Genius Blacksmith's Game

A smile formed at the corner of Hyunsoo’s mouth.

Subscriber rank: 19th.

Subscribers: 710,000.

As far as Hyunsoo knew, blacksmith guilds in that bracket pulled in an average of around 1 billion won a month.

Those in the top ten cleared over 2 billion. The top three hit about 4 billion.

On a monthly revenue basis, the annual figures were enormous.

In other words, from now on, Hyun’s Forge could easily bring in over 2 billion won a year even just on ordinary commissions.

How many millions does Black Anvil Forge have?

Hyunsoo suddenly found himself curious about the ranking-1 blacksmith guild in Korea, Black Anvil Forge.

[Black Anvil Forge Subscribers: 3,303,001.]

[Currently ranked no.1 in Korea by subscribers.]

Compared to no.2, they were ahead by roughly 1.5 million—a towering lead that hadn’t budged once in three years.

Hyunsoo noticed a note from Rowoon.

[Hello, Hyun. This is Rowoon. Congratulations on crafting two Legendary artifacts. I’m sending this note to make one last recruitment offer.]

One last recruitment offer.

It was a loaded phrase.

[I promise you 50% of all income that comes to me for one year, and I’ll give you the vice guild master seat.]

It wasn’t just generous; it was shocking.

As far as Hyunsoo knew, Rowoon’s annual income topped 10 billion won.

And in that instant, Hyunsoo realized one thing.

Even hearing that number, he didn’t feel like he was about to lose his mind with joy.

[If you still don’t come, then it must mean you have a different goal.]

The moment he checked his ranking today, Hyunsoo had fixed a new goal.

[Hyun, come up to where I am. I’ll be waiting. And if the day ever comes when no.1 changes hands, would you make me an offer?]

Hyunsoo read that line and doubted his own eyes.

[I’m saying, if you want the vice guild master seat, would you come and take it?]

Right now, Rowoon was speaking from a position of absolute advantage. No matter how hot Hyun was these days, he still couldn’t be compared to him.

And yet if that day came, Rowoon was leaving room for Hyun to absorb Black Anvil Forge.

Hyunsoo frowned slightly.

Why is he going this far?

He found the reason in the rest of the note.

[Because that’s the only way we’ll be able to grab the world no.1 spot from this tiny country. I’ll wait however long it takes for you to rise to this level—three years, five, or ten. But if at any point the climb becomes too much, come to Black Anvil Forge.]

Rowoon was a wise guild master.

If Hyun failed to overtake rank-1 Black Anvil Forge, he was gently telling him to come in through the front door instead.

Good.

Hyunsoo let out a small laugh. Some of the very top forges would soon start trying to keep Hyun in check.

But Black Anvil Forge had decided to take the stance of waiting and watching.

What made Rowoon seem so clever was that, seeing Hyun’s potential, he’d left room for him as an ally, not an enemy.

Hyunsoo laughed.

Three years? Five? It won’t take that long.

One year.

Yeah, within a year, Hyunsoo decided he would make Hyun’s Forge the no.1 subscriber-ranked blacksmith channel in Korea.

Right then, Nell spoke up in the guild chat.

[Nell: I see the (1) disappeared, so I guess you had a good visit with your father? I’ve been contacted about the AJ broadcast donations. Total donations are 38 million, and AJ Internet Broadcasting Station says they’d like to pay 10 million won in appearance fees.]

[Ressel: I thought I wasn’t getting appearance fees... damn.]

[Nell: They say they’re counting on you from now on, Guild Master.]

[Ressel: Ohhh...]

[Bark: gz gz.]

Forty-eight million won.

Of course, every last bit of it was going to hospital bills.

“I’ll come again.”

Smiling softly to his father, Hyunsoo walked out.

On the way home, the guild chat stayed lively.

[Nell: Once the VOD goes up, subscriber numbers will keep rising. I think we’ll probably settle around 16th. For the time being, I think you can focus on your own growth and crafting goals, Guild Master.]

Hyunsoo was still only a level 120 blacksmith.

No matter how strong the guild became or how high his subscriber count climbed, he couldn’t afford to let his own level lag too far behind.

And every class had its own class quests, which were best cleared steadily.

Completing class quests meant earning rewards appropriate to that class.

Before he knew it, Hyunsoo was standing in front of the capsule.

[Connecting to Ares.]

Appearing in his base territory forge, Hyunsoo gave a wry smile at the still-desolate forge interior.

Per was currently busy stabilizing Vallas Territory, so he’d be back once a bit more time had passed.

Maybe I should do my first class quest.

[You can now proceed with Class Quest: The Sword Left by the God of Blacksmiths.]

It was one of the notifications queued up on his list.

Right after he’d changed class to God of Blacksmiths, Hyunsoo had received a sword.

He’d assumed it was a class-quest artifact; everything about it had been listed as ???.

Hyunsoo opened the class quest details.

[Class Quest: The Sword Left by the God of Blacksmiths]

Grade: A

Requirement: Successor of Asca, Level 100–130

Reward: ???

Failure Penalty: Successor of Asca qualification revoked.

Description: You can receive an explanation by meeting Tower Master Deng of the Blacksmith Tower of Sword.

Why the hell is the penalty so brutal?

If he failed, his Successor of Asca status would be revoked.

That meant every skill he possessed—God’s Custom Crafting, God’s Custom Repairing, God’s Emergency Crafting—would all disappear.

And with the level cap set at 130, going beyond that level would mean automatic revocation as well.

It’s been a while since I went to the Blacksmith Tower.

Before departing, Hyunsoo sent a Courier to Tower Master Deng of the Sword Tower to let him know he was coming.

*****

Top floor of the Blacksmith Tower of Sword.

A messenger of the God of Blacksmiths had arrived.

A divine envoy is someone who conveys a god’s words.

Sometimes it’s a priest, or a devotee chosen by chance, and sometimes it’s someone who has been receiving oracles from the God of Blacksmiths and waiting.

Divine Envoy Balam.

His family had served the God of Blacksmiths for generations.

Balam was not a particularly special man. He was just one person who delivered the god’s words and carried out the god’s will.

He spoke in a firm voice.

“The Successor may have his qualification revoked.”

The faces of those in the Blacksmith Tower split between joy and sorrow.

Tower Master Deng of the Sword Tower and Tower Master Colson of the Bow Tower had gone pale, while the other tower masters brightened.

Deng, as Tower Master of Sword, wanted the God of Blacksmiths’ myth to be fulfilled, and had hoped that Hyun would someday lead them all.

And Colson, though he’d initially denied the God of Blacksmiths, had been captivated by Hyun after losing to him in a blacksmith duel.

The other tower masters, on the other hand, were still terrified that their own positions would be threatened.

Of course, that didn’t mean the god intended to revoke him for no reason.

“The Sword Left by the God of Blacksmiths has served to measure everything he has built during his growth after his class change. If he fails to surpass a recognition score of 40%, his position will be revoked.”

Deng couldn’t understand it.

“How can the God so easily cast aside the one He calls His Successor?”

Divine Envoy Balam looked down at himself with a bitter {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} expression. His priest’s robes were worn to tatters, yellowed by the passage of time.

Sometimes he couldn’t help but wonder whether he was a priest or a beggar.

“My current condition is the reason why.”

Deng’s face twisted in pity.

“There are countless temples to countless gods in this world, and the believers of the Ares Church number in the hundreds of millions.”

The Ares Church.

The faith of Ares, the greatest god.

Ares was a supercomputer, but in this game’s setting, he was the greatest god of all.

“The other temples are smaller in scale than the Ares Church, but even they have tens of millions of believers.”

Balam looked at Colson and Deng and gave a bitter smile.

“And those who follow the God of Blacksmiths...”

He looked at Colson, then at Deng, then pointed at himself.

“The three of us might be all that’s left.”

Divine Envoy Balam was exhausted.

“I want this to be the generation where I stop serving the God of Blacksmiths. I’m too hungry, and I’m too tired.”

Only when there are many believers can those who serve a god live well off that god.

“How did things end up this way?”

“The God of Blacksmiths symbolizes both non-action and blacksmithing technique. That, in fact, has become poison.”

“How can that be poison?”

Whenever Deng heard the myths, he felt joy.

The God of Blacksmiths, they said, forged astonishing armaments and wielded great power.

How could that be anything but glorious?

“If you were a devotee who sought great strength, would you serve the Sword God, or the God of Blacksmiths?”

He would serve the Sword God.

A god with one domain instead of two would at least possess greater power in that one field.

“The God Himself knows this. The lowest of the gods knows that the conditions for inheriting Him are too harsh, that it’s too hard to win worshipers. And so the God is now ready to boldly cast His Successor aside.”

“Then what feat must the Successor accomplish for the God to acknowledge him?”

“Divine recognition represents many things. The might he has accumulated since his class change. The strength of the armaments he has crafted thus far. At the very least, he must have crafted an artifact that stands closest to a Legend.”

“...He wishes for an impossible feat.”

Deng and Colson both let out hollow laughs.

“Envoy, how can you demand such an absurd achievement from someone who has only just begun to walk?”

Level was the most important metric for Outsiders.

If they applied what the god was saying to an NPC, it would be like telling a nine-year-old to forge an armament closest to a Legend.

Right then—

“...Hyun has arrived.”

One of the tower staff members came in, leading Hyunsoo.

Balam, too, understood the will of the God.

He has decided it is better for nothing to remain than to maintain a shabby temple and raise a Successor who never blooms.

For over a thousand years, the God of Blacksmiths had sadly fallen behind the other gods.

What He wanted was a Successor who would surpass and outstrip Him.

The conditions were harsh, but Balam understood that desire a hundred times over, a thousand times over.

When the Successor appeared, he spoke to him with formal respect.

“Successor, that sword is the blade into which every achievement since your class change has been etched. Each time you swing it once, those achievements will manifest.”

“What does it mean for my achievements to manifest?”

“Recall the traits that linger in your memory among those imbued in the artifacts you have crafted. Then, speak about the achievements you have built on your path so far. Begin each one with ‘One. I did this,’ and name them one by one.”

“You’re saying the skills embedded in what I’ve crafted will manifest?”

“Yes, that power will appear. But don’t be afraid. It is merely the force of a mirage—no matter how you swing it, it will harm no one.”

The Successor, Hyunsoo, nodded, then slowly drew the sword back.

And he swung it with all his strength.

“One...”

The instant he spoke his first achievement, Deng and Colson’s eyes flew wide.

“One...”

At the second achievement, Tower Master Lex of the Blacksmith Tower of Shield—who had denied the God—let out a cry of shock.

“One...”

At the next “One” he spoke, Balam, who had resolved never again to believe in the empty myths of the God of Blacksmiths and to deny Him, sank to one knee.

“One.”

At the next word, Balam finally realized that the true God had come.

“One.”

At that final syllable on Hyunsoo’s lips, Balam, captivated, snapped back to his senses.

On one side, an entire section of space had frozen solid.

On the other, a ferocious dragon snorted as it stared straight at him.

Elsewhere, the holiest-looking bell in existence rang with a violent peal.

DOOOOOOOONG—

On yet another side, a bow drew itself and fired, slamming a monster into the ground.

And before he knew it, Balam found himself pressing his forehead to the floor, unknowingly prostrating himself in worship before the man named Hyunsoo.