Genius Blacksmith’s Game - Chapter 190

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Genius Blacksmith’s Game
Continental War (2)
Upon reconnecting to Ares, Hyeon-su recalled the facts.
Third place in the World Blacksmith Rankings. Second place in World Blacksmith Shop Rankings.
Wang Gang, who commanded a total of fifty million subscribers, was stoking the Furnace for Chinese Users.
The article Hyeon-su had read before reconnecting to Ares left a deep impression.
-Chinese Users expected to participate with a considerable number of Legendary Artifacts.
-Over 200 Unique grade items.
-Chinese Users supported by the Black Dragon Blacksmith, one of the world’s strongest Blacksmith Shops.
Hyeon-su had first crafted a Legendary Artifact ten months ago.
At that time, Hyeon-su was the only User in Korea to have crafted a Legendary.
But in games, once a single Artifact breaks through, it accelerates exponentially.
When Hyeon-su first created a Legendary, there were fewer than twenty Legendaries across the entire world.
But now, over eighty Legendaries had been released in total.
‘There might be even more.’
Users grew stronger with each passing day.
‘Chinese Users bringing multiple Legendaries, huh? How many will appear? Four? Five?’
I didn’t know.
Then, suddenly, I took stock of myself.
One Transcendent Twin Dragon Sword.
One Legend Above Legends—the Supreme.
One Legendary Crown Sculpted by the Divine.
One Legendary Calamity Necklace.
One Legendary Calamity Armor.
“…When did this happen?”
My level was 339.
The average level of Continental War participants was 370.
But my advantage against them lay elsewhere.
‘I have five of these alone.’
Furthermore.
‘I’ve decided to participate in the Continental War. Since it’s come to this, I want to be the MVP.’
I also wanted to obtain new Transcendent-grade Artifact materials.
Thus, I needed a way to become even stronger.
‘I’ll equip these five Artifacts with yet another Legendary.’
Suddenly, I imagined this scenario.
Whether China brought six, seven, or ten Legendaries.
‘No one else would possess five or more Legendaries alone.’
And there was a way to add more Legendaries here.
It was to Recreation the Lord’s Coat and the Calamity Gauntlet.
I pondered the word “Calamity.”
The word “calamity”—humanity’s deepest terror.
A method to exploit their primal fear.
‘And a way to forge even better Coats and Gauntlets.’
Hyeon-su made his decision.
He had found one of the things humans feared most.
‘This is it.’
How to create something even more extraordinary?
‘Cutting power, defense, mental strength, leap.’
I had no intention of sacrificing any of them.
Rather, I would dramatically amplify their performance. In exchange, I would diminish other aspects.
‘The set Artifact effect I gained from equipping four Artifacts.’
It achieved an abundance of boosts.
By wearing them as a set, all performance improved by over 10%.
‘I’ll lower these and instead create my own calamity that terrifies my enemies.’
It was different from flames.
Unlike something that burned me, this would make enemies tremble in fear.
Hyeon-su laughed.
‘Even without an offensive Twin Dragon Sword, I’ll become the MVP.’
And as I recreated, I heard the notification.
[You have recreated it with superior craftsmanship compared to the original creator.]
This notification came from the Gauntlet of Calamity.
[The Gauntlet of Calamity’s effect improves by 5%.]
Next was the Lord’s Coat, which I had recreated once before.
I recreated that as well.
Then Hyeon-su was astonished.
[Your skill has improved beyond the previous recreation.]
[The Lord’s Coat’s effect improves by 4%.]
“…!”
Hyeon-su realized it.
‘I have grown beyond who I was six months ago when I first created this.’
Finally, it was recreated.
[The Lord’s Coat’s rank has been upgraded.]
[The tenth legend is written.]
With this, Hyeon-su would now enter the tournament equipped with six Artifacts of legend or higher.
Unfortunately, the Gauntlet could not be upgraded.
But what Hyeon-su focused on was this.
I lowered the percentage boost from the set Artifact effect.
And created my own calamity by diminishing everything except cutting power, defense, leap, and mental strength.
[The set Artifact effect applies the skill Dark Night.]
I believed this power would play a crucial role in approaching MVP.
Hyeon-su logged out.
‘I need to get proper rest the night before the tournament.’
It was to enter the Continental War in peak condition.
*
*
*
The entire world was ablaze with excitement.
The day the Continental War began had dawned.
Each broadcasting station relayed the Continental War through commentators and MC positions.
-The viewer count is astronomical.
-Many people are watching to see the Ares festival.
-What kind of event is the Continental War?
-The Continental War is a large-scale territorial battle between Korea on defense and China on offense. Korea will have one thousand Users participating and competing, while China will have one thousand one hundred Users.
-Why do the Chinese Users outnumber by ten percent?
-Because the defensive position is advantageous in territorial battles.
-Who are the participants?
-Most participants are Users in the top one percent, selected from each branch and by commanders temporarily assigned to both nations. Our Korea’s commander is Lee Hwan, the Master of the Hwarang Guild and ranked first in our country.
-It appears the three major guilds of our country are also participating in force.
-That’s correct. It’s quite unprecedented to see this many high-ranked players gathered in one place.
-How will victory be determined in this Continental War?
-Korea wins if they hold out for two days, while China wins if they break the powerful barrier inside the castle and seize Korea’s flag planted within it.
-As I speak, Users appear in both camps.
-China displays numerous Users who have dominated the world rankings.
-However, we must remember that our country has Lee Hwan, shining at seventh place in the world rankings.
Upon the castle wall.
Lee Hwan, Master of Korea’s greatest guild, the Hwarang Guild, gazed down at the Chinese Users from atop the fortress.
‘World-ranked fourth Pond, world-ranked eighth Wei, world-ranked fifteenth Kou, world-ranked nineteenth Liu….’
Lee Hwan’s expression darkened with despair.
As the commander, he understood strength well.
Pond alone, ranked fourth in the world, could face over twenty of our country’s Users.
‘Among our country’s participants, only I am within the top fifty of the world rankings.’
Conversely, the enemy had more than seven Users within the top fifty of the world rankings.
Korea certainly possessed a few more top-fifty rankers, but most had not participated.
‘With such a disparity in power, it was difficult to predict victory.’
Lee Hwan’s participation was unavoidable.
Being ranked first in our country.
As Master of the guild considered the strongest, he had no choice but to participate.
Had he not participated, it would have been genuine cowardice.
Lee Hwan was the strongest ranker who built the Hwarang Guild by any means necessary.
Though greedy and covetous, he was nonetheless a man who cherished his homeland.
He turned to look back.
The Users wore expressions of barely contained excitement.
They hadn’t yet faced off against the Chinese Users.
No.
‘They hadn’t yet faced the truly Strong Ones.’
Lee Hwan had faced them.
The unofficial rankers of Our Country.
Their power was truly at an extraordinary level.
The difference between them and those outside the top hundred rankings was as vast as heaven and earth.
-The Continental War will begin in 30 seconds!
-Global Users have begun the countdown.
Lee Hwan and the Users standing atop the Castle Wall tensed.
Lee Hwan gazed upon the Chinese Users.
‘What strategy have they brought?’
Among the Chinese Users, there was one figure he needed to be most wary of.
That was Zhuge.
Zhuge was a User, but served as the strategist of a kingdom on the Chinese server.
His ranking was low, but his influence rivaled that of world-class rankers.
What strategy he had devised remained unknown until now.
And the countdown began.
-5 seconds.
-4 seconds.
-3 seconds.
-2 seconds.
-1 second.
-The Continental War now commences!!!
Buuuuuuu-!
The sound of war horns erupted from both nations.
Witnessing what unfolded before his eyes, Lee Hwan’s gaze wavered.
The same held true for the Users behind him.
“….”
Momentarily overwhelmed, all fell silent.
‘Zhuge, you bastard…!’
Their strategy was a war of attrition.
Wei stood at the vanguard of the Chinese Users.
He was the world’s second-ranked Necromancer.
Lee Hwan also noticed that a considerable number of the Chinese Users wore robes with hoods drawn deep, concealing their faces—a sign of some hidden scheme.
And a great many of them were Necromancers and Summoners.
They had deliberately increased the proportion of Necromancers and Summoners in their participation.
Wei’s power was especially terrifying.
Roughly four hundred undead reaching level 340 materialized directly before him.
Following in their wake, approximately fifteen hundred undead summoned by high-level necromancer Users began their advance across the bridge.
And two hundred Chinese Users were concealing themselves among the undead ranks.
“Priests, infuse the archers’ arrows with holy power—fire!”
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
Arrows flew in relentless torrents.
But the problem was that the Chinese side continued, relentlessly continued, summoning fresh waves of undead at staggered intervals.
“Lee Hwan….”
“Right.”
At a high-ranking User’s words, I nodded in acknowledgment.
“They’re saying they’ll breach the fortress in three hours.”
I swept my gaze across the assembled Users and shouted.
“Conserve your skills and magic!”
“What? But….”
“They’re arriving faster than we can kill them!”
This was Zhuge’s calculated strategy.
Users had their limitations.
Specifically, the cooldown periods on their skills.
If everyone unleashed everything right now, we could obliterate those undead.
But if we did, the Chinese Users would immediately surge forward.
Korean Users caught in skill cooldowns would fall to their attacks.
“What do we do?”
“They’re already crossing the bridge.”
“The priests’ undead weakening has clear limitations!”
The priests’ undead weakening only applied within a twenty-meter radius.
Moreover, only thirty priests participated in this battle.
I wrestled with the dilemma.
‘Do I use skills to eliminate the undead? Or do I somehow hold them back with basic attacks?’
My chest burned with urgency.
The Users were beginning to grasp the gravity of the situation.
“…They’ve nearly crossed the bridge!”
“Should we use skills!?”
“Commander, your orders…!”
“….”
My face contorted with the weight of the decision.
‘I need to weaken the undead.’
To the point where even a few arrows could fell them.
But that was impossible with current resources.
Ultimately, I had no choice but to make a desperate decision.
I was about to shout.
“Everyone is permitted to use skills….”
Then.
“That won’t do.”
A woman approached.
‘Wasn’t her name Nel?’
Lee Hwan furrowed his brow.
“I understand what you’re about to say. But that kind of story everyone already knows….”
“That’s not it. Have the undead approach the castle.”
“Pardon?”
Lee Hwan’s face twisted in confusion.
“Our Hyeon’s Forge has….”
Upon hearing that, Lee Hwan’s eyes widened with astonishment.
“…You’re saying there’s an Artifact like that?”
“Yes.”
Lee Hwan fell into brief contemplation.
‘Does something like that really exist?’
Lee Hwan hastily summoned a Hologram.
He linked the Ares Community and searched for the Artifact.
And he was astonished.
‘…It really does exist?’
Soon Lee Hwan made his decision.
“Respond with Basic Attacks only—absolutely no Skill usage!”
“…Yes!?”
“W-what…!”
“Disobey my orders and I’ll force Logout you! And priests, gather before me!”
The undead had already crossed the bridge.
“The undead are approaching directly before the Fortress!”
“The swollen number of undead: 2,200!”
“Only 300 have been shot down!”
“At this rate, we’ll be overrun immediately!”
But Lee Hwan waited.
Shrieks and roars erupted from all directions.
The commentators screamed as well.
-I understand what Commander Lee Hwan is thinking!
-Right now we need to deal with the undead first!
-If we don’t handle those undead, they’ll crawl up the walls….
Cold sweat dripped down Lee Hwan’s back as he waited.
Then the commentators gasped in shock.
-…Huh?
-Isn’t that Ore?
Soon, every eye turned skyward.
A vast quantity of ore soared into the heavens and began to melt.
Smelting.
The impurities vanish.
Refining.
And the thunderous sound of hammering captivates viewers across the globe.
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!
And it cools.
Hisssss—
The viewers and commentators wore expressions of bewilderment.
The form of what had been completed.
That which hung suspended in the sky.
There was no one who did not recognize it.
-A bell?
-It’s an enormous bell!
One commentator identified it.
-It’s the Bosingak bell, designated as a national treasure of Our Country.
-The Bosingak bell is the very one used for the New Year’s Eve bell-ringing ceremony!?
-Why would the Bosingak bell be here!?
At that moment, a man spoke.
“Draw it in.”
The bell vanished before their eyes.
They rolled their eyes searching for it.
And soon they could find it.
-C-Crazy Rookie!!!!?
Crazy Rookie Hyeon-su. The bell lay before him.
This creature that resembled the New Year’s Eve bell—its true name was not the Bosingak bell.
The bell’s true name.
‘Bell of Lamas.’
The sacred bell that had saved Cassel Territory from the undead.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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