The Returned Genius Blacksmith has Awakened as an all-Master - Chapter 87
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 87
087. Geomrim
The man’s easy smile had vanished long ago.
Geumson posed his question to this changed figure.
“Where did you get the Demon Beast Luring Fragrance?”
“That, that I can’t— this bastard knows everything! Kill this son of a—”
“Tia, eat.”
Screech—!
Before the man could finish speaking, Tia launched from Geumson’s shoulder like a beam of light, streaking toward him.
And then.
Crunch—crunch—
Crunch—crunch—
The weapon the man had drawn.
Half of it was already disappearing, vanishing into Tia’s mouth.
“Wh—what? This, this can’t be—”
The man stared in disbelief as his own weapon was consumed before his eyes.
In that moment of shock, caught between denial and horror.
Geumson simply walked toward him slowly and spoke a single word.
“Disarm.”
[Target’s armor has been removed.]
The armor clatters away—
His torso lay exposed, stripped bare by the skill.
Across it, dozens of red and blue points gleamed with terrible clarity.
Crack—!
[Weak point strike successful.]
[Critical hit confirmed.]
[Infinite Chain Strike activated! Final damage increased by 10%!]
[Hostile player has been eliminated.]
“First one.”
As Geumson’s hammer drove through the smiling man’s skull, the notification bloomed.
The Arachne guild members watching seemed unable to process what was happening.
And no wonder—the scene was simply too surreal.
“I—what did I just see?”
“The little bird ate his weapon, and then the guy lost his armor!”
“That’s insane! Either he’s lost his mind or—run! Scatter!”
Crack—
[Hostile player has been eliminated.]
“Second.”
[Infinite Chain Strike 5-hit combo! Final damage increased by 50%!]
[Hostile player has been eliminated.]
.
.
.
There was no time to read the messages that appeared.
While they were disoriented, he had to drop as many as possible.
Momentum was everything when facing a crowd.
“Fifth.”
When roughly five Arachne members had fallen, one of them shouted.
He seemed to hold some rank among them.
“He’s alone! Don’t panic! Keep your distance! Attack from range! Use ranged skills!”
At that, the Arachne guild members seemed to regain their bearings.
A torrent of skills suddenly converged on Geumson.
Long-range spells, arrows crackling with mana, daggers laced with poison.
Every ranged attack the guild could muster rained down on him without discrimination.
Boom—
Boom-boom-boom—
The ground around Geumson cratered as if struck by meteors, sand and dust billowing upward.
The corner of the guild members’ mouths twitched upward.
No one could survive that bombardment unless they were on the level of Gang Mu-jin himself.
At least, that’s what they believed.
“Did it—did we finish it?”
“Wait!”
“Wait for what? We got it! God, all that fuss over some nobody, and here I am shaking like a—”
He never finished the sentence.
A shadow burst through the settling dust.
All it did was speak.
“Six.”
Boom—
Geumson activated Invulnerability before the skill made contact.
Fifteen seconds of invincibility.
The damage never touched him.
Instead, the billowing dust obscured his opponent’s vision.
Such conditions only worked to Geumson’s advantage.
‘Activate Dark Vision, Vigilant Perception!’
The visor’s effect kicked in, granting sight even through absolute darkness.
The skills cascaded, one after another.
Vigilant Perception.
He channeled mana to refine its precision.
[Consuming mana to highlight hostile targets in your field of vision.]
Linked to the system’s map, his enemies’ silhouettes emerged sharp and clear through the murk.
And he’d had Resolute Intuition and Meridian Insight running all along.
As the three skills layered together, their weak points became visible even through the suffocating haze.
As if the dust weren’t there at all—crystal clear.
‘Excellent.’
Geumson marveled at the skill synergy, but he had no time to linger on wonder.
Before this dust settled.
He meant to end the fight before then.
“Guagh—!”
“W-where! Where’d that hit—agh!”
“C-can’t block it! What level is that bastard! This isn’t possible! Damn it!”
An unstoppable locomotive, roaring on.
That’s what Geumson’s hammer looked like.
With each swing, his Infinite Chain Strike grew fiercer.
No player here could withstand that onslaught.
“This wasn’t supposed to—what kind of monster is this guy……”
Crack—
[All hostile players have been eliminated.]
[Achievement: Villain Hunter]
[You have slain 20 or more players in a single battle.]
[The system finds interest in your relentless pursuit of malice and your overwhelming brutality.]
[Effect 1: Detection chance for Evil Alignment players increased by 50%.]
[Effect 2: Item drop rate when slaying Evil Alignment players increased by 100%.]
With the message, the dust began to settle.
Standing alone on the desert floor as it cleared was Geumson.
All that remained of the Arachne guild members was the loot scattered from their corpses.
‘Villain Hunter? Guaranteed drops! Not bad at all.’
From now on, any Evil Alignment player he killed would drop something.
Geumson knew the names of more villains than anyone else alive.
It was a most welcome bonus.
“Iron Walker, gather everything.”
“Wark! Dama! Dada-dama! Dama!”
– Squawk!
[You have obtained Demon Beast Luring Fragrance.]
[You have obtained Arachne Communicator.]
[You have obtained Night Spider Silk Vest (Legendary).]
[You have obtained Snare Crossbow (Unique).]
[You have obtained Silent Shadow Boots (Unique).]
.
.
.
Geumson ended the battle in an instant, leaving Iron Walker and Tia no time to act.
He’d considered sparing one or two of them.
But he quickly thought better of it.
These weren’t the type to give honest answers even if he let them live and demanded the truth about their employer.
‘Someone must have commissioned them.’
Arachne Guild.
Clearly a disreputable outfit in Lepion that specialized in the dirty work of the underworld—destruction, assassination, sabotage.
But they had one rule that never broke.
They only moved when commissioned.
Arachne Guild didn’t stir without a job.
“A legendary item…”
Iron Walker was collecting items from the bodies.
Among them, a legendary-tier item caught his eye.
It seemed whoever had hired Arachne Guild this time had deep pockets.
Just then, Walker appeared to have found something interesting.
“Walker? Walker?”
Iron Walker came over scratching his head and handed something to Geumson.
The moment Geumson took it, a message appeared.
[You have obtained the Arachne Guild Secret Directive.]
Geumson didn’t hesitate to read it.
Perhaps it would reveal information about whoever had placed the contract.
[……In the name of the great Geomrim, plunge Aerthos into Chaos. Additional compensation will be paid according to the degree of Chaos in Aerthos…….]
“Geomrim…?”
Geumson repeated the name.
In his past life, after the Server Integration of Lepion, China had sought to swallow Korea’s territory whole.
And Geomrim was one of the major blood alliances that ‘revered’ Tianma, the absolute ruler of China’s server.
Geomrim Guild should still be quietly building its strength under Tianma’s heel.
Yet that name had appeared out of nowhere on Arachne Guild’s secret directive.
‘They’re already making their move against us?’
The outlines of the situation became clear in his mind.
Geomrim in China had apparently been planning this all along.
While most Korean players scrambled merely to grow stronger.
Geomrim had been silently, methodically completing an enormous design.
A plan to shake the Korean server and swallow it whole.
‘China’s already preparing for Server Integration, and these Arachne dogs are dancing to their tune. This is going to get messy.’
Arachne surely knew this commission had come from Geomrim in China.
But they’d accepted it anyway.
With the name ‘Geomrim’ written openly in the directive, they couldn’t have missed it.
‘Blinded by money. Or maybe they have no choice?’
Geumson felt a bitter taste.
They probably couldn’t refuse the sweet cash Geomrim dangled before them.
Not when no one knew what consequences such actions would bring when Lepion became reality.
Geumson sat quietly on the scorching sand, turning the problem over in his mind.
The Monster Wave could no longer be stopped.
Even now, the red concentric circles surrounding Aerthos were growing sharper by the moment.
But he wasn’t about to sit idle and play into Geomrim’s scheme.
‘Things won’t go your way.’
Geumson had made his decision.
His opponents wanted to move in shadow.
Then Geumson would do the opposite—move in the open.
Completely transparent, hiding nothing at all.
He accessed the Lepion Net through the Lepion system.
And began to write a single post.
* * *
[The King has fallen.]
[You have slain the King of Huangquan.]
[The Player’s rebellion has succeeded.]
[You have hunted the King of Huangquan solo.]
[The system falls silent at such an impossible feat.]
[This achievement cannot be made public.]
.
.
.
System messages cascaded across his vision in a relentless torrent.
Yet the man’s expression remained unmoved, serene even in the face of that overwhelming deluge.
He stood alone against the King of Huangquan, a being of equal standing to the Nightmare King himself, and showed not the slightest sign of strain.
“Truly, you are Tianma! Even that Korean brute Gang Mu-jin, who thrashes about like a wild thing, is nothing before you…….”
“Silence, Liu Wei. The strong deserve respect — it is the natural order.”
“Ah, yes, I… I understand.”
Liu Wei, Guild Master of Geomrim in China.
Though he led one of the world’s greatest organizations, the man before him was Tianma.
Before that incomprehensible figure, Liu Wei could only kneel, unable even to meet his eyes.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————