Genius Blacksmith's Game

After leaving Dragon’s Grave, Hyunsoo returned to the Audience Chamber.

When he looked down at KyooKyoo in his arms, a notification came in.

[Please choose a name.]

Hyunsoo could decide quickly.

“This one’s name is KyooKyoo. I’ll call you KyooKyoo.”

The reason he named it KyooKyoo was its cry.

For a Bone Dragon hatchling, its kyoo-kyooing cry was ridiculously cute.

Now that he had a new pet, Hyunsoo opened its information.

(KyooKyoo)

Grade: Legendary

Type: Pet

Level: 1

Attack Power: 7

Defense: 5

Special Ability:

·Active Skill Little Breath.

·Active Skill First-Class Magic.

·It has an unknown alignment.

Abilities awakened so far:

·None.

Potential: 132

Description: It has a timid personality. As it grows, its level, Attack Power, and Defense will increase exponentially.

Hyunsoo gave a bitter smile.

KyooKyoo was level 1.

It was similar to when he first brought Lucky Lump home, and its Attack Power and Defense were at a ticklish level.

‘Its skills will probably be cute too.’

That was what Hyunsoo thought—until he froze.

‘Huh...?’

(Little Breath)

Active Skill

Grade: Legendary

Level: 1

Effect:

·It hits only one target, dealing 50% of Bone Dragon Breath damage.

Description: Don’t underestimate it just because it’s small. At 50% of Bone Dragon Breath damage, it can melt any monster.

“Guh....”

Hyunsoo was genuinely impressed.

‘Fifty percent of Bone Dragon Breath damage?’

He remembered it clearly.

The instant he took a direct hit from the Bone Dragon’s Breath, his HP dropped below 10%.

Meaning, if Hyunsoo took Little Breath head-on right now, he would lose more than 40% of his HP.

‘Even most high-level users would lose over half their HP from that.’

Of course, it couldn’t be compared to a true dragon’s Breath.

The reason a dragon’s Breath was the strongest attack was its range—something that transcended common sense.

Even the Bone Dragon had spewed a Breath that covered a four-hundred-meter radius.

Next, he checked First-Class Magic.

(First-Class Magic)

Active Skill

Grade: Legendary

Level: 1

Effect:

·All First-Class Magic is mastered.

·Cooldown is only half that of normal users.

·Casting time is only half that of normal users.

·When using First-Class Magic, magic Attack Power is 60% higher.

·With a mana pool that transcends common sense, you will not run out of MP while using First-Class Magic.

Description: As a dragon, known as the progenitor of magic, it can display First-Class Magic with ease.

This wasn’t normal either.

‘Insane... casting time and cooldown are only half?’

Casting and cooldown were what every mage user wanted to shorten.

But in this brutal game called Ares, those reductions tended to happen in one-hundred-level intervals.

And even then, it was only around 5–7%.

Yet KyooKyoo, the moment it was born, already had casting time and cooldown that overwhelmed humans.

‘And it’s 60% stronger than normal magic, and it doesn’t run out of MP....’

Sure, First-Class Magic itself was mostly crude stuff.

Magic Missile and Energy Bolt were the representative attack spells, learned at level 10.

But that wasn’t what Hyunsoo was focused on.

‘If it learns Second-Class Magic, Third-Class Magic, Fourth-Class Magic as it grows... what happens then?’

Gulp.

His throat went dry.

Explosion.

That was Fourth-Class Magic.

If KyooKyoo learned it, its casting time and cooldown reductions would be even more absurd.

And the damage would be far higher, too.

‘And the range will be insane.’

Imagining KyooKyoo after it grew up, Hyunsoo realized he’d obtained something outrageous.

But reality hit him in the face.

‘Mm....’

Cute KyooKyoo was still a long way from growing.

If it needed thirty years in real time to become fully grown, that was... distant.

‘I need to find a way to make it grow faster.’

After sorting out his thoughts on KyooKyoo, Hyunsoo turned his attention to something else.

Right then, it seemed like noon had passed, because a notification came in.

[The Saint’s Blessing bound to the Saint’s Sword is patched.]

The patch details were exactly what he’d negotiated earlier.

Hyunsoo looked at his inventory, packed full of materials he’d collected from the Bone Dragon.

Thankfully, he’d obtained all the decent Legendary-grade dragon bones, wing bones, teeth, and more.

From a twelve-meter-tall monster that had to weigh several tons, the amount of Legendary-grade material he got was only enough to make two or three Legendary artifacts.

‘Still, the Unique materials are enough to make dozens of artifacts, and the Epic materials are enough to make hundreds of Epic artifacts.’

It was a massive haul.

If he hadn’t beaten it with basic attacks over five thousand times, he wouldn’t have gotten even a tenth of this.

And Hyunsoo planned to think, little by little, about what he’d make with the Legendary-grade materials.

Then he checked the notifications he’d received from hunting the Bone Dragon.

[You have hunted the Bone Dragon.]

[Experience and artifact drop rate x2 is applied.]

[You obtain 2,419,004 experience.]

In one go, Hyunsoo leveled up eleven times, finally breaking past level 350.

‘Now I’m level 356....’

[You obtain 443,316 gold.]

Gold worth 443,316,000 won dropped.

‘Damn, all that from killing one monster...?’

Of course, that “one monster” was worth more than killing thousands of ordinary ones.

‘Don’t tell me that’s it?’

Hyunsoo was disappointed in the dragon for dropping nothing but gold.

But that disappointment turned into ecstasy almost instantly.

When he scrolled down, he saw it.

[You obtain 413 Seeds of Life.]

“Oh...!”

Eureka.

He’d already heard what the Seed of Life was through Kern’s explanation.

‘The more Seeds of Life you have, the more you can awaken the ones sleeping in Atlas.’

The problem was, since this was the first time he’d obtained any, he didn’t know the value of “413.”

And Hyunsoo got a title as well.

[You obtain the title Dragon Slayer.]

“SKRAAAK!”

Just hearing the name made his heart race.

(Dragon Slayer)

Unique Title

Grade: S

Special Ability:

·All stats increase by 1.5%.

·Triggers the status ailment Fear on any dragon, or any dragon-related existence, that is your level or lower.

·All Attack Power and all Defense increase by 18% against any dragon or dragon-related existence.

·With a 10% chance, slashing power and Attack Power increase by 150% against any dragon or dragon-related existence.

·If a dragon appears, or if a named monster related to one appears, you will learn of it before anyone else, and you will also learn its approximate location.

It was a good title.

Especially the last line—that was the core of it.

‘The day a dragon appears... I’ve gained the privilege of encountering it faster than anyone.’

Thanks to the Saint’s Sword—which had become what it was because of this mistake—Hyunsoo had truly gained a lot.

That was when—

KNOCK-KNOCK—

A knock sounded, and Nell stepped inside.

KyooKyoo, who’d been nestled in his arms, jolted awake.

“Kyoo? KyooKyoo!”

It flapped its tiny, delicate wings, not knowing what to do.

[KyooKyoo is afraid.]

It jumped down and crawled under a chair in the corner to hide.

TREMBLE-TREMBLE—

“Kyooooong....”

Hyunsoo recalled the line in KyooKyoo’s info: “It has a timid personality.”

Sure, it might be scary for a newborn to see a new person—but KyooKyoo was especially bad.

“That’s the Bone Dragon’s hatchling.”

“Its name is KyooKyoo.”

“I came to tell you the guild members arrived, and then this happens.”

Nell gave an awkward smile.

Hyunsoo crouched and tried coaxing KyooKyoo, which was shivering under the chair.

“It’s okay, KyooKyoo. She’s a nice big sister.”

But KyooKyoo didn’t look like it was coming out.

Right then, the members of Hyun’s Forge walked in.

The moment they entered, KyooKyoo trembled even harder.

“KyooKyoo...?”

Hyunsoo looked flustered.

Of course, it was something that would gradually get better with time, but KyooKyoo looked like it might cry if it were a real dragon.

And while everyone was stuck in that awkward moment—

Someone was watching, smiling.

*****

“HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!”

Team Lead Wang Wook.

They were laughing so hard they looked half-crazed.

Because Kang Hyunsoo, holding the Saint’s Sword, had cleared Dragon’s Grave—something that had been planned for a long time.

On top of that, he’d even brought back a Bone Dragon hatchling named KyooKyoo.

But they weren’t laughing because they’d truly lost their mind.

“Be more afraid. Be more terrified!”

The China Special User Management Team knew KyooKyoo’s true nature.

A Bone Dragon serving Hyunsoo?

Sure, the previous Bone Dragon, trembling in fear, might have done that.

But the newly reborn Bone Dragon—KyooKyoo—was different.

Do you know why the previous Bone Dragon had arranged things so that a hatchling could be born even after it died?

“That’s so it can lead the world to ruin one more time, even after death.”

If you looked at KyooKyoo’s status window, it said it had an “unknown alignment.”

That alignment was absolute evil.

A greater evil than Balladra, the Dragon of Ruin.

Meaning—

“User Hyunsoo got a Bone Dragon pet, but didn’t really get anything.”

“Got it? Please. In a few years, that thing will fire its Breath at Territory Atlas.”

Different from what the Bone Dragon had said.

KyooKyoo’s growth would be faster than expected, and on the day Little Breath became true Breath, Atlas would lose half its territory.

And the day would come when User Hyunsoo would have to subdue, with his own hands, the creature he’d raised with affection for years.

In other words, KyooKyoo wasn’t an asset—it was something that would bring enormous harm to Hyun’s Forge.

Team Lead Wang Wook thought it was only natural.

A mere user had tried to possess a dragon, even if it was a Bone Dragon.

Team Lead Wang Wook looked back at the monitor, at KyooKyoo trembling in fear.

Then—

“......?”

Someone they didn’t know—because the handoff hadn’t been done properly—walked toward KyooKyoo.

And as Team Lead Wang Wook kept monitoring both that being and KyooKyoo, they were so shocked they nearly passed out.

*****

Hyunsoo couldn’t hide how awkward he felt as he watched KyooKyoo tremble even harder with more guild members in the room.

That was when a fluffy being with white fur walked over, with a runny nose beaded on a black snout.

It had one of its favorite chew sticks in its mouth.

When it reached KyooKyoo, it carefully set the chew stick down in front of the trembling hatchling.

“WOOF!”

“Kyoo...?”

Hyunsoo—and everyone there—stared in shock.

The chew stick was Lucky Lump’s absolute favorite snack. Even if someone said “Gimme!” it would never give it up.

Since Lucky Lump had arrived, no one had ever taken ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) a chew stick from it even once, which made this unbelievable.

Lucky Lump nudged the chew stick forward with its nose.

“Kyooo...? Kyooo?”

Soon KyooKyoo took it in its mouth and chewed, playing with it gently.

Then—

“Kyoo, kyoo!”

[KyooKyoo likes it.]

“A dragon eats a chew stick...”

“Uh... yeah...”

[KyooKyoo’s fear decreases a little.]

Then Lucky Lump whipped around and barked at Hyunsoo and the guild members.

“WOOF!”

[Lucky Lump recognizes KyooKyoo as a younger sibling.]

[Lucky Lump protects KyooKyoo.]

“S-so cute...”

“Who do you think you’re protecting?”

“Ha-ha-ha!”

At Lucky Lump’s brave bark—only a little bigger than KyooKyoo—everyone burst into laughter.

KyooKyoo crawled out from under the chair and started nibbling at Lucky Lump and playing around, like puppies do.

“WOOF, WOOF!”

“Kyoo, kyoo!”

“We should head out.”

Hyunsoo left with the guild members to hold a meeting.

He ran the meeting for over two hours.

He told them about the truth of Atlas.

And after two hours, when Hyunsoo returned to the Audience Chamber, he saw a sweet scene.

“......”

A warm smile naturally spread across Hyunsoo’s lips.

Lucky Lump and KyooKyoo were asleep together, still wrapped around each other.

‘This is turning into some kind of animal farm(?) more and more.’

With a bitter smile, Hyunsoo quietly closed the door and stepped out.

After Hyunsoo left—

Lucky Lump briefly woke up and looked at KyooKyoo, still asleep.

“Kyooo....”

Lucky Lump knew.

“WOOF....”

The aura of absolute evil hidden inside its new younger sibling.

Lucky Lump wanted to protect it.

KyooKyoo, its owner, and this Territory Atlas.

“WOOF.”

Lucky Lump hugged KyooKyoo tighter.

And then a small, wavering light rising from Lucky Lump’s body began to seep into KyooKyoo.

[KyooKyoo’s growth speeds up.]

[KyooKyoo, in an undead form, slowly returns to its original form.]

[Absolute good purifies absolute evil.]

Today, too, Lucky Lump was protecting many things.