Genius Blacksmith's Game

[You gain 13,000 Gold.]

Hyun receives 13,000 Gold for a prize that was originally set at 1,000 Gold.

And the king’s retainers told him: before King Barad, he was not to ask any questions or speak at all.

But Hyun could not do that.

It wasn’t that he was looking for Barad; Barad was looking for him.

Hearing him, Barad speaks in surprise.

“I have been waiting for you. Blacksmith Hyun.”

Barad, who had been looking at him, turns his body.

“Come find me tomorrow.”

After Barad departs, Hyun lets out the breath he’d been holding.

Just meeting the man had pressed Hyun under enormous intimidation.

Then Hyun logs out.

Still, not bad profit.

Logged out, Hyun gives a wry smile.

A full 13,000 Gold. He earned 13 million won from the Super Rookie tournament.

Even so, Hyun naturally microwaves instant food.

Eating a 5,000-won convenience-store bento, Hyun smiles bitterly.

He may have earned 13 million in just a few days, but the money he still needed to make loomed far off.

Thirty billion won for my burn treatment, put Dad in a VVIP ward, and rebuild the forge, too.

The estimate easily cleared 4 billion... no, 4 billion won? (He tallies it—over 4 billion, in fact.)

As he eats, Hyun gets a call. Lately, only two people call him.

His friend Jihoon, or Nell.

And the caller is Nell.

—I watched the match. People are going to flood Hyun’s Forge at the auction house soon. Feels like the community is about to ignite, too.

“That makes sense.”

—Do you have a plan in mind? Because of the “Hyun” engraved on the arrowhead, people will identify you as Hyun and point you out.

Hyun gives a wry smile. Nell is worried about the backlash from sudden fame.

One must weigh gains and losses—if Hyun is fixed as the owner of Hyun’s Forge, the mystique disappears.

Beyond that, now the blacksmith guilds will learn of him and may swarm.

The biggest problem is that Hyun’s new blacksmith class might be exposed.

If revealed now, Hyun is more likely to become a target of multiple top-tier guilds—

The kind who trample sprouts.

But Hyun says:

“That wasn’t a mistake.”

—Sorry?

“The ‘Hyun’ engraved on the arrowhead. Not a mistake.”

Nell falls silent for a long time.

—The ‘Hyun’ engraved on the arrowhead. Not a mistake.

Nell—Kim Hyein—wears a puzzled look.

Not a mistake?

The whole world saw it.

The power of the ultra Super Rookie who blew the Stone Golem about 7 m.

And the mark of Hyun’s Forge—“Hyun”—laid bare; not a mistake?

Thinking it over, she asks:

“So you do have a plan? What are you going to do now?”

—I’m going to do nothing.

“...?”

She looks confused. Do nothing?

It hasn’t even been an hour since the incident—ignition hasn’t started yet.

But when it does, the fire will spread in an instant, won’t it?

—Please trust me and watch. I’m tired and need to sleep.

“Alright, sleep well. And...”

Hyein smiles wryly, wondering if she’s been too fretful.

“You were awesome. Truly.”

A faint blush colors her cheeks. She hears Hyun’s small laugh.

Hanging up, Hyein keeps tracking the situation.

While he’s off in dreamland, many things will change for Hyun’s Forge.

She logs into the Ares community.

[Hey, who watched the Super Rookie tournament!? Insane ultra Super Rookie just dropped!!!]

As expected, posts like this are going up on the community. She visits “Hyun’s Forge” too.

[Hyun’s Forge subscribers: 131,655.]

She notes the number. She plans to check how much it rises in 10 hours.

And after just 30 minutes, seeing the new subscriber count, she blinks.

“This is... okay?”

[Hyun’s Forge subscribers: 141,513.]

Over ten thousand in 30 minutes. She’s never seen subscribers spike this fast.

And many posts fill the yard at Hyun’s Forge.

[Found you, punk!]

[Hyun of Hyun’s Forge, great match today~]

[You hid your face, but I can tell by your build and artifacts~ Say hi if I greet you on the street!]

It’s good, of course.

Rising subscribers and interest.

And she’s not too worried about that part.

People who pull stunts like that can be publicly shunned.

This, rather, is the concern.

Mystique delivers far more impact than people think.

Hyein has no doubt it’s what would grow Hyun’s Forge bigger.

But like this, even if it’s good now, that effect is lost.

Those who subscribed just from curiosity about his identity may lose interest.

And after 3 hours:

[Hyun’s Forge subscribers: 171,372.]

“Wow...!”

Hyein thrills. The speed is truly incredible.

Subscribers keep leaving posts.

[I want that kind of bow made for me, too.]

[Please take a commission. I can go up to 300 million.]

[Hello? Wizard Broughn here. I’d like to commission a staff. Willing to pay up to 1 billion; DM me. Also, great bow in today’s match.]

Even Broughn?

Broughn, Rank 2 among mages. He’s sending a commission to Hyun.

And we’re fine with this?

Three more hours later, Hyein sees the community’s top post.

So this was it? This is what you aimed for, Hyun?

She feels pure admiration for the man named Hyun.

****

Hyun wakes from sleep.

Stretching big, he drinks water and sits at his PC.

“Let’s see how it looks.”

He opens Hyun’s Forge.

[Hyun’s Forge subscribers: 233,161.]

[Current Korea blacksmith-channel subscriber rank: 137th.]

Hyun smiles wryly. As expected. Commissions seem to have exploded by hundreds of times.

He checks the Ares community.

[Never seen a bow like that in my life... If a Level 50 does that, what happens when a Level 300 archer uses it...?]

“Kya, that bow was insane!”

“Technically it was the arrow, right?”

“Same diff. Games are gear, baby!”

[There’s a rumor the Super Rookie is the owner of Hyun’s Forge.]

And Hyun plans to accept the request from the most influential among them soon.

I’ll handle Barad’s first, though.

Hyun clicks the hottest post on the Ares community.

Title:

[Hello. We are the Ares Expert Team.]

Ares Expert Team.

A self-styled group of Ares experts.

In practice, various pros—commentators, analysts, etc.—form an anonymous team.

Whenever abnormal events baffle users, they analyze, deduce, and produce answers.

Accuracy hovers around 70%, so many trust them blindly.

The #1 post has massive views and thousands of comments.

[We, the anonymous Ares Expert Team, watched the ultra Super Rookie match as well. Truly a magnificent bow, and incredible skill. Whew. Still gives us chills.]

[To the point: in our team’s subjective view, Blacksmith Hyun and the Super Rookie are not the same person.]

Hyun smiles slightly.

“As expected...!”

[We’ll explain why.]

[Per analysis, the Super Rookie holds Sword Mastery and Bow Mastery. You all saw his swordsmanship. The Super Rookie was a Level-50s user. If we accept current claims, then the Super Rookie would have to hold two classes simultaneously.]

[But Ares made an official announcement: dual class is a prerogative of Level 250+. Low-level users can never hold dual classes.]

[And because Hyun of Hyun’s Forge has not shown his face, we’re seeing people force the pieces together.]

[Yes, we saw that user create a gauntlet or spear quickly. But it can also be read this way: it’s simply a special summoning {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} method. There are users who summon weapons in that manner. User Eden does. He added an effect that makes it look like a weapon is being “crafted” when it’s summoned, and Eden is a special class-advanced “Owner of Weapons.”]

[Thus, our view is this: the Super Rookie simply bought Hyun’s artifact, and the Super Rookie’s skill synergized with the purchased artifact. Which is to say, our team’s message is this.]

[Dear owner of Hyun’s Forge, please make gear for us too ㅠㅠ!]

Hyun checks the comments.

[Lol it all ends in “pls make gear” lmao.]

[Turns out the Expert Team just wants to suck up to Hyun’s Forge? Dang, aren’t they high-level in Ares?]

[Even high-levels want Hyun’s Forge. Subscribed, let’s go!]

[To be fair, the Expert Team has a point. Just because “Hyun” was on the arrowhead doesn’t mean he owns the forge.] 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

[For real lol, where do you find a blacksmith with Sword + Bow Mastery. Premature hype merchants, smh.]

[If I buy a Hyun’s Forge artifact, can I win the Super Rookie tourney?]

[Totally possible—just pricey lol.]

Perfect. As attention gathers on the Super Rookie, Hyun’s Forge’s profile rises, too.

Then a message pings from Nell.

[Are you a genius?]

Hyun smiles wryly. Soon she adds:

[I’ve got a good idea.]

[What is it?]

[You play as Blacksmith Hyun and as the Super Rookie.]

Hyun looks puzzled. What’s the point?

[One day, after you found a guild and start gathering people—drop the fact. The Super Rookie was Hyun. What do you think happens?]

“...?”

[You’ll sweep #1 across Korea’s portal search terms that day.]

It holds water. He can feel her competence. She’s fleshed a second-stage plan onto his first-stage thought.

Reply sent, Hyun walks to the Ares capsule. Time to accept Barad’s commission.

****

Special User Management Team.

The Customer Center team lead has come by. But Team Leader Kim Taeseok of Special User Management wears a grave face as he monitors.

“That’s Sword King Barad, right? So that user is taking the commission after all?”

“Looks that way.”

“But it won’t be easy, will it?”

“No, it won’t.”

Taeseok smiles wryly. It isn’t easy.

“That was a commission Tower Master Deng of the Sword failed, and Rank 1 among blacksmiths failed too.”

In fact, Barad has met the Rank-1 blacksmith.

But even that blacksmith couldn’t forge a sword to satisfy Barad.

Kim Taeseok rakes his hair.

“But this user breaks common sense so often. I’m more worried about that than whether he can or can’t.”

“What worry?”

At the Customer Center lead’s question, Taeseok smiles bitterly.

“He’s the Sword King.”

“Sure, and? Sword King Barad—everyone knows him, he’s famous.”

The Customer Center lead is dense. Taeseok looks at him, exasperated.

“That’s the Sword King.”

“I know—so what?”

Kim Taeseok shakes his head as if to say he’ll drop it.

Hearing this, Associate Lee Jihee answers, the frustration up to her throat:

“What would he give if you satisfied the Sword King?”

“Swordsmanship, obviously... huh?”

“But User Hyun is a blacksmith. Can you imagine a blacksmith who learned the Sword King’s sword art?”

You cannot. The ripple effect would be immeasurable.

And because that ripple would be anything but small, they swallow hard.

Team Leader Kim Taeseok speaks:

“Of course he won’t hand it over easily—at minimum, unless Barad affinity is MAX. And that’s up to Sword King Barad’s discretion.”

The Customer Center lead lets out a hollow laugh.

MAX affinity with Sword King Barad?

Is that even possible?

On the monitor, Hyun is finally receiving audience with Sword King Barad.