Genius Blacksmith's Game

Alrod’s fluster was immense.

Exactly 1,300 outsiders had come to him so far.

Not one of them had ever turned the question back on him.

Even if they had, he would have had no reason to accept it.

They could not even pass my trial, so why should I?

This time was different.

Hyunsoo had passed several of the trials he had given and had even taught him new knowledge instead.

Yes.

He was more than qualified.

So Alrod grew cautious as he prepared to answer the question about the method for crafting the arrow Hyunsoo had taken out.

Alrod looked closely at it and faltered.

What on earth is this arrow?

He had never seen anything like it.

The average length of an ordinary arrow ranged from 45 cm to 150 cm.

But this arrow was only about 30 cm long at most.

Half the length of a normal arrow?

Alrod reached a conclusion.

“Before we discuss its crafting method, this does not appear to be an arrow at all, strictly speaking. An arrow is something you set against a bowstring, draw taut, and fire. Yet this is so short that its accuracy would fall drastically, making it utterly useless as an arrow. Yes, I can confidently say this is the failed work of a foolish blacksmith.”

At least.

Within Alrod’s ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) knowledge, that was how it seemed.

Then the man took out something else.

What is that? Bamboo?

It was a thin piece of bamboo split in half.

CLICK—

The half-sized arrow slipped inside the bamboo.

The man aimed toward the sky and drew the bowstring with all his strength.

Inside the bamboo, the Aegisal Arrow pointed skyward.

The moment he released the bowstring.

SWIIIIIIISH—!

The bamboo remained in the man’s hand, and only the arrow inside it shot into the sky.

Its speed was far greater than an ordinary arrow’s.

Moreover.

Its range is longer, and its destructive power is higher? What is this?

Alrod was stunned.

The short arrow’s weakness had been supplemented by the thin half-piece of bamboo, making it far more excellent.

In other words.

It was a crafted item that surpassed the limits of an ordinary arrow.

And Alrod also realized, in the end, that he could not answer the man’s question.

But what shocked him even more than that was the “Wisdom” behind it.

He was called the Star of Knowledge as a joking nickname by people, but it was true that he possessed towering knowledge.

Back when he had been a high priest.

He had even been a candidate for elder.

The elder candidates had all been exceptional in their respective fields, and Alrod had been brilliant when it came to “knowledge.”

And soon, Alrod realized this arrow’s true worth and was horrified.

“Could it be that you are the developer of this arrow!?”

*****

[Affinity with Alrod has increased.]

Hyunsoo smiled bitterly as he watched Alrod’s eyes go wide.

Strictly speaking.

In Ares, Hyunsoo was indeed the first creator of the Aegisal Arrow.

Back when he had been fighting an orc warrior, Hyunsoo had carved an Aegisal Arrow on the spot in an emergency and hunted the monster with it.

But this Aegisal Arrow was the wisdom of his ancestors.

Joseon had answered Qing’s guns with this Aegisal Arrow.

Even the Aegisal Arrow itself was still praised as one of the nation’s finest blacksmith-crafted works.

It was only natural that his Affinity with Alrod had increased.

If I had seen the Aegisal Arrow for the first time too, my eyes would have rolled back.

That was how shocking the first experience of the Aegisal Arrow could be.

Of course, Aegisal Arrows were being produced in the nation of Hyun.

However, when it came to high-quality, excellent Aegisal Arrows, Hyunsoo was deliberately not selling them.

It’s a core technology of the nation of Hyun. Why would I?

For that reason, the Aegisal Arrow had probably not yet made its way here to the Japanese server.

That prediction had been exactly right.

“You were a far more outstanding blacksmith than I thought! Truly, a remarkable blacksmith.”

Hyunsoo only smiled brightly.

For reference, Hyunsoo had never said, “Yes.”

If Nell had seen it, they might have said, Good grief, you’re running scams even after going to Japan.

And Hyunsoo hoped for the same reward from before, when his Strength and HP had risen by 3 each.

This reward is seriously sweet, isn’t it?

It was nothing more than Hyunsoo’s misunderstanding.

Among the 1,300 users who had come so far, none had ever satisfied Alrod.

Of course, there had been an extremely small number who passed the trial.

However, Hyunsoo was the first person whose Affinity had increased, who had cleanly cleared several trials, and who had even asked a question in reverse.

Hyunsoo, unaware of that, simply expected the previous reward one more time.

Then.

[Secret Quest: Match Against Alrod complete.]

?

The notification he heard made him realize this had never been something easy.

[You not only won the match against Alrod, but also succeeded in spreading new knowledge.]

[This is an awe-inspiring achievement.]

[You have acquired 2 to all stats.]

Whoa!?

Hyunsoo marveled.

Since the number of stats he possessed had reached nine, that meant he had obtained a total of eighteen stat points.

Also, if he added everything together, the stats he had gained today exceeded 25.

At first.

What he had expected to be a reward of 3 Wisdom had returned as several dozen stat points.

Hyunsoo is a god.......

Hyunsoo recalled Hwan saying that with his eyes moistly(?) shining.

At this moment, he was so grateful to the fanatic(?) Hwan that he could hardly stand it.

How grateful?

I could even lift the Zero Two ban.

That was how astronomically valuable it was to gain more than 25 stats in less than an hour.

However, there was still something left.

“You are different. Special. You study your own class line more deeply than anyone, and you know how to craft something even better through ingenious ideas. That must mean you love your profession more than anyone and are passionate about it.”

This was the sign leading toward the blessing Hwan had told him about.

After thinking for a moment, Alrod spoke as if he had made up his mind.

“I have two dear friends. But my relationship with the two of them has soured somewhat. They will not meet me, so if you meet them and resolve the worries they have carried all this time, I will bestow a special grail upon you.”

DING!

[Chain Quest: Alrod’s Dear Friends.]

Grade: S

Reward: Alrod’s Blessing.

Failure Penalty: Affinity with Alrod decreases.

Description: Alrod has two dear friends. Meet them, do what they want, and convey Alrod’s heart to the ones from whom he has grown estranged.

“One is named Mandara, and the other is named Henya. I will give you a paper with their locations written on it.”

Hyunsoo accepted the paper he handed him and said,

“If your feelings are conveyed, should I return with them?”

“......That will be difficult. The rift in our hearts has grown far too deep.”

“......Understood.”

Hyunsoo could not know what kind of story lay behind it.

What kind of blessing will it be?

Hyunsoo simply headed toward the place written on the paper.

First is Mandara.

Hyunsoo’s steps were light as he walked away.

But there was someone watching him whose mood was not light at all.

*****

Kimura.

He had been keeping a close eye on Hyunsoo, and now he rose from his seat.

“Mandara? Henya? Are they the people I know?”

There were set quests and unset quests.

That was why the job of the Special User Management Team was by no means easy.

Sometimes, they had to infer things through NPC relationships and lives.

Kimura, a new employee, had not been able to infer this much.

What he knew right now was that Alrod was a Blessing Maker.

And now one more thing had been added.

“The Five Makers?”

Just as special individuals existed on each server.

There were special individuals on the Japanese server as well.

On the Korean server, there were legends with power such as Sword King Barad, but on the Japanese server, there were people who excelled at making things.

Collectively, they were called the Five Makers.

By coincidence, Alrod was one of them, and Mandara and Henya were included as well.

Henya and Mandara had not yet become legends, but they possessed the potential to do so.

First, Mandara.

[An alchemist capable of using ordinary Normal herbs and materials to create Rare, and sometimes even Epic, potions.]

Next was Henya.

[A compounder who combines various parchments and other diverse materials to create new formulas and parchments.]

Both of them were special.

They were extraordinary named NPCs who would one day astonish the users of the Japanese server.

They simply had not fully bloomed yet.

And this is a request quest from people like that?

Of course, Kimura thought that even if Hyunsoo met them, it would not cause a major problem.

But then he remembered what his team lead had told him.

Shouldn’t you listen to other people’s judgment instead of only your own?

In other words, “Ask if you don’t know.”

—The person you are calling is currently unavailable......

The team lead was busy because of the World Championship.

Then?

[Hello. This is Kimura from Japan.]

For the first time, Kimura sent a message to the Korean Special User Management Team first.

Then a direct call came in.

“Hello?”

Kimura cautiously answered the phone.

Then a deep sigh came through from the other side of the receiver.

—Haaah. Things are going exactly the way we feared.

Feared?

Then did that employee named Lee Jihui partially expect this?

More than that.

The information on Mandara and Henya is known to other branches too.

From a global perspective, they were not tremendous Special A-rank NPCs.

What gave him chills was the fact that an employee of the Korean Special User Management Team understood even people like them fully.

Furthermore.

Kimura was speaking in Japanese, and this woman named Lee Jihui spoke in fluent Japanese as she answered.

—The three of them are from the same place.

“The same place?”

—That’s right. They are all from the Ares Church. All of them were capable enough to aim for elder positions in the Ares Church.

The fact that she had anticipated this from that alone gave Kimura chills.

But she had clearly called it a concern just now.

What exactly is she concerned about?

A user meeting certain NPCs, even if those NPCs were impressive, was not normally something to be concerned about.

Soon, she said,

—All three left the Ares Church on the same day, but their relationships soured. And the quest the Zero-grade user received is to grant their requests.

What is the problem with that?

This was where the reason Kimura had only been on the job for a month and a half showed itself.

He could not see the flow of the story woven together like a spiderweb, and looked only at the surface.

But the other person kindly explained in a calm, measured voice.

—According to what you said, Alrod does not expect to reconcile with them. But what happens if they do reconcile here?

“Then, of course, he would receive Alrod’s custom blessing, which was what we were initially concerned about, right?”

Was that the concern?

But soon, the other person said,

—I told you. The three of them were people of the Ares Church.

Why did that matter?

—They are currently searching for a new god.

“......What?”

Kimura.

He was so startled that he dropped the receiver.

*****

A few days later.

Alrod recalled the day he had left the Ares Church.

“Do not pretend to be my friends. Even you must think of me as a traitor who defied god. Me, who created blessings all my life because I thought they might be of help to god!”

With bloodshot eyes, Alrod had hurled all manner of abuse at Henya and Mandara, who had come to see him.

He had not meant it.

It was because he feared they might follow him out of the Ares Church.

It was also because he thought that if they left with him, they would live with the same traitor label he carried.

“How can you say that to us?”

“We grew up together, Alrod!”

“Friends? We merely served the same god. You fools.”

Alrod had turned away, and Henya and Mandara had said,

“Let’s never see each other again, Alrod.”

“We were fools for thinking of you as our friend.”

That was how they parted.

But it had been wrong.

“I heard Henya and Mandara quit the priesthood?”

Later.

He realized that they had already quit, and that they had come to him in order to tell him they should leave together.

The words he had spoken to protect them had instead wounded them and caused them to say farewell forever.

I had no other choice.......

The contempt-filled looks in their eyes from back then flashed through his mind.

With a bitter expression, Alrod rose from his old chair.

STEP. STEP.

With his shoulders drooping, he returned to his old, shabby hut.

Then.

Alrod saw Mandara and Henya standing in front of him.

Why are they at my hut?

Alrod wondered if they had come because he had sent Hyunsoo—to slap him across the face, or perhaps to curse him and say, “Don’t do something useless, Alrod!”

Certainly.

The expressions on the two of them looked angry, and they were even shouting.

“It’s me!”

“I said it’s me!”

“No, I said it’s me!”

“I told you, it’s me!?”

What were they talking about?

Alrod could not understand.

What was “me”?

Soon, when he heard the conversation, Alrod was shocked.

“I’m the one who’s closer to Hyunsoo!!!”

“Since when is our Hyunsoo your friend? I’m closer to him!”

“......?”

Alrod was bewildered by this situation.

What on earth.......

Had happened?