, kicked and sent reeling, couldn’t believe it.

KWAK—!

Fourteenth, fifteenth.

‘No way......’

A mere blacksmith activated Ghost Steps fifteen times.

But Kuhn barely understood that they had won.

They still had 5% HP left.

On the other hand, the blacksmith called Hyun looked like they could die if Kuhn so much as grazed them with a dagger once.

And then—

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—!

Kuhn saw the sword now clenched in Hyunsoo’s hand.

“Frost Flower.”

A sword that froze the surrounding air. In that moment, Kuhn realized it.

‘He panicked me with the first Ghost Steps......’

Then, while activating the second Ghost Steps, Hyun used power whose cooldown had returned.

Kuhn hadn’t noticed because they were focused on Ghost Steps.

The arm that had been thrust out to pierce Hyun’s chest wouldn’t listen anymore.

The cold that sword exhaled had frozen Kuhn’s arm—already exhausted to the limit.

CLINK—!

As the arm froze, Kuhn dropped the dagger.

Soon, Red Dragon Brigade Leader Kuhn’s entire body froze.

And Hyunsoo, falling with them, heard a harsh sound.

CRASH-KRASH—!

It was the sound of Kuhn shattering.

Hyunsoo, barely victorious, was curious.

Right now, he was under double Negotiation Progress application, and 1.5x EXP gain application.

And because the story for him had triggered, it said that if he defeated Red Dragon Brigade Leader Kuhn, he would gain an astonishing Negotiation Progress.

‘So today... how far do I rise?’

Negotiation Progress.

It determined his peerage, and it was proof of everything up to now.

THUD—!

A beat late, countless notifications slammed into Hyunsoo as he hit the ground.