Strike 32

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After logging out, Jin-seong couldn’t help but yell out in excitement.

“Finally…!”

He was so thrilled that he couldn’t contain his joy.

But his elation was short-lived.

‘A blacksmith sought by the Sword King Barad…?’

Jin-seong was utterly shocked.

Sword King Barad was one of the top ten legendary NPCs in the Korean server, known for his immense strength.

He thought about the Sword King’s expression.

‘It was desire, a desperate longing for a new sword. A greed to meet the blacksmith Hyun…’

Barad, who even looked down on his own descendants, was drawn by the greed for this blacksmith’s work.

‘I’m so grateful I could go crazy.’

Jin-seong planned to send a note to Hyun’s forge, fulfilling a request from Sword King Barad.

However, he wasn’t just satisfied with that.

‘Thanks to you, I can even aim for the top 10 rankings!’

It was astronomically valuable.

An investment of 50 million won?

It would return tenfold, even twentyfold, in value.

‘How can I repay this?’

Of course, he had paid the price in his own way. But right now, Jin-seong couldn’t see anything else.

Wasn’t he the one who had solved his earnest desire?

Then, an idea struck Jin-seong.

‘I’ve got it!’

After sending the note related to Barad, Jin-seong began typing on his keyboard to express his gratitude.

***

Nurse Ji-hye in the medical department was chatting with a colleague.

“Is there no way to help Hyun-soo?”

“It seems there’s nothing we can do. Director Kim seems really upset about it too.”

“Ah…”

Ji-hye wore a bitter expression.

She was only four years older than Hyun-soo.

She felt a bit like an older sister to him, partly out of sympathy for his situation.

“He managed to pay this month’s hospital bills, but…”

There was something else.

Her colleague nudged her suddenly.

“You like Hyun-soo, don’t you?”

“Ah…”

Ji-hye’s face turned red.

“Honestly…”

She laughed awkwardly.

“He is handsome.”

“Right, he’s over 180 cm tall, and even though half his face is scarred from burns…”

“…”

Her colleague spoke cautiously.

Ji-hye remained silent. If not for the burn scars, Hyun-soo would be a very attractive man.

Not only was he tall, but his physique from blacksmithing was impressive.

But there was only one thing Ji-hye could do now.

‘All I can do is support him.’

She sighed deeply.

“Dr. Jin-seob said he might propose a treatment. It costs ten million won a month.”

“What? How can Hyun-soo afford that?”

Ji-hye frowned. That sounded like false hope.

‘How can a 23-year-old afford ten million won a month?’

Then.

“I’m back.”

“Huh?”

Hyun-soo re-entered the medical department.

The two who were talking stopped abruptly.

Ji-hye sat down with a wry smile.

‘Is he here to ask about the hospital bills? Or if we have a payment plan?’

Patients often clung to any hope, sometimes making unreasonable requests.

Then, Hyun-soo spoke.

“I’ll prepay for two months of my father’s treatment, two months of hospital bills, and two months of my treatment.”

“What?”

Ji-hye was stunned.

“What did you say?”

With a small smile, Hyun-soo repeated.

“I’ll prepay for two months, everything.”

Ji-hye looked at Hyun-soo with trembling eyes.

‘Prepay?’

That was about 40 million won.

What surprised her even more was this.

‘Is he finally starting his burn treatment?’

She imagined Hyun-soo without his scars.

***

Hyun-soo, who came to prepay his bills, noticed nurse Ji-hye’s flushed face.

“Congratulations!”

“Huh?”

“No, I mean… You’re starting your burn treatment now, right?”

“It seems so, and I also want to move my dad to the best VVIP room.”

“You’ll be able to do it!”

Hyun-soo smiled bitterly. After checking a text in Dr. Jin-seob’s office, he had immediately exchanged some currency.

And he realized.

‘I can do it. Both my dad’s treatment and mine.’

And he might be able to get it back.

‘The forge I sold.’

Hyun-soo didn’t know the true value of Hyun’s first custom-made sword.

Only after it sold did he realize how incredible this custom job was.

Now he had resources.

“Um…”

“Yes?”

“When you’re done with the treatment and everything, I’ll treat you to a meal.”

A meal?

Hyun-soo tilted his head and then smiled.

The director and nurse Ji-hye, they were all kind to him.

He thought it was just a simple kindness.

“No, I should be the one treating you.”

“Okay, I’ll be waiting!”

She’d be waiting?

Hyun-soo left the medical department with a wry smile.

After visiting his father, Hyun-soo clenched his fist as he left the hospital.

‘This new class, it might be more incredible than I thought.’

He pondered this when suddenly…

[A buyer has left a review.]

‘A review?’

Hyun-soo wondered who had bought his custom-made sword for 50 million won.

It was a high-ranked player named Lord.

And soon after…

[Subscriber updated.]

[Subscriber updated.]

[Subscriber…]

‘…?’

Hyun-soo looked at his vibrating phone in confusion.

‘What’s this…?’

Subscriber updates usually don’t happen for just one or two new followers.

‘What’s going on?’

In that brief moment…

[Hyun’s Forge reaches 15,000 subscribers.]

“…?”

Hyun-soo had maintained around 3,000 subscribers, but when he last checked, it had shot up to about 7,000.

‘Why the sudden spike?’

While he knew his custom-made sword had garnered some attention, he didn’t expect this level of impact.

“Uh…!?”

Hyun-soo hurried to check the review left by the buyer, Lord.

[Blacksmith Hyun. He is the best blacksmith I’ve ever encountered. His first custom-made sword fulfilled a long-held wish of mine. Thank you ^^]

“Is this the reason?”

When he checked Hyun’s Forge online, there were new posts.

[Is this the place highly praised by the high-ranker Lord?]

[Line up, everyone! I’m subscribing.]

[I’m here on a pilgrimage, bless my SAT scores!]

[Please heal my little Kong!]

“It’s true, isn’t it?”

He realized just how powerful the endorsement of a high-ranker could be.

And during the few minutes it took him to get home…

[Hyun’s Forge reaches 30,000 subscribers.]

The number of subscribers had skyrocketed.

‘Incredible.’

And Hyun-soo felt good about it, especially because of what Lord wrote about fulfilling a long-held wish.

Watching the subscriber count continue to rise, he knew.

‘This is just the beginning.’

Now was the real start for his Ares.

Hyun-soo decided to check his messages for the first time in a while.

Among them, a particular username stood out.

‘Lord?’

He opened the message from Lord.

[Hello, Blacksmith Hyun. This is Lord. I’m writing to you because…]

To his surprise, the message detailed where Lord had used the custom-made sword.

‘Sword King Barad?’

[Sword King Barad has expressed a wish for you to make his sword. It might be worth paying him a visit.]

Just the name ‘Sword King’ sounded extraordinary.

Hyun-soo first searched for information about Barad on the official Ares website under NPC profiles.

[Sword King Barad. King of the Kingdom of Goyard, known as the Kingdom of Swords.]

[Goyard is a small kingdom in the Korean server’s Asgan continent, the smallest in both area and population.]

[Yet, no kingdom dares to underestimate Goyard. All because of Sword King Barad, who is among the top ten legends of the continent.]

‘A real king? Ruling over millions of people?’

Next, he checked the Ares community for more information.

Searching for Barad brought up countless posts.

[Barad is so cool, right?]

[Yeah, I’m blown away every time I see him. Like watching a war movie general.]

[Getting a quest from Barad would be epic.]

[Agreed…]

[Dream on, low-level players. You need at least level 200 to meet Barad.]

[Is there actually such a restriction?]

[Yeah… It’s real. A king won’t meet just anyone… Even level 200 players need incredible luck to meet him. There’s one way to bypass the level restriction, though.]

[What’s that?]

[There’s an annual super rookie contest for players between levels 50-60. Winners get to meet him at the award ceremony.]

[Lol, but that’s like, what, 10 seconds?]

[Yeah…]

‘Hmm…’

Through the community chatter, Hyun-soo realized he couldn’t meet Barad just yet.

‘The super rookie contest, huh…’

Of course, he’d need to be at least level 50 to participate.

Hyun-soo left a thankful note to Lord for the information before logging in.

***

Gyeongju City, North Gyeongsang Province.

A black sedan with a triangular star emblem swiftly pulled up to a piece of land.

Soon, a middle-aged man stepped out. His name was Kang Hyuk-su, a well-known figure in the real estate world.

Hyuk-su looked at the mostly demolished forge. He hadn’t yet decided exactly what to build in its place. He remembered the original state of the forge – it was in terrible condition, mostly burned down, practically a ruin.

It seemed like the blacksmith’s son had tried to maintain it, but it was clear it needed to be torn down.

“When will the permits be ready?” he asked.

“Should take about a month,” his secretary replied.

Hyuk-su surveyed the area, thinking to himself, ‘A forge in such a remote place in the 21st century…’ He swallowed a bitter laugh.

He recalled the day he signed the contract for this land. He had met a young but sturdy man, sadly covered in burns.

The young man had hesitated over the contract. Understandably so. This forge had been in place for decades, a place full of memories with his father, and likely symbolized the end of his career as a blacksmith.

They had talked at length, reminding Hyuk-su of his own youth and stirring a sense of pity in him. A blacksmith in this day and age…

Hyuk-su, who had a keen eye for people, realized, ‘He would have been remarkable, whatever he chose to do.’ But the situation had forced the young man into a corner.

The young man had asked before signing, ‘If I want to buy this place back, could I?’

Hyuk-su had pondered for a moment. Why had he said what he did? Maybe because he owned hundreds of such properties? Or was it something in the young man’s eyes, a kind of indescribable determination?

‘If it’s completely demolished and before any new construction starts, I’ll sell it back to you for the same price I bought it for. I don’t want to lose money either.’

‘Thank you,’ the young man had replied.

It was strange. Hyuk-su realized he was waiting for the young man to return.

‘That’s over 300 million won.’

He even heard that the money from selling the forge went entirely to pay off his father’s overdue hospital bills.

More than six months had passed since then. It was an impossible amount for someone that age.

Back in his car, Hyuk-su swallowed another bitter laugh as he watched the landscape fly by.

‘Hyun-soo, you’ve only got a month left.’

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