Genius Blacksmith's Game

[Wolf Slam]

[You are sent flying a great distance by a powerful impact.]

KWAAANG-!

Hyunsoo flew through the air.

As his vision rolled in the sky, he caught sight of Belia, frozen in terror.

Belia was feeling genuine fear inside this game.

She collapsed, trembling, as she stared at the ferocious Ashen Wolf, its shoulder height over 4m.

Hyunsoo’s grip tightened around the weapon in his hand.

What do I do?

He’d already been flung about 20m. If he tried to run back to the Ashen Wolf, he’d be too late.

Should I shoot an arrow?

He wouldn’t be able to hit.

Because Ares was a realistic game, Hyunsoo, spinning in midair, would be feeling extreme vertigo.

A brief flash passed through his mind: Belia hanging limp, her neck clamped in the Ashen Wolf’s jaws.

They’d only been together for a short time, but she was a good person—and a new connection in Hyunsoo’s life.

Flash—

Hyunsoo’s eyes snapped open out of the haze of dizziness.

I just have to unleash a power that never misses.

Memories surfaced. From his childhood.

It was around the time his blacksmithing technique had begun to mature.

Hyunsoo had been no different from any other student.

He loved weapons and artifacts passed down as legends or myths.

The only slightly special thing about him was that, while other kids might have heard of those once or twice in school, Hyunsoo could try to recreate them.

[Beginning God’s Emergency Crafting.]

He had drawn blueprints for dozens of mythical weapons and tried to recreate them using various books.

Among them, Gungnir—the spear said to have been made by Odin—was the one he’d poured his heart and soul into.

Like a kid obsessed with Lego.

[Your experience is astonishing.]

[Your understanding is exceptional.]

[Effect application rate has increased by 8%.]

[Effect application rate has increased by 9%.]

He remembered scrapping it dozens of times and thinking it through dozens more as he forged it.

Because of that, doing it now was all too easy for him.

[Effect application rate is 77%.]

[Grade is Unique.]

SHWAAAAA—

He slid along the ground, one hand stretching out.

The spear, as beautiful as if it were gilded in pure gold, was Gungnir itself straight out of myth.

[Status effect: Dizziness has been triggered.]

[It is difficult to maintain your balance.]

Hyunsoo shifted his weight onto his back leg.

He clenched his teeth. The distance between him and the beast was about 60m.

The moment it left his hand, Gungnir accelerated and roared forward.

(Gungnir)

Grade: Unique

Durability: 4,000/4,000

Attack Power: 289

Restriction: No restriction for the crafter, Level 100–200

Special Abilities:

·Strength +1%, Stamina +1.2%

·Active Skill Gungnir That Never Misses.

·Active Skill Free Control.

Description: A spear born through Emergency Crafting. Thanks to the crafter’s outstanding experience and knowledge, the effect application rate exceeded 70%.

Hitting a target about 60m away with a thrown spear is practically impossible.

But the spear Hyunsoo had thrown was the same spear held by the chief god Odin.

[Gungnir That Never Misses]

[Any enemy within a 100m radius is struck without fail, and extra Attack Power +330% is applied.]

It would not miss.

PZZZZZT-!

The spear, wrapped in huge crackling sparks, accelerated.

The Ashen Wolf leaped into the air as if to mock him, veering out of the spear’s trajectory and sneering at him.

But then Gungnir twisted its trajectory and shot upward into the sky.

“Kyaaak!”

Belia fell to the ground, and the Ashen Wolf’s big yellow eyes went wide.

But the Ashen Wolf relaxed at once.

It was merely a petty king of the ground in Wolves’ Sanctuary.

However, in the distant past—

Back when Fenrir still lived, it had run rampant as his third child, infamous for its savagery.

It had grown absurdly weak compared to then, but even so, no one who had entered this sanctuary had ever left so much as a scratch on its thick outer hide.

No weapon had ever been able to cut it.

No weapon had ever been able to pierce it.

Yes, the Ashen Wolf was, from the very start, never meant to be a monster that could be hunted here.

PUUUUK-!

And yet, the moment that spear drove into its abdomen, the Ashen Wolf felt a pain it had never experienced in its life.

KRRRRRK—

“GyaaaAAANG!”

A dog’s howl tore out of its mouth unbidden.

The force of the spear buried in its abdomen shoved its whole body back.

Soon the spear, skewering the Ashen Wolf like a spit, slammed into a tree.

KWAAANG-!

“GyaaAAANG, gyaAAANG!!”

Pinned to the upper part of the tree, the Ashen Wolf thrashed wildly, dangling from the spear.

Then the spear slipped free on its own, and the Ashen Wolf crashed down to the ground.

THUD-!

The Ashen Wolf staggered to its feet.

To think it had taken this much damage from that pathetic thing?

The man was charging at it with his sword drawn. At the same time, he did something incomprehensible.

He extended the index finger of his left hand and swept it quickly from top to bottom.

“......?”

The Ashen Wolf tilted its head in confusion. Without realizing it, it found its gaze pulled upward.

[Free Control]

[You can freely control Gungnir even without holding it.]

The spear that had been pulled out of the tree was now shooting toward its body.

TAP-!

The Ashen Wolf kicked off the ground, dodging the spear, and dashed toward Hyunsoo like a flash of lightning.

A cheetah can cover 100m in 3.2 seconds, reaching a top speed of 110km/h.

The Ashen Wolf was several times larger than a cheetah yet could cover 100m in 2 seconds, with a top speed of 150km/h.

The ground caved in with every stride, and in an instant it closed the distance to the man.

The man sheathed his sword and pulled out a strange bow.

“Grrrrrrrr!”

[Ashen Howl]

[All prey within a 30m radius of the Ashen Wolf are torn to shreds.]

The man’s entire body was struck dozens of times by the wolf’s heavy forepaws.

The armor that had looked so solid warped and twisted, his center of gravity shook, and a scream burst out of his mouth.

Before he knew it, the distance between them had shrunk to within 20m.

Even as he staggered and kept taking damage, the man slowly drew back the bowstring.

CLICK—

SHWAAAAA—

The Ashen Wolf did not lower its guard.

Now it knew he was far stronger than it had expected.

THUUUUM-!

Watching the arrow fly, it chose to charge straight through. It decided to take the arrow and rip out his throat in a single bite.

An arrow slammed into its chest.

The impact was strong enough to throw it backward, but it ignored it.

The man’s face was now right in front of its nose.

The Ashen Wolf opened its jaws wide.

But something felt wrong.

A faint grin tugged at the man’s lips.

A smile that didn’t match at all with the fact that his whole body was drenched in blood.

[Active Skill Strange Thousand Pounds.] 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

The weight in its chest suddenly plunged toward the ground.

KWAAANG-!

Its chest slammed into the earth, and it felt like the weight of its entire body had increased by about ten times.

The Ashen Wolf had the strange sensation that its posture now looked like it was bowing to a king.

Frozen in place, unable to move, it could only watch as the man raised the sword gripped in both hands.

And Hyunsoo brought the blade down on the Ashen Wolf’s head without hesitation.

KRAK-!

“Haaah, haah.”

Hyunsoo sucked in ragged breaths as he watched the creature crumble into ashes.

[You have hunted the boss monster Ashen Wolf.]

[You have gained 23,910 EXP.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled u......]

[You have gained 3,503 gold.]

Hyunsoo’s level shot up by nearly 20 in one go.

Belia’s EXP gain buff really is insane.

EXP gain +18%.

In practical terms, that buff alone had given Hyunsoo around three extra levels.

[A special event is occurring.]

Hm?

Hyunsoo mulled over that phrase “special event.”

Come to think of it, the cloak and helm he’d gotten when he hunted Fenrir’s Fragment had said this:

“A special event may occur.”

Hyunsoo felt a rush of anticipation for what that “special” might be.

[You already possess two artifacts related to Fenrir.]

[By hunting the Ashen Wolf, one of Fenrir’s children, you have acquired Damaged Fenrir Boots.]

Hyunsoo let out a low exclamation.

And that wasn’t all he’d earned from hunting the Ashen Wolf.

[You have acquired Wolf Egg(?).]

Wolf Egg? What now?

For the moment, Hyunsoo checked the damaged boots first.

(Damaged Fenrir Boots)

Grade: Epic, Unrepairable

Durability: 390/4,000

Defense: 166

Restriction: Level 100 or higher

Special Abilities:

·Strength +5, Stamina +13

·Magic Defense +14%.

·Lightning Resistance +17%.

·Active Skill Wolf Leap.

·When two of the three set artifacts are equipped, all effects +3%.

·When all three are equipped, all effects +10%.

·An even more special event may occur.

Description: Damaged Fenrir Boots so badly destroyed that they have completely lost their original form. Only the original crafter can repair them.

They were the same series he’d gotten before.

Even so, Hyunsoo felt a strong need to equip them.

[You have equipped Fenrir’s Helm, Fenrir’s Cloak, and Damaged Fenrir Boots.]

[Set effect applied. All effects +15%.]

I’ll have to repair these once I get back too.

This time, he checked the egg—big, hard, and white, like an ostrich egg.

(Wolf Egg)

Grade: ???

Type: ???

Description: A Wolf Egg carried by the Ashen Wolf, Fenrir’s third child. No one knows what kind of wolf will emerge, or when it will hatch.

Fenrir’s third child? More than that, a Wolf Egg?

Hyunsoo realized the Ashen Wolf he’d hunted was an even more impressive creature than he’d thought.

But since he had no idea when it would hatch or what kind of wolf would come out, he carefully placed it in his inventory for now.

[You have completed a new story with astounding results.]

Hyunsoo had heard talk of this “Wolf King” before.

But even now, he still didn’t really know what exactly the Wolf King was.

[Hidden Piece: One Who Defeated the King of Wolves’ Sanctuary]

[You have become the Wolf King.]

[You have acquired Wolf’s Howl.]

Hyunsoo’s expression stiffened in surprise at the notification that followed.

He slowly walked forward and climbed up onto a boulder.

*****

[You have been stunned.]

Belia had been knocked to the ground by the Ashen Wolf and lost consciousness.

Sometimes the status effect Stun also serves to protect a user.

If the user suffers severe mental damage or experiences overwhelming fear, it stuns them to shield them.

Slowly coming back to herself, Belia didn’t want to wake up.

N-no, I don’t want to......

The truth was, in the moment she’d been thrown into danger by the Ashen Wolf in Wolves’ Sanctuary, doubt had crept in.

Hyun was strong. Strong enough to exceed her expectations.

But she had begun to doubt whether Hyun and she could really save the Saint.

How are we supposed to reach the Saint? No, what about all those believers?

She couldn’t think of any way to break through those hundreds of grotesque cultists.

Awooooo......

An unknown wolf’s howl sent a chill down her spine.

Realizing the situation she was currently in, she finally forced her eyes open.

Awooooooo—

Darkness had fallen at some point, as if the sun had already set, and Belia frowned in confusion at the continued howling.

The howls grew so clear it felt like they were right at her ear.

Awooooooo-!

Belia’s eyes flew wide.

From behind trees, thickets, and rocks—giant wolves scattered all across the sanctuary began to walk, one by one, toward a man standing atop a boulder.

Awoooooooo-!

H-Hyun?

Above Hyun’s head—

Fenrir’s Helm, strapped onto him, was howling on its own.

Awoooooooo-!

At that second howl, the hundreds of brave wolves arrayed before him—

All howled in unison.

Awoooooooo-!

Th-the Wolf King......

Belia shuddered with a feverish thrill. Yes, Hyun’s current appearance was the Wolf King itself.

At that moment—

The player with the in-game nickname Court—and Hyunsoo’s real-life friend, Jihoon—was hiding near the temple.

Court {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} was a Level 198 Holy Knight who had received Hidden Quest: Rescue the Saint.

Jihoon, whose base had originally been Reas Temple, swallowed dryly.

Hundreds of cultists of the evil god.

And the Fifth Calamity, famous in Ares.

Can we really save her?

Together with Court, the surviving Holy Knights were preparing to rescue the Saint.

In truth, it was a situation that was more than half-certain to be impossible.

But the Holy Knights here had no choice.

If they rescued the Saint, they would each gain +5 levels—a reward far too tempting to ignore.

“Let’s go.”

With those words, Court and the few remaining Holy Knights began to move.