Genius Blacksmith's Game

During the period when Hwarang Guild firmly held the number-one spot in Korea’s guild rankings—

Hwan, who possessed the Quick-Draw Prodigy class, and Bengers and the guild members, who clearly understood that class’s strengths and weaknesses, all shared the same concern.

The Quick-Draw Prodigy class produces power greater than a Legendary class in the early stages.

But as time passes and things higher than Legendary are released, Hwan will naturally be pushed aside.

Legendary class.

Quick-Draw Prodigy was far superior compared to other Legendary classes.

However, it could not use Transcendent artifacts, nor could it learn Transcendent skills.

Because of that, everyone worried about Hwan’s fall.

Then, one day—

“Everyone, gather here. I finally found the answer!”

He had to set an example as the guild master.

As if keeping to those words, Hwan, who always showed a solemn bearing, called Bengers and the executives together like an excited child.

“Have you unlocked a quest?!”

“You finally found a way!”

“Haha, I knew it!”

Bengers and the executives rejoiced as if it were their own matter, and Hwan shared his quest with them.

[Class Quest: One Million Quick Draws.]

Grade: SSS.

Restriction: Quick-Draw Prodigy.

Reward: Quick-Draw Final Chapter.

Penalty upon failure: Unable to learn Quick-Draw Final Chapter.

Description: Quick draw is the strongest single move, drawing swiftly and cutting the enemy down in one stroke. Please reach the Final Chapter of Quick Draw by taking the perfect quick-draw stance one million times.

[This quest has a 2-year time limit.]

“How is it? Isn’t it incredible? It’s even SSS-grade. SSS-grade, when fewer than a hundred have been released in the entire world!”

Hwan chattered excitedly, delighted like a child, but Bengers and the executives’ faces instead darkened.

“What’s wrong with everyone? Aren’t you happy?”

Bengers spoke for them.

“Could you try doing one relaxed quick draw?”

Hwan looked puzzled at the word relaxed.

Then he quick-drew with a little less care than usual.

SHAAK—

“Did the count go up by one?”

“No, it didn’t.”

“I thought so.”

Bengers explained with a bitter expression.

“Swinging one million times within two years will be harder than you think. You would have to quick-draw around twelve hundred times a day on average. The problem is, this quick draw only satisfies the condition when it requires an ‘accurate stance.’ Considering that your strength will drain as you swing and your stance will become unstable, you’ll have to swing two thousand times a day.”

No matter how much this place was a game—

The system did not perform repetitions for the user.

And even if the body did not tire, doing the same thing two thousand times a day on average was mentally exhausting.

“I have heard that among SSS-grade quests, there are quests that seem impossible to clear at all. This appears to be one of them.”

Bengers and the executives thought they had failed to find a method again this time.

But from that day on—

Hwan began challenging himself to perform two thousand quick draws a day......

He was stubborn.

The guild members thought he would soon break.

But he passed one hundred days.

And Bengers and the executives fell into shock.

Compared to when he first received the quest—

His stance is becoming even more refined?

He’s faster, too. Is that character growth? No, that’s part of it, but his own skill is growing as well!

They were also astonished by Hwan’s quick-draw speed.

The full process, which had originally taken more than three seconds—

SHAAAAK!

CLACK!

—was reduced to two seconds.

Like that, even on snowy days—

Even through sweating summers—

Even through autumns where leaves fell—

Even through springs where cherry blossoms scattered, Hwan swung two thousand times every day.

It was true that Hwan, too, found it tedious and hard to endure.

However—

[Quick-draw precision increases.]

[Quick-draw speed increases.]

As he continued that repeated action, some of the doubts that had asked, “Wouldn’t I be better off hunting during this time?” were resolved.

If a user played Ares, they could someday reach Level 500.

However, the power Hwan would possess when he became Level 500 after repeating the same action two thousand times a day and building up various stats and corrections would be worlds apart from an ordinary user’s Level 500.

And so, around the time two years had nearly passed—

CLACK!

SHAAAAK!

There was Hwan, Level 481, once Korea’s number-one ranker and the world’s twelfth-ranked user, now pushed outside the top one million in the world rankings.

And—

[Class Quest: One Million Quick Draws completed.]

[You have learned Quick-Draw Final Chapter.]

There was Hwan, who had gained a quick-draw technique greater than any other quick-draw technique.

[You have equipped Cutting Gauntlet.]

There was also Hwan, equipped with the Cutting Gauntlet, which would produce the most outstanding power when combined with quick draw.

And now—

[The second wave begins.]

[Twice as many monsters as the first wave will appear.]

“......Enough already, you bastards!”

“No wonder they only said Mob Hunting and didn’t tell us exactly what it was!”

During the first wave, the users had been shocked by the fact that the monsters were giant-types and had struggled helplessly.

On top of that, a considerable number of users who had panicked had failed to control their pace and ended up caught by skill cooldowns.

And then they learned that the second wave had twice as many monsters.

“Fuck......”

Forget Mob Hunting.

They were in danger of being logged out.

The rankers turned to look at the fortress, and their faces turned white.

CREEEEAK—

THOOOOM!

The fortress gate had closed with a deafening sound.

It was to prevent ranged dealers such as mages and archers from hiding inside and attacking from there.

About fifteen minutes after the match began, the second wave continued.

CRAAASH!

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!

The users were no longer hunting mobs. A fierce close battle was breaking out.

Users were being logged out, and the users were being pushed back by the hordes of giants that kept forcing their way in.

At that moment—

One man lowered his knees at the center of the battlefield.

“......?”

Standing calmly in the middle of a fierce warzone, he was gripping the hilt of the sword in the sheath at his waist.

The entire world watching him expressed concern.

—Taking a quick-draw stance in the middle of a ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) battlefield where monsters are rushing in. This is exactly the kind of situation where he’ll draw mob aggro.

—Hwan’s quick draw was special and clever. He skillfully cut down mobs that had already been hit by wide-area skills using the essence of quick draw. Those mobs’ HP had dropped sharply, which is probably why they could die to his quick draw.

Aside from Valhalla, the other high-rankers thought the same thing.

“Hwan got ahead early, and now his brain must have gone sideways.”

“He got cocky from stealing monsters whose HP had plummeted. Hunting by taking what belongs to others won’t get you anything in the long run.”

To begin with—

It was only natural for Hwan, who had disappeared from the ranking world, to be looked down on by users roughly twenty levels higher than him.

At that instant, a Cyclops with full HP charged toward Hwan, who had lowered his knees.

And then—

The true value of what Hwan had swung one million times was revealed.

The motion that had once been reduced from three seconds to two—

Could now be swung in one second by skill alone.

Furthermore, the effect written under “One Million Quick Draws,” the absolute title he had earned by swinging one million times, was applied.

Quick-draw speed x3.

It produced astonishing speed.

Shak, SHAAK, SHAAK!

In the span of only one second, he drew and sheathed three times.

And the attacks that cut the neck with perfect accuracy shocked the users.

I couldn’t see it?

The higher a user’s level rose, the more their dynamic vision and various senses improved, yet all of them had missed the sword being drawn.

And in only one second—

Srrrr—

FWOOOOOSH—

The giant-type monster Cyclops turned into ash and vanished.

When one Cyclops turned to ash, the second wave’s giant-type monsters rushed toward Hwan.

At first, there were fourteen.

But each time he took one step, a clean quick draw flashed out.

Slash-slash-slash-slash!

When an iron mace tried to strike him from behind, he twisted the tip of his foot, spun, and drew again.

Slash-slash-slash-slash!

Based on his perfect accuracy and damage—

[This is an irrational quick-draw technique that does not match your Level.]

Hwan, who had reached supremacy in the field of quick draw alone, came to realize who he himself was.

And the moment the original fourteen mobs turned to ash, hundreds of monsters now surged toward him.

He stood alone in their path, quick-drawing as he guarded the route.

It was more than enough to captivate the entire world.

The sight of him enduring attacks coming from every direction by cutting and cutting again with only “one technique” was enough to make the rankers present tense up.

And because of him, hundreds of monsters piled up in layer after layer.

Hwan was still holding on without a single wound, breathing properly.

But soon, the commentators witnessed an abnormal symptom.

Hwan’s body was trembling faintly.

In reality, Hwan had reached his limit.

[Stamina falls below 6%.]

The weakness of quick draw lay in its high consumption of concentration and stamina.

In general, quick-drawing required several times more consumption than swinging a sword once.

The rankers, who belatedly realized that fact, felt relieved.

Because they were certain Hwan would soon be trampled by a horde of hundreds of monsters.

But Hwan had a reason for enduring with difficulty until the final moment.

Looking at the monsters piled in dense layers upon layers, he swung the sword that contained one million wishes.

“Quick-Draw Final Chapter.”

It was a power permitted only to one who possessed the patience and qualification to swing one million times.

“Genesis.”

SHAAAAAAAAK!!!

A massive cutting sound rang across the entire world.

Behind the echo of that resounding cut, a clear sound spread.

CLACK—

It was the sound of a sword being returned to its sheath.

And with it, as if matching the name Genesis, the world changed.

As if the horizon itself had been cut—

The bodies of the enormous monster horde split in half and scattered away.

“......!”

“......!”

The number reached 370 in a single strike.

Hwan was also hearing notifications.

[You have exhausted all Stamina.]

[Total HP falls below 5%.]

Quick-Draw Final Chapter had such high consumption that it devoured all the MP Hwan possessed at once.

In exchange, it was an ultimate technique no one else could possess.

With the scattered monsters behind him, Hwan spoke before collapsing from exhaustion.

“I forfeit.”

Hwan began disappearing into light.

He had left while the applause was still ringing.

And what the vanishing Hwan left behind was this.

[1st place, Korea’s Hwan. 564 monsters.]

[2nd place, United States’ Valhalla. 294 monsters.]

It was only the second wave, but it was a record that overwhelmed the entire world.

After that—

Mob Hunting continued for a total of one hour and twenty minutes, and Valhalla survived until the very end, hunting a total of 1,100 monsters.

The result was not different from what everyone had expected.

However, in this Mob Hunting event, the world was paying even more attention not to Valhalla, but to Hwan, who had shown them the greatest quick draw.

*****

Fame was a frightening thing.

Stories were widely known of people who had not even had a few tens of thousands of won suddenly gaining fame and becoming owners of assets worth tens of billions.

Of course, it was not a privilege given to everyone, and the main character of this round of fame was Hwan.

That was insane.

Hyunsoo marveled.

Strictly speaking, Hyunsoo, too, was a star who had risen abruptly through the fame of the Twin Dragon Sword.

But Hwan’s fame this time is bigger.

A large reason was likely that Continental War: World Championship was a global festival, and more than one hundred million viewers had been watching at the time.

The second reason was the early stage of Mob Hunting.

He had shown a level that overwhelmed Valhalla.

Although—

Looking at the long-term battle, he had not won even a single medal, but his quick draw had been proven in full detail to be the best in the world.

—Hwan. The greatest dealer chosen by experts around the world.

—Large-scale battlefields. There will not be many who can keep up with Hwan.

—The world’s greatest guilds send love calls to user Hwan.

—The value of Hwan’s Hwarang Guild rises dozens of times over.

—Hwan expected to receive hundreds of advertising offers worldwide.

Even Hyunsoo, who stood at the highest place, could feel Hwan and Hwarang’s growth firsthand.

Nell came to Hyunsoo and said,

“The movements of guilds across the world are unusual. It looks as though quite a few will offer Hwan a price worth tens of billions of won to recruit him, and to place Hwarang Guild under them. If that happens, our alliance will end.”

Hyunsoo felt bitter, but he was fine.

“......He’ll only be receiving what he’s worth, so I won’t resent him even if the alliance ends.”

“......I see.”

Nell wore a similar expression.

A guild is like a company that pursues profit.

At that moment—

[Hwan: Where are you?]

A whisper arrived from Hwan.

......So it came.

Hyunsoo realized Hwan wanted to say his final farewell.

For no clear reason, Hyunsoo’s heart grew heavy.

But—

Let’s smile and wish him well in his future growth.

Even while feeling disappointed, he moved to support him.