Genius Blacksmith's Game

Bahala, who had first appeared in public not long ago, became the talk of the world.

There were many reasons he would become a hot topic.

The best user in the world.

Looks that carried both elegance and beauty.

Unreal control, absurd damage output, and so on.

That day, users all over the world could not even bring themselves to feel jealousy or inferiority when they looked at Bahala.

Human beings only feel inferiority and jealousy toward someone close enough for them to reach.

And so the emotion the whole world held toward him was this:

Admiration.

Could people really feel that way toward a mere single user?

The reason lay in one number.

[Bahala Lv.512]

It was his level.

That day, even if you ignored everything else, that one fact alone was enough to make him an object of respect.

The publicly announced average level of users, according to Pureum Co., Ltd., was 289.

The average for rankers within the top 10,000 was between levels 450 and 470, while the top 100 rankers in the world, the ones called high rankers, were in the 470s to 490s.

Everyone who had ever played an RPG knew this.

Levels were easy to raise at low level and only became harder as you got higher.

It was especially well known that high rankers took over a month to gain even a single level, and even Kali, the World Rank #2, was only level 494.

But Bahala was level 512.

Was it simply because he was a monstrous being who monopolized everything?

No. The users knew.

They knew how much bloody effort it must have taken to reach that level.

How much sleep he must have cut to stand so overwhelmingly above the other high rankers.

That was right.

Bahala had become more than worthy of the admiration of users, and before anyone realized it, he had firmly established himself as the indisputable World Rank #1.

And now.

Something happened that was enough to shock the entire world.

Only a few days earlier, Bahala’s level had definitely been 512.

But in the span of a single night, Bahala’s level had changed.

[Bahala Lv 513.]

The entire world briefly fell into panic.

Every time a level rose,

they knew the amount of EXP Bahala needed to level up had to be at least dozens of times greater than their own, so they could not help but be stunned.

Then one community user said:

And that was true.

At the time, Bahala had been at 94% of the total EXP required for his next level.

However.

Before that same day was even over—

Bahala’s initial level, which everyone had definitely confirmed yesterday, had been 512.

This morning, at 7 a.m., the level they confirmed was 513.

And now, as midnight drew near—

[Bahala Lv.514]

then Bahala?

He should have needed almost two months.

But his level had risen by one in only twelve hours.

It was a genuinely shocking event.

And along with that—

[Hyunsoo Lv.452]

Unlike Bahala, who had gone up two levels, his rank had not changed.

And then people realized something.

But they could not.

452 and 514 were not simply sixty levels apart.

From the start, a match between Hyunsoo and Bahala had never been possible.

At least, that was what the world believed then.

They had no idea that the very next day, an even greater upheaval was waiting for them.

*****

Ares’s Mercy was, in the end, still a material item.

Once its duration passed, the double EXP effect disappeared, and once the hunting of the four designated boss monsters was completed, that effect vanished as well.

Also—

Ares’s Mercy... doesn’t have any function that actually makes me stronger.

One obvious truth existed.

When a user hunted monsters of a level higher than their own, leveling went much faster.

That was a perk.

A perk granted for hunting monsters stronger than yourself.

On average, if the target was about fifty levels above you, you gained roughly 30% more EXP, and that was a result proven through actual tests by a JoyTube channel called User Research Lab.

What made it even more interesting was this:

Aria can already give a buff that raises EXP gain.

Of course, he did not know by how much, but would it really be weaker than Ares’s Mercy?

In Hyunsoo’s view, no.

And Hyunsoo had to hear one disappointing thing.

“The two of us will not be able to accompany you together, Hyunsoo. Neither of us has ever left the Ares Church’s Papal Palace empty before, and we must also comfort the families of the dead.”

When Hyunsoo looked disappointed, Aria said,

“Pope Karsel said he can allow four days. I will also accompany you for four days in rotation.”

Even then, Hyunsoo let out a sigh where no one could see it.

Still, having both of them go with me together would be... Hm? No, wait. Is going separately better?

Then Hyunsoo’s eyes widened.

It’s more profitable if they go separately!

There were several clear reasons for that.

First. Some buffs stacked in the first place.

Second. It was better to hunt for a long span of eight days than to go for a short four.

Third.

Saintess Aria possessed a power that dramatically raised the EXP buff. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

In other words, even if Aria did not come with him, if she cast that buff on him beforehand, it could be maintained for a long time.

“Before I leave, could you cast the power of growth you possess on me, Aria?”

The affinity between Aria and Hyunsoo was maxed out, and Hyunsoo thought of ordinary priests.

Even ordinary priests could give EXP buffs.

High-level priests raised EXP gain by about 20%, which was why they were indispensable to users’ parties.

Because it was Aria, Hyunsoo expected around 30%.

But then—

“Go forth without weariness, beloved one.”

[Prayer of Growth.]

[For 2 weeks, experience gain increases by 45%.]

[It does not stack with other experience buffs.]

Hyunsoo was horrified.

It doesn’t stack with other buffs?

When you found a hidden dungeon, the first-discoverer perk doubled both EXP and drop rate.

Even those stacked.

Hyunsoo realized he was doing something even more terrifying than he had expected.

Then Karsel smiled.

“The time is not generous, but we will help you as best we can.”

[Karsel approves accompanying you for 4 days!]

Hyunsoo came out of the Papal Palace with Karsel.

Soon Karsel showed a bitter expression.

He looked deeply apologetic.

“I offer you my sincere apology that I can accompany my benefactor for only four days.”

In Karsel’s mind, it was like this.

Four days.

Once you factored in eating, sleeping, relieving yourself, and resting, he would probably run dungeons with him for only about forty hours in total.

But Hyunsoo, genuinely delighted, grabbed his hand.

“I sincerely thank you, Pope.”

The reason for that was simple: Hyunsoo and Karsel were understanding the situation from entirely different angles.

Unfortunately, Hyunsoo did not see four days as forty hours.

Four days was ninety-six hours.

Why?

Because he planned to do nothing but hunt—without sleeping, without resting, without eating.

But Karsel, who knew nothing about that, was moved.

To be this happy with only this much help...

He still had no idea about the hell that was about to unfold before him.

*****

Fire Dragon’s Breath.

It was a hunting ground sought out by high-level users.

A place where burning flames and lava boiled endlessly, and where even top-tier users normally had to form a four-man party to come.

That was why.

The number of top-level users was limited, so the hunting ground itself tended to be quiet.

And unless you made arrangements in advance, it was difficult to find a party here.

Because there aren’t many people.

Normally, once you got near a hunting ground, it would be overflowing with people looking for parties, but not here.

And of all times, why am I here when there isn’t anyone to recruit? Haa...

User Yan. A high-ranker at level 456.

Even if he was only barely hanging onto the bottom edge of that bracket.

Still, when it came to ice-element magic, he was an outstanding talent, and he had arranged to meet party members he found through the community here.

But...

[Bas: My mom says dinner’s ready, later.]

[You have been blocked.]

He had gotten baited, plain and simple.

Yan sighed.

What a waste of time. Should I just join a guild?

But Yan shook his head. He still had no desire to join a guild.

If there was one exception?

“If Bahala made a guild, I couldn’t resist.”

Bahala.

Recently, he had entered a Fire Dragon’s Breath dungeon with Yan—the Breath-Sealed Dungeon.

Why?

Because the minimum number of entrants for the ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) Breath-Sealed Dungeon was two.

I’ll give you all the spoils. But I have one condition. Do not touch the monsters.

Was that even possible?

It took four high rankers to clear Fire Dragon’s Breath.

But it had been possible.

Bahala had cleared it in only thirty-eight minutes, taken none of the spoils, handed them all over, and left.

What took four ordinary users over an hour, Bahala had done alone in thirty-eight minutes.

It was truly incredible.

Yan smiled faintly as he remembered what he had felt that day.

Then—

“Please come faster. It’s only been forty-nine hours.”

“...Shouldn’t a person sleep, eat, and rest?”

“...When I am receiving Ares’s love, how could I possibly be hungry, sleepy, or wish to rest?”

“......”

The unidentified priest fell silent.

That priest also had his face hidden behind an old robe and a mask.

And the figure standing in front of him—

H-Hyunsoo!?

The greatest master blacksmith in the world.

“Come on. Let’s go.”

The master blacksmith dragged the priest by the arm straight toward the dungeon.

“......?”

Before entering the dungeon, the unidentified priest seemed to glance at Yan with a strange look in his eyes.

What kind of situation was this?

But Yan was curious too.

The match between Hyun and Bahala was the hottest topic in the world right now.

Compared to Bahala’s clear time, how many minutes would it take Master Blacksmith Hyunsoo?

Driven by that anticipation, Yan decided to watch and see how long it took them to come out.

Then, after about twenty minutes—

“Huff, huff.”

He saw the two of them emerge.

That dungeon was special.

Its difficulty was so high that if you wanted to leave, you could come out at any time.

Most likely, they had given up on clearing it midway and come back out after twenty minutes.

Right then—

RUMBLE—

[The Breath-Sealed Dungeon has been cleared.]

The dungeon began to collapse.

What...?

Yan nearly stopped breathing.

They had far surpassed Bahala’s solo clear time of thirty-eight minutes, and then the priest and Hyunsoo vanished in a flash of light.

And Yan’s thinking changed completely.

...I need to join Hyun’s Forge too. People still don’t know his true worth!

That day,

one ranker’s sky changed.

The sky above him was called Hyunsoo.