Genius Blacksmith’s Game - Chapter 250

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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
Babylon (6)
Hyeon-su was born a blacksmith.
In his childhood, when other children wrote “firefighter,” “president,” or “celebrity” in the space for future aspirations, he had written something absurd: crafting weapons with a dragon.
But to young Hyeon-su, it was undoubtedly a dream.
He was seven years old then, and as he grew older, he came to understand how embarrassing such a dream was.
Yet as children matured, they naturally accepted that the “celebrities” and “presidents” they’d written about were actually impossible.
But Hyeon-su’s dream had become feasible.
The virtual reality game Ares.
It could fulfill the dream I had harbored for so long.
The interesting fact was that currently, only Hyeon-su could make this possible.
Recently, by hunting the Bone Dragon, I had obtained countless materials.
However, the items the Bone Dragon actually dropped contained no crafting materials whatsoever.
Monster drops were random to begin with.
In fact, materials were more often obtained through Quests.
In other words, Users could hunt transcendent beings and still fail to obtain Artifact materials.
But Hyeon-su could obtain them even if they didn’t drop.
‘Because I have the legendary Gathering skill.’
And I had also noticed something.
The materials they dropped were connected to their inherent advantages.
When I crafted an Artifact from the bones of a Dragon, the supreme master of magic, its magic defense was high and Skill levels increased—proof of this principle.
This made me wonder what advantages demons possessed.
I had gained hints through Graut, whom I had faced, and through the lesser demon Lucifer, whom Bahala had mentioned.
‘When Demon Slayer reaches 70%, I plan to use it on Lucifer. Of course, since he possesses incredible Regeneration, it won’t be easy, but achieving a 70% reduction will open up possibilities.’
Words I had spoken while mentioning why Babylon was necessary.
Through this, I discerned information that people still didn’t know.
‘Most demons might possess absurdly broken Regeneration. Their very blood is different from that of ordinary races.’
Here, I posed a question.
Artifacts crafted from the materials of Dragons, the supreme masters of magic, had high magic defense.
Then, what if I crafted from demons with absurd Regeneration?
‘I could create an Artifact with self-healing power capable of enhancing Regeneration.’
Dragon materials?
By current hypothesis, they couldn’t compare to demon materials.
In fact, the lesser demon Lucifer was far stronger than the Bone Dragon and had a higher level.
Certainty.
I was certain that the materials the lesser demon Lucifer possessed were superior.
I wanted to craft weapons using those materials that could enhance Regeneration.
‘The wearer recovers every time they successfully attack an enemy.’
Currently, Atlas’s army had armor crafted only from Dragon materials.
The advantage when equipping them with weapons crafted from demon materials.
Moreover, Hyeon-su had lost fewer than twenty allies in this battle through the Endless Maze.
Though a small number, it weighed on my heart as a lord.
But demonic weapons could compensate for this loss.
‘Warriors clad in dragon armor, wielding demonic weapons…’
If that became reality, Atlas would possess the finest army imaginable.
Of course, it remained merely a hypothesis for now.
“Will you take me along on the demon hunt?”
Bahala said nothing.
Babylon erased eighty percent of its HP in a single breath.
Bahala had to whittle away this remaining twenty percent.
The problem was that the lesser demon Lucifer operated at level 590.
That was a difference of over a hundred levels from Bahala.
Even this twenty percent was no trivial task.
Yes, Hyeon-su was a ‘variable’.
“I could take you, but there’s a problem.”
Bahala spoke bluntly.
“You’re too weak.”
….
“Quite a bit, actually.”
Among all users, Bahala was the only one who could call Hyeon-su weak at this stage.
Yet by Bahala’s standards—and by the lesser demon’s standards—that weakness was undeniably real.
Hyeon-su grasped the meaning behind those words.
“I won’t get in the way. I’ll handle the lesser demons scattered around.”
In truth, simply observing what power demonic materials possessed through the lesser demon Lucifer would benefit me greatly.
The inferior version of demons was the demon race itself.
It meant gaining hope to craft self-regenerating Artifacts from the demon races that would appear later.
Yet for Bahala, this was profoundly important.
The variable called Hyeon-su could potentially stall the Path of the Sword God.
The words Hyeon-su spoke now.
‘It’s like throwing a tantrum…’
Bahala’s thoughts halted.
‘I was the same.’
Just ten days ago, I’d demanded something far more absurd than this.
Out of desperation.
And it was Hyeon-su who strived to make that impossible thing possible.
Suddenly, a thought struck me.
If the hunt for Lucifer failed because of the variable Hyeon-su, would I resent him?
‘I would not.’
Another opportunity would come. Because Babylon existed, created by him, and because there was a Blacksmith who turned the impossible into the possible.
“Yes, I hope you won’t get in the way.”
Hyeon-su’s face flushed with exhilaration.
He offered no words of gratitude. It was a reward he rightfully deserved.
Back then, he hadn’t known.
Hyeon-su—the variable of failure that Bahala had calculated.
That he would be the one to save him.
*
*
*
“In two weeks, I’ll depart. I should have everything prepared by then. I also need to move forward with what I mentioned last.”
After parting with him, Hyeon-su headed straight for the Blacksmith Shop.
For reasons he couldn’t quite explain, his chest felt heavy.
‘A hundred times, a thousand times—it’s the truth.’
The words that I was too weak. An undeniable fact.
Strength, by its nature, is relative.
To ordinary Users, I was overwhelmingly strong; to me, Bahala was overwhelmingly strong.
Yet that very fact of weakness ignites something within me.
‘Have I ever felt an emotion like this before?’
The Sword King, Spear Heaven.
Despite being close friends with both, I had never felt this way.
Why?
Because they were fundamentally different.
The Sword King and Spear Heaven were not targets I could catch up to.
Bahala, however, was different. He was a User like me, and he had already yielded the first position to me.
‘Yes, this is healthy competition.’
Of course, Bahala wouldn’t feel the emotion of competition. At least not in the realm of raw power.
But I make a vow to myself.
“Within a year, I will make Bahala feel the emotion I felt.”
In a year’s time, Bahala would finally fully comprehend and fear it.
That in his solitary world, another solitary existence had emerged.
This was no hollow promise.
The reason I returned to the Blacksmith Shop revealed itself.
Bahala would never have known.
That I now possessed items with potential on par with Babylon.
That infinite potential now unveiled itself.
[Transcendent Grade Materials Box]
[Babylon (2)]
[Asthenium]
[Legendary Grade. Respectable Dragon Bone]
[Legendary Grade. Respectable Dragon Wing Bone]
[Legendary Grade…]
He quoted the notification he’d heard upon crafting Babylon.
‘Defined by the most exceptional Materials.’
Even a single Material would be the finest in Second Ares.
The very essence of these things defied reason.
A Transcendent-grade Material Box.
‘You can obtain Transcendent-grade Materials in whatever form you desire.’
The fact that one could obtain whatever form they wanted was itself absurd.
When that happened, the greatest advantage was this:
You could obtain the most opportune Materials you needed in Transcendent-grade quality.
Second.
Babylon’s 200 grams of divine Ore.
‘With merely 100 grams, a consumable Transcendence was crafted, and with 200 grams, a permanent second Transcendence was made.’
Simply mixing 200 grams into ordinary Materials yielded such results.
Then one could think of it this way.
“What if I mixed that 200 grams with Transcendent-grade Ore of my choosing to create a new Ore?”
200 grams of divine Ore was so infinitesimal that it could be classified as Transcendent.
I could layer another Transcendence on top of it.
That was it.
For the first time since the Twin Dragon Sword, Hyeon-su intended to craft an Artifact for himself.
The question was what to craft.
Sword Crafting was unnecessary.
‘With two Twin Dragon Swords already in hand, crafting another Sword would be wasteful.’
Then a Bow?
‘Creating a Bow doesn’t require Ore. Divine Ore cannot be used—of course, if I made Arrowheads from divine Ore, it would deal absurd damage, but it’s wasteful to use something so precious just once.’
Hyeon-su’s usage ratio between Sword and Bow was 90% Sword and 10% Bow.
His Swordsmanship Mastery level was exceptionally high, and since he’d trained extensively in Swordsmanship, the Sword was his primary Weapon.
What Hyeon-su wanted was something with a usage ratio as high as the Sword.
“This is difficult. An Artifact that, while I possess it, continuously strengthens me and allows me to catch up to Bahala.”
It was an absurd Artifact.
But because the Materials were absurd, it could be realized.
Then he posed a question to himself.
‘Do both—become stronger immediately and enable continuous growth.’
A way to be strong now while also accelerating future growth.
Something flashed through Hyeon-su’s mind.
‘I’ve decided.’
He ignited the Furnace.
Rumble, rumble, rumble—
The moment he decided what to craft, the Materials from the Transcendent-grade Box were also confirmed.
[Please envision the Materials within the Transcendent-grade Box.]
“Ore.”
[The ore must possess specific characteristics.]
“An ore with the power to maximize all percentages possessed by the wearer.”
[Possible. You obtain ore that maximizes percentages from a Transcendent-grade Box.]
[Transcendent-grade. You have obtained the Ore of Probability.]
The confirmed Ore of Probability yielded enough material to forge a single Sword.
To further maximize the Ore of Probability, I needed additional Materials.
Rummmmmmmble—
Two Babylon are hurled into the Furnace.
[Your Refining and Smelting have improved beyond before.]
It was only natural.
This was the second extraction of Babylon.
And the extracted Babylon was black ore.
Conversely, the Ore of Probability was white.
I melted the two ores once more and began fusing them together.
At this point, what I would create was already decided.
‘It’s better to shape them into one superior ore than to use two separate ores.’
The two ores removed from the Furnace began to combine.
‘Wait for me, Bahala.’
A competition born of goodwill.
If I had been following in his footsteps, then after one year, Bahala would be chasing mine.
Finally, before my eyes, a divine ore combining 200g of divine ore and the Ore of Probability took shape.
The ore appeared as if good and evil were intermingled.
The problem was that everything in Ares was based on probability and skill.
In terms of skill, I had brilliantly combined the two ores.
But probability was another matter.
‘Because of bad luck, the result might actually be worse than using the two separately.’
Yet the reason I pushed forward regardless.
‘It won’t happen.’
I held the conviction that such misfortune would have no power if the Materials being mixed were too exceptional and my skill was not lacking.
Moreover, this was my first ore fusion in Ares.
And do you know what they say?
Originally, luck governs everything at the beginning.
[The Master Craftsman’s superior skill has combined the two ores to produce an even better result.]
I trembled.
In other words, I had succeeded in creating a combined ore with better effects than using them separately.
And then came another notification.
[It possesses power that cannot be measured by grade.]
“…?”
I was bewildered. Power that cannot be measured by grade?
Then I realized my mistake.
‘The materials obtained from the Box belong to the mid-tier Transcendent grade.’
And then there’s this.
‘Two hundred grams of divine ore is ultimately Mythic-grade ore.’
When I blend these together, if something beyond Transcendent grade emerges, what would the notification say?
Of course, if something confirmed already exists in the current world, it could appear.
But currently, no grade exists beyond this.
In other words.
‘It would be the greatest ore in existence.’
Hyeon-su’s hair stands on end.
It was then that Hyeon-su was astonished for the second time.
[A fusion even the gods would marvel at.]
In just five days, Hyeon-su had triggered this similar notification twice.
‘Why does the notification mention “even the gods”?’
As mentioned, every notification has a reason.
And this notification contained the word ‘gods.’
Hyeon-su poses a question.
Why specifically say that even the gods would marvel at this ore?
Soon, the reason revealed itself.
[An unknown deity may commission you someday.]

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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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