Infinite Realm

S/N  Name          Number    Score

1.    Cloudsmith      778      685

2.  Handel Gretkart  111      675

4.    Green Thorns    324      652

5.  Floating Mirage    787      616

"It's break time in this fabulous Blacksmith tournament hosted by the Blacksmith guild of Black Rock City and the rankings have been finally updated.

"The number one spot is still retained by the unyielding number one player blacksmith of Black Rock Province, the elusive Cloudsmith. At this point, no one doubts his title as the number one player blacksmith in Black Rock Province and I'm sure he will prove it today. As for the second and third places, they're being held by NPCs with the second placeholder being the son of a Master blacksmith. Rumour is going on amongst the players that the NPC is being favored but since the first place is still the Cloudsmith such rumor are being dismissed. However, we can't come to decision straight away and can only watch on from here."

While the tournament was ongoing, many players began live-streaming it, to either increase their follower count or they simply felt like doing so. Of all the live-streamers present, one of them had to most followers as well as the most audience. He was popularly known as the 'legendary nutter Pine dog'[1] and operated the channel 'Acorns and Walnuts'. While the name didn't explicitly state what the channel was concerned about, it was still recognized as one of the most famous VR gaming live-stream networks in the gaming world. 

Pine dog had managed to build his network to such a level thanks to his amazing commentary as well as reputable information that he always feeds to his audience. Not only could players know the most popular events in a VR game from the network but they could also tune in to his live-streams with impressive commentary that could always keep them entertained with a smile on their face, or grab their attention like a dramatic action movie.

Coincidentally, Pine Dog was based in Black Rock City Province and had started from Salt Springs town before getting promoted to the city. After being made aware of the Blacksmith tournament, he immediately headed over to the location to cover the event and boost his network's ratings.

"Fourth place remains the presumed guild-born, Green Thorns as this unknown character becomes the second-best player blacksmith right after the Cloudsmith. The difference between fourth place and second place is only 7 points so there's still a chance for Green Thorns to rise in rankings. It should be known that just like the Cloudsmith, Green Thorns' identity is unknown. A 'she' or a 'he', we do not know. But we do recognize them by the signature green thorns on their product.

"Fifth place goes to the reputed leader of the League of Hammers, Floating Mirage. During the last contest, he was placed at 6th place but had managed to rise above his adversary, snatching the last position in the top 5 spots and becoming the third-best player blacksmith of the province. This result is indeed impressive for anyone else, but as the supposed leader of all blacksmiths in the region, taking the fifth position in the contest as well as the third position amongst players doesn't seem to make him live up to his title."

One of the player blacksmiths in black cloaks suddenly had a slight disfigurement in his facial expression as he listened to the live-stream through his interface. He was the player in a black cloak from the auction house, who had stood alongside Blue Flame and the red-haired player; the leader of the League of Hammers as well as the best blacksmith in the league, Floating Mirage.

Having been shot down by the Sato from his self-built pedestal as the number one blacksmith of the region during the auction, Floating Mirage had sworn to turn things around during this tournament. However, he was destined to be disappointed. 

Not only did he perform miserably compared to Sato, but he had even lost to an NPC and wasn't in the top 5 after the written test. It was only thanks to the first practical session that he was able to barely squeeze himself into the top 5. Even then, there was still the guild-born, Green Thorns, ahead of him with a whopping 36 points difference which wouldn't be easy to surpass. There were also the 2nd and 3rd places which were NPCs, with the gap between him and the 2nd place being 59 points, much less him and Sato.

It was at that moment that Floating Mirage had given up on taking first place and just decided to maintain his position, or at least, hope he could surpass the rumored guild-born and take 4th place in the rankings but second amongst players.

Floating Mirage wasn't the only one having a hard time though. The other members of the League of Hammers were finding it difficult to beat their NPC counterparts and make it to the top 10. Apart from Blue Flame and another guild-born, the rest were all below the top 15 spots, including the red-haired player.

"Who knew that this would be so difficult." Fudo's voice was heard in the team chat.

While the team wasn't needed here, they still came over to show their support for Sato as well as to take notice of the progress of various players.

"What would you expect? If we're to think through everything logically, it makes sense. The players are competing against characters that have been at this stage for months now. They've already gathered a ton of knowledge and experience regarding the subclass and compared to us players, who have only been around for two months or so, there's no way we could simply beat them that easily." Seiichi explained.

"Makes sense." Lu Zhen nodded.

"Hey, Sato, how confident are you in winning this, and who do you think would be your runner-up?" Fudo greedily licked his lips as he asked.

Just as there were live-streams covering the event, there were also betting platforms with different odds covering each player. Some of the betting services were run by NPCs but quite a few of them were run by players; the rich ones of course.

The odds for Sato to take first place were 1.1, to take second place was 1.5, and third place was 2.2. For Handel Gretkart, the odds to take first place was 1.5, second place was 1.1, third place was 1.7. For Green Thorns to take first place was an attractive 5.0, second place was 3.8, third place was 1.5 and 4th place was 1.2 odds. As for Floating Mirage, the odds to take first place was a whopping 11 odds, 2nd place was 7.5, third place was 5.7 while 4th place was 2.2 odds. Fifth place was at 1.3 while the sixth place was 1.7 odds [2]. The higher the speculated position was from the contestant's current rank, the higher the odds. The same was true the lower one goes from the contestant's rank.

Since he was interested in betting a large sum of money, Fudo wanted to bet on a safe odd but with high risk. Simply pacing a bet on Sato taking first place would only earn him a 0.1 increase to the original fee and while this was a sure bet, the profit was too little. Hence, Fudo decided to ask for Sato's advice.

"You make it seem like I'm a gambling pro." Sato said with a tired-out voice.

"Hehe. It's your profession so you should be able to see who has the most talent." Fudo thickened his face and praised.

*Sigh*

With a sigh, Sato turned to face the rankings in the sky as he began contemplating.

"Handel Gretkart will maintain the second position and there's quite a high chance that Green Thorns would make it to the third place. Therefore, you can bet on that and also on the current third-place dropping to fourth. Floating Mirage is probably stressed about the rankings due to his status, and that could potentially affect his actions. But considering he was able to make it to the 5th place calmly, he will be more cautious than ever. Place a bet on him retaining 5th place but if you want to be extra careful, put another or him slipping down to 6th but with a slightly smaller amount of cash than the other one. As for the rest, I wasn't paying attention to them so I can't advise you on that. Ask Seiichi for more info; he's a pro at this." Sato slyly passed the task onto Seiichi after which he left the chat and focused on the contestants.

'Green Thorns and Floating Mirage. I wonder who you fellas might be.' 

Including him, there was a total of 4 player blacksmiths with black cloaks on.

The score distribution for the 2nd round was different from the written test. They were expected to forge a Mortal rank item and depending on the final quality and success rate, which was determined by the number of equipment forged, they would be allocated points. For a low-tier Mortal rank equipment would be 50 points, Mid-tier 100 points, and finally, Upper-tier 140 points. The total points a contestant could amass in that round was 420 points which were 3 Upper-tier equipment. 

All those in the current top 5 were able to achieve this and from that, players were able to limit the possible participants that held the identities of the top player blacksmiths.

Of the top 5, three of them were players and each had a black cloak on. One was the Cloudsmith, the other Green Thorns and the final one would be Floating Mirage. Since none of them had admitted to being the other, nobody knew who was who. Only the members of the League of Hammers knew who was their leader amongst the trio but still couldn't identify the Cloudsmith from the remaining duo.

However, with the next few contests, the identities of all three would eventually be known to all.