Genius Blacksmith's Game

Donations alone were 800 million won.

It was clearly an exceptional amount.

‘Ugh...... the fees.......’

In the end, donations had to be split with the platform.

And since the entire guild had broadcast together, this would be split as well.

A KkakkaoTalk message came from Hyein.

[Kim Hyein: We’ll request it from AJ Internet Broadcasting Station and negotiate to receive a transmission fee based on viewer count too. The transmission fee looks like it’ll be huge as well. Also, 20% of the amount will go to the territory development fund, 30% to the guild members. The remaining 50%. To sum it up, about 400 million won will go to you, Hyunsoo.]

[Kang Hyunsoo: That’s too much for my share, isn’t it?]

[Kim Hyein: Honestly, you and Ian did all the work^^;;?]

And then the guild chat window.

[Ian: I got a nice, fat share too^^]

[Jin Seong Lee: I have a lot of money, so I’m fine^^]

[Kang Hyuksoo: I’m riiiich too!]

Hyunsoo could feel some of the guild members’ consideration.

And it was true that Hyunsoo had done almost all of the hunting, so he decided to accept it with gratitude.

‘How much have I saved up?’

Now Hyunsoo was at a level where he didn’t have to worry about hospital bills.

Burn treatment costs and his father’s hospital bills.

On top of that, the wrist rehabilitation costs had been paid off without issue too.

Through all that, Hyunsoo had been saving bit by bit.

Hyunsoo checked his personal bank account.

[2,500,004,010 won.]

If you added the amount that would be deposited soon, it came to a full 2.9 billion won.

The biggest single contributor to his saved money was Jumong’s Horn Bow, which he’d sold to Ian.

A call came from Hyein.

-You’ve saved quite a lot, right?

It was like Hyein could see straight into Hyunsoo’s head.

-It’s better to buy a car or buy something rather than just leaving it sitting in your account. Don’t forget—you’re the first user to be designated the king’s successor. It’s more than enough for you to enjoy it.

Hyunsoo’s year had seen many changes.

What used to be nothing but hospital bills piled like a mountain was now money piled in his account like this.

What Hyein meant was that he could spend in a way that suited that status.

But Hyein didn’t know how much Hyunsoo had changed.

“I actually set a new goal.”

-Oh, really? What is it? A car? Or an apartment?

Hyunsoo now held a big dream.

“Like you said, I’m the first user to be designated the king’s successor. So I’m thinking I’ll become a king in reality too.”

-A king in reality? Becoming a king in reality with money. That’s a pretty meaningful line. How do you become a king in reality?

A rich person is a king.

Hyein could tell that wasn’t what he meant.

After hearing everything Hyunsoo said, Hyein let out a note of admiration.

-Maybe “a king in reality” really is the right way to put it.

*****

A shabby real estate office located in Mapo District.

“Man, whoever sells that is gonna be one lucky bastard.”

Realtor Kim Pildu sighed.

As he spoke, he poured water into a cup of instant noodles and waited.

Not long ago, a building worth about 20 billion won had been listed for sale around Mapo District, where his real estate office was located.

Realtors were going wild.

If they sold that, they could receive a commission so big it would make your jaw drop.

But for Pildu—famous for being so conscientious that he explained defects and issues so well he’d even send customers away—it was a pie in the sky.

‘Still, you have to sell honestly.’

That was his conviction.

Then.

Ding-ling—

A customer came in.

A tall young man with broad shoulders, wearing a hat.

“Welcome. Looking at an officetel?”

Even just having a customer come into the shabbiest real estate office in the area was a good thing!

But the young man said something odd.

“Could I take a look at the building listed right out front?”

“That big building?”

“Yes.”

It was that listing.

Pildu’s eyes went wide, then he soon gave a bitter smile.

‘Ha-ha, a young guy with big dreams?’

Once in a while, there were customers who came to set a goal, like, “I’m going to make a lot of money later and buy it.”

“Ah, sure. I’ll show you~.”

“What about your meal?”

“Ah, it’s okay.”

Pildu shook his head, looking at the instant noodles that were getting soggy.

Still, wasn’t he a customer, in his own way?

He took the customer to the building and did his best to explain all sorts of things.

He explained defects, and he also talked up the good points, spitting a little as he spoke.

“You really explain things well?”

“Because you feel like my son!”

“Other real estate offices said they wouldn’t show me, but sir, you’re really kind and you’re telling me everything.”

Pildu realized the reason.

A young guy suddenly showing up to see a 20 billion won building—of course he’d get treated like he was being kicked out.

Pildu clicked his tongue inwardly, thinking of the realtors who only fawned over “madams” and “bosses.”

The two returned to the real estate office.

Pildu sat down in front of the instant noodles that had gone soggy again.

Pildu was about to say it.

‘Still, how sweet is it that guys like you grab onto goals like this and push forward!? If you work hard too, someday you can become the king of kings—a building owner!’ That.

But......

“I’ll buy it. This building.”

‘Huh?’

The building owner had arrived.

“I wired the 10% deposit.”

‘H—Huh?’

The man wrote the name Kang Hyunsoo in the signature line.

‘Ghk!?’

After all the paperwork was finished, the man said:

“Thanks for explaining it so well. I signed the contract smoothly. I’ll wire the commission right away too. Take care.”

And then the commission was deposited.

‘Whaaat!?’

Pildu, who had shoved the soggy instant noodles aside, stared in shock.

‘What on earth does a guy that young do for a living......?’

*****

After finishing the building contract, Hyunsoo came out of the real estate office.

-Congratulations, Hyunsoo. That building’s value is going to keep rising. Match as much of the amount as you can by the final payment date, and take a loan for the rest—now that building is yours. Ha-ha!

Before buying the building, Hyunsoo had talked a lot with Uncle Hyuksoo.

After leaving the real estate office, he looked up at the building.

He’d set the contract period very generously.

“I’m going to keep the loan to a minimum, and pay as much as I can with my own money.”

Hyuksoo’s voice sounded a little surprised.

-Yeah, you’ve gotten confident. Like you said, that building could be great to use as the building for Hyun’s Forge as it grows.

It wasn’t rare for large guilds to buy buildings.

Hyunsoo planned to use this building for Hyun’s Forge in the future.

After ending the call, Hyunsoo looked up at the building again.

Becoming a king in reality.

That meant becoming a building owner.

He set the final payment date for ten months later.

During that time, he would save steadily and try paying it in one lump sum.

His fist clenched tight.

‘I did it again.......’

It hit him fresh.

And he liked how he’d changed into someone overflowing with confidence like this.

Because he’d said he would pay with his own money, not with loans.

But it was too early to be complacent.

Hyunsoo was the type to always revisit his shortcomings and fill them in.

‘If I’d been a little stronger back then.......’

Sure, the Helenya raid had succeeded.

But it had only been possible because his guild members were around him.

To compensate for that, there was one thing Hyunsoo could do right now.

‘Create a calamity just for myself.’

Hyunsoo, who was about to go home to log into Ares, halted.

Suddenly, people were ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) getting noisy.

“What, seriously?”

“No way.......”

“Huh...... a massive event!?”

Hyunsoo made a puzzled face.

Hearing “massive event,” Ares came to mind.

Then a call came from Hyein.

“What’s going on? Everyone’s freaking out. They said a massive event is starting.”

-It’s exactly what it sounds like. They say the biggest event since Ares opened is about to start—the continental war.

“The continental war?”

Hyunsoo made a puzzled face.

-World Ares ran an article. And the rewards are special. They might feel even more special to you, Hyunsoo.

Hyunsoo made a puzzled face.

‘Even more special to me?’

After ending the call, Hyunsoo opened World Ares on his phone.

And he checked the rewards for this continental war.

‘Crazy......!’

The moment Hyunsoo saw it, he was horrified.

Because, like Hyein said, it hit him hard.

*****

One hour earlier.

Lee Sejin held a video call with branch heads from countries all over the world.

The large-scale event continental war, which Pureum Co., Ltd. had prepared for a long time, could be called a small territorial war between two countries.

Before they let World Ares know and formalized it as an article, they discussed the rewards.

Those rewards were the rewards for users.

If you participated in the event, of course users would receive rewards.

And naturally, the reward given to the single person who performed best had to be special.

“Everyone has no objections to the MVP selection reward, correct?”

A video chat with the branch heads around the world.

Continental war, first match.

The MVP reward given to the best-performing user in Korea vs China.

It was decided after combining everyone’s opinions.

-None.

-I judge it to be the most suitable.

-Giving the MVP user prize money of 1 billion won, and the authority to choose one of three options, seems the most appropriate.

Those three options were these.

The rewards they could choose, floating at the top left.

All of them were tremendous.

And the MVP also seized prize money of 1 billion won.

Wasn’t that excessive as a game reward?

Absolutely not.

It was a game enjoyed by more than 2.5 billion people.

Think about the rewards given to players when they win the World Cup. They seize value exceeding 5 billion won.

In addition, the final option—a new grade of mineral and crafting material—was proposed by branch heads from countries like China, the United States, and Russia.

-You need formalities.

-In Ares, the ratio of non-combat classes is only 15%. If there’s no reward for them, they’ll raise their voices saying it’s discrimination. So we need to prepare a snack bag that looks impressive on the outside. A snack bag filled with nitrogen on the inside.

Sejin agreed as well.

Then he said:

“We’ll vote.”

Everyone approved the rewards unanimously, and Sejin was one of them.

“I’ll call World Ares. Official reporting will go out now.”

After ending the video chat, Lee Sejin gave a bitter smile.

It was only natural that non-combat classes contributed less in territorial wars.

Like they said, packaging was necessary.

‘The problem is whether the contents inside that packaging are nitrogen, or a bag full of snacks. That depends on who opens it.’

They proposed adding a new mineral as if they were being generous.

In that process, they never considered Hyun at all.

And honestly, Sejin hadn’t thought of Hyun as that significant either.

But.

‘If user Hyunsoo becomes the one who opens that snack bag, what happens?’

Inside, instead of nitrogen, it might end up packed with delicious, excellent snacks.

Sejin opened the door and stepped out.

Now the Korea headquarters also had to accelerate preparations for the continental war. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

‘Fourteen days left until the continental war?’

Sejin gave a bitter smile.

‘By now, user Hyunsoo has probably seen what those rewards mean.’

The user Hyunsoo that Sejin knew was the user who understood best what the opened rewards actually meant.

*****

Hyunsoo’s eyes wavered as he read the article on World Ares.

[MVP. The name granted to the single user who records the highest achievement.]

[Rewards are given along with prize money of 1 billion won, and you can choose one out of three options.]

Hyunsoo read the reward details.

But nothing else entered his eyes.

Only one reward entered his eyes.

‘What......?’

Because it was a truly ridiculous reward.

But everyone else’s reactions were like this.

-What is that last reward lol

-What? A new grade mineral or material? lol, is there even anyone who can handle that?

-Damn, you can tell without looking. Probably level requirement 500.

-Why give a grape you can’t eat. You bastards at Pureum Co., Ltd.!

-Non-combat classes can’t be MVP in the first place, though?

-That’s probably true.

-Who the hell chooses crafting material rewards. You pick a stable top-tier Legend skill or item.

-Top-tier Legend items or skills are sick, though.

Right. This reward was a snack bag full of snacks only to Hyunsoo.

And there was a truth they didn’t know—only Hyunsoo knew it.

‘A new grade of mineral? Then that mineral is a Transcendence-grade mineral, isn’t it?’

A mineral that only Hyunsoo could handle, at that.