Genius Blacksmith’s Game - Chapter 32
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
The Genius Blacksmith’s Game
The Real Beginning (3)
Jin-seong, who had logged out, let out a scream.
“Finally…!”
He was so happy he couldn’t contain his joy.
His ecstatic celebration was brief though.
“The one that Sword King Barad is looking for…?”
Lee Jin-seong couldn’t help but be shocked.
Sword King Barad was an NPC so strong that he was called one of the 10 legends on the current Korean server.
He recalled that man’s expression.
‘That was desire, a mad desire to have a new sword. Greed to meet the blacksmith called Hyeon…’
Barad looked at even his own descendant like a bug.
To think there was a blacksmith who could draw out such a person’s greed.
‘I’m going crazy with gratitude.’
Since Sword King Barad had made a request, he was planning to send a note to Hyeon’s Forge.
However, he wasn’t satisfied with just that.
“Thanks to you, I can now even aim for the top 10 rankings!”
It was astronomical value.
A 50 million won investment?
It would return ten times, twenty times that value in the future.
‘How should I repay this?’
Of course, he had paid that price. But right now Jin-seong couldn’t see anything else.
Wasn’t he the very person who had solved his earnest wish?
Then Jin-seong had a realization.
‘That method was available?’
After first sending a note related to Barad, Jin-seong pounded his keyboard to repay him.
Ji-hye, a nurse at the reception desk, was talking with a fellow nurse.
“Isn’t there any way to help Hyeon-su?”
“There doesn’t seem to be any. Director Kim seems really sorry about it too.”
“Ah…”
Ji-hye made a bitter expression.
She was exactly four years older than Hyeon-su.
He was like a younger brother, but she also said this because she felt a bit sorry for Hyeon-su’s situation.
“He did pay this month’s hospital bills though…”
Actually, there was something else.
Her fellow nurse poked Ji-hye lightly.
“You have feelings for Hyeon-su, don’t you?”
“Ah…”
Ji-hye’s face turned red.
“Honestly…”
She smiled as if embarrassed.
“He is handsome.”
“Right, he’s well over 180cm tall and his face, though half of it has burn scars…”
“…”
Her fellow nurse spoke carefully.
Ji-hye also kept her mouth tightly shut. If not for the burn scars, Hyeon-su would be a very attractive man.
Not only was he tall, but his broad physique from blacksmith work was admirable.
But right now, there was only one thing Ji-hye could do.
‘All I can do is cheer him on.’
A sigh escaped her.
“I heard Dr. Jin-seop might propose a treatment. They say it’s 10 million won per month.”
“Huh? How could Hyeon-su afford that?”
Ji-hye’s face scrunched up. Wouldn’t that be too much false hope?
‘How could a 23-year-old pay 10 million won per month…’
Just then.
“I’m back again.”
“Huh?”
Hyeon-su entered the reception area again.
The two people who had been talking quickly shut their mouths.
Ji-hye, sitting at her desk, gave a bitter smile.
‘Is he coming to ask about hospital bills…? Maybe if installments are possible…?’
Most patients wanted to grasp at any straw. So they often made unreasonable requests.
Then, Hyeon-su spoke.
“Father’s treatment for 2 months, hospital bills for 2 months, and my treatment costs for 2 months. I’ll pay it all in advance.”
“Huh?”
Ji-hye was startled.
“What, what did you say?”
Hyeon-su smiled slightly and said.
“I said I’ll pay 2 months’ worth all in advance.”
Ji-hye looked at Hyeon-su with shaking eyes.
‘P-prepayment?’
That was about 40 million won.
Moreover, what surprised her more was this.
‘Is he finally going to start his own burn treatment in earnest?’
The image of Hyeon-su with his scars erased flickered before Ji-hye’s eyes.
Hyeon-su, who had come to prepay hospital bills, could see Lee Ji-hye’s face suddenly flushed.
“C-congratulations!”
“Pardon?”
“Oh, it’s nothing! Anyway, you’re finally going to start your burn treatment in earnest now, right?”
“It looks like that will happen. I want to treat Father, treat myself, and move Father to a VVIP room if possible.”
“You’ll be able to do it!”
Hyeon-su gave a bitter smile. Having checked his messages in Jin-seop’s office earlier, Hyeon-su had immediately proceeded with currency exchange.
And he realized.
‘I can do it, Father’s treatment and my treatment too.’
And it seemed he could get it back.
‘Even the forge I sold.’
Hyeon-su had been unaware of the true value of Hyeon’s first custom-made sword.
Only after it was sold at that price did he finally realize just how incredible this custom crafting was.
Now he had confidence.
“Um…!”
“Yes?”
“Later, if you do well with the treatment and everything, I’ll buy you a meal.”
Buy a meal?
Hyeon-su tilted his head and then smiled softly.
Both the director and the nurse named Ji-hye were people who treated him kindly.
He thought it was just simple goodwill.
“No, I should be the one buying.”
“Yes, yes, I’ll be waiting!”
She’ll even wait for it?
Hyeon-su smiled wryly as he left the administration office.
After visiting his father once more, Hyeon-su’s fist clenched tight as he left the hospital.
‘Divine class might be more incredible than I thought.’
It was while he was having such thoughts.
[The buyer has left a review.]
‘A review?’
Hyeon-su had searched to see what kind of person would pay 50 million won for a custom-made sword.
It was a high ranker named Lord.
But shortly after that notification sounded.
[Subscribers are being updated.]
[Subscribers are being updated.]
[Subscribers are…]
‘…?’
Hyeon-su looked at his mobile phone vibrating like crazy with a puzzled expression.
‘What is this…?’
Update notifications don’t appear just because one or two subscribers increase.
‘Then what on earth is this…?’
And in that brief moment.
[Hyeon’s Forge has reached 15,000 subscribers.]
“…?”
Previously, it had maintained around 3,000 subscribers, and when he checked earlier, it had risen to about 7,000.
‘This suddenly? Why?’
Of course, the custom-made sword seemed to have become somewhat of an issue, but causing this level of impact…
“Huh…!?”
Hyeon-su hurriedly checked the review left by Lord, the buyer.
[Blacksmith Hyeon. He is the greatest blacksmith I can think of. Through his first custom-made sword, I achieved a long-cherished wish. Thank you^^]
“…Because of this?”
When he actually checked Hyeon’s Forge page, new posts had been updated.
[Is this the famous place that high ranker Lord praised?]
[Get in line, get in line! Subscribing now.]
[Came here on a pilgrimage, please make my college entrance exam go well!]
[Please keep our Kongi from getting sick!]
“It’s real?”
He could truly see just how tremendous a high ranker’s influence was.
And during those few dozen minutes on the way home.
[Hyeon’s Forge has reached 30,000 subscribers.]
The subscriber count had jumped tremendously.
‘Amazing.’
And Hyeon-su felt good. It was because of the phrase ‘achieved a long-cherished wish’ in Lord’s post.
And seeing the subscriber count still rising explosively, he realized.
‘This is the real beginning now.’
His Ares was just starting now.
Hyeon-su opened his message box for the first time in a while.
Among them, he could spot a familiar nickname.
‘Lord?’
Hyeon-su opened the message.
[Hello. Blacksmith Hyeon. This is Lord. The reason I’m sending this message is…]
The message surprisingly contained information about where he had used the custom-made sword.
‘Sword King Barad?’
[Sword King Barad has expressed his desire for Hyeon to craft a sword for him. It might not be bad to pay him a visit.]
The very name ‘Sword King’ seemed extraordinary.
Hyeon-su first searched for Barad in the NPC information on the official Ares website.
[Sword King Barad. King of the Goyad Kingdom, known as the Kingdom of Swords.]
[The Goyad Kingdom belongs to the smallest kingdoms in terms of area and population among the kingdoms of the Asgan continent, which is the Korean server.]
[However, no kingdom dares to ignore the Goyad Kingdom. This is solely because of Sword King Barad, who is counted among the continent’s 10 great legends.]
‘An actual king? Ruling over tens of millions of subjects?’
Next, he checked the Ares Community information.
When he searched for Barad, countless posts appeared.
[Isn’t Barad hyung fucking cool…]
[Yeah, I get chills every time I see him. Feels like watching a war movie commander.]
[Getting a quest from Barad would be amazing.]
[Agreed…]
[Wake up, noobs. You need to be at least level 200 to meet Barad.]
[Does such a restriction actually exist?]
[Yeah… it’s real. You think a king would meet just anyone… Even level 200 users can’t meet him without luck. There seems to be one way to bypass the level restriction.]
[What is it?]
[There’s a Super Rookie tournament held every year for users between level 50-60. If you win that tournament, you can meet him at the award ceremony.]
[Lol, you can only meet him for like 10 seconds, right?]
[Yeah…]
‘Hmm…’
Hyeon-su realized through the community users’ words that he couldn’t meet them right now.
‘Super Rookie Tournament…’
Of course, you’d need to be at least level 50 to participate.
Hyeon-su left a note thanking Road for letting him know, then logged in.
Gyeongju City, North Gyeongsang Province.
A large black sedan with a triangular star emblem glided swiftly and arrived in front of a plot of land.
Soon, a middle-aged man stepped out of the car.
His name was Kang Hyeok-su.
He was quite a famous figure in the real estate industry.
Hyeok-su looked at the blacksmith shop that had now been mostly demolished.
Hyeok-su hadn’t yet decided exactly what to build on this site.
Then he recalled the appearance of the original blacksmith shop.
The blacksmith shop had looked miserable. Most of it had already burned down, making it practically no different from a haunted house.
It seemed the blacksmith’s son had somehow managed to maintain it, but it wouldn’t have been strange to demolish it immediately.
“When will the permits be finished?”
“It should take about a month.”
Hyeok-su nodded at his secretary’s words and looked around the area.
‘A blacksmith shop in this remote place in the 21st century…’
He swallowed a bitter smile.
He remembered the day he bought this land and drew up the contract.
He had met a young man who was still young but had strong bones.
Unfortunately, his body was covered in burn scars.
The young man had hesitated for a long time in front of the contract.
He had no choice.
A blacksmith shop that had held its ground for decades in this 21st century.
And for him, it must have been a place filled with memories of his father.
Moreover, it might have been a sign that his blacksmithing life was over.
He had quite a long conversation with him.
It reminded him of his own younger days.
And he felt pity.
A blacksmith in this day and age.
And Hyeok-su, who had an accurate eye for people, noticed.
‘He would have been remarkable at whatever he did.’
But it was pitiful that the situation had made him this way.
The young man who was about to stamp the contract asked.
‘If I wanted to buy this place back, would I be able to?’
Hyeok-su thought deeply for a moment.
Why had he said such a thing back then?
Was it because he owned hundreds of plots like this?
Or was it because of the inexplicable determination he saw in the young man’s eyes?
‘If it’s completely demolished and before we break ground, I’ll sell it back to you at the same price I bought it for. I don’t want to take a loss either.’
‘…Thank you.’
It was strange. Hyeok-su realized he was waiting for the young man.
‘It’s well over 300 million won.’
He had even heard that all the money from selling the blacksmith shop would be used for his father’s overdue hospital bills and such.
More than half a year had passed since that incident.
At that age, it was an absolutely impossible amount.
Hyeok-su got back in the car and swallowed a bitter smile as he watched the scenery pass by quickly.
‘Hyeon-su, you only have one month left.’
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————