Genius Blacksmith's Game

He evaluates blacksmiths and forces wagers on them.

In the Fast Crafting Evaluation Books had proposed, Hyunsoo had crafted faster than him.

At that moment—

[New story begins.]

‘Hm?’

He could guess the reason.

‘Pureum Co., Ltd. probably didn’t expect a user who could beat his Evaluation to appear this quickly.’

In fact, this man Books was a named NPC.

Just looking at the grade of the sword he had crafted a moment ago in the holographic forge, it had reached all the way up to Unique.

Hyunsoo smiled.

A new story always brings greater trials and greater rewards.

DING!

[Emergency Quest: Judge the Blacksmith Books]

Rank: A

Restriction: One who has passed Books’s Evaluation

Reward: Development +20%.

Failure Penalty: Books escapes.

Description: Books has effectively ruled Vallas Territory while wearing the mask of Edrol Merchant Guild. Tooth for a tooth, eye for an eye. Use the Evaluation power temporarily granted to you to execute him.

Hyunsoo was surprised. Development would go up by a full 20%.

And he learned one more thing.

‘The key figure of Edrol Merchant Guild.’

Right, this Edrol Merchant Guild was a guild in name only.

The core person was Books himself. The fact that development had gone up when he won the ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) Evaluation against him?

Of course, Hyunsoo had undone the 70% tax and doubled workload that he had shackled the blacksmiths with.

‘But even so, I haven’t removed the root cause.’

Right. As long as Books survived, the same thing could happen again.

That was why development had been calculated absurdly low when he won the Evaluation.

[Power to evaluate is temporarily granted.]

[You can temporarily decide the content of an Evaluation.]

Books wore a disbelieving expression.

Hyunsoo spoke to him.

“I’ll begin an Evaluation.”

[An Evaluation begins.]

“W-what......?”

Forced to receive it in reverse, Books could not hide his bewilderment.

He had been told the man was a level-101 blacksmith.

How had that blacksmith crafted a sword faster than him?

Books grew tense. What kind of Evaluation would Hyunsoo set?

And Hyunsoo was looking at Books with a flat, emotionless gaze.

Even if reality and this place were different, as a fellow blacksmith the man had committed something he must never do.

Hyunsoo spoke.

“The content of the Evaluation is this: we each take the single best thing we’ve ever crafted and clash them once. The stake is your life.”

At that, a smile of ecstatic delight formed on Books’s face.

[If you fail to pass the Evaluation, you must carry it out.]

The word “presumptuous” rose all the way up his throat.

‘Arrogant.’

That arrogance pierced the sky and threw him into the abyss himself.

Just because he crafted fast didn’t mean he knew everything about him.

Books had once made a spear that would make the Tower Master of the Tower of Blacksmiths he had served back then gasp in shock.

It had almost reached the realm of a Legend. Even among artifacts closest to a Legend, it was one of the very best.

It had been a spear born in a single moment thanks to luck and many other factors.

That spear had been the starting point that made him feel no need to remain at the Tower, and he had stormed out.

And yet this guy dared—

‘He wants to clash the single best things we’ve ever crafted?’

It was a common kind of blacksmith duel.

Similar, but twisted a little differently.

And an Evaluation was something that made a mysterious power manifest. It seemed the other side knew that as well.

Even as a hologram, that spear took shape.

CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLE—

The spear crackled with rough sparks.

And the man named Hyunsoo also gripped a single sword.

On that sword, the name “Hyun” was inscribed.

Books didn’t know what that sword was, but he knew the limits of humanity.

In this Asgan Continent, a true Legend had never been born from human hands.

‘Whatever it is, you lose.’

Books laughed.

“If I pass the Evaluation, my conditions are that the 70% tax that was just rescinded goes back up. And I’ll take your life as well. After you die, I’ll further increase the workload for every blacksmith in this territory!”

No one would bother about this tiny territory.

That was how things had come to this state.

He had heard the rumors anyway.

That they might soon wipe this territory off the map!

Before it disappeared, he planned to squeeze every last drop of labor out of the blacksmiths.

“I’m going to work the blacksmiths to death, hahahaahahaha!”

The man said nothing. He simply gripped his sword with both hands.

Books too drew back the spear that crackled with sparks with all his strength.

The content of the Evaluation was simple.

The two weapons clash, and the superior weapon wins.

And as he swung fiercely, Books’s face stiffened.

“......?”

The moment the two weapons collided, he felt everything around him freeze.

The spear in his hand froze.

White breath spilled from his mouth.

The massive sparks coming from his spear were completely devoured by that cold.

When he looked around, massive shards of ice had erupted around him as if raging waves had frozen solid.

[Your opponent’s sword is a Legend.]

[Your spear is closest to a Legend.]

‘A Legend......?’

The man’s attitude wasn’t arrogance. It was certainty.

Goosebumps crawled up Books’s back. The intermittent tremors in his body would not stop.

He could not move.

If the loser of an Evaluation violated it, they would receive divine punishment.

“S-spare me.”

SLLLLIDE—

The two artifacts made of holograms vanished.

He spoke, doing his utmost to sound pitiful. Even in this moment he was working his brain.

If the man just said “Alright, I’ll spare you” here, the content of the Evaluation would collapse anyway.

He could run then.

He could run and make future plans.

“I’ll give you everything I have, please!”

Hyunsoo answered.

“Hand it over first.”

Thank goodness. Books felt a thrill of joy. This outsider could be reasoned with.

Of course, aren’t greedy outsiders all like that!?

They go crazy for gold and are mad for leveling up.

Books handed over everything he currently had.

[You have obtained 51,014 gold.]

In one go, Hyunsoo had obtained a huge sum of 51,140,000 won. But he wasn’t satisfied.

“Where’s what you’ve been skimming off the top until now?”

“In the merchant guild building—there’s a stash hidden in the basement.”

Books felt relieved. He slowly began to straighten his body.

It was fine even if he gave everything up. He could always come back and take it again.

But then Hyunsoo’s sword sliced across his neck.

SLASH—!

“I never said I’d spare you.”

Books’s eyes went wide as he fell. Right, the man had never said he’d spare him.

“You ignored the pleas of blacksmiths who were dying from brutal workloads, didn’t you?”

Those were the last words Books ever heard.

****

Hyunsoo felt not the slightest hint of guilt as he cut off Books’s head.

Forced labor on the blacksmiths.

Twice the usual workload. Seventy percent tax.

According to what old man Per had told him, blacksmiths who couldn’t endure the workload and died off had been countless.

[You have eliminated Books, the mastermind behind the fall of Vallas Territory.]

[You gain a large amount of experience.]

[You have leveled up.] 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up......]

Killing NPCs indiscriminately did not grant experience.

Experience could only be gained like this by killing someone the system had designated as a villain.

In an instant, Hyunsoo leveled up a whopping nineteen times.

It was something that had occurred because of the level gap between Books and Hyunsoo.

[Emergency Quest: Judge the Blacksmith Books completed.]

[Development increases by 20%.]

[Edrol Merchant Guild’s grip on Vallas Territory was possible because of their master and blacksmith, Books.]

[All constraints on the blacksmiths have been lifted.]

[Members of Edrol Merchant Guild begin to scatter and flee.]

[Please mop up the remnants.]

Hyunsoo soon saw blacksmiths rushing out of their forges.

“We’re free!”

“We don’t have to do forced labor anymore!”

Among them he could see old man Per rejoicing. Hyunsoo had somewhere to go.

He spoke to old man Per.

“Now that the lord has been freed from the wager, we should go and bring them here.”

From what he’d heard, after losing the wager here, the lord had been in a state that was practically confinement.

“I’ll go on ahead to Edrol Merchant Guild’s base.”

“Ah, understood!”

Hyunsoo went straight into Edrol Merchant Guild’s base.

Fortunately, all the remnants had already fled.

Hyunsoo opened the basement door. Inside was the money Books had said he had taken in taxes.

The total was 323,000 gold.

[This is money collected as tax from Vallas Territory.]

[If you acquire it and are later discovered, you will be banished from the Kingdom of Goyard.]

Because Books was dead, Vallas Territory would track the trail of the taxes that had been taken.

Hyunsoo felt not the slightest regret.

Being banished from the Kingdom of Goyard meant, in effect, that his relationship with King Barad would be ruined. That man’s worth couldn’t be measured in money.

‘What do I need to raise development?’

There was something simple. It was for money that could be used for development to exist inside the territory.

In Ares, the value of that was much greater.

Even if it was money he couldn’t personally possess, he could still use it.

‘The lord just has to grant it as a reward, right?’

Hyunsoo formed a plan.

[Nell: Where are you? I was worried, so I came to Vallas Territory.]

[Hyunsoo: Come to the coordinates I’m sending you.]

And if he had someone to help, it would be even more reassuring!

When Nell arrived in the basement, she heard the whole story.

And she heard Hyunsoo’s plan.

“Y-you’re saying that’ll work?”

Nell was doubtful.

“Have you ever lost out by listening to me so far?”

Suspicious as she was, Nell decided to carry out the plan as he’d laid it out.

****

Lord Belin.

The most beautiful woman in the Kingdom of Goyard by reputation, she was the lord of Vallas.

After losing the bet with Books, she had been confined to her bedroom as if it were a prison.

Then all the restraints that bound her fell away.

At that moment, Per came in.

“My lord, we must hurry to Edrol Merchant Guild’s base.”

Belin listened to the story as she went with him.

“An outsider, you say?”

Belin had first assumed that the one who had pulled this off was someone sent by the kingdom.

“If it’s an outsider...... I can’t believe it......!”

Belin knew the greed of outsiders.

They called them NPCs and were people who would stop at nothing to obtain gold and artifacts.

Could such a person truly understand their hearts?

“I heard the conversation he had with Books.”

It was clear.

Belin’s steps quickened. And when she reached the first floor, there was no one there.

Then—

“......Over here.”

Came the voice of a dying woman.

Belin went down to the basement.

She was horrified at the scene that unfolded before her eyes.

A woman was slumped against one wall, dying.

On the other side, in front of a pile of gold and jewels, a man was kneeling, unconscious.

Spears and arrows were stuck all through the man’s body, and he appeared to have fainted.

Belin’s eyes trembled.

“What on earth happened here? Who are you?”

“......I’m his companion. I came after he contacted me. We fought here against the remnants who tried to take the money. And Mr. Hyunsoo never backed down.”

Belin took Hyunsoo in with her eyes.

He had collapsed to his knees and fainted.

In other words, he had protected the money until the moment he blacked out.

“Why, why go this far......?”

“......He said it was money for the blacksmiths. He said it absolutely had to be protected and used to restore this territory. And he asked me to pass this on.”

Belin’s heart sank.

“To give that money to you.”

The woman, who had been wearing a faint smile, now gave a wry one and lost consciousness.

And Belin slowly walked over to Hyunsoo.

Seeing the weapons stuck all over his body, she shook.

“A-ahhh...... thank you......! Thank you!”

[Lord Belin will never forget your grace.]

****

Glance.

Opening her eyes, Nell looked at Lord Belin sobbing her heart out and was flustered.

She had thought the plan of acting to win over NPCs’ favor was absurd, but—

‘I-it actually worked?’

And Hyunsoo was hearing this notification.

[Liege’s Grace activates.]