Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Irreparable (1)
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Knight Commander Kal.
Before he was a commander, he was a native of this very territory, Kasel.
After the Bell of Ramas was broken, the undead attacks had grown fiercer.
As the commander of Kasel, he was keenly aware of the current situation.
‘We’re going to fall soon…’
The Prime Kingdom was a nation at war.
Reinforcements would not be coming to this small, remote territory.
Besides, the path here was too treacherous for troops to travel. And now, even the Lord had fallen into despair.
Find any way you can.
That was the Lord's command, but Kal could see no way forward.
Just then, a sword crafted by an outlander named Hyun-soo became imbued with divine power.
Kal bowed his head and made a request.
Before Hyun-soo could answer, Kal looked up and spoke.
“If you can repair the Bell of Ramas, the Lord will bestow upon you a fitting reward. It will be worth at least 30,000 gold.”
“…30,000 gold?”
A glint appeared in Hyun-soo's eyes.
30,000 gold. It was an enormous sum.
About 30 million won.
Suddenly, something flashed through his mind.
‘Father’s smithy…’
Hyun-soo had never once forgotten.
He had grown up in that smithy, from birth to adulthood. The day he had to sell it was unforgettable.
His pathetic self, who had to sell it to protect his father. The real estate tycoon, Kang Hyuk-soo, had made him a promise.
*As long as construction hasn't started, I'll sell it back to you anytime.* Hyun-soo's fists clenched.
‘The land the smithy was on is worth 330 million.’
And in the process of selling the smithy, Hyun-soo had learned about real estate transactions.
‘I don't know if they've broken ground yet, but if I get this, I can stop it.’
Real estate deals usually involve a 10% down payment, with the remaining 90% paid on the closing date.
For two months, Hyun-soo hadn't had to worry about his father's hospital bills or his own medical expenses.
‘If I just repair this bell, I can buy the time I need to get Father’s smithy back.’
At the same time, Hyun-soo hadn't forgotten what Daeng had told him.
“If I do a good job with the repair, might I also be able to obtain the mineral the Lord is said to have?”
Kal's face brightened.
“But of course! If you repair it, the Lord will surely consider giving you that mineral. So, what do you say? Will you take on the challenge!?”
*T-ring!*
[Quest: Repair the Bell of Ramas]
Grade: A
Requirement: One who has received Kal's offer
Reward: 30,000 Gold.
Failure Penalty: Decreased affinity with Kal.
Description: Repair the Bell of Ramas.
Hyun-soo accepted.
“I'll do my best. But I can't make any promises.”
At his words, Kal nodded. His expression was joyful, having gained a sliver of hope.
Then, as if remembering something, he spoke.
“Ah, by any chance, do you know of a guild called Golden Shield?”
“Golden Shield?”
The name was very familiar to Hyun-soo. It was the guild that had bought Hyeon's first sword for a rather high price.
“Yes, I know of them.”
“The Golden Shield Guild took on a production request. She said she'd do her best, but the woman who accepted it admitted it would be difficult.”
Hyun-soo understood why Kal was telling him this.
“She sounded as if she was certain she couldn't do it.”
It was about the overlapping quest. Kal looked apologetic for making an offer to him when she was already on the case.
“It's not something you need to worry about.”
Hyun-soo nodded. As Kal said, it had nothing to do with him.
Hyun-soo gave a wry smile.
“I'm afraid I'll have to check the bell tomorrow.”
“What? Why!?”
“I'm too tired.”
“Ah…”
Knight Commander Kal looked like an anxious puppy needing to go outside. But seeing how exhausted Hyun-soo appeared, he nodded.
“I understand.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
In truth, Hyun-soo was exhausted. If the repair was indeed possible, it would be better for Kal, too, if he undertook it in peak condition.
[You have logged out.]
“Ugh…!”
Stepping out of the capsule, Hyun-soo stretched with all his might.
He lay down on his bed, then shot back up.
Craving a sip of beer, he grabbed a can from the fridge.
*Pssh-*
*Gulp, gulp-*
“Ahhh…!”
A cool, refreshing sensation enveloped his throat.
Beer in hand, Hyun-soo sat down at his computer.
‘The Golden Shield Guild…’
Perhaps because of what Kal had said, he felt inexplicably curious. Hyun-soo logged into the auction house on his computer.
[Hyeon's Smithy Subscribers: 35,415]
The number of subscribers was slowly but surely increasing. He looked at his inbox.
[Unread Messages: 999+]
“...?”
It had been so long since he'd started ignoring his messages that an absurd number had piled up.
He clicked to open it; there were about 1,100 messages in total. He searched his inbox for ‘Golden Shield’.
There was a message from Rune, the master of the Golden Shield Guild.
[Hello, Hyeon-nim? The weather today is quite...]
[Hyeon-nim! I'd like to discuss the contract we spoke of before. I'm proposing a 1-year signing bonus of 300 million won...]
[Hyeon-nim, if you have any desired conditions, please let me know. I'll leave you my personal number. 010...]
Rune, the master of the Golden Shield Guild, was incredibly persistent.
Wasn't this on par with courting a woman he loved?
But Hyun-soo still had no intention of joining the Golden Shield Guild.
‘Actually, I'm glad.’
He scrolled through the other messages and smiled. They were all similar.
He was glad because it proved his decision hadn't been wrong.
In the past, when Rune had offered 200 million a year, Hyun-soo had actually been quite tempted.
But in just one month, the offer had increased by 50%.
Hyun-soo was confident. Confident that his value would continue to rise.
‘Of course, if I sign now, I could get Father’s smithy back easily.’
But Hyun-soo didn't sell anything on the cheap.
Not his weapons, and not himself.
Because he knew his own worth better than anyone. Hyun-soo jumped into bed and went to sleep.
***
Ares changed the world.
No one could deny that statement.
A game enjoyed by 2.5 billion people worldwide. This game, with its massive influence, had led to the corporatization of its users.
The prime example was the blacksmith guilds.
In a world where real-money trading was legalized through the buying and selling of artifacts, blacksmith guilds had become corporations.
The Golden Shield Guild was no exception.
Moon-soo, the master and CEO of the Golden Shield Guild, heard a firm voice.
“I cannot approve it.”
“Team Leader Kim, you know this as well as I do. Other users might not know, but among the blacksmith guilds, the hottest person right now is Blacksmith Hyeon.”
“Propose 500 million a year? Sir, 500 million for a user whose identity hasn't even been revealed?”
The Golden Shield corporate meeting room.
The topic of their conversation was the signing bonus for Blacksmith Hyeon.
Moon-soo had heard the intel.
A rumor that the number one ranked blacksmith guild had offered 400 million. The other executives backed up CEO Moon-soo.
“Team Leader Kim, the first custom-made sword Blacksmith Hyeon created sold for 50 million won!”
“If we bring in Blacksmith Hyeon, our guild might just skyrocket!”
Despite their words, Hye-in remained unshaken, and for good reason.
“...We did that before and brought in Blacksmith Kay, and it turned out another blacksmith next to him had made the items, right? As some sort of 'fated encounter'?”
“Ahem…”
“Hmph!”
“And the last time we did this, the guy took the signing bonus, claimed he won the lottery, and went on vacation without making a single artifact, didn't he? And the time before that… and the time before that… and the time after that…”
She sighed, ruffling her hair.
“Do you have any idea how hard I had to work to clean up those messes?”
Everyone was struck dumb.
There was a reason a mere team leader could raise her voice like this.
Though young, she was an elite whose talent was widely recognized.
It was unknown where she had suddenly appeared from, but she excelled in every field.
There had been many incidents that could have shaken the Golden Shield.
But Hye-in had resolved every one of them. No, despite those incidents, she had made the Golden Shield grow.
A member since the Golden Shield's inception and their most competent talent.
She said.
“There are too many rumors about Blacksmith Hyeon. The important thing is that nothing has been confirmed. You all know that.”
Like how Hyeon has supposedly already maxed out every blacksmithing field to the Master level.
Or how he's a fraud who just has a consumable skill that lets him create such items three times.
“I won't believe it until I see it with my own eyes.”
Hye-in was a person who needed certainty. How on earth could Blacksmith Hyeon create such artifacts?
Unless she could determine whether it was a one-time thing or a permanent ability, it was a no-go.
Moon-soo sighed and replied.
“Hoo, I'll think about it more deeply.”
Hye-in stood up.
And headed straight for the capsule prepared at the company.
‘If his ability were confirmed, I would have agreed too.’
But she thought it was still premature.
It hadn't been long since Hyeon appeared. And she, too, had many questions.
‘What kind of person is he? How old might he be?’
With so many stories circulating, it would be a lie to say she wasn't curious.
[Connecting to Ares.]
Opening her eyes in Ares, Nel sighed. The place she found herself was none other than the Kasel territory.
She ran a hand through her hair.
Her expression was clouded with guilt.
She was an advanced blacksmith and the user who had been commissioned by Knight Commander Kal to create a bell similar to the Bell of Ramas.
‘I failed. It's impossible.’
She hadn't even attempted a repair in the first place.
‘There are no instructions on how to repair an irreparable artifact, and auto-repair doesn't work…’
That's why she had tried to craft a new one. But in the end, she had failed.
The Bell of Ramas was an Epic-grade item.
But the value of a wide-area-of-effect artifact was beyond imagination, and even the Golden Shield Guild currently possessed no such item.
She walked to meet Knight Commander Kal.
Kal spotted her, his eyes showing a flicker of interest.
“You're here. Did it go well?”
“...I'm sorry.”
Nel was a sharp and decisive person, both in reality and in the virtual world.
But not when it came to matters concerning the Kasel territory.
Perhaps it was because Kasel was the first territory Nel had visited after starting Ares.
Moreover, she still had a love-hate relationship with this place, and because of that, she held a special attachment to it.
Kal comforted her.
“It's alright. In fact, another outlander has arrived. He said he might be able to repair it.”
“What? He said he could repair it…?”
Her face crumpled. That was absolutely impossible.
“To be precise, he said he would check if it's repairable and do his best. For some reason, seeing him made me think he just might be able to do it. Thank you for your hard work.”
Kal walked away, looking busy.
And Nel's brow furrowed.
‘Impossible. It can't be…’
By her own common sense, it was clearly a difficult task.
‘Could it be?’
A scammer? But she didn't jump to conclusions just yet.
He could be an incredibly high-level user with a special class she didn't know about.
Soon, she spotted a user standing in front of the Bell of Ramas.
In that instant, the user's level appeared.
[Lv.40]
“...?”
Checking his level was something that happened automatically due to a special title she had obtained.
She was certain.
‘He's a scammer…’
There had been countless people who tried to line their pockets by taking advantage of the Kasel territory.
‘It's obvious without even looking.’
Her breath hitched as she strode forward.
‘This territory might soon disappear from the map.’
She hated those who were greedy enough to try and make money off such a territory.
‘Let's see this scammer's face…!’
She believed in physiognomy. So far, most of those who had caused massive damage to the Golden Shield Guild had unpleasant faces.
“Excuse me!”
“…Yes?”
Seeing his face, Nel's expression turned to one of surprise.
‘Why is he handsome…?’