Under normal circumstances, it would have been impossible.

It was true that Takashi was an outstanding blacksmith, but he had a weakness.

At the start, Hyunsoo had begun Ares by forging Rare artifacts, then steadily grown step by step until he reached this point.

But what about Takashi?

He probably could have forged an Epic on his very first attempt.

Even so—

I would never have crossed the wall of Legend.

Because in the end, he was an old man.

He would never have been able to throw himself bodily against the system and obtain that information the way Hyunsoo had.

Nor would he have been able to reach rapid growth the way Hyunsoo had.

Even using the tool that was the system—

That was only possible because Hyunsoo told me.

Most likely, if it had been Takashi, he would never even have thought of twisting a tale artifact in the middle of crafting it.

All of this—

Takashi was doing nothing more than walking the royal road Hyunsoo had laid down for him.

And so even he himself did not know.

Was he the more outstanding one, or was Hyunsoo?

But there was one thing Takashi could say for certain.

At least in Ares, you’ll be greater. Thank you, Hyunsoo. Because you taught me, I was able to make my final work like this.

His breathing, now reaching the final step of the job, trembled faintly.

Slowly, his hand wrote the name Takashi at the end of the blade, then completed it by joining it into place.

[You may specify the desired usage restriction for the artifact.]

[However, it will not be applied completely.]

A usage restriction on the artifact. Takashi did not think about it in any complicated way.

No one but Hyunsoo can wield it.

It was truly nothing more than a simple thought, and it proved that Takashi’s understanding of the system—of the parts he had never heard about or learned—was shallow.

Ordinary users did not place restrictions by designating one single person.

But—

the effect caused by that lack of understanding was astonishing.

[Something special has occurred!!]

“...?”

Takashi made a puzzled expression.

He had already used everything he could use here.

He had crafted far beyond what his level should have allowed and gained a title.

He had matched the most perfect fire temperature and forged the weapon magnificently. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

He had refined plain, unremarkable ore better than anyone else and raised the ore by one grade.

And near the end—

he had even inserted what he could twist into the system.

[With the most noble of hearts, you have created a bound artifact for the sake of another!!]

What was a bound artifact?

An artifact that only one single person could equip.

A bound artifact could not be sold, nor would it be sellable.

Because of that, bound artifacts were, in truth, not artifacts blacksmiths forged.

Buyers did not want an artifact that became bound, one that could never be sold in the first place.

And sellers did not make them, because their value dropped.

Thus, bound artifacts were usually things obtained through quests, monster drops, and the like.

And this was not simply the system acknowledging Takashi’s nobility.

[Hidden piece. Completed for one person alone.]

It was a perk that could be given to anyone.

It can become even more special than this?

Takashi had thought this sword would reach only Transcendent.

And he had thought it had to stop at Transcendent.

Because, just as Nell had said, two suns could not exist in this land.

At this rate, the plan might go wrong.

But Takashi realized it.

Hyunsoo had seized godhood first to begin with, and that too had been his skill. And in the end, because Takashi was an old man, he would have given up partway through and failed to become a god.

The result forged from that realization—

[The artifact’s grade does not increase.]

[Only a special property is bestowed upon the bound artifact!!]

[The sword for one who follows the king is completed.]

[It is of Transcendent grade.]

Thankfully, it remained Transcendent grade.

And when Takashi confirmed that, his eyes shook.

Can something like this really happen...!?

Takashi was aghast.

This sword announces that there is only one sun.

That meant that because this sword was not Mythic like the White Tiger Sword, it had failed to surpass Hyun—

but—

It is more than enough to crown my final masterwork!

That was how strange and astonishing the thing that had happened to this sword was.

As if proving how excellent this sword was, a single notification rang out across the world.

*****

The blacksmiths of Atlas had also gathered to watch old man Takashi forge.

They too had been curious about Takashi’s actual skill as a blacksmith.

At last, when Takashi completed the forging and raised the sword—

That’s the sword Master forged...?

T-That’s impossible!

—they were left in sheer admiration.

The long black blade curved slightly.

And beneath it, the white wooden hilt, rough yet not rough at the same time, looked crude but magnificent.

And the inscription carved in white across the black blade—For the New King.—was enough to induce rapture.

It had been natural for the blacksmiths to harbor doubts about Takashi.

He had never once shown them a real forging in front of their eyes.

And he had been nothing more than an old man who did nothing but nag, and in fact, as someone had said, he had really been no more than an old man working at a soup shop.

But here, in this place, he proved everything at once by triggering something ordinary users could never cause in their entire lives.

[The World Message rings out.]

[He has shown the wonder of forging an outstanding artifact at the lowest level among all users.]

[He has written ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) a new Transcendent into this land.]

[His name is Takashi.]

All proof was now complete.

He was the real thing....

An incredible master blacksmith!

Can something like this really happen at level 14!?

The blacksmiths of Atlas were overwhelmed with emotion.

Because the thought that they were being taught by such a blacksmith made them indescribably happy.

And one of the users who had been considering migration finally managed to remember something.

“T-Takashi...? Takashi!? Are you talking about Master Blacksmith Takashi, the man the former prime minister of Japan personally visited at his forge to award a medal to!? You’re a living national treasure—why are you here!?”

“...What?”

“A living national treasure...?”

“Ghk... even the former prime minister of Japan personally visited him!?”

That alone was enough.

He had proved that a handcrafting blacksmith was a tremendous existence, and that by honing one’s skill, one could reach even greater heights.

At that moment, the ranked blacksmiths and guild masters watching him all had the same thought.

We need to serve that old man.

That old man is the true king of blacksmiths.

He forged a Transcendent at level 14? Compared to that old man, Hyun is just a kid!

And the former prime minister of Japan personally went to his forge!

What Nell had feared was becoming reality.

If things went wrong, two factions could be born inside Atlas.

And even the blacksmiths who had already served there, though they had respected Lord Hyunsoo, were now beginning to feel their respect for Takashi grow as well.

At that moment—

the old man, who had accomplished something incredible, set the Sword for the One Who Follows the King down to one side and muttered,

“I’m sick of it.”

Takashi looked around the forge with a fed-up expression.

“This burning heat, these hands getting skinned raw every time they slam down, this breath climbing all the way into your throat. I’m sick of it, and it pisses me off too.”

But the blacksmiths of Hyun’s Forge knew at least that one truth.

They remembered the smile on his face while he forged.

The expectant motions he made while quenching.

The sight of him moving through the forge like he was dancing.

He had clearly enjoyed it.

Master....

Please don’t lie.

You love blacksmithing more than anyone...!

But he hid it all behind the words I’m sick of it.

“I will never hold a hammer again. I’ve got no desire to do exhausting work like this.”

Some of the blacksmiths’ eyes even turned red.

From the start, he had been someone who had sworn he would never forge again, and now they knew he had held the hammer exactly one more time to protect them.

Yes.

They respected him, but they would never be able to see him forge again.

Even so, the old man who had never proven himself had now truly proven himself once and for all.

And they understood his intention as well.

A man who would never forge again.

He could not become the sun.

And that was why he could not rise into the sky.

And while the blacksmiths of this land understood his true heart, the newcomers did not.

“What are you talking about? With blacksmithing skill this incredible, how can you not keep going?”

“Create a guild. Right now, I’m willing to join! You’re greater than Hyun!”

They were worked up, but old man Takashi cleaned it up neatly.

“At my age?”

“......”

“......”

“......”

“This old geezer would die in the forge swinging a hammer, heh heh! What, were you about to offer to build me a coffin lid while you were at it?”

He admitted his own limitations.

“Come on now, boys. I’m only an old man who was holding a cheat sheet.”

Takashi’s words were persuasive.

“In the end, I still couldn’t surpass Mythic grade the way Hyunsoo did. I only knew, through Hyunsoo, methods for making things better by hand. And perhaps the system took pity on this old man as well. That’s why it gave me those perks. Do you truly believe that if I kept forging, I would have surpassed Hyun?”

The easiest way to think of it was this.

There was no time when a game was harder than during open beta, but after two years, that same game became easier.

Because guides crowded the entire world—“How to raise your character stats,” “How to optimize your skill count”—cheat sheets everywhere.

The thoughts of those who grasped that truth changed at once.

Now that I hear it, that’s true....

Hyun is the one who pioneered it, and old man Takashi merely followed after him.

There was an undeniable difference between the one who had pioneered the royal road by walking it first,

and the one who had taken the shortcut along that same road.

And also—

The old man doesn’t have the time Hyunsoo does.

Even while sensing that harsh truth in their thoughts, Takashi smiled as if relieved.

“Now I’m just an old man who likes making soup. But surely I’m better at teaching than Hyunsoo, wouldn’t you say?”

That was true.

Takashi would definitely fall behind in gamer-like ability.

He would never surpass Hyun.

But the sheer fact of his decades of experience set him apart from Hyun.

And at that, the people here understood.

Hyun will keep making outstanding things and growing even further.

And a seasoned master with fifty years of experience can teach us!?

Beneath a single sun, there was land supporting it.

But Takashi was actually quite worried.

Would I be able to recruit about forty percent?

Because Atlas was still clearly small, and war would soon break out.

Their strength was needed in that war.

Desperately so.

But from their point of view, it was only natural that they would not want to come to a territory where war was about to erupt.

Yet it was no more than a needless fear.

What Takashi and Hyunsoo had shown them was far greater than concerns like that.

The blacksmiths bowed their upper bodies to him in respect.

“Master!”

“I want to learn handcrafting!”

The young man who had earlier said, One spicy soup over here, dropped all the way to his knees.

“I’m sorry about before!!!”

“...I want to learn. If it isn’t from you, I can’t learn!”

They were not simply coming because of Takashi alone.

They too knew that Takashi’s remaining time was short and finite, but behind him stood Hyunsoo.

Takashi stared at them with startled eyes.

Not a single one was missing.

It was the moment all one hundred percent of them were recruited.

[A total of 7,341 blacksmiths apply to migrate!]

Takashi felt it.

A new life was beginning for him.

It was the life of a teacher.

And that teacher, looking at them as they asked to be accepted as his disciples, felt a pang of regret.

I’m sorry. The truth is, I told one lie.

It was something the people gathered here would learn only much later, and the truth Hyunsoo would realize immediately.

At that moment—

FWEEEEEEEEE—!

The Sword for the One Who Follows the King, made by Takashi, shot into the sky in search of its master.

At the same time—

Hyunsoo, who had received One-Day White Flame from Karsel, was resting after finishing a hunt.

Then—

[Takashi: I’ve sent you a gift.]

A gift....

Hyunsoo could already guess what that gift was.

He too had heard the World Message.

Forging a Transcendent-grade artifact on his very first attempt—his talent is unbelievable.

And he was excited too.

Just what kind of power would the Transcendent artifact Takashi forged possess?

Right then—

KIIIIIIIIIIING—!

Hyunsoo made a puzzled expression at the sound he heard.

The identity of that sound, starting from far away and rapidly intensifying—

T-This is...?

He could not understand the situation.

Because that sound only appeared when an artifact of a single grade was forged.

The Mythic crafting effect!!!?