Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: The King's Test (1)
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[You have acquired 13,000 gold.]
Hyun-soo was supposed to receive a reward of 1,000 gold, but he ended up getting a whopping 13,000.
And the king's retainers had told him not to ask any questions or say a word in front of King Barad.
But Hyun-soo couldn't do that.
It wasn't him seeking the king, but the king seeking him.
Hearing him, Barad spoke with a surprised expression.
“I have been waiting for you, Blacksmith Hyeon.”
Barad, who had been looking at him, turned around.
“Come see me tomorrow.”
After Barad left, Hyun-soo let out the breath he had been holding.
The sheer pressure of meeting him had been overwhelming.
With that, Hyun-soo logged out.
‘Still, not a bad haul.’
Having logged out, Hyun-soo gave a wry smile.
A staggering 13,000 gold. He had earned 13 million won from the Super Rookie tournament.
Even so, Hyun-soo casually heated up some instant food in the microwave.
Eating his 5,000-won convenience store lunchbox, Hyun-soo smiled bitterly.
Hyun-soo had certainly earned 13 million in just a few days, but the amount he still needed to make was astronomically high.
‘My burn treatment costs 3 billion, I need to get my father into a VVIP room, and I have to rebuild the smithy.’
The estimated total was well over 4 billion.
As he was eating, Hyun-soo received a phone call. Lately, only two people ever called him.
His friend Ji-hoon, or Nel.
And the caller was none other than Nel.
-I watched the match, it was great. People are going to start flocking to Hyeon's Smithy in the auction house. It looks like things are about to ignite on the community forums too.
“I suppose so.”
-Do you have a plan? Because of the character 'Hyeon' on the arrowhead, people are going to identify you as Hyeon.
Hyun-soo gave a wry smile. What Nel was worried about was the fallout from his sudden fame.
There were pros and cons to consider, but if Hyun-soo was confirmed as the owner of Hyeon's Smithy, the mystique would be gone.
On top of that, the blacksmith guilds would now know about him and might start swarming him.
The biggest problem was that his 'God of Blacksmiths' class might be exposed.
If his class were revealed now, Hyun-soo would likely become a target for several top-tier guilds.
By those who wanted to nip him in the bud.
But Hyun-soo said.
“That wasn't a mistake.”
-What?
“The 'Hyeon' on the arrowhead. It wasn't a mistake.”
Nel was silent for a long moment.
***
-The 'Hyeon' on the arrowhead. It wasn't a mistake.
Nel, Kim Hye-in, looked puzzled.
How could that not be a mistake?
The whole world had seen it.
The power of the super-duper rookie who had sent a Stone Golem flying 7 meters.
And the mark of Hyeon's Smithy, the character 'Hyeon,' had been blatantly exposed. How could it not be a mistake?
After thinking it over, she asked.
“So you had a plan in mind? What are you going to do now?”
-I'm not going to do anything.
“……?”
She looked puzzled. Do nothing?
Less than an hour had passed since the event, so things hadn't caught fire yet.
But once the spark was lit, the flames would spread in an instant.
-Just trust me and wait. I'm a bit tired, so I'm going to sleep.
“Alright, sleep well. And...”
Hye-in gave a wry smile, wondering if she had sounded too worried.
“You were amazing. Truly.”
A faint blush appeared on her face. She heard Hyun-soo chuckle softly.
After hanging up, Hye-in continued to monitor the situation.
While he was off in dreamland, many things were about to change for Hyeon's Smithy.
She logged into the Ares community forums.
[Yo, anyone watch the Super Rookie tournament!? A crazy good super-duper rookie showed up!!!]
As expected, posts like these were popping up on the forums. She also visited 'Hyeon's Smithy.'
[Hyeon's Smithy Subscribers: 131,655.]
She noted the number, planning to check how much it would rise in the next 10 hours.
And seeing the subscriber count after just 30 minutes, she blinked in surprise.
“And he said this was fine?”
[Hyeon's Smithy Subscribers: 141,513.]
It had increased by over 10,000 in just 30 minutes. She had never seen a subscriber count grow so quickly.
Many posts were also being written on Hyeon's Smithy's page.
[Found you, you little rascal!]
[Master Hyeon of Hyeon's Smithy, I enjoyed the match~]
[You covered your face, but I can tell by your build and artifact~ If I say hi on the street, please say hi back!]
Of course, this was a good thing.
The subscriber count was growing, and people were showing interest.
She wasn't too worried about this aspect.
Anyone who tried to cause trouble would likely be ostracized by the public.
It was just this one thing that was most concerning.
‘Mystique has a much greater effect than you'd think.’
Nel had no doubt that it would help Hyeon's Smithy grow even larger.
But if this continued, even if it was good for now, that effect would be lost.
Even those who had subscribed simply out of curiosity about his identity might lose interest.
And when three hours had passed.
[Hyeon's Smithy Subscribers: 171,372.]
“Wow……!”
Nel felt a thrill. The speed was truly incredible.
Subscribers continued to leave comments.
[I want to commission a bow like that too.]
[Please accept my commission request. I'm willing to pay up to 300 million.]
[Hello? This is the mage Brown. I would like to commission a staff. I'm willing to pay up to 1 billion, so please send me a message. And I was very impressed by the bow you shot in the recent match.]
‘Even Brown?’
The number two ranked mage, Brown. He was placing a commission request with Hyeon.
And this was fine?
And after another three hours, Nel saw the top post trending on the Ares community forums.
‘Was this it? What Hyun-soo was aiming for?’
She was purely in awe of the man named Hyun-soo.
***
Hyun-soo, who had been sleeping, woke up.
Stretching widely, Hyun-soo drank some water and sat down in front of his computer.
“Let's see how things are going.”
He accessed Hyeon's Smithy on his computer.
[Hyeon's Smithy Subscribers: 233,161.]
[Current Korean Smithy Subscriber Ranking: 137th.]
Hyun-soo gave a wry smile. It was just as he had expected. Commission requests also seemed to have increased a hundredfold.
He checked the Ares community forums.
[Never seen a bow like that in my life... If a level 50 can do that with it, what would happen if a level 300 archer used it...]
[Damn, that bow was insane!]
[Wasn't it the arrow, to be exact?]
[Same difference. Games really are all about the gear!]
[There's a rumor that the super rookie is the owner of Hyeon's Smithy.]
And Hyun-soo planned to accept a commission from the most influential person among them soon.
‘First, I need to take care of Barad's request.’
Then, Hyun-soo clicked on the hottest post on the Ares community forums.
The title was this.
[Hello. This is the Ares Expert Team.]
The Ares Expert Team.
They were a self-proclaimed group of Ares experts.
In reality, various experts like commentators and analysts formed an anonymous team.
Whenever abnormal events occurred that users couldn't understand, they would analyze, deduce, and derive an answer.
Their accuracy was around 70%, so many people trusted them blindly.
The number one post had an incredibly high view count and over a thousand comments.
[We, the anonymous Ares Expert Team, also enjoyed the recent super rookie match. It was a truly amazing bow and incredible skill. Phew. I'm still getting shivers.]
[Anyway, let's get to the main point. In our team's subjective opinion, the blacksmith Hyeon and the super rookie are not the same person.]
Hyun-soo let out a small smile.
“Just as I thought……!”
[Let us explain why.]
[Our analysis shows that the super rookie possesses both Sword Mastery and Bow Mastery. We assume you all saw the swordsmanship he displayed. The super rookie was a user in their level 50s. However, for the current theories to be true, the super rookie would have to possess two classes.]
[However, Ares has made an official announcement. Dual classes are exclusive to those level 250 and above. Low-level users absolutely cannot have a dual class.]
[And since Hyeon of Hyeon's Smithy hasn't shown his face, we can see people trying to force a connection any way they can.]
[Of course, we saw that user quickly create a gauntlet and a spear. But this can also be seen another way: as nothing more than a special summoning method. In fact, users who summon weapons in such a manner do exist. The user 'Eden' is one such case. He added an effect that makes it look like the weapon is being crafted when it's summoned, and Eden is a special class advancer called 'Master of Arms.' ]
[In short, our opinion is this: The super rookie simply purchased an artifact from 'Hyeon,' and the synergy between the rookie's skill and the purchased artifact created that result. So, what our team is saying is this.]
[Master of Hyeon's Smithy, please craft an item for me too T_T!]
Hyun-soo also checked the comments.
[lol, it all leads to asking for an item craft, lmao.]
[Turns out the expert team just wanted to suck up to Hyeon's Smithy? Damn, aren't those guys pretty high level in Ares?]
[Hyeon's Smithy, a place even high-level players want stuff from. Let's go subscribe!]
[But for real, the Ares Expert Team has a point. The idea that he's the smithy's owner just because 'Hyeon' was written on the arrowhead doesn't make sense.]
[fr lol, where are you gonna find a blacksmith with Sword Mastery and Bow Mastery? People getting ahead of themselves.]
[If I buy an artifact from Hyeon's Smithy, can I win the Super Rookie tournament?]
[Totally possible, but it's expensive lol.]
It was perfect. As attention was drawn to the super rookie, the recognition of Hyeon's Smithy was also rising.
Just then, he got a message from Nel.
[Are you a genius?]
Hyun-soo gave a wry smile. She quickly followed up.
[I've thought of a good plan.]
[What is it?]
[You play the game as both Blacksmith Hyeon and the super rookie.]
Hyun-soo looked puzzled. Was there any point to that?
[Then one day, after you've established a guild and gathered people, you drop the bomb: The super rookie was Hyeon all along. What do you think will happen then?]
“……?”
[You'll sweep the number one spot on all the domestic portal site search rankings that day.]
It made sense. He could feel her competence. She had taken his initial idea and fleshed it out into a secondary plan.
After replying, Hyun-soo walked to his Ares capsule. It was time to receive Barad's commission.
***
Special User Management Team.
The head of the customer service center paid a visit. But Kim Tae-seok, the head of the Special User Management Team, was monitoring the situation with a grave expression.
“Isn't that the Sword King Barad? Is that user finally getting the commission?”
“Looks like it.”
“But it won't be easy, will it?”
“That's true.”
Tae-seok gave a wry smile. It was no easy task.
“Even Daeng, the master of the Sword Pagoda, failed that commission, and so did the number one ranked blacksmith.”
In fact, Barad had even met the number one ranked blacksmith.
But he too had failed to craft a sword that satisfied Barad.
At that, Kim Tae-seok ruffled his hair.
“But that user is so far beyond common sense. I'm more worried about something else than whether he succeeds or not.”
“What are you worried about?”
Tae-seok gave a wry smile at the customer service head's question.
“He's the Sword King.”
“Yeah, so what? Everyone knows Sword King Barad, he's famous.”
The customer service head was clueless. Tae-seok looked at him with a frustrated expression.
“I'm saying, he's the 'Sword King'.”
“Right, so why does that matter?”
Kim Tae-seok shook his head as if giving up.
Feeling the frustration rising in her throat as she listened, employee Lee Ji-hee answered.
“If you satisfy the Sword King, what do you think he'll give as a reward?”
“Well, obviously his swordsmanship……? Huh?”
“But the user Hyun-soo is a blacksmith. Can you imagine a blacksmith who has learned the Sword King's swordsmanship?”
It was unimaginable. Just how big would the ripple effect be?
But because the ripple effect would be anything but small, he swallowed nervously.
Team Leader Kim Tae-seok said.
“Of course, he won't give it away easily, not unless his affinity with the Sword King reaches its MAX, at least. And besides, that's up to Sword King Barad's discretion.”
The customer service head let out a hollow laugh.
MAX affinity with Sword King Barad?
‘Is something like that even possible?
On the monitor, Hyun-soo was finally having an audience with Sword King Barad.