Genius Blacksmith’s Game - Chapter 195

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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 (7)
Three Spans of Heaven and Earth—the descent of color beneath the mountain—is the power of debuffs.
And One Sweep Clears All, Blood-Dyed Mountain Below temporarily neutralizes enemies and maximizes the wielder of the Twin Dragon Sword’s power.
These two forces differed from the true Twin Dragon Sword I had envisioned.
Fighting in the Chinese Camp, I judged that this battle was something I could not overcome alone.
Like Admiral Yi Sun-sin that day.
For that reason, instead of removing the two forces, I maximized the power of Golden God’s Warship Twelve Remaining and Awaken in an entirely new way.
Awaken was the power that had once raised Bella to legend.
It was founded upon Bella’s exceptional potential.
It varies depending on how much potential one possesses, and how well the mythstone aligns with the sword’s essence.
The potential of Users could only be infinitely lower than that of the NPC Bella.
For that reason, the flames I had obtained merged with Awaken and Golden God’s Warship Twelve Remaining.
[Golden God’s Warship]
[Still to the divine.]
[Twelve Remaining]
[Twelve ships remain.]
Unlike when I had lent my power to Ian alone, I now infused it into all of them.
Moreover, a power that overcame the weaknesses of Awaken and utilized the advantages of my own flames.
[Blaze Forth]
[Burning most fiercely, responding to myth.]
Flames ignited from those gathered in a single Twin Dragon Sword.
Even within the blue flames that appeared scorching, they felt it.
‘It’s warm.’
‘It doesn’t burn.’
‘Power wells up.’
High-level Users all knew a common truth.
That truth was: raising 1 attack power and 1 defense power becomes far more difficult at high levels.
There was another truth as well.
A mere increase of 1 attack power and 1 defense power grants lower-level Users overwhelmingly greater growth than their own increase of 1.
And strength is always thus.
A single tiger can face a pack of ten wolves.
Moreover, the advantage of this Blaze Forth stems from this.
Though it cannot explode based on potential, it finds their specialized power and maximizes it explosively.
Bark marvels.
[All stats increase by 19%.]
[Physical and magical defense increase by 39%.]
[All skills related to growth increase by 3 levels.]
[For 30 seconds, burn most fiercely.]
Bark was a User.
NPCs gain stronger stats that are displayed as levels.
But Users were different.
Yet in this moment, it felt as though his own level was being measured in exactly that way.
[Bark Lv.402]
Bark could hardly believe it.
[The Legend of the Tank is being written.]
For even this brief moment, he had drawn close to legend itself.
He looked around. The flames were not burning from him alone.
Flames blazed from everyone who wielded the Twin Dragon Sword.
[The Legend of Iron Blood is being written.]
The notification that the Olympic Trio heard.
[The Legend of the Divine Archer is being written.]
[The Legend of the Priest is being written.]
[The Legend of the Knight is being written.]
They were among the highest-ranking Users, so they knew the truth.
This notification—that a legend is being written—originally belonged only to Crafters.
The meaning of this notification reaching combat-class Users was this:
‘We have taken one step closer to becoming legends.’
It announced that, however briefly, they had approached legend.
It was not merely because their levels were high.
The system believed that someday they might become true legends, and so it sent this notification.
It revealed possibility.
“Damn it all—just eight of them think they can hold back this many!?”
The Chinese Users pouring through the shattered Castle Gate laughed in contempt.
The situation was dire.
126 Korean Users and 451 Chinese Users remained alive.
Fear was the truth of it.
Within that fear, we could only answer the Twin Dragon Sword’s legend with this:
We had to climb.
Only by boarding that vessel could we somehow hold them back.
If we remained still, nothing would change.
Whether we possessed this power or not, we would have held them back.
And they too, each with their own reasons, sometimes wished to be the protagonist.
Bark—to leave behind the tedium of reality and pursue the new goal he had set.
Risel—for the recognition of Hanseong Group Chairman Lee Tae-sung and the cheers of the executives.
The Olympic Trio—to shed the label of people living in the past and take flight.
Simple reasons gathered like this.
[It is carved into history.]
Just as the Chinese User who had cursed moments before attempted to cross the Castle Gate.
Shrieeeeek—
Boom—!
Ian’s arrow sent me flying backward.
“Gaaahhhhh!”
I stumbled as the packed mass of Chinese Users behind me brought me to a halt.
[Your HP has dropped below 60%.]
“Wh-what is this…?”
I was a cowardly one.
While my allies fought, I conserved my strength rather than engaging the enemy.
I had dodged so skillfully that my HP remained at 100%.
Watching my allies take direct hits from Ian’s arrows and lose 15-25% HP each time, I thought he was insane.
After all, his attacks were merely Basic Attacks.
Yet a single arrow had stripped away 40% of my HP.
“Move forward!”
In that instant, Ian and Hye-ji stepped ahead.
Arrows were drawn from the quivers slung across their backs.
Normally, Ian and Hye-ji’s nocking and firing time was 1.4 seconds.
But now it was different.
[Loading time has been drastically reduced.]
They were now firing one arrow every second.
Thwack, boom-boom, boom-boom-thwack, boom-boom-thwack—!
Users attempting to breach the Castle Gate were sent flying.
Just two archers.
Those two, firing arrows every second, caused the Chinese Users attempting to breach the gate to hesitate.
“Use your skills!”
In that moment, a man burst forward.
It was Bark. Gripping the Shield inscribed with the name Aegis, as he charged forward, his shield began to expand.
It became a wall.
A colossal barrier preventing passage through the Castle Gate.
Moreover, with the skill’s dramatic enhancement, its defensive power transcended reason.
Crash—
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-thwack—!
The 4-meter-high Shield blocking the Castle Gate remained unmoved even under the barrage of massive skills and magic.
“Spearmen and Knights, advance!”
The Chinese Users charged at Bark like madmen.
“Uooooooooo!”
Bark, exerting every ounce of strength, was finally pushed back by their force.
In that moment.
A dragon three times larger than usual.
Whoooosh—
That colossal dragon, exhaling a tremendous breath, appeared.
At the same moment, Bark restored the colossal Shield to its original size.
The enemies who had lost their wall crumbled in an instant.
They poured down upon that spot.
“Dragon’s Cry.”
Kiiiiiiieeeee—!
A single dragon, transcending its original size by far, unleashed a tremendous breath among the enemies.
Watching roughly thirty enemies vanish in rapid succession, Pond was taken aback.
A Chinese User cried out.
“What is this? Four hundred can’t break through that number!?”
“This doesn’t make sense!”
At that moment, Bark, who loved history, fell between them and spoke.
[One Soldier Holds the Path.]
“When a single Soldier blocks the way.”
[A Thousand Enemies Fear.]
“A thousand enemies tremble in dread.”
Crackle, crackle, crackle—
Dozens of enemies began to freeze. Dozens of Chinese Users rushed toward Bark.
“What the hell is this, you bastard….”
Tae-hoon appeared from behind Bark’s back.
Thud, thud-thud-thud-thud, thud-thud-thud-thud—!
Their armor, clad in Unique or near-Legendary gear, crumpled and shattered beneath his ghostlike kicks.
“War Diary.”
Tae-hoon murmured softly and glanced to the side.
Han-ul’s Sword appeared beside him, cutting only the enemies’ necks as it passed through.
Screech, thud, thud-thud, crash-crash-crash—
Chinese Users scattered like autumn leaves in the wind.
Roughly three hundred fifty Chinese Users surrounded and pressed upon them.
By any measure, it was a terrifying moment.
Yet they demonstrated their resourcefulness.
“….”
Pond, ranked fourth in the world, could not believe it.
Their allies scattered in the path where they passed.
He could not bring himself to approach. The thought of whether he could kill them, even temporarily strengthened as they were, gripped his feet.
Fierce and desperate—merely a small event in this grand spectacle.
No, Pond realized something.
Ares had become someone’s life, someone’s reason for living.
‘Father, will you watch the Continental War?’
A wealthy family. To his son’s question, the chairman who had once said he had no time for such a game stood in his office, his eyes fixed upon his son.
Koreans gathered cozily like the Olympics, like the World Cup, enjoying the Continental War with chicken and beer, embraced one another and cheered as they watched the heroes of past Olympics.
And someone else said, ‘There’s nothing fun anymore.’
The secretary, unable to offer any response to those words, recalled a memory.
‘I’ve found a new goal.’
‘A new goal?’
‘Yes, I’m going to make Hyeon’s Blacksmith Shop the greatest Guild in the world.’
Watching her representative speak of that goal with such joy, the secretary smiled broadly, arms crossed. His accomplishments had earned her admiration.
Each of them had their own reasons.
Their fierce determination, their desperate struggle, their relentless advance.
Pond had to acknowledge it.
Whoooooosh—
He stepped back, watching the ashes of his own forces scatter past him.
A flicker of fear gleamed in his eyes.
His gaze swept across the surroundings with trembling uncertainty.
Of the 451 Chinese Users who had charged forward with such confidence, roughly 300 had vanished.
The scorching flames that had burned so fiercely within them dispersed into ash.
Watching those who gasped for breath, the surviving Chinese Users retreated step by step.
[Inferno Blaze has ended.]
Yet soon they found relief. Their intense heat was dissipating.
Even now, Pond and Liu remained cunning.
They had not engaged in the battlefield itself. They had lurked behind, observing from a distance.
They had minimized their own damage to secure the MVP.
The members of Hyeon’s Blacksmith Shop, exhausted beyond measure, looked as though they could collapse dead at any moment.
No, in fact, they seemed barely able to stand due to the aftereffects of Inferno Blaze.
Only now did Pond step forward.
Sneering at them as they gasped for breath.
“Can’t you Korean bastards do anything without your national pride!?”
Nothing had changed.
The remaining forces overwhelmingly favored China.
Pond didn’t even need to kill the now-insignificant members of Hyeon’s Blacksmith Shop himself.
The other Chinese Users would slaughter them mercilessly.
Striding forward, finally heading to breach the Castle Gate, Pond gazed upon the Twin Dragon Sword.
“A world-renowned general? A general you’ve all hyped up into existence—isn’t that national pride itself!? Every single day you intoxicate yourselves with your own delusions and self-congratulation!”
The Chinese commentators fell silent.
It was a dangerous statement.
But the Chinese viewers were not.
-Admiral Yi Sun-sin? What even is that?
-A nobody with only 50 million power lolololol
-Isn’t that just a fictional character you Koreans made up?
-Koreans do love deifying their people. Truly a nation of national pride.
Pond crossed the Castle Gate, hearing the members of Hyeon’s Blacksmith Shop logging out behind him.
‘Finally crossing this one gate… what took so damn long…’
At that moment.
“This isn’t mere national pride.”
Pond’s face was painted with shock.
Beyond the Castle Gate, a single User was already waiting.
Within those brief thirty seconds.
Standing alone, watching the Chinese Users pouring over the Castle Gate.
A brown coat stained with blood.
Gauntlets and boots gleaming with an obsidian sheen.
Pond and the Chinese Users could only scoff.
Wasn’t the situation far too desperate to match such a dramatic entrance?
Every camera in the world zoomed in, capturing Hyeon-su—the one who said this wasn’t mere national pride.
In that instant, something extraordinary occurred.
He reached for the Twin Dragon Blade embedded in the ground.
Shhiiing—
A Blade exceeding three feet in length settled smoothly into his grasp.
Left: the Supreme Blade of Masterwork.
Right: the Transcendent Twin Dragon Blade.
He drew the Blades in both hands toward the center.
[Combining Artifacts.]
The mightiest Weapons in existence converged in one place.
As every camera captured him in close-up, he spoke with unwavering resolve.
“This is history.”
[The Chapter begins.]

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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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