Chapter 9

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 9

Chapter Title: Soaked Karambit

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*Riiiing—*

*Riiiing—*

"Ahh..."

It was exactly five hours ago that I'd felt this exact situation, this exact mood.

This time, he immediately swung his legs up with a smack against the bed and used the momentum to sit up.

Just like before, there were about ten minutes left until the five equipment crafting tickets would fill up.

Last time, he'd just messed around on the Gallery without producing anything, but not this time!

Five hours ago, he'd realized just how insanely difficult it was to hit that 12% chance for a B-rank.

At the same time, he'd come to appreciate once again how incredible B-rank gear was—even something as rare as an EX-rank Blacksmith struggled to produce it.

In the modern Hunter society, filled only with Pseudo-Blacksmiths, C-rank was the limit for crafted items.

Releasing a handmade B-rank into the world would cause a massive uproar.

Which meant he needed to seriously consider how to handle external activities like equipment sales going forward.

His original plan had been to line up his crafted gear at the auction house and sell only the rare, high-grade stuff from his perspective.

But after appraising the gear he'd made, one big problem had cropped up.

Additional Effect:

-When the user receives the Blacksmith's recognition, they can use ——.

In other words, for his gear to shine at full potential—or sell for its true value—he had to shower buyers with his recognition. But auction houses didn't reveal buyer identities.

So, he needed to figure out buyer identities without exposing his own, then give them the thumbs-up...

At first, he'd thought it was great that the gear needed his permission to activate. But now, he worried it might sell for peanuts without it.

"Haaah... Screw it, I don't know!"

First things first—craft the B-rank, then think.

Besides, these were solid pieces even without his recognition bonus. He could sell them at base value and charge extra later for those who wanted the add-on.

Maybe that's just how it was for a job like Blacksmith, one built on patience and care.

Deep in thought, the ten minutes flew by.

He absolutely could not tolerate letting the tickets max out without regenerating the cooldown.

With about a minute left, he jumped into the [Equipment Crafting] screen and waited.

And he was a totally different man from five hours ago.

"Please!!!"

He reverently placed his phone on the bed, then prostrated himself right in front of it.

Last time, his faith must have been lacking.

In an era of Awakeners and gates spilling monsters, gods had to exist.

And as the one and only EX-rank Awakener, someone had to be watching over him!

"God... are you watching? Since I don't know your true name, I humbly invoke the names of the divine beings I know. Please have mercy."

"Lord, Jesus, Bodhisattva, Shakyamuni, Allah, spirits of heaven and earth, mountain spirits, Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Equipment God, Guan Yu, Hephaestus!!!!!!"

"Grant this lowly human Blacksmith the glory of B-rank gear!!!"

"Let's gooooooo!!!"

A faithful Blacksmith checks with eyes wide open!

"Whoa, fuck yeah!! It dropped!!!"

This time, he clearly saw the messages.

Five brutal failures ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in a row, then success on the very last chance from the 5+1.

"Holy shit... Time to slap on an attribute right now!"

No need for [Equipment Appraisal], checking if it qualified, or any of that.

Just smash [Attribute Endowment] and see if it stuck!

Clicking the blank slot brought up his item list on the right.

Out of the five pieces, he tapped the only one without a ❌ mark, and it slotted right in.

"Will it work!!!"

He couldn't tell the difference yet, but it definitely allowed attribute endowment.

For a weapon like a karambit, it wasn't like it screamed for a specific attribute anyway. Was it just pure random?

Even regular gear came with innate limits at birth.

Whatever.

"Attribute endowment, go!!!~~~"

"Ah!"

His superhuman reflexes halted his finger mid-press.

He'd almost forgotten to pray...

"Hephaestus..."

Out of six pulls, only the last one answered his prayer—probably thanks to Hephaestus, the last name he'd called.

Hephaestus was the god of blacksmiths, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠after all. Expert territory.

"Please!!! Hephaestus...!!! Show your divine grace once more with a good... anyway, an attribute that suits this karambit perfectly...!!!"

Truth be told, he had no clue what attribute would suit a karambit.

But since he was praying to the god of blacksmiths, it'd pick something perfect.

"Faith will guide us!!!"

Squish—

"Huh?"

Uh... this is good, right?

Hephaestus has a plan... right???

——

"Haa..."

Getting an attribute was great, but water on a karambit felt totally off, no matter how he sliced it.

"No..."

He didn't need to judge if it fit or not.

Hephaestus must have bestowed a perfectly matching attribute.

All he had to do was check the [Equipment Appraisal] for the effects.

How insanely awesome would this unimaginable water attribute effect be?

With trembling hands, he appraised the 『Soaked Karambit (B)』—its name already sucking the energy out of him.

"Ah..."

What the hell was this half-assed dog-food composition?

To fully appreciate this weapon, you'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠need a job that satisfied both the mismatched water attribute and Thief class.

"No way... Is there even a Frog Ninja job or something...?"

And Healing Water Droplet screamed healer skill, so you'd need high Magic Power too.

B-rank, but with such picky conditions, it'd probably perform like C-rank at best.

"Why..."

Hephaestus... I believed in you...

Even slapping on any random attribute for bonus damage—like fire or lightning—would've fit better than water.

But crumbling in despair after five hours of endurance? Too wasteful.

(Sure, he'd set an alarm, slept, woken ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up, and killed time on the Gallery, but still.)

Who would be the best buyer for this?

Who'd drool and pay top dollar?

That realization made the dagger seem even more hopeless.

He'd thought water Awakeners could buy it too, but nope.

-Water-class Awakeners gain an additional 1 stage of Agility when equipped.

Would a water Awakener really shell out for a B-rank karambit just to boost Agility?

He didn't think so.

Conclusion: A weapon that let Thief-class Awakeners boost Agility by 3 stages total, including the add-on.

Sure, a water Thief would make it worth more than B-rank, but he'd never heard of one outside some manga with water-wielding rogues.

"Haa..."

Getting his first B-rank was cool, but not satisfying.

"The tutorial one was pure luck, huh."

That Light Staff from the very first craft.

Forget grade or attribute—the fact that he'd crafted a rare staff at all was absurd luck.

"Ah... Should've gone for C-rank..."

With the 2x probability event, C-rank was 50%—probably a sure thing.

Having nailed 25% twice and 12% once, his probability senses were shot.

Fine, it was D-rank at worst, but with a solid buyer lined up, he could offload it for big bucks. He fired up the Gallery.

Problem: He didn't know the Saintess's nickname.

He searched "Saintess" just in case, but only brain-cell-draining posts came up.

"Hmm..."

The Saintess was so popular—surely others wanted her nickname too?

Searching "Saintess nickname" got him the info quick.

Nick change possible after 6 months though;;

"Fuck..."

No way it's that Holy Piss, right...?

Please be a typo...

He didn't want a pissy Saintess as a customer...