Genius Blacksmith's Game

Master.

Every production-class has tiers.

The moment you advance your class, you’re Beginner.

Once you pass Level 100, Intermediate.

At 250, Advanced.

At 300 and above, Top-Tier.

And beyond that lies the rank that draws acclaim wherever you go.

Artisan.

Among those who make, craft, or create art, we call the outstanding ones artisans.

Ares is the same.

At present, there are a few artisan blacksmith players in Ares—fewer than five worldwide.

And master.

It denotes the very best in the field.

[You have witnessed the production process of a master blacksmith.]

[His refining is beautiful.]

[His smelting is wondrous.]

[His forging is precise.]

[Proficiency in Advanced Blacksmith Mastery rises by 22%.]

She knew.

Nowhere in Ares—no class—had anyone reached “master.”

What was required to become a master?

You needed to be at least Level 500.

At present, that number was absolutely impossible.

Yes—system-wise, level-wise, in Ares’s game terms, it was impossible.

But in skill—it was not.

How can this be?

On TV, we often see images of artisans. Most of those artisans are in their forties or fifties.

Of course, we do call artisans “masters” at times. But among them, none are as young as this player named Hyunsoo.

While she was in confusion—

KWA-AAAANG—

A colossal roar crashed through the air.

A spell had struck nearby.

As thick smoke billowed up, her pupils trembled.

“Ah, no...”

The shop where she’d received her very first quest.

That shop had been blown to pieces. Then a single tear of relief fell.

She could see the shop owner nearby, unhurt.

But the fall of this place could soon become reality.

No time...

Even as she helped, she could feel the squeeze of the clock.

Then Hyunsoo spoke.

“......From this moment, we begin tight-phase bell production.”

Hyunsoo felt it too. There wasn’t much time left.

He had to finish this bell and secure the down payment to save the forge land.

And they began.

Nell watched his blacksmithing grow even faster.

In a flash, it was evening.

Then it was morning again.

Nell staggered with fatigue.

Then it became noon and then evening again.

“......”

But Hyunsoo did not stop.

Then the sun rose once more.

Watching his back, Nell finally understood.

She could guess why he’d reached “master” at that young age.

It was already the second day.

No—precisely the fourth. He hadn’t slept a wink.

****

“What are you talking about?”

Story Team Leader Lee Min-gyu, who had come by the Special User Management Team, wore a puzzled look.

“You’re saying the update could be altered?”

Kim Taeseok looked at the monitor and gave a wry smile.

“Exactly. This update might get scrapped.”

Player traffic to the Cassel Territory was plummeting exponentially.

New content was needed, and the Story Team had set the Cassel Territory as land seized by the undead.

The changed content was this:

A story in which, alongside the surviving lord Kern, players wage a counteroffensive to retake the Cassel Territory!

Of course, Cassel Territory would be a wasteland.

But now you’re saying that update could be canceled?

“Because that player can repair the Bell of Lamas?”

Min-gyu knew of the player Hyunsoo.

Min-gyu snorted.

“Team Leader Kim, you’re worrying for nothing. You know this—at the current stage, even if the Bell of Lamas is repaired, they can’t hold.”

“Right, they can’t hold.”

Taeseok smiled silently, bitter.

From that smile, Lee Min-gyu sensed something off.

“......It’s not what I’m thinking, is it?”

“......It is.”

“How is that even possible...?”

“In theory it’s simple. The second maker only needs to be superior to the original maker of the Bell of Lamas.”

“No, that’s only theoretically simple!”

Lee Min-gyu denied it.

“So what about the bell being made now?”

“......It’s overwhelmingly superior.”

“What?”

Lee Min-gyu’s eyes shook.

Overwhelmingly?

Could it really reach that degree?

Even if so, it’s an Unrepairable artifact!

“Current completion is 92%. And compared to the original, it’s vastly more dominant.”

“......”

Lee Min-gyu was thunderstruck.

“This is possible?”

This was why he said it.

The Bell of Lamas’s grade was Epic.

But for artifacts that apply broadly across a territory, you don’t treat them as merely Epic.

You generally treat them as one tier higher.

Yes—the Bell of Lamas was effectively close to a Unique artifact.

And yet you say that one has a vastly higher completion?

“On top of that, Custom Crafting was applied.”

Kim Taeseok nodded.

“Then just what kind of power does that bell have...?”

Lee Min-gyu couldn’t bring himself to leave the Special User Management Team.

He was too curious about the new bell that was about to be completed.

****

[Today’s update is scheduled to begin.]

Nell woke with a tired look and pressed a hand to her forehead.

I feel like I’m going to die.

Yet the man ahead of her was still working without pause. Nell stared blankly at his back.

Amazing. He’s insane. How can someone build a bell to that level on skill alone?

Before she knew it, she was looking at a bell that was nearly complete.

There are too many incredible people in this world.

She gave a bitter smile.

The most recent incredible person she’d heard about was the one who broke the Wooden Dummy.

How did anyone even break a Wooden Dummy...?

Then Nell recalled the scattered fragments flickering through her mind.

It had been only about two months since the Wooden Dummy was smashed. And the player before her, named Hyunsoo, was Level 40.

Uh...?

Blacksmith Hyun.

He was surrounded by countless rumors—most of them pointing in the same direction.

He was still a low-level player.

The evidence was “Hyun’s First Sword” he posted, and second, the Orc Warrior’s Greatsword he posted.

The Orc Warrior’s Greatsword was an artifact worn by Level-50 players.

People were searching.

Who on earth had broken the Wooden Dummy!

And they were also searching. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Who the blacksmith Hyun was.

And with curiosity, they were spinning a host of hypotheses.

Blacksmith Hyun obtained a class above Legendary.

Blacksmith Hyun—he’s accompanied by a Legendary-class blacksmith thanks to some fortuitous chance.

Hyun might be an off-the-books ranking blacksmith. He’s merely posing as a newbie to hide his identity.

Among all those rumors, Rune of Golden Shield had insisted they should offer 400 million, and Nell had refused.

I do not believe anything unless I see it with my own eyes.

Right—unless she saw it with her own eyes, she wouldn’t believe it. And she had put it together.

There was one player in the world who was the hottest of the hot right now.

The one who broke the Wooden Dummy.

And there was a second player who was the hottest among blacksmiths.

Blacksmith Hyun.

Goosebumps swept over her body.

But this was only her conjecture.

Yet the name Hyunsoo lent weight to that hypothesis. On a hunch, she called out to him.

“Blacksmith Hyun...?”

At that voice, Hyunsoo turned his head. He didn’t answer; he merely gave a small smile.

...It was true!?

At that moment—

Paaaaat—

A light of completion seeped into the artifact.

Having completed the new bell, Hyunsoo ran his hand over it.

In the center of that bell, wrought in white, was engraved the name “Hyun (現).”

Beautiful...

At its unbelievably lustrous presence, Nell took a step forward.

She had, after all, helped make it; she had some claim. As Nell reached out toward the bell, her arm trembled faintly.

She knew the Bell of Lamas well.

Undead weakened by 20%, those who attack the undead gain +6% Attack and Defense...

Those were the main features of the Bell of Lamas.

She checked the newly made bell.

(Hyun’s Second Custom Craft Bell)

Grade: Unique

Durability: Infinite

Special Abilities:

· Undead within a 7 km radius of the territory containing the Bell of Lamas are weakened by 35%.

· Those who attack the undead gain +13% Attack and Defense.

· Active Skill: Flame of White Blossoms.

Description: Hyun’s second Custom Craft artifact, which recreated an Unrepairable artifact.

This is insane...

Goosebumps rippled over Nell’s body.

Why is it that when he “repairs” something...

He ends up making an even better artifact?

She had never even heard of repairing an Unrepairable artifact.

He had melted it down, recreated it, and produced an artifact one tier higher.

By convention, broad-area artifacts are treated as one tier higher.

Yes—this was...

Something that could even be considered a Legendary artifact?

And when Nell checked the skill called Flame of White Blossoms, she was struck speechless.

H-ho ho ho ho...

Its Durability was Infinite, and the undead-weakening effect had become even stronger.

And this skill—

It’s impossible...

It was too powerful. In that instant, Nell had only one thought.

She was the one who had opposed recruiting Blacksmith Hyun. To be precise, she had rejected Hyun because he was uncertain.

She spoke.

“You... I...”

Hyunsoo wore a puzzled expression.

“I want you so badly it hurts...!”

Her desire roared up.

****

The Death Lord.

A monster—an undead with intelligence.

The Death Lord, at Level 330, clutched a sword while draped in a tattered black robe.

The rotten flesh glimpsed beneath the robe proved he was undead.

A small sneer brushed the Death Lord’s lips.

It’s over.

This territory is now mine.

The area before the wall was already fully seized by his minions, and the gate was nearly shattered.

Yes—now he only had to kill this one.

“Gugh...”

That human—was he the one called Knight Commander Carl?

Tenacious.

His armor was already completely broken, and he looked like he barely had the strength to hold his sword.

And though he seemed originally right-handed, he now held his blade in his left.

Had it been dozens of times he’d been cut?

“......No matter what.”

Weeping tears of blood, he fixed the Death Lord with a venomous glare.

“We will not surrender our Cassel Territory...!”

Ah, what a fine knight indeed. Yet a rasping, mirthless laugh tugged at the Death Lord’s lips.

The gap in power was clear.

He could never defeat the Death Lord.

Even now, the Death Lord stood firm, while the human could die any moment and it would not be strange.

“This is where I was born, where I was raised...”

Human pride is truly admirable.

“And where my people live.”

And pitiful.

The wretch charged.

Yet the knight seemed to know, too.

Skaaaaa—

His sword cut the Death Lord.

It didn’t hurt, and the damage wasn’t great.

But in that moment, the knight made his final play.

He moved the rusted sword.

That blade would pierce the knight’s throat.

But then—

DAAAAAANG......

“......!”

A bell tone, from an unknown source, rang out.

What was that?

The Bell of Lamas had been destroyed.

He himself had destroyed it, shattering it to dust with a special artifact.

Then what bell was that?

But a scoff formed.

Even if that bell existed, nothing would change.

He had brought all his forces, and the Bell of Lamas at best weakened by 20%...

DAAAAAAANG—

“......K-KKHHHAAA!”

Sssssss—

The instant that slowly spreading bell-tone reached him—

Clang—

He dropped his sword.

Smoke rose from his whole body as if he were burning, and a fierce agony crashed over him like a wave.

Th-this is...

Not the bell I knew.

A far stronger, far greater bell.

He looked around.

“Ki-heeeeek!”

“Kya-haaaaaak!”

“Kihiiiiiiik!”

His minions writhed, bodies seared by that power.

But he turned his head.

No—then he would break it.

The artifact he had obtained.

The Dead’s Wish still had one use left.

He would break it again, like last time.

“Kkhaak!”

Even with his ears covered, he found the source of the sound. A man and a woman stood atop the wall, looking at him.

There.

Fwoop—

A black book opened before the Death Lord.

The Wish of Death unfurled.

That wish: “Destruction of that bell.”

Fshshshsh—

Pages turned.

One page, two, three.

Whooooosh—

At last, the book’s power flew toward the bell.

TAAANG—!

But the black current bounced off before touching the bell.

“......!?”

He could not break it.

It was an artifact that could not be destroyed at all.

Could such a thing exist?

Then the blacksmith standing atop the wall looked down at him.

He understood.

The wretch was nothing more than a trivial being. And yet, the wretch with a hammer looked at him, sneered, and said:

“Get lost.”

Putting all his strength into it, he struck the bell with his hammer.

DAAAAAAAAANG—!

[Flame of White Blossoms]

[Activates only against undead or evil.]

[Designate a target and immediately reduce its HP by an unconditional 70%.]

[That target is stunned for 3 seconds.]

[The one who activates Flame of White ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) Blossoms gains, for one strike only, +450% Attack against evil.]

Fwoooooosh—

A colossal flame of holy power ignited upon the Death Lord’s body.