The Genius Blacksmith's Game
Preparation
There was a group of ranked players from 1st to 10th place in both official and unofficial rankings.
They were the object of admiration for many users and wielded swords better than anyone else.
Someone is a user who leads a prosecutor guild numbering tens of thousands.
There was also someone who became a ranked player at the fastest speed under the name of Super Rookie.
Also, someone was called a swordsman by winning battles against countless users with a single sword.
Also, someone garnered worldwide attention by hunting the most boss monsters with a sword.
The name of the group they gathered is 'Sky of Swords.'
One day like that.
The Sword Sky have all disappeared from the rankings.
Users found out that even those who were on the official rankings had switched to unofficial ones.
Everyone was puzzled when their whereabouts became completely unknown.
Some even went so far as to say that the Sword Sky group had collectively quit the game.
However, they haven't quit the game.
Those who were called the strongest swordsmen.
They had now become mountain keepers.
***
A mountain adjacent to the county's country.
Four mountain keepers were getting ready to climb.
“Isn’t this Art, who was once ranked number one among prosecutors?”
“Haha, Lord Laval, ranked 13th, the one called the Swordsman? Nice to meet you.”
“Ooh… I am Devil, who was once ranked 14th among swordsmen, but now I have become a mountain keeper.”
“……I am Hanson, formerly ranked 7th among prosecutors. Enough with the skit, and get ready to ascend.”
“…….”
Laval poured cold water on their skit, but everyone gave a subtle smile.
The towering mountain peak seemed to touch the sky, and the fluffy clouds of the blue sky surrounded the peak.
The time I first climbed this mountain comes to mind.
After climbing this mountain all day and descending, their master, the mountain keeper, told them to climb the mountain ten times.
And that too, in just one day.
As a result, they had no choice but to climb back up.
I'm not doing it.
Is that something you should be saying, Art, the number one ranked prosecutor?
But how am I supposed to make the round trip ten times?!
"… … I, the swordsman, go first. Lord Art, are you scared?"
'… … Run at full speed.'
"Panting, help me. Why are we doing this bullshit in a game?!"
You can become stronger, so why aren't you doing it?
Then I have to do it.
Carry me on your back…
'… … Are you out of your mind?'
And so they went back and forth across the mountain ten times.
It was a crazy thing to do, anyone could see it.
However, I did not give up.
I climbed the mountain every single day without fail, and after doing so for more than two weeks, changes began to occur.
[Cardiopulmonary function improves.]
[Lower body muscles become firmer.]
[You will not get tired easily.]
[Stamina increases by 2%.]
[Agility increases by 1%.]
I felt much less tired and out of breath compared to when I first climbed the mountain.
You ask, even if I grow like this, I can't accumulate experience points anyway, so won't I still fall behind in terms of level?
It wasn't at all.
The mountain that Raisen told them to climb is a mountain owned by the country of the prefecture.
It was also a hunting ground with rugged terrain and swarming high-level monsters.
The level cap was extremely high, and the monsters there were also very ferocious.
The rock boar inhabiting this mountain was tall enough to reach 4 meters in height, and if it rammed, the bones of the entire body would shatter.
They climbed up, fighting against such rock boars, as well as rock lizards and rock wolves.
Also, the county did not officially encourage hunting in this mountain.
This is because the items dropped by monsters were too few and the risk was high.
In fact, high-level users sometimes did not even visit this mountain itself.
Unhunted monsters were overflowing, and they had no choice but to head toward them.
I used up all my energy climbing the mountain, and now I'm surrounded by 200 of them? Is this for real?
Please save me, please save me.
"… … It is right to ask a monster to save me… … ?"
"… … It’s a fake!"
Uryaa!
Even while climbing the mountain, they had to fight fierce battles with monsters every day.
Feed it here!
'… … You traitors!'
Sometimes I was able to climb the mountain safely thanks to a colleague's sacrifice(?), and other times I climbed the mountain with an exhausted colleague.
"… … Usually, if you break a leg in the mountains, don't you carry them on your back? But why am I being dragged along by the back of the neck?"
'… … .'
Even with their breath completely cut off, they fought the monsters.
[I repeatedly pushed myself to the limit and overcame it.]
[Acquire the title 'Fighter to the Limit'.]
And as I kept climbing the mountain like that, before I knew it, that battle became manageable.
Go and take the hit.
Why me again?
"Because the HP stat is the highest?"
You're a really good colleague.
[You acquire the title 'Invincible in the Mountains'.]
Thanks to the repeated sacrifice of one person, they were even able to establish a clear position, allowing them to fight monsters much more efficiently.
As those battles continued, the level naturally increased as well.
Now that they had some free time, they began to see each and every mountain.
It's a miracle cure, a miracle cure! Ooooh, a miracle cure that raises your stats if you take it!
I climbed the mountain to become a mountain keeper.
So they also began to look for the gift the mountain had given to humans.
But why is it marked as ???? Huh? I already ate it.
… … died?
It's warm… I think I just died…
'… … Let's not eat anything that looks like this next time.'
They also learned how to distinguish the 'poison' given by the mountain.
Try this.
Why am I eating again?
Since I'm always the one doing the heavy lifting, you should be the one doing this.
"… … It’s dead again. Let’s not eat this either."
They learned about the mountain.
Now that they could distinguish poisonous mushrooms, they began to find the real miracle cure.
Gangpicho.
Stone-coated.
Rebar
Silver armor grass.
White snow ginseng, etc.
There were many medicinal herbs on this mountain that could make them strong.
After taking even those things, they became much stronger than before and even earned a title.
(One who understands the mountain.)
Multiple titles.
Grade: S
Special Ability:
· It exerts special powers only in the mountains.
· The basic attack power of the sword increases by 15%, and the damage of sword-related skills increases by at least 10%.
You will be able to use fused skills that utilize existing swordsmanship skills and the vital energy received from the mountain.
Among the titles that can be held by many people, S-rank is very rare.
Of course, even if it is the same S-rank, it is far inferior to the Unique Title.
Even so, the point is that they have now become much stronger in the mountains than on the ground.
And again now.
The Sword Sky members gathered at the foot of the mountain wanted to compare the present with when they first climbed it.
Crunch crunch
"Isn't that a poisonous mushroom?"
It’s surprisingly tasty once you start eating it. It’s savory, too.
Laval, who had been eating poisonous mushrooms, acquired the title 'Poison Mushroom Resist' and became invincible in that regard.
“How long did it take to climb the mountain the first time?”
It is 32 hours, 21 minutes, and 22 seconds.
“……You remember it exactly?”
Because I always keep a record.
Finally, they started climbing the mountain to check the results of their five months of work.
My body was as light as a feather.
It was such a difficult mountain to climb, but now I wasn't even out of breath.
“Kuwah!”
“Body it out, forward!”
Laval stepped forward and drew aggro, and the appearing rock boars and rock wolves were quickly swept away.
The average level of the rock boars here is about 530.
Normally, their limit was dealing with about 4 or 5 of them.
However, based on the characteristic of becoming stronger only in the mountains and the merit of having come to understand the mountains better, about 50 monsters were quickly swept away.
“Whoo!”
“That feels light!”
"I guess you could say it feels like a warm-up."
In an instant, the monsters were swept away and scattered into ashes.
They quickly climbed the mountain again and were able to stand at the summit.
3 hours 5 minutes 5 seconds.
“Oh! What a waste!”
“I thought I could hang up within 3 hours!”
“Next time, I’m definitely hanging up within 3 hours!”
A smile hung on the lips of the Sword Sky.
Mountain keeper.
I considered it merely trivial and insignificant.
However, they did not know that repetitive work in some place would make them this strong.
Sweating profusely, they were making a promise.
That they themselves have become at least 30% stronger than they were six months ago.
Also, this was the standard on earth.
In the mountains, perhaps they were even better than the rankers like Musashi, Miao, and Pond.
Let's climb number 30 today.
"Roger."
They started descending the mountain again.
Ruban of the 1st Knight Order of the Heart of Parion was a special person.
He was originally an assassin, not a knight of Parion.
However, knowing that the only way to survive as an assassin is to be loyal to Parion, he is a dog who willingly knelt before Parion.
And the core of the Knights of Parian.
He was the heart of Parion and was able to join the 1st Order.
The 1st Knight Order, consisting of only 13 members.
It is said that each and every one of them is comparable to a legend.
In fact, Luban's skills didn't reach that level.
However, when he swore an oath to Parion, he brought with him the Shadowless Corps, the assassin group he had raised.
Muyeongdan.
Currently, it is the strongest assassin group operating secretly even within the Parion Empire.
Luban was recognized for his efforts in bringing them in and raising them.
As he was also the Shadowless Master leading this Shadowless Group, he must be a legendary figure in his own right.
We must enter the Land of the Prefecture quickly.
Luban, dressed as an assassin, was moving rapidly with the Shadowless Corps, keeping his body low.
Shashashashak-
They stopped in front of a mountain.
It is a mountain that allows direct entry into the country of the prefecture.
When I unfolded the map, I saw the 'capital' of the county there.
Targets were marked throughout the capital.
“As soon as you enter the Land of the Hyun, spread out to eliminate the targets, and take advantage of Luxiu’s absence to eliminate Bella. I will list the targets for you. Baekho, his parents, Takashi, the Sage Arte, and all the children of the Academy.”
Everyone nodded silently.
They started climbing the mountain.
It is an agile and fast movement.
When you reach the middle of the mountain, a path leading down to the country of the prefecture appears.
It was when I arrived at that crossroads.
All the members of the Shadowless Group stopped.
It was because of the sound of footsteps.
Mountain keeper?
Some shabbily dressed mountain guards were gathering medicinal herbs.
A mountain keeper was picking mushrooms with black spots.
“Sana, thank you. For giving me something delicious!”
“……?”
Luban narrowed his eyebrows.
The mushroom he had just picked was a poisonous mushroom called Chimyeonggyun that silently takes lives.
They seemed like people who hadn't been mountain keepers for long.
One of the members of the Shadowless Group looked at Luban.
What should I do?
Kill and pass by quickly.
We cannot delay time.
Also, it was impossible to pass through that passageway secretly, even if one tried.
At that moment, a member of the Shadowless Sect rushed forward, thrusting a dagger at the neck of the mountain keeper who had picked the poisonous mushrooms.
however…….
The mountain keeper, realizing it quickly, turned to the side to dodge and snatched the dagger from the Muyoungdan member's hand.
And then.
Sugaaaaak-!
He knocked off the head of the Shadowless Corps member.
Thump, roll-
The flying head rolled at Luban's feet.
