The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 3

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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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Episode 3
Episode 3
“Hm.”
I let out a measured exclamation as I gazed at the steel sword radiating brilliant light.
Certainly an effect that felt special.
At the same moment, a message appeared.
[You have discovered the 『Steel Sword』 in the tutorial.]
[You have obtained the item 『Steel Sword』.]
[You have discovered the 『Steel Sword』 with exceptional discernment.]
[You have obtained the title 『Exceptional Discernment』.]
I obtained the steel sword and even received a title.
I’d heard about it, but the rewards were quite generous.
‘What are the effects?’
『Steel Sword』
→《Normal+》
→A steel sword forged from steel.
→Harder than ordinary steel swords, with superior attack power.
『Exceptional Discernment』
→《Rare》
→A title granted to users who obtain the steel sword through exceptional discernment in the tutorial.
→Increases critical hit chance by 10%.
Quite impressive.
Especially the title that came with the steel sword—it was far superior.
A 10% increase to critical hit chance.
I nodded calmly as I examined it.
“Insane… it’s actually a steel sword!”
“How did they pull out a steel sword so confidently like that….”
As I drew the steel sword, one user cried out, and another user nearby voiced their bewilderment.
I had clearly walked forward without hesitation or deliberation, as if I’d given up, and drawn it immediately—yet it turned out to be a steel sword.
There was no way not to be shocked.
It wasn’t just the users who were surprised.
Instructor Gruger’s eyes widened like lanterns as he stared at me.
My talent had seemed ordinary.
Could discernment be different?
‘Impressive.’
To be able to choose so quickly.
Even I wouldn’t be able to choose that quickly.
But the surprise ended there.
Good discernment was not a bad thing, but it had nothing whatsoever to do with wielding a sword.
No matter how good one’s discernment, wielding a sword was an entirely separate matter.
And from Instructor Gruger’s perspective, Sung-hyun’s talent was utterly ordinary no matter how he looked at it.
And that assessment was accurate.
Since childhood, Sung-hyun had never shown any particular aptitude for athletics.
He was neither better nor worse than others—precisely average in every way.
Gruger’s judgment on this point was sound.
‘Even if I obtained the Steel Sword, I’d need at least ten strikes to fell the dummy.’
Had he possessed talent, he could have cleaved it in two or three attempts; had he been a genius, a single blow would have sufficed.
But in Gruger’s eyes, such a feat was beyond Sung-hyun’s reach.
Though discerning talent might elude him, he was an expert when it came to the human body.
Sung-hyun’s talent would require ten strikes.
Perhaps even more than that.
As Gruger entertained these thoughts, Sung-hyun arrived at a remarkably similar conclusion.
‘I can’t do this.’
I knew my own limitations better than anyone.
Since I lacked athletic talent, I’d managed to obtain the Steel Sword, but I couldn’t fell the dummy in a single blow.
Still, having the Steel Sword, I should topple it faster than with an ordinary iron blade.
With that modest expectation, I grasped the Steel Sword.
-Ahem! Listen here! You can’t grip it that way.
“…?”
-You won’t accomplish anything gripping the sword like that. Come now, watch me and follow along.
The Former Instructor Ghost demonstrated the proper stance to Sung-hyun.
But talent isn’t something that materializes simply from observation, is it?
Being able to replicate what you’re shown is, in other words, evidence that you possess talent.
So I intended to ignore him.
Had it not been for the power flowing into me.
‘What’s this?’
A peculiar force washed over me.
More precisely, it was a ‘memory’—or perhaps an ‘experience’?
A power I’d never felt from the ghosts in reality.
It was the ‘memory’ and ‘experience’ of gripping a sword countless times.
The Former Instructor Ghost’s ‘memory’ and ‘experience’ were being transmitted to me.
As if I had become the Former Instructor Ghost myself, those ‘memories’ and ‘experiences’ crystallized with vivid clarity, and I could perceive them.
‘So this is how it’s done?’
Drawing upon the Former Instructor Ghost’s ‘memory’ and ‘experience’, I gripped the sword.
Instantly, it felt far lighter and more natural in my hands.
The sword had become so familiar to me.
Encountering this sensation for the first time, the Former Instructor Ghost cried out with delight.
-Hehehehe! Yes! That’s exactly it!
‘Huh.’
It was truly an unfamiliar feeling.
I had no idea I possessed such power in the first place.
I thought I understood everything about ghosts, but I was mistaken.
The moment I grasped the sword with “memory” and “experience,” Gruger’s pupils trembled violently.
The aura that had surrounded me—someone with utterly mediocre talent—vanished entirely, replaced by something altogether different.
But that wasn’t all.
“M-Master?”
Gruger’s stern, menacing expression melted away as he gazed upon me, recognizing the posture of the master he so deeply revered and followed.
How could a disciple fail to recognize the bearing of one he so admired?
There was no way he wouldn’t know.
In me, Gruger saw the spirit of his departed master.
It was actually there, though of course Gruger had no way of knowing that.
And at Gruger’s reaction, every nearby player fixed their gaze upon me.
As though entranced by something.
-And here it is! This is the weak point! Strike here!
The ghost pointed out the joint where the scarecrow’s neck connected to its torso.
That was the weak point, then?
The old me would have merely struck at the surrounding area.
But now was different.
I swung the sword exactly as “memory” and “experience” commanded.
Along the same trajectory I had traced thousands, tens of thousands of times.
The steel blade, swung with elegant precision, descended diagonally from upper right to lower left, tracing a silver arc toward the scarecrow.
Whoosh.
The silver arc pierced through the scarecrow, and the steel blade vibrated slightly, releasing a crystalline sound.
And then.
Thud.
Half of the scarecrow fell to the ground.
As the scarecrow rolled across the floor and I sheathed my blade with perfect composure, I embodied the very image of a master swordsman.
The other players could not hide their shock at the sight.
“Wow, insane—he cut it clean in one strike?”
“What the—what is that!?”
“I’m… I’m scared.”
“No way, that person is insane…”
“Isn’t it said that everyone who cuts the scarecrow in one blow becomes a ranker?”
“And yet he just stands there so calmly?”
“Man, if that were me, I’d be jumping around in excitement.”
“That’s exactly why you’re not.”
“What did you say!?”
I stood there calmly, as though it were only natural, having cleaved the scarecrow in a single strike.
But my inner self was far different from my outward appearance.
‘Oh. This actually works.’
Internally, I was more shocked than I’d ever been.
But to everyone else, I looked like a master swordsman through and through.
-Ehehehe! I knew you could do it! Truly magnificent! It was like seeing my living self all over again!
Even the ghost’s praise made me feel a bit embarrassed.
The other players felt the same way.
Among them, one person stood out in their amazement.
“This is… unbelievable.”
Gruger was the most shocked of all.
He’d thought I had no chance of succeeding.
Yet I’d actually pulled it off.
And it wasn’t just a simple success either.
‘My… my master’s form overlapped with his.’
It was likely coincidence, but seeing swordplay that perfectly mirrored his master’s technique left Gruger reeling.
How was this even possible?
How could a foreigner from a distant world replicate his master’s swordplay?
He couldn’t comprehend it, yet Gruger could understand one thing.
A true genius was something he could never presume to judge.
Just like his own master.
Instructor Gruger’s master hadn’t been born with exceptional talent.
Though lacking in natural ability, he’d filled that gap with countless years of experience, eventually reaching the same heights as the truly gifted.
How could such a person not be called a genius?
I wondered if this foreigner might be the same kind of person.
“Magnificent—no, extraordinary!”
“Hm?”
“In all my years as an instructor, I never thought I’d witness a genius like you.”
I’d seen many foreigners obtain steel swords and topple the training dummy with a single strike.
But this was the first time someone I’d deemed incapable had produced such astounding results.
“I shall bestow upon you a commendation.”
With Gruger’s words, countless messages flooded my vision.
There were so many of them.
My sight wavered for a moment.
[You have toppled the training dummy with a single strike.]
[You have obtained the title ‘One Strike!’]
[You have achieved an Achievement in the tutorial.]
[You have received an Achievement reward.]
[Your tutorial reward has been enhanced.]
[You have earned the recognition of Instructor Gruger.]
[You have obtained the title ‘Instructor’s Commendation’.]
[You have received your tutorial reward.]
[Your existing reward has been enhanced.]
[You obtain 10 Silver, a ‘Certificate of Education Completion’, and ‘Gruger’s Letter of Recommendation’.]
As messages cluttered my vision, Gruger handed me something.
“And take this as well.”
It appeared to be money, an education certificate, and a letter of recommendation.
I quickly cleared all the messages and received my reward from Gruger.
“Thank you.”
“No, I should be thanking you. You’ve expanded my meager eye for talent.”
“Pardon?”
“Ahahaha! Just kidding! Oh, and that letter of recommendation—it’s one that takes you directly to the village chief, so keep that in mind.”
“I see.”
I visibly brightened at those words.
To leave the Beginner Village, I had to visit the village chief, but the process required completing various tedious Quests.
They were nutritionally empty tasks—practically chores—that everyone despised.
But a letter of recommendation that let me bypass all of that and go straight to the village chief?
It was an incredibly useful reward.
I never imagined I’d obtain something like this.
It was all thanks to the ghost.
I’d given up on ever acquiring the Former Instructor Ghost’s Medal with just a single strike, but with this newfound power, I’d managed to come this far.
Just as I was about to express my gratitude, something unexpected happened again.
[You have displayed abilities beyond your current stats through an ‘Unknown Power’.]
[Strength +3, Agility +2 permanently increased.]
‘What is this now?’
A message about acquiring stats through an unknown power.
I couldn’t help but be bewildered by it.
‘I’ve never heard of a hidden piece like this before.’
0.
Immortal, the artificial intelligence of Eternal World, managed and observed everything within Eternal World.
It monitored what events occurred and transmitted the important ones to E-World, the company that serviced and created Eternal World.
During this process, it detected an incomprehensible phenomenon.
A user had obtained the titles ‘Single Strike!’ and ‘Instructor’s Medal’.
The birth of a user who acquired an Iron Sword and felled a scarecrow in one blow.
It wasn’t an enormous number, but it was a considerable Achievement that many users had accomplished.
Uncommon, but certainly a user worthy of observation.
However, that wasn’t all.
Based on the user’s physical vitals and other indicators, it should have been impossible.
Numbers didn’t lie.
But in an instant, the numbers surged dramatically, and all metrics changed.
Particularly the Strength and Agility metrics.
[This is an incomprehensible phenomenon.]
Immortal simply could not understand it.
Among users, if concentration was required, there were rare instances where physical stats would increase.
But never had I witnessed such dramatic fluctuations in numerical values.
And that user called ‘Sung-hyun’ didn’t possess a particularly high synchronization rate either.
Yet the synchronization rate had changed as well.
The synchronization rate—which measured how thoroughly one’s consciousness merged with their virtual body—was the metric that determined one’s talent within the virtual reality.
While the stat did occasionally fluctuate, the absolute limit was merely one to two percent.
But that user called ‘Sung-hyun’ had their synchronization rate skyrocket to one hundred percent in an instant, as if they’d become an NPC themselves.
Impossible.
The highest synchronization rates on record barely exceeded the low nineties.
Yet it had climbed to one hundred percent.
It was a phenomenon beyond comprehension.
However, in such cases, Park Won—the genius developer who created Immortal and the Eternal World itself—had already provided an explanation.
[‘Classified as an Unknown Force.’]
We will enable even supernatural abilities to manifest.
Upon those words, the artificial intelligence Immortal classified this situation as an ‘Unknown Force.’
The Eternal World had set Achievements for every user action, and Immortal measured the rewards according to this ‘Unknown Force’ it had designated.
[Granting reward.]
Thus Sung-hyun obtained increases to Strength and Agility.
Immortal’s actions were immediately reported to E-World’s user management team, and naturally, chaos ensued.

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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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