Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Restoration of the Gakgung (3)
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Vance took the Gakgung from Hyun-soo and ran his hand along the bow's limb.
'It's just as I remember...'
It looked exactly like the bow he used to hold with his father.
Although the signs of use seemed to have vanished, that was unavoidable.
This Gakgung was undoubtedly the one from his memories.
The NPCs here also had the ability to check an artifact's information, thanks to the mysterious power of Ares.
With a trembling expression, Lord Vance inspected the Sharpshooter's Gakgung.
(Sharpshooter's Gakgung)
Grade: Epic
Durability: 3,500/3,500
Attack Power: 253
Requirement: Level 80 or higher
Special Abilities:
·Agility +0.9%
·Accuracy +22%
·Bow Attack Speed +17%
·Bow Mastery +1
·Passive Skill: Wind-like Archery.
·Active Skill: Triple Shot.
Description: The Sharpshooter's Gakgung, reborn with far more exquisite and remarkable craftsmanship than its original creator.
"Gasp!"
Vance let out an involuntary cry of astonishment.
At first glance, he had simply thought the restoration was a success.
But this went far beyond a mere successful restoration.
'How could something like this be possible...?'
His father's keepsake had not only been restored but had also ascended to a higher grade!
"I couldn't restore it perfectly. But I trust you're satisfied?"
Hyun-soo gave a wry smile.
Indeed, a perfect restoration would have meant making it identical to how it was before.
Vance let out a hollow laugh.
"To think you've made my father's keepsake even better... Thank you. Truly, thank you!"
Who would complain about it being better than the original?
'What is this? I wanted you to make it exactly the same!'
Realistically, no one would ever say such a thing.
Vance hugged the newly recreated Sharpshooter's Gakgung to his chest.
"I will never lose you again..."
His expression revealed just how precious that bow was to him.
For Hyun-soo, too, it had been a very rewarding restoration project.
It had taken a whopping 40 days.
But that was in-game time.
In reality, it had taken about 13 days.
'I've gained quite a lot, too.'
Through 40 days of repetition, he had gained about 80 points in Dexterity, and his Strength and Stamina had also steadily increased.
Hyun-soo knew the biggest weakness of a blacksmith.
'A class that can't acquire its own materials.'
Due to the nature of their class, blacksmiths only repeat the act of crafting.
They craft, then sell. Then they use the money they've earned to buy materials, craft again, and sell again.
That's why, even if they start the game at the same time, blacksmiths have a much lower average level than regular players.
However, by building up his stats like this at level 1 in the beginner's zone, the stat gap between him and other players would consistently widen.
Moreover, Hyun-soo would become self-sufficient, able to obtain the materials that players with combat classes get from hunting.
Hyun-soo checked the new title he had obtained.
(Restorer Who Surpasses Limits)
Multi-Title
Grade: A
Special Abilities:
·18% increased chance to create an artifact one grade higher during restoration.
·3% increased chance to create a superior artifact during crafting.
This time, it was a Multi-Title.
A title that many others had already obtained.
It seemed the condition for achieving 'Restorer Who Surpasses Limits' wasn't just simple restoration, but a grade increase.
But he wasn't particularly disappointed.
'Because there won't be a single person who's obtained this title at my level.'
A quest completion notification immediately sounded.
[Chain Quest: Sharpshooter's Gakgung Restoration Complete.]
[You have completed the quest with a phenomenal result.]
Vance smiled at Hyun-soo.
"After receiving something so valuable, I can't just stand by."
The value of an artifact's grade increase was immense.
Lord Vance had a soldier outside bring him some money.
[You have acquired 1,000 Gold.]
The originally promised reward was 500 Gold!
The reward had doubled!
That wasn't all.
Most blacksmiths didn't have a single decent attack skill.
But Vance was currently in the process of teaching his swordsmanship to Hyun-soo.
Vance carefully set the bow aside and picked up his sword.
"How much longer do you plan on staying here?"
"I think I'll be here for another month."
Hyun-soo still had to make a bow for himself with the remaining materials.
In addition, he also had to repair the Mad Lord's old, rusty armor.
"The Prime family swordsmanship you've been learning was merely a watered-down version of the style only the direct lineage can learn. I'd like to teach you the true Prime swordsmanship, which only direct descendants may learn. Are you willing?"
*Ting!*
[Vance offers to train you in a higher level of Prime swordsmanship.]
[Your existing training proficiency will be deleted.]
[The higher-level Prime swordsmanship is an Epic grade skill.]
Vance gave a small smile.
His reason for teaching the direct family's swordsmanship was this:
Just as Hyun-soo had elevated the Sharpshooter's Gakgung by a grade, he too wanted to give Hyun-soo something even more valuable.
"It won't be easy. Just like the restrictions you faced while crafting artifacts, this too will be difficult for your body to master at its current state."
"I'll do my best to learn it."
And so, the higher-level swordsmanship training began.
It was indeed a level of swordsmanship that was difficult for Hyun-soo to learn, so his training proficiency didn't rise easily.
He spent five hours a day learning swordsmanship and dedicated the rest of his time to crafting a bow and restoring the armor.
As time flowed by.
Lord Vance was genuinely amazed.
'What... are you?'
He didn't just teach him three simple sword movements.
Starting with the basics, he taught understanding and application, how to slash, how to thrust, and how to block.
The reason he taught these things, rather than just the skill itself, was so that it would help Hyun-soo when he went out into the world.
It was also out of simple gratitude.
The image of Hyun-soo staying up day and night to restore his father's keepsake was still etched in Vance's mind.
And among those impressions, 'genius blacksmith' was an incredibly strong one.
But now, that perception was starting to change.
'Why doesn't he get tired?'
He never tired.
He learned his swordsmanship for five hours straight.
'Why does he learn so quickly?'
He was like a sponge.
Teach him one thing, and he would understand two, sometimes even knowing how to apply it.
'Why does he make me feel tense?'
He couldn't understand it.
The young man he had thought was merely a blacksmithing genius had surpassed his expectations.
He was a genius blacksmith, but he was also a genius of effort.
Just as he had restored the bow over 40 days, he was meticulously honing, hammering, and forging himself.
That was how he became a genius blacksmith.
Vance himself was so exhausted that he would go rest after their swordsmanship sessions, but Hyun-soo would return to the smithy and repeat his work.
And on the final day.
Hyun-soo heard a notification.
[You have reached 100% training proficiency.]
[You have learned Prime Swordsmanship.]
And a short while later, the bow crafting was also finished.
*Ting!*
[You have crafted an unbelievable bow in the beginner's zone.]
[Assessing grade.]
[Grade: Rare.]
[Please name the bow.]
Hyun-soo had made two bows in total. This was possible in such a short time because he had been gradually preparing the materials for the other bows while restoring the Sharpshooter's Gakgung.
When he had cautiously glanced at Vance, the lord had readily agreed, perhaps finding his initiative commendable.
One, as the notification said, turned out to be a Rare artifact.
*Ting!*
[A legendary bow, the likes of which may never be born in the beginner's zone again, has been created.]
[Assessing grade.]
[Grade: Epic.]
[Please name the bow.]
The other, as shown, was an Epic grade.
Hyun-soo planned to avoid attaching the name 'Hyeon (現)' to items he would use himself.
[You have named the bow 'Hyeon's Second Bow'.]
He intended to sell this Rare bow.
And the second bow, the Epic one.
[You have named the bow 'Water Buffalo Horn Bow'.]
And this Water Buffalo Horn Bow was the one Hyun-soo planned to use consistently.
Hyun-soo brought up the auction board hologram.
'It's been a while.'
The number of subscribers had grown a little.
[Hyeon's Smithy Subscribers: 347]
He began writing the information for his second auction item.
[Hyeon's Second Bow.]
Description: Unfortunately, this one also has a level requirement. However, it should be an excellent weapon for its level.
After he finished writing, a notification popped up.
[Please set a starting bid.]
Hyun-soo realized he had made a mistake in the last auction.
It had proceeded with 'Auto Auction' selected.
Auto Auction was a system where the sale was automatically completed if a bid reached nearly ten times the starting price.
Normally, he should have set an auction duration, and the item would go to the highest bidder when the time was up.
The duration could be set from a minimum of one hour to a maximum of three days.
Hyun-soo decided on 24 hours.
Then he paused at the starting bid, stroking his chin.
'This one has the same grade as the last one, but its performance is much better, and so are the materials.'
Of course, he now knew that the winning bid last time was to get on his good side.
Nevertheless, the starting bid this time was much higher than before.
[Starting auction at 500 Gold.]
A starting bid five times higher than last time.
But Hyun-soo was confident.
'This artifact is far better than the last one.'
***
Rune, the master of the Golden Shield Guild, was a ranker, placing 12th among Korean blacksmiths and 87th in the overall rankings.
While browsing the auction board, Rune suddenly remembered a certain user's page and went to it.
[Hyeon's Smithy.]
More than 20 days had passed since the first auction item from Hyeon's Smithy had appeared.
At the time, Rune, a master blacksmith himself, had frowned at his vice guild master's fuss.
'Why are you making such a big deal over a level 1-50 auction item?'
But that thought vanished after he saw the information his vice master sent.
Rune immediately ordered him to win the bid no matter what, and the artifact eventually ended up in his hands.
Rune took 'Hyeon's First Sword' out of his inventory.
A beginner's zone sword purchased for one million won. In a way, it was a very steep price.
Holding the sword, Rune used a top-tier blacksmith skill to once again check the sword's constituent materials.
[Lowest-Grade Iron Ore from the Beginner's Zone]
Looking at it again, it was a truly special artifact.
Normally, two things determine an artifact's high grade.
One is crafting it with materials that are bound to result in a grade beyond normal.
The second is the blacksmith's various skills and level.
But the surprising fact was that Hyeon's First Sword defied both of these.
'If it used the lowest-grade iron ore from the beginner's zone, that means the user is level 1...'
How on earth did he make this sword?
In addition, the smithy's page also allowed people to leave comments, like a community forum.
He checked the comments.
[Is this the place? The smithy where the Golden Shield Guild got ripped off buying a sword lol.]
[What was Rune thinking buying this? He should've just given me the allowance money!]
Rune swallowed a bitter smile.
'Look at these guys.'
Half of the comments were genuinely meant to mock him, but the other half weren't.
He could see that other blacksmith guilds were deliberately posting to make this smithy seem insignificant.
Soon, he found a comment.
[Here's my guess. Maybe the user got some lucky encounter at level 1 and obtained an Epic or Legendary class?]
Among them were those who didn't feel the need to stir up trouble.
Rune agreed.
It sounded ridiculous, but there were actually many such precedents.
People who met a named NPC right at the start of the game and gained special powers!
The possibility seemed very high.
'If that's the case, I need to pay more attention.'
This was a user who could become a huge asset if recruited into the guild or signed to an exclusive contract.
But there was also this kind of comment.
[Ah, you guys need to stop overhyping him lol. It's obvious a named NPC just helped him make it once while teaching him how to craft swords.]
This was also a plausible theory.
What added credibility to it was the fact that no new auction items had been posted for over 20 days.
It was proof that he didn't have anything else worth selling.
Or that he didn't have the skill to make anything else.
'Is he just going to be a one-hit wonder and fade away?'
With a disappointed expression, Rune was about to close the auction board.
Just then.
[Hyeon's Smithy has started an auction for 'Hyeon's Second Bow'.]
"...!?"
Was he exceptional, or not?
The second auction item that would prove his worth had appeared.