Genius Blacksmith’s Game

Hyunsoo watched the Fifth Calamity Jack scatter into nothing.
Unable to even scream as he vanished in pain, Jack was meeting the most fitting end for an embodiment of evil.
Hyunsoo’s heart pounded fast.
We really did it.
Even while drafting the plan, there had always been a part of him wondering if they could actually pull it off.
Killing the Fifth Calamity Jack was going to bring enormous benefits to both Hyun’s Forge and to himself.
Every member of the guild had already been recording this Calamity hunt.
Even right now, this would propel Hyunsoo one step further ahead.
The reward notifications slammed into him.
[You have hunted Fifth Calamity Jack.]
[Your Contribution is very high.]
[Rewards are being calculated according to your Contribution.]
[Contribution is 55%.]
[You gain a large amount of EXP.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[Congratulations.]
[You have reached level 200.]
[Level up……]
[You have increased more than 40 levels at once.]
Hyunsoo couldn’t help but be stunned.
He had been level 184; in an instant, he’d become level 227.
Being over level 200 already put him in the “reasonably high level” group, so he could say he’d just taken a step into a higher tier.
[You gain 31,803 gold.]
Thirty-one thousand, eight hundred three gold. In cash terms, that was roughly 30 million won.
Just from the gold drops alone, he’d generated a huge profit.
[You gain 4 Blessed Reinforcement Stones.]
[You gain Coat of Calamity.]
[Calamity’s……]
[Jack’s……]
[You gain 500 Renown.]
[You gain 100 Charisma.]
The notifications rang on without end.
Hyunsoo could barely keep his head clear.
Blessed Reinforcement Stones were expensive enough to go for about 3 million won each in real money, and they could be used to enhance weapons or armor.
On top of that, the value of all the miscellaneous items Jack had dropped was considerable.
Just from succeeding in the raid, the gold and misc loot combined came close to 100 million won in profit.
“Oh, I leveled up once.”
“I leveled up once too. Haha!”
It looked like Ressel and Bark had also gained a significant amount of EXP.
They were wearing bright, delighted expressions, and Hyunsoo smiled faintly.
Their growth was the guild Radiance’s growth.
And those two were high-rankers.
A level-up for high-rankers is even more special.
A single level difference could reshuffle the rankings and create gaps in power.
Hyunsoo looked down at the Four Tigers Sword, scattering away in his grasp.
Without realizing it, a bitter smile crossed his face.
We were able to hunt Jack because I managed to forge this Four Tigers Sword.
The regret lay in the fact that he’d forged it through God’s Emergency Crafting.
For no real reason, he recalled the ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) notification from when he’d crafted the Four Tigers Sword.
[This will be the most perfect method for crafting the Four Tigers Sword.]
For weapons created through God’s Emergency Crafting, he only had two to three seconds to set the blueprint.
The crafting method Hyunsoo configured in that two or three seconds was something no one else could hope to keep up with.
There were around forty Four Tigers Swords still in existence in Korea.
Every Four Tigers Sword that currently existed had been born from the fingertips of Hyunsoo and his father.
[Your experience is astounding.]
[Effect application rate increases by 12%.]
The experience of the only craftsman who had actually forged them many times.
[Your understanding is exceptional.]
[Effect application rate increases by 14%.]
The one person who understood the true meaning of the Four Tigers Sword, and the reason it had come to be, and who could infuse that understanding into the blade.
Hyunsoo could say it with confidence.
He was the only one in the world who existed like that.
And so, the Four Tigers Sword had been born—even if only through God’s Emergency Crafting.
But now, he had the feeling he would never again be able to forge a Four Tigers Sword with this kind of effect and grade.
It’s not because my skill is lacking.
It was because of the system.
When blacksmiths tried to make artifacts with similar effects, if they had already once produced a very high grade with that effect, the odds of hitting that grade again dropped dramatically.
Of course, artifacts were crafted by Hyunsoo’s own skill.
Even so, it was the system that set the effect application rate, not Hyunsoo.

That was why getting another Legendary out of it would be hard.
I’ll be gaining a lot thanks to the Four Tigers Sword, so I should just be satisfied.
It was something he couldn’t change, so he decided to just shake it off.
Right then.
Hyunsoo’s expression turned puzzled.
SSRRR— The Four Tigers Sword, which had been scattering away, remained there in its full shape.
What…?
Its disappearance had suddenly stopped.
He was still staring at that strange phenomenon, baffled, when—
[Class Quest: God’s Wish completed.]
[You have completed it with an astonishing result.]
[You may receive your reward from Saint Aria.]
An astonishing result.
Which part had been “astonishing”?
The God’s Wish quest was about rescuing the Saint.
Nowhere in the quest text had it said he had to kill the Fifth Calamity, yet he’d succeeded in killing him.
[The God of Blacksmiths is assessing the current situation.]
[He judges that the given rewards are insufficient.]
Hyunsoo’s heart thumped.
There might be a connection between those messages and the reason the Four Tigers Sword, which should have scattered as an Emergency-Crafted weapon, had not disappeared.
DING!
[The God of Blacksmiths offers a hint.]
[Saint Aria possesses a special power.]
[One of those powers may be able to help keep the Four Tigers Sword from vanishing.]
[The power of the God of Blacksmiths helps keep the Four Tigers Sword from vanishing for 10 minutes.]
Hyunsoo’s face lit up.
A hope had appeared—that he might not lose this Four Tigers Sword.
Saint Aria’s special power, huh?
He calmed his excitement and checked the Four Tigers Sword that remained in his hand without scattering.
(Four Tigers Sword)
Grade: Legendary
Durability: 10,000 / 10,000
Attack Power: 517
Restriction: No restriction for the creator; among those who wield Divine Power, levels 300–450
Special Abilities:
·Divine Power +10%.
·Attack Power against evil beings and undead +140%.
·Defense against evil beings and undead +25%.
·Ignores 40% of Defense against evil beings and undead.
·Effect visual of shooting stars pouring into the blade.
·Active Skill Tiger’s Energy.
·Active Skill Light of Divinity.
·Passive Skill Annihilate Evil.
Description: A Four Tigers Sword forged through God’s Emergency Crafting; no other holy sword can compare to it.
Just from reading the detailed info, he could tell how incredible this sword was.
With this sword, the Ares Church gains a powerful weapon in its war against the Cult of Calamity.
The Four Tigers Sword was a masterpiece among masterpieces.
But with artifacts, you had to think about the user.
For Hyunsoo, this wasn’t an artifact he needed right away.
And he still had hundreds of millions of won left in medical bills that felt like debt.
If I can just “restore” this Four Tigers Sword, I might be able to clear that and start a new life.
That was only if he could recover the sword in its permanent, complete form.
How am I supposed to ask Aria to restore this Four Tigers Sword for me?
At that moment.
He felt an unknown pressure.
Jack, who had seemed to have scattered away completely.
Jack’s ashes pierced through Hyunsoo.
[Curse of Death]
[Upon the death of Fifth Calamity Jack, a curse is triggered that lulls you into death.]
[You will slowly die.]
[If you do not resist within 10 minutes, you will be forcibly logged out.]
Hyunsoo’s skin turned black. His vision spun, and he collapsed with a thud.
[You have fallen into the status ailment: Stun.]
Even as he fell, Hyunsoo couldn’t let go of the sword.
“I still have to get the Four Tigers Sword back……”
With those last words, he fully lost consciousness.
 
*****
“H-Hyunsoo!”
“Hyunsoo!”
Guild Radiance’s members rushed over to Hyunsoo, who had suddenly collapsed.
Belia, who had arrived late, saw that Hyunsoo had fallen and hurried over as well.
I never imagined Jack would have left a curse behind……
To embed a power that harmed others even in his death.
It was truly a horrifying curse.
Belia gently laid Hyunsoo’s head on her lap.
What do I do……? It feels like he’s about to be forcibly logged out……
Hyunsoo’s HP was steadily dropping, and his skin was growing darker and darker; he looked dangerously fragile.
Just then—
[Appearance of Saint Aria!]
[The noblest light descends.]
[Saint Aria Lv.348]
Saint Aria.
The holiest light, rivaling the Ten Legends of the continent.
With Jack’s death, she had regained the power she’d lost.
Soon, dozens of shafts of light rained down around the Saint.
From those lights, renowned Holy Knights of the Ares Church and priests were descending.
Under their protection, Saint Aria walked forward.
She looked down at the unconscious Hyunsoo.
She remembered.
“Could I receive a small amount of the mineral Asnium?”
“Asnium? Asnium is promised only to the Successor of the God of Blacksmiths.”
“I am that Successor. I need it to kill the Calamity Jack and to save the Ares Church.”
The value of Asnium was astronomical.
But in that man’s upright, steady eyes, Aria had seen enough to hand him a tiny amount of Asnium.
And as soon as he’d received it, he had run.
With calm eyes, she looked at the sword in Hyunsoo’s hand that had been scattering, then stopped.
“Why is that sword scattering?”
Nell explained.
“Artifacts crafted through God’s Emergency Crafting disappear.”
“……Disappear? Then can he simply make it again?”
“No. It can’t be crafted again.”
Nell went on to explain why, and that Hyunsoo would never be able to forge a sword like that again.
“Even so, why……?”
Aria had already felt a deep gratitude toward him, and had been thinking she needed to reward him.
The one who had not only rescued her, but had also killed the Fifth Calamity the Ares Church had hunted for so long.
Belia chimed in.
“It must have been for something more precious than this sword.”
“And what would that be?”
Belia didn’t answer. She just looked at Aria.
Saint Aria’s eyes widened.
It meant “for her.”
In a trembling voice, she asked,
“What kind of person is he?”
“He is goodness.”
That single word shook Aria’s heart deeply, and Belia spoke with a face full of certainty.
“At least, that’s what he’s been in my eyes. I changed class to Saint’s Child.”
There was an unfortunate restriction placed on the Saint’s Child.
The rule that they could not go anywhere outside the Ares Church.
If they broke that rule, they would be stripped of their qualifications.
Even so, she said,
“He’s the one who made me think this way.”
And what thought was that?
“I want to be with this man.”
That was what resonated most deeply in Aria.
The goodness that had made Saint’s Child Belia think that way.
Aria approached the sleeping Hyunsoo and placed her hand on his forehead.
“No evil shall be able to harm you……”
A warm power flowed from her fingertips and wrapped around Hyunsoo.
[Saint’s Mercy]
[Curse of Death is dispelled.]
The blackness faded from unconscious Hyunsoo’s skin, returning to its original color, and his expression relaxed.
Then Aria took hold of the Four Tigers Sword, which had stopped scattering.
Holding the sword, she offered up another prayer.
[Prayer of Birth]
[That which was vanishing is born anew.]
The scattered Four Tigers Sword reunited with its remnants and slowly returned to its original form.
Even in his sleep, Hyunsoo heard the notification.
[The Four Tigers Sword regains its complete form.]
“Hyunsoo, I will not forget. Your grace.”
[Saint Aria and the Ares Church will never forget you.]
Aria straightened up and said,
“When he wakes up, could you please tell him to come see me?”
Belia asked a simple question.
“Why?”
Aria smiled, bright and lovely.
“The Ares Church’s repayment has only just begun.”