Blue Co., Ltd.
The company that created the miracle of the virtual reality game Ares.
Lee Se-jin, in relation to the new class God Blacksmith, called a meeting to convey this to the executives.
The board members voted for a patch. To this, Lee Se-jin firmly said, “Do you really disagree?”
“Mr. President, this isn’t right. An artifact created by the Divine Customization skill was recently sold at the auction for 50 million won. It was made by a level 13 player. We need to patch this.”
However, Lee Se-jin was resolute.
“When I created this game, I promised not to interfere with what the players achieved.”
The board members were astonished. Yes, Lee Se-jin, the CEO, had promised the public.
He wouldn’t ruin their achievements with mere patches.
Hearing this, the head of the story team, Lee Hae-suk, said,
“How can a skill that seems so overpowered be considered a player’s achievement? Isn’t it akin to a god-tier power?”
The executives seemed to agree.
Yes, it was all about skill.
What Lee Se-jin said was different. If it’s all about skill, then isn’t it not truly their achievement?
Then Lee Se-jin, with a blunt expression, looked at Kim Tae-seok, the head of the special user management team.
“Do you think so too?”
“No.”
Kim Tae-seok sighed internally.
He knew the ruthless CEO expected him to explain on his behalf.
All executives turned to Kim Tae-seok.
“Why don’t you think so?”
“Because that skill itself is not overpowered.”
Kim Tae-seok stood up.
Lee Hae-suk, the head of the story team with horn-rimmed glasses, was baffled.
“Not overpowered? What do you mean?”
Kim Tae-seok pressed a button on the remote.
The Divine Customization skill was displayed.
“I recently received a document from Mr. Lee Se-jin.”
He was the first employee to witness the birth of the new class, a privilege given to him.
“It was about an experiment. The experiment started with people ignorant of blacksmithing. What would happen if a team unfamiliar with blacksmithing acquired the Divine Customization skill?”
He pressed the remote again.
The screen changed.
“Surprisingly, those ignorant of blacksmithing achieved only a 10-15% effectiveness rate in creating artifacts, even after hundreds of experiments.”
The executives furrowed their brows.
“Didn’t a player achieve over 60% effectiveness?”
“Yes, when applying the ‘Sword-Cutting Sword’ skill, it surpassed 60%. And the system told him, ‘Make a sword worthy of cutting swords.'”
The murmurs grew louder.
“Indeed. The Divine Customization skill is surprisingly skill-based. The extraordinary blacksmithing ability of the player – experience, understanding, knowledge. All these factors actually made a skill capable of creating a sword-cutting sword. And one more thing…”
Kim Tae-seok gave a bitter smile.
He knew the impact of his next words.
“The player never used auto-crafting and never learned the auto-crafting skill.”
The executives started murmuring.
“Is that even possible in the 21st century? Are you saying the player never used system assistance in crafting?”
“He may have improved artifacts with adjustments, but never relied on the system for crafting.”
Lee Se-jin, the CEO, nodded as all eyes turned to him.
“I hoped, if someone attained the first god class, they wouldn’t rely merely on luck or chance.”
He pressed the remote.
The screen showed a player confronting a giant ghoul, swallowing hard.
This was live.
“I thought he might reach the giant ghoul in the Castle Territory battle. But now, hunting the giant ghoul will be tough for him. However, astonishingly, a new skill is about to be unlocked.”
“A new skill?”
“Yes, don’t you know?”
Lee Se-jin was known as a genius but also a maverick. He announced on the day Ares opened.
“Ares won’t give many skills upon class change. We’ll release them slowly, one by one.”
Just as he said, releasing them one by one.
Even if there were three skills to learn, he wouldn’t give them all at once.
The executives were outraged.
Why take such a radical approach!
Yet, surprisingly, this drew a huge response.
Players were curious about which skills they’d unlock, which skills they should inherently have.
This made them unable to quit Ares.
The God Blacksmith was the same.
Shockingly, upon class change, only one skill was acquired.
“What skill is it?”
At Lee Hae-suk’s question, Lee Se-jin smiled slightly.
“The only blacksmith offensive skill he can acquire at his current level, and…”
Lee Se-jin smiled mischievously.
“I’ve seen many geniuses in the world and thought, archery genius, kendo genius, judo genius, math genius. They all show their uniqueness in Ares through their own skills. That’s why I wanted the blacksmith to be the same, and this skill too.”
He looked at the player on the screen.
The giant ghoul was now right in front of the player.
“Watch what happens with the skill soon to be unlocked. Whatever is crafted, it will be the result of the player’s skill. Whatever it is.”
– Kwaah!
On the screen, the giant ghoul’s fist struck the player.
***
The Giant Ghoul.
The grotesque creature, resembling a blood-colored golem, made the player, Hyun-soo, turn around, gripping his sword Light tightly.
Why Hyun-soo turned around?
Yes, it was greed. If he could defeat this ghoul, not only would he get 1,000 gold, but also likely some good drops.
Worth a try.
And it wasn’t just for that reason. He was simply boiling with determination.
Currently at level 29, facing a level 79. He wanted to overcome a 50-level gap.
Click-
One step, two steps.
Click-
He loads an arrow in his crossbow.
[Perfect Aim]
Shwiiik-!
One of the ghoul’s shoulders flew off.
Again.
Click-
Bam!
Crack!
Click-
Crack!
“Kheee!”
Three shots.
That was how many arrows Hyun-soo hit before the ghoul could reach him.
Then the ghoul’s fist struck Hyun-soo hard.
Crash!
[HP falls below 75%]
The damage was beyond common sense.
“Cough!”
Hyun-soo, spitting blood, quickly got to his feet, dodging another massive swing of the ghoul’s fist.
Kwaah!
“Khee!”
He was then kicked down by a swift strike from the ghoul.
Wham!
[HP falls below 53%.]
As if adding insult to injury, the ghoul roared triumphantly to the sky.
“Kuheek!”
[Ghoul’s Rage]
[Ghoul’s Rage reduces your agility by 10%, attack speed by 10%, and movement speed by 10%.]
Even with his reduced speed, Hyun-soo quickly swapped to his buffalo horn bow.
Click-
Whoosh-
Click-
Whoosh!
He managed to push back the ghoul, staggering it.
[The Giant Ghoul’s HP falls below 80%.]
But even after landing five arrows, Hyun-soo turned pale seeing the ghoul’s unbelievably high HP.
Kwaah!
The ghoul began attacking Hyun-soo wildly with its arm. Hyun-soo fought back fiercely but the ghoul’s HP still hovered around 50%.
“Heuk-heuk.”
Hyun-soo realized he was reaching his limit.
[HP falls below 33%.]
[Your vision blurs.]
Blood flowed nonstop, and his vision swirled from the extensive damage.
“I’ll call the captain, just hold on!”
Render wasn’t much help. Then, Hyun-soo was kicked again by the ghoul.
Puhuk-!
[HP falls below 10%.]
[Forced logout imminent.]
The situation looked dire. No matter how good the artifacts, Hyun-soo realized that overcoming such a level gap was extremely challenging.
A wry smile formed.
‘If I can’t kill this, does it mean I won’t get to see the Bell of Ramas? No rewards either?’
He sighed.
Then.
Ding!
[A critical moment.]
[The title God Blacksmith shines brightly.]
‘God Blacksmith?’
Hyun-soo looked puzzled. Was there something in the God Blacksmith title about gaining strength in crisis?
There wasn’t.
If anything, it was this:
‘When engaged in blacksmithing, new skills can be unlocked.’
Hyun-soo remembered when he became the God Blacksmith’s descendant.
‘The only skill I got was Divine Customization.’
Unlike other games, awakening didn’t immediately unlock most abilities.
And now, a newly awakened power.
Ding!
[You acquire Divine Emergency Crafting.]
Taa!
With that notification, Hyun-soo mustered all his strength and ran in the opposite direction of the ghoul.
Seeing something, Hyun-soo’s eyes widened.
‘This is…!’
His face lit up with hope.
‘I might be able to win…!’
He didn’t hesitate.
[Beginning Divine Emergency Crafting.]
***
“What…?”
Karl’s face hardened as he heard the report.
What did he just hear?
Render had said it.
The foreigner who had asked to see the Bell of Ramas, whom he had given an impossible task to get rid of, had hunted over 30 ghouls.
But more astonishing was this:
‘A giant ghoul appeared?’
Render spoke urgently.
“He’ll die at this rate!”
Karl moved quickly. He had fulfilled his word.
As a knight, he had to show the foreigner the Bell of Ramas now.
But as he hurried, he was also amazed.
‘A blacksmith?’
How could he do this?
He had also answered Karl’s question about his level as 13.
His mind was a whirlwind. But one thing was certain.
‘He can’t die…’
Sure, one can argue that ghouls can be killed.
But Knight Karl knew the gap between the giant ghoul and the foreigner.
It was like heaven and earth.
He had to hurry.
If things continued this way, the very person who might repair the Bell of Ramas could die.
Karl, who had been walking briskly, started to run.
As he ran, he soon saw a man, bloodied and fleeing into the distance, with the giant ghoul closing in.
30m, 27m, 23m…
The giant ghoul, apparently hit by an arrow in the leg, was limping and quite slow.
“Why isn’t he just running away…!”
Then, something extraordinary happened. Suddenly, a translucent mineral appeared above the foreigner’s head.
‘What is that?’
The man’s hands moved swiftly in the air, as if typing something.
The translucent mineral melted away in just a second.
Smelting.
The melted material solidified in another second.
Refining.
Then, in a brief moment, the impurities were removed, and a red-hot blade was formed, swiftly forged in mid-air.
Tatatatang-!
The swift sound was so astonishing it was almost disorienting.
The red blade turned a brilliant white, merging with the hilt.
Click-
All this happened in just 10 seconds.
The foreigner, holding the sword with both hands, ran towards the giant ghoul that had almost reached him.
Fwoosh-!
An unimaginable white light burst from the sword. The foreigner sliced through the giant ghoul.
Whoosh-!
The giant ghoul, cut by the sword, was consumed by the white light and burned up.
“Guwooo!”
The burning ghoul fell to its knees and turned to ashes, scattering into the wind.
“…!”
Karl realized something. The light he had just seen.
That light was undoubtedly the power of divine energy.
‘What in the world is that sword…!’
Karl read the inscription on the sword.
“Sain-geom (Four Tiger Sword)…?”
What is a Sain-geom?
It was a sword he had never seen before.
Cliche Novel 
Thanks for the chapter! Is that some kind of auto-crafting?
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