Genius Blacksmith's Game

A brief hush fills the arena.

“Kuheeeek!”

The Stone Golem, struck head-on by the arrow, flies about 7 m and tumbles across the ground.

Though the arrow did not pierce through the Stone Golem, it triggered a fierce spin inside its chest and dealt massive shock.

“Kueeeek...!”

The Stone Golem’s continued scream robs the users of speech.

Amid the still-pouring swarms of golems—

One single user stands alone at the front.

Every user fixes the image of his back in their eyes.

“That’s the Super Rookie...”

One user murmured.

Super Rookie. A term meaning a user whose level is low, but whose potential surpasses anyone’s.

Superior to peers of the same level, and someone who does what same-level users cannot.

With his back to both users and golems, Hyun shouted:

“A variable has hit the tournament. At this power level, the hosts are expecting a wipe!”

Words that no one could deny.

“If we take down the Stone Golem and finish this tournament intact, what happens then!?”

A user, entranced by that back, answered:

“The Kingdom of Goyard will reward everyone...”

“You’re going to kill the Stone Golem!? Is that even possible!?”

“I’ll do my best. You all, hold the golems.”

Everyone denied it in their hearts. A Level-50 user soloing a Stone Golem is impossible.

“...It might be possible.”

But the destructive power of that arrow proved him.

Hyun steps once, twice—closing on the Stone Golem.

[Falls into a stun for 4 seconds.]

The Stone Golem, pierced by Piercing Arrow, could not move.

One of the users rushed the golem.

“Hell with it—let’s try!”

“Uoooooh!”

“Hey, you dogs of the Kingdom of Goyard! Pay out!”

DING!

[More than 30 users listen to your words and act on them.]

[You acquire the Title Commander of the Battlefield.]

(Commander of the Battlefield)

Multi-Title

Grade: B

Special:

Charisma +1%.

Far more people will lend an ear to your words.

Hyun’s eyes settle, calm.

I will solo the Blood Golem.

When the Orichalcum Short Arrow was completed, Hyun thought that hypothesis could become reality.

But that conjecture has now turned uncertain.

Even so, there was nowhere to run.

[Piercing Arrow is now available for reuse.]

Recall.

CHAAAAAK—

Once more, he gathers all his strength and draws the bowstring taut.

Having closed the gap by a few more steps before the Stone Golem, Hyun triggers Piercing Arrow again.

KWA-RRRRRRK—

PEUUUUT—!

“Kuheeeek!”

Hyun aimed at the right leg. Its right leg «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» shattered miserably.

[The Stone Golem’s HP falls below 69%.]

PEUUUUT—!

PEUUUUUUT—!

He fires two additional Short Arrows, shaving its HP even further.

[HP falls below 62%.]

“Khaaaak!”

And the Stone Golem’s stun ends.

Hyun slings the bow across his back.

Clutching Radiance in both hands, Hyun charges.

Hyun has restrained skill use to an absolute minimum for this very moment. Because the cooldown might not come back.

A heat-haze ripples off Hyun’s sprinting body.

[The One Who Does Not Retreat]

[For 1 minute, Physical Attack +13%, Cutting Power +7%, and Critical Damage Chance +20%.]

Though he runs a small fief in the Beginner Zone, the lord who taught him swordsmanship is no small figure; that power guides him.

“What—wasn’t he an archer?”

“Weren’t we killing it with arrows!?”

The users who’d been keeping the golems’ aggro off him are visibly flustered.

At that moment, the Stone Golem’s stun ends.

“Khuooooor!”

Missing one leg and unable to balance, it staggers and reaches for Hyun.

He twists on his toes to evade and at the same time uppercuts the chin.

KKA-GA-GA-GANG—

Sword-users’ eyes go wide. Far too excellent to call him a jack-of-all-trades.

No wasted motion?

No—strictly speaking, he overwhelms them.

Hyun’s swordsmanship is not merely concepts learned from a skill book.

He learned and drilled these movements for days and nights from the heir of this sword art.

“Krrrr!”

The golem, its chin snapped upward, glares with flashing eyes at Hyun. Meeting that gaze, Hyun drives Radiance in without hesitation.

[Critical Strike to the Vital Point]

[You identify the enemy’s vitals; on a successful vital hit, deal +45% additional damage.]

[15% chance to apply +60% damage.]

KKA-DEUK—

He thrusts with all his strength into its chest.

But the blade tip cannot pierce the stone-made monster.

[Radiance’s Durability greatly decreases.]

Hyun’s face contorts.

What...?

As he wrenches the sword free, he glances at the blade tip. It’s blunted.

The Stone Golem reflexively strikes Hyun.

PEUUUUT—

Flung backward, he triggers Recall midair.

CLICK—

He snaps a Short Arrow into the guide-tube and launches with all his might.

KWAJAAAAAK—

“Kuheeeeeek!”

Struck, the Stone Golem’s head jerks hard to the side.

Driven to intolerable rage, the brute roars.

Its massive fist slams into the ground.

KWA-DDDDDDDEUK—

The shockwave ripples across the arena.

Why are boss monsters so troublesome? One reason is that, relative to their level, their HP, defense, and attack are higher.

Even at the same level, anything designated a boss monster is on another tier, and the further reason they’re troublesome is traits.

Boss monsters often have unique traits.

Those traits, at times, bend common sense and plunge users into confusion.

One such trait manifests.

[Golem’s Rage]

The ground-borne tremor swallows Hyun.

[You are stunned for 2 seconds.]

[For 30 seconds, Weapon Breaker clings to the Stone Golem.]

Two seconds are stolen. Missing one leg, it crawls for Hyun. The hulking brute closes to spitting distance in a blink.

It snatches Hyun in one hand.

And with the other hand, it strikes.

KWA-A-A-AANG—

[HP falls below 80%.]

The massive impact makes it impossible to think.

Another blow follows.

KWA-A-A-AANG—

[HP falls below 60%.]

[You have taken many shocks in a short time.]

[You are afflicted with the status ailment Dizziness.]

[Your vision blurs and it is difficult to regain your senses.]

[Stun ends.]

The Stone Golem slams Hyun into the ground. Rolling awkwardly across the dirt, Hyun barely clings to consciousness.

He tries to swing Radiance clutched in both hands.

GRAB—

The Stone Golem’s hand snatches the sword.

The Stone Golem’s Strength is overwhelmingly higher than Hyun’s.

Srrrrrr—

The gauntlet in his hands scatters and dissipates as well.

KKA-DEUK—

A skin-crawling sound reverberates from the monster’s fist.

As Hyun’s vision slowly returns, he can see Radiance breaking inside that grip.

TANG-G-RANG—!

[Weapon Breaker]

The Stone Golem’s second trait.

Weapon Breaker crushes Radiance to scrap in its palm. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

BBA-D-D-D-DEUK—

The instant Hyun’s grip loosens, the brute punts with all its might.

PEO-EOK—

It scatters hundreds of fragments of shattered blade across the ground.

CHWA-G-R-R-R-R-RK—!

[Damaged artifacts will be restored after the match.]

“...Fuck, it was impossible from the start.”

“Damn it! We tried hard for nothing!”

Hearing the users behind him, Hyun stares at the scattered sword shards on the ground.

“Dude, run!”

“How do you kill a boss mob with no weapon!?”

The Stone Golem laughs, kukekekeke, as if to mock Hyun.

A bead of sweat rolls off Hyun’s brow and darkens the dirt.

TOK—

“...The sword’s broken.”

The Orichalcum Short Arrow was Hyun’s ultimate. Even so, it cannot guarantee a kill.

At close range, a bow becomes poison; with only this bow he cannot kill the brute.

The plan collapses.

“Dude, I said run!”

“Are you panicking because your sword broke?”

But Hyun lets out a faint laugh. Tens of seconds before the sword broke, he’d heard a special notification.

“...If I don’t have it, I’ll make it.”

His eyes still brim with fighting spirit.

****

Director Bekel enters the arena in invisibility mode. No one can see or touch him.

His Majesty wished the tournament to continue.

Not far from the Stone Golem, he sees the foreigner named Hyun, looking dazed.

It was impossible from the start.

The foreigner named Hyun mutters:

“...The sword’s broken.”

That is the Stone Golem’s most fearsome point.

The Stone Golem’s trait breaks or ruins users’ weapons.

It’s only natural that man would wear such a devastated expression.

A man who has lost his weapon.

A bow?

Facing a golem in close quarters is a weakness.

Why did His Highness order the tournament to continue...?

Of course, a man like him could never know His Highness’s will.

There is only one thing he can do.

His Highness commanded that one of the mysterious powers the foreigners rely upon have its reuse time erased.

Before the man’s sword broke, this notification had already spread to every foreigner.

[You may use one skill with no cooldown.]

The same applies to the man ahead.

But Bekel shakes his head.

Wrong.

Bekel imagines if it were himself.

If his weapon were smashed into hundreds of pieces, he would likely lose the will to fight.

Yet the man named Hyun is smiling faintly.

And those eyes are still sharply fixed on the golem.

Why is he smiling?

Has he gone mad?

The man mutters:

“...If I don’t have it, I’ll make it.”

Bekel furrows his brow. What does that mean?

Ah...!

Earlier, with an unknown power, he created a gauntlet and equipped it.

At that moment, the hundreds of shattered sword fragments scattered before the foreigner rise, bobbing into the air.

Watching those pieces, now bereft of edge, the man smiles faintly.

“Looks like I’ve got materials. I’ve already made a weapon that cleaves stone.”

Materials?

Bekel doesn’t understand.

Materials—how?

Ah!

In the tournament, potions or artifact crafting materials are not allowed inside.

Only equipped artifacts may be brought in.

The man rapidly inputs something into the air.

The hundreds of sword fragments hovering over his head melt away.

In midair, the quickly-melted mass rapidly takes shape, and then dozens of slender holographic wooden stalks surge upward.

The stalks weave at speed, then harden long and stiff into a shaft.

Before he knows it, an unidentified blade is complete. Its tip is curved, and it’s far shorter than a sword; it locks into the shaft.

CLICK—

Bekel recognizes the weapon he made.

A crescent-moon blade?

The crescent-moon blade’s advantage is reach.

So what changes if he makes a crescent-moon blade?

Even as the Stone Golem had been laughing at the man, it closes to knife-range and draws its arm far back.

He’ll die.

Bekel is certain.

For a split second, a faint light flickers on the Stone Golem’s fist.

That one blow will pulp the man to pieces.

But the man is a step faster.

SKAAAAAK—

With one hand, he swings the crescent-moon blade.

In that instant, Bekel’s vision unfolds in slow motion.

An inexplicable sound.

The sound shreds Bekel’s sense of what should be.

SKAAAAAK?

It should rattle and clatter.

Steel meeting stone—that sound is common sense.

Before him, as the man grins with his arm extended—

KUUUUUUNG—

The golem’s arm falls.

“Kuheeeek!”

He cut stone...!?

The man catches the golem, writhing with one arm in hand, in his gaze.

The slow-motion tableau at last returns to normal.

At once, the man drives the crescent-moon blade with all his strength into the Stone Golem’s chest.

****

One cooldown erased.

Through it, Hyun has crafted an artifact; he stares coldly at the Stone Golem, wracked with pain and missing an arm.

By creating one artifact through God’s Emergency Crafting, he reminds himself once again who he is.

I am neither swordsman nor archer.

Hyun is a blacksmith.

Therefore he fought with a blacksmith’s combat wits.

A weapon useful against an enemy whose arms and legs are far longer than his.

A weapon that violates the common sense of steel clashing against stone.

“Khuooooooor!”

Hyun’s crescent-moon blade, gripped in his hands, stabs true into the suffering brute’s chest.

PWOOOOOK—!

The name of this crafted weapon is the Damascus Crescent-Moon Blade.

“How does a spear pierce stone?”

“Did you hear it? It went pwoook...!”

Amid the users’ shock, Hyun, with the Damascus Crescent-Moon Blade buried in its chest, grips the shaft with both hands and intones:

“Rampage.”