Genius Blacksmith's Game

Subjugation Captain Hans couldn’t tell what he’d just seen.

What kind of weapon is an arrow?

It’s a weapon that sticks into the enemy.

It’s not the kind of weapon that, just because it hits an orc, sends it flying about 4 meters like that.

How on earth...?

Soon, Subjugation Captain Hans saw the reason. The bow in the outsider’s hands.

For something an outsider would bring to his first subjugation, it looked extremely good.

And the orcs, realizing that outsider was no ordinary foe, moved.

“Chriiieeek!”

“Chriiieeek, kill that human first!”

All the nearby orcs rushed the outsider.

Five of them, no less!

“Help that outsider, quickly!”

“Damn orc bastards!”

Too late.

They’d been dumbstruck by the outsider’s tremendous archery—that was the root of it.

The outsider stood there, motionless, as if afraid.

Ahh, are we about to lose a valuable talent?

An orc’s hand-axe whipped into the man’s flank. Hans thought his side would split open and blood would spray in an instant.

But—

Twaang—

The orc’s dull hand-axe failed to bite into the man’s flank.

That glossy armor kept its wearer safe from the hand-axe. The orc who had attacked suddenly took a massive shock and shrieked.

“Krheeeek!”

Hans’s eyes trembled at the bizarre phenomenon.

He didn’t know it, but the outsider Hyunsoo’s Radiant Lord’s Armor held a special trait.

(Damage Reflection)

Passive Skill

Mana Cost: None.

Description: When struck by an enemy attack, triggers at a 4% chance and returns 100% of the damage dealt back to the enemy.

Unaware of that, Hans was simply stunned.

Before long, five orcs had the outsider completely surrounded.

He thought he could see fear on the outsider’s face.

Well, someone doing a subjugation for the first time, surrounded by five orcs—how could he not be afraid...

Siiick—

Hans realized, seeing the small smile on his lips.

“You lured them!?”

The outsider murmured:

“Prime Swordsmanship, Chapter 3. Rampage.”

[Rampage]

[Indiscriminate attacks against all enemies recognized as hostile within a 10 m radius.]

[On activation: Attack Speed +70%, Physical Attack +30%.]

He hewed one orc apart with indiscriminate slashes.

Kwak-kwak-kwak-kwak-kwak—!

The orc shattered completely and scattered.

The four remaining orcs, within their own encirclement, spewed green bloodlines from all over their bodies as he whirled his sword like a madman, as if performing a sword-dance.

“Chriiieeek!”

“Ch—Chriiieeek!”

The dull-witted orcs stepped into the 10 m radius, a few more at that.

They, too, sprayed blood from all over as his indiscriminate Rampage tore into them.

Hans’s jaw dropped.

He was a Subjugation Captain reaching Level 48.

Even to his eyes, the swordsmanship the outsider displayed was extraordinarily beyond common sense.

Of course it was.

No matter that Lord Vance was merely the lord of a Beginner Zone—he was a named NPC governing a territory.

Moreover, what Hyunsoo had learned was swordsmanship that only the direct line of the Prime family could master.

To the soldiers stunned out of their wits, the outsider shouted:

“Let’s all make it out without a single injury!”

“Woooooaaaah!”

“A monster outsider!”

“What a splendid one!”

Hans was impressed.

Why had he just shouted?

To raise the soldiers’ morale.

He had read the eyes /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ gathered on him in that split-second and smoothed the moment over.

Hans’s heart pounded as he watched him.

...Stronger than the soldiers.

His soldiers existed only to run this subjugation.

They were much weaker than actual soldiers.

Even so, they were trained.

An outsider stronger than those soldiers!

Perhaps...

Krrrk—

Hans clenched his fist hard. There was something he very much wanted to accomplish.

He had to kill that Orc Warrior who’d been rampaging, relying on his hard armor, hit-and-running again and again.

How many subordinates had he lost to that bastard!

At a time like this, he felt he’d gained a reliable ally. From the saddle, he raised his sword high.

“Today, we will hunt the Orc Warrior!”

“Woooooaaaah!”

****

[You have hunted an Orc.]

[You have gained 79 EXP.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have achieved Contribution 28%.]

These were the notices Hyunsoo heard after unleashing Rampage and hunting eight orcs.

This contribution gain is way lower than I thought?

He’d heard the average orc level was around 10.

Yet it rose only about 3% per kill.

Can I really reach 70%?

The difficulty didn’t look easy.

And Hyunsoo received the soldiers’ gazes with practiced poise.

“Let’s all make it out without a single injury!”

“Woooooaaaah!”

The soldiers cheered with all their might.

[The soldiers’ morale rises.]

[Their Attack +3%, Defense +2%.]

[Hidden Piece. One Who Leads the Battlefield.]

[You have gained Charisma 10.]

Oh?

The Charisma stat.

He knew this was a special stat that commander-type users could obtain.

With it, your words carried more persuasive power toward those recognized as allies, and if it rose high enough, you could even project majesty.

Just then, Captain Hans at the forefront shouted:

“Today, we will hunt the Orc Warrior!”

Ding!

[You have hunted many orcs in a short time.]

[A new episode unlike any before will soon begin.]

[If you complete the new episode admirably, you will receive a special reward from Subjugation Captain Hans.]

A new episode?

Hyunsoo had heard of it. This episode, which very rarely triggers, could be activated either by performing extraordinarily within the set frame or by a user’s special actions.

Ding!

[Impromptu Quest: Hunt the Orc Warrior]

Grade: S

Restriction: One who triggered the new episode.

Reward: ???

Failure Penalty: Affinity with Hans decreases.

Description: Help Subjugation Captain Hans hunt the Orc Warrior!

Hunt the Orc Warrior?

According to the Orc Subjugation Force setup Ben had told him, an Orc Warrior appeared leading reinforcements during the orc subjugation.

Such an Orc Warrior wore armor so hard, and had a level so high, that the subjugation force repeated retreats.

Hyunsoo looked around.

Before he knew it, the many orcs—nearly seventy—had been swept away.

At the end of Hyunsoo’s gaze, an Orc Warrior was charging from afar.

“It’s the Orc Warrior!”

“There—the Orc Warrior is coming to reinforce!”

The soldiers gripped their weapons with grim faces. Subjugation Captain Hans at the very front did the same.

[A Boss Monster appears!]

[Orc Warrior Lv.51]

[Whoever hunts the Orc Warrior will receive a reward!]

“Hey, rookie!”

Ben was suddenly at Hyunsoo’s side.

“We’ll open a path. Help Captain Hans and, no matter what, hunt the Orc Warrior!”

Ben stared at Hyunsoo with bloodshot eyes.

And before long, every soldier encircling Hyunsoo wore a look as if prepared to die.

“......”

Hyunsoo marveled at the highly advanced AI of Ares’s NPCs.

Indistinguishable from people in how they felt.

They were enraged by the comrades they had lost to the Orc Warrior.

And in this battle, they were burning with the resolve to hunt the bastard no matter what.

“...Understood.”

Soon, the Orc Warrior at close range collided with Subjugation Captain Hans.

KwhAAAAng—!

The Orc Warrior stood 2 m 30 cm tall, clad in black plate armor and wielding a massive greatsword.

In addition, the horned helm that showed only his eyes and nose looked incredibly hard as well.

Steel clashed; Hans slid back.

Before other orcs could strike Hans, the soldiers checked them.

The reinforcements led by the Orc Warrior numbered about thirty.

Not many—but the Orc Warrior was the problem.

Kaaaang—!

The Orc Warrior was slow, but Hans was fast.

His sword-strikes hammered the Orc Warrior without rest.

But on that hard armor, they left only scratches.

Damn it, damn it, damn iiit!

Hans’s face twisted.

The Orc Warrior’s armor, now as before, wouldn’t be pierced at all. Then he had to aim for the head.

Tak—

Leaping high, he struck the helm.

Kaaang—!

But the helm was no less than the armor.

No, it looked even harder.

Then Hans spotted the heavy greatsword swinging at him.

The greatsword was dropping to cleave him in two.

At that moment—

Twaaaang—!

An arrow flew from somewhere and knocked the bastard’s blade aside.

“Grrr.”

Hans’s gaze turned.

It was an arrow shot by that outsider, Hyunsoo, from earlier.

Hyunsoo loosed another immediately.

Twaaang—

The moment it struck the armor, the arrow bounced off.

Hans had witnessed the bow’s destructive power earlier, when it sent an orc flying 4 meters.

So it isn’t going to be easy?

Regrettably, even Hyunsoo’s arrows couldn’t pierce the Orc Warrior’s thick, hard armor.

Then a notice reached Hyunsoo.

[A new story begins.]

[An Orc Warrior additionally appears.]

“...!?”

Hyunsoo saw it too—another Orc Warrior sprinting in fast.

Hans also spotted him, and his face went rigid.

He looked around.

The soldiers were buried in the orcs’ ranks; retreat didn’t look easy.

They had gone too deep.

If another Orc Warrior joined in like this, they would be wiped out.

“Nggh...”

Hans ground his teeth.

He had to pierce the armor.

He changed his thinking.

Strike one spot relentlessly.

Twaang—!

Twaaaang—!

Twaaaaang—!

He hammered the Orc Warrior’s flank without letup.

The bastard’s armor began to dent, little by little.

Just a bit more...

Twaaaang—!

Just a bit more.

Twaaaang—!

“Just a bit moooore!”

The other Orc Warrior was already near.

But by focusing on a single point, Hans had exhausted himself terribly.

Kwaziik—

Hans tumbled, struck by the Orc Warrior’s fist.

“Khuk!”

Blood spurted from his mouth; his head swam.

“In the end... I still couldn’t pierce it...?”

Was this where they were wiped out?

Hans let out a hollow laugh.

Perhaps his arrogance was about to lead his allies to annihilation.

Then—

“It can be pierced.”

A voice sounded from afar.

The outsider named Hyunsoo.

Hans had seen it—the outsider suddenly running off somewhere.

He had honestly thought the man was fleeing in fear.

But there was something unknown in the outsider’s hand.

It was bamboo—and an unfamiliar arrow shaft.

“One minute. Just hold for one minute!”

Finishing those words, the outsider began rapidly working the bamboo with a dagger.

“......”

Hans was ready to clutch at straws.

By now, the additional Orc Warrior had closed to 500 m.

There was only one thing he could do here.

“Uwooooooh!”

He threw everything he had left and collided with the Orc Warrior.

Frankly, it was a question.

That armor could be pierced?

Impossible.

What the outsider was making looked like mere arrows.

Arrows are weapons that stick, not penetrate.

An arrow is something that embeds into the enemy; it’s not a concept of punching through.

But right now, that was the only hope he could try.

Puh-uhhht—

Kicked by the Orc Warrior, Hans’s shoulder met the greatsword.

Kwachik—!

“Graaah!”

Hans gritted his teeth. One arm useless, he dropped his sword.

Clang.

In the end, he had one thing left to do.

He seized the Orc Warrior’s neck with all his might.

“Please—!”

How many subordinates had he lost because of you!

How much fury from bereaved families had he borne because of you.

Now are you going to take my life and the soldiers’ lives here, too!

But regardless of his rage, the Orc Warrior’s huge hand also closed around Hans’s neck.

Power gathered in the bastard’s hand to snap it.

Then—

“Done.”

With the outsider’s voice came a rough rip of air.

Shweeeeeee—

A single unfamiliar arrow, ripping the air with a harsh note utterly unlike a normal arrow’s path.

The moment that arrow struck the Orc Warrior’s horned helm—

Kwahjaaaak—

It punched straight through the Orc Warrior’s head.