Genius Blacksmith's Game

Lucky Lump and KyooKyoo had been playing until they were sprawled out.

“WOOF.......”

“KYOO.......”

Like that, they chatted about something they’d been talking about a lot lately.

“WOOF......!”

It was about wanting a younger sibling.

But Lucky Lump knew.

It wasn’t something Hyunsoo could give them.

So it was a dream that would be very hard to come true.

That was why the two of them would talk about things like, “If you become an older brother, what do you want to do?”

Today too, when KyooKyoo asked that, Lucky Lump stuck out their pink-pink tongue and gave a small grin, imagining it.

“WOOF.......”

Imagining sharing the dog chew they liked once in a while, and sometimes even imagining saving their younger sibling in a cool way when they were in danger.

“WOOOF......! WOOF WOOF!”

Lucky Lump’s mood lifted from those happy daydreams.

“KYOO?”

KyooKyoo imagined it too.

If they got a younger sibling, they could steal the younger sibling’s ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) snacks, so KyooKyoo’s snacks would double.

And that wasn’t all.

“KYOO......!”

They could order the younger sibling to bring over the toys they liked too, so how convenient would that be?

That was right. Honestly, compared to Lucky Lump, KyooKyoo was the one closer to what a realistic older brother would be like.

But when their imagining ended, the two of them drooped again.

“WOOF.......”

“KYOO.......”

The sadness washed over them as they remembered it couldn’t happen.

At that moment.

SCREEEEE......

“......?”

“......?”

In the eyes of the two of them, they saw a flaming hawk that looked extraordinary, walking off somewhere.

It was a bird from legend, but to the two of them, it looked like this.

A younger sibling!

“KYOO?”

KyooKyoo thought.

If it could fly, it would run their errands at the speed of light, so it was clearly a creature that possessed the qualities of an excellent younger sibling.

And Lucky Lump imagined too.

A flaming bird flying high in the sky, and them sitting on top of it, slicing through the heavens with a dignified air!

“WOOF!”

“KYOO!”

And then—

“KYOO.”

“WOOF.”

The two of them met each other’s eyes and began plotting the kidnapping of the youngest.

For the record, the Myriad Mile Bird was 416 years old this year, and it was a legendary bird that could fly thousands of kilometers in a few minutes.

*****

The legendary Myriad Mile Bird had once been a being more noble than any other bird.

Born from fire, it was a spirit beast itself, and it couldn’t even be compared to ordinary messenger pigeons.

A being that could go fast and far, and even reach unconnected continents.

That was why it was so incredible.

Perhaps the Myriad Mile Bird was proof that it could even enter the heavenly realm and the demon realm, places humanity still hadn’t opened up.

And even if you sent a messenger pigeon later than the enemy, it would arrive in the blink of an eye, making it useful in all kinds of ways.

But even the Myriad Mile Bird couldn’t help being exhausted after crossing Atlas in one go.

And the fact that the fire insects it fed on were going extinct also played a role.

Those fire insects had let it flare up in an instant and fly to wherever it wanted in one burst, and they had given it a long life too.

Now they were hard to find, so it was sustaining its life with ordinary things.

So, little by little, the Myriad Mile Bird was weakening.

SCREE......

Even in its prime, it hadn’t been this taxing.

SCREEEEE......

The Myriad Mile Bird needed water and something to eat.

After consuming that, it planned to return to the place where its original master was.

PITTER-PATTER—

But because it was trying its best to avoid people’s eyes as it moved, finding what it needed wasn’t easy.

And it didn’t feel right to ask those humans earlier.

Didn’t it have its pride too?

Anyway, the Myriad Mile Bird suffered from thirst.

As even its mind began to blur—

Lucky Lump appeared—

“SCREE?”

The Myriad Mile Bird panicked.

A single puppy that looked smaller than it, like a lump of pure white fur.

That puppy was running over, carrying a bowl in its mouth, wiggling its butt excitedly as it came.

Then it set it down with a plunk right in front of it.

The Myriad Mile Bird stayed wary for a moment.

That was instinct, the instinct animals had.

It was like how even wild animals still stay cautious when humans put food into a bowl for them.

In response, Lucky Lump pushed a water bowl forward with their head.

Then they sat down neatly in front of it, stuck out their pink-pink tongue, and smiled.

“WOOF!!”

“SCREE......?”

At that smile that made your guard drop, it felt like the Myriad Mile Bird’s heart was melting.

And its vision was already going blurry right then.

Dying this way or dying that way, it was all the same.

The Myriad Mile Bird pecked at the water.

Then it began gulping it down immediately.

HISSSS—

It drank the water so fast that steam rose as if someone had splashed water onto the fire clinging to its body.

And around the time it finished drinking all the water—

“SCREE?”

What was that now?

This time, a baby bird made of bone was coming over, holding a food bowl with its small wings.

“KYOO KYOO!”

“WOOF!”

The puppy in front said, that’s my younger sibling.

Inside the bowl was a heap of appetizing food.

Already having let down its guard, the Myriad Mile Bird devoured it like a storm.

The Myriad Mile Bird ate it all in an instant!

“SCREE—”

Now it felt like it could live.

“WOOF!”

“KYOO!”

The Myriad Mile Bird sincerely felt grateful to these two mysterious, adorable animals.

But it had to return to its master.

As the Myriad Mile Bird tried to take off again, it staggered.

“SCREE.”

The side effects of flying thousands of kilometers in one go were still lingering.

FWOOOSH—

As if proving it, the blazing fire clinging to the Myriad Mile Bird’s body had calmed somewhat.

At that moment.

TAP—

“WOOF!”

Lucky Lump’s paw came to rest on the Myriad Mile Bird.

SCREE?

From that small, soft paw, it smelled something warm and cozy.

But something even more surprising than that—

[Lucky Lump’s Benevolence]

The Myriad Mile Bird had been losing strength because it couldn’t eat fire insects. And yet—

[Fire energy becomes full.]

The Myriad Mile Bird’s fire energy began to recover.

Soon, as that power swelled to fullness again like in the past, an enormous blaze began to surge from the Myriad Mile Bird’s body.

FWOOOOSH—!

That blaze was rougher and more overwhelming than expected.

At that moment, the Myriad Mile Bird didn’t notice that something unusual had settled into Lucky Lump’s eyes.

And the blaze clinging to the Myriad Mile Bird flared even bigger.

FWOOOOSH—!

Like the time the true legendary Myriad Mile Bird split the world.

And the instant that blaze brushed Lucky Lump even a little—

FWOOMPH—!

“YELP, YELP!!!!”

Lucky Lump screamed and collapsed.

“WHIIINE.......”

The Myriad Mile Bird realized it had made a mistake.

Come to think of it, the Myriad Mile Bird had always been like this.

Because it breathed out scorching flames from its body, no animal would play with it, and none would become close to it.

Behind the name “legendary bird,” the Myriad Mile Bird had been alone.

“.......”

The Myriad Mile Bird grew sad.

A delusion, that it had gained precious beings.

Now these two would look at it like all the other animals did—like it was a monster.

But that wasn’t true.

Even though Lucky Lump had burned and gone right up to the brink of passing out (?), they looked at the Myriad Mile Bird and smiled faintly.

“WOOF.......”

They were saying it was okay.

It was the first time.

Even after something like this happened, someone still smiled for it.

“SCREEEEE.......”

Tears ran down from the Myriad Mile Bird’s eyes.

[The tears of the legendary Myriad Mile Bird crystallize.]

What fell to the ground became a crystal that held the fire attribute.

They had given it water and food, and even love.

“SCREEEEE.......”

It wanted to do anything for them. But Lucky Lump shook their head.

“WOOF......!”

You’re our youngest, so you don’t have to do anything at all!

Youngest?

The Myriad Mile Bird felt happy. They treated it—the one who had been alone—as the youngest.

And through this baby puppy, the Myriad Mile Bird’s fire energy had become full, even if only temporarily.

Maybe the Myriad Mile Bird thought it might have found a way to regain its original strength even without consuming fire insects.

Then it turned the word “youngest” over in its mind.

It meant the youngest in age.

The Myriad Mile Bird thought carefully.

How old was I again......?

Unfortunately, it couldn’t remember. In the end, the Myriad Mile Bird was bird-brained!

“SCREE!”

It was the moment the Myriad Mile Bird kidnapping(?) succeeded.

To say it again, the Myriad Mile Bird was 416 years old this year, and Lucky Lump was 20 months old, while KyooKyoo was 12 months old.

A little while later......

Where Lucky Lump and the Myriad Mile Bird had disappeared—

One being returned like light.

SHHK SHHK—

It quickly gathered up the Myriad Mile Bird’s tears.

KyooKyoo was sure this was artifact material.

“KYOO KYOO!”

KyooKyoo got excited at the thought of giving this to Hyunsoo and trading it for snacks.

*****

Hyunsoo was meticulous.

Even in a dream, within the few minutes he had, he calculated many things.

‘The existence of a new continent.’

‘A fourth king who leads an unrevealed era.’

‘A legendary Myriad Mile Bird that had been staggering.’

Everything told him.

That he too was desperate, and that this was his last chance as well.

‘It’s your last chance—do you really think you can stand not looking?’

So he chattered with relish.

“So you’re not going to look at something this good? If you don’t want to see it, then don’t.”

“Grrr...... This? You’re not going to look at this?”

“Kah!”

“.......”

As time passed, Hyunsoo spoke less and less.

He started concentrating and drawing the crafting method.

‘A phantom blade is......’

A single-edged Joseon sword.

SCRITCH SCRITCH—

And back in the Joseon era, the length of a phantom blade hadn’t been standardized, so it was all over the place.

‘It wasn’t standardized then. It’s different now.’

He measured the most perfect length.

SCRITCH SCRITCH—

He drew the hilt you grip, and the wrap that prevents the weapon from slipping.

SCRITCH SCRITCH—

Because it was a single-edged blade, he drew one side thick and blunt, the other side sharp, and made the tip pointed so it could pierce through.

Then he wrote down what effects to put into it below.

‘It’s the most ordinary phantom blade. Because it’s the most ordinary phantom blade, anyone can use it comfortably.’

The most broadly usable thing anyone could handle.

SCRITCH SCRITCH—

The effects too—something broadly appealing that everyone would like.

Then a thought occurred.

‘Can something that everyone just broadly likes really satisfy the King of Question Marks?’

Hyunsoo hesitated.

SCRITC......

‘What kind of stupid thought was that?’

He felt his own dullness.

‘A famous sword is a sword the strong would like.’

‘If it’s a sword the weak would like, is it not a famous sword?’

So he asked himself.

Just because it’s something everyone can cherish and use, does that mean it isn’t a special sword?

‘No.’

SCRITCH SCRITCH SCRITCH—

His hand began moving faster.

The more the number of satisfied people increases, the more outstanding the sword is.

Hyunsoo understood.

At the very least, this sword would be one with far fewer “limitations,” and it would be the most broadly usable thing among what he had drawn so far.

But there was one thing he made certain.

A crafting method that would be loved by more people—no, by everyone—would be completed.

And when Hyunsoo finished drawing the crafting method, he realized it.

DING!

The very idea of “everyone uses it” was far better than he had thought.

[You have drawn a crafting method for a sword that soldiers, knights, and kings can all use.]

[This is a crafting method for a sword for everyone.]

[By gaining new enlightenment, you advance one step further.]

A crafting method is different from crafting.

So it should be correct that the blacksmith’s soul does not dwell within it, yet it changed.

[You discern the essence of a god.]

[You realize that a god must create armaments for everyone and fulfill the earnest wishes of many.]

[The maximum craftable grade of the crafting method greatly increases.]

In that moment, Hyunsoo’s chest began to pound.

THUMP THUMP—

Someone looks at a crafting method and loses interest because they don’t need it.

Someone doesn’t know how to use a sword, can’t make use of it, and so they’re lukewarm even when they see a sword crafting method.

But with this sword crafting method, it wouldn’t be like that.

‘A sword even a mage, an archer, and a necromancer can use.’

‘And yet, when those who mainly use swords wield it, it still won’t be lacking.’

A crafting method that didn’t have to be a high-level weapon used only by top-level users.

Yet a crafting method high-level users would still like.

The enlightenment he gained from that.

‘......From now on, I’ll make artifacts for everyone.’

He grasped an essence he had forgotten lately, lost in the game.

That he was someone who started the game with the mindset of wanting people to need what he made.

[Please decide the name of the crafting method.]

Along with that, something flickered through his mind.

‘Hyun’s phantom blade for everyone.’

‘Everyone’s sword.’

‘The Vast Phantom Blade.’

‘Under-Heaven Sword.’

True to Hyunsoo—hopeless at naming—he let out a crooked smile as those names flashed by.

Because this time, he had thought of a fairly decent name.

“Ten Thousand People.”

Meaning all people.

Hyunsoo felt it.

‘Ten Thousand People will be the finest among everything original I’ve created so far.’

A vast Transcendent energy roared into the crafting method.