Genius Blacksmith's Game

Rund’s interview video became a hot topic.

A great many of the people who watched the video, which racked up millions of views in a single day, agreed with him.

-I used to think those people tearing him down had a point, but I think Rund is right. I almost got brainwashed.

-For real, Hyun works that hard, and here I am lying in bed right now... get up...

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The reporters had enough sense to read the room.

If we write an article tearing Hyun down right now, we’re screwed!

And the reporter who had been at the press conference, too ashamed to even raise his head, was reflecting on himself.

“He’s right about all of it. Hyun is fifteen years younger than I am.”

What had he been doing at that age?

Drinking all night and playing games.

That reporter was actually fairly well known.

“I should try living like a real reporter for once!”

His article made it onto the main page of FindNet.

-Nobody could have done it, but nobody chose to.

With a fitting title and appropriate content to go with it!

He became the advance party for the other reporters who had been watching the situation nervously.

Articles started pouring out like mushrooms after rain!

-Hyun, the reward of effort.

-Praise before criticism.

-Master Blacksmith Hyun’s highlight reel videos draw attention again.

-Membership in Hyunsoo anti-fan cafes is dropping... while fan club membership is rising...

And the reporters realized something else.

For the time being, a great many articles criticizing Hyun would disappear.

The age of Hyun had begun.

*****

(Four Tiger Sword Crafting Method)

Grade: Legendary–Transcendence

Attack Power: 578–766

Crafting Restriction: Master craftsman level 500 or above

Crafting Materials: mineral imbued with holy power, White Tiger’s tears

Substitute Materials: guidance will be provided upon discovering a hint

Special Abilities:

· Holy power increases by up to 64%

· Attack power against evil or the undead increases by up to 300%

· Defense against evil or the undead increases by up to 300%

· Merely holding it increases attack power and defense against evil by up to 80%

· Ignores up to 70% of defense when attacking evil or the undead

· Active Skill White Tiger’s Aura

· Active Skill King’s Song

· Passive Skill Those Who Do Not Retreat

· All Stats increase by up to 8%

Description: This is the crafting method for the Four Tiger Sword, created by preserving the strengths of the old and supplementing its weaknesses with new knowledge.

Emergency Crafting ultimately devours the self.

This was the newly refined Four Tiger Sword crafting method, born after a new realization.

It was on an entirely different level in quality from what had been made through Emergency Crafting.

At minimum, it could begin at legendary and be forged all the way up to Transcendence.

Perhaps, even among Transcendence-grade weapons, a Transcendence that might lead an era could be born.

The reason was...

Because there are tigers on Floor 10. Could it be a nation inhabited only by tigers?

It was entirely possible.

And if that were true, then tiger aura would not merely fill that place—it would overflow through it.

He even entertained this idea.

The idea that a Four Tiger Sword forged while receiving the aura of so many tigers would be tremendous!

Hyunsoo imagined it.

He imagined the tigers filling this place, looking at him and saying, Ah! An outsider!

But...

“???”

Hyunsoo was bewildered.

The place where he had appeared was nothing more than what looked like an ordinary bustling district.

If there was anything unusual about it, it was that it was extremely busy and noisy.

As though war were about to break out.

[Control of your character begins in order to guide the Floor 10 trial.]

There were quests of this kind from time to time.

When that happened, the user could not speak or act however he wanted.

Users called it an “AI-controlled quest.”

With Hyunsoo under control, his character walked through the territory and immediately started moving.

And while moving, Hyunsoo was sneaking glances around.

...So where are the tigers?

There wasn’t a single tiger in sight.

The Four Tiger Sword Crafting Method had definitely reacted to this place.

But then he realized that the Four Tiger Sword Crafting Method had never actually said there was a tiger here.

Does that mean that somewhere in this wide, possibly enormous place, there’s a material connected to tigers?

It was a complete misjudgment.

Even if this were a world created for the Floor 10 trial, finding such a thing surely would not be easy.

There was one silver lining, at least.

[The Four Tiger Sword Crafting Method reacts!]

[The time of Tiger Year and Tiger Month flows here.]

Hyunsoo did not despair too much over there being no “real tiger.”

It’s not like I came here expecting that in the first place.

He had simply gotten a hint on Floor 8 and misread it.

As he kept walking, he entered a castle and soon arrived before a huge door.

At that moment—

“...!?!?!?!”

Hyunsoo’s eyes went wide.

The tremendous aura he could feel from inside almost made his breath catch.

The aura flowing out from within was...

On the same level as His Highness Brad, or even beyond...

Even though Hyunsoo had grown much stronger,

it was still only natural that he remained unable to compare to Brad or Ben.

And in contrast to Hyunsoo’s shock, the AI-controlled character stepped inside.

[The Four Tiger Sword Crafting Method reacts!]

And then Hyunsoo found it.

The tiger the notification had spoken of.

It was not talking about some sort of material, nor a world inhabited only by tigers.

What it had reacted to was a being who possessed the power of a tiger—one who carried the powerful tiger aura the Four Tiger Sword desired!

[You are granted an audience with the Tiger King of the North!]

It was much like something Hyunsoo had once only heard about in old stories.

He knew that the tigers of his country were said to be the most famous.

It was said that the reason was because they had been the largest and fiercest.

No, that description isn’t enough.

He knew that there had been tigers called mountain lords, beings said to guard the mountains.

This was a man who gave off the aura of exactly such a mountain lord—a human, and yet a tiger king.

Gulp—

If his character had not been under control, Hyunsoo would have swallowed.

[The aura of a great beast king oppresses you.]

[Your knees will weaken, and you will not even dare move.]

[You resisted.]

In truth, if not for the power called The Pride of the Master Blacksmith, he really might have ended up like that.

And there was something Hyunsoo coveted.

...That aura—that’s the true tiger aura of the Four Tiger Sword!

He realized it.

The tiger aura dwelling in the legendary Four Tiger Sword had been little more than a joke.

Hyunsoo prostrated himself.

“I pay my respects to the Tiger King of the North. I understand that your special power has called me here.”

Hyunsoo could tell that the trial of Floor 10 was about to begin.

“...That is true. You are one with quite courageous aura.”

Though he wore a human form, his voice sounded like that of a tiger.

Strong, deep, and beastlike.

“I have need of one who can end this war for me. That is why I called you, one from another world, to borrow your power. The tiger of the west and the tiger of the east continue to threaten us without end. You who answered my call, I wish for you to bring our long war to a close.”

Only then did Hyunsoo understand.

This Floor 10 trial...!

[The trial of Floor 10 is leading an army.]

[Command the army granted by the tiger and, through overwhelming martial might, slay at least 20,000 enemies.]

Just as each floor had its own special quality,

Floor 10 had its own as well.

And the special quality of Floor 10 appeared to be proving one’s command ability.

It was not an easy trial.

But in his head, Hyunsoo was thinking this.

20,000? I’ll go cut down 30,000! If I do that, won’t I be able to get close to this Tiger King?

If that happened, Hyunsoo believed that, with this Tiger King’s help, he would surely be able to empower the Four Tiger Sword somehow.

“Judging by your bearing, you seem utterly dependable. I am also curious about the hero who will lead my army and command the battlefield.”

Curious?

“It is said that humans each wield a special power of their own. Very well. What is it that you are best at?”

At that moment,

cold sweat ran down Hyunsoo’s back.

Huh? Wait. This is bad...

Hyunsoo understood now.

Just how foolish it was to say you were a blacksmith in front of people you had only just met!

But the AI-controlled character only spoke the information that had been entered.

“I am... a blacksmith.”

“......”

At that single sentence, the king with the tiger aura stopped walking.

The human officials blinked in surprise.

And Hyunsoo...

I’m screwed...

The king spoke.

“...It seems something has gone wrong. I cannot entrust an army to a blacksmith.”

Hyunsoo felt like resenting Pureum Co., Ltd.

But even they could not have expected this.

Because for blacksmiths, cooks, and other production-type classes,

the possibility of climbing as far as Floor 10 had been close to impossible in their calculations.

“I will not entrust my army to you.”

It was only natural that no king would want to entrust an army to him.

Everything before Hyunsoo’s eyes went white.

And yet, the situation went in a completely different direction than expected.

“Leave us all.”

The Tiger King sent everyone out.

Only he and Hyunsoo remained.

“A blacksmith... unexpected. There is something I wish to ask you. But before that, I suppose I should tell you why this war broke out in the first place.”

Then he began to speak.

He said there had once been one great tiger.

That tiger had possessed such overwhelming power that it had been unable to bear itself.

And because of those who pursued it, it had split itself into three pieces, setting them to guard the north, east, and west.

At first, they had all been close.

But in the end, once those tigers of great power each formed nations of their own, factional conflict began.

And many misunderstandings, along with fights between the people, had become entangled together, allowing the war to continue.

But the Tiger King of the North was wise.

“...Even now, I do not know why we must continue fighting. And so I wish to bring this war to an end.”

That was the hidden sincerity he had kept buried.

Perhaps that was why the story had summoned him through its special power in the first place.

“And so I thought about it. Whether there might be something like a gift that could improve our relationship. You are one whose profession is making things. If you were to create something, what do you think would satisfy them?”

Hyunsoo realized it.

[You are released from AI control.]

Whether this Floor 10 trial would transform into a new story, or whether he would fail and be thrown out without even getting to challenge it, depended on him.

But Hyunsoo could not speak for a long while.

He had no choice.

To suddenly create something that could reconcile three kings...

Huh?

Then inspiration struck Hyunsoo.

And it came from one fact:

there were three tiger kings.

*****

The Northern King looked at the silent blacksmith and felt he had asked too much.

I was only trying to clutch at a straw.

There was nothing to be done.

In the end, it seemed this war would have to be ended through military force.

I ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) suppose I should send the man before me back. Why did a blacksmith come here in the first place?

Just then—

“...I believe you should present them with a single sword.”

The Northern King found it absurd.

“You think my sincerity would be conveyed merely by sending them one sword?”

“...If it were merely one sword, then yes, that would be true. But I remember from Your Majesty’s story that the three of you were originally one. Since you were once one and then became three, I believe your powers must also have diverged evenly in different ways.”

“I will make a single sword. Into that single sword, please place Your Majesty’s greatest blessing.”

“...Why would that—”

“I will take that sword and go to the other kings. I will tell them this: that the Northern King sent it first, bearing his greatest power, as a gesture of reconciliation.”

“And even if you do that, what would be different?”

He shook his head.

“The sword sent with Your Majesty’s blessing will carry the meaning of reconciliation, yes—but it will only be completed if the other tiger kings also breathe their power into it.”

The blacksmith raised his head, his eyes gleaming.

“To mean that we were originally one.”