Genius Blacksmith's Game

Knight Commander Carl.

Before he was a commander, he was a native who grew up in this Cassel Territory.

After the Bell of Lamas broke, the undead assaults had only grown fiercer.

As Cassel’s commanding officer, he had a firm grasp of the situation.

We’re going to fall soon...

The Prime Kingdom was a nation at war.

No reinforcements would come to a small border territory like this.

The approach was too treacherous for troops besides. And the lord had sunk into despair.

“Find some method, any method.”

So ordered the lord, yet Carl could see no way.

Then an outsider named Hyunsoo produced a sword that carried holy power.

Carl bowed his head and begged him.

Before Hyunsoo could answer, Carl raised his head and spoke.

“If you «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» repair the Bell of Lamas, the lord will grant you something commensurate. At the very least, it will be 30,000 Gold.”

“...30,000 Gold?”

A glint rose in Hyunsoo’s eyes.

Thirty thousand Gold. An enormous sum.

Roughly ₩30,000,000.

Suddenly something flashed through his mind.

Dad’s forge...

Hyunsoo had never once forgotten.

He was born and raised to adulthood in that forge. He would never forget the day he had to sell it.

To protect his father, he had to sell him out—his own shame. And the real-estate magnate Hyuk-soo Kang had given him a promise.

If it’s before ground is broken, I’ll sell it back to you anytime. Hyunsoo’s fist clenched.

The land where the forge stood was ₩330,000,000.

And by selling the forge, Hyunsoo had learned about real-estate transactions.

They may not have started digging yet, but if I get this, I can stop it.

Real estate usually paid 10% down first, then 90% on closing.

For two months Hyunsoo wouldn’t need to worry about his father’s hospital bill or his own treatments.

If I just repair this bell, I can buy time to reclaim Dad’s forge.

Even so, Hyunsoo did not forget something Deng had told him.

“If I do the repair well, could I also obtain the ore the lord is said to possess?”

Carl’s face brightened.

“Is that even a question? If you repair it, the lord will consider giving you that ore as well. How about it—will you attempt the repair!?”

Ding!

[Quest: Repair the Bell of Lamas]

Grade: A

Restriction: Those who received Carl’s proposal

Reward: 30,000 Gold.

Failure Penalty: Affinity with Carl decreases.

Description: Repair the Bell of Lamas.

Hyunsoo accepted.

“I’ll do my best. But I can’t promise success.”

Carl nodded at his words, joy on his face at gaining even a sliver of hope.

Then as if remembering something, he said,

“Ah—do you know a place called the Golden Shield guild?”

“Golden Shield?”

It was a very familiar name to Hyunsoo. They were the guild that had bought Hyun’s First Sword for quite a high price.

“Yes, I know them.”

“Golden Shield took on a production commission. She said she’d do her best, but the woman who took it also said frankly it would be difficult.”

Hyunsoo understood why Carl was saying this.

“She practically said she couldn’t do it.”

It was about a duplicated quest. Carl’s expression said he felt sorry, making a second proposal.

“That’s not something you need to worry about.”

Hyunsoo nodded. As Carl said, it had nothing to do with him.

He gave a wry smile.

“I’m sorry, but I’ll have to check the bell tomorrow.”

“What? Why!?”

“I’m too exhausted.”

“Ah...”

Knight Commander Carl looked like a dog desperate to go out. But seeing how worn out Hyunsoo looked, he nodded.

“Understood.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

Hyunsoo was, in fact, very tired. If the repair was truly possible, proceeding at peak condition would be best even from Carl’s perspective.

[You have logged out.]

“Ugh...!”

Climbing out of the capsule, Hyunsoo stretched hard.

He lay on the bed, then sprang back up.

Craving a sip of beer, he grabbed a can from the fridge.

Psssh—

Gulp, gulp—

“Kh...!”

Cool fizz wrapped his throat.

Beer in hand, Hyunsoo sat down at his computer.

Golden Shield guild...

Perhaps because of what Carl said, it weighed on his mind. Hyunsoo opened the Auction House on his PC.

[Hyun’s Forge subscribers: 35,415.]

The subscriber count was rising steadily, if slowly. He looked at his inbox.

[Unread messages 999+]

“...?”

He hadn’t been reading messages for a long time, so they had piled up absurdly.

Clicking in, there were about 1,100 messages accumulated. He searched his inbox for “Golden Shield.”

There were messages from Rune, master of the Golden Shield guild.

[Hello, Mr. Hyun? The weather today is so...]

[Mr. Hyun! I’d like to revisit the contract we discussed before. I propose ₩300,000,000 as a one-year signing bonus...]

[Mr. Hyun, if you have any conditions you want, please tell me. I’ll leave my personal number: 010...]

Golden Shield’s master Rune was incredibly persistent.

At this rate, wasn’t it like courting a girl he liked?

But Hyunsoo still had no intention of joining Golden Shield.

If anything, I’m happy.

Scrolling through the other messages, he chuckled. They were all similar.

He was happy because it told him his choice hadn’t been wrong.

When Rune had offered ₩200,000,000 per year in the past, Hyunsoo had wavered a lot.

But in just a month, the terms had risen by 50%.

Hyunsoo was confident. Confident that his value would keep rising.

Sure, if I signed now I could easily get Dad’s forge back.

But Hyunsoo wouldn’t sell anything for cheap.

Whether weapons—or himself.

He knew that value better than anyone. Hyunsoo dove into bed and tried to sleep.

****

Ares changed the world.

No one could deny it.

A game enjoyed by 2.5 billion people worldwide. Because of a game with such tremendous impact, the corporatization of users had followed.

The prime example was the blacksmith guild.

Blacksmith guilds, buying and selling artifacts, became corporations in a world where real-money trading had been legalized.

Golden Shield was the same.

Golden Shield’s master and CEO Moonsoo heard a firm voice.

“I can’t approve that.”

“Team Leader Kim, you know this. Whatever other users may be, the hottest name among blacksmith guilds right now is Blacksmith Hyun.”

“You want to offer ₩500,000,000 per year? Sir, ₩500,000,000 to a user whose identity isn’t even known yet?”

Golden Shield corporate conference room.

Their topic of conversation was the signing bonus for Blacksmith Hyun.

Moonsoo had heard intel:

Rumor had it the #1 blacksmith-ranking guild had offered ₩400,000,000. Other executives backed Moonsoo.

“Team Leader Kim, Hyun’s First Custom Craft Sword sold for ₩50,000,000!”

“If we bring Blacksmith Hyun in, our guild might rocket up!”

Even at their words, Hyein didn’t waver—and she had her reasons.

“...Last time we brought in Blacksmith Kay like that, and it turned out another blacksmith next to him had made the items for him—by lucky chance, remember?”

“Ahem...”

“Mm-hmm!”

“The time before that, we signed him, he took the signing bonus, made no artifacts, claimed he’d won the lottery, and went on vacation. And the time before that... and this time... and the next time...”

She sighed and raked her hair.

“Do you have any idea how hard I had to work cleaning up after those messes?”

Everyone fell silent.

There was a reason a mere team leader could raise her voice like this. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

She was young, but she was an elite whose talent had been recognized.

No one knew where she’d suddenly fallen from, but she excelled in every field.

Golden Shield had weathered many events that could have shaken it.

Hyein had handled them all. No—she grew Golden Shield in spite of them.

A founding member from the beginning and its most capable asset.

She spoke.

“There are too many rumors about Blacksmith Hyun. The important thing is nothing has been verified. You all know that.”

Rumors that Hyun had already maxed every blacksmithing field to Master level.

Rumors that he had a consumable skill allowing him to craft such items three times temporarily, meaning he was all bluff.

“I won’t believe it unless I see it with my own eyes.”

Hyein was exacting. Unless she determined exactly how Blacksmith Hyun could make those artifacts—

Whether it was a one-off or something permanent—she wouldn’t agree.

Moonsoo sighed and answered,

“Hoo... I’ll think about it more deeply.”

Hyein rose to her feet.

And headed straight for a company capsule.

If I could be sure what that ability is, I would agree too.

But she thought it premature.

Hyun had only appeared recently. She also had many questions.

What kind of person is he? How old is he?

With so many stories swirling, it would be a lie to say she wasn’t curious.

[Connecting to Ares.]

Opening her eyes in Ares, Nell exhaled. The place she awoke was none other than Cassel Territory.

She brushed back her hair.

Guilt clouded her expression.

She was a high-tier blacksmith, a user who had taken Knight Commander Carl’s commission to craft a bell similar to the Bell of Lamas.

I failed—it’s impossible.

She hadn’t even attempted a repair in the first place.

Artifacts marked Unrepairable don’t provide guidance on how to repair, and Auto-Repair won’t work either...

So she’d tried a new production. But in the end, she failed.

The Bell of Lamas was Epic grade.

But the value of a wide-area artifact was beyond imagination, and Golden Shield currently had nothing like that.

She walked to meet Knight Commander Carl.

Seeing her, Carl’s eyes showed a hint of emotion.

“You’re here. Did it go well?”

“...I’m sorry.”

In both the real world and virtual reality, Nell was a sharp, decisive person.

But not when it came to anything tied to Cassel Territory.

Because the first territory she’d visited after starting Ares had been this Cassel Territory.

Moreover, she loved and hated this place—even now, she was attached to it here alone.

Carl consoled her.

“It’s all right. Another outsider has come. He said he might be able to repair it.”

“What? He said he could repair it...?”

Her face crumpled. That was absolutely impossible.

“To be precise, he said he would check if it could be repaired and do his best. Seeing him, I felt he just might. Thank you for your efforts.”

Carl moved off in haste.

Nell’s brow furrowed.

Impossible. It can’t be...

By her common sense, it was certainly too hard.

Unless...?

A con artist? But she didn’t jump to conclusions.

He could be a user with some incredibly high-level, special class she didn’t know.

Soon she spotted the user standing before the Bell of Lamas.

At that moment, the user’s level popped up.

[Lv.40]

“...?”

The level readout happened automatically thanks to a special title she had earned.

She was certain.

He’s a fraud...

There were many who sought to fatten themselves off this Cassel Territory.

It’s obvious without even looking.

Striding forward, she was breathing hard.

This territory might soon vanish from the map.

She hated those who wanted to make money off such a territory.

Let’s see the face of this con artist...!

She believed in reading faces. Up to now, most people who had inflicted massive damage on Golden Shield had poor faces.

“Excuse me!”

“...Yes?”

Seeing that face, Nell’s expression filled with surprise.

Why is he handsome...?