Genius Blacksmith's Game

Rune stared at the auction item floating before his eyes with a trembling expression.

[Starting bid: 500 Gold.]

An auction starting at five times higher than the first sword.

The newly posted item was a bow.

(Hyun’s Second Bow)

Grade: Rare

Durability: 2,400/2,400

Attack: 94

Restriction: Level 0–60

Specials:

· Agility +7.

· Accuracy +13%.

· Passive Skill: Heavy Shot.

· Passive Skill: Piercing Arrow.

Description: A bow crafted solely from Beginner Zone materials—unlikely ever to appear again in the Beginner Zone.

Ren’s chest trembled as he looked into Hyun’s Second Bow.

What is this? How did he make this...?

He couldn’t understand.

Just then, the vice guild master Kay ran up to him.

“Guild Master, you saw it, right?”

Ron nodded.

“This is insane. It’s a truly insane artifact!”

Ron couldn’t deny it. Kay went on, excited.

“This one was also made in the Beginner Zone. A bow made in the Beginner Zone has an Attack of ninety-four.”

Bows have a lower base Attack than swords.

That’s because bow damage is Bow Attack + Arrow Attack.

And as the level restriction for equipping an item goes up, it’s only natural the Attack goes up since higher-level users will equip it.

“It even has two skills among its specials. Those are decent, too.”

Ron and Kay couldn’t help but rate this bow highly.

“How did he craft an artifact with a Level 0–60 restriction in the Beginner Zone...?”

Hyun’s First Sword was also made in the Beginner Zone.

Beginner Zone users are Level 1, and they work with materials that have no level restriction, so it makes sense that items end up with no restriction. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

So how did someone in the Beginner Zone make something with a Level 0–60 restriction—or higher?

Moreover, the owner of Hyun’s Forge was still presumed to be Level 1.

“Take a look at this.”

Kay popped up a hologram.

“This is a bow Black made at Level 10. It also has a Level 0–60 restriction.”

Black was currently Korea’s #1-ranked blacksmith.

(Bow of the Orc’s Molar)

Grade: Rare.

Durability: 1,100/1,100

Attack: 76

Restriction: Level 0–60

Specials:

· Agility +2.

· Critical Hit chance +13%.

· Passive Skill: Quick Reload.

· Active Skill: Long Shot.

Description: A bow made from an orc’s molar. Quite well made and easy to use overall.

The difference between the two was obvious. The bow sold by Hyun’s Forge was overwhelmingly superior.

Same restriction, same Rare grade.

Kay looked as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Guild Master...”

“Mm, it’s that.”

A way for a stark difference to exist despite being the same grade and the same Rare.

Only one thing came to both of their minds.

“Class carry.”

“Skill carry.”

They said it at the same time.

“This pretty much confirms it, doesn’t it? The owner of Hyun’s Forge is a Legendary-class blacksmith.”

Ron’s chest tightened with a tremor.

The reason they felt sure:

Looking at blacksmith skills, effects like these exist—

‘When crafting a Rare artifact, increase all effects by 9%.’

‘When crafting an Epic artifact, increase all effects by 11%.’

But comparing the Bow of the Orc’s Molar with Hyun’s Second Bow, there’s nearly a 20% performance gap.

To be frank, Hyun’s Second Bow, though short of perfect, could be called Epic-tier without shame.

“Unless he’s Legendary class, there’s no way to create this much of a gap with items of the same grade.”

As he said that, Ron suddenly thought of Smith, the world’s #1-ranked blacksmith.

Smith.

His real-world name was also Smith, and he was someone Ron respected.

Smith was known to have provided extensive help to the blacksmithing side during Ares’s development.

And Smith once said this:

‘Even if you make an artifact crudely, you can leverage class, skills, level, titles, and so on to push it into a higher grade. We receive help from the system. But there’s also a way to create an artifact that surpasses even that.’

At the time, Ron focused on him because he wanted to become like Smith.

‘Don’t make it crudely—make it precise and perfect. If, on top of that finished state, you also receive the effects of class, skills, level, and titles, then you’ll have an artifact the likes of which we’ve never seen.’

That was something Ron couldn’t possibly emulate.

Of course, he could craft artifacts precisely and meticulously under the influence of his own level and skills.

But he knew that wasn’t what Smith meant.

It meant truly understanding the essence of a weapon or armor.

Not through the system—by yourself.

Impossible.

Smith’s real job was blacksmith, so it [N O V E L I G H T] was possible for him, but for 99.9% of blacksmiths alive, it was impossible.

And that was why Ron hadn’t even considered it.

“Skill-only carry” is nonsense.

Just then—

[Current bid: 970 Gold.]

[Current bid: 990 Gold.]

“Guild Master, the bids keep climbing. What should we do?”

“Chase it for now. Those bastards caught the scent.”

How many blacksmith guilds are there in Korea?

Those who, like him, had been waiting for Hyun’s Forge to prove its value were now trying to bid no matter what because he’d done it.

For the same reason as theirs.

To create a connection somehow.

“He’s the second Legendary-class blacksmith after Smith, the world’s #1—can’t let him slip. Put in an exclusive offer. No—wait.”

Kay watched Ron, who, uncharacteristically, couldn’t hide his excitement.

Muttering, What to do? Ron spoke.

“I’ll make the offer myself. And don’t bid some ridiculous amount. The other guilds will stop too if the price gets too high anyway.”

Ron gave a wry smile as he watched the subscriber count continue to climb in real time.

“Because they don’t want it to become a big issue either.”

Ron immediately hit the envelope-shaped icon to compose a message to Hyun’s Forge.

We’re taking him, no matter what.

It was the first time Ron had ever wanted someone this badly.

[Hello. This is Ron, master of the Golden Shield guild.]

He began to draft his offer.

****

Hyunsoo stretched hard.

“Nggh!”

He’d spent over 50 in-game days holed up only in the Lord’s Castle forge.

After posting Hyun’s Second Bow on the Auction Board yesterday, he logged out immediately.

And he finally slept deeply for once.

Hyunsoo, who slapped together cereal as a late breakfast-early lunch, gave a wry smile.

If you subtract the capsule, I’m in the red...

He had obtained a VVIP capsule during the month.

And he’d made 1,000,000 won by selling Hyun’s First Sword, but given that his playtime amounted to about a month of real time, you could say he might be in the red.

And I’m almost out of cash.

He’d burned through almost all of the nearly 1,000,000 won left in his account.

I should cash out.

The profit from selling the sword, and the proceeds from this bow sale.

Step by step—that’s how you move forward.

Considering he was still only Level 1, the results weren’t bad.

But at this rate, when am I treating the burn scars...?

He wanted to go out into the world.

He wanted to walk the world like ordinary people do, as a matter of course.

After roughly finishing his meal, Hyunsoo logged back into Ares.

Smiling in satisfaction, he rechecked the things he’d gained yesterday.

First, the sword art.

(Prime Swordsmanship)

Active Skill

Grade: Epic

Level: 1 Proficiency: 0%

A swordsmanship skill.

· Chapter 1: The One Who Does Not Retreat.

· Chapter 2: Critical Strike to the Vital Point.

· Chapter 3: Rampage.

(Chapter 1: The One Who Does Not Retreat)

Active Skill

Mana Cost: 30

Cooldown: 5 minutes.

Effect:

· For 1 minute, Physical Attack Power +13%, Cutting Power +7%, and Critical Hit chance +20%.

(Chapter 2: Critical Strike to the Vital Point)

Active Skill

Mana Cost: 20

Cooldown: 1 minute

Effect:

· Identifies the enemy’s vital point; on successful vital-point strike, +45% additional damage.

· 15% chance of +60% damage.

(Chapter 3: Rampage)

Active Skill

Mana Cost: 50

Cooldown: 10 minutes.

Effect:

· For 20 seconds, unleash indiscriminate attacks on all enemies recognized within a 10 m radius.

· During Rampage, Attack Speed +70%, Physical Attack Power +30%.

Prime Swordsmanship passed down by Vance was excellent.

As skill proficiency rises, the level goes up too...

It was good enough to use even up to Level 100.

Especially considering Hyunsoo had a production-class path, it was tremendous power.

Next was the Bow of Water Buffalo Horn, which Hyunsoo had crafted for his own use.

(Bow of Water Buffalo Horn)

Grade: Epic

Durability: 3,000/3,000

Attack: 128

Restriction: None for maker. Level 0–70.

Specials:

· Bow Accuracy +60%.

· Active Skill: Armor Breaker.

· Active Skill: Sure Shot.

Description: A masterwork bow born from the fingertips of an artisan—never to appear again in the Beginner Zone.

The Bow of Water Buffalo Horn didn’t raise stats. But the merit of Bow Accuracy +60% was huge.

In truth, Hyunsoo was ignorant about archery, and that accuracy would play a supporting role for him.

Moreover, Hyunsoo had intentionally made the bow easy to handle while crafting it.

Is that why it has Bow Accuracy baked in?

Lastly—

(Radiant Lord’s Armor)

Grade: Rare

Durability: 2,000/2,000

Defense: 119

Restriction: None.

Specials:

· Strength +4, Endurance +2, Agility +1.

· Passive Skill: Damage Reflection.

· Passive Skill: Damage Reduction.

Description: The armor once worn by the Radiant Lord of legend. Three hundred years passed and many parts had broken, but a blacksmith repaired it cleanly.

The Radiant Lord’s Armor that had been rusty was now rather glossy.

And when Hyunsoo repaired it, several sealed specials were added.

Most notably, the Damage Reflection passive skill.

It was a skill that, with a 3% chance, reflected an enemy’s attack.

Before leaving the forge, Hyunsoo checked his to-dos.

I said my goodbyes to the lord yesterday...

Now the thing to check was the Auction.

Quite some time had passed since he’d logged out yesterday evening and logged back in around lunchtime.

Did it sell for more than the last one, at least?

There was something to worry about, actually.

At the time, Blam, the Golden Hammer guild blacksmith, had openly stated in a blind purchase review that he’d paid a high price on purpose.

Hyunsoo had figured out why he said that and why he’d spent the money.

It certainly left an impression.

Hyunsoo checked the auction price.

[Starting bid: 500 Gold.]

[Current bid: 1,950 Gold.]

“...Huh?”

Hyunsoo rubbed his eyes.

But the number in front of him didn’t change.

No—if anything, it kept going up.

[Current bid: 2,000 Gold.]

[Current bid: 2,050 Gold.]

Two million won?

A gasp slipped out of his mouth.

They’re paying two million won for a single artifact?

And then he noticed something even more surprising.

[Current subscribers: 3,205.]

Overnight, the subscriber count had ballooned by a factor of ten.

On top of that, his inbox had hundreds of messages.

Most were, like last time, about exclusive contracts, and a few were personal requests from users commissioning artifacts they needed.

One in particular stood out.

[Hello. This is the master of the Golden Shield guild...]

“Master of the Golden Shield guild?”

Hyunsoo clicked it with a puzzled look.

[Hello. This is Ron, master of the Golden Shield guild. We have very high expectations for Hyun’s Forge, given that you are the second Legendary-class user in Ares.]

“...?”

What is he talking about?

Hyunsoo couldn’t understand. He opened his Status Window for the first time in a while, then closed it.

I’m jobless...

And he kept reading.

[Let me be blunt. We would like to recruit you—Hyun of Hyun’s Forge—into the Golden Shield guild.]

As expected.

But what was written below was quite a shock.

[The signing bonus is 200,000,000 won. That is our condition for you to join our guild.]

“...Two hundred million?”

Hyunsoo’s eyes went wide.