Genius Blacksmith's Game

Pond watched Hyun stride through the scattering ash—and a chill tightened around his ribs.

Hyun’s level was in the 330s. Users in the 330 range were outside the world top million.

At most, someone might say, “Oh, that’s a high level,” but it still meant they couldn’t even be counted among rankers.

Meanwhile, Pond was world rank #4.

He asked himself a question.

‘Can I fight like Hyun?’

He couldn’t answer yes.

That was why, watching Hyun step over the ash, fear crept in.

Pond’s face had twisted at the Twin Dragon Sword aimed at them—then the whisper appeared, and reality snapped into place.

[Liu: Hyun has been hit by my poison before. As you know, if someone has been hit by my poison once, I can draw out the poison embedded in their body without even touching them—unless they were forcibly logged out or took an antidote.]

He remembered what kind of people Poison King Liu and he himself were.

Did power like that even make sense?

Once someone had been poisoned, if they still hadn’t detoxed no matter how much time passed, Liu could draw the poison back up without even laying a hand on them.

And Poison King Liu—though his world rank was lower than Pond’s—was unquestionably the best close-combat user.

Just now, he had shocked everyone by summoning Hydra, a Legendary monster.

And now that everyone else was dead, this had taken on the shape of PvP.

By coincidence, the two survivors on China’s side.

Pond was someone who had never once lost in PvP—meaning, in a 1:1 duel.

Raids and large-scale sieges were one thing, but he was so strong that no one had ever beaten him in PvP.

Poison King Liu was the same.

Poison King Liu was someone capable of applying poison in stacking layers.

It was, literally, a crazy trait.

And the two of them currently had HP at 100%.

On the other hand, Hyun’s HP had dropped below 45%.

‘That recovery power only works if he succeeds in striking.’

Pond finally understood.

Hyun’s achievements were terrifying, sure—but Hyun was exhausted. And now he was up against them: the world’s strongest PvP pair.

At that moment, Poison King Liu drew out the poison embedded in Hyunsoo’s body.

[Poison boils up.]

[The two most powerful skills are locked.]

Hyunsoo’s eyes narrowed. Stirring poison again without even making contact was absurd.

And once again, what Liu locked was Flame and Fate.

“As much power as you’ve shown, shouldn’t you pay the price?”

Liu twisted his lips.

This was why high-rankers feared their power becoming widely known.

And Liu prodded at Hyun’s arrogance.

“Only you two are left? Isn’t this situation too dramatic for you to say that? Look at the difference between you and us.”

In this situation, anyone could see it—Pond and Liu were overwhelming.

That was why Liu felt delighted.

‘It’s going out to the entire world.’

The sight of him toying with the legend Hyun who had done something so impossible.

If anything, it was for the best. Liu was the strongest, but he hadn’t been able to shock the world with a performance like Hyun’s.

Now he could crush Hyun, who was like a candle in the wind.

[Liu: I’ll go first. I’ll weaken Hyun significantly. With us as we are now against Hyun, 30 seconds is enough.]

Also, Hydra’s Awl—the legend spear—had been weakened by 30–40%.

Hyunsoo’s Twin Dragon Sword skill had done that.

But a legend artifact’s durability was infinite.

Due to the artifact’s innate self-repair ability, the degradation had already shrunk to 20%.

Liu kicked off the ground and lunged.

Fast. Sharp. Relentless.

Hyunsoo’s Twin Dragon Sword was clearly far faster than an ordinary greatsword.

But Liu’s spear was several moves faster.

And Liu held an advantage Hyunsoo didn’t.

In China, a country called the land of martial arts, Liu belonged to a family that handled spears.

His spear technique was at an astonishing level.

Someone had even said that if there were an Olympic event for spears, Liu would’ve won multiple gold medals.

That spear genius—at {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} the instant Hyunsoo defended with the flat of his blade—spun the shaft.

CLANG-!

The rotating spearhead slid past the blade like flowing water and drove toward Hyunsoo’s chest.

At that moment, Poison King Liu’s greatest strength revealed itself.

[The first poison spreads.]

[Under intense poison, all of the target’s stats decrease by 13%.]

“...!”

Hyunsoo was genuinely impressed. Even as an enemy—land one hit, and poison ignites instantly.

The problem was, unlike ordinary poison that applied only once, Liu’s poison stacked one layer with every hit.

Liu’s spear struck a second time, piercing Hyunsoo’s shoulder.

[The second poison spreads.]

[Attack speed and movement speed decrease by 15%.]

Hyunsoo was already carrying multiple poisons.

Yet even while pressing him back, Liu couldn’t help but register it.

‘Can this really be the defense of a level 330?’

That hit he had just landed—

this time, it shaved only 2% off Hyunsoo’s HP.

[3x defense is applied.]

It was the power of the Calamity Armor Hyunsoo wore.

But Liu was sure he had seized the winning edge.

Because after that success, Hyun’s defense didn’t just drop.

It collapsed.

[The third poison spreads.]

[Physical defense and magical defense decrease by 40%.]

Hyun’s HP, battered under the blows, dropped below 30%.

Then the fourth.

[The fourth poison spreads.]

[Physical attack power and magical attack power decrease by 29%.]

A cold, electric thrill shot through Liu.

The Twin Dragon Sword’s attack power was beyond common sense.

He didn’t know why, but the unusually high stats for its level were a problem too.

But under Liu’s four poisons, Hyun had been weakened drastically.

And Liu’s ability to respond was equally irrational.

‘Trigger...!’

Just as Liu expected.

“Ghost—”

THUNK-!

[Poison of Restriction]

[You stab the enemy within 0.5 seconds.]

[You cannot use the skill Ghost Step.]

Godlike control—commentators started shouting.

And then Pond joined in and they began to crush him.

Pond was a man called China’s sun.

The sight of him and Liu overwhelming the legend Hyun seized the world.

-Under China’s two strongest, a single legend is being brutalized!

-Pond is a genius of duels. Liu is a spear genius!

-They aren’t even giving him time to respond!

[You possess Asnium.]

[HP has dropped below 10%.]

[HP recovers to 15%.]

In barely twenty seconds, Hyunsoo’s HP had dropped by roughly 30%.

Watching it plunge, Liu drank in the feeling.

Even with Pond here, it felt like Liu alone would be enough.

“This is the difference in class!”

Among all the users Hyunsoo had cut down on his way here, they were the strongest.

Two titans do not flinch before a pack of predators.

And because he wanted it to be vividly seen by the viewers, he said it out loud.

“If someone like you is a legend, then I’ll become the legend of Poison King too!”

A bold declaration to the entire world. That he, too, would soon become a Poison King legend.

And once again, Hyunsoo’s HP was down to 11%.

As Liu charged forward for the finale, Hyunsoo suddenly spoke.

“...You done?”

Liu frowned.

“I told you. There’s still a lot you haven’t seen from the Twin Dragon Sword.”

But Liu twisted his lips.

Even so, Hyunsoo had been hit by four consecutive attacks and was drastically weakened.

Even if he unleashed the immense power within the Twin Dragon Sword, with only 11% HP left, Liu believed he couldn’t do anything to them.

Then—

“I am... a legend.”

[The title First Legend shines.]

[You resist all status effects.]

All the power Poison King Liu had put into him vanished and scattered.

‘T-that’s impossible...!’

What shook Liu wasn’t just the absolute resistance that expelled every poison at once.

He realized something here.

‘...He was waiting?’

He had been waiting for Liu to use every poison.

And “I am a legend” didn’t only resist status effects.

[You encounter a legend.]

[You are crushed under overwhelming pressure.]

At that moment, letters that had been hidden within the Twin Dragon Sword began to rise, slowly.

[Accumulation]

That black-shining power surfaced—and Liu and Pond went rigid as their movement was locked down.

Accumulation meant piling something up, endlessly.

This Accumulation was inspired by Tyrving, which Hyunsoo had crafted while hunting Grout.

[Use the Enemy to Control the Enemy]

“With the enemy’s power... you kill the enemy.”

[5 minutes of Accumulation is complete.]

Five minutes could be short or long, depending on how you looked at it.

This Accumulation placed into the Twin Dragon Sword stored 15% of the damage Hyunsoo had taken over those five minutes.

And Hyunsoo knew.

That Poison King Liu’s poison stacked.

There was only one way to resist that stacked poison all at once.

Take it all into the body first—then resist it.

Liu and Pond, forced to hold still, exchanged a look and understood.

Crushed under the pressure, unable to move—yet they were too close to each other.

A single greatsword that could cut an enormous radius could cut both of them at once.

The two let out dry laughs.

“How impudent!”

“As if you can do anything with only one attack! After that one attack, you die!”

The number of times he could land an attack on them was, at most, one.

What could he possibly do with a single strike?

But they were wrong.

[All attack power and defense return.]

[All skill-use restrictions disappear.]

SKREEEEECH-

Before the eyes of the entire world, telekinesis unraveled the armor worn by Poison King Liu and Pond.

Hyun had long studied that armor, dissecting its weaknesses in his mind.

Now, after countless simulations, theory finally met reality.

PWHAAAAACK-!

Dozens of torn-free armor fragments spun away—and Liu and Pond went pale.

[Total defense decreases by 70%.]

And Hyunsoo was sure that the Accumulation he was using now wouldn’t be able to produce power on this scale again for years.

He had received, simultaneously and intensively, the power of the high-rankers here.

And because he had repeated recovery and damage through Blood Absorption, the Accumulation amount was absurd.

[Due to Accumulation, the power of a single attack increases by 2,100%.]

And at this moment, the Calamity Gauntlets’ effect detonated.

[3x cutting power is applied.]

With Liu and Pond’s defense down by about 70%—

it was also true their HP was still near 100%.

But...

DING!

[This is the most perfect trinity.]

Enemy defense down 70%.

A massive damage surge through the Twin Dragon Sword’s Accumulation.

And 3x cutting power stacked on top.

A new trinity.

No—add in the Twin Dragon Sword’s rule-breaking base attack power itself, and it became a peak synergy.

“One strike is enough for you.”

SHRAAAAK-

The moment the Twin Dragon Sword swung in both hands, Hyunsoo heard a notification.

[The title Maker of the Most Powerful Strike has been upgraded.]

Viewers worldwide—and the commentators—locked onto the damage.

Then they panicked as they saw what rose above their heads.

-...W-what is this?

-I-I’ve never seen a notification like this...!

[Damage is too high.]

[It is the third-highest single-hit damage of all time.]

SHRAAAAAAK-!

The whole world held its breath—then stared at the damage number that rose, and went pale in shock.