Genius Blacksmith's Game

The VR game Ares reflects a high degree of freedom and realism.

Because of that, Ares had elements that set it apart from ordinary games.

Namely, it was impossible to indiscriminately “pull out” troops and territory residents from a territory whenever you wanted.

As a precedent, most territory-building games let you crank out thousands—tens of thousands—instantly, as long as you have enough resources.

But in ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) Ares, there practically weren’t any territories like that.

“Someday I was born, because the lord bought me!”

Because Lee Sejin didn’t want that kind of setting.

Someone once asked this question.

“Then isn’t it too hard to obtain territory residents and troops?”

Lee Sejin thought it was half right and half wrong.

If you made major contributions and were granted a territory, you could gain thousands of territory residents and hundreds of troops.

If you rose to marquis and received a great territory, you might be able to command tens of thousands of territory residents and thousands of troops.

In the first place, territories were a privilege for the chosen top 1% of users.

The interesting fact was that since the very early days of Ares, more than dozens of measures had been prepared to replace the system of instantly buying territory residents inside a territory.

Territory Atlas, where Hyunsoo had arrived, was one of those measures.

And the trigger that led Atlas to come back to Hyunsoo began with a meeting of the branch heads one week before the Continental War started.

In a video conference before the Continental War began, the U.S. branch head John said:

“Isn’t it about time we release one of the ancient territories?”

An ancient territory.

A place planned from the early days of Ares.

There were five in total, and this time it wasn’t limited to a single continent.

And those ancient territories each held different power depending on who had owned that land in the distant past.

At John’s words, China Branch Head Tao chimed in.

“Exactly. The guild that performs best in the Continental War proves it’s the finest guild in existence. Doesn’t it match Ares’s principle perfectly—those who are excellent gain something good, and those who are weak gain something paltry?”

Lee Sejin knew why China Branch Head Tao was pushing so hard.

They probably thought Chinese users would sweep away Korean users with ease.

But there were opposing opinions, too.

“Isn’t it still too soon?”

“Already, ancient territories?”

“I don’t think it’s time yet.”

Watching the clashing opinions, Sejin fell into deep thought.

Was it already okay for users to obtain something at that level?

Then China Branch Head Tao’s words somewhat persuaded Sejin.

“After the server merge, Ares will open Act Two.”

Act One was adventure.

And Act Two, which Pureum Co., Ltd. was currently planning—

“Since Act Two is the king’s path, wouldn’t it be fine? If a major problem happens, I’ll take responsibility.”

In Act Two, someone might become a king.

But the branches’ opinions were deadlocked, and Sejin reached a conclusion.

“How about we give only those who reach the benchmark we set—among the guilds participating in the Continental War—a chance to obtain it?”

“Oh?”

“Our benchmark, huh. Then that benchmark will be extremely high, won’t it?”

“That’s right. It’ll be an absurdly high benchmark. They’ll be taking on an invisible challenge. And ancient territories with tremendously strong and outstanding power are still too early for users.”

It was too early to possess a complete ancient territory.

That was what the opposing branch heads wanted—and Sejin satisfied them as well.

“So we give out the growth-type Territory Atlas.”

“Growth-type Territory Atlas...”

“That’s good.”

“So they obtain one of the ancient territories, but they’re given a threshold of trial once again—if they pull it off, they get something better, and if they can’t, they’ll get a so-so territory.”

Just as one branch head put it.

Growth-type Territory Atlas was clearly one of the ancient territories, too.

They had to meet conditions within the given time.

But the conditions themselves were, for starters, far too demanding and difficult.

So it was judged that a significant portion of users—about 80%—would ultimately never even see what the growth-type territory truly was.

Because the power of that growth-type territory would vanish if they failed to meet the benchmark.

And there was another reason Lee Sejin decided to release an ancient territory.

China Branch Head Tao said it with their own mouth. They said they’d take responsibility.

And now.

Watching Hyunsoo arrive at Atlas through the monitor, Sejin let out a bitter smile.

The greed of a few branch heads sent someone unwanted to Atlas.

That greed was probably the desire for a user from their own country to become the first king.

And this Atlas reward could be obtained by the strongest guild.

But was Hyun’s Forge the strongest guild right now?

Not at all. If anything, it’s far too lacking compared to the power user Hyunsoo has.

The reason they could reign as the best guild and reach the high benchmark was in the Continental War system.

Every participating guild could only send a limited number of people into the Continental War.

That was where Hyun’s Forge—a small but strong guild—could shine.

After the server merge, Hyun’s Forge’s power as nobles will be too small. But Atlas could change that... or it might not.

As mentioned, Atlas was a growth-type territory.

To put it precisely, you could even say the territory chooses its owner.

And it might also look like the most unimpressive of the ancient territories.

But the opposite could happen at any time.

An Atlas Territory that truly brought its power to bear could possess strength superior to the other ancient territories.

In other words, it might become the owner of a great territory.

Of course, it would all depend on what user Hyunsoo built with their own hands.

And there was another interesting fact.

Team Leader Kim Taeseok came in.

“As agreed, for two weeks, China’s Special User Management Team will monitor user Hyunsoo. That means all responsibility for what happens to Atlas will fall on the China branch.”

Lee Sejin made a puzzled face as he looked at Taeseok, who seemed extremely excited.

“For two weeks, you won’t be able to monitor the user Hyunsoo you were so fond of(?). Aren’t you disappointed?”

Taeseok shook his head.

“Not at all. First, user Hyunsoo was our Special User Management Team’s special target, and it’s nice that another branch will watch them for two weeks. Second, it’s because I know what’s about to happen to China’s Special User Management Team.”

“What’s about to happen? Are you not on good terms with China’s Special User Management Team?”

“Yes. China’s Special User Management Team has looked down on us for a long time. But now we finally get to make them eat it once.”

“???”

It seemed there were employee hardships the CEO didn’t know about.

Taeseok said with a broad grin.

“Hell called overtime is going to open up for them.”

*****

Across all branches worldwide, there was a Special User Management Team, and there was a story that came down about them.

“They say the Korean team has the three major diseases.”

“What are the three major diseases?”

“Neck disc, carpal tunnel syndrome, and dark circles.”

“...?”

“They even say every single one of them has turtle-neck posture.”

“Why turtle-neck posture?”

“They say it’s because they focus too hard on the monitor.”

“So they take care of the three major nutrients.”

“The three major nutrients? What’s that?”

“Alcohol, nicotine, caffeine.”

“...?”

“They say they can’t endure without them.”

There were rumors like that about Korea’s Special User Management Team.

But Wang Yu, the team lead of China’s Special User Management Team, said this about those rumors.

“Fucking morons. You’ve gotta admit Koreans are good at making a fuss.”

Everyone has turtle-neck posture? How could that be possible?

And even if the workload was intense, how intense could it be that they couldn’t endure without the “three major nutrients”?

“Why do they act like it’s so hard, tsk.”

Team Lead Wang called Korea’s Special User Management Team.

The one who picked up was a woman named Associate Lee Jihee.

“Heeheehee, yes, just watch them like that, heeheehee... for two weeks... heeheehee...”

“...?”

Team Lead Wang frowned in confusion.

Why is this person happy?

From the receiver, she said:

“You can hang in there! You’ve got this!”

Was she just an energetic employee? Team Lead Wang let out a snort at what followed.

“And if you have anything else you’re curious about, call us right away...”

“That won’t happen.”

A blatant act of disregarding Korea’s work competence. Team Lead Wang expected the flustered voice of a mere employee.

But...

“Really? If you do that, I’m grateful. Heeheehee—no take-backs~”

“...?”

After ending the call, Team Lead Wang scratched his head with an inexplicable, unpleasant feeling.

Isn’t it humiliating to have another country monitor your own user?

Well, it was while user Hyunsoo was growing Atlas, but still.

Anyway, Team Lead Wang leaned back comfortably in his chair and interlaced his fingers behind his head.

Then he put both legs up on the desk and crossed them.

He planned to watch in a very relaxed posture.

He knew why they ended up monitoring user Hyunsoo.

Because Atlas’s planning began with the China Story Team.

So China’s Special User Management Team was skilled with a great many things about Atlas.

Watching comfortably like that, Team Lead Wang snickered.

“Look at that vacant expression!”

To think Hyunsoo—the First Legend—would arrive at Atlas and make such a bewildered face!

He looked like the world had gone dark in front of him.

Then Team Lead Wang, who had been lounging, suddenly froze.

Isn’t that NPC the woman who will lead Ares in Act Two? Did she just drop by?

Soon, Team Lead Wang ended up in shock.

[Bella has become a vassal of user Hyunsoo.]

“...?”

Without realizing it, he straightened the body he’d been relaxing.

Even if it was the Special User Management Team, they didn’t know everything that happened in another country.

What the hell? Why would the next-generation legend...?

He couldn’t hide his confusion.

Without realizing it, he craned his neck forward and brought his head close to the monitor.

One team member said:

“Team Lead, why are you sticking your neck out like a turtle?”

“...Me?”

Team Lead Wang panicked.

The turtle-neck rumors he’d mocked flashed through his mind.

There’s no way those words were true...!

And then he focused on the monitor again.

On-screen, Hyunsoo asked Kern, the NPC who led Atlas, a question.

“What kind of person was the previous lord?”

Team Lead Wang recalled Atlas’s setting.

Ancient territories are places that had owners long ago.

Those owners were all, without exception, incredible absolute beings.

And Atlas was even more special.

It was the territory led by the greatest legend—how dare someone like user Hyunsoo presume to... huh?

Thinking that, Team Lead Wang genuinely grew flustered.

“What—what is this...? User Hyunsoo has a connection to Atlas’s first lord!?”

He wore a truly bewildered expression.

And though he didn’t realize it, once again he was craning his neck forward like a turtle as he focused on the monitor.

The curse of the Korean team was beginning to take root in China’s Special User Management Team.

*****

The way to know what history this territory had was to know about its previous lord.

After taking Bella as a vassal, Hyunsoo asked Kern, the NPC leading them.

“What kind of person was the previous lord?”

“It was me?”

“...?”

Kern was a middle-aged man with a filthy look. Hyunsoo, baffled, asked:

“Then what about the one before that?”

“It was that person.”

“Then the one before that, and the one before that...”

“This person, that person, and that person.”

“...”

Hyunsoo was left speechless.

Was this place called Atlas being run with the lord swapped out every year like changing a class monitor?

As they talked like that, Kern let out a bitter smile.

“The previous lords aren’t important. What matters is the first lord—the one who originally owned this place.”

“The first lord?”

“Yes. Starting from this territory, the one who expanded their power eventually became a king. What’s astonishing is that among kings, they were the only one who could receive close help from the Ares Church.”

“From the Ares Church?”

Hyunsoo was genuinely shocked.

The Ares Church was the most powerful church.

It wasn’t merely comparable to kingdoms or empires on a continent—it had roots across the entire server.

So that means... they were a king with worldwide power...?

Hyunsoo was genuinely shocked.

All at once, he had the feeling this territory might be hiding far more than he’d thought.

“And the tale of how they closed the Gate of the Demon Realm alone became a legend, and they were called one of the greatest legends of all time.”

Kern wore a face like they couldn’t even imagine it if they thought of that person’s holiness.

And then Kern said:

“They were called this. The Saint.”

At that moment, a notification rang out to Hyunsoo.

[The Saint’s Blessing shines.]

[The Saint’s aura is flowing through you.]

The reason was the Saint’s Blessing he had received in the past, from the Saint of the Ares Church.

Even more astonishing was the notification that followed.

[Dual Class. You learn about the Saint.]