Genius Blacksmith's Game

Hyunsoo stayed wary of Ronso, who couldn’t approach him, and listened to the endless notifications.

[You have obtained the first sentence of the title.]

‘The first sentence? What is this, exactly?’

(First Sentence)

Sentence-Type Title

Grade: SS

Special Ability:

·In a moment of life and death, when you do not give up and reveal your will multiple times, it activates with a 10% chance.

·For one time only, it applies a method that allows you to overcome the crisis, suited to your job class.

·After activation, if it judges that crisis to be a mountain that is difficult to cross, each and every word you have built will gain special power.

·It is an upper compatibility of A Title for You Alone. It does not activate easily, and it is a special title Ares has granted you for your unshakable will.

The final line left a deep impression.

‘A special title Ares granted me for my unshakable will.’

[Search is complete.]

[You discover one hidden function of Reverse.]

And this power was hard to call a balance collapse.

According to the description, he had to break through moments of life and death multiple times, and it activated at the low probability of 10%.

[You can combine artifacts crafted through Reverse.]

[Reuse time is ignored.]

And if he thought about this power carefully, it was also power Hyunsoo had forged.

Artifact combination.

He didn’t know how far this mysterious, tremendous power could reach.

But if Normal and Normal were combined, at best it would manifest Rare-level power.

If Epic and Epic were combined, it would still only manifest Unique-level power.

That was the fundamental nature of the power called Reverse.

A power used by recreating artifacts Hyunsoo himself had forged.

‘It’s power that only I built.’

And the formation of the absolute barrier of unknown identity that was blocking Ronso’s approach.

That, too, originated from what Hyunsoo had built.

In the description of the First Sentence title, it was written like this.

‘After activation, if it judges that crisis to be a mountain that is difficult to cross, each and every word you have built will gain special power.’

A single word has special power.

[A sentence begins.]

[Even if it breaks]

[Blocks the enemy’s approach until you combine artifacts.]

Hyunsoo discovered it.

The words Even if it breaks, engraved in light in the air.

“W-what the hell is this! You bastard, what kind of wicked trick are you pulling!”

Even Ronso, who had become far stronger than usual through the Calamity of Revival, couldn’t understand the bizarre thing happening now.

The two chunks of ore that hadn’t yet been completed.

They were finally being forged completely.

Smelting.

Purification.

Forging.

Polishing.

Two artifacts descended.

One was the Four Tigers Sword. The other was Poseidon’s Trident.

He brought the two weapons in his hands to the center.

The two artifacts were wrapped in light and built a new form.

The trident’s advantage—three thrusting strikes—disappeared, and the Four Tigers Sword’s long, beautiful blade became a thrusting edge.

The shaft was completely dyed white, as if proclaiming good, and the name ‘Trident’ was engraved there.

The light withdrew, and at last a single spear revealed itself.

That spear, whose thrusting edge was a blade, astonishingly held two powers in coexistence.

SHAAAAAA—

The gentle melody of spreading waves.

KUGRRRRR—

The power of holy power trying to rage violently met it, and at last a complete single artifact was born.

[You can use it for 1 minute.]

[It is Legend above Legend grade.]

[Congratulations.]

[You can challenge the new Ten Legends.]

[A legend of the Master Blacksmith is written.]

“What the hell is that spear!”

Hyunsoo had heard many people’s questions.

Back when he first crafted the Four Tigers Sword. He answered Calamity Jack’s question.

‘The king wished.’

Peace and prosperity for the nation.

An era of great peace.

The story of a king who wished his people to be at ease while he remained king.

And the story of the trident that named one of the three strongest Absolute Gods in Greek myth.

Or the story of the god named Heracles, who was said to have been born wretched and become a demigod.

Hyunsoo had always spoken of their greatness and their stories.

But today was different.

What is this spear?

“I wish.”

At last, Hyunsoo took a single step.

KUGRRRRR—

Hearing the massive rumble, Ronso’s face turned ashen.

Ronso retreated.

[Hyunsoo Lv.290]

He had only been a person who possessed about this much power before.

But holy power possessed the power to annihilate evil.

It inflicted several hundred percent additional damage to evil.

And that ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ enormous power of unknown identity.

[Hyunsoo Lv.???]

Yes—against Ronso, one of absolute evils, Hyunsoo was now a person with power that could not be measured.

And Belin, standing behind him, couldn’t believe it.

She recalled the day she first met him.

When she first met him, he was a commoner—nothing more than a blacksmith with outstanding skill.

Yet now he had become a completely different person.

“That this territory will develop even greater, and further, become steadfast even under any threat.”

At last, Belin realized it.

‘My choice was never wrong, not even once......!’

As Hyunsoo continued, Ronso’s face twisted grotesquely.

“Further, that I will be within their well-being and peace.”

CHILL—

Goosebumps rose down Ronso’s back.

He couldn’t help imagining it.

Years from now, Hyun—many times larger and stronger than now—looking down at the people of the territory from atop the walls of Vallas Territory.

“That won’t happen. You and Vallas Territory will both disappear today.”

Ronso found his composure.

At most, Hyunsoo was battered to pieces.

Just a moment ago, he had been at the brink of death.

With a few lashes of his whip, he could kill him.

KRARARARAK—

The moment his whip swung, it left dozens of afterimages.

They looked like afterimages, but every single one carried damage.

That moment.

The massive rumble revealed its identity. A gigantic tidal wave of light appearing behind Hyunsoo.

That tidal wave blocked in front of him as if protecting Hyunsoo.

The speed of the whip sucked into the tidal wave slowed exponentially.

And then, in Ronso’s vision as he moved quickly so as not to be sucked into the tidal wave, he saw letters being engraved in the air once again.

[Without retreating]

[HP and MP recover by 20%.]

SSSSSS—

Seeing him recover so many wounds at once, Ronso clenched his teeth hard.

His whip slammed down into the ground with force.

KWAAAAAANG—

[For 30 seconds, neutralizes all power around you.]

[You cannot use skills.]

Then the tidal wave of light vanished in an instant.

The moment the tidal wave cleared, Hyunsoo and Ronso collided at once.

KKAGAGAGANG—!

Ronso, unleashing endless exchanges, believed he had seized the advantage.

‘Outsiders without mystic power are weak.......’

KWAZIHK—

CHIIIIIIIK—!

At that moment, Ronso, cut by Hyunsoo, felt enormous pain he had never experienced in his life.

“K-kraaaaaaagh!”

This was clearly nothing more than an ordinary attack.

Which meant the damage of that spear of unknown identity was completely outside his common sense.

And on top of that—though he didn’t know it.

[Damage to evil increases by 450%.]

The spear Hyunsoo held now contained the profundity of the Four Tigers Sword.

And the power added on top of that.

[By all means]

[Movement speed and attack speed increase by 35%.]

Hyunsoo’s speed rose exponentially.

KWAZIHK—

CHWAAAAAK—

Trading blows back and forth, Ronso was flustered.

When Hyunsoo attacked him, the damage far exceeded the damage of Ronso striking him with the whip.

If there was one fortunate point, it was that Ronso’s total HP pool itself was far higher.

That was why named NPCs and named monsters overwhelmed users of the same level.

They possessed several times more total HP than those of the same level, so even if they took more damage, they could endure it.

Colliding with Hyunsoo, Ronso ultimately realized he had won.

“Khh-hhh-hhh, in the end, you lost.”

With mystic power controlled, his sword was nothing more than powerless.

Watching Hyunsoo still glare at him with eyes that hadn’t cooled, Ronso savored his victory.

He took in, one by one, the growing injuries and the collapsing body.

[HP falls below 6%.]

A single spear with absurd power.

Tremendous and bizarre.

But when the level gap between him and Hyunsoo, mystic power, and all those things were combined, it was hard to win with only one spear.

But then Ronso’s eyes widened.

[HP falls below 2%.]

Right in front of Hyunsoo, the final sentence appeared, wrapped in light.

[I win.]

[Status effects are removed.]

“......!?”

[All sentences are revealed.]

[Even if it breaks, without retreating, by all means, I win.]

Ronso looked at those brilliantly shining words and chewed on them.

At that moment, Ronso felt it.

“Ghost Steps.”

Though he was far weaker than himself, vile, insignificant, and nothing more than a blacksmith—he felt the power created by that unfathomable mental strength.

KWA-JAAK—

THUD

PUH-UK

KRAK!

PIPIPIT

Every time he was cut, broken, kicked, and struck, radiant light was bursting from that spot.

And Hyunsoo felt he had already reached his physical limit.

But if he couldn’t overcome this, he knew fifty soldiers, the Storm Brigade, the blacksmiths and people of Vallas, and Belin—everyone—would die.

“I...”

KWA-JAAK—

[Ronso’s HP falls below 2%.]

PUH-JIK!

“By all means.”

[Ronso’s HP falls below 1%.]

PHOO-UK—!

Ronso, with the spear blade buried in his abdomen, began to scatter slowly.

The words that widened an incredible gap between himself and Hyunsoo.

“I become lord.”

Ronso.

He began to scatter into ash.

As he scattered, Ronso kept Hyunsoo in his eyes.

Kneeling, he looked at him and let out a hollow laugh.

‘What kind of bullshit is that.’

Even as his face slowly vanished, Ronso thought this.

‘A bastard with the makings of a king.’

He had ended up acknowledging defeat willingly.

Hyunsoo staggered, but steadied his mind.

[35 seconds remaining.]

Hyunsoo still had a place to go.

Outside the castle.

It was to support the guild members who were fighting desperately.

Today was different from usual.

More than anticipation for the reward notifications that would explode in, urgency was greater.

Then.

[Lord’s Mercy]

[HP and MP recover by 15%.]

A woman’s fingertips touched his back.

When Hyunsoo turned his head, Belin knelt.

“......I greet you, Viscount.”

It was perhaps natural.

Their status from when they first met to now had completely changed.

Then she said.

“......Save your people.”

[Belin delegates all authority as lord.]

[Congratulations.]

[You have become the lord of Vallas Territory.]

At last, Hyunsoo became the owner of this land.

Hyunsoo turned his head.

Now it was time to go save my people.