Genius Blacksmith's Game

(Overlord’s Armor)

Grade: Transcendence

Durability: Infinite

Defense: 801

Restriction: swordsman level 500 or above (exception applied)

Special Abilities:

·All Stats increase by 6%

·All attack power increases by 10%

·Damage from all magic attacks is reduced by 30%

·Fit adjusts to the wearer

·Passive Skill Absolute Sense

·Passive Skill Overlord

·Active Skill Absolute Invincibility

·When additional Overlord artifacts are equipped, all effects increase by 10%

·A special power dwells within it only for a true blacksmith.

(Absolute Sense)

Passive Skill

Level: 1

Proficiency: 0%

Effects:

·There is a 7% chance for it to activate for a fleeting instant during battle, lasting from 3 to 7 seconds.

·You gain absolute senses superior to any human, including touch, sight, smell, and hearing, and due to the special nature of Absolute Sense, it also includes reflexes.

·For the duration of activation, you will display special movements different from your usual self.

(Overlord)

Passive Skill

Effects:

·When directly struck by an attack, there is a 13% chance it will activate and completely ignore all damage.

·When Overlord activates, there is a rare chance to unleash triple damage and return it to the enemy a single time.

(Absolute Invincibility)

Active Skill

Mana Cost: 2,000

·For 4 seconds, you enter a state of absolute invincibility that can ignore any and all damage.

·If any enemies are nearby while in a state of absolute invincibility, invisible swords imbued with the wearer’s normal basic attack are applied and indiscriminately slash enemies 4 to 7 times with normal damage.

(Overlord’s Helm)

Grade: Transcendence

Durability: Infinite

Defense: 431

Restriction: swordsman level 500 or above (exception applied)

Special Abilities:

·All Stats increase by 3%

·All defense increases by 10%

·Damage from all magic attacks is reduced by 20%

·Passive Skill Observation

·Active Skill Nameless Existence

·Active Skill King’s Eye

·When additional Overlord artifacts are equipped, all effects increase by 10%

·A special power dwells within it only for a true blacksmith.

(Observation)

Passive Skill

Effects:

·When an enemy facing you shows signs of trying to activate a skill, there is a 10% chance that information on that power will rarely become viewable.

·If the being possesses a power greater than yours, the activation rate decreases.

·There is a 4% chance to move instantly.

(Nameless Existence)

Active Skill

Mana Cost: 5,000

Penalty: All Stats -1

·You are able to transform into a nameless existence.

·At times, you may conceal only the name above your head or only your face, and in that case the penalty does not apply.

·You can transform into any being you have seen, or the appearance of anyone you have seen in a painting or in various places, and all character-window information changes.

·Many things are possible, including monsters and other races.

(King’s Eye)

Active Skill

Mana Cost: 1,000

Penalty: Random Stat -2

·It can be activated on those whose level is far lower than yours or who possess much weaker power.

·If the wearer holds a position such as the lord of a territory, or a ruler or king, then no penalty occurs to those under your command.

·You can check the activated target’s character window.

·At times, the King’s Eye will catch glimpses of special things others cannot see.

Maybe it really would be okay even if Gremory revived.

Granted, that’s definitely an exaggerated thing to say to some extent.

But then, when he looked at the defense values, he found himself thinking this too.

Is it really exaggeration......?

The Calamity Armor Hyunsoo had been wearing until now had also been a legendary artifact.

And a pretty excellent one at that!

And in the case of the Calamity Armor, its defense had been somewhere in the 500 range.

Even with that level of defense, a being like the demon Grout had been left flustered.

Overlord’s Armor is in the 800s? Can damage even get through......?

Now there was one thing he could say with confidence.

If someone lower level than Hyunsoo attacked him, they might wind up seeing notifications like this!

[You have failed to attack.]

[You have failed to attack.]

That notification was normally something users heard only when they attacked boss monsters whose levels were vastly higher than their own.

And yet now Hyunsoo had reached the point where he might be able to make others hear it.

Khh!

Just imagining it sent a thrill through him.

What kind of expression would his enemies make when they ran into that notification?

Even more satisfying than that, though, was the magic defense on those artifacts.

The thing users usually liked best, the effect commonly called “magic defense,” was outstanding.

Magic defense referred to effects produced by skills, magic, traits, and similar powers.

And users wanted it desperately, but it was not easy to obtain.

Because the supply itself was extremely rare!

But this Overlord set reduced damage from magic attacks by 30% on the armor, and by 20% on the helm.

And on top of that came the set effect!

That means it’s over 55% total.......

In other words, when ordinary users took the full damage from magic attacks, Hyunsoo would not even be taking half of it.

And then there were the skills.

The helm is focused on utility.

The armor is focused on combat.

Hyunsoo tried on the two artifacts.

Both artifacts were black in color.

The moment he put on the full-plate armor, it shrank to fit Hyunsoo’s body perfectly.

That was the effect listed in Overlord’s Armor, changing to a fit perfectly tailored to the wearer.

And ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) the result was something special.

It moves so comfortably, like it was custom-made for me.

Normally, when you wore full-plate armor, you looked heavy and sluggish, but not this.

It feels like I’m wearing slacks.

That was how slim and yet sturdy it was.

Then he put on the black helm that protected his face except for his eyes and nose.

The visibility is perfect too?

It completely surpassed what was normal.

[You have equipped a set artifact.]

[You are affected by the set artifact effect.]

[If you equip additional artifacts, the effects stack.]

Kyaah!

Normally, a set artifact only displayed its power once all three pieces were gathered.

But the Overlord set displayed its power starting from just two pieces.

And on top of that, the final notification implied something.

There’s more, isn’t there?

A pure greed filled Hyunsoo’s eyes.

Was that excessive greed?

No.

It was the kind of pure greed any user could naturally feel.

“It seems to please you.”

“Of course it does. But what’s this special power dwelling inside them?”

It was written on both artifacts.

Judging by the phrase true blacksmith, it was clearly some power imbued into them before he had given them to him.

“It will protect you when you are in danger. And......”

He swallowed his final words.

The Overlord had effectively revealed his own identity.

The proof of that was the fact that he had handed over his own armaments.

And yet Hyunsoo showed no obvious sign of surprise.

That was because Hyunsoo had already noticed.

When you took his story apart piece by piece, it resembled the one he had heard from Luxiu.

There is no army in his story.

In the past, there had been absolute monarchs like the kings who now led the era.

The first was the Saint King.

The second was the Tyrant.

And then there was the Overlord.

In terms of individual power, he must have been the most overwhelming of them all.

Even so, Hyunsoo did not puff himself up, nor did he say anything about Overlord this or Overlord that to him.

Even if he had not been the Nameless King, and had simply been an ordinary father, Hyunsoo would have made the same choice.

And also...

How to become a Transcendent......

Hyunsoo actually already knew how to walk the path of the Overlord.

It was by defeating the Overlord.

Except—

“......”

[Only to you is the Nameless King’s real name revealed.]

[Overlord Barok Lv.601]

Excuse me?

You want me to beat this?

A level 600?

I think he could suppress me with one hand.......

And then he said:

“The current me has weakened.”

Hah hah hah!

Hyunsoo had been laughing like that when he realized why the man was talking about his own weakening.

It’s foreshadowing for a quest.

When Hyunsoo focused, the man continued.

“Before leaving, while I still wandered in delusion, I thought that at this rate my kingdom might walk the path of destruction. Is it because of me? I think half of that is true and half of it is false.”

“A country that cannot function without me is a country that should not exist in the first place. It has no value as a nation.”

Hyunsoo agreed with that too.

From the start, his kingdom itself had been far too bizarre.

“Of course, it is also true that because it was a nation whose existence endured because of me, it may walk the path of destruction once I leave. That is why I imagined a possibility.”

Hyunsoo listened closely to that possibility.

“Because I might return one day. I do not know after how much time has passed, but I may go back again.”

Just as no one knew their own fate.

“So I created the king’s royal seal, proof that I am king. If only a few years pass, my nation will remember me. But if an unpromised stretch of time passes, my nation will deny me.”

And because once one king departed, a new king was bound to take that place in the end.

“That royal seal is absolute proof. I want you to find it.”

“You want me to find it?”

“Regrettably, it seems I have recovered all my memories, but that is not so. What I remember are only the true memories of my son Barsen and myself.”

To Hyunsoo, it worked out like this:

If I find that for him, does that mean I become even closer to the Overlord? Gasp, if I find that and then ask for the rest of the Overlord’s armaments, that would be insane value.

Hyunsoo had carried out the Barsen quest brilliantly, and because of that he had received a massive reward.

Wanting something more was greed, but this could become the opening for it!

So from Hyunsoo’s point of view, this was incredibly good news!

“Before leaving, I concealed my country as thoroughly as possible. Its false name is Alaon. If you trace the remnants of the Kingdom of Alaon, you should be able to find the royal seal. For reference, I have also lost the means to go there.”

“......”

For a moment, Hyunsoo felt an overwhelming urge to introduce him to Kkoko.

At that moment, the quest activated.

Ding!

[Hidden Quest: Find the King’s Royal Seal is generated.]

[Hidden Quest: Find the King’s Royal Seal]

Grade: ???

Restriction: One who has received the Overlord’s request

Reward: ???

Penalty: Greatly decreased affinity with the Overlord.

Description: Find the king’s royal seal left behind by the Overlord. It is the absolute symbol that proves he is king.

“Got it. I’ll do my best to find it.”

“......And I offer you my sincere thanks.”

Hyunsoo looked at the man who had once been the strongest in an era, bowing his head slightly.

“......”

He knew that man’s story better than anyone.

A being who had annihilated a scouting force of over one hundred thousand all by himself.

A man whom the ruler of a nation had personally wished to accept under his command.

A being who had forged a legend by fighting a great archdemon alone.

He knew that even the kings leading the current age feared his name.

And yet Hyunsoo turned away without lingering.

Because he knew that greeting was the last thing the man could give him here and now.

He did not have time.

And so, as he walked toward the next floor, he let him know he had accepted those words of gratitude fully enough.

“We can meet again on Floor 14, right?”

“I shall prepare a banquet.”

Hyunsoo understood the meaning of that banquet.

There, perhaps, he might obtain something else the Overlord possessed.

This time, his accomplishment had been two Transcendence artifacts, and next time it might be even grander than that.

And as Hyunsoo climbed upward, the Overlord’s voice came from behind him.

“......You must find the royal seal.”

“Got it!”

Through that exchange, Hyunsoo realized something.

That through this moment, he had become quite close to that existence.

At last, he stepped onto Floor 10.

Meanwhile—

“......”

Left alone, the Overlord looked toward the place where Hyunsoo had vanished.

In truth, the Overlord remembered everything.

The way to reach that nation.

The place where the royal seal was.

And even the process of reaching it.

The moment he woke from his delusion, he had remembered it all.

And because he himself had hidden the royal seal away, he knew it better than anyone.

Finding that will be far more difficult than he expects.

He smiled as he looked at the sword he and Barsen had forged together.

As though conversing with Barsen, he said something strange.

“This father of yours only asked him to find it. I never told him to return it.”