Pureum does its utmost for the enjoyment of its users.
Even when they are not actively playing the game.
To entertain users in their ordinary daily lives, Pureum had introduced a voting system.
There was nothing especially complicated about it.
Pureum asked a question, the users voted, and everyone saw the results.
And there was one familiar question Pureum posted once every year.
[Which user in Ares seems like the one you absolutely should not provoke?]
The candidates were world-famous rankers, and the result had always been the same.
But this year, that result changed.
The duller users could not understand why.
In raw personal strength, Hyunsoo really might have been the weakest among them.
However—
At this point, people no longer judged Hyunsoo by Hyunsoo’s personal power alone.
And when that vote had gone up, there was one person who, as if it were only natural, had voted for Hyunsoo.
“Users really are idiots. Don’t they know that if you mess with a kingdom, your life is fucked? Tsk, tsk.”
That person was Red.
As he recalled the day he had cast that vote, his mind went completely blank.
[Fux: Just give the order and we’ll go over there and cut his head right off.]
[Red: E-everybody pull back.]
[Fux: What?]
[Red: Don’t ask questions. Just pull back!]
You should not even step on his shadow.
That was the kind of position Hyunsoo occupied now.
If he finds out I was planning to hit him from behind...
Red could not even imagine what would happen.
A murderer guild?
Even if he combined twenty of them, they still could not do anything to a single kingdom.
After sending the murderer guild away, Red forced himself to calm down.
Wait. I don’t need to panic, do I?
The difficulty of the mines had already risen exponentially.
That meant the rare minerals inside were now nearly impossible to extract.
And the ticket admission period was only one week.
In other words, once that week passed, Hyunsoo would no longer be able to use the tickets even if he wanted to.
Actually, maybe this worked out for the best.
Of course, it was a promise between users and Red, but the king of a nation was not exactly the sort to break something like that.
Then—
“...?”
The thing had a beautiful form.
Along the handle, the character for Hyun had been engraved over and over.
And its faint color shifted with the angle.
Sometimes it looked white, sometimes black, and sometimes blue.
And the true nature of that mineral—
The Transformation Mineral...?
The Transformation Mineral was a special mineral that could be transformed into many different forms.
And because its colors changed depending on the angle, it gave off an eerie, mysterious feeling.
Suddenly, the world message Red had heard earlier flashed through his mind.
[He has become the first user to craft an all-purpose Transcendent tool.]
“...”
The one who had triggered that world message had been Hyun all along.
*****
(Transformation Mineral)
Grade: Transcendent
Restriction: Blacksmith Level 550 or higher
Difficulty: Highest Grade
Special Abilities
· It can transform into various forms based on the initial form set during crafting.
· However, if it was first crafted in the form of a weapon, it may only be changed into other weapon forms.
· Even if the artifact is transformed, special abilities other than the attached skills do not change.
It’s mediocre.
That was Hyunsoo’s assessment after examining the Transformation Mineral.
Other blacksmiths might not have noticed it, but Hyunsoo could see that the ability to transform was both its strength and its weakness.
A bow naturally carries special effects and skills that suit a bow. A sword naturally carries special effects and skills that suit a sword.
But when it transformed, the skills remained exactly as they were.
If it contained swordsmanship skills, then the moment it was changed into a bow, those skills became useless.
In other words, the only reason this mineral could qualify as Transcendent at all was because it could transform.
However—
Tools are different.
Most tools had similar forms and were used in similar ways.
They exist for harvesting and gathering.
Which meant this mineral was terrible for making weapons, but the best possible thing for making tools.
Hyunsoo’s hands moved skillfully.
He had made pickaxes countless times before.
And wasn’t it always said that the first attempt was the luckiest?
The moment he joined the head of the pickaxe to the handle, a notification rang out.
[The title Rampage shines.]
“...?”
[Every effect that can increase the probability of crafting a better artifact is applied.]
[Because you fall into Extreme Trance, it is applied immediately!!]
[Daeng’s Hammer of Replication shines.]
[God-Forged Crown shines.]
[Blacksmith’s Soul activates.]
[It is upgraded to Transcendent grade.]
“???”
For a moment, Hyunsoo just stared blankly.
Jackpot?
At this point, Hyunsoo had already thought the synergy between himself and Golemmy would be outrageous if it even came out Legendary.
And yet what had been completed under the name Hyun’s All-Purpose Tool possessed a truly absurd level of power.
He immediately used the tickets he had bought and warped with Golemmy.
And the instant he placed it in Golemmy’s hands—
[A perfect union is formed.]
[The greatest harvester and the greatest tool have met.]
[All harvesting abilities increase by 10%.]
A shiver ran through Hyunsoo’s body.
And the effect of a Transcendent tool in the hands of a being with a Transcendent trait was irrational.
To begin with, it carried this effect.
Movement speed and mining speed increase by 100%.
In other words, Golemmy could now mine or harvest twice as fast.
KRAK-KRAK-KRAK, KRAK-KRAK-KRAK-KRAK, KRAK-KRAK-KRAK-KRAK-KRAK—!
Watching Golemmy move at double speed, Hyunsoo could only marvel.
The pickaxe that had been swinging twice per second was now swinging four times per second.
As Hyunsoo watched, though, he felt something strange.
Huh? Why does it feel like the mining difficulty went up?
Things that had dropped with one strike now took two.
Even so—
...The actual mining speed is about the same as before.
The mining speed itself had not slowed down.
That was because Golemmy was now holding the All-Purpose Tool.
And soon Hyunsoo’s face turned cold.
There’s no way the mining difficulty should suddenly jump like this.
But Hyunsoo did not care all that much.
This time, Golemmy unleashed another skill contained in the All-Purpose Tool.
[Scattered Like Fallen Leaves]
[All mining ability increases by 250%.]
And this mining-ability percentage varied depending on who wielded it.
In Golemmy’s hands, that 250% increase produced an utterly absurd force.
Then Golemmy activated Target Mining once more and brought out another special feature of the All-Purpose Tool.
[Two Tools]
[An identical All-Purpose Tool is summoned.]
Another All-Purpose Tool, identical to the one Golemmy was holding, appeared at its side.
In other words, Golemmy had begun mining with one in each hand.
KRAK-KRAK, KRAK-KRAK-KRAK-KRAAAK!
“Golemmmyyy!”
Watching Golemmy swing two pickaxes while skillfully combining Scattered Like Fallen Leaves with its own traits and skills, Hyunsoo was overcome with emotion.
I-it got even faster...!
It was even faster than in the first mine.
Even though the difficulty had clearly increased.
So Hyunsoo listened, stunned, as notifications of mined minerals piled into his inventory.
Soon—
[You have mined all minerals in the mine.]
[Total time required: 1 hour and 32 minutes.]
They had cleared it much faster than the first Transformation Mineral mine.
Hyunsoo did not stop.
He used every ticket he had and cleared them one by one in succession.
With Golemmy around, I could become obscenely rich!
Of course, the truth was not quite that simple.
The number of mines was limited.
Especially those containing Transcendent and Legendary minerals.
So the biggest problem was finding such places in the first place.
And places with normal minerals and the like often required several days of respawn time once everything had been mined out.
Still, it was undeniably true that he had now gained tremendous power when it came to mining every kind of mineral and harvesting every kind of crop.
And so, in only three days, all of the mines had been cleared.
Hyunsoo was disappointed.
Those eight sweet mines...
The nation of Hyun possessed only one mine of its own—the Dragon’s Mine.
Even though it was supposed to be the nation of blacksmiths.
Even if a mine became unusable for several days after being fully mined out, simply owning places like these would generate incredible power.
Then—
[You have won your contest against the Mine Ruler.]
“???”
Hyunsoo had sensed the rise in difficulty and had known it was the work of the mine owner, Red.
But the combination of Golemmy and the All-Purpose Tool had completely neutralized that, so he had not thought much of it.
Still, there was one thing he knew better than anyone.
If you hurt someone this way, you have to be risking yourself too.
Everything had a price.
[Mine Ruler Red loses ownership of all mines he owns.]
[This is the penalty for arbitrarily raising the difficulty of the mines.]
[Because you were victorious, you obtain ownership of all mines.]
Ghk...?
Hyunsoo let out a cry of shock.
Eight mines.
Yes, Hyunsoo had already extracted all of the core Legendary and Transcendent minerals.
But Rare-grade minerals and the like respawned together at random when a mine refreshed.
And just imagining Golemmy making the rounds of all eight mines every day made the value feel enormous already.
And once Hyunsoo looked at the minerals piled in his inventory, he nearly lost the ability to speak.
This is an absolutely ridiculous amount.
Unable to contain his joy, Hyunsoo hurried back to the nation of Hyun.
Meanwhile—
[Mine Ruler penalty is applied.]
[You have lost ownership of all mines.]
“...”
Red, who had taken out loans to buy those eight mines, realized he would now have to put his Han River apartment up for sale.
I lost all the money I saved...
No—he was in debt now.
Then, when he connected to Ares—
[A gift from Hyunsoo has arrived.]
“...???”
Red was moved to the point of tears when he saw the pigeon that had flown in.
No way?
Had Hyunsoo sent something out of guilt for taking all eight mines?
Just what kind of man are you...
And surely he had realized by now.
That Red had been secretly manipulating the difficulty.
Even knowing that...?
Red’s eyes reddened.
Maybe, just maybe, like some line from a movie, Hyunsoo had sent back half with an attitude of I only take half of what I win.
And he thought—
I’ll use that money to buy more mines and suck people dry again.
People did not change.
Already dreaming up the same old plan, he opened the gift Hyunsoo had sent.
[Normal grade. Shining Iron Ore (1) has arrived.]
Shining Iron Ore was worth about 2,000 won in cash terms.
Hyunsoo had taken mines worth nearly 5 billion won.
“Why, you little moth—!@#!@$!#@.”
And Red understood the meaning of the single iron ore too.
It was not mockery.
It was a warning.
A threat that if he ever did something like this again, he would not be left alone.
Red had lost everything.
[You have received Normal grade. Shining Iron Ore (1).]
In the end, all he had left in his hand was a single Normal-grade mineral.
*****
Atlas, the capital.
Takashi let out a sigh.
This is a problem.
Among the blacksmiths who had migrated to the nation of Hyun, there were quite a few with real passion.
And among them were many who had enormous room to grow as handcraft blacksmiths.
But there was a problem.
They need minerals to practice.
That was the drawback of handcrafting.
And since it was too burdensome to keep using up minerals, the blacksmiths could not practice even when they wanted to.
I need to discuss this with Hyunsoo.
Takashi felt uneasy.
The kingdom had only just recently been founded.
And only recently had it finally repaid the debts it had incurred because of that.
Yet now he had to pressure Hyunsoo once again, and he felt sorry for it.
At that very moment, Hyunsoo warped in.
“There’s a shortage of minerals for the blacksmiths to use. Wouldn’t it make sense for the kingdom to purchase them and supply them cheaply? The growth of the blacksmiths is the growth of the nation of Hyun, isn’t it?”
Hyunsoo said,
“Ah, you don’t need to worry about that.”
Takashi thought Hyunsoo simply did not grasp the seriousness of the situation.
“What do you mean, I do not need to worry about it? Is the nation of Hyun not the nation of blacksmiths? And yet most of them cannot practice because they have no materials. They have passion, but they cannot act on it.”
Hyunsoo smiled faintly.
“Thank you, elder. You really do think of the blacksmiths of the nation of Hyun as your true disciples, and you care about them.”
“...”
Takashi suddenly realized that was true.
They felt to him like real disciples.
And he wanted them to do well.
And he also knew that their growth was the growth of the nation of Hyun.
Then Hyunsoo opened his inventory and began taking minerals out.
Takashi looked on in confusion at first, but soon his expression shifted.
Why does it keep pouring out?
Before long, the pile had reached his height.
PATTER-PATTER-PATTER-PATTER—!
Why isn’t it stopping?
Now it had gone past his height and risen into a mountain.
And then Takashi saw—
[Normal grade minerals: 9,310.]
His eyes widened, and Hyunsoo said,
“I plan to supply 30,000 per month at cost.”
[Approximately 30,000 Normal-grade minerals per month will be supplied to the blacksmiths at cost.]
[Approximately 300 Rare-grade minerals per month will be supplied to the blacksmiths at cost.]
[Approximately 50 Epic-grade minerals per month will be...]
[Approximately 5 Unique-grade minerals per month will be...]
[The blacksmiths’ loyalty toward you rises as though it could pierce the heavens.]
[They once more resolve to craft for your sake.]
Takashi understood.
Their king—
was making the nation of Hyun stronger, firmer, and harder to shake.
