Genius Blacksmith's Game

Jane, the Crimson-Flame Mage, and Bangbae, the spear fighter, decided to collect seeds by hunting monsters.

All around Atlas, monsters filled every direction.

Just as they were about to head out, they spotted Hyun’s Forge returning.

Risel started complaining.

“I almost died more times than I can count.”

“The monsters’ level range is so high our damage barely lands.”

“Especially the ones crossing over from Sector B. They’re the problem.”

The reason Hyun’s Forge decided to deal with Sector A’s monsters first was simple: they weren’t densely packed.

Sector A’s monsters averaged around the mid-360s.

Once you entered a hunting ground, a few monsters would consistently spawn.

The issue was that the monsters’ average level was close to Hyun’s Forge’s level range.

“Those sub-boss-class monsters that pop up sometimes are a problem too.”

“When that thing appeared, I almost died.”

“And on top of that, monsters keep spilling in from Sector B, so hunting feels even harder.”

And Sector B’s problem—unlike Sector A—was that the monsters formed tribes in groups.

Dozens at a time would cross over into Sector A, making it harder to clear.

They dropped to the ground the moment they returned.

“Sector B is supposed to be the easiest, and the best place to get seeds...”

“Seriously...”

This was Hyun’s Forge’s weakness.

If it were most guilds or territories, they would’ve swept Sector B the easiest.

Because Sector B’s tribes were vulnerable to wide-area magic.

Listening to them, Jane and Bangbae met eyes.

Sector B.

Okay.

Walking together, they unfolded the Sector B map Kabel had handed them.

Sector B had a total of nine tribes.

And those tribes were inhabited by ogres.

And both of them were Korea’s strongest unofficial rankers.

As for Jane, the Crimson-Flame Mage—she’d long since surpassed the #1 mage rank and was running forward with overwhelming power.

She was also the mage closest to a legend on the Korea server.

Bangbae was similar.

He wasn’t as overwhelmingly dominant as Jane, but he was a dealer who surpassed even Risel.

The moment the two entered the forest—

PWHAAACK!

Their appearances shifted into their usual forms.

“Great Shield.”

Jane formed a shield to protect them and stepped into the first tribe.

“...Jane. What do you think about Hyun’s Forge?”

Unlike Bangbae’s calm question, a swarm of ogres was already charging the intruders.

“ROOOAAAR!”

“ROOOAAAR!”

Somewhere between forty and sixty.

But protected by Great Shield, the two of them walked silently toward the center of the tribe.

“I think it’s a good guild. It’ll get a lot more dangerous for them, though.”

At Jane’s answer, Bangbae gave a small smile.

After blending in as territory residents, they’d thought the same.

“Lord Hyunsoo doesn’t seem like a bad person, right?”

“Yeah. He seems humble and upright. Different from other guild masters who try to squeeze out maximum profit.”

KRAAACK! KRAAACK! KRAAACK!

Ogres swarmed in from all directions, slamming into Great Shield like they’d lost their minds, trying to break it.

KRAAACK—

Cracks spiderwebbed across the shield, but Bangbae still said,

“I agree.”

Even so, neither of them said they would join Hyun’s Forge.

But their exchange made one thing easy to infer.

If Jane ever joins a guild, it’ll be Hyun’s Forge.

If Bangbae ever belongs somewhere, will it be Hyun’s Forge too?

KRAAACK!

The ogres piling up in layers finally shattered Great Shield.

Jane had already finished casting.

“Fire Storm.”

Sixth-Class Magic.

A firestorm that blanketed a 50-meter radius—so rare that few in the world had mastered it—swallowed the ogres whole.

As it did, Jane glanced at their staff.

“I do think one thing.”

“What?”

“If I were holding the staff Blacksmith Hyun made for me... wouldn’t I have melted them instantly?”

The ogres emerged with their HP plunged to 30%.

Now Bangbae moved.

Protecting Jane, he cut through them at high speed, severing their lifelines one after another.

“Me too. If I were carrying the spear Hyun made, I’d have killed these guys instantly.”

On average, Bangbae was killing each ogre in about two hits.

And in just three minutes—

[You obtain Seeds of Life.]

[You obtain Seeds of Life.]

[You obtain Seeds of...]

[You obtain Seeds of...]

[You obtain Seeds of...]

In three minutes, they gained more than ten seeds and moved to the next tribe.

In only two days, every tribe in Sector B was gone—and a huge synergy effect followed.

Hyun’s Forge could now clear Sector A far more smoothly.

Meanwhile—

[The power of the territory king settles over Atlas.]

[The territory’s development speed increases by 20%.]

[Crops will taste better, and their nutrients will increase.]

[Buildings become sturdier, and their durability increases.]

Territory King Glass.

He wasn’t strong, but he was almost guaranteed to be among the 100 highest-priced people in the world.

Because the Territory King class had the power to revive even a ruined, dead territory.

Glass decided to cultivate the barren land with the territory residents.

“Jeez—how are we supposed to farm on land this absurdly barren!?”

Among the people farming were both the original territory residents and the territory residents who’d migrated with Hyun’s Forge.

No matter how hard they drove pickaxes into the ground, the soil was too dried out.

Then Glass’s Farmland Development skill showed its power.

Farmland Development infused strength into barren land, turning it into fertile soil.

If it turns fertile every time I hit it, people will get suspicious.

That was when Glass had an idea.

An old man who said he’d lived here his whole life—

“Sir, it’s fine.”

“No. I want Atlas to rise again too. So I’ll join in.”

He was gaunt and looked like he had no strength at all.

But he’d believed in Atlas’s legend and longed for its growth for ages.

Oh?

Glass grinned internally.

And the instant the trembling old man brought down his pickaxe—

Glass subtly applied Farmland Development to the spot that had been struck.

Farmland Development could be applied to dozens of locations at once.

THUNK!

“Huh? H-huhhh?”

The ground turned rich.

People gasped.

Then the old man, still trembling, struck another patch of earth.

And—

In an instant, a single sprout grew.

“W-what is this?”

The old man stared in shock. The surrounding farmers were no different.

That was when Glass—one of the territory residents—said,

“Could it be the ancestors are rewarding you for protecting Atlas since you were young?”

“...!?”

It made sense.

This land had once been fertile, and what they were doing now was restoring it to the great territory it used to be.

Glass stayed glued to the old man’s side, and every time the old man swung his pickaxe, the land turned fertile.

Until finally—

“Ah—AAAHHHH! ATLASSSS!”

The old man raised the pickaxe high and bellowed.

Land that had become farmable in the blink of an eye!

[If you sow grain, it will bear abundant fruit.]

Watching the old man howl, Glass exclaimed in admiration.

“Sir... you’re truly incredible!”

And the old man wasn’t done.

He went to the construction site and picked up a brick.

In that moment—

“Huh? Why did the brick get lighter?”

Glass played into it.

“This sir has protected Atlas for so long... so Atlas’s blessing is...”

“OHHHHH!”

Next, the old man went to a dried-up well.

“HRAAAH!”

Atlas’s biggest problem was drinking water.

There wasn’t enough water to draw from, and the territory residents were always thirsty.

But then—

RRRRRUMBLE—

Water rose in the well that had been dry for ages, then burst upward like a waterfall.

PWHAAACK!

Glass shouted,

“T-the return of the territory god! This is someone blessed by ancient Atlas’s favor!”

“A-AAAAGHHH! ANCIENT ATLASSSS! GIVE ME YOUR STRENGTHHH!”

“Long live the territory god!”

“LONG LIVE!”

Glass.

He was meticulous.

By selling the old man, he was safely transforming Atlas—and he was listening to the notifications.

[You obtain Seeds of Life.]

[You obtain Seeds of Life.]

[You obtain Seeds of...]

*****

China Special User Management Team.

[Seed of Life acquisition increases by 2.5x or more.]

Team Lead Wang was clutching their head and tearing at their hair—then flinched as they looked to the side.

“B-Branch Head...?”

Branch Head Tao was tearing at their hair too.

“No—how are people like that even...?”

Why Branch Head Tao was tearing at their hair—

“Atlas is a growth-type territory...”

Right. What was a growth-type territory?

It meant growing slowly, but surely.

But if things turned into this, Atlas would awaken many ancient things.

Of course, it was still nowhere near enough seeds to reach Virtuous King.

But what the branch head worried about was this.

“Atlas has special things...”

Yes—Atlas was truly special.

From the Saint lord, to the brilliant talents who followed him.

The strongest army and knights who protected the territory.

Specialists in every field who developed the territory.

And the mines and rivers that supported it—fertile land and resources!

And the powers the Saint used to lead Atlas.

Originally, at the early stage, you only obtained many territory residents and troops.

“If this keeps up, he might gain the special power the Saint once had.”

What that power was, Branch Head Tao still didn’t know.

But Tao tried to take comfort.

“Fortunately, it’s nowhere near enough seeds to reach Virtuous King.”

Even as they comforted themselves, the monitor blinked red.

[Atlas’s seed acquisition surges explosively.]

[Acquisition cannot be measured.]

They panicked.

A multiplier increase and an explosive surge were fundamentally different.

Confused by the sudden alert, they quickly searched for the cause.

CLICK—

The moment the mouse clicked, ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ the screen filled with a territory resident, a huge iron-boned man, and some old man.

*****

Kabel.

He was the most capable person among the Lucky Lump Lovers’ Club members.

And he analyzed everything thoroughly, then made plans reality.

Over the course of a day, he gathered every scrap of information about special dungeons near Atlas.

That was thanks to his trait, Dungeon Finder.

This place is special.

It was hard to believe it was “near the territory”—the area was packed with special dungeons and special boss monsters.

Kabel had looked for dungeons because he’d recognized that powerful surges yielded more seeds.

Instead of killing 100 monsters, killing 1 boss gets you more seeds.

But he ran into a problem.

Even I’m in danger if I go in alone.

Sure, he could break through slowly.

But it would take far too long.

More seeds meant more stats.

By that rule, Kabel was seriously researching the answer.

Should I just go in with the other Lucky Lump Lovers’ Club members?

That might be better.

But he wouldn’t be able to acquire as many seeds as he wanted.

Then—

“Sword guy. Is this the right way?”

“You old bastard. Would it kill you to help look?”

“I’m old. My eyes don’t work so well.”

“...Then how are you running 100 meters in three seconds?”

“Anyway, I think we’ve gotten lost, sword guy.”

“Is housewarming really this hard?”

Hearing the voices, Kabel tensed.

He was out in a forest quite far from Atlas Territory.

When the two finally came into view, something flashed through his mind.

This is it...!

*****

Ben and Barad were on their way to Hyunsoo’s housewarming, and it had to be discreet.

No one could know Atlas’s location yet.

So the two of them had disguised themselves—sort of—by moving around looking grimy and ragged.

The problem was that they were used to walking only where their vassals guided them, so they got lost.

That was when they ran into a territory resident.

He introduced himself as Raon, a territory resident who served Hyunsoo.

“I will guide you to Atlas.”

Thanks to that, the trip became easy.

As Ben and Barad talked among themselves, Raon spoke.

“Housewarming. I know about housewarming too.”

“Oh? You do?”

“I heard it’s the culture of outsiders.”

“I’ve heard things from outsiders too.”

Raon’s eyes lit up.

“But you two are missing the biggest part of housewarming culture.”

They were missing something?

They were kings.

When they did something, they wanted to do it properly.

They listened closely to Raon.

“What is it?”

“We’re missing something?”

Raon answered.

“Housewarming gifts.”