"What bladesmithing competition?"

Bane stroked his beard, not quite understanding why Zog would suddenly bring this up.

"I’m here to talk about the Dwarf King skin."

"Just a skin? That’s easy. If you want it, I can just send it straight to your account," Zog said casually.

"No, that won’t do. Sending it to me is no good. I have to be the one to pull it. If it’s a gift, or if I buy it, or if someone else pulls it for me—that’s not the same as me pulling it myself."

Bane said, his face completely serious. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Zog almost lost his composure. This Bane Furnace looked so big and burly, so why was he suddenly spouting such coy nonsense?

’Does a pretty boy’s soul lie hidden beneath those sturdy, powerful arms?’

"But what’s the difference between me sending it to you and you pulling it yourself?" Zog asked, completely baffled.

"The difference is huge!" Bane was suddenly fired up. "I’m the number one Dwarf Artisan! Can I let myself be known for having bad luck?"

Zog couldn’t figure out what being the number one artisan had to do with having good or bad luck.

But he did understand what Bane wanted.

He wanted to pull the Dwarf King skin while all the young brats in his clan were watching.

It was understandable. Getting a lucky pull with no one around to see it was like wearing silk brocade in the dead of night.

"It’s not impossible. I can slightly adjust the probabilities for your account. If you want, I can even make it a guaranteed drop on a specific pull," Zog said, sidling up to Bane and slinging an arm over his shoulder like they were the best of pals.

To be fair, a Dwarf’s height was perfect for Zog’s smaller form to put an arm around.

However, whenever Zog made this opening move, it usually meant he was about to scam someone.

"Really? It’s that easy?"

"Of course. It’s just a matter of changing a number on the server, how hard could that be? So, can we talk about the bladesmithing competition now?"

"The bladesmithing competition? What’s there to compete in? As if anyone could beat me! What a joke. I suggest you just give me the trophy directly," Bane said, extremely confident in his forging skills.

If someone said his forging skills were poor, he wouldn’t get upset at all; on the contrary, he’d just laugh it off.

But if someone said he was bad at auto chess, he would get genuinely angry.

"You won’t be competing. You can be a judge and send the most skilled of your clan’s younger generation to compete against the Elves," Zog explained.

"With who?!" Bane’s voice shot up. "Are you talking about those Sharp Ears who never give a Dwarf a proper look, with their skinny arms and legs that would snap with one tap?! Ha! The lads from our clan are guaranteed to win."

The moment he heard he could compete with the Elves, Bane’s interest was piqued.

For a Dwarf, defeating an Elf in any field was an event worth recording in the clan’s annals with great fanfare.

Involving the Sharp Ears automatically raised the honor level by one.

The only shame was that in the realm of gaming, where Dwarves now held an absolute advantage, very few Elves participated.

Otherwise, he, Master Bane, would have definitely crushed those Sharp Ears in auto chess until they couldn’t even lift their heads.

He had completely forgotten that the current strongest gamer, Toto, was also half a Sharp Ear.

The Dwarves had a flexible standard for judging Half-Elves: when they didn’t like Toto, he was an Elf. When they started idolizing him, he was a Human.

An Elf to the Elves, and a Human to the Humans.

Flexible!

"When is this competition being held?" Bane asked impatiently.

"Probably in about a month."

"Why so late? Don’t tell me they’re too cowardly to fight and are deliberately stalling? Give us two days—no, one day! The best young Dwarf lads will be ready to compete!"

Bane pounded his chest, which resounded with a THUMP THUMP.

"Because we need to prepare a broadcast studio. The competition will be broadcast across the entire Continent on the Magic Vision Device."

This was Zog’s first time producing a variety show, so of course, he needed some prep time. The previous water-based obstacle course show that gave away Magic Vision Devices didn’t count as a proper variety show.

He said the entire Continent, but in reality, only the first and second-tier cities—with Winter City as an exception—could watch Magic Vision.

Still, full coverage of the major cities was already an unprecedented level of media saturation.

Besides, he hadn’t even secured the Elves’ participation yet. He needed to add another layer of insurance to make sure they would show up.

"Haha! A Magic Vision broadcast! Everyone will get to see the Dwarves defeat the Elves! That’s so glorious! How about you let me compete instead?" Bane was eager to give it a try.

"You’re that confident? So you’re saying Elven forging techniques are far inferior to yours? From a Dwarf’s perspective, how is Elven craftsmanship?"

Zog first poured Bane a glass of wine, choosing the one with the highest alcohol content, then secretly activated the hidden camera in the room.

As for why there was a hidden camera in his office, one could only say it was for unforeseen circumstances—like this one.

For an interview, if you wanted some explosive statements, you had to conduct it without the interviewee’s knowledge.

Bane downed the glass of wine in one go. His intelligence decreased, while his courage doubled.

Zog immediately refilled his glass.

Dwarves were the type to drink however much you poured, down to the last drop.

The main reason Dwarf Artisans retired was that their hands would start shaking severely as they got older.

"Elves? Useless!" Bane waved his hand dismissively, taking on the air of a man critiquing the world.

"The stuff they forge is, at best, nice to look at. It’s not nearly as durable as what Dwarves make.

"But who can blame them when buyers just like pretty things? That’s why their stuff sells for high prices. I don’t know where this trend came from. Since when does engraving a pretty flower on armor increase its defense?"

As he spoke, Bane grabbed the wine bottle himself and started drinking straight from it.

"That’s why you have to go with Dwarf-made products! Just look at the industrial machines nowadays, look at the contributions the Dwarves have made!