Genius Blacksmith’s Game - Chapter 228

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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
Housewarming (4)
Team Lead Lee Hui took pride in his knowledge.
He believed himself to understand the Growth-Type Territory of Atlas better than anyone else.
This was because Team Lead Lee Hui had been the architect and core figure who built the foundation of the Growth-Type Territory of Atlas.
And then came the notification.
[The Saint awakens.]
The notifications did not stop there.
[Commander Ben awakens, receiving the position of Examiner.]
[The elite forces of Atlas awaken.]
Team Lead Lee Hui was startled.
“Commander Ben and the elite forces have awakened…?”
Team Lead Wang and Director Tao looked at Lee Hui.
“Commander Ben was the greatest commander of his era, and his army consisted of unparalleled warriors.”
Atlas was a Great Territory not merely because of one exceptional Saint.
“In particular, Commander Ben was a figure who approached Legendary Grade status in his time.”
“What do you make of this Examiner position?”
“Seeds have been accumulating at an abnormal rate. Unlike our predictions, many aspects of Atlas are awakening. Initially, we anticipated awakening only 7% of Atlas. But now it appears that 20% will awaken in merely a few days.”
Atlas housed a larger population than the average Great Territory.
A territory with approximately 70,000 residents and over 7,000 troops stationed.
Awakening merely 20% would result in over 10,000 residents awakening and gaining over 1,000 troops.
“This was both our prediction and the Saint’s prediction. However, by User Hyeon-su breaking that framework, the Saint seeks to verify what this unconventional accumulation method is and whether Lord Hyeon-su deserves to obtain it.”
“To verify, you say….”
Team Lead Lee Hui added his thoughts.
“Commander Ben is a man with a reckless personality.”
Those present understood the implication.
An Examiner.
“So he intends to examine Hyeon’s Forge through force.”
In that instant, Director Tao and Team Lead Wang flinched.
Tao watched Hyeon-su moving urgently within the monitor.
“A crisis for Hyeon’s Forge.”
Bella and the Knights have been toiling through nights in D-Zone, subjugating monsters.
The guild members of Hyeon’s Forge are doing the same.
By now, they were exhausted.
And as mentioned, they were merely a small number.
“I hope Examiner Ben conducts a thorough examination.”
At that moment, a notification appeared before their eyes.
“So it finally opened—the stat the Saint had been harboring.”
However, Tao and Team Lead Wang wore expressions suggesting they could accept this.
After all, should Hyeon-su fail the examination, he might have to gather seeds from the beginning all over again.
At worst, the method of awakening with seeds of life could disappear entirely.
However, Lee Hui, befitting his role as the Story Team Lead, saw something different.
“…This is a serious matter.”
At that, Team Lead Wang and Tao tilted their heads in confusion.
Could this team lead be a fan of User Hyeon-su?
But what he said was something else entirely.
“Stats are supposed to be obtained after meeting certain thresholds within a fixed period. However, User Hyeon-su obtained them in the middle of that period.”
Why was that such a serious matter?
From Tao and Team Lead Wang’s perspective, it was something worth obtaining.
Team Lead Lee Hui drove home the crucial point.
“It’s not just Atlas Territory where a new story has begun. The Saint possessed certain powers. Obtaining those powers midway means that if he successfully passes the trial, the next tier of powers will be unlocked.”
The next tier of powers?
The powers the Saint once possessed flashed through the minds of all three men.
There were truly many powers.
And humans naturally recall the greatest things first when they think of something.
Director Tao let out a hollow laugh.
Second Ares would soon open, and people would pursue new content and greater power.
In accordance with that, Pureum Corporation had prepared content that surpassed what came before—rewards that were more excellent and magnificent.
Among them existed a special passive skill that the Saint possessed.
That passive skill was a Transcendent Grade passive, with only five unlocked even in Second Ares.
It was essentially the Saint’s most superior offensive skill.
Tao shook his head.
“Doesn’t that have a level restriction?”
“That’s correct.”
Moreover, Second Ares had only recently begun.
‘Well… there is a level restriction.’
However, this team lead understood the natural order of Ares.
‘Couldn’t we just lower it a bit and grant it?’
Soon Lee Hui broke into a broad grin.
He realized he had been worrying needlessly.
*
*
*
Hyeon-su was startled by the notification that came through.
‘The Saint and Commander Ben, the army awakens?’
It was a notification that arrived while he was in the process of gathering seeds of life.
An even more shocking notification came through.
[You have gathered 1,310 seeds in a short period of time.]
When midnight arrived, he had already received a notification of acquiring many seeds.
Only two to three hours had passed since then.
1,310 seeds had been gathered in that time span?
For Hyeon-su, it was incomprehensible.
He wondered if such a quantity of seeds could even be collected in merely 2 to 3 hours.
Of course, he had no way of knowing.
That this was happening because of the housewarming.
And then came the notification.
[You have acquired the Legendary Stat: Dominance.]
Hyeon-su’s heart leaped again at the notification that The Saint had awakened.
‘My prediction was correct.’
He had suspected that one of The Saint’s powers would be a stat.
And the hint he had given 2 to 3 hours ago was now materializing.
Now he could verify exactly what this Dominance truly was.
[Stat: Charisma has been deleted.]
“What…?”
Hyeon-su’s face twisted.
Unlocking a new stat meant gaining an additional slot.
Yet the deletion of Charisma left him bewildered.
But the notification that followed soon made him gasp in wonder.
[Your 531 Charisma stats have been converted to the Legendary Stat: Dominance.]
[You currently possess 531 Dominance.]
Hyeon-su’s previously contorted face relaxed.
‘Insane…’
Joy flooded through him in an instant.
It was unfortunate that an additional slot hadn’t been added.
However, Charisma was a stat that any of Ares’s 1.2 billion users could obtain.
‘Dominance is not.’
Dominance appeared to possess the power of the highest-tier upgrade to the Charisma stat.
To start with over 500 of such a stat from the beginning, without building it up gradually!
‘This is an enormous advantage.’
Furthermore, Hyeon-su found the reason for the deletion explained in the detailed description.
[As the Dominance stat increases, it radiates infinite respect and charisma to allies, granting absolute power when issuing commands. Conversely, it can subjugate enemies or crush their morale with mere Dominance aura alone, exerting more than twice the power of ordinary Charisma.]
[Depending on circumstances, you can overwhelm enemies even more dramatically. The acquisition method is identical to obtaining Charisma, and the difficulty is the same.]
It was the highest-tier upgrade to Charisma.
What impressed him most was the part about overwhelming enemies more dramatically depending on circumstances.
‘Does it create synergy when I display an overwhelming presence against my enemies?’
What pleased him most was that the acquisition method was identical to Charisma.
In other words.
‘Willpower is harder to obtain than I thought, but Dominance has the same difficulty as Charisma, so I can accumulate it abundantly.’
He quickly moved his thoughts forward.
[The evaluation of Commander Ben and his army begins.]
[Territory residents cannot be attacked.]
[NPCs do not face death; they regain consciousness after fainting.]
[Seeds are accumulated based on evaluation scores.]
[Seeds are deleted based on evaluation scores.]
[Seeds accumulated through evaluation and previous seeds combine, awakening those who slumbered.]
[If the evaluation score is high, something special may occur.]
Hyeon-su realized this was a double-edged sword.
‘Depending on the evaluation, I could obtain an absurdly large number of seeds and awaken far more people than expected.’
‘Or if I fail to satisfy the evaluation, what I have will be deleted, and only a few will awaken.’
Because of this, all members of Hyeon’s Blacksmith Shop, scattered across various locations, had assembled.
Their forces barely exceeded two hundred.
Hyeon-su approached Karn urgently and asked.
“…Are the Commander and the soldiers strong?”
“They are the strongest who stood at the vanguard. They are a tier above the current continent’s elite.”
“Then what about the Saint?”
“The Saint is naturally strong as well. However, I cannot fathom the Saint’s intention in awakening.”
Hearing those words, Hyeon-su and the members of Hyeon’s Blacksmith Shop grew tense.
Bella felt the same, and Hyeon-su handed her a Sword.
It was a buff-type Twin Dragon Sword.
“Bella, cut down anything that comes your way.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Bella’s heart raced.
A battle against the strongest of the past.
Yet strangely, Bella felt no fear.
Was it because of the buff-type Twin Dragon Sword?
No, Bella glanced to her side.
Hyeon-su, wielding an offensive Twin Dragon Sword, and the members of Hyeon’s Blacksmith Shop burned with fierce competitive spirit.
Bella had forgotten.
Though they numbered only around two hundred, they too were an elite force.
Hyeon-su’s newly acquired stat, Overwhelming Presence, activated.
“Show all enemies the power of Atlas’s new master!”
[Allied morale rises significantly.]
[Obedient allies will fight without fear.]
The power of Overwhelming Presence manifested immediately. That single utterance elevated morale and triggered a buff effect of valor.
But….
“…?”
Time passed, yet they did not come.
Then came a faint sound of movement.
Everyone, their nerves honed to extreme sensitivity, focused intently.
“Meow?”
“Kkyu-kkyu.”
Bok-deung-i, carrying Kkyu-kkyu on its back, bounded past them with delightful, bouncy steps.
The tension dissolved instantly.
Hyeon-su’s expression turned puzzled.
“Why isn’t it coming…?”
He was deeply bewildered.
*
*
*
Commander Ben, awakened after eight hundred years, led his elite force of one thousand toward Atlas Territory.
Ben knew the reason they had been awakened.
‘The Saint King was never on good terms with the Tyrant.’
The Tyrant had long coveted Atlas Territory, and the Saint King had foreseen that this threat would persist through the ages.
His task was to verify whether those who now occupied Atlas Territory were minions of the Tyrant.
The second was.
“A battle after so long.”
Awakened after eight hundred years, he would engage in glorious combat once more.
[Commander Ben Lv.475]
‘Your Majesty, forgive me, but is it my concern?’
As always, Ben was not easily controlled despite—or perhaps because of—his immense power.
Only the Saint King had ever been able to command him.
Moreover, he despised serving anyone new.
“Screening or whatever—I’ll turn them to pulp.”
He needed only one master to serve.
Ben’s temperament was crude and violent by nature; his plan was to beat the new Lord of Atlas Territory senseless and cast him out.
He advanced with his elite forces.
Then they encountered a group.
“A housewarming?”
“A blessing ceremony?”
These mysterious figures blocked their path.
Their clothes were filthy, caked with dust and grime.
The composition was peculiar.
A man with the massive, sturdy frame of a mercenary.
A gaunt old man.
And a woman whose face was beautiful enough to be called a peerless beauty.
When they uttered “A housewarming?” and “A blessing ceremony?”, two poor creatures (?) nodded frantically at lightning speed.
Ben understood the situation.
“Take me to where the Lord is.”
The sturdy man spoke.
“So you weren’t a housewarming guest after all.”
“I am the one who will assess whether the Lord of Atlas Territory is qualified for the position.”
The Old Man posed the question.
“How exactly will you conduct this assessment?”
“I suppose I should meet your Lord and break one of his legs to start?”
The Old Man’s expression grew intrigued before he came to a halt.
And Bon was taken aback.
“…?”
‘What is this? What’s happening?’
He could not comprehend what was unfolding before him.
One thousand elite soldiers of the legion had collapsed under the killing intent emanating from three individuals.
*
*
*
At that very moment.
The Saint, who had awakened near Atlas Territory, was bewildered.
A colossal presence stood blocking his path.
“Mang-mang!”
“Kkyu-kkyu.”
And the Saint felt an inexplicable sensation.
‘What is this?’
His hand was extending toward Bok-deung-i’s belly.

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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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