Genius Blacksmith's Game

“Urk, guh, ugh, khk!”

Hyunsoo was getting jumped.

[HP falls below 5%.]

[You have hunted 2,931 monsters.]

“You’re all dead.”

The dying man shot up into the sky.

The experiment is over.

He used the skills he had as quickly as possible.

He had judged that this so-called mob-duplication trial was useful for making use of Full Bloom.

But most of the skills he possessed still displayed greater power when he used the Twin Dragon Sword.

“Honor Shop, invest all remaining Honor Points into stats.”

[You have purchased All Stats 0.7% ×10.]

[All Stats increase by 7%.]

A high ranker.

For someone like Hyunsoo, who bulldozed through things with raw stats, a percentage increase to all stats exerted even greater force.

This is insane.

A tremendous power writhed inside his body.

It was only a 7% increase, but he could feel it.

By climbing this tower, he could confidently say that he had already grown more than 50% stronger in real terms.

Among high rankers, a gap of only 2–3% decides a fight.

Before he knew it, he saw flying monsters closing in on him.

How the hell did he do it, seriously?

How had Bahala killed more than five thousand monsters in the gaps between the mob duplication?

If one were to describe his divine might, it would be with some grand phrase like: A single butterfly tours the battlefield.

But Hyunsoo laughed.

“So what? He doesn’t have Full Bloom.”

It was the moment he swapped from the Twin Dragon Sword to Full Bloom.

KIHEEEEHEEK—!

KRAHAAAAGH!

KRAHAAAAGH!

The notification announcing that the sword that leads an era had appeared dominated the battlefield.

For a brief moment, the monsters, crushed by that sword’s pressure, its high Overwhelm stat, and the Pride of the Master Blacksmith, faltered.

Then again—

FLAP FLAP—

“?”

There were even flying monsters that fled at full speed.

Thanks to that, it became easier for him to shift his body to one side.

Lightly—

Hyunsoo had not merely cut down three thousand monsters.

...Damn, mob duplication is crazy.

Do you know what happens when one user hunts three thousand monsters alone?

In the case of trash drops, about two thousand items pile up in the inventory.

He had gained around 11,000 gold.

Converted into cash, that was around ten million won.

And that was not all.

I leveled up...

What mattered was the fact that there were two thousand basic trash items, and he had also obtained around four hundred more through Gathering.

Among them, he had gotten seven rare artifacts, one Unique, and a considerable number of skillbooks.

Satisfied.

I should give them to the soldiers.

The soldiers getting stronger meant Atlas developing.

But it still was not enough.

Like someone shouting, I’m hungry!

From the start, mob duplication had been most useful for Full Bloom.

That was because of two skills.

This is Full Bloom, which grows by drinking the blood of enemies. Strong and formidable enemies. Or whenever it takes in demon blood, its proficiency will increase by a far greater margin.

You recover 3% of the damage dealt.

It creates synergy with Infinite Growth, and when the grade rises, that 3% recovery amount increases dramatically.

Infinite Growth and Infinite Regeneration.

The monsters are infinite? But I’m infinite too?

For the first time, Hyunsoo prepared Full Bloom’s blooming.

It’s light and fast...!

No matter how much the Twin Dragon Sword was easier to swing than an ordinary greatsword, and no matter how much faster its attack speed was than an ordinary greatsword’s—

it was still true that Full Bloom, shaped like a regular sword, was about twice as fast.

If the Twin Dragon Sword could be swung about 1.7 times per second, Full Bloom could be swung 3 times per second.

SHHHHK—!

One monster was cut down in 0.3 seconds.

Its attack power was admittedly nothing like the Twin Dragon Sword’s.

Nor did it have the power to split things cleanly in two in a single blow.

But exactly three times—

[You recover 3% of the damage dealt.]

[You recover 3% of the damage dealt.]

[You recover 3% of the damage deal......]

—it caused Hyunsoo’s HP to rise.

Granted, recovering 3% of the damage dealt only resulted in about 0.4% HP recovery.

But once that became one minute, then ten minutes, the story changed.

The moment he cut five times and turned one monster to ash—

[Full Bloom grows by 0.2%.]

Infinite growth began.

And with that, Hyunsoo started swinging Full Bloom like mad at the monsters surging toward him.

Everywhere he passed, Full Bloom was being dyed cherry-blossom red.

[HP recovers above 10%.]

[HP recovers above 11%.]

[HP recovers above 12%......]

“Krr?”

“Krahk?”

The monsters also sensed {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} that something was wrong.

They could not understand it. They were focusing their attacks on him with over a dozen bodies at once.

But because of his irrational defense, the damage was not landing hard.

What was more, because he was swinging his sword more than three times per second, the rate at which his HP fell and the rate at which it recovered were nearly the same.

Yes. Put simply, to the monsters, it felt as though they were attacking a being with infinite defense.

No matter how much they attacked him.

No matter how much they bit and tore at him.

He was recovering instead, and that was more than enough to make them lose their will to fight.

And then Hyunsoo, who had been waiting for the monsters to gather, thrust out his arm.

Then—

CLACK

Full Bloom, which had been in the shape of a longsword, bloomed into dozens of blades.

Krahk?

Khek?

As if they were staring at a painting,

the monsters were briefly robbed of their gaze by that blooming.

But the result was disastrous.

“Bloom in Splendor.”

[Dozens of blades inflict 170% additional damage and ignore all defense.]

[They extend out to a radius of 20 meters.]

Full Bloom, petals spread wide, exploded outward.

Forty-eight blades shot out at the same time.

CRAAAASH—!

And because they ignored defense and pierced through, even the monsters standing behind—

to all monsters within a 20-meter radius—

KRAHAAAAGH

KRAAAAAAGH

And the amount of blood they spilled—

it was enormous.

It had clearly only been at the level of “maintenance.”

And yet Hyunsoo, whose HP had dropped below 5% at the beginning, had now recovered to 44%.

Granted, Bloom in Splendor was not so overwhelmingly strong that it could kill all the monsters outright.

There were surviving creatures scattered all over the place.

However—

CLAAACK—!

The moment he pressed a single button, all the petals that had extended outward returned and attached themselves to the stem.

And it transformed into one of Full Bloom’s true forms, a flamberge.

The monsters that had been critically wounded by Bloom in Splendor—

into them was driven the cruelest sword.

CRAAASH—!

Ordinarily, a sword should make a clean slicing sound when it cuts.

But Full Bloom was a sword that tore enemies apart.

The shredded monsters fell into status ailments.

KRAHAAAAGH—!

And felt even greater fear.

When one was cut by a keen blade, pain was often recognized only afterward.

But when one was cut by a blunt blade—or torn apart—the pain was much worse.

The duplicated monsters watching him faltered.

“......”

The sword that had captivated them with beauty was now delivering the most horrific terror in the world.

And the monsters near Hyunsoo prayed.

Don’t push us forward!

It’s terrifying!

That’s a demon sword!

That was the truth.

Full Bloom was the true demonic sword Hyunsoo had envisioned.

An immortal demon.

And then—

“Spring is coming soon.”

“......”

“......”

The words stood in stark contrast to how beautiful they sounded.

In truth, Full Bloom was waiting for spring.

[Blood is being accumulated for Full Bloom Transformation.]

[You may activate Full Bloom Transformation whenever you wish.]

But he intended to make this year’s spring arrive a little late.

As one could tell from Full Bloom Transformation, it depended on how much he had cut down.

As time passes, what’s been accumulated will naturally dissipate.

But if the hunting continued, Full Bloom would bloom on an even greater scale.

Hyunsoo wanted the first Full Bloom Transformation he ever used to become the greatest spring.

Because he was curious what kind of effect it would have.

And he felt it again.

...It already has this insane regeneration, so what happens if its grade grows?

And what about the new skills it would gain?

He could not even imagine it.

A little more, just a little more.

Because only here can I achieve the greatest full bloom.

Hyunsoo kept accumulating as much as he could, waiting for the proper moment.

And the moment he had been waiting for came soon enough.

[You have hunted a total of 5,000 monsters.]

Took long enough. Half a day?

That was how long it had taken to hunt two thousand.

Because Full Bloom was not as strong as the Twin Dragon Sword.

But he knew that would change very soon.

Because true excellence always prepared a new story.

The moment he had waited for arrived.

[A new story begins.]

Ding!

[Sudden Quest: From 5,000 to 10,000]

Grade: SS

Restriction: one who has hunted 5,000

Reward: all rewards doubled

Penalty on failure: cannot climb the tower

Description: You are achieving a marvelous result in the trial of Floor 8. If you challenge 10,000, another story will begin once more.

Double...!

Experience, trash drops, Honor Points. Everything would be doubled!

And then he realized it.

If he reached 10,000, it would become triple!

But—

[The number of monsters doubles.]

[The monsters’ respawn speed becomes much faster.]

The mobs double too?

Since the number he could attack at once was limited anyway, it did not matter that much.

But it seemed the tower knew that too.

[The Nameless King is enraged.]

[All monsters’ stats increase by 15%.]

[All monsters’ attack power increases by 15%.]

[All monsters’ defense power increases by 15%.]

[It lasts for 10 minutes.]

[Only for those 10 minutes, the challenger receives 3x settlement.]

At this point, Infinite Regeneration became impossible.

The HP he was losing was now greater than the speed at which he recovered.

But for ten minutes, everything would be tripled.

Just as spring comes after a bitter winter,

the moment he had waited half a day for had arrived, and Full Bloom’s true power was about to reveal itself.

Hyunsoo stretched out his arm and anticipated it.

The power Full Bloom, having absorbed a total of two thousand monsters, was about to unleash.

[It blooms with the blood of 2,000 monsters.]

FWAAAAH—!

A crazy power surged from that sword, now dyed completely cherry-blossom red.

[Full Bloom Transformation.]

The demon sword bloomed.

The moment Hyunsoo struck the monsters rushing at him from the front,

an effect erupted.

KRAAAAAANG—!

[Full Bloom’s attack power increases by 365%.]

[Splash damage is applied.]

[All beings within a radius of 4 meters also take 50% damage.]

[Duration is 15 minutes.]

Four monsters turned to ash.

From a single attack.

And Hyunsoo swung his sword three times per second.

What the hell is this...?

And soon petals began to fall.

BOOM, KRAANG, KRAANG, KRAANG, KRAAAANG—!

About a hundred and fifty monsters were being hunted every minute.

He was also receiving the effects of Infinite Regeneration, and after only a few swings he was already back at full HP.

And what was even more absurd was the splash damage.

At half of 365%, the monsters were melting away.

And this was under conditions where triple rewards were being applied.

“Oh? The mobs are duplicating?”

“Oh? The experience is duplicating?”

“Oh? Oh? Oh!?”

Hyunsoo ran wild.

The man who had hunted two thousand monsters by the time twelve hours of swinging Full Bloom had passed now hunted three thousand in just fifteen minutes.

It was the moment when one Full Bloom dropped five thousand petals.

[A new record is set.]

But Hyunsoo knew it.

The real fight starts now.

Because he had Infinite Regeneration, and because he could use Full Bloom Transformation again and again,

what he needed now was mental strength born from an infinite battle.

[You are falling into a trance.]

The lonely fight began.

*****

Three days passed.

The King’s eyes, watching him fight even late at night, sank low.

“......”

The total number he had cut down over those three days had reached fourteen thousand.

He was more than qualified.

“It overflows.”

He was a man of tremendous mental strength, getting up after falling, and getting up again after falling.

Even so...

“...I do not want this.”

The great burden that would have to be placed on his shoulders.

“...I do not want that child to fight alone as I did.”

The sight of him, as on that day, having to stand alone and fight fear by himself.

“So it must be done...”

They said that the ones who start wars are old men holding pens, and the ones sacrificed are innocent young men.

What he hated now was himself, having become one of those old men with pens—and himself again, for having to push that man onto the battlefield.

“......”

Before long, the end approached.

A boss monster, an Orc Lord, was approaching to trample the collapsed man beneath its feet.

The moment the Orc Lord raised both hands, about to bring its axe down toward Hyun’s head,

he was about to return, to take up the pen himself.

At that exact moment—

THUNK—!

“......?”

A dagger that had flown from somewhere pierced straight through the creature’s forehead, and a ring of fire flared to life.

SHNK—!

Then Hyun, exhausted and on the verge of collapse, looked up at the sky and broke into a broad smile.

“What took you so loooong?!”

The one who appeared through the flames was Asura Kabel.

Admiral Yi’s eyes shook.

Seeing what was reflected in his gaze, he could not believe it.

“......”

Thousands of rings of fire were lighting up the night sky for him.