Genius Blacksmith's Game

After leaving the lord’s audience hall, Hyun went over what he had gained in Vallas Territory.

Two hundred thousand gold, plus vassal Per, plus White Night.

A hefty sum worth about two hundred million won in real money.

But Hyun was still unsatisfied.

Just rebuilding the forge right away will cost four hundred million won.

He had barely half of what he needed. What he needed to fill in the rest was development.

[Current development 53%.]

Of course, even that was already an impressive development score. But Hyun himself considered it lacking.

To raise it, he planned to teach the blacksmiths for two weeks and then leave.

There were two key points.

One, drastically raising their skills. Two, making the blacksmiths who left come back.

And Hyun had already asked Per to gather the blacksmiths.

Hyun headed to where the blacksmiths were assembled.

*****

Blacksmith Ger was a top-grade blacksmith.

Although he had lost to Examiner Books, he had unmistakably been the one overseeing the blacksmiths here.

Around thirty blacksmiths were gathered in a small plaza of the territory.

Once, there had been nearly a hundred, but death and flight had whittled their number down to this.

They hadn’t heard the full story about the one who had saved the territory.

And when the man who had appeared before them came into view, the blacksmiths furrowed their brows.

He’s totally a kid, isn’t he?

That guy’s going to teach us?

Of course, they had heard he was incredibly skilled. But if that skill came from some mysterious power, how were they supposed to learn it?

“I’ll be teaching you for the next two weeks. I look forward to working with you.”

The blacksmiths’ reaction was lukewarm, Ger included.

But Per had come to them in person and said,

It’s the lord’s order. Trust this gentleman’s words and devote yourselves to training for two weeks.

It was ridiculous. What angered them even more was hearing that Mr. Per was going to follow that man.

What kind of trick did he pull?

But there was nothing they could do.

Half-heartedly at best, the blacksmiths moved to follow him.

And then he said something they didn’t understand.

“I hope you’ll stick with me for two weeks without collapsing.”

What was that supposed to mean?

“Let’s start by making a sword. Everyone, pick up your hammers and anvils.”

And it began.

He started forging a single sword.

The blacksmiths listened with perfunctory nods.

As he listened, Ger’s expression slowly turned puzzled.

Huh? This is the part I could never figure out...?

But it was solved.

Hyun explained as he hammered. As they listened to his explanation, something felt strange.

Huh? So that’s how you do it?

Wow, so that’s how it’s done!

What is this?

After more than half a day passed—

SCRITCH—

One of the blacksmiths took out a writing instrument to take notes.

At first, the others glanced at him with faces that said, Ugh, what a pathetic guy.

But as time went on, they began taking out their own pens and charcoal one by one.

Two days, three days.

Basic theory on major weapons, basic theory on major pieces of armor.

After demonstrating them as if in a practical class, he said,

“Now we’ll move on to production. I really hope you’ll all follow along closely.”

There it was again.

Ger didn’t understand what he meant by “follow along”—until he did.

Why isn’t he sleeping?

The blacksmiths were bewildered. Those who had been nodding off jolted awake.

CLAAAANG—

Because the forge in the very center was still ringing with the sound of hammering.

Ger and the other blacksmiths stared blankly at the sight.

He looks like he’s having fun...

What the heck? How does he look that happy when he hasn’t slept?

Is that guy crazy about blacksmithing or what?

Watching him stirred up desire and competitiveness inside them.

I’m not going to lose when it comes to effort!

I’ll forge a sword worthy of succeeding Mr. Per, no matter what!

A week.

The man kept up a forced march.

At some point, the blacksmiths realized why he possessed such skill.

After just one week, every blacksmith listened intently to his words.

Whenever he spoke, they became as polite as possible.

Whenever he spoke, they wrote things down so they wouldn’t miss a single word.

Every single thing he said slipped neatly into their ears.

COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!

Morning after morning greeted by a crowing rooster, the man should have been exhausted, yet he stepped into their forges and spoke.

“The key to a horn bow is the heating process. You have to let it soak in the fire properly.”

“You must be tired, but hang in there a little longer. I’m not sleeping either, right?”

He was sly and smart.

If the one teaching doesn’t sleep, and the ones learning do?

That was unthinkable.

No, if anything, that pulled the blacksmiths along even harder.

Standing tall, never putting on airs, and working like someone utterly unlike the lazy, they couldn’t help but follow his example.

He said,

“The Kingdom of Goyard is a nation of swords.”

Our kingdom counts as a very small country, and the reason it can endure is thanks to one man, Sword King Barad.

Along with that, there are that many knights and that many skilled swordsmen.

“They need your weapons.”

Right, the way a nation of swords could become even greater.

The method was ridiculously simple.

“The soldiers and knights have hit their limits.”

The human body ultimately has a limit to how much it can grow.

But there was a way to make them grow stronger and increase the nation’s power.

“But your weapons can make them stronger. If you make good swords, the blacksmiths who left will come back.”

We remember.

The comrades who had fled as if running for their lives.

This territory’s done for!

We have to run!

This place is finished!

They had left, saying this territory was ruined. Of course, that was because of Books.

But they must have known, too.

Even though it was called a blacksmiths’ territory, it had been stagnant for a long time.

We were like a factory.

Day after day, we stamped out weapons with bored faces.

But the man in front of them was different.

He enjoyed himself. He looked happy.

“You are the ones who will bring them back.”

Only then did production truly begin at their fingertips. The man remained by their side the whole time.

Until the moment their work was finished.

*****

[The blacksmiths of Vallas Territory awaken a new mindset.]

[They receive your teaching and are reborn as more outstanding blacksmiths.]

[You gain 1 Charisma.]

As Hyun taught them, he kept earning Charisma stats.

Charisma was a stat that commander-type users usually obtained.

And Hyun enjoyed teaching the blacksmiths.

...Was there really not even one?

Someone who had come to his father’s forge asking to be taught. In the modern world, handcraft blacksmiths like that were a profession people turned their backs on.

But these people were different.

Words had power, and his grand speeches fanned their motivation into flames.

On top of that, Hyun deliberately did not sleep.

If a professor is doing his absolute best to teach, is there any student who can just sleep in his face?

Especially when ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) their grades were shooting up.

And Hyun watched with satisfaction as their pieces were completed one by one.

[The blacksmiths of Vallas Territory see a large boost in their skills.]

[Sixteen intermediate blacksmiths are reborn as advanced blacksmiths.]

[One advanced blacksmith is reborn as a top-grade blacksmith.]

An unexpected notification followed.

[The teaching of a Master is special.]

[Artifacts produced in Vallas Territory become, on average, 7% more outstanding.]

[They will pass your teaching on to other blacksmiths.]

[Development increases by 13%.]

Hyun wore a puzzled expression for a moment, then understood.

Is it because of the detail?

Ares was a game, in the end.

NPC blacksmiths always had “skill” on their lips, but in the end, they too received help from the system.

But how detailed was this so-called system?

Weapons required more detail than one might think.

A good sword had to be handled more carefully and more meticulously for a good weapon to come out.

And Hyun could see the blacksmiths gathered around Blacksmith Ger.

“At first, I doubted you, Mr. Hyunsoo. I wondered what we could possibly learn. But over these two weeks, we truly learned a lot.”

Blacksmith Ger bowed his head politely. The other blacksmiths behind him did the same.

[The thirty-two blacksmiths of Vallas Territory will not forget you.]

Hyun smiled in satisfaction.

“Now it’s time to bring back the blacksmiths who left. Sell your new weapons, take production requests, and show them the change.”

Rumors begot more rumors, and that was how a territory developed.

The blacksmiths began selling.

Once the sales start, the development will keep going up.

Hyun was curious, too. How far it would go.

But right now, Hyun hadn’t slept for nearly four days in reality.

Hyun logged out to get some sleep.

*** @

While Hyun was asleep.

A young male user arrived in Vallas Territory.

I heard the Edrol Merchant Guild that was dominating Vallas Territory is gone?

The user’s name was Heln.

His level was only in the 200s, but he was a popular JoyTuber with 1.1 million subscribers.

Heln was also called a “territory correspondent.”

His content was introducing territories that users would like, or reporting on territories that had changed.

Territories were extremely important to users.

They could become the users’ base of operations, and sometimes they would stay in a territory to hunt monsters there.

And each territory had its own quests, specialties, and unique features.

Ugh, this last-place blacksmith territory. Tsk.

About three months ago, he had already visited Vallas Territory once.

Nearly 70% of the forges had been empty, and compared to its name as a blacksmiths’ territory, it had been utterly pathetic.

On top of that, what they were selling had been terrible.

Users will flock in if you just sell halfway decent artifacts, you know.

Heln had done a lot of research on this blacksmith territory, Vallas.

To the point nobles were saying it should be wiped off the map.

In practice, Vallas Territory looked unnecessary.

Looking at the blacksmith territories and blacksmith towers of every kingdom and empire, most of what they sold was better than here.

Even so, Heln had no choice but to visit. It was his job.

But for some reason, the users in Vallas Territory were in an uproar.

“Holy crap...”

“This is normal grade? The price is even cheap.”

“...?”

Watching the noisy users, Heln wore a puzzled expression.

What was going on?

He stepped into one of the forges.

The blacksmith there had only a single sword on display. Heln checked it.

Huh?

He sensed something strange.

What is this?

To ordinary users, an artifact’s grade wasn’t that important.

They were happy and delighted just to have something Rare.

So even within normal-grade artifacts, they would be happy if something was just a little bit better.

Even if it was only 1% better.

Why is this one so good?

The sword’s grade was clearly Normal.

And because Heln was a territory correspondent, he knew far more about Ares than the average user.

This is almost 5% better than a normal sword, isn’t it?

A 5% difference was huge.

All the more if the price was the same.

And of course, people would buy the better one.

Ah, so this one is special, and that’s why they’re only selling this one?

No wonder they were only selling a single sword. Tsk, tsk.

Then Heln went into another forge. But that forge, too, was selling only one artifact.

He checked it.

This one’s 7% above average?

He made a puzzled face.

Then he asked the owner,

“Why are you only selling one?”

“Because we realized how worthless what we made before learning from that gentleman was.”

“Who is that gentleman?”

“I can’t tell you until he gives his permission.”

“...?”

What was this? This lofty respect for “that gentleman”?

And Heln soon checked the other forges as well.

What the, all of them...?

The artifacts’ performance was 4–8% better than average.

This is insane!?

Heln couldn’t contain his excitement.

There were even places that occasionally sold Rares or Epics.

“In a normal forge?”

Of course, those were their masterworks.

But Heln caught a scent.

It was the scent of a territory that was about to get crowded.

Heln hurriedly started a live broadcast about it.

At that moment—

Hyun’s phone, as he slept, kept buzzing with notifications.

[Outsiders are flocking to Vallas Territory.]

[Blacksmiths who had left hear the rumors and return to Vallas Territory.]