Genius Blacksmith's Game

Hyunsoo had only sharpened the blade—so he was surprised to see Attack Power up by 2% and Durability up by 5%.

Oh, do you normally get this kind of effect from good sharpening?

As if.

Having never played games in his life, Hyunsoo didn’t realize this really was happening because he’d sharpened the blade that well.

Of course the sharper the edge, the higher the attack power—wasn’t that obvious?

Hyunsoo handed the well-honed sword back to Instructor Jack.

Jack smiled in satisfaction at the excellent sharpening job.

NPCs could check artifact information too.

After idly peeking, he opened the detailed info.

“—Huh!?”

Jack darted glances between Hyunsoo and the sword again and again.

Hyunsoo didn’t know—but a permanent +2% to Attack Power and +5% to Durability from sharpening was huge.

Jack had essentially gotten stronger while sitting still!

“Y-You’re amazing—truly a remarkable blacksmith!”

[Affinity with Jack has increased.]

And it didn’t end there.

Jack couldn’t contain his excitement.

“I can’t, in good conscience, pay only 50 silver for sharpening like this!”

With that, Jack handed over a gold coin.

[You have obtained 1 Gold.]

Ares’s currency was divided into Silver and Gold.

100 Silver made 1 Gold.

Beginner Zone players started with only 10 Silver.

Hyunsoo had agreed to take 50 Silver, but wound up getting double—and now held ten times as much money as a typical new player.

J–Jackpot!

And Hyunsoo smelled it.

Sniff, sniff.

There it was—the smell.

The smell of serious money.

So that’s a thousand won earned.

Of course, he didn’t consider it a tiny amount.

This was the Beginner Zone.

Transaction volumes were low here, and rewards were meager.

Wasn’t my balance around 1,010,000 won?

Just before logging in, Hyunsoo’s bank account had about that much.

Every little bit adds up.

And fortunately, their prime mark said—

“Hey, everyone—come over here!”

He called the other prime marks.

“What’s going on?”

“Instructor Jack, what is it?”

The Instructors gathered in a crowd—maybe a dozen or so.

“Take a look at this sword—the kid sharpened it...”

“Gasp!”

“N–No way!”

“This can’t be!”

They turned stunned faces toward Hyunsoo.

A moment later—

Hyunsoo cleared his throat, planted his diaphragm, and drew a big breath.

Then he bellowed with all his might:

“Form a liiiiine!”

The Instructors lined up at his shout.

[You have sharpened the sword with masterful skill.]

[Attack Power +2% and Durability +5% for the sword.]

“I–It’s real! H–Here’s 1 Gold!”

[Affinity with Brown has increased.]

“Mine next!”

[You have sharpened the sword with masterful skill...]

[Attack Power... rises...]

“Can you sharpen axes too?”

“Of course, of course. Prime mar—er, Instructor, hehe!”

[You have sharpened the axe with masterful skill...]

[The axe’s Attack Power... rises...]

“I feel great today. I’ll throw in another 50 silver. Here—1 Gold 50 Silver!”

“I never knew an Instructor this handsome could also be so generous.”

The Instructor looked like an orc.

“H–Hahaha... I’m in the mood. Another 50 Silver!”

A total of 2 Gold!

And Hyunsoo felt his own value rising.

“Gasp—my apologies, Instructor.”

He addressed the next Instructor with a tone drenched in exaggerated regret—

just like when he used to haggle with penny-pinching grandmothers.

“Aigoo, what a shame—only one kitchen knife left! Ah, really, just one left, granny!”

“Regrettably, I’m running low on whetstones, so I’ll have to raise the price a bit.”

“W–What!? H–How much!?”

Hyunsoo still had 40 whetstones in his inventory.

“Only five remain, so from now on I’ll have to charge 2 Gold.”

“Haha, I was worried for nothing. If 2 Gold gives +2% Attack, that’s a steal, a steal. Right?”

“Right, right!”

Then Hyunsoo noticed some people approaching from afar and tilted his head.

“Who are they...?”

“Instructors from the next town over. I sent carrier pigeons. Isn’t it good to share opportunities like this!”

But Hyunsoo was a calculating man.

After finishing the blades for the Instructors here, he sharpened one weapon for a single Instructor from the neighboring zone.

Then—

“Sadly, I’ve used up my whetstones, so I can’t take more today. I’m truly sorry.”

“W–What!? We came from far away!”

“Then come tomorrow. I’ll sharpen them tomorrow. But I’ll have to charge 2 Gold 50 Silver—will that be all right?”

“Of course. You must sharpen it tomorrow!”

“Naturally. Oh—and if you spread the word in the neighboring zone, I’ll give you a 50 Silver discount.”

“Oooh!”

“You’d knock 50 Silver off 2 Gold 50 Silver!? That’s a steal, a steal!”

Prime marks beget prime marks.

In any case, “prime marks” aside, that +2% Attack was far more impressive than Hyunsoo had expected.

After parting from the Instructors, Hyunsoo steadied his breathing.

“Whew...”

Eyes closed, he opened his Inventory Window.

When the translucent panel floated up—

He cracked one eye open and gasped at the Gold displayed.

[39 Gold 38 Silver.]

Converted to cash, that was roughly forty thousand won.

Ares ran at three times real-world speed.

In other words, one real day equaled three Ares days.

In just a few hours, Hyunsoo had earned forty thousand won.

“...”

His chest suddenly swelled.

Of course, this Gold would be invested toward getting the VVIP Capsule.

But seeing the Instructors’ reactions, he felt it—

The world his father had talked about.

A world where people rejoiced at the things we made.

This world was exactly that kind of world.

They rejoiced at his finished work, thanked him, and valued him.

Hyunsoo was standing in that dreamlike world now.

And it wasn’t the only reason his chest brimmed.

“Haa...”

He wiped away a tear trailing from one eye.

It was fun.

Insanely fun.

So fun it made him want to leap out of his seat.

Even though it was grueling, repetitive labor—three years ago, it had been the most fun thing in the world for him.

Being able to keep doing what made him happy filled him with joy.

While he was wallowing in those emotions—

[Rond: You enjoying?]

A whisper from Jihoon came in.

Ares allowed duplicate character names.

But for duplicates, you had to include the other person’s phone number next to the name for the unique code to show.

[Hyunsoo: yeah.]

[Rond: Sounds like you’re having fun. Let’s go home.]

[Hyunsoo: ok]

Hyunsoo looked down at his right hand and logged out with a small smile.

****

Late evening, a corner table at a chicken joint.

Jihoon watched his friend Hyunsoo, who was chattering excitedly.

He really did have fun.

It had been a while since he’d seen the guy this animated.

After the accident, Hyunsoo had spoken very little.

Tonight, it was like he was unloading all the words he’d bottled up—going on and on about Ares.

Through his story, Jihoon realized Hyunsoo’s real blacksmithing skills worked in Ares too.

Wow—this guy’s a busted cheat character...

His father had been the only person in the world called a Grandmaster.

And Hyunsoo himself—good enough to be called a Grandmaster alongside his father.

With his father in a vegetative state, Hyunsoo might well be the greatest master in the world right now.

“But is it normally this easy to gain Dexterity?”

“Hm?”

Jihoon cocked his head.

Dexterity?

He shook it.

“What are you talking about—easy? It’s hard.”

“Really?”

One of Ares’s strengths was that you could raise stats by repeating certain actions.

In the Beginner Zone, that effect was especially pronounced.

But even then, it wasn’t easy.

You had to hit the Wooden Dummy for six hours to get +1 Strength.

And Dexterity was the domain of production classes.

Sure, grinding could raise it—

But it still wasn’t easy.

“There was a thread on the Ares community site: Leveling Up vs. Raising Stats.”

Hyunsoo listened intently.

“Everyone said leveling was easier.”

Naturally.

Levels rose just by hunting—but stats didn’t.

In the Beginner Zone, you might see Dexterity after four or five hours of repetition—but once you left, the odds plummeted.

There was some low-level scaling, but still.

“Yeah? So leveling is way easier than I thought.”

Well, standards varied from person to person.

Hyunsoo figured that perspective made sense.

Come to think of it, Jihoon only knew that Hyunsoo had forged a Rare artifact and had started doing business.

He didn’t know what Hyunsoo’s Status Window looked like now.

“Install the Ares app.”

You could check your character’s Status on a smartphone.

Easy to raise Dexterity, huh. Maybe I got like three points?

Even that would be a staggering amount of Dexterity.

Most players didn’t gain any of the so-called five basic stats—Strength, Agility, Endurance, Wisdom, Intelligence—before leaving the Beginner Zone.

Let alone Dexterity, which was a special stat category.

Even three would be insane...

After Hyunsoo downloaded the app and opened ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) his Status, he handed the phone to Jihoon.

The moment Jihoon saw it, he shot to his feet without thinking.

Scrrrape—!

“Wh–What the!?”

“...You’re making everyone stare.”

Chairs scraping drew every eye.

Jihoon sat down and tried to calm his pounding heart.

“Th–This bastard... you crazy bastard...!”

“What? Is something wrong?”

“Wrong? Hell yes!”

“???”

Hyunsoo wore the blank look of a clueless puppy.

Jihoon, wondering if he’d misread it, closed the app and reopened it.

But the Status before his eyes was real.

“I’ve never seen anything like this...”

“Say it. Say it...!”

Even with Hyunsoo pushing him, Jihoon just stared, dumbfounded.

No way... is this even possible?

(Hyunsoo)

Level: 1

Class: None

Strength: 10 Agility: 8 Endurance: 8 Wisdom: 7 Intelligence: 7 Dexterity: 63

Exasperated, Hyunsoo called to him.

“Come on, what is it!”

“You still don’t get it? Hyunsoo—you’re Level 1.”

“And?”

“Level 1 stats are all fives, man.”

“Uh-huh.”

“But your Strength is 10—double a normal Level 1. Double!”

“So what?”

“Dude—you’re literally twice as strong as the average Level 1!”

“Gasp!?”

“...?”

Jihoon looked at him like he couldn’t believe this guy.

Note: the Status panel reflected everything—titles, artifact effects, and all.

And this sticks for life...

Even at Level 100, Hyunsoo would be ahead of others in raw stats.

But that wasn’t what shocked Jihoon most.

He raked a hand through his hair.

“I’ve never seen this. Level 1—on day one—with 63 points in Dexterity?”

That meant he had raised at least fifty points in a single day.

Even in the Beginner Zone where gains were easier, that number was absurd.

“What happened?”

“Maybe because of that?”

Only then did Hyunsoo explain the “illogical” alert he’d seen—and the messages that had appeared while sharpening.

“Illogical...?”

Why had that happened?

Is he so busted he triggers those alerts without any game-side compensation...?

But there was something even more jaw-dropping.

What happens if this guy changes class to Blacksmith...?

Hyunsoo hadn’t changed class yet.

In other words, he had no skills—and no stat bonuses from class.

Skills didn’t just assist with crafting; they had plenty of effects.

Higher chance to forge higher-grade artifacts.

Faster artifact crafting speed.

Greater special effects on artifacts—among dozens of others.

Thuuud—

Jihoon’s jaw dropped.

He was Hyunsoo’s real friend.

“Y–You bastard... you villain...”

He was dying of envy.

“...?”

Hyunsoo, suddenly branded a villain while just sitting there, tilted his head.

Completely unaware of what would happen once he did change class.