The blacksmiths of the Ballas estate have seen great growth due to Hyun-soo.
Even now, the blacksmiths’ skills are continuously improving under the guidance of Hyun-soo and the basic textbooks he created.
During this time, a young blacksmith named Pik was called the strange blacksmith.
The reason he was called strange.
Although he clearly had outstanding skills and grew faster than others, most of his well-crafted masterpieces or well-made items had bizarre effects.
Effects on the artifact.
Except for Hyun-soo, these effects could not always be controlled as desired.
They simply reflected the materials and the direction he thought about while making them.
Thus, Pik’s creations were born.
(“Bow for a Foe”)
Grade: Unique
Durability: 3,500/3,500
Attack Power: 195
Limitation: Archers 150~350
Special Abilities:
· Strength +2, Agility +4
· 30% additional experience on the last hit.
· Significant contribution points on the last hit.
· Active skill: Arrow that gathers enemies.
· Active skill: Invisible arrow.
· Passive skill: Not me, target him.
Description: This is a masterpiece crafted by the blacksmith Pik. However, if used incorrectly, it’s the perfect bow for making enemies.
A masterpiece and unique.
When he first created it, Pik thought he had finally achieved his lifelong dream.
But upon closer inspection, it was odd.
The other blacksmiths commented,
“Gaining a huge amount of contribution on the last hit? So, you steal the contribution by landing the final blow on a creature someone else has nearly killed? Isn’t this what outsiders call ‘stealing’?”
“An arrow that gathers enemies is also strange. If every shot calls monsters within a 50m radius, isn’t that suicidal?”
“What’s this ‘Not me, target him’? Wow, your arrow calls them over and then passes the aggro to someone else?”
The consensus among the blacksmiths was,
“It’s a good bow if you want to mess with someone, but using it will turn that person into your enemy, so it’s better not to use it.”
Thus, Pik’s creations were considered so bizarre that they were largely shunned.
Most other artifacts were full of such things as well.
All the blacksmiths looked pitiful as they said,
“You have great skills, but everything you make…”
“You have the best skills, but the effects that come with them…”
Pik cursed his cursed hands.
But not everyone thought the same.
“Pik, every weapon exists for a reason. I believe that one day your masterpiece will accomplish much and will be truly needed by someone,” said the newly appointed Lord Hyun-soo.
Comforted by these words, Pik did not quit being a blacksmith and went to the forge again today.
Then, Minister Nel arrived.
“Pik, the Lord needs your artifact.”
“The Lord?”
“Yes, the Lord has sent 50,000 gold to buy your ‘Bow for a Foe’.”
Pik felt a fresh surge of emotion as he sold the bow for 50,000 gold.
Minister Nel then used the gift function to send the bow to the Lord.
Pik wondered,
“What on earth does he intend to use this bow for that’s so good at making enemies?”
***
Dun.
He was a veteran among veterans, having climbed the Beres Mountains hundreds of times.
He understood the geography, the paths, and the monsters better than anyone else.
‘What’s going on?’
But something strange was happening.
It was a place where monsters usually did not appear much.
Dun, who had been slicing through monsters, wore a puzzled expression.
He had clearly stated,
He would take the lead and draw all the mobs’ aggro to protect Hyun-soo, the blacksmith, from getting hurt.
Hyun-soo had agreed to provide support with his bow from behind.
But suddenly, monsters started swarming around them.
“Argh, what? Why are there so many!?”
Elsewhere, ice-element monsters gathered.
The strange thing was that the monsters were only flocking to Dun.
The reason lay in the bow Hyun-soo was holding.
[Not me, target him]
[By focusing all aggro on another, you avoid damage.]
Surrounded by dozens of monsters, Dun was about to lose his mind.
‘Why are they only coming after me!’
Dun becomes 30% stronger in the mountains.
He could handle the opponents, but the fight was extremely tough.
“It seems climbing the mountain was a bad idea after all.”
Hyun-soo spoke in a frightened voice from behind.
Dun had promised.
He would take him to where the sage Arte was!
“We need to go down.”
Ultimately, Hyun-soo had to be placed in the snowfield’s blessing site.
“It’s too much for you, Mr. Dun.”
Struggling against the monsters, Dun confidently laughed.
“Don’t worry, this happens all the time. Ha-ha, it may look tough for me, but actually, it’s as easy as pie to deal with these guys…”
Thump—
Dun was struck on the side of his head by a yeti’s club and fell, blood streaming from his head.
“…?”
“?”
“…?”
“??”
Dun was baffled. For a moment, the expression on the man named Hyun-soo’s face seemed to say,
‘What the hell is this…?’
Was it a misunderstanding?
Quickly, that expression faded, and Hyun-soo said,
“Apparently, I really can’t climb it.”
Dun gulped down a high-grade potion worth 100,000 won per bottle.
“No, no, it’s okay. Just support me a little, ha-ha-ha-ha!”
At this point, Dun decided to take it positively.
‘More mobs mean more hunting, that’s good, right? Oh, this creature is tough.’
At that moment.
Whoosh—
An arrow from behind instantly killed the tough monster.
When hunting a monster together, a contribution system is activated.
Experience points are divided based on how much each contributed.
However, something unusual was that players who landed the final blow usually took a significant portion of the contribution.
‘Huh? No matter what, why am I getting so little experience?’
Dun couldn’t understand, and the truth lay in Hyun-soo’s bow.
[You landed the final blow.]
[You gain 30% additional experience.]
[Stealing Dun’s contribution to increase yours.]
[You gain 5,313 experience points.]
Dun thought it was his misconception.
Whenever that happened.
Swoosh—
“Oh, I hit it.”
Thunk—
“Azuah!”
Fwap—
“Ohhh…!”
“Ni, Nima?”
“Yes? Why? I’m doing my best to help Mr. Dun!”
Dun felt weird hearing Hyun-soo’s cheerful response.
‘Why do I feel so crappy?’
Anyway, Hyun-soo was secretly rejoicing inside.
Dun continued to take hits while guzzling down top-grade potions.
When things were somewhat managed, the arrows that were shot would gather monsters within a 50m radius.
And indeed, Hyun-soo was cunningly aiming for the last hit.
Hyun-soo was very comfortable.
How convenient was it to just pull back arrows from behind, land the last hit, and reap the experience?
[You have leveled up.]
Taking solace in gulping down top-grade potions, Dun consoled himself.
‘At least I got the yeti’s gloves earlier, and lots of gold and miscellaneous items dropped, so if I collect and sell those, it should cover the cost of the potions… Huh?’
Suddenly, Dun turned around.
It was because Hyun-soo was quickly picking up all the dropped items on the ground.
“Hey you little—!”
“?”
“…?”
“??”
Dun was flustered.
‘It’s a mistake, how could a veteran like me make such an error?’
He quickly found a way out of the situation.
“Hey you monster bastards!”
Dun couldn’t help but feel teary-eyed.
His sword furiously sliced through the monsters.
And Hyun-soo heard a notification.
[You have entered the Beres Mountains for the first time.]
[You are ascending the Beres Mountains at an incredible pace.]
[Experience gain increased by 10%.]
Hyun-soo was comfortably gaining experience, easily acquiring money and artifacts, and comfortably climbing this magical mountain range, Beres.
‘Let’s see, I leveled up twice, gained two skill points, and if I sell the items, I’ll make about 500,000 won in Korean currency? Jackpot!’
Hyun-soo couldn’t help but feel joyful looking at the sturdy(?) back of Dun.
Beaten and battered, Dun had successfully hunted all the surrounding monsters.
‘Huff, huff, this is the first time I’ve hunted this much.’
Dun didn’t know he could fight this well.
It stemmed from his firm resolve to somehow bring this bastard to the snowfield’s blessing site and kill him.
Dun told half-truths and half-lies.
The half-lie was about taking him to the snowfield’s blessing site to kill him.
And the half-truth was this.
‘The sage’s tower this time is near the snowfield’s blessing site.’
Walking with Hyun-soo, Dun pointed to the faintly visible sage’s tower.
“How about that? We really came to the sage’s tower, didn’t we?”
Dun boasted.
“It’s probably a first. It’s the first time a user has come here and ascended this far in such a short period.”
Though it was bitter, Dun had quickly brought this annoying guy up here.
And soon, Dun was able to reach the vicinity of the snowfield’s blessing site.
Dun explained about the snowfield’s blessing site.
“This is a great place where everything triples.”
Walking ahead of Hyun-soo, Dun heard a notification.
[You have entered the snowfield’s blessing site.]
Notifications about the increase in experience and drop rates, as well as penalties, also came through.
Dun omitted the penalties while informing him.
Then he turned back, looked at Hyun-soo, and smiled slyly.
“Now, if we just cross this snowfield’s blessing site, you will be able to reach the tower of the sage.”
And he waited.
He waited for him to enter the snowfield’s blessing site.
“Yes, thanks to you, Mr. Dun, it was a comfortable journey. Thanks to…”
Finally, Hyun-soo entered the snowfield’s blessing site.
At that, Dun’s expression turned cold.
“Thanks to? You were going to die anyway.”
Dun could see his waiting comrades appear.
Dun’s comrades were very strong.
It couldn’t be helped.
Usually, those who seek the sage’s tower are high-level users.
As they have to face such users, they themselves are big shots.
“Is this the guy? The one who tricked you?”
[Wind Sorcerer Won, Level 341]
“Ha, thinking he could climb the Beres Mountains alone just because he carries a bow on his back.”
[Assassin Burns, Level 349]
“Wow… the artifacts are really nice, aren’t they?”
[Swordsman Bon, Level 351]
And then.
“Do you know how long I’ve waited for the moment to kill you? You will definitely die in the most painful way possible, so much so that you’ll have trauma and won’t be able to even log into the game.”
[Mountain Keeper Dun, Level 361]
They were all ranked within the top 300.
Wind Sorcerer Won was ranked 131st.
Assassin Burns was ranked 115th.
Swordsman Bon was ranked 107th.
And Mountain Keeper Dun was called a high-ranker, being within the top 100 at 99th.
They soon saw Hyun-soo’s confused expression.
“Why would you do this…?”
“It’s simple. Artifacts are rare. Even rankers can’t commonly acquire rare, epic, or unique items, and high-level users outfit themselves with the best gear from the money they’ve amassed from hunting. If you kill them, those precious items drop, and at three times the drop rate at that, with a 100% chance of dropping the equipped artifacts.”
Mountain Keeper Dun grinned.
“By killing them one by one, we were able to sell what they dropped and finally arm ourselves with these incredible artifacts, becoming even stronger.”
“So you’re saying it was all to steal the results that others had worked years to achieve?”
At that, Dun and his group laughed.
And Assassin Burns felt no need to exchange many words with him.
‘Pierce his throat in one blow…!’
He soon wore a puzzled expression.
‘My body… isn’t moving…?’
Burns could only roll his eyes.
The others also couldn’t move.
Soon, Hyun-soo pulled out a sword he had hidden in his inventory and equipped it.
[You have equipped the Supreme Sword.]
Their eyes widened at the sight of the sword.
It was clearly a tremendous legendary sword.
The currents of air were being sucked into the sword.
[Rampaging Sword]
The intricacies of the Supreme Sword where the basic attack power is determined by chance.
“Do you know?”
The naive and inexperienced expression on his face completely changed.
[By a 2% chance, the sword’s basic attack power increases by 641%.]
[Lasts for 15 seconds.]
A lord of a domain.
One of the few barons.
And the unemotional charisma of someone who has reached the pinnacle in one field baffled them.
“I can also get a triple drop rate.”
Cliche Novel 