Genius Blacksmith's Game

TATATATAK—

For the first time in a while, the sound of two keyboards rang out in the Korean Special User Management Team.

One belonged to employee Lee Jihui, and the other belonged to Team Lead Kim Taeseok, who had briefly returned.

—Please help me.

The incident began with an SOS from Haruto, team lead of the Japanese branch.

Normally, they would have cast “Who are you?” and ignored it, but this time was different.

“To think this happened because he couldn’t hold out for just a few days.”

Captain Hyunsoo’s seat had been empty for several days.

But that was not a major issue.

That was because, for the next few days, the Continental War: World Championship would be filled mainly with non-mainstream events.

The Continental War: World Championship was held over a long period.

That was so all classes could participate.

During that time, no one from Team Korea had any particular events to participate in, and he had used that opening.

Also, {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} the reason Kim Taeseok had returned was to help clean up Japan’s situation after it had lost three Makers.

TATATATAK—

While typing up response measures on the keyboard, Team Lead Kim suddenly became curious.

“......Come to think of it, what happened to the nation of Hyun after the Continental War: World Championship began?”

“What exactly are you asking?”

“The nation’s grade.”

“Ah.......”

The nation of Hyun had shaken greatly after Ben’s passing.

And because they were the Special User Management Team, they could look into the nation’s level precisely.

The last time they had checked it:

[Lowest.]

[The nation’s finances, public sentiment, development, tax revenue securing, and other foundations are endlessly unstable and in danger.]

It had been at the lowest stage.

Most nations began at Low upon founding.

The nation of Hyun had also been Low.

But.

I didn’t expect it to be demoted to Lowest this quickly.

Nation grades were divided into Lowest, Low, Mid, High, Highest, and Great Power.

Soon, Lee Jihui said,

“It’s Mid.”

“At least it fortunately recovered back to Low...... What?”

Team Lead Kim’s eyes widened.

A nation was not an individual.

Therefore, raising a nation’s grade was never easy.

Even for a rising new nation, growing from Low to Mid took at least five years.

And that’s considered a success story.

Most remained where they were.

Team Lead Kim wanted to confirm it with his own eyes as well, so he clicked the nation of Hyun’s grade.

[Mid.]

[The nation’s finances, public sentiment, development, specialty products, learning, and other foundations are endlessly developing, achieving explosive growth.]

“Huh.......”

It was true.

“Then how much has its national power risen during that time?”

If national power accumulated, the grade rose.

“21%.”

“......What?”

Team Lead Kim nearly had his brain freeze.

This had happened while Hyunsoo had been stepping away from his seat whenever he could.

And then.

Team Lead Kim became curious about one more thing.

“Then how much has user Hyunsoo grown?”

*****

Lee Jihui knew Team Lead Kim would ask that question.

When opinions were divided over who was superior between Valhalla and Hyunsoo,

the Special User Management Team could examine it closely.

And what they needed to know was that Valhalla had started at least one year earlier than Hyunsoo.

He was one of the Pioneers because he had been unrivaled in that state.

Of course, Hyunsoo was also one of the Pioneers.

However, they were different in quality.

Aside from Unique Titles, Unique stats, and Unique skills.

Valhalla had monopolized them one year earlier.

And considering that he was a combat-class user with the Sword God class,

Valhalla had approximately 2.6 times as many titles, 2 times as many combat-related skills, and 2.3 times higher damage output.

Of course, that was when looking purely at the “body.”

Even after filling that gap with user Hyunsoo’s artifacts and producing comprehensive data,

Valhalla was more than 40% higher overall.

No, he had been higher.

At least until Team Lead Kim had checked a short while ago.

Moreover, the gap had continued to widen.

Valhalla was the captain of Team USA.

However, the only reason he participated was to fight Hyunsoo, and the other reason was the compensation plan the United States had offered him.

Because they had promised to give him the Fairy’s Grail if Valhalla participated as captain.

Fairy’s Grail.

It increased EXP acquisition rate by x2 for one week, and EXP from boss monsters by x3.

Valhalla, as captain, was away from his seat just like Hyunsoo.

He was growing even more for the day that was soon to come, and, on top of that, Valhalla was several moves ahead in actual skill as well.

At that moment.

Lee Jihui spoke about user Hyunsoo’s growth.

“He has grown 9%.”

“Cough, cough—9%!?”

Team Lead Kim was shocked.

A user had grown 9%?

He could not believe it.

Especially because people who had gone past Level 500 like Hyunsoo were special.

He hunted more than 5,000 owlbears? And more than 10 Mountain Owlbears?

The key had been Mandara’s Transcendent Elixir.

At that moment, Lee Jihui said,

“The problem is that his growth from this point on cannot be measured.”

“What do you mean?”

RATTLE—

Team Lead Kim, still seated, pushed off with his feet and rolled his chair over to Lee Jihui’s monitor.

Alrod was presenting four choices.

As Lee Jihui said, it could not be measured.

Because it will change depending on what user Hyunsoo chooses.

Team Lead Kim stared at the monitor, curious.

What will he choose?

*****

Warrior.

If he chose something other than the Great Archdemon Gremory’s Blessing, the first thing that came to mind was warrior.

Warrior.

It was the general term for all close-combat classes.

If he received a blessing related to warriors, it was guaranteed that he would become much stronger.

That was why he had considered choosing warrior.

But.

It has to suit me?

A custom blessing was a blessing among those possessed by past beings that had never appeared in the world, and he would receive one suitable for him.

Hyunsoo was a blacksmith, not a warrior.

His strength?

It came from crafting.

He had raised his stats through crafting, and through crafting he had gained this strength.

He also saw the essence.

Right now, I was only conscious of Valhalla.

He had only been looking for a way to defeat Valhalla.

Because of that, he had almost been drawn toward warrior.

It also made him realize one other thing.

If it has to suit me, then an unexpectedly insignificant and useless blessing might descend.

Because in the end, he was not a warrior.

Let’s think lightly.

He realized he had been crushed beneath the heavy weight of it.

If he lost to Valhalla, he could challenge him again.

I’ll choose what helps me most.

That was what he decided.

Hyunsoo pointed with his finger.

Alrod looked surprised.

Because of the blessing written where he pointed.

[Blessing for a king.]

Huh......?

A blessing for a king might be the one that took the longest to show its power.

Also, because it was a blessing for a king, it might help the kingdom rather than the person himself.

However, Alrod respected Hyunsoo’s choice.

“Understood. Then I shall bestow it.”

“......Yes.”

Hyunsoo thought his choice might have been wrong.

Even now, he suspected, Should I have chosen warrior?

But the water had already been spilled, so he relaxed his mind.

[The custom blessing begins.]

[Searching for the blessing that best suits you now.]

[Search Rate 2%......]

No, I don’t regret my choice. Let’s not regret it.

He resolved himself that way, only for a notification that could shatter that resolve immediately to ring out.

[Searching for the blessing of a cowardly king who abandoned his nation, fled six times, and sold his people to prolong his life.]

“......?”

Even though Hyunsoo did not know much about this custom blessing, there was one thing he knew for certain.

A blessing generally followed the power of the blessing’s owner.

In other words, just as a knight who bestowed a blessing would grant a power similar to that of a knight.

Or.

If the god Ares bestows a blessing.

He could not bestow a blessing imbued with evil power.

Also, just as Sword King Barad’s blessing would be connected to “swordsmanship” and “Sword Mastery,” he could not bestow power related to spearmanship or magic.

Every blessing originated from its owner’s specialty.

In other words, if it was a king like that, since he was “a king better at running away than anyone else,” maybe Agility would rise enormously.

Eek......?

Of course, Agility was good too, but it had no major merit for Hyunsoo.

Also, the blessing of someone like that had a high chance of being trash.

At that moment.

[Not suitable.]

Whew......

His pounding heart calmed.

[Search Rate 16%......]

He placed a hand on his chest and settled down with a relieved expression, only to hear another notification.

[Searching for the blessing of one who murdered his three older brothers to ascend the throne and become king.]

Eek? Is it a rebel’s blessing!?

His heart dropped even harder.

In other words, this person had stopped at nothing and used every means available to become king.

There was no way the blessing of someone like that could be proper.

[Not suitable.]

The notifications continued to ring out, and every time they did, Hyunsoo’s heart pounded.

[Searching for the blessing of a king who sold his people to another nation as arrow shields, filled the national treasury, and gambled it all away.]

[Not suitable.]

[Searching for a king who reached the pinnacle of sculpting and filled his entire kingdom with excellent and outstanding sculptures.]

[Not suitable.]

[Searching for a bat-like king who, because his nation had no strength, bowed his head to another country’s retainers and handed over talented people.]

[Not suitable.]

“Urk, agh, kehek, eeeeek......!”

Every time a notification rang, Hyunsoo made a strange cry.

Hyunsoo thought that perhaps this choice had been wrong, considering only kings like these were being listed.

However, that was a misunderstanding.

The notification was clearly saying:

Not suitable.

The Search Rate was reading countless kings’ blessings.

The condition was that they had died during life without ever bestowing those blessings.

Or that they had failed to find someone worthy of receiving their blessing during their lifetime, and so the blessing had been buried without ever being bestowed.

Among them, the early search had merely searched through those who were completely incompatible with him.

Soon, the notifications changed completely.

The more the search proceeded, the more it found people who suited Hyunsoo.

[Searching for the blessing of a king who stood alone against an army of 30,000 for his pitiful people.]

It was a story like a legend.

A king who had fought 30,000 alone made Hyunsoo’s heart pound.

Also, the information Hyunsoo knew was often limited to “Ares.”

Stories of the Tyrant and the Overlord were known because they were famous, but there were countless unknown stories as well.

And just as there had been many unworthy kings, there had also been countless excellent and extraordinary kings.

Right. A king who cut down 30,000! If it’s something like this, it might be different. A power like his pride would be imbued in it!

However.

[Insufficient. Not suitable.]

“......?”

The notification had changed.

Those who had appeared early on had all been completely unqualified.

The ones that followed now were a little different.

Insufficient. Not suitable.

The notification said he had fought 30,000, but it never said he had survived, and that was the reason he was insufficient.

However, Hyunsoo, who did not know the essence of the custom blessing, misunderstood.

Could it mean I’m insufficient?

He did not know that the king who had protected those 30,000 had ultimately died there and remained as a tragic king.

The notifications continued to ring out.

[Searching for the blessing of a king who began as a commoner, then became a soldier, a knight, a hundred-man commander, and a thousand-man commander. In the end, he was appointed commander-in-chief, punished an immoral king, and achieved a revolution.]

“......?”

That was quite good.

Because it meant he had been a viciously tenacious person with a growth narrative.

However, this time was the same.

[Insufficient. Not suitable.]

What exactly is insufficient? Are you saying I don’t suit kings like these either?

Hyunsoo became gloomy at the thought that he was insufficient for things like this.

Because of that, the system felt both unfair and absurd to him.

And at some point, the Search Rate was approaching 85%.

[Searching for the blessing of a miraculous king who, when everyone said it was impossible, contracted with spirits for the first time and founded the nation of spirits.]

Finally.

A notification he had never seen before appeared.

[Suitable.]

But for some reason, this was not applied to Hyunsoo either.

Next.

[Searching for the blessing of a Myth-like king who cut down six Legends alone and faced one Great Archdemon.]

[Suitable.]

And before he knew it.

Hyunsoo saw the Search Rate.

[Search Rate 98%......]

The search was already nearing its end, and Hyunsoo became impatient.

Because nothing had been confirmed.

Then it reached the end.

[Search Rate reaches 100%.]

[Finding the final king.]

The words “final king” filled Hyunsoo with enormous anxiety.

Don’t tell me......?

If no blessing descended upon him even with this final one, would this custom blessing ultimately fail?

In truth, blessings could fail.

Even if one who possessed a blessing bestowed it,

if the recipient was not someone capable of satisfying it, the blessing would be nullified.

Then what would happen to this custom blessing?

It will disappear.

It would vanish completely without leaving any effect behind.

Hyunsoo’s chest dropped with anxiety.

And the final notification rang out.

[Searching for the blessing of a king and mercenary who was born an orphan of the north and completed every mission.]

Mercenary?

Mercenaries were among the lowest classes, like soldiers.

[He completed missions everyone said were impossible and earned the respect of mercenaries across the entire continent.]

[One day, he began gathering mercenaries who had been oppressed and looked down upon from across the entire continent.]

[An army of millions answered his call, and those with different names, origins, and statuses stood beside him and founded a mercenary kingdom.]

[He was the king of all mercenaries, a legend, and a Myth, and he built his own Great Power.]

Great Power.

It meant a nation closest to an empire.

And he was more outstanding than any king Hyunsoo had seen so far.

What was astonishing was this.

[It is the most perfect custom blessing.]

[Mercenary King Dante’s Blessing chooses you.]

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