Genius Blacksmith's Game

The quest Hyunsoo received—Meet the Lord—was Grade B.

But you shouldn’t dismiss it as merely B-grade.

This is a chained quest.

Depending on circumstances, the quest will keep linking forward as it progresses.

If you reach the very end of a chained quest, there’s a high chance the quest’s grade will change.

I have absolutely no reason to refuse.

Besides, Hyunsoo had to restore the Radiant Lord’s Old, Rusted Armor anyway.

“I’ll do it.”

Relson soon °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° handed Hyunsoo a letter of recommendation.

“Travel well, master blacksmith.”

After parting with Relson, Hyunsoo set off.

A short walk later, he entered the Beginner’s Village.

In this Beginner’s Village, users learn how to undertake various quests.

It’s effectively the final tutorial.

But most people skip it and leave the Beginner Zone right away.

Hyunsoo spotted the Lord’s Castle in the distance.

But there was something he definitely had to do before heading there.

I put out the immediate fire, but...

By tomorrow, the VVIP Capsule would arrive.

And while Hyunsoo wanted to enjoy the game, he also needed to make money.

Hyunsoo needed the money to remove his burn scars.

Food, rent, gas, this month’s treatment costs...

Even excluding his father’s hospital bills, he needed at least ₩3,000,000 a month.

It was now virtually certain he could earn money here by plying his craft for real, but the road ahead was long.

So that means I have to earn at least ₩100,000 per day in-game.

That’s why Hyunsoo was thinking of using the “Auction Board,” which becomes available when you come out to the Beginner’s Village.

Through the Auction Board, users can buy and sell what they want to sell and buy.

“My first sale.”

Hyunsoo’s chest fluttered in a peculiar way.

It was the easiest way to gauge, with certainty, how much value his artifacts would command here.

The first sword I ever made in this game.

Looking at Hyun’s First Sword pulled from his inventory, Hyunsoo let out a wry smile.

And before selling, he checked the going rate for this type of artifact.

Between 70 and 120 Gold?

Roughly ₩70,000 to ₩120,000.

Lower than he’d expected.

He quickly understood why.

It’s too low-level-focused.

Practically speaking, in Ares users level the fastest from Lv.1 to Lv.30.

If you do nothing but grind levels, you can hit that range within a week.

After checking prices, he opened the auction.

[Please set a seller name.]

Another good point about the Auction Board is strict anonymity. You can set a name different from your character.

“Hyun’s Forge.”

[Hyun’s Forge Court is created for the first time.]

[From now on, you can use the Auction Board anytime, anywhere.]

[Please list your auction item.]

He wrote up the sale post.

[Hyun’s First Sword.]

Description: With no level restriction, it should be an easy, comfortable choice for beginners.

As soon as he posted, a prompt appeared.

[Please set a starting bid.]

Would 100 Gold work?

100 Gold carries cash value of ₩100,000.

Even with a good grade, considering the various factors, that felt about right.

If it was worth more, bidders would compete and drive the price up.

[Starting the auction at 100 Gold.]

Hope it sells well.

Hyunsoo checked various features of the auction system.

Interesting.

The Ares auction system has its own special features.

There’s even a seller subscription system.

The seller subscription system lets you subscribe to a seller and receive alerts whenever they list something.

I hear there are about ten Lv.100 blacksmiths, give or take.

There are lots of blacksmiths, and lots of items to sell.

So the more subscribers you have, the more “named” you are.

People can also leave comments under listed items.

[Jihoon: Hyunsoo, let’s eat and then game.]

[Hyunsoo: Yup.]

Before heading to the Lord’s Castle, Hyunsoo logged out.

****

Blam was a member of Golden Shield, a blacksmith guild with a decent name in Korea.

Golden Shield would, after crafting artifacts, buy them through sale or auction, then disassemble and repair them and resell them.

They also took commissions.

Those commissions came from politicians who wanted to play, tycoons, or simply people with money.

They were busy and had no time to play.

But they still wanted a stronger start than everyone else.

In Blam’s case, he was a small fish in the guild, so he mostly took commissions from mid-sized company owners or old-school whales who liked to splash cash on MMOs.

Not long ago, Blam received a commission from the head of a mid-sized firm:

“I don’t have time to play, but I’d like to start the game a little more specially than others.”

Browsing the Auction Board, Blam clicked into the “Lv.1–50 Artifacts” board.

It’s practically the least active board.

Upon entering, a sword popped up as “Today’s New Best Artifact #1.”

“Hm. For an Lv.1–50 auction listing, there are a lot of comments. Why?”

Puzzled, Blam clicked it and checked the item info.

(Hyun’s First Sword)

Grade: Rare

Durability: 1,000/1,000

Attack: 36

Restriction: Lv.1–30.

Special Abilities:

· Strength +2, Agility +1.

· Active: Quick Draw.

Description: The finest sword a Level 1 user can wield, born from the crudest materials.

“...?”

Blam tilted his head.

Who is this blacksmith ‘Hyun’?

One thing was certain: not an NPC.

First, he checked the current bid.

[Starting bid 100 Gold.]

[Current bid 214 Gold.]

“...?”

A pretty hefty amount for a Beginner Zone artifact.

Blam opened the comments.

[Whoa, a Level 1 sword at 214 Gold? These clowns, lol, brains are empty.]

[You’re paying ₩200,000 for a sword you can’t use past Level 30? Crazy~]

[Korea’s got so many rich kids, lmao.]

[Aren’t Rare swords like that common... stuff you get from quests or NPCs?]

Rechecking the item details carefully, Blam’s eyes went wide.

“That’s what you say when you’re clueless.”

It’s not the appearance that matters.

Blam’s heart pounded.

I have to buy this.

Even while he thought that, the bid kept climbing.

[Current bid 228 Gold.]

[Current bid 236 Gold.]

Smells like other blacksmith guilds caught wind of it.

Blam quickly whispered the vice guild master.

[Blam: Vice GM, up to what price can I bid this?]

[Kay: What is it?]

[Blam: An artifact listed on the Auction Board.]

[Kay: For now, keep chasing the bids. This one’s special.]

[Blam: Right?]

[Kay: Hang on, I’ll check the board too.]

Soon the vice guild master whispered again.

[Kay: The casuals don’t get it. Blam, you know why this is heating up, right?]

[Blam: Of course. It literally says it’s the finest sword born from the crudest materials.]

Ordinary users might think, Oh, a special player got a pretty good sword by playing well.

But piece it out and it’s extraordinary.

“The finest sword” means—relative to that level—it’s the first of its kind in history.

“The crudest materials” means it was made from truly insignificant materials.

Artifacts are heavily influenced by blacksmith skill, but even more by materials.

And yet this was made from the crudest materials.

[Kay: If you enhance that, it’ll be insane.]

Yes—enhancement.

Ares also has an artifact enhancement system.

And this enhancement follows a condition common to all games.

The cruder the material something was made from, the higher the enhancement success rate.

If the materials are truly crude, the enhancement cost itself is lower.

If the enhancements go well, you can comfortably use it up to Lv.50.

Blam kept chasing the rising bids.

Then Vice GM Kay whispered again.

[Kay: Blam, the guild master wants us to win that.]

[Blam: The guild master?]

Surprisingly, Golden Shield’s guild master was the #12-ranked blacksmith in Korea.

He usually didn’t bother with chores like this.

[Kay: Look at the name.]

[Blam: The name? Why?]

Blam mulled it.

“Hyun’s First Sword... Hyun’s... hmm...?”

Blam soon sensed something odd.

“First? As in, the first sword crafted...?”

His eyes flew open.

“The first thing he ever crafted is Rare!?”

[Blam: Insane...]

[Kay: What do you think ‘First Sword’ implies? It’s a signal he intends to sell artifacts going forward. Otherwise, who puts ‘First’ in an artifact’s name? And here’s why the guild master wants it.]

To be honest, even stacking up reasons, Blam still wondered if they really had to win it.

[Kay: If you think fair value, I’d peg it around 300–400 Gold. But what happens if that unknown user grows later? We’ll have paid top money for his first sale. We’ve got zero ties to him; this buys us a thread of connection.]

Ah...

Blam understood.

That unknown blacksmith might be a goose that lays golden eggs.

Recruit him to the guild, or secure his artifact business.

One way or another, they’d get closer to him.

So the guild master sees that much growth potential in him...?

For a beginner to catch the eye of the #12 blacksmith already—that’s astounding.

Slowly but surely the bids climbed, and Blam kept pace.

****

After lunch with Jihoon, Hyunsoo logged back in and neared the Lord’s Castle.

Just then—

[Please check the Auction Board.]

“Hm?”

Hyunsoo, who had turned off comment alerts to avoid being distracted, looked puzzled.

He’d only disabled comment alerts; the board alert was still on, so it must have come through.

As far as Hyunsoo knew, the Auction Board pings you for three reasons.

The bid time limit has expired.

No one bid, so it’s telling you to drop the price indefinitely.

Or a high bid came in—so hurry and check it.

Ah. Please...

For a moment Hyunsoo wondered if the first sword he’d ever made in the game had no value.

Thinking back, that day was the first time in ages he’d held a hammer.

And it had been the very first artifact he crafted the moment he started the game.

In other words, thrown together, just like that.

He opened the Auction Board and squeezed his eyes shut.

He cracked them open—then let out a strangled exclamation.

“...Huh...?”