Chapter 507: Continental War: World Championship, Part Two (4)
Several months earlier.
The story of Hyunsoo and Jongha had already begun.
But Hyunsoo, who knew nothing of that, simply felt his chest burn hot because it was the Story King’s request.
The Story King was his benefactor and the hero of the nation.
Even if he was an artificial intelligence, he had granted Hyunsoo’s request during the battle in Goyad.
“I ask you to repair the Twin Dragon Sword.”
Looking at the Twin Dragon Sword handed to him, cracked and broken in places, Hyunsoo felt his heart pound.
I’ve been waiting for this moment.
A Twin Dragon Sword existed, not one he had created, but one Ares had made real.
Just by looking at such a Twin Dragon Sword, Hyunsoo might be able to gain a great deal of experience and wisdom.
The forge.
[You have obtained the broken Twin Dragon Sword.]
He looked at the blade, covered in spiderweb-like cracks, with one side chipped and shattered.
Because it was a thinly forged long blade, it did not have one heavy strike, but it was light and could be swung to cut down enemies in a single breath.
[You are coming to understand the Twin Dragon Sword.]
TIIING—
When he tapped it with his finger, a clear, beautiful sound rang out. Through the nature of the material and other qualities, he understood the material that had been used.
The superior version of ordinary steel.
[You are accurately contemplating the Twin Dragon Sword.]
For some reason, the notification sounded as if it were announcing the moment the user had been waiting for.
Then he moved to the hilt.
With an ordinary sword, there were times when there was not enough space if one tried to grip and swing it with both hands.
However, the Twin Dragon Sword, being a long blade, had enough room to grip and swing with both hands without difficulty.
The traditional pattern on the hilt had been damaged.
After examining all of it, Hyunsoo reached a moment of realization.
The Twin Dragon Sword I made is superior.
So he was pleased.
Was it because he had learned that the Twin Dragon Sword he had made was better?
No.
It was because he was certain he could restore and repair this into an even better Twin Dragon Sword.
[You have searched for the true Twin Dragon Sword for a very long time and have finally found it.]
[Hidden Piece: Blacksmith’s Wish completed.]
The system of Ares was astonishing.
People said it read the user’s thoughts, and that was true.
That was why it felt even more solid, and why it delighted users.
Because a user could chase after what they had pursued and obtain even greater achievements.
[The blacksmith’s wish will be imbued into the repaired artifact.]
He did not know what that was.
He only came to know that this Twin Dragon Sword was a legend beyond Legendary.
And he also came to know that this Twin Dragon Sword was like a little trickster.
This thing.......
It was one of the extremely rare items called a “secret artifact.”
[Artifact information cannot be viewed until repair and restoration are complete.]
But that did not matter.
Hyunsoo had already understood it, contemplated it, and seen that it was a legend beyond Legendary even without looking at its grade.
He judged that its Durability damage had progressed by more than roughly 70%.
RUMBLE—!
In the forge spewing heat, he separated the blade and hilt, then put them inside.
After going through the processes of smelting and refining, he cooled it, placed it on the anvil, and forged it.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The key to forging the Twin Dragon Sword was maintaining the proper length and thickness.
Precise length and thickness created the sword’s balance and formed the foundation of an excellent blade.
RUMBLE—!
He placed it back into the hot fire and heat-treated it.
As the heat-treated metal cooled, the properties of the iron changed.
[Hardness increases.]
[Hardness increases.]
Next, he placed the heated metal into water again.
HISSSSSSS—
By repeating the act that made rough steam rise, he caused another change in its properties.
After hardness came toughness.
[Toughness increases.]
[Toughness increases.]
After that, he began the polishing process.
He polished the long sword, thicker and sharper than an ordinary blade.
He polished the edge, the part responsible for being the sharpest and cutting enemies, making it smooth and seamless.
[Cutting Power increases.]
[Attack Power increases.]
He also carefully polished the entire long blade.
Before he knew it, the polished sword, unlike its previous unevenness and bluntness,
had a gleaming shine and a keen edge that reflected the light.
[Excellent polishing.]
[The Charisma stat will be imbued.]
And the hilt, in truth, was almost completely broken.
He remade it anew.
He chose wood, then carved it.
SCRAPE, SCRAPE—
Maintaining the basic frame of the Twin Dragon Sword, he carved it and followed the ordinary hilt pattern of a Twin Dragon Sword.
He drew several lines in the shape of round golden bands wrapping around the hilt.
He painted the hilt’s background black.
It needs distinction.
He decided to give this Twin Dragon Sword something that set it apart.
The method of distinction was simple.
Although he had carved the pattern, he wrapped strips of pure white cloth over it at regular intervals.
The cloth would keep the user’s palm from slipping and help prevent the hand from being scraped when there was a heavy swing.
At last, he completed it, gripped it with both hands, and swung it with all his strength.
SHING—!
The sound of it cutting through the air was crisp.
It was much lighter and sharper than Hyunsoo’s.
It lacked the strength to smash something hard, but it was advantageous for cutting flesh.
It lacked enough force to split bone, but it had the high speed to cut down several targets at once.
When he lifted it and looked at it with satisfaction, notifications sounded.
[It has been crafted with far greater understanding and skill than the original creator.]
[Excellent hardness and toughness, weight, and center of balance have formed a perfect harmony.]
[The artifact’s appearance is also far more excellent than before.]
[God’s custom repair is applied.]
[All effects become 18% more excellent.]
Being better than before always made Hyunsoo want to dance.
As he smiled brightly, more notifications continued behind him.
[Blacksmith’s Wish is applied.]
[Blacksmith’s Wish increases all effects of the artifact.]
[All effects of the artifact increase by 10%.]
[The Twin Dragon Sword produces power impossible for a Legendary grade.]
[It evolves to Transcendent grade.]
[The evolved Twin Dragon Sword changes in part.]
PAAAAAT—!
Hyunsoo soon saw the blade, which had been the color of ordinary steel, begin to change overall.
Like a drop of red paint falling onto a single sheet of drawing paper and spreading outward,
the color of the blade began from the center and spread until it changed to red.
If it had been an ordinary red, Hyunsoo might have frowned, calling it a flaw in a jade.
However, the Twin Dragon Sword, with its softly glowing red and the pure white cloth wrapped around its hilt, possessed a complete distinction from the “Twin Dragon Sword” Hyunsoo owned.
Once the crafting was complete, the Story King approached.
It had been work over roughly four days, crafted with the utmost care through repeated heating, cooling, water-quenching, and other processes.
And the Story King had checked it.
“......”
The Story King knew better than anyone that there was something better than a hundred words of praise.
[Blessing of Recognition descends.]
[All Stats increase by 3%.]
[Dexterity increases by 300.]
[Charisma increases by 300.]
Hyunsoo was simply happy to receive an unexpected reward.
At the time, Hyunsoo did not know.
The Story King was still under many system restrictions.
The same was true of his power.
Because of that, among his many blessings, there were not many he could bestow, and he had bestowed the greatest blessing he could.
In other words, he had sent the greatest praise he was capable of giving.
The work within that praise.
It had been when Hyunsoo and Jongha did not know each other, but the Story King knew both of them.
Thank you.
The Story King smiled at the blacksmith who had simply done his best and illuminated the road ahead for his successor, then left.
And today.
The story of three people continued, and the sword the Story King had praised was reborn under the name “Summon.”
By becoming the Successor of Admiral Yi, Lee Jongha awakened powers.
All of them were powers that reached Legendary grade.
However, because their overall levels were low, he had thought their effects might not be tremendous.
Except for the skill “......I Still Have.”
But the story changed the moment he gripped the Twin Dragon Sword that descended from the sky.
(Twin Dragon Sword.)
Grade: Transcendent.
Durability: Infinite
Attack Power: 1,249
Restriction: Successor of Admiral Yi.
Special Abilities:
·Ship Operation Mastery Highest Grade +9
·All ship-related skills increase by 5 levels.
·Damage of all cannons increases by 40%.
·Speed of all ships increases by 50%.
·Active Skill: Know the Enemy and Know Yourself.
·Active Skill: Victory in Every Battle.
·Active Skill: Crane-Wing Formation.
·Passive Skill: Even If Only Once.
Description: The greatest sword in the tale, a sword that displays supreme power at sea. It was originally a Legendary sword, but through Master Blacksmith Hyun’s repair, it displays even greater power.
As Ship Operation Mastery Highest Grade +9 was applied, his ship operation ability increased by 54%.
Going one step further, as written on the Twin Dragon Sword,
[Ship-related skills increase by +5 levels.]
Several sea-related skills he had obtained after advancing to Successor of Admiral Yi were maximized and formed power.
Lee Jongha, too, had thought that perhaps Successor of Admiral Yi was less impressive than he expected because the World Message had not rung.
However, because he was also a ranker, he noticed.
The Successor of Admiral Yi only broke through his limits once he gripped the Twin Dragon Sword.
However, the Twin Dragon Sword was a summon in concept, and a buff that allowed him to break through his limits, if only briefly.
[It is summoned for 10 minutes.]
Those 10 minutes were the time in which he broke through his limits.
However, the power Lee Jongha possessed during those 10 minutes was beyond imagination.
What on earth is happening?
Sota could not hide his shock as he looked at the twelve Turtle Ships.
[Legendary ship. Turtle Ship Lv.565.]
A single ship could compare to a Ghost Ship.
And there were no fewer than twelve of them.
However, Sota denied it.
“This makes no sense!!!”
It made no sense for a single user to command twelve Legendary ships alone.
“This is impossible!!!”
That was something that happened within the bounds of Sota’s common sense.
And also,
survival of the fittest.
Having received those words back—“The weak are devoured by the strong”—Sota denied it again and again.
Then he awakened the power of the Ghost Ships.
“Ghost Ships, destroy that illusion!”
The crew of the Ghost Ships seeped into the Ghost Ships.
RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE—
[Ghost Ship.]
[The ship’s Defense increases by 84%, and the ship’s movement speed increases by 78%.]
[The ship’s cannonball speed becomes 2 times faster.]
CLACK—
Originally, a ship’s reload speed took more than 10 seconds.
However, that plummeted to only about 5 seconds, and on top of that, the ship’s Defense rose to an absurd degree.
With the certain thought that those paltry ships could not destroy the Ghost Ships,
[Know the Enemy and Know Yourself.]
[You look into the blueprints of all ships within a 30-meter radius.]
[This cannot be resisted.]
[All parts that are weaknesses and strengths of the ships are identified, and the observed ships are weakened.]
[All Defense of the Ghost Ships decreases by 45%.]
[Weak points are exposed!]
“......!?”
Sota panicked.
At the very moment his cannonballs were being loaded, every blueprint was being shown before Lee Jongha’s eyes.
Under the blueprints were the parts that served as weak points.
Just as a “critical wound” existed for users, “critical hits” existed for ships, and a critical wound on a ship was dozens of times greater than a critical wound on a human.
It activated in succession.
[Victory in Every Battle.]
[Attack Power of ship cannons increases by 74%.]
[When a weak-point attack succeeds, critical damage is applied.]
[It activates instantly without reload time!]
The dragon heads of the twelve Turtle Ships breathed fire at the same time.
BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM—!
[Critical hit!]
[The Ghost Ships have been struck by consecutive bombardment.]
[Critical hit succeeded, and additional damage is applied.]
[853% additional damage occurs!]
[Damage is combined.]
[9,603,340 damage is received.]
[Ship Durability falls below 64%.]
[The ship’s lower hull has been attacked, water floods in, and it sinks!]
[All Ghost Ships sink.]
[You have been forcibly logged out.]
Sota disappeared after being struck by the Turtle Ships’ cannonballs.
The time it took for Sota to be logged out after meeting the Turtle Ships was only 8 seconds.
Because of that day, Sota gained the nickname Sota of 8 Seconds.
Also, the victims of Sota’s bullying seized the moment, appeared, posted on social media, and began sending tips to reporters.
It was the moment Sota fell to the status of national trash within Japan.
And so, Sota of 8 Seconds gained social anxiety and panic disorder, then lived hidden away in his room.
*****
Jamsil Sports Complex.
A man got out of a taxi in a hurry.
“I hope you come. It’s a ticket to the stadium.”
“Are you crazy? Why would I go there?”
It was Lee Jongha’s uncle, Lee Jongwoo.
Arriving in construction-site clothes, he had wanted to see Jongha’s figure, even from a distance.
The reason he had scolded Jongha and gotten angry at him had come from the desire that Jongha not live like him.
He had also been afraid Jongha would participate in this match and receive the entire nation’s criticism.
“Huff, huff.......”
Jongwoo, who had rushed inside, stopped at one side of the stadium.
—The distance has grown too wide.
—I don’t know if he can catch up!
—However, Lee Jongha’s performance is setting the whole nation on fire.
—Only Lee Jongha’s name is echoing through Jamsil Olympic Stadium!
Lee Jongha! Lee Jongha! Lee Jongha!
Successor of Admiral Yi, fighting!
WAAAAAAAAAA—!
Watching the Turtle Ships race forward, Lee Jongwoo shouted,
“Go, Jongha! Go!”
On the massive screen,
the twelve ships finally spread their wings like cranes.
People called it the Crane-Wing Formation.