Genius Blacksmith’s Game - Chapter 268

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

The Genius Blacksmith’s Game
Party of the Supreme Ones (8)
Transcendent creatures exist in the Second Ares.
It is a fact known to all Users worldwide.
There are not enough individuals for every User to encounter one, but among Users, an extremely small minority—
Fewer than four have claimed to have encountered a Transcendent.
People were curious.
When would a Transcendent creature finally be hunted?
But renowned experts from around the world drove a wedge into that hope.
-A Transcendent being hunted in the Second Ares? That won’t happen for at least five years, if ever. It would only be possible in the Third Ares.
Users wanted to deny it.
Hunting a new species, or watching videos of others hunting new species.
Such things kindled new excitement in Users and planted the hope that they too might one day reach that pinnacle.
But the experts were merciless.
-The User who encountered a Transcendent was Stella from the United States. Stella qualified to encounter a Transcendent because she was among the top 0.01% of Users.
Indeed, Stella’s level was high enough to rank within the top 100 in the United States.
-That Stella, at level 450-something, was overwhelmed by status ailments and couldn’t even move. She allowed only one attack, then succumbed to the status effect and died. And the demon was Dantalian, one of the lower-ranked among demons.
Yet some Users still refused to accept it.
-Didn’t you see Pureum Corporation say Users are growing faster than expected? lol
-How many levels do Transcendent creatures even have!
Their hope shattered when Stella’s screenshot of her encounter with the demon was made public.
-Hello, it’s Stella herself. Embarrassing as it is, I’m posting it. (Screenshot)
-…?
-…?
-Insane, damn it. You bastards at Pureum Corporation!
-Did you make it to be hunted… or to be admired….
-Seems like the latter….
-Yeah, seems like it lololol
Dantalian’s revealed level was 692.
Currently, Bahala, the unrivaled User, has yet to break through the level 500 barrier.
The average level of high-rankers from each nation stands at 410 to 440.
The demon’s level revealed at this moment was simply too high.
-Don’t demons weaken when they come to the Human Realm?
-Even so, 600 levels…? Damn
-Insane lol, and it’s even classified as a Named Monster?
Named Monsters differ from ordinary monsters by several times in strength, even at the same level.
Experts lent weight to Stella’s testimony.
-Right now, the only ones who could be said to be capable of hunting Transcendent creatures are the NPCs.
Users were subtly competing against NPCs.
In the First Ares, most initiative had been held by NPCs.
Now that Second Ares had begun, the Users had grown considerably and raised their standing to some degree.
But it still felt insufficient.
-Even those NPCs would require more than ten Legendary Grade NPCs of this era. Of course, that’s assuming the Transcendent Beings descended into the Human Realm and were weakened.
The Users couldn’t help but feel bitter.
They realized the weakness of Users.
And they felt that Lee Se-jin’s statement was still a distant dream.
‘I believe that one day, Ares will be led by Users.’
It seemed that would only be possible ten years from now.
And the Users fell into despair once more.
-The appearance of Transcendent Beings doesn’t mean you should hunt them, but rather prepare for them. Imagine if those Transcendent Beings attacked the kingdoms you belong to.
-Wow, if a Transcendent Being attacks, our kingdom would be destroyed instantly…?
The Users had also grown attached to the places where they had been active, where they first began.
Some even believed they had contributed to their kingdom’s growth.
The hypothesis that all of that could crumble in an instant made them feel bitter.
And the experts, who seemed to only deliver harsh truths, stepped forward to console them.
-The best our Users can do is face reality and prepare for it.
After experts from around the world reached that conclusion, the Users now set out on a path merely to ‘prepare’.
And after some time passed.
[A World Message rings out.]
The entire world was astonished.
Two World Messages had rung out in a single day.
The first ring was about the second Asura Job Change.
As they focused on the second, it came.
[The First Transcendent falls.]
“…!?”
“…?!”
“…!?”
The entire world fell into shock.
The experts could only gape like fish, their eyes wide with astonishment.
Their calculations had been meticulous, and the Expert Alliance had gathered and analyzed hundreds of scenarios to determine if there was any possibility of hunting a Transcendent Being, yet?
[They created continued possibility from an impossible situation and succeeded in sealing the demon Gremory.]
And the target was a demon like Dantalian.
No, it was a demon of even higher rank.
[They show that there is no impossibility on this land and become a beacon, illuminating the world.]
A beacon.
In this time of nothing but despair, shining brightly from one place in the darkness, a beacon that guides people.
They are conveying it.
You too will be able to do it someday.
There is no impossibility in this Ares.
Furthermore.
-They can only catch NPCs!
-Wait! They caught it!? Less than three months after Second Ares opened and they caught it!? The experts couldn’t do it!? This is infuriating!
-I’m unsubscribing from the expert channel.
-Isn’t this the first Achievement a User has accomplished faster than an NPC in this era?
-That’s right.
The experts tried to refute them.
-The demon Graut already….
But the Users were sharp and had already figured it out.
-The demon Graut isn’t even ranked among the 72 Pillars, you idiot. He’s a hybrid, not a transcendent being.
-….
Faced with undeniable facts, the experts fell silent.
The entire world was ablaze with excitement.
All manner of speculation naturally followed.
-What if a hundred unofficial rankers living in the shadows we don’t know about gathered and hunted it?
-They still couldn’t have caught it.
-Then did the Users just land the final blow while twenty Legendary NPCs were present?
-The final blow wouldn’t even register.
-….
-Could it be that a god descended and helped them?
-That’s actually the most plausible theory. But why would a god help?
-….
The notion that a god had intervened was becoming credible.
It made sense.
They were unaware of Babylon’s Annihilation of Evil—the power that erased eighty percent.
That was the truth.
The Achievement these Users had accomplished was merely scraping away twenty percent of its HP.
Yet a hunt was still a hunt.
Unfortunately, they had revealed their names anonymously.
Thus the Users called them this.
-The Lanterns…!
-Those who illuminate the world!
-Kyahahaha!
A famous ranker spoke on television.
-A new era is dawning.
-This is a world led by Users.
-And it was the Lanterns who opened it.
*
*
*
“Let’s keep it anonymous.”
The fact that the World Message was triggered by ‘them’ was extraordinarily unusual.
After all, most unprecedented feats stemmed from individuals.
Moreover, a World Message served to elevate one’s name and reputation in the world.
However, that was merely a framework confined to ordinary ranked Users.
Hyeon-su had done it for the battle against Atlas, Asura Kabel had done it to silently protect Bok-deung-i, and Bahala had simply consented without much enthusiasm.
Unaware that they had now become beacons themselves.
[You have successfully sealed the demon Gremory.]
At the notification that appeared, they cheered for their respective reasons.
Clang—
Lucifer, the knight who never fell, released his sword as the demon Gremory began to scatter.
As his revenge, which had seemed absolutely impossible, succeeded, he wept endlessly.
The three understood him.
A Quest concerning Lucifer had appeared, and he had been tormented, gradually demonizing over all this time.
And then there was another.
Bahala too was equally amazed.
[Occupation Quest: Another Demon Completed]
[Multiple Quests are being ignored.]
Quests are being ignored. Unnecessary procedural Quests are bypassed, opening a new path directly.
Ding!
[Occupation Quest: Sword Deity, Not Successor, is generated.]
Bahala’s chest burned hot upon seeing this.
He had thought it would take more than five years ahead to become a true Sword Deity.
But this Quest now cut that in half for him.
In other words, Bahala had grown stronger right now and gained a foundation to grow even faster.
And then there was another.
One who had descended into Hell merely to protect a single puppy and his only friend.
[The Hell King Asura was a worshipper of the demon Gremory, the legion commander, and was no different from having fallen under her dominion.]
[You, the next Asura, are not subordinate to her, and shall create an independent Hell.]
[Countless beings rise in rebellion against the new Asura.]
[Subdue them and be reborn as a true Hell King.]
Ding!
[Occupation Quest: Hell King Asura is generated.]
Asura Kabel too had secured a foundation for further growth.
And they witnessed it.
Their bodies were engulfed in the light of leveling up.
Even if they had formed a party, ultimately everything depended on the contribution of each User involved.
Bahala, enveloped in light, gained an absurdly high five levels at his level range.
Kabel was the same. He achieved a total of seven level-ups, and the two’s contributions were comparable.
And then.
“Hah, sob… Oh? I’ve grown stronger?”
“…?”
“…?”
“…?”
A true warrior who delighted in growing stronger through struggle.
Lucifer had gained ten levels while shaving away twenty percent of Gremory’s HP as she revealed her demonic form.
There was something noteworthy here.
Bahala and Kabel.
[You have achieved 14% contribution.]
[You have achieved 13% contribution.]
Their contributions were nearly identical.
Yet Bahala gained five levels while Kabel gained seven—the difference lay in their current levels.
The lower one’s level, the less total experience required for the next level-up.
They looked at Hyeon-su.
‘This contribution—Hyeon-su accumulated far more than us. Incomparably so.’
Following the formula where the one who deals the most HP damage gains the most contribution.
Hyeon-su, weakest though he was, had used Annihilation of Evil to shave away eighty percent of Gremory’s HP from the start.
Moreover, he held the greatest advantage under the law of experience scaling by level.
And furthermore.
‘Hyeon-su is one who manifests power beyond what his level should allow.’
‘He had already grown formidable enough, having even used the Inner Sanctum before.’
Synthesizing Hyeon-su’s pure strength, he could display the power of someone in the level 420s.
And Hyeon-su’s current level was in the 370s.
‘A lower level means greater room to grow stronger faster than those above.’
The reason Kabel and Bahala watched him so intently.
Fear.
All humans are the same. When someone who lagged behind begins closing the gap, tension sets in.
They fixed their attention on his level, soon to be updated.
That level was a testament to how far he had grown.
‘It revealed how much contribution he had earned alone.’
*
*
*
Hyeon-su felt it acutely.
‘The light of level-up is shining brightest upon me.’
It was only natural.
And I knew it myself.
I already possessed overwhelming strength relative to my level.
My numerous level-ups opened the path to infinite possibility.
And what allowed me to infer this was the contribution.
[You obtain 66% contribution.]
Hyeon-su marveled as he observed the updated level.
*
*
*
A few days earlier.
[Sword Emperor Bolond Lv.581]
Bolond, the emperor of the Parion Empire, was called the most exalted legend.
Before him, a retainer prostrated himself.
He was a diplomat who had traveled to the Asgan Continent to negotiate on behalf of the one who opened all paths.
“Your Majesty, as you anticipated, King Barad of Goyad has declared he cannot accept any of the negotiations.”
Bolond laughed as though he had expected this.
“The king of a minor kingdom clings to his pride alone.”
The scale of a kingdom and an empire were worlds apart, and the Goyad Kingdom was among the smallest on the Asgan Continent.
The Parion Empire was thirteen times larger.
“Send the army and Fenrir. Goyad shall become our vassal state.”
Before withdrawing, the retainer asked.
“What of Barad?”
“Kill him.”
The retainer withdrew.
Bolond had faith.
‘There will be no variables in a minor kingdom like that.’
The true Continental War was beginning.

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