Genius Blacksmith's Game

Lee Sejin heard something while he was on his way to visit the Special User Management Team.

Team Lead Kim had accidentally planted a flag.

Watching them all settle back into the posture of another night of overtime, Sejin had turned around and left.

He knew it as well. No—Supercomputer Ares knew it as well.

Sejin repeated the question.

“So that thought still hasn’t changed? I mean the idea that it’s the absolute greatest material for the Four Tiger Sword.”

[It has not changed. He is the one and only absolute material for the Four Tiger Sword.]

Absolute.

Neither Supercomputer Ares nor Lee Sejin used that word lightly.

But this time, there was no denying it.

And it made him hope again.

What would happen if he forged the true Four Tiger Sword with that mineral?

And of all things, was Hyunsoo, standing before that greatest material, simply lucky?

Not at all.

He had used Kkoko to confirm the time of Tiger Year and Tiger Month on Floor 10.

Within that immense force, he had learned of the existence of the Three Tiger Kings.

Everything had happened because of Hyunsoo’s steps.

On another screen,

the war between the Ares Church and the Calamity Church was still raging on.

“If Gremory awakens, what will the Ares Church’s chance of victory be?”

[2.3%.]

A devastatingly low chance.

But there was an even greater problem.

“And the probability that Atlas does not collapse?”

[Zero.]

“......”

There were definitely three figures in Atlas who had sealed Gremory.

Kabel, Hyunsoo, and Lucky Lump, who had been called the Lamps.

But the Gremory they had encountered had only been half-finished.

Demon of the Legion, Gremory displayed her true power when she commanded all twenty-two legions.

The Gremory they had defeated back then had been alone.

[The moment Great Archdemon Gremory awakens, she will send all of her legion commanders to Atlas.]

What Gremory had said back then.

That she would destroy his Atlas—that would become reality.

And the reason Sejin was worrying like this.

Gremory’s will to awaken is too strong.

She was endlessly sending Vera all kinds of quests and methods that could awaken her.

At first, Vera had believed that if Pope Karsel were killed, it could be accomplished.

But Pope Karsel and the Ares Church itself were not so easy to break.

Not long ago, Vera had loudly declared that inside this place, it was acceptable to do immoral things if it meant securing the users’ help.

A great deal of force had clearly gathered behind that.

Unfortunately, there really were people in this land who wanted a world like that.

But even that had not been enough, and Pope Karsel remained standing.

So Gremory had issued a new quest.

Offer up five thousand believers of the Ares Church.

Vera had been gathering them.

Then, at that moment—

“......?”

Lee Sejin heard something strange.

[The probability that Atlas does not collapse has risen to 1.1%.]

“Why?”

He could not understand it.

Soon, seeing the hologram Supercomputer Ares immediately projected before his eyes, Lee Sejin was stunned.

“Brightest Moon!”

There existed a being that proved one did not have to possess strength as overwhelming as Fenrir to be legendary.

Brightest Moon, said to be born once every two hundred years on the day of a solar eclipse.

It was a being that had suffered many wounds, one believed would never belong to anyone.

The figure reflected on the monitor.

Through its power to draw many people in, Lucky Lump had embraced many until now.

That power again, this time too......?

But no.

The reason Brightest Moon had opened its heart to them came from their warmth.

And watching Lucky Lump and its younger siblings cut through the sky once more, Sejin understood.

“The smallest Lamp lights Atlas.”

But he did not forget the key issue.

Even so, the number is still far too small. And unless Gremory is killed, nothing changes.

Once awakened again, even if she lost her legion commanders, she would simply return to the demon realm and appoint new ones.

Even Bahala, the largest Lamp there had been at the time, was so far away, carrying out a mission, that no news could reach him, and he could not come outside until he completed it.

That was why Sejin found it regrettable.

Hyunsoo would not be able to obtain those three minerals.

The flag Team Lead Kim planted was nothing more than a half-measure.

A bitter smile appeared on his face.

The reason was that, in the end, all the minerals had to be received from the kings themselves.

Right now, Hyunsoo would at least be able to receive the North King Stone.

The problem was—

[Soon, the North King will mobilize all troops.]

The war was about to begin.

Yes, ordinarily, this was how the story should flow.

As one who had been summoned, User Hyunsoo’s trial on Floor 10 was to end the war by subduing the West King and East King by force.

The strength of the three countries was roughly equal.

A single clearly superior powerhouse could change that entire balance.

The problem was that if it came to that, the other two minerals would vanish forever.

And so, the greatest Four Tiger Sword Lee Sejin imagined might become impossible to forge.

Of course, Hyunsoo had proven several times that excellent materials were not the only condition for a fine sword to be born.

But the power those three minerals would grant when united was simply too clear.

The North King Stone carried the brave tiger’s energy.

The West King Stone carried the overwhelming tiger’s energy.

The East King Stone carried the leading tiger’s energy.

Only when all three came together did it become complete.

To the point it almost seemed as though those three minerals existed for the sake of the Four Tiger Sword.

And yet, by the flow of the story, gathering those materials was impossible.

Then, at that moment—

[The probability that the Ares Church will win when Gremory awakens has risen to 4%.]

“......?”

Sejin was flustered.

This time it was not Atlas’s probability, but the Ares Church’s probability of victory.

And it was as high as 4% even after Gremory’s awakening.

That meant someone had opened up the possibility of successfully hunting Gremory.

Soon, Sejin understood.

In the end, he had thought fate itself would prevent User Hyunsoo from obtaining the perfect materials.

But he had been wrong.

It was a change born from the realizations Hyun had gained recently.

And through that change, Sejin came to understand.

User Hyunsoo can carve out his own fate!?

Sejin was impressed.

Right now.

The one and only counter to Gremory was presenting a new possibility.

*****

The North King’s footsteps were light.

After hiding the box through one of his retainers, the North King had something he wanted to ask of him.

He wanted him to stand at the forefront of the war.

It was what he should have done in the first place.

But because he was a blacksmith, he had hesitated to ask for such a commission. Yet now that he knew he was an astonishing martial warrior, he wanted war.

Also—

How dare they try to kill my princess.......

They had tried to kill her.

That alone was enough to make war break out.

Inside the forge, the North King was able to meet Hyunsoo just as he was about to head out.

“Where were you on your way to?”

“I was just about to come see Your Majesty.”

“Since I came myself, that’s no longer necessary.”

The North King showed a small smile.

It informed him that his affinity toward him had greatly risen.

“Is there something you want? There is nothing I would not do for you.”

He had already brought the North King Stone, yet he still asked.

That was how high his affinity was—high enough that he would give him the North King Stone on top of whatever else he named.

And the North King was hopeful as well.

He wondered how happy Hyunsoo would be when he received this mineral.

And how joyfully he would lead them to victory and exact revenge.

And yet......

“......I want to hear the true story of the Three Kings.”

“......”

Cold water was poured over the North King’s good mood.

“Is such talk not meaningless now? In the end, it is still true that the West King tried to kill my princess, and I will raise all my armies and kill the West King. So you need not concern yourself with such stories any longer.”

He had thought this was because of what he himself had said about wishing to reconcile, but Hyunsoo shook his head.

“I would like to hear the story of the three of you.”

And this question was one Hyunsoo asked because of a certain “hint” he had obtained through Abeo.

At that moment, the North King’s enormous presence surged.

“Is that trivial thing really so important!?”

At the North King’s heated words, Hyunsoo kept a calm expression.

“It is important. Because when Your Majesty spoke of wanting reconciliation, your expression was more sincere than anyone’s.”

“......”

The North King’s lips parted.

Even so, he still tried to deny it.

He tried to hide the essence of it.

He only wanted to punish those who had tried to kill the princess.

And he did not understand it.

“......Is that truly the reward you want to receive?”

“Yes.”

He could have named more than enough rewards.

Money, if money.

Treasure, if treasure.

Women, if women.

Or soldiers, if soldiers.

Leaving all of that behind, he said he wanted to hear a story.

At that, the North King, his excitement now subdued, closed his eyes and began to speak.

“......The West King is like a child. Originally, the three of us often met and spoke at length. But in the West King’s case, he was a cursed existence. It was because he had been born with the power of the greatest tiger. Even while doing nothing, he gave off a fierce tiger’s energy.”

“The problem was the vessel. His body and our bodies were fundamentally different, so the West King could neither contain it nor control it.”

“When I last met him, over ten years ago, I nearly fainted just from facing him. The great tiger is a being no one dares look upon. As time passed, that power kept growing larger, until he reached the point where he could not even control himself. I never met him again after nearly fainting that day, but I did hear the news.”

His face was miserable.

“They said hundreds of citizens died after facing him. After that, I heard he shut himself in his bedchamber, barred the doors with iron bars, and never came out again.”

As the North King continued, his voice began to tremble.

He was finally beginning to look at the true essence of the matter.

“There is a man called Blen, his second-in-command. If you think of the story formed by a child king, cursed so he cannot step out into the world, and a second-in-command beside him, does the picture not become clear? It must have been the same this time as well. The one who gave the order, in the end, was......”

He could not continue.

At that moment, his mind suddenly cleared.

He was a child.

And their youngest, a pitiful child being used at the side of a treacherous subordinate.

All that was happening was that the second-in-command named Blen was shaking this land.

And yet, before the truth, he had turned away.

Because of the West King.

This had all happened because of the West King.

I did nothing wrong. This is all because of the West King! That was what he had told himself.

Humans were like that by nature.

They needed someone to blame, and someone to resent.

It was something he had known, and ignored.

The convenient answer had been to think it would be easier if he simply killed them all.

“......”

In the end, as a single tear fell from the North King’s eye, he realized it.

His true feelings.

“......I wish.”

“......”

He looked at the blacksmith with the quiet gaze.

“I wish someone would save that child.”

That someone would let him see that bright smile again.

That someone would save that child.

But he knew.

Such a thing was impossible.

Then—

“Your Majesty, I’m sorry.”

The blacksmith, now having understood the essence of it, wore a bitter expression.

“I failed to forge the sword that would carry your blessing.”

“......!?”

The North King’s eyes shook.

Had he given up after hearing their story?

From the start, the West King had been in no state to grant a blessing.

In truth, even the North King himself had known that.

It had only been a hope he had pinned on a slim chance.

Was that why he had given up?

“That story gave me inspiration.”

“......?”

Then Hyunsoo began to tell a story of his own.

The story of a father who had been cold even before the death of the son he had just met.

He said that there had been an easy path.

That he could have ignored that story and simply hammered out a sword and been done with it.

But he had not turned away. Through that story, he had understood the essence of it.

He said it had surely been a far-off and arduous road.

But the result at the end of it had been the most beautiful thing in the world.

The North King was confused.

Why he was telling him such a story.

No matter what, the story between him and the West King would not change.

As he placed minerals into the furnace, Hyunsoo said,

“I will make armor.”

Turning his back as he immersed himself in his work, he looked back at the North King and smiled.

“......Armor that can control the West King’s energy.”

“......!!!!!”

The North King’s eyes widened.

The work of the blacksmith who saw the essence was about to begin.

The North King could not understand it.

He had been standing before the easy and fast path.

Even if he had gained a realization earlier, the North King himself would never have done this.

If he had incurred his wrath, everything could have turned to dust.

So he asked.

“Why are you forging like this, to this extent?”

Could he truly accomplish it?

Was it not just bragging?

Was he not just trying to win favor?

But ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) no.

There was no other reason for him.

“Because I’m a blacksmith.”

“......”

Because he was the greatest blacksmith the North King had ever seen.