A certain psychologist once said:

“The words of the heart and the words of action often appear differently. That is especially true when the other person is the one most precious to you.”

Like snapping at your mother and hanging up the phone, only to regret it afterward because you did not mean it.

That story he had once heard passed through Hyunsoo’s mind.

The kidnapping of the princess was certainly enough to start a war.

But in Hyunsoo’s view, the tip of the blade had to be aimed at the proper target.

He had learned that by hearing the North King’s story.

The root of it all was a fox pretending to be a tiger inside the tiger’s den.

The North King fainted just from seeing him, and hundreds of citizens were annihilated after seeing him.

That was the story of the West King.

It was horrifying.

Was that ability horrifying?

No. That too was true, but the emotions the West King must have felt were horrifying as well.

According to what he had heard from the North King, the West King was a child with the kindest nature of them all.

That child must have stood there doing nothing, watching the citizens be slaughtered in front of him.

He must have been thrown into shock when the North King and East King, who had cherished him and loved him, stopped coming to see him.

Could anyone imagine it?

The feelings of someone who fastens iron bars onto the door himself and then walks inside.

And the true heart of someone who had known all that and still turned away.

“My blacksmith who was summoned here.”

When they had first met, he had worn that expression again, the one that had seemed to say, Yes, then—what are you good at?

That had been the king.

But after hearing he was a blacksmith, that same man—who had shown a trace of disappointment—now wore an expression filled with enormous expectation.

“Become the true hero of this land.”

And thus Hyunsoo came to know the true story of this place, the one he would never have seen if he had turned away.

Was the true story that had descended upon this land one where the war was ended by force and the North King reigned supreme?

No.

Ding!

[Secret Quest: Reconciliation]

Grade: SS

Reward: ???

Penalty on failure: You cannot climb the tower.

Description: Through you, the North King has come to know everything. That his true heart is reconciliation. Blacksmith who awakened him, reconcile them.

Just like the quest that had now appeared.

It was not his true heart, but there was nothing more foolish than rushing toward ruin through war.

War would kill tens of thousands and bring great destruction, but with “reconciliation,” all of it could disappear and peace could come.

And as he watched the king of one nation slowly bow his head, Hyunsoo’s heart began to pound.

Thump—

Thump—

Thump—

Though he bowed because he was asking a favor, the gaze he lifted slightly to look at the blacksmith still did not hide that he was a king.

The reason he did not hide that he was a king?

This was not a false bow.

[The reward for Secret Quest: Reconciliation cannot be measured.]

[This is because it will vary depending on the many things the North King feels.]

Because he was a king, it meant he could grant anything.

So Hyunsoo turned back, smiled faintly, and felt that his choice had been the best one.

The molten metal flowed down in a crimson stream.

But Hyunsoo knew as well.

It won’t be easy.

The power displayed by the West King was a status ailment.

The fact that the North King would faint just from seeing him.

And this type of status ailment is the strongest, worst kind of status ailment ever seen.

Hyunsoo knew of one such status ailment.

It was the Demon Descension of Great Archdemon Gremory.

Even now, he had not forgotten it.

During the invasion of Goyard, Hyunsoo had used that Demon Descension in reverse to inflict status ailments on the vampire troops.

At the time, every one of those vampire troops had sprayed blood from their eyes, ears, noses, and more, pushed to the edge of death.

And yet, from what he had heard, the West King’s status ailment was on that level.

No. Depending on the situation, it may be even worse than that.

The reason Demon Descension had been the greatest status ailment ever known was because of its insane debuffs and its absurd range.

Even so, Demon Descension did not kill people merely for facing it.

By contrast, the West King’s status ailment had killed people.

That meant that while its range was unknown, its pure power alone surpassed Demon Descension.

[God’s Custom Crafting begins.]

There was only one effect he needed.

The power to let him control a status ailment so powerful that he cannot control it himself, one that kills others merely by facing them.

And when necessary, it must also let him regulate and release that status ailment himself.

In other words, it would gain an on-off function like the status ailments Hyunsoo himself possessed.

But he did not think it would be easy.

That status ailment is too absurd.

And he did not forget this either.

Right now, what mattered was not making armor with high defense and a harmonious mix of many passive and active skills.

If I make that kind of armor instead, everything will get diluted.

To prevent that dilution of effects, he had to forge “inefficient” armor.

And Hyunsoo was particularly weaker at armor-making than he was in other areas.

Let’s admit what needs to be admitted.

If he could not admit that, then he would not be able to solve this difficult problem.

Hyunsoo closed his eyes for a moment and thought, then soon came up with something.

He would make Joseon armor.

Specifically, Tin-Studded Scale Armor.

Tin-Studded Scale Armor was something that occasionally appeared in historical dramas or films.

And whenever you saw it, it made you think:

It’s flashy and cool, but how are you even supposed to wear that around?

Joseon generals really fought in something that cumbersome?

For the most part, it had been worn by high-ranking generals of elevated position.

And just as people wondered—

this Tin-Studded Scale Armor had never existed for battle in the first place.

Its showy exterior.

And the scale-shaped plates, like fish scales, signified a high-ranking general, but......

It has no practicality.

Its defensive capability would be low.

Its weight also exceeded seven kilograms.

And on top of that, it was sometimes plated in gold.

It was utterly useless in battle, but right now it was the most efficient choice.

Because it isn’t practical in battle, most of its effects will be low, and the status-ailment control effect I want to put into it will be maximized!

Hyunsoo began forging.

Fortunately, in his Inventory he had garments made from layered cotton as well as silk and other materials.

He knew his own shortcomings.

I’m not good at tailoring.

So these were things he had purchased earlier through the work of a skilled tailor.

Then he took the small pieces shaped like fish scales

and attached them densely, one by one.

Then, as he looked at those fish-scale-shaped pieces, he thought about painting them gold, but shook his head.

Right now, he thought the black color looked cooler.

And just as he was nearing completion—

“......”

An enormous sense of crisis began pressing down on Hyunsoo.

This won’t stop it.

It was a status ailment on the level of Demon Descension.

It might even be worse.

A status ailment of that degree.

He could not {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} block it with something like this.

That certainty came from the intuition of a seasoned blacksmith.

It might hold for a moment, but this armor would shatter miserably in the end.

He tried introducing various materials in his mind, but none of it came easily.

At minimum, it’s Transcendence-grade power.

That was the level of force the West King emitted.

So even exceptional legendary materials might not be enough to stop it.

Then—

“......Transcendence-grade?”

Something flashed through his mind.

It was a material he had obtained a long time ago and forgotten.

“I’ve got a god-grade material, don’t I?”

It was only a tiny amount.

It was this little thing, the reward he had received as MVP of the Continental War.

(Black Tortoise’s Shell)

Grade: God

Restriction: master blacksmith level 650 or above

Difficulty: highest grade

Special Abilities

·Defense increases by 420%

·Magic defense increases by 380%

·Total HP and total MP increase by 60%

·Strength and Stamina increase by 35%

·Damage reflection chance 80%

·Defense can increase up to 5x momentarily

·Can use area buffs through the power of the guardian deity Black Tortoise

Description: This is the shell of the divine beast Black Tortoise, which lives to guard and protect. It can imbue the power to protect oneself and, beyond that, even protect allies.

This was the strongest armor material.

But as the description said, normally only master blacksmiths of level 650 or above could use it.

So people had talked about it.

That it was the perfect example of a prize you could never actually eat.

In Hyunsoo’s opinion, that was half right and half wrong.

For a manual blacksmith like Hyunsoo, it was still a material he could fully attempt to use.

The problem was that this material itself was not something you melted down and forged—it was an “ornament.”

That was why, even though Hyunsoo possessed something so good, he had been pondering how to use it.

And then he imagined it.

Hmm.......

What it would look like if Tin-Studded Scale Armor, worn by high-ranking generals, had a shell attached to its back like a Pocket Monsters Squirtle.

That’s the worst.

Of course, that shell would absorb everything and endure it all.

The Black Tortoise’s Shell would serve as a kind of absorber.

But he thought that if either the North King or himself wore that, they would be mocked immediately.

Then—

Uh......? This might actually be okay.

One thought occurred to him.

In the first place, the West King had been described as having the appearance of a child.

There was an obvious difference between an adult walking around with a Squirtle shell strapped on and a child doing so.

And the feeling that it was too wasteful to use this material?

Honestly, I don’t feel that at all.......

If only it had not merely looked like this, and could also have been melted down and used like a mineral, that would have been ideal.

If only he had not had to literally wear the shell......

Instead, it almost felt as if the material had finally found its owner.

And in the first place, this was a commission.

Commission fees usually include material costs!

So he thought this might be an opportunity to finally get proper value out of a material that had been such a headache.

He attached the Black Tortoise’s Shell to the back of the Tin-Studded Scale Armor.

But if he ended it like this, it was far too jarring.

Normally, dragons would be embroidered onto Tin-Studded Scale Armor.

But this time, Hyunsoo engraved a different pattern.

It was the shape of the Black Tortoise’s Shell.

By engraving several of those patterns, he completed the armor with the shell attached.

And intentionally, Hyunsoo also added an effect that let the shell become extremely small when needed.

If someone disliked such a ridiculous appearance, it could be changed into a small pattern instead.

At last, it was complete.

He took it and went to see the North King at once.

The North King had stayed with Hyunsoo for several days, but had then returned to handle state affairs.

Hyunsoo confidently presented it to him.

But—

“......I truly don’t know what to do with this.”

At that reaction, Hyunsoo’s heart sank.

No way......?

In the case of that armor, after putting it on, the shell attached to the back had to be changed into the pattern form.

As it was now, anyone would see only a ridiculous appearance.

But Hyunsoo was confident.

That armor is definitely the best armor.

Once more, he recalled the result he had made.

(Armor for the West King)

Grade: ???

Durability: 10,000/10,000

Defense: 495

Restriction: Level 450 or above

Special Abilities:

·Passive Skill Black Tortoise’s Breath

Description: This is armor that can calm any kind of energy and suppress any kind of force.

(Black Tortoise’s Breath)

Passive Skill

Level: 1

Proficiency: 0%

Effects:

·Black Tortoise’s Breath suppresses the enormous energy emitted from the body.

·By feeding on that suppressed energy, the true grade of Armor for the West King is determined.

·By feeding on that suppressed energy, the true skills of Armor for the West King are determined.

Containing a status ailment that might even surpass Demon Descension, Armor for the West King would become exceptional through Black Tortoise’s Breath.

And the West King would be able to control it.

And Hyunsoo’s assumption was completely wrong.

“......It is so precious that I truly do not know what I should do for you. Why are you doing this......?”

The North King’s gaze reached Hyunsoo.

Holding him tightly, the North King spoke.

“In the distant past, the greatest tiger left one thing behind to me, who would become the eldest brother.”

“It was a special power, and a power that only I could manifest.”

“And I knew that I could grant that power only to one I could trust, and only to one who had accomplished something worthy of it.”

“The reason was simple. I myself can only bring forth that power once, and that power was one of the very sources of his strength.”

“Why are you doing this? Why are you making me bring forth that power?”

Hyunsoo understood what those words meant.

A blessing......!

Just as certain great beings had once bestowed blessings, the North King was about to bestow one.

As usual, Hyunsoo thought of it as a just reward he deserved to receive.

But the instant he saw the notification, he understood.

[The divine beast’s blessing dwells within you.]

[You come to know the true nature of the brave tiger.]

[The White Tiger’s blessing descends upon you.]

It was the greatest blessing Hyunsoo had ever experienced.