Genius Blacksmith's Game

“Hear me, King!”

“My daughter died because of an incompetent king!”

“My four-year-old son died!”

“My wife died!”

King Antro silently accepted the resentment of his people.

If he had been the man he used to be, he would have given an order like this.

Cut off those bastards’ heads. Hang them in the most visible place as an example.

The heads of the hundreds of people who had lost family would have been hung there, and the people would have fallen silent.

The uproar would have died down, and that resentment too would have disappeared. One year would pass, then ten, and it would all be forgotten.

But—

It will look fine on the outside, but inside it will rot and fester until it vanishes.

In the end, Parkro would be torn to pieces by various kingdoms, or empires.

“I will not look away any longer.”

King Antro clenched his fist tightly.

Watching him, the kingdom’s chancellor, Padre, said,

“...Your Majesty, if you do not correct this right now, the people will unite and endanger your throne. The Heavenslaying Bow is the legendary bow said to display its power when the nation falls into crisis. Yet the crisis has clearly ended, so how can Your Majesty believe that it will capture the hearts of the people?”

To be honest, Chancellor Padre did not understand this situation at all.

“You say you will approve those resentful people following Hyun. Would it not be better simply to pay them and end it?”

Antro smiled bitterly.

“Has the crisis truly ended?”

“......”

At that, Chancellor Padre kept his mouth shut.

If it was covered up, then it was over. If it was not covered up, then it was not over.

“It is nothing more than hiding your eyes and pretending not to see. And these are the hearts of people I myself allowed to rot. If they leave and are healed, then so be it.”

“...You have changed.”

Padre neither gasped in admiration nor in shock.

He simply watched Antro, who unlike usual was taking on a new challenge, with unreadable eyes.

“You may withdraw now.”

After Padre left.

Antro pulled on the hand of a statue.

Then—

RRRRRUMBLE—

The back of the audience chamber opened, revealing a hidden space.

“......”

In truth, there was another legend, another story, that Antro knew.

The Parkro Kingdom.

Its story began with something everyone knew.

The Parkro Kingdom was once called the nation of bows.

Even more so than the Prime Kingdom, which was called the nation of spears.

Even more so than Goyad, which was called the nation of swords.

Long ago, it had been a powerful nation known as the nation of bows.

But had it always been like that?

No.

The kings of Antro’s line had heard, generation after generation, the history of this kingdom’s founding, and there was a mural that showed the beginning of that founding.

The mural showed a holy being bestowing the Heavenslaying Bow upon his ancestor.

And above it was written the name of the painting.

The Heavenslaying Bow and the Blacksmith God.

That was right.

Antro’s country was a nation of bows, and the Heavenslaying Bow was the bow the early Blacksmith God had bestowed upon the Divine Archer who had sought to become king.

Using that power, Antro’s ancestor had become king.

But at the time, that god had left behind these words.

—A god only stays for a while, then passes on.

The people of the Parkro Kingdom believed that the Heavenslaying Bow had vanished.

In fact, that was what Antro himself said as well.

But that was not the truth.

He reached out and touched the painting in the mural.

“A god only stays for a while, then passes on...”

To stay.

It meant to stop midway, or to lodge somewhere only for a time.

Just like that, the god had only stayed for a time like a sweet rain, and after enough time passed, the Heavenslaying Bow had naturally become part of nature and disappeared.

But the god had also left behind one more story.

—Some gods may be different.

Only after a very long time had he finally understood what that meant.

It was about those who would come after him.

The Heavenslaying Bow saved the nation in its moment of crisis.

Yet before the kingdom ever faced that crisis, the Heavenslaying Bow had already vanished on its own, and only now had Parkro, at last, faced its crisis.

That was right.

King Antro.

There was a reason he had done what Chancellor Padre could not understand.

The origin of this nation lay with the Blacksmith God.

And when he saw that young man called a legend and a master blacksmith, he understood.

—Some gods may be different.

That man was the god who might be different.

And this was a nation that had begun through the Blacksmith God.

That was why he believed it was all right if his people went there.

And that day, he finally understood the whole truth.

If once again... the Heavenslaying Bow is recreated...

Together with the nation of Hyun, which the god would lead, Antro might be able to guide this place back into becoming the nation of bows once more.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP—

At that, Antro’s heart began pounding madly.

The kings of Parkro have been preparing for this day, and in my generation, the Heavenslaying Bow will be recreated once more.

The preparation the kings had made.

It lay in the fact that from ancient times, the kings of Parkro had searched only for rare materials for making bows.

That was also why he had come to this secret vault.

He swept up those materials and stepped back outside.

As he walked, he recalled the story passed down from his ancestors of how the Blacksmith God had forged the Heavenslaying Bow.

When he carved the wood, even nature itself was brought under his control and fell into ecstasy.

When he boiled the grass, all things in this land became still.

When he strung the bow and drew it toward the sky, the heavens collapsed.

“......”

Hot.

Antro’s chest burned madly.

Each time the god crafted something, astonishing effects appeared and shook the world.

Antro hurried his steps, eager to witness the reenactment of that ancient story.

As he entered the forge, he believed he would soon see the first line made manifest.

That man as though one with nature, and himself falling into ecstasy at the sight.

At last, Antro laid eyes on that legendary scene within the forge, and his eyes shook.

“......”

Hyunsoo was squatting on the floor, carving wood while tears and snot streamed down his face.

“Sniff... Kabel...”

Then he wiped away his tears, showed astonishing focus, and started carving the wood again.

At that, Antro looked puzzled.

“...I recognized at a glance that you are the Blacksmith God. I was told that when a god crafts, astonishing things that shake the world occur. When do those appear?”

“...Are you talking about skills?”

Hyunsoo looked puzzled, and Antro broke into a bright smile.

“Exactly. Even as you simply carve wood, you will control nature, and when you boil herbs, all things in this land will grow still.”

That was right.

Those god-class skills the outlanders talked about!!!

Ah, so this was how it was because he had not shown that side yet!

Looking at him with an expression full of expectation, Hyunsoo said,

“I don’t have anything like that, though...?”

“...?”

Antro was flustered.

A god, yet he did not have the Blacksmith God’s power of creation?

But then Antro found a sliver of hope.

Because several Heavenslaying Bows had already been completed and were lying off to one side.

Right, what does the crafting process matter? What matters is the Heavenslaying Bow itself.

He hurried to inspect the Heavenslaying Bow.

Heavenslaying Bow 4 That Somehow Looks Very Lacking

Grade: Normal

Durability: 500/500

Attack Power: 21

Restriction: Levels 20–500

Special Abilities:

· Active Skill: Imitate the Heavenslaying Bow

Description: A crafted item that seems to have reproduced the Heavenslaying Bow in a very lacking way. It resembles something a neighborhood blacksmith would mass-produce.

“...?”

Antro was flustered.

It was no different from the sort of imitation “legendary” weapons that common blacksmiths everywhere made to earn money.

And then—

“Finished~”

“...?”

Antro checked another one.

This time it was not Heavenslaying Bow That Somehow Looks Very Lacking.

Its name was The Worst Heavenslaying Bow 5 That Is Somehow Very Lacking.

And just like the number 5 suggested, all the other Heavenslaying Bows he had made looked like the same sort of Normal-grade junk rolling around in the market.

Something is wrong?

Antro was bewildered.

Because the god he knew had not been like this.

But Antro was not a fool who lacked discernment.

If an ordinary person saw this, they might think, This idiot is worse than I expected?

Every single material is unbelievably shabby?

He had made all of these things using only the worst of the worst materials.

At that, after realizing the truth, Antro’s eyes flew wide open.

“It was intentional...!?”

*****

Heavenslaying Bow Crafting Method

Grade: Normal–Mythic

Attack Power: ???

Crafting Restriction: Master Blacksmith level 500 or above

Crafting Materials: ???

Substitute Materials: ???

Special Abilities:

· ???

· ???

· ???

· ???

Description: This is the Heavenslaying ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) Bow, said to save the nation in its time of crisis. It will bring down even the heavens.

[This artifact bears the traces of the Blacksmith God.]

[If you achieve a perfect recreation, you will receive the reward he left behind.]

This was the Heavenslaying Bow Crafting Method Hyunsoo had first received from Antro.

Hyunsoo’s first impression upon seeing it had been this.

...It’s strange.

Most of it was plastered over with question marks.

What made it even stranger in this situation was the grade.

The grade of an artifact that has a crafting method does not change.

If it is at minimum Normal to Mythic, then it is made to at least that level at minimum, and can reach that level at maximum. Exactly so.

Taking that into account, the Heavenslaying Bow was, by Hyunsoo’s knowledge, one of fewer than ten Mythic-grade crafting methods in existence.

And yet it also was not.

What is a crafting method?

It is a shortcut that tells you how to make something.

What its components are, and by what method it was crafted.

How much the herbs were processed.

How the horn was trimmed, and what techniques were applied to it.

Of course, ordinary users just press a button and poof—it’s done.

Hyunsoo was the only one in Ares who could directly look at a crafting method, understand it, judge it, and then take a more perfect path.

That was why it felt even more difficult.

Because there was nothing there.

Not the original form of the Heavenslaying Bow.

Not the materials that make up the Heavenslaying Bow.

Not the effect possessed by the Heavenslaying Bow.

At that, Hyunsoo thought it over.

Just as in our reality there exists the legend of General Yi Sun-sin, so too in Ares, and in the Parkro Kingdom, there existed the legend of the Heavenslaying Bow.

If the General Yi Sun-sin we know looks different from how he did in reality, does that mean he is no longer our General?

No. He is still the same unchanging hero and legend.

Just like that.

Lost in thought, Hyunsoo grasped the hidden meaning.

“I recreate the legend the first Blacksmith God left behind in my own way.”

Its form. Its abilities. Everything.

Forging a Hyunsoo-style Heavenslaying Bow.

The crafting period is three weeks in total.

Hyunsoo made what he believed was the best decision he could make right now in forging the Heavenslaying Bow.

The materials are limited, and if I use them, fail, and then dismantle the result, part of them will be lost.

In that case, what about doing this instead?

I’ll just keep mass-producing various Heavenslaying Bows until I’m satisfied.

Was there any meaning in that?

To normal people, it would look like useless busywork. To Hyunsoo, it was an excellent method.

When was the last time I made a bow?

Was it Jumong’s Horn Bow?

It had been more than a year.

Even a genius would grow rusty if they did not do something for a year.

But crafting over and over until he was satisfied would bring that sense back.

And so that was why he had been continuously churning out nothing but useless Heavenslaying Bows.

“It was intentional...!?”

When King Antro, who had been sweating buckets by himself, asked him, Hyunsoo explained the current situation.

“...I only have one chance, and I don’t want to miss that one chance.”

Antro asked,

“Then until when do you intend to keep crafting these things?”

“...Until I judge one to be the most perfect.”

At that, Antro was moved.

Looking at him crouching there as he moved on to the sixth attempt, Antro smiled in satisfaction.

[Your affinity with King Antro increases.]

And also.

It was said that a god only stayed for a while, then passed on.

And also—

When he carved the wood, even nature itself was brought under his control and fell into ecstasy.

When he processed the herbs, all things in this land became still.

There had been no such beautiful legend-like lines.

But Antro understood.

The most important final tale.

When he strung the bow and drew it toward the sky, the heavens collapsed.

That, perhaps, could be made real.

The process that anyone could do, yet no one actually did, continued on.

And also—

Each time Hyunsoo finished one, he rapidly sketched out a new blueprint of his own.

And then—

The seventh.

[It is a Normal grade.]

The eighth.

[It is a Normal grade.]

The ninth.

[It is a Normal grade.]

Still utterly unsatisfied, Hyunsoo kept going without any clear end in sight, until he reached the tenth.

[It is a Normal grade.]

[Something special may happen.]

“...Huh?”

He had reached a certain notification.

At that moment.

At Pureum Co., Story Team Lead Lee rose to their feet.

The employees, seeing their flustered expression, approached in confusion.

On their monitor, a notification had appeared.

[User Hyunsoo is approaching the greatest Hidden Piece in the field of crafting.]