Genius Blacksmith's Game

Is he getting where he wants to go?

Saint Harun thought of Kabel.

Lucky Lump—who had kept him, already dead, from disappearing.

Harun judged that Lucky Lump might also possess the power to awaken him completely.

That was why he planned to stay in Atlas Territory and take Lucky Lump on walks.

But it had to be discreet.

Because Atlas Territory had welcomed a new owner, and Saint Harun’s appearance would cause confusion for them.

That was right.

Because he cherished Atlas, Harun had to remain hidden.

And since he had come back to life again, there was something he absolutely had to do—so someday, he would have to leave this place.

Because of that, Harun had been walking Lucky Lump while worrying about how to hide his appearance.

That was when Kabel appeared.

The two of them recognized that the other was strong.

An NPC is a first. A Saint....

Kabel also saw through Harun’s essence, and noticed that Harun wanted to avoid revealing himself.

I’ll help you. In return, when I leave, I want you to protect this little guy.

Kabel changed Harun’s appearance into that of an ordinary territory resident.

“It’s walk time, so where did Lucky Lump run off to?”

Then he felt the power he had left behind coming from the direction of the castle, and SWISH—he snapped his head around.

‘Give me your blessing’ is activating?

Give me your blessing.

In the Saint’s view, this power was outstanding—yet also not outstanding, with two conflicting faces.

Because the blessing that descended was proportional to the power of the one it was applied to.

“Ordinary people can’t even build ties with legends. Physical contact? That itself is impossible.”

That was what those who had reached legend-tier were like.

They didn’t want anyone laying a hand on their body lightly.

And if someone still tried?

They’d die before their hand ever touched.

That was why Give me your blessing was an ironic power.

Even if he’s a lord, it might be a story he can’t awaken in his entire life.

Because for a mere lord, forming ties with legends was impossible in the first place.

But the lord here—Hyunsoo—was different.

“He might be someone who can bring out the best efficiency.”

Saint Harun had also seen Ben, Barad, and the Saint from afar.

It was nothing but shocking—someone who could build ties with the strongest of the age.

What was unfortunate was that they had already granted a blessing to Lord Hyunsoo once, so he had to find new ones.

Then Harun froze.

“......!?”

There was something only Harun could see.

Give me your blessing was, in essence, a power he had possessed—unfolded into the format of a quest.

From within the castle, a vast light was spreading, piercing through the entire castle and bursting outward.

Harun’s eyes trembled violently.

That kind of radiance was the most brilliant light he had ever seen in all the times he had used this power.

No way....

Harun knew of one existence inside this territory that could unleash power like that.

Did he apply it to Lucky Lump?

If you checked the detailed description, Lucky Lump was nothing but insignificant and shabby.

But Harun knew the power that little guy possessed.

If it’s like this, does he get a blessing rate that surpasses my expectations?

If he filled it to 100% or more, Hyunsoo would awaken the last power Harun had left behind.

But it wouldn’t stop there.

“Please, stop taking it. It’s not time to take it yet.”

If it went beyond 100%, something else could happen.

The three powerful abilities Lord Hyunsoo had obtained were the Saint’s power.

But if that passed far beyond 100%, he would be able to unlock the complete Give me your blessing.

The true power of Give me your blessing was the Saint’s upper class—the Virtuous King’s power.

Harun, who had been making a dumbfounded face, smiled.

“The reason I made you apply Give me your blessing was so you’d build new ties with beings who possess boundless power.”

Lucky Lump wasn’t a new tie.

“So what kind of new ties will you be able to build?”

Harun knew.

That new tie was the way to approach the true Give me your blessing.

*****

[Lucky Lump’s blessing descends.]

[You acquire blessing rate 49%.]

[You acquire +1 to all Masteries you currently possess.]

Hyunsoo’s eyes shook.

+1 to all Masteries he had?

How many Masteries do I even have?

Bow Mastery, Sword Mastery, Shield Mastery, Armor Mastery...

More than five.

Meaning, in a single shot, Hyunsoo had gained +1 to at least five Masteries.

[HP natural recovery increases by 20%.]

[MP natural recovery increases by 20%.]

[300 bonus stats are granted.]

[The 300 bonus stats are evenly invested into the areas you currently need most.]

[200 are applied to the Overwhelm stat.]

[25 each are applied to Strength and Agility, and 50 are applied to Willpower.]

[Physical attack power 3%, physical defense 3%, magic attack power 3%, magic defense 3% increase.]

“......??”

For a long while, Hyunsoo couldn’t find words.

Everything that had gone up was absurdly top-tier.

Even within what a character could gain, there were ordinary outcomes and outstanding ones.

Natural recovery was one of those.

Players liked increases to natural recovery more than getting more total HP and MP through Strength or Intelligence stats.

Because once natural recovery increased, even if you stood still, you recovered far faster than before.

It filled in recovery amounts you couldn’t cover with potions.

And he had been given 300 stats—not ordinary stats either: 200 to Overwhelm, and 50 to Willpower.

As far as Hyunsoo was concerned, for Overwhelm and Willpower, raising 3 normal stats was about equal to raising 1 legendary stat.

Because they’re that hard to raise.

On top of that—physical attack power and physical defense increases. That was the most broken part.

If it’s sword attack power or bow attack power, it becomes power that disappears when you swap artifacts.

But increases like physical attack power, physical defense, or magic attack power were different.

Because the character itself had risen—there was no restriction tied to what artifact you were wearing.

Hyunsoo understood it in that moment.

I’m at least 5% stronger than I was a moment ago.

For someone at Hyunsoo’s level, getting stronger by 5% or more was an unbelievable jump.

Hyunsoo hugged Lucky Lump even tighter.

“I told you I’m °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° good at naming things!?”

“WOOF...?”

Lucky Lump just stuck out his pink tongue and panted happily, like he was happy because Hyunsoo was happy.

Who are you, really?

Hyunsoo had tried to find out Lucky Lump’s true identity.

But there was no clear method to figure it out.

There was also something called a “Summon Verification Scroll.”

It was an expensive scroll that showed how far a summon could ultimately grow.

But when he tried to apply it to Lucky Lump, he’d heard this notification.

[It is an existence you cannot dare to look into.]

After hearing that, Hyunsoo decided to stop trying to confirm what Lucky Lump was.

“Alright.”

“WOOF-WOOF!”

When he set Lucky Lump down, the little guy spun in circles like he was thrilled.

“WOOF! WOOF!”

As if he knew he’d done something good, Lucky Lump ran somewhere and plopped down right in front of it.

“WOOF!”

It was where Lucky Lump’s favorite snack—his beloved dog chew—was kept.

“.......”

Hyunsoo stared at Lucky Lump in silence.

Even though he had awakened ridiculous power in him.

And even though Hyunsoo didn’t know it, even though he had been protecting Hyunsoo all this time.

All this small, precious puppy wanted was a single dog chew.

*****

Hyunsoo visited Valas Territory.

“Hold my hand.”

“???”

“Hurry. It’s urgent.”

“???”

Sage Arte.

Arte was flustered by Hyunsoo suddenly showing up, thrusting out a hand, and saying that.

Hold his hand out of nowhere?

Arte couldn’t help but have a lot of thoughts. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

In hundreds of years of living, this was the first time Arte had experienced something like this.

And since Hyunsoo was the first person Arte had ever thought of as a friend in those hundreds of years, Arte slowly nodded.

“You knew my true face was bald, didn’t you? I have learned your true face as well. What a unique taste. No wonder you never date. Just this once. I would prefer you never ask me to hold your hand again.”

With an embarrassed expression, Arte cautiously extended a hand.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Hyunsoo looked dumbfounded.

After realizing Give me your blessing could exert far greater power than he’d thought, Hyunsoo hadn’t delayed—he’d come straight to Arte to apply it.

After hearing the full story, Arte was dumbfounded.

“Could you not simply say we should shake hands? Why do you say to hold your hand? Is the phrasing not strange!?”

“You’re a genius.”

Arte was speechless.

And Hyunsoo realized he had found a way to build ties using the phrase, “Let’s shake hands once.”

It was Hyunsoo, with that occasional airheaded streak.

“Let’s shake hands once.”

The two clasped hands.

[Arte’s blessing descends.]

[You acquire blessing rate 27%.]

[Total MP increases by 30%.]

[MP natural recovery increases by 10%.]

[All stats increase by 1%.]

[Skill cooldown decreases by 10%.]

[Critical hit chance increases by 5%.]

[Magic attack power and magic defense increase by 2%.]

Sage Arte’s blessing power was also enormous.

What is it... this disappointment?

But the power Lucky Lump had was just too far beyond comparison.

“I have something I want to ask, Arte.”

One of the reasons Hyunsoo had rushed to Arte was something important.

“The power I told you about—Give me your blessing—it gives more power the stronger someone is, or the higher their potential is.”

Arte was a Sage.

At least within what Hyunsoo knew, Arte was the person who knew the most.

“So here’s my question. Are there beings above legends in this world?”

Now that the server merge had happened.

Content pursuing something higher might appear, and those kinds of figures could appear too.

“Of course they exist. I do not know what one should call them, but they are beings above legends.”

A smile appeared on Hyunsoo’s face.

It meant there were even more outstanding people he could apply Give me your blessing to.

“Would it not be difficult to meet them?”

Arte hit the core.

“And forming friendly relations with such beings will not be an easy thing in itself.”

Hyunsoo nodded.

Arte’s blunt truth forced reality back into his head.

And Hyunsoo knew it.

The blessing rate is already at 76%.

Now, if he received it from just one legend, he would surpass 100%, and he would still have two chances left.

In fact, now Hyunsoo felt confident he could fill this to 100% almost for sure.

But there weren’t many ways to get stronger this easily—so he wanted to meet beings even stronger and greater than legends.

Who are they, the ones above legends....

But after Arte’s words grounded him, Hyunsoo pushed the regret aside.

Then one question occurred to him.

“Can this be applied to users too?”

At that time.

[You have entered the Asgan Continent.]

A being above legends crossed the continent.

In his hand was a melted sword—Babylon.

“Is it true? Master craftsman Hyun can repair even an artifact that can’t be repaired?”

There was a strange excitement on his face.

“If it’s Kabel who said it, it can’t be a lie.”

His destination was Atlas.

Meanwhile.

In the CEO office of Pureum Co., Ltd.

Heat surged in Lee Sejin’s chest.

What was a being above legends?

Did it mean someone who had reached a class beyond the legend class?

No. In the world right now, the only user with a class above legends is Hyunsoo.

Because he was the god of blacksmiths.

“Bahala was someone who could have become the first legend already a year ago.”

But Bahala had not.

Because the dream Bahala held was not something as small as legend, and if he became a legend, he would lose the qualification to claim that class.

“Someone aiming to become the Sword God, and the god of blacksmiths...”

A story spun by Kabel was trying to lead into an astonishing meeting.

I’m curious again.

Whether Bahala would shake Hyunsoo’s hand or not.