Genius Blacksmith’s Game - Chapter 299

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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
The Great Atlas Tournament (Part 1) (4)
The viewers doubted their own eyes.
‘What am I even watching?’
East Gate.
A single Masked Knight clad in a veil.
Would even a god move like that?
With the divine power unfurled, the Masked Knight’s twin blades reduced Peng, the legion commander of Agareth, and approximately four hundred corrupted beings to nothing but ash.
-The unidentified man is estimated to wield abnormal offensive power against evil.
-His blades also appear to demonstrate maximum efficiency against evil.
I listen to the commentary and move on.
West Gate.
Asura Kabel.
Within the Hell Path he unleashed, four hundred of the mightiest mages from the Guild struggle helplessly.
The Archmage Rund and the greatest mages, unable to cast a single spell properly before being devoured by infernal legions, was a sight to behold.
-The matchup was unfavorable.
-Even with four hundred of the greatest mages in a legion, that one man was the supreme assassin and murderer, Asura Kabel, after all.
North Gate.
Pond, who had mocked the man, uttered “scared?” before being forcibly logged out.
Before the astounded viewers, light erupts from the blade the man drives straight forward.
That light was like a single ray breaking through the darkness.
“Dawn.”
The viewers were mesmerized by the light of dawn.
Between the spreading light bleeding into darkness, hundreds of sword auras sweep across the elite force of exactly six hundred.
The man possessed no ultimate technique against evil like Annihilation.
He lacked the advantage of Asura’s Hell Path.
Yet.
Screeeech—
Whoooosh—
Splurt, splurt, splurt, splurt, splurt, splurt—!
Crash—
Crackle—
Booooom—!
He possessed only one supreme advantage.
Insane, overwhelming strength.
-….
-….
-…Who is he?
-Who is it?
-Who on earth is he?!
The man at the East Gate was optimized for slaying evil.
The man Kabel at the West Gate and the mages had poor compatibility.
Global viewers, who had been connecting various pieces together, posed a question.
That question now unified into a single cry.
-Why on earth!!!!
-Why are those magnificent beings standing beside User Hyeon-su!
The hearts of global viewers burned hot with fervor.
The final North Gate.
Dragon Fear.
A single cry from the skeletal baby bird caused 700 monsters and 400 tamers to stiffen.
Dragon Fear’s power was formidable.
It did not end with a one-minute stun.
[Unless the victim possesses resistance recognized by the system, those afflicted by Fear will suffer fear and headaches for over ten minutes!]
Tamers with low status ailment resistance still found movement difficult.
Moreover, without their monsters, tamers were no different from mages without mana.
They were captivated by the relentless blade after blade of the man who had appeared.
People spoke of Hyeon-su.
-Clearly boring, right?
-Yeah, totally.
They criticized and mocked, hiding behind the name of netizen.
-Who does Hyeon think he is!
-He’s pathetic, that’s what.
-You know why the Great Atlas war broke out?
-Why?
Because we could not possess it, we wished Hyeon-su to possess nothing either.
-He’s running away.
-What…?
-He lacks confidence to face the rankers head-on, so he hid in the rat hole called Atlas.
-This has to be it lol
He was a coward, they said.
Yet here he stood, having cut down every foe, the camera reflected in his eyes.
The beast we believed to be a coward.
The weary creature we thought was fleeing with its tail between its legs.
With a cold gaze upon hundreds of cameras, he brushed the blood from his coat with soft taps, the Twin Dragon Sword resting diagonally across his shoulder.
His eyes spoke volumes.
‘Come on.’
He knew it, and so did we.
The first rank consisted of nothing but small fry.
Those who led them.
Peng, the legion commander of Agareth.
Rund, the Grand Mage of the Golden Mage.
Pond, the Supreme Being of China.
Relly, the Tamer King.
Everyone else exceeded level 400 but fell short of high-ranker status—mediocre at best.
Whoosh—
Watching him turn, I finally understand the truth.
He is no cowardly wolf fleeing in panic.
A creature who concealed his razor claws, waiting for this moment alone.
A beast that knows no fatigue, no retreat.
At last, he walks slowly into his Atlas.
The viewers watch his vanishing silhouette with lingering, reverent eyes.
The screen captures only the space where he disappeared.
[11 minutes and 32 seconds have elapsed since the Atlas Tournament began.]
[The 1st Legion—all 1,800 soldiers—has been annihilated.]
The commentators are left speechless by the notification.
In the hushed world that sweeps past.
A sound begins to emerge.
Thump, thump, thump, thump—
It is the heartbeat of the viewers, audible only in such silence.
Hearts pumping wildly, palms damp with sweat.
Most viewers watching him share the same thought.
That singular thing they desperately needed in this Great Atlas Tournament.
‘It’s thrilling.’
This is the emotion most viewers feel right now.
And without ‘thrilling,’ there is no need.
This exhilaration transforms into admiration, awe, delight, and cheers for Hyeon.
Twelve minutes into the Atlas Tournament.
A wave of breaking news spreads across the world, drawing new viewers.
“Hey, did you hear that story?”
“What?”
“The 1st Legion was completely wiped out in less than 12 minutes at the Atlas Tournament.”
“What!!!?”
The breaking news dominates the entire world.
-Warlord Hyeon-su. Something he kept hidden.
-The starving wolf bares his fangs.
-Who is the prey?
Rumors spread rapidly.
People continue to question.
“So why…!”
“What?”
“Why did such incredible individuals gather for Hyeon?!”
“Could they have been recently recruited?”
One sharp question was followed by another equally sharp response.
“That doesn’t make sense either—recruiting them would be impossible!”
“Hyeon…!”
“What power does he possess to accomplish this?!”
“I’m going to watch the broadcast!”
Pureum Corporation was equally astounded.
The moment the broadcast began, Lee Se-jin received this report from the ‘Great Atlas Tournament Organizing Committee’.
“Global viewership is at 4.3%.”
In other words, it was a complete failure—that was what the team leader’s expression conveyed.
But Se-jin’s expression was different.
Would it truly be so?
Merely twenty minutes had elapsed.
The team leader who rushed in suddenly had gone pale.
“C-Chief, global viewership has now climbed to 15%….”
My heart began to race as intensely as the viewers’.
In truth, the response from broadcasters worldwide whom I had requested cooperation was lukewarm.
‘We will air it, but we don’t expect anything more.’
Internet broadcasters gave the same response.
Why?
Because the Coalition Forces would inevitably win, and high viewership was unlikely given viewers’ lack of interest.
The only reason they agreed to live broadcast was that it wouldn’t hurt their relationship with Pureum Corporation.
Now everything had changed.
“…B-Broadcasters are competing to request live coverage.”
“The broadcasters who said they’d only air it are now running advertisements.”
“Streamers are going crazy talking about it!”
“Viewership is climbing.”
“Chief, viewership keeps climbing.”
“The world’s top streamers are starting their broadcasts!”
“Viewership has surpassed 23%.”
“Viewership has surpassed 25%.”
“The growth rate is extraordinary.”
“According to Ares supercomputer analysis, before the Great Atlas Tournament began, 1,161 articles about it were circulating globally. Currently, articles related to the Great Atlas Tournament have reached 16,314! The number of articles and breaking news is growing exponentially! Particularly, search volume for the keywords ‘Atlas’ and ‘Master Craftsman Hyeon’ is overwhelmingly dominant!”
“Most global portal sites are filling positions 1 through 10 with keywords related to Hyeon and the Great Atlas Tournament!”
“….”
I smiled as I listened to the report.
The ripple effect was far greater than I had anticipated.
As a result, Pureum Corporation would gain enormous profits.
Yet I knew something.
This represented an overwhelming advantage for Hyeon’s Forge over Pureum Corporation.
“The highlight Hyeon displayed is setting the entire world ablaze!”
Se-jin tilted his head at the flushed face of the tournament organizer’s team leader.
“A highlight?”
“…Yes?”
“The real highlight hasn’t even started yet.”
Despite annihilating the First Army with merely four or five people, the true highlight hadn’t begun?
Then there must be something remaining that would make the viewers even more curious and delighted?
“….”
The tournament organizer’s team leader, watching the monitor, finally understood.
Because the First Army had been completely wiped out, the screen being broadcast was now empty.
In that moment, the team leader became consumed with curiosity.
‘…What on earth is in there?’
And he realized something.
The viewers across the entire world were asking themselves the exact same question.
*
*
*
“What exactly is in there….”
One of the world’s apex predators.
Mio from Vietnam murmured to herself.
Outside was in chaos.
The apex warriors were preparing to log in from the venue Pureum Corporation had arranged.
Journalists were making a commotion, desperate to capture the current sentiment.
Under normal circumstances, Kali would have stepped outside with an arrogant smile and spouted off.
But not now.
Click—
He locked the door.
“…Everyone, focus.”
What they had thought was child’s play was now threatening them.
They were the strongest representatives of their respective nations.
Even Pond couldn’t compare to China’s apex warrior, yet he sat among them here.
That was how formidable those gathered in this place truly were.
No one could dispute that the Second Army was several times stronger than the First—not by any measure.
They immersed themselves for a brief time, analyzing and strategizing.
“First, Kabel is in an exhausted state….”
“At the North Gate, Dragon Fear can no longer be activated….”
“Rather than dispersing, concentrating force on a single point to break through would be….”
No expert analysis could be this flawless.
The result of the world’s elite minds converging together.
‘What if we lose…?’
The strategy meeting ended, and their eyes met.
‘Everyone here loses more than half their fortune….’
Cold sweat dripped down their faces.
Kali spoke with a fierce expression.
“…We’re being toyed with by Hyeon-su. Atlas must be empty inside. We need to prove that.”
“That’s right.”
“It’s only been four months since the server merger.”
“Those four were all there was. Even if there were more, it would be at most a force of a thousand.”
They logged in.
A brief moment.
The viewership surged to 32%, capturing them on screen with vastly increased audiences.
As expected, the Puppy and the baby bird at the North Gate had vanished.
The Coalition Forces executed a reverse strategy.
All twelve hundred advanced solely toward the North Gate.
The Masked Knight, Kabel, and a general wielding the Twin Dragon Sword faced the twelve hundred concentrated forces.
“Kabel first!”
This was no mere human.
Asura Kabel, with only 20% HP remaining, slaughtered eighty high-rankers amid the twelve hundred elite warriors.
[Asura Kabel has fallen.]
This one was even more insane.
Crack—
Slash, slash-slash-slash, crackle-crackle-crackle—
Boom—
It was like witnessing divinity.
If a god of war existed, surely this was what he would look like?
With a single sword in hand, he cut and cut again, relentlessly.
One-on-one, he would devour even the apex warriors—a tiger.
No, it was like watching the White Tiger, king of tigers, in battle.
He alone killed one hundred forty before vanishing.
And then came the one wielding the buff-type Twin Dragon Sword.
Each strike, singular and devastating, swept through allied ranks.
Shattering formations, sending those called apex warriors fleeing.
“So it was you—those who tormented my master Hyeon-su so relentlessly. I will grind your very bones to dust.”
“….”
He was the most tragic, the most formidable, the most ferocious.
What was even more unbelievable was the word ‘master’ that he had spoken.
The knight, willing to do anything to protect his master, cut down one hundred eighty alone before falling gloriously.
“….”
All the apex warriors were left in shock.
To kill three of them, four hundred fell in battle.
Kali moved toward the Castle Gate before his eyes.
The pinnacle masters thought to themselves.
‘How much money must he have squandered to employ such beings!’
It was Hyeon-su who crafted such nonsensical Artifacts.
With tens of billions, it would have been possible to hire them for a brief moment.
At last, the gates of Atlas opened by Kali’s hand.
Creeeeak—
‘Hyeon… I shall tear away your mask piece by piece.’
Mere prey.
They hunted while he fled.
And because he was prey, he had no choice but to offer ‘twenty Artifact Crafting rights’.
Creeeeak—
It was revealed to all under heaven.
Between the viewers holding their breath and the commentators crying out, ‘The gate is opening!’
Kali exulted.
‘You will merely show a force of barely a thousand soldiers….’
Kali could not finish his words.
Booooom—
Beyond the wide-open gates.
The true Atlas revealed itself.
-….
-….
Viewers and commentators lost their words, while the pinnacle masters retreated backward.
In this moment, every camera captured only Hyeon-su standing in the distance.
“Welcome, to my Atlas.”
Kali understood, gazing upon Hyeon-su, the master of Atlas, who greeted them with an arrogant and magnificent smile.
‘We thought ourselves the hunters….’
We were his prey all along.

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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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