Genius Blacksmith's Game

What a good story.

As soon as Hyunsoo stepped into the forge, he was seized by excitement.

The reason cheerful, terminally ill Barsen had said those words had been for his father’s sake.

Because he knew he was going to die anyway.

It was the heart of a son who had hoped his father and the people left behind would forget him and keep living.

And the Nameless King, who had been the father...

No, he, who had simply been one man who was a father.

He only did what he had to do.

No one could throw stones at the Nameless King.

Coldly speaking, what Barsen had wanted had been right.

Compared to one life—his own—the lives of hundreds of thousands had been far more valuable.

And yet, even so, the Nameless King had paid the price for it.

Every single word his son had spoken to him had been branded into him as pain, and he had fallen into the delusion that he truly had been indifferent, that he had really felt nothing.

But even at the end of that delusion, he was still a father.

What kind of indifferent father would place a sword commission?

That part had been the strangest of all.

And there was one fact Hyunsoo had not told the Nameless King.

During his call with Kabel—

—It looks like the Nameless King and Barsen-related quest ends by delivering the final appendix of Barsen’s hidden diary.

Kabel had sent him that final appendix.

[March 29.

I succeeded in persuading Father.

I shouted at him again and again, as he kept turning back to look at me, telling him to hurry and go save the country.

But in my heart, I wished for something else.

I wished that a country like ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) that could just do whatever it wanted.

I desperately wished for him to come back to me.

The truth is, I already knew.

That I would die within a few days.

I’m sad...... Father said he would give me a sword that could make me like him......

I wanted to receive that sword......]

Hyunsoo swallowed down that appendix, stained with blood.

It was something he did not need to show him.

Because the Nameless King had already realized it, and Hyunsoo knew the two of them would meet again.

And through that appendix, Hyunsoo felt that he would be able to burn even hotter.

Because there had been someone waiting desperately for the thing he would make.

RUMMMMMBLE—!

As Hyunsoo looked at the mineral melting down inside the furnace, he felt it.

A story became an excellent material and gave rise to countless ideas.

And just like that, as another one of the strongest possible materials stepped into the forge, he heard it.

[A new story begins.]

This was a story that never would have been heard if he had simply let things pass.

[This is something born in the process of your choosing the difficult road over the easy one.]

[You seek out the truth and at last drag out the hidden real story.]

[Secret Quest.]

[The existing quest name changes.]

The old quest name had been nothing more than the Memory-Lost Nameless King’s pitiful “Sword Commission.”

But just as Barsen in the diary had wanted.

Just as the Nameless King had loved too much and thus fallen into delusion.

The true quest name was revealed.

Ding!

[Secret Quest: My Beloved Son!]

Grade: ???

Reward: ???

Penalty on failure: You cannot climb the tower.

Description: Through you, the Nameless King has recovered the memories he had lost. On that day, there had been no indifferent father like the one he remembered.

The Nameless King wishes for this.

For you to make the sword his son had wanted so dearly!]

The moment Hyunsoo saw that quest name, he grew even hotter.

The ??? means it will depend on how satisfied they are.

Hyunsoo stared at the reddish-orange molten metal flowing down and imagined it.

What kind of sword should I make?

Just as Barsen had really asked for as a birthday gift—

What about a sword that would let him become a fine swordsman like his father?

Barsen was small and frail for his age. Should I make a sword that would be easy even for a child like Barsen to wield, but still have excellent killing power?

He already had a sword like that in mind.

A rapier.

Its advantage was its lightness, and the length could be adjusted to suit a child.

But he posed this question.

“Is what this quest is asking for simply an outstanding, excellent sword?”

No.

What this quest wanted was a gift, and there was also the Nameless King’s desire to honor Barsen.

It was true that the one who had to be fully satisfied was Barsen, but it was also the Nameless King.

Barsen would only reappear for a brief moment, but the Nameless King was likely to continue existing for a long time....

In that case?

A sword with a story that would satisfy both the Nameless King and dead Barsen.

Even after all the molten metal had finished melting out, Hyunsoo remained sunk in deep thought.

After agonizing over it for a long time, he came to a conclusion.

A sword that grows, like a child named Barsen!

Having organized his thoughts, Hyunsoo began the crafting.

As he sank deeper into it, shaping things one by one, he smiled.

When Barsen first takes hold of this, it will be a small sword fit for a child’s hand.

But as Barsen grew older, the sword would change with him.

To Barsen, who had been sentenced to a terminal life, that might even feel like hope.

A sword that kept growing.

If Barsen had not died—

In the year he turned twenty, he would have gone hunting on horseback beside his father, looking splendid.

And one day, Barsen would bring a beautiful woman before him, wearing a slightly embarrassed expression, saying she was his fiancée.

Then the Nameless King, with that immense aura, would clear his throat awkwardly and exchange a stiff greeting.

CLAAANG!

And at the two of their wedding, the king who had been the strongest in the world would cry just as he had today.

CLAAAANG!

Barsen would have a child, and the Nameless King, now a grandfather, would hold his grandchild in his arms.

And of course, even then, that sword would keep growing with him, shining in an even grander form and displaying the strength of its absolute peak!

CLAAANG!

Time may feel slow in the present, but when you look back, it flows away like clear water too quickly.

CLAAANG!

CLAAANG!

He pictured Barsen growing older quickly, and the Nameless King’s shoulders growing narrower with the years.

And as though the force of that sword were breaking, he poured into it the age of Barsen, rushing swiftly by.

CLAAANG!

And then, in this moment, in the depths of that immersion, he fell into a trance.

One day.

Two days.

Within that time, he kept drawing it out based on the image of Barsen growing and the one watching over him.

Then, at some point, when he came out of the trance—

the corners of his mouth slowly began to fall.

“......”

He had realized it.

Something is wrong.

Hyunsoo began to feel that he had committed a major error.

Barsen would surely be happy upon receiving this sword.

And the Nameless King, upon receiving this sword, would surely grant Hyunsoo an excellent reward.

But what would be given to those two would only amount to a single fleeting moment.

In the end, it remained true that Barsen was dead, and if he gave this sword as a gift, the Nameless King would instead be swallowed whole by it.

Swallowed how?

Every single day, he’ll think of the sword I made, and once again he’ll hold his son Barsen in his memory.

As that sword assumed a world where Barsen had lived—

If Barsen had lived, by now he would have become a young man.

He would have married.

He would have had a child.

He would have walked beside me as I grew old.

“......”

The Nameless King would sink into even greater pain.

Hyunsoo realized his own foolishness.

At that moment, something flashed through his mind.

He recalled what moments made children happy.

At only around eight to ten years old—

Would they truly have been happiest when they received the most expensive toy no other child had?

No.

Even for Hyunsoo, the happiest moment of his childhood had not been when he received the most expensive thing!

Hyunsoo looked at the piece he had nearly completed and made his decision.

Without hesitation, he put it into his Inventory.

Today, I am merely putting away a failed work in order to make the best sword.

The process for making that best sword.

He said to the Nameless King, who had remained behind and watched over him without leaving:

“I’m not going to make the sword.”

“......”

The Nameless King wore a bewildered expression.

For several days, Hyunsoo had truly done his very best.

And yet suddenly, he was stopping the crafting.

“I realized there’s a moment more important to Barsen than anything I could make.”

A more important moment?

The man who had approached him was holding out a hammer.

“......Learn blacksmithing from me, Nameless King.”

A hammer?

He had never once done blacksmith’s work in his life.

And what could he possibly do after learning for only a short while?

But the words of the blacksmith before him were shocking.

“You learn blacksmithing yourself, then go and make it together with Barsen. That’s the finest sword I can imagine for Barsen.”

“......”

“What gift is more precious to a child than doing something together with his father?”

It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand what he meant.

Because the reason this man was going through all this trouble right now, and even the sword he had just been making, had both seemed far too excellent.

Then he came to understand the real reason.

“When I’m entrusted with something, I complete it as the best possible thing.”

He was a blacksmith.

“So you learn.”

The greatest blacksmith he had ever seen said that.

And then he placed the hammer into his hesitant hand.

KRAK—!

Looking down at that hammer, the Nameless King’s drive burned hotter than it ever had before.

He burned with more passion than when he had first learned swordsmanship.

At the thought that he could make something together with his son Barsen and gift it to him, he gave it everything he had.

The problem was—

“......You’re even worse at this than I thought.”

“It’s going to take quite a while.”

“......”

Compared to his enthusiasm, he had no talent.

Truly none at all.

And yet, even while constantly lecturing him, the blacksmith was delicate and taught him with all his strength.

“No, that part needs to be done more carefully.”

“Good grief, this one’s unusable.”

He did not give up.

Even as a fair amount of time passed, he kept teaching him with complete sincerity.

At last, as his skill improved—

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“Now you’re getting a little better.”

“Oh, that’s not bad.”

He was happy as though it were his own work.

The blacksmith, looking at the thing he had managed to make decently well, was smiling as if it were his own accomplishment.

“......”

Watching him, the Nameless King thought:

I...

that he would never forget the greatest blacksmith he had ever met.

At last—

“Now let’s go make the real thing.”

All the preparations were complete, and the Nameless King used the opportunity he had obtained through his deal with the tower.

Together with the blacksmith, he briefly crossed over the timeline.

[Returning to the past.]

There, he met Barsen.

*****

The sickly boy, Barsen, shouted at his hesitant father.

To go at once and stop the mad king.

But as he watched his father turn away and run, he wished:

......I’m scared. Father, please. Don’t go.

He knew death was approaching.

Still only nine years old, too young to fight against death.

But he knew his father would not come back.

Because Father is a wise man.

And yet—

“......”

His father turned around, ran back, and embraced him.

“......Father? What— hurry, go—”

“No. Today, I will not go. Absolutely not.”

Just as it had been written in the diary.

Because Barsen had wished for his father to come back.

The boy, Barsen, smiled with relief.

The two of them entered the forge together.

“Father and I are making a sword together?”

Barsen was so happy it was as though he had gained the whole world.

The most precious time in the world began to pass.

“Father, you’re not very good at this kind of thing.”

“Haha, I’m fairly good at this too, you know?”

At times, when the molten metal ran down, he cried out, “Uwaaah, it’s hot.”

“Now, this is how you do this.”

He taught him how to refine, and Barsen listened to him.

“This is what forging is.”

He swung the hammer together with him from behind Barsen’s back.

And what was strange was that the boy Barsen, with death approaching, did not show a single trace of frailty while making it.

“Now, this is the last step!”

“Whoa!”

The Nameless King, holding his son’s hand, engraved it together with him.

And the letters they engraved at the end were the final message left by a man who was nothing more than a father to the son who would soon depart.

[To my beloved son, Barsen......]

Soon, the sword of the two of them was completed.

It was the ugliest sword in the world.

“What is thisss!?”

“Still, isn’t it rather cool?”

“It is. It’s so precious. Father, it was the best birthday present ever.”

And yet this was the birth of the most beautiful sword in the world.

The notification Hyunsoo heard as he watched the two of them proved it.

[The God of Blacksmiths praises you.]

[You have greatly contributed to the creation of the most beautiful sword in the world.]

[You abandoned an already outstanding creation and chose the ‘best creation.’]

[It was an astonishing act that no blacksmith would ever do.]

[Something special occurs.]