Genius Blacksmith’s Game - Chapter 211

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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
Territory of Atlas (1)
Hyeon-su’s right hand rehabilitation was progressing steadily.
His physician Jin-seop had said he couldn’t guarantee success before the rehabilitation was complete.
Yet Hyeon-su refused to give up and decided to continue forward.
‘My left hand has climbed to sixty percent of my right hand’s capability.’
In that process, I was also practicing how to handle things with my left hand.
If my left hand initially achieved only forty percent of my right hand’s performance, then I had made considerable progress.
And after more than five months of repeating right hand rehabilitation and left hand training, I discovered something remarkable.
‘How is this possible…’
My skill level was exceptionally high.
I think of a gymnasium.
When we first begin weight training, muscle develops rapidly for the first three months.
But as time passes and we continue climbing from beginner to intermediate to advanced levels, that growth becomes increasingly difficult.
Like a sponge saturated with water.
At first you can squeeze out much water, but gradually you can only squeeze out smaller amounts.
That’s what exceptional skill is—it hits a ceiling of growth.
Yet using my left hand produced shocking results.
In Ares, I could use my right hand freely and without restriction.
Because of that, I primarily handled blacksmithing work with my right hand while my left merely assisted.
And the astonishing truth that emerged.
As my left hand’s freedom increased, I felt that crafting became even more fluid than before.
Blacksmithing work is an endless grind.
Like a pitcher throwing at full power every single day, the strain is inevitable.
In fact, the game Ares was remarkably similar to reality.
If I use one arm for too long, it becomes overloaded.
At those moments, I would switch to my left hand and attempt crafting.
This was something I couldn’t have dreamed of before.
The effect that resulted from this.
‘I became less exhausted.’
‘I became capable of crafting superior weapons.’
Then I had this thought.
While the game was important, reality was equally important to me.
And improvements in my real-world skill translated into improvements in the game as well.
‘If I become a complete ambidextrous blacksmith, how tremendous would the impact be?’
An ambidextrous blacksmith.
Just thinking about it sent a thrill through me.
So I couldn’t give up.
Not on raising my left hand to match my right.
Not on rehabilitating my right hand either.
However, not all the news was good.
When Jin-seop examined my right hand as we sat across from each other, he spoke with concern.
“It seems your right hand isn’t keeping pace with the effort you’ve been putting in.”
But I found that strange.
“My right hand is actually getting stronger, though?”
“That’s true—your right hand’s grip strength has recovered by at least 10%, but that’s not what I’m referring to.”
Jin-seop gazed at the footage captured during my right hand rehabilitation with a grave expression.
“Even though it’s clearly improved, your right hand isn’t moving to the extent of that improvement. More precisely, it’s as if ‘your right hand is refusing to move.'”
“Refusing to move…?”
“Yes. It’s difficult to explain medically, but I’d put it this way: the nerve fibers and muscle tissue that were already damaged once, and even…”
He gestured toward his head.
“…the brain sending signals to your right hand to move—they’re all afraid of being damaged again like before. So instead of exerting the full strength they’re capable of now, they’re avoiding it. The problem is that this is slowing down your rehabilitation.”
Jin-seop explained it simply.
“To build muscle, you need to repeatedly push past what you believe is your maximum, even if you have to force it. But right now, your right hand is giving up far too early, before it even reaches that point.”
In other words, my right hand—and my mind—had developed trauma.
As Jin-seop continued laying out these explanations, he glanced at my expression and smiled softly.
“But there might be a way to treat this kind of trauma, and it’s about to be released.”
Jin-seop turned the monitor toward me and pulled up a video.
It was a video featuring Lee Se-jin.
-This VVIP Capsule boasts a 100% synchronization rate. Synchronization rate. When I was young, like all of you, I encountered fantasy novels, and about twenty years ago, content featuring virtual reality games became a hot topic. There too, something called a synchronization rate existed.
-However, I believed the setting in virtual reality novels—that pain perception reaches 100% when synchronization is 100%—didn’t make sense. I’m a scientist, but I’m also a businessman. No one would want to play a game where they experience genuine pain.
-That’s why synchronization rate in Ares works like this: what I see, what I touch, what I feel—only those reach 100%. But unnecessary pain, heat, cuts, and similar sensations have been reduced to about 1/100th.
-However, during daily activities, it’s different.
-The texture of what you touch, the sensation at your fingertips when creating something—these follow the synchronization rate.
-And this capsule’s 100% synchronization rate makes the game Ares feel completely identical to reality…
My eyes wavered.
To others, it probably just sounded like it would feel the same as reality.
But not to me.
‘Then that means I can create things with even greater precision?’
After that part of the discussion passed, Lee Se-jin continued.
-But what you should focus on about this capsule is a new mode added through the synchronization rate.
I concentrated on the screen.
-It’s called Rehabilitation Mode.
“…!?”
I gasped in surprise.
Lee Se-jin on the screen spoke with confidence.
-Rehabilitation Mode appears to be beneficial for those undergoing various rehabilitation training.
-When you activate Rehabilitation Mode within Ares, the device installed in the capsule sends very subtle stimuli. It’s been proven that this provides slight assistance in treatment, and we’ve received FDA approval for it.
Jin-seop added his own comment.
“The fact that it received FDA approval itself proves that it showed real effectiveness in actual rehabilitation.”
Hyeon-su was taken aback.
“Do I really have to purchase one?”
Jin-seop shook his head.
“Unfortunately, they’re only manufacturing fifty units. And those fifty are likely destined for tycoons worldwide who require rehabilitation.”
Hyeon-su found something incomprehensible.
“If something this remarkable exists, why create it exclusively for VVIP use instead of distributing it widely?”
“The reason is simple. While the rehabilitation effects are real, their magnitude remains unproven—it could be one percent, ten percent, or thirty percent. Moreover, each VVIP Capsule costs approximately 450 million won, and the reason they’re sold to tycoons requiring rehabilitation is singular.”
Jin-seop drove home the essential point.
“The monetary value differs between them and ordinary people. They can purchase it even with a mere 0.5 percent rehabilitation effect. Additionally, Pureum Corporation will validate the results through such tycoons, and if the effects prove better than expected, they’ll gradually expand distribution. For now, acquiring this should be your priority. Besides, who knows? You’re the first legend, after all.”
Yet Hyeon-su understood reality.
Pureum Corporation was never a company that granted special favors.
His rehabilitation?
Of course it mattered.
But globally, there were surely people in far more dramatic circumstances requiring rehabilitation than him.
Still, Hyeon-su had explored multiple avenues to purchase a Capsule.
‘Impossible.’
That was the conclusion he’d reached.
Then he found himself seated at a contract negotiation table with Ayaka, the Global Promotion Team leader of Pureum Corporation.
Hyeon-su demonstrated his value to her.
And he understood.
‘Someone of her rank in the Global Promotion Team could allocate one unit through her authority alone.’
According to Hye-in, the influence she wielded was equivalent to a department head’s.
[Rehabilitation Mode commencing.]
Heat surged through Hyeon-su’s chest. A shortcut? An improper method?
No. This was the fruit of what he’d accomplished at the negotiation table.
It could only be realized because he’d demonstrated his strength to Ayaka.
In other words, this was a result achieved purely through his own power.
Upon logging into Ares, Hyeon-su headed straight for the Blacksmith Shop.
There, he grasped the hammer first.
‘The texture Lee Se-jin described, the scent, everything….’
Hyeon-su marveled.
It was genuinely one hundred percent.
The pain was merely one-hundredth, but these ordinary sensations were completely one hundred percent.
‘If rehabilitation shows results through this….’
I would advance one step further as a true two-handed Blacksmith.
‘I’ll make it happen, two-handed Blacksmith.’
After finishing his business at the Blacksmith Shop, Hyeon-su headed straight for the Lord’s Castle.
And upon logging in, he received this notification.
[You may become the Lord of the Territory Atlas.]
Hyeon-su resolved to accelerate his path toward kingship.
An additional Guild reward obtained through the Continental War.
The name of that territory was magnificent.
Nel, who saw the notification that Hyeon-su had logged in, came to Alhyeon Hall.
She had already heard stories about the territory Atlas.
Hyeon-su suddenly became curious about something.
“Prince Barad didn’t grant this to me, but there’s no problem with the lore, right?”
Nel answered smoothly.
“No problem at all. Pureum Corporation has established the lore carefully. This territory called Atlas wasn’t originally part of the Goyad Kingdom, but now that you own it, it’s been incorporated into Goyad Kingdom territory. Additionally, in Ares’s worldview, this is recognized as ‘God Ares bestowing a gift upon one who has accomplished something remarkable.'”
I found myself marveling anew at such a perfectly constructed world.
And there was another point Hyeon-su was curious about.
“Unfortunately, I also don’t know exactly what kind of territory Atlas is. There’s too little information. For now, it seems we’ll only be able to tell by going there ourselves. But since our guild members have the information on the map, finding it shouldn’t be difficult.”
Hyeon-su checked the map as well.
“It’s quite hidden, isn’t it?”
“Still, it’s not far from Goyad. I think it was decided with Hyeon’s Forge Guild in mind.”
While discussing such matters, Hyeon-su suddenly thought of a certain being.
Since he hadn’t seen this creature in quite a long time, he missed it dearly.
Then, as the saying goes, speak of the devil and he shall appear—he heard its voice.
“Mang, mangmang!”
Hyeon-su could see a pure white Sigorzebjong—Bok-deung-i—bounding in as if flying.
‘A rabbit?’
Bok-deung-i leaped toward him, wagging its tail like a helicopter rotor.
“Maaaaang!”
[Bok-deung-i is delighted.]
Hyeon-su spread both arms wide to embrace Bok-deung-i.
“Oh, my dear Bok-deung-i. Have you been well!?”
But then Bok-deung-i, who had been flying through the sky, suddenly landed on the ground.
Then it drooped listlessly and trudged off somewhere.
It buried its head in the corner and collapsed flat on its belly with a whimper.
[Bok-deung-i is sulking.]
“Maaaaang….”
Dogs were truly adorable.
They believed that if their owner wasn’t in their field of vision, they wouldn’t be in the owner’s either.
Hyeon-su let out a small laugh.
Whether from eating well recently, Bok-deung-i’s fluffy, plump rear end was quite endearing.
“Bok-deung, are you upset because I haven’t come in so long?”
“Maang….”
[Bok-deung-i is sulking.]
Yet when Hyeon-su called, that small, precious tail wagged enthusiastically from side to side.
Hyeon-su quietly approached and lifted Bok-deung-i up.
With its nose running slightly, Bok-deung-i wore a dejected expression.
But….
“A snack?”
“Maaang…?”
[Bok-deung-i is pleased.]
[Bok-deung-i becomes happy.]
The drooping eyes widened, and the tail wagged with delight.
When set down on the floor, it spun three times.
“Woof, woof!”
“That’s right, I’ll take you for a walk today.”
A man entered behind it.
Raon, the Territory resident. To be precise, it was Information Broker Kabel, who was still staying in the Territory.
“It suddenly ran off, and I lost it.”
Hyeon-su found great healing in the fact that there existed a being that welcomed him so warmly.
“I see. Then I’ll take care of today’s walk.”
“Very well then. I’ll be going.”
After Raon left, Hyeon-su held Bok-deung-i and conversed with Nel.
“We should depart tomorrow.”
*
*
*
Outside, Kabel wore an intrigued expression.
As one of the world’s finest assassins, all his senses were heightened far beyond those of ordinary Users.
His hearing was no exception.
His ears caught conversations others could not perceive.
Thus, he had distinctly heard the mention of “Atlas.”
Kabel was called the King of Information.
He was a capable man who knew much of the world’s secrets.
‘Is it the same Atlas I know of?’
Kabel knew information about Atlas, but not its location.
And the reason Kabel took interest was this.
‘Near Atlas exists a very special place. What was its name again…? Ah…!’
Kabel muttered as it came to mind.
“Dragon’s Tomb.”

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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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