(God’s Forge)

Active Skill

Grade: God

Level: 1

Effect:

· You can summon the God’s Forge anytime, anywhere, and craft artifacts.

· From the moment God’s Forge is used, no power can threaten you.

· The forge can be maintained for up to 1 week.

· Usable once per month. Upon use, 1 from all stats and 50 Dexterity are consumed.

It was the replacement reward for Emergency Crafting—the one you received for finishing the Temple Construction quest.

Hyunsoo was extremely satisfied.

The upside is summoning a forge anytime, anywhere!

People like to imagine crafting anywhere, anytime—but when it actually becomes reality, they realize it’s impossible.

For example, suppose you’re fighting monsters and you try to summon a forge mid-combat.

Forge summoooon!

The odds a monster would bury an axe into the back of the blacksmith’s head the moment the blacksmith stepped inside would be about 99.9%.

This isn’t an animation. There’s no reason enemies would wait for you!

But God’s Forge covered that exact problem.

From the moment God’s Forge was used, enemies couldn’t attack for an entire week!

The issue was the penalty: it deleted 1 from all stats and 50 Dexterity on use.

It wasn’t a skill you could spam mindlessly.

After checking the skill, Hyunsoo did a full walk-through of the Turtle Ship’s interior, now that the exhibition setup was complete.

In contrast to Hyunsoo’s satisfied smile, Nell’s worry was no joke.

“Will people really be satisfied with just this?”

What Nell was worried about was simple.

Among the artifacts in the Hyun’s First Step exhibition hall that would open tomorrow, there wasn’t a single piece that would satisfy people with high standards.

“Technically, we made it a museum, but it’s still a ‘temple’ in concept, right? Since it’s a temple, I keep worrying that we should at least show just how incredible Master Blacksmith Hyun is.”

That was true.

Why did people come to Master Blacksmith Hyun’s exhibition hall?

To see, with their own eyes, the superior creations he had made.

But to exclude him almost entirely?

Hyunsoo agreed, too.

“You’re right. But if we do that, it won’t be sustainable as a long-term exhibition.”

If he displayed everything he had crafted, this museum would become a one-year museum at best.

“But if we release it gradually, we can keep this going for years.”

Nell still didn’t fully get it.

Nell understood what Hyunsoo was aiming for, but doubted whether it would actually work.

And there was something else.

“I have one more question.”

“Sure.”

“Why did you remove the placards and descriptions for everything except one piece?”

That was right.

Hyunsoo had removed the descriptions for every piece except a single work.

“Today is the most important day, and I’m worried about whether this is really okay...”

Nell’s voice was heavy with concern.

Today really was the most important day.

Hyunsoo had issued fifty VIP tickets.

They were outrageously expensive—1,000,000 won per ticket—and sold primarily to famous figures in the art world, or wealthy people who loved art.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say their evaluation would become the evaluation of Hyun’s museum going forward.

“To be honest, I’ve been to an exhibition once or twice.”

Hyunsoo was basically an outsider to exhibitions—a normal person who’d gone once or twice, tops.

And from a normal person’s perspective, his review was this:

“I have no idea what they’re even saying.”

“???”

“That’s my viewing impression.”

And so Hyun’s First Step began, and the fifty VIP tickets sold out.

*****

Hyun’s First Step Exhibition Hall.

The VIP tickets—tickets that required proof you were either wealthy or affiliated with the art world—sold out the moment they went on sale.

And everyone interested in Hyun’s exhibition was watching those VIPs.

Like people waiting for a movie rating.

Before a film releases, people get insanely excited when they hear certain actors are in it.

But if the rating after release is around a 6 or 7, they don’t watch it.

They don’t feel it’s worth spending time and money.

That stays true even when the biggest stars in the country are in it.

In the end, people spend money for “fun” and “a sense of payoff.”

And among those VIPs, there was one critic everyone watched the most: Park Daegil.

Park Daegil was famous for having a picky eye and giving evaluations the general public could understand.

And people liked Park Daegil because Park Daegil didn’t hand out “friendship reviews.”

The art world was a tiny circle.

So it wasn’t rare for someone to give a generous review because of personal connections—only for visitors to end up disappointed.

But Park Daegil was different.

Connections, whatever—if the public or Park Daegil liked it, that was all that mattered.

That was why people liked Park Daegil.

Anyway, Park Daegil moved at the center of the group, walking in right at the scheduled entry time.

A Turtle Ship of overwhelming size.

Overpowered by it, they let out stunned laughs.

“...So you’re saying this entire Turtle Ship was built by hand?”

People who had already participated testified.

They’d gotten help from magic or skills for hauling materials, but the construction itself was completely manual.

“Hahaha... how could something like this...”

“It’s incredible.”

In particular, the builders had posted online about the blacksmith spirit Hyun taught them, and the story behind the Turtle Ship’s creation.

Park Daegil already knew that origin story, and as a citizen of the Republic of Korea, Park Daegil felt it, too.

“The descendants reenacted that day’s history through manual work. It isn’t reality, but the fact they crafted it with this level of precision is astonishing—and honestly moving.”

“I agree.”

“Especially the Turtle Ship and museum collaboration. The concept feels excellent.”

Everyone gave the exterior a high score.

Then, following Nell’s guidance, they began to enter.

The VIPs examined the Turtle Ship’s interior the moment they stepped inside.

“It isn’t just the outside that’s modeled after the real thing.”

“That’s right. We built the cannons, as well as the oars.”

“Don’t tell me...?”

Park Daegil looked at Nell, who was guiding them.

“It can go out to sea.”

“Ohhh...”

“Oho!”

They marveled.

It meant it wasn’t just for display.

A Turtle Ship four times the usual size, cutting through the seas of Ares!

That part was satisfying beyond words.

But as Nell walked with them, Nell’s chest was tight with anxiety.

The first exhibit is coming...

Nell knew what the first exhibit was.

Honestly, among Hyun’s creations, it was the most shabby and useless piece of all.

Hyun’s First Sword.

Soon, they gathered around Hyun’s First Sword, displayed to one side.

Nell remembered the conversation with Hyunsoo.

How did you end up making this?

Ah, there’s this blacksmith named Ren, and it happened like this and that... and they told me to try it once? So I thought, I should show them who I am. That’s what I did!

There was nothing special about it.

But they began studying Hyun’s First Sword with profoundly serious expressions.

“Oho...”

“Hm...”

“Heh-heh...”

“...?”

After staring for five minutes, Park Daegil pointed at the sword’s tip.

“My interpretation is this. The tip of this sword is a jab at modern society.”

“It definitely looks that way.”

“Heh-heh. You thought the same thing I did.”

“Exactly.”

With a grave expression, Park Daegil explained Hyun’s crafting intent(?).

“This plainness and the lack of noteworthy material represent ordinary people. And yet that sharp sword tip contains those ordinary people’s criticism of the world in recent times.”

With eyes endlessly serious—professional eyes—Park Daegil adjusted the crooked horn-rimmed glasses and looked at Nell.

“Isn’t that right?”

Nell only gave a small smile.

At that, Park Daegil laughed like, Heh-heh-heh, as expected, my eye for this...

What is this...? Why does this feel so irritating?

Nell guided them onward.

Next.

There, Hyunsoo’s first arrow—his first baby arrow—was displayed.

It was the arrow Hyunsoo had hurriedly carved while hunting an Orc Warrior.

“My god!”

“No way...!”

“H-how...!”

Park Daegil pointed at the short arrow and spoke.

“...This is Joseon.”

“That’s right. Exactly!”

“You thought the same thing I did!”

“A short arrow is shorter than a normal arrow—that means a small country. And a short arrow is small, but it had destructive power stronger than any other arrow! A small country, yet strong—our Joseon...!”

“To express Joseon with a single small arrow!”

“...Incredible. Truly incredible.”

“......”

Nell had the exact same thought Hyunsoo once had.

What on earth are they even talking about?

And then Nell finally understood Hyunsoo’s “meaningful” thought.

Come to think of it, in an art gallery, wouldn’t people try to guess the artist’s intent from a single water droplet on a sheet of paper?

Could that single droplet be the exhausted artist’s tears...?

Ah... they were exhausted by deadlines, but they had to push through—those tears embody the artist’s labor...!

With those kinds of comments flowing nonstop, the group and Nell walked toward the last exhibit.

This was the only piece in Hyun’s First Step that had a description.

And you had to open a door to see it.

In other words, it was the grand finale of the hall.

Park Daegil expected the most from this last exhibit.

Park Daegil had been letting out exclamations so far, but that was only because Hyun was a “blacksmith,” so Park Daegil was willing to praise it.

If these had been ordinary artists, Park Daegil wouldn’t have given evaluations like this at all.

With that anticipation, Park Daegil opened the door with the others—and saw a sword floating in midair.

It was crafted far more beautifully than the first sword they’d seen.

Below it, the description was written.

[When Hyun was a child, Hyun once made a sword together with Hyun’s father over the course of more than a week.]

[After completing the sword, the two watched the morning arrive together after the night passed, and this is the sword Hyun completed while recalling that time.]

This time, Park Daegil grasped the essence of this sword “exactly.”

The truth of Master Blacksmith Hyun, known to the world.

The story of Hyun’s father becoming bedridden.

Even the stories of the master blacksmith injuring his hands and struggling under hospital bills.

At some point, Park Daegil had folded their arms and was reading the description.

And then Park Daegil finally read the word engraved on the sword.

“Radiance.”

A sword that meant Hyunsoo’s bright future.

“......”

“......”

“......”

This was different from the other pieces.

All of them stared at the sword as if bewitched, and not one of them spoke.

It wasn’t extraordinarily beautiful, and it wasn’t some absurdly high-grade sword, either.

And yet they all stared blankly, then formed small smiles, and did nothing but look at it.

Soon everyone exited, and Park Daegil logged out.

Countless people who loved exhibitions were waiting for Park Daegil’s evaluation alone.

Park Daegil started hammering the keyboard and posted a review.

[At first, it felt like I was going to view a blacksmith’s works that were riding on fame. Hyun did not write descriptions, so that the works could invite various perspectives, and we left impressions that were sometimes exaggerated, sometimes absurd, and sometimes honest.]

[Honestly, because it wasn’t much different from ordinary exhibitions, I thought it was a little dull, but after seeing the last piece, /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ I came to think it was a fairly good exhibition.]

[Thinking it over, that is because it expressed the entirety of the path Hyun has walked.]

[There may not have been anything stylish or beautiful there, and there may not have been the artistic thing we pursue.]

[But there was someone’s ‘life’ inside it.]

The part people cared about most.

Whether critics said something like this or not—people reacted accordingly.

[I am willing to visit Hyun’s periodically held exhibitions again.]

After Park Daegil’s evaluation, the 10,000 tickets released for general sale sold out in ten minutes.

Meanwhile—

[Hyunsoo: Congratulations on becoming the number-one contributor to Turtle Ship Construction. Please visit Territory Atlas.]

Lee Hwan, the first believer of the Church of Hyunsoo, shouted in triumph.

“YAHOOO!”

Lee Hwan felt like today was the happiest day of Lee Hwan’s life.

How much Lee Hwan loved Hyun’s creations was obvious from one fact alone: Lee Hwan paid over 10,000,000 won per day just to rent the offensive Twin Dragon Sword.

Later, the person who would become the Pope of the Church of Hyunsoo set out to meet Lee Hwan.