Genius Blacksmith’s Game - Chapter 14
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
The Genius Blacksmith’s Game
Auction (1)
The quest to meet the lord that Hyeon-su received was B-rank.
However, one shouldn’t think of it as just B-rank.
‘This is a chain quest.’
Depending on the situation, quests continue to be linked and progress.
When reaching the end of a chain quest, there’s a high probability that the quest’s rank will change.
‘There’s absolutely no reason for me to refuse.’
Besides, Hyeon-su had to restore the Mad Lord’s Old and Rusted Armor anyway.
“I’ll give it a try.”
Soon Relson handed Hyeon-su a recommendation letter.
“Farewell, genius blacksmith sir.”
After greeting Relson, Hyeon-su started walking.
After walking for a while, Hyeon-su entered the Beginner Village.
In this Beginner Village, users learn how to do various quests.
It’s essentially the final tutorial.
However, most people don’t proceed with it and immediately leave this Beginner Zone.
Hyeon-su spotted the Lord’s Castle visible in the distance.
But before going to the Lord’s Castle, there was definitely something he had to do.
‘I’ve put out the urgent fire for now.’
Tomorrow, the VVIP Capsule would arrive.
And while Hyeon-su’s purpose included enjoying the game, it was also to make money.
Hyeon-su needed money to erase his burn scars.
‘Food expenses, rent, gas bills, this month’s treatment costs…’
Even excluding Father’s hospital bills, he needed at least 3 million won per month.
While it was now certain that he could make money here through Blade Sharpening, he had a long way to go.
‘I need to earn at least 100,000 won per day from the game.’
That’s why Hyeon-su was thinking of using the ‘Auction Board’ that becomes available when coming to the Beginner Village.
Through the Auction Board, users could trade things they wanted to sell or buy.
“My first sale.”
Hyeon-su’s heart fluttered strangely.
This was the easiest way to most accurately assess the value of artifacts he created.
‘The first sword I made in this game.’
Hyeon-su smiled bitterly while looking at Hyeon’s First Sword that he took out from his inventory.
And before selling, he checked the market price for this type of artifact.
‘Between 70 and 120 gold?’
About 70,000 to 120,000 won in Korean currency.
The value was lower than Hyeon-su had expected.
He quickly understood the reason.
‘It’s because it’s too low-level.’
In fact, users level up fastest from levels 1-30 in Ares.
Those who just eat and level up can reach that level range in just a week.
After checking the market price, he started the auction.
[Please set your seller name.]
Another good thing about the Auction Board is that complete anonymity is possible. You can set a different name from your character.
“Hyeon’s Forge.”
[Hyeon’s Forge shop is being created for the first time.]
[You can now use the Auction Board anytime, anywhere.]
[Please upload your auction item.]
He wrote the sales post.
[Hyeon’s First Sword.]
Description: Since there’s no level restriction, it should be good for beginners to use comfortably.
After writing the post, a notification appeared.
[Please set the auction starting price.]
‘Would around 100 gold be good?’
100 gold has a cash value of 100,000 won.
Even though the grade is good, considering various conditions, this seems appropriate.
If it’s more valuable, bidders will compete and the price will rise higher.
[Starting auction at 100 gold.]
‘I hope it sells well.’
Hyeon-su checked various aspects of the auction system.
‘It’s quite unique.’
The Ares auction system has special features.
There’s also a seller subscription system.
The seller subscription system is a feature that lets you subscribe to a seller and get notifications whenever that seller uploads something.
‘Usually level 100 blacksmiths have about 10 subscribers.’
There are many blacksmiths and many items they want to sell.
So the more subscribers you have, the more you can be called a celebrity.
Additionally, there was a feature that allowed people to comment below uploaded items.
[Ji-hoon: Hyeon-su, let’s eat and then game.]
[Hyeon-su: OK.]
Hyeon-su logged out before going to the Lord’s Castle.
Blam was a guild member of Golden Shield, a fairly well-known blacksmith guild in Korea.
Golden Shield would create artifacts and then sell them, or buy them through auctions, then dismantle, repair, and resell them.
They also took commissions.
Those commissions came from politicians, tycoons, or just people with some money who wanted to play the game.
They were busy and had no time to play games.
Nevertheless, they want to do better than others in the early stages.
In Blam’s case, he was a person with very little weight in the guild, so he mostly only took requests from small business CEOs or those who used to be Ringers and wanted to spend money on games.
Recently, Blam received this kind of request from a small business CEO.
‘I don’t have time to play games, but I still want to start the game a little more special than others.’
Blam, who was browsing the Auction Board, entered the ‘1-50 Level Artifact’ board.
It was practically the board with the least transactions.
Upon entering, he saw a sword that appeared as ‘Today’s New Best Artifact #1’.
“Hmm, there are quite a few comments for a 1-50 level auction item? Why is that?”
Blam made a puzzled expression and clicked on it to check the Item Information.
(Hyeon’s First Sword)
Grade: Rare
Durability: 1,000/1,000
Attack Power: 36
Restriction: Level 1-30.
Special Abilities:
·Strength +2, Agility +1.
·Active Skill Quick Draw.
Description: The finest sword that a level 1 user can wield, born from the most crude materials.
“…?”
Blam tilted his head.
‘Who is this blacksmith named Hyeon?’
One thing was certain – it wasn’t an NPC.
First, he checked the current auction price.
[Auction starting price: 100 gold.]
[Current bid: 214 gold.]
“…?”
It was quite a large amount for a Beginner Zone artifact.
Blam checked the comments.
[Wow, 214 gold for a level 1 sword? These bastards lol, their heads are empty.]
[You’re paying 200,000 won for a sword you can’t use after level 30? Are you crazy~]
[There are so many rich kids in our country lololol.]
[Aren’t rare swords like that common… The ones NPCs give when you clear quests.]
Blam, who carefully checked the Item Information once more, widened his eyes.
“That’s what you say because you’re stupid.”
Appearance isn’t what matters.
Blam’s heart trembled.
‘I have to buy this.’
In an instant, the small business CEO disappeared from Blam’s mind.
Even while he was having such thoughts, the bid price was rising.
[Current bid: 228 gold.]
[Current bid: 236 gold.]
‘It seems like other Blacksmith Guilds have caught wind of this?’
Blam also hurriedly whispered to the Vice Guild Master.
[Blam: Vice Guild Master, up to what price can I bid on this?]
[Kay: What is this?]
[Blam: It’s an artifact posted on the Auction Board.]
[Kay: Keep following the bidding for now. This is special.]
[Blam: Right?]
[Kay: Wait, let me check the board too.]
Soon the Vice Guild Master whispered again.
[Kay: Regular players don’t really know, Blam. You also know why the bidding heated up, right?]
[Blam: Of course. It says it’s the finest sword born from the most crude materials.]
Regular users might just think, oh, it’s a sword that a special user got by being pretty good at the game.
But if you examine it one by one, it’s amazing.
Having ‘finest sword’ attached means it was the first of its kind ever created for that level range.
The most crude materials means it was really made from worthless materials.
Artifacts are actually greatly influenced by the blacksmith’s skill, but they’re also heavily influenced by materials.
But it was made from the most crude materials.
[Kay: If you enhance and use that, it’ll be fucking amazing.]
Right, enhancement.
Ares also has a system called Artifact Enhancement.
And this enhancement has conditions that apply to all games.
‘The more you enhance something made from crude materials, the higher the success rate.’
If it’s really crude materials, the enhancement cost itself is also low.
If enhancement goes well, it can be used comfortably up to level 50.
And Blam began to chase the continuously rising bid price.
Then Vice Guild Master Kay whispered again.
[Kay: Blam, the Guild Master says to definitely win that bid.]
[Blam: The Guild Master?]
Surprisingly, the Guild Master of Golden Shield was Korea’s 12th ranked blacksmith.
Usually, he doesn’t pay attention to such trivial matters.
[Kay: Look at that name.]
[Blam: The name? Why the name?]
Blam pondered it.
“Hyeon’s First Sword… Hyeon’s… Hmm…?”
Blam soon sensed something strange.
“First? The first sword he crafted…?”
Blam’s eyes widened.
“The first sword he ever made is Rare grade!?”
[Blam: Crazy…]
[Kay: What do you think ‘first sword’ means? It’s a hint that he’ll be selling artifacts from now on. Otherwise, who would put ‘first’ in an artifact name? And the reason the Guild Master told you to bid is this.]
In fact, Blam had his doubts about whether they really needed to bid no matter what they threw into it.
[Kay: Considering the appropriate value, I think it’s around 300-400 gold. But what if that mysterious user grows in the future? We would be the ones who bought his first artifact at a high price. We have no connection with that person at all, so let’s at least create a connection through this.]
Ah…
Blam understood.
That mysterious blacksmith might become a goose that lays golden eggs.
Whether they bring him to the guild or secure his artifact trades.
They would get close to him somehow.
‘Did the Guild Master recognize that person’s growth potential that much…?’
It was amazing that a beginner user was already catching the eye of the 12th-ranked blacksmith.
The bid price continued to rise slowly, and Blam kept following.
After lunch with Ji-hoon, Hyeon-su logged back in and reached the vicinity of the Lord’s Castle.
Then.
[Please check the Auction Board.]
“Hm?”
Hyeon-su, who had turned off comment notifications to avoid paying attention to them, made a puzzled expression.
It seemed the notification came through because he had only turned off comment notifications while leaving board notifications on.
As far as Hyeon-su knew, board notifications usually rang for three reasons.
Either the bidding time limit had passed.
Or it rang because no one had bid, telling him to lower the price indefinitely.
Or it was telling him to check quickly because a high bid had come in.
‘Ah. Please…’
Hyeon-su wondered if the first sword he made in the game might be worthless.
Come to think of it, that day Hyeon-su had held a hammer for the first time in a really long while.
It was also an artifact he made right after starting the game for the first time.
Literally just whipped it up.
Hyeon-su opened the Auction Board and squeezed his eyes shut.
When he cautiously opened his eyes, he let out an exclamation of shock.
“What the…?”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————