Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Unrepairable (3)
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Every New Year’s, we can hear the ringing of the bell at midnight.
The Bosingak Bell is used for this New Year's Eve ceremony.
This bell is designated as National Treasure No. 2 in our country.
And the blueprint Hyun-soo had drawn was a hybrid of this Bosingak Bell and the Bell of Lamas.
The Bosingak Bell had been damaged by two fires in the past, and after that, his father had been entrusted with its management.
The Bosingak Bell embodies the form of bells from the early Joseon Dynasty.
Many clients had requested items made in this style, and Hyun-soo and his father had often crafted these bells for various temples and bell-ringing festivals across the country.
*Rumble—*
The furnace had already been lit.
‘I have to melt down something that was already complete.’
By melting it, Hyun-soo had to obtain the base materials used to create the Bell of Lamas.
‘To be precise, I’m extracting its divine power.’
Then, he would combine the materials imbued with that divine power with others of his own choosing to forge a new bell.
Hyun-soo activated Custom Production.
[Commencing God's Custom Production.]
[You can customize a production for another individual or for yourself.]
[Through Custom Production, you can imbue desired effects, with a chance for the effect to manifest up to 100%.]
Hyun-soo recalled the special abilities of the Bell of Lamas.
‘A 5% increase in the vitality of the domain's residents, a 10% decrease in the probability of drought, a 20% increase in the probability of good crop growth.’
The moment Hyun-soo saw the Bell of Lamas, he thought many of its effects were completely unnecessary for the Kassel domain.
Yes, this divine power was a blessing capable of making crops flourish, revitalizing the residents, and preventing drought.
But he posed a hypothesis.
What if that power was focused on repelling the undead?
What if a skill capable of defeating the undead could be created with that power?
‘I can do it.’
Start with a hypothesis and make it a reality.
That was the essence of the God's Custom Production skill. He set the desired effect.
“Maximize the power to repel undead and evil, and also add a skill that can inflict fatal damage.”
[Searching for power to repel undead and evil.]
[Searching for a skill that can inflict fatal damage to undead and evil.]
[You may now imbue the desired effects.]
[To enhance the desired effects, various factors such as your skill, insight, and luck will be considered.]
[The effect can be applied up to 100% depending on these various factors.]
This was completely different from when he created the sword-cutting sword skill.
Back then, he had poured everything into that single skill just to make it possible.
As a result, its other aspects had become far less remarkable.
This time, however, he designed it to maintain a proper balance, focusing primarily on divine power.
[The materials required to produce this artifact will be guided. Iron, Mithril, Orichalcum…]
[To produce this artifact, you must be a blacksmith of a faith or possess materials imbued with divine power.]
Having completed the settings, Hyun-soo watched the molten metal begin to flow from the furnace.
The creation of his new bell had begun.
***
‘I was wrong…’
Nel let out a hollow laugh.
Two days had passed since the update notification.
During that time, Nel had done everything she could. She was a high-level blacksmith, having reached the advanced tier.
She had crafted or repaired siege weapons capable of killing the undead. She had also produced high-quality arrows and distributed them to the soldiers.
But Nel wasn't alone.
Players who held even small memories of the Kassel domain had come over.
Among them were some high-level players, some beginners, and some who were merely there to reap rewards from a domain that might soon fall.
“Damn… these undead are crazy strong.”
“I don’t think we can stop this.”
“Wouldn’t it be possible if a ranker guild showed up?”
“…Why would people like that bother saving the Kassel domain?”
And so, even the remaining players left.
The undead continued to push forward, growing stronger, and at some point, Nel realized.
‘We can’t stop them…’
She laughed self-deprecatingly, feeling her own powerlessness.
What could a single player possibly do?
With a hollow expression, she looked out over the domain from atop the castle wall.
‘That shop, that was the first one I ever went to. And over there is where I did my first blacksmith quest.’
A small smile touched her lips. Soon, this domain would be swept away by the undead.
She knew.
Nel knew better than anyone.
She was getting too immersed in a mere game.
But there were many like her.
Because this virtual reality game, Ares, felt so incredibly real.
*Trudge, trudge.* She walked on, drained of energy.
She had to give up. As she walked, she heard a faint sound.
*Clang… Claaang… Claaaang…*
As a blacksmith player, she knew this sound well.
She headed toward its source.
*Claaaang*
*Claaaaang—!*
*Claaaaaaaang—!*
Arriving at the source, Nel saw a man standing in a smithy.
‘That scammer from the other day?’
It was him.
‘What is he making?’
Nel stood where she was, watching the man’s back.
As she watched, Nel felt that something was strange.
‘What the…?’
It was odd.
His level was definitely 40.
She had seen it with the effect of her ‘Insightful One’ title, so it had to be a fact.
But…
‘Why… is he different…?’
As a member of the Blacksmiths' Guild, Nel was familiar with the artifact production process of players.
She herself used the auto-craft button, so she knew their movements well.
The moment auto-crafting began, blacksmiths would turn into robots.
They would forge with rigid movements, uniform strength, consistent speed, and an unchanging posture.
The same went for smelting and refining.
Visiting the Blacksmiths' Guild often left one with a certain thought.
‘Blacksmith robots.’
But what was with this man?
His hammering was a little different.
*Claaaaang—!*
Not every hammer strike was uniform.
Sometimes he would strike hard, other times more softly.
Then, her gaze fell upon a mysterious blueprint hanging on one side.
‘Is that…?’
The Bell of Lamas? No, it was similar but different.
It was much larger and more magnificent.
Nel frowned, her eyes instinctively flicking to where the Bell of Lamas used to be.
‘Where did it go…?’
Nothing remained in the spot where the Bell of Lamas had once stood.
Her jaw dropped.
But what was even more absurd was that inside this man's smithy, there were no remnants of the broken Bell of Lamas either.
‘What in the world…’
Her mind was in chaos.
The Bell of Lamas was gone, and the man seemed to be making a strange new bell.
Soon, the man swept something back into the furnace.
“…?”
Nel recognized what he had put in.
‘The Bell of Lamas…? Wait, how did he repair… no, how is he smelting and refining it? What is that right now?’
The man had already crafted a part of the bell.
‘Unrepairable means you can’t make anything else with it either. The repair or craft button shouldn’t even appear in the first place…?’
At that moment, her conversation with him flashed through Nel’s mind.
‘So, how are you going to repair something that’s unrepairable? It’s an unrepairable artifact. You can’t get system assistance, and the auto-repair button won’t appear.’
‘…You don't necessarily need those things to make repairs.’
She mulled over his words.
Those things.
“Auto-repair, system assistance…”
Realizing the meaning, Nel took a step back.
‘No way…’
It was impossible.
‘This is the year 2040…’
They said there were quite a few blacksmiths back in the 2020s.
But the world had rapidly mechanized, and those blacksmiths had lost their place.
“He’s making that… by hand?”
Finding it too hard to believe, she rubbed her face.
Just then, the man spoke.
“How long are you going to stand there?”
“Huh…?”
Nel looked at him, puzzled.
***
For two days, Hyun-soo had worked on creating the new bell without a wink of sleep.
‘This isn’t easy…’
Time was extremely tight. At this pace, it would be a close call to finish it before the update—before the domain fell.
‘I need someone to help.’
He needed at least one person to handle the menial tasks or a manual blacksmith who could follow his instructions.
Someone completely ignorant of smithing would be an inconvenience.
‘Even if they’ve only ever received system assistance, they’ve learned.’
They would have at least a rough understanding of the process from watching the auto-crafting.
Just then.
*Rustle—*
Hyun-soo heard footsteps.
“He’s making that… by hand?”
Not long after, he heard the voice as well.
A flicker of interest appeared on Hyun-soo’s face.
“How long are you going to stand there?”
“Huh…?”
“Help me. You care about this domain, don’t you?”
Nel entered the smithy. As soon as she came in, she swept her gaze over the partially crafted bell.
[The Bell of Lamas is an unrepairable artifact.]
Her suspicion became reality.
This was the Bell of Lamas. No, what used to be the bell.
‘His skill was real…?’
How was this possible?
But she quickly composed herself.
“…You’re crafting this by hand, aren’t you?”
Hyun-soo only nodded.
“But… if you're doing it by hand, isn't it harder to expect good results…?”
Every field has a level of mastery one can reach.
Not everyone who studies becomes brilliant.
Just as not everyone who studies from childhood to their twenties gets into a good university.
So what if he was crafting by hand? His handmade work could still be at a beginner blacksmith's level.
What difference would that make?
“It might be better to just rely on the system's help.”
Right, the system was clear and reliable.
It allowed you to perform smithing work corresponding to your level.
And Nel had once seen a top-tier blacksmith NPC, a rank higher than herself, at work.
It had defied common sense.
Nel also possessed the special title ‘The Learner’.
Because of it, just by watching a blacksmith of a higher tier work, all her blacksmithing skill proficiencies had increased.
Learning wasn't the same as doing. What mattered was the skill.
“Are you saying that even with the same materials, the results will all be different?”
But Hyun-soo just smiled faintly.
Seeing that chic smile, Nel wore a puzzled expression.
Hyun-soo briefly set down his hammer.
“So you'd rather just twiddle your thumbs for the next five days?”
The words hit her like a dagger.
Nel bit her lip.
“Tell me what to do. I’ll do my best.”
Nel readily agreed.
“Let’s introduce ourselves. I’m Hyun-soo.”
“I’m Nel.”
And so, the two began their production. To be precise, Nel assisted Hyun-soo while he gave the orders.
“Hold it tighter.”
*Claaaaang—!*
“That’s not how you do it. You need to hammer it longer, and more.”
“I told you to move that!”
“Hah, fine. I’ll handle this part myself. Just catch the molten metal.”
“Yes, yes…”
Nel, an advanced blacksmith, was following his commands. Then, she watched him work.
‘What is this…?’
Nel was sure it was impossible.
Even if you could do the work, the outcome depended on your skill.
But why…?
‘This is strange.’
Why does he seem even better than the top-tier blacksmith I saw before?
She blinked her eyes.
Something was off.
No, am I seeing things?
One hour, two hours, four hours.
She was watching him work when…
[The title 'The Learner' shines.]
[You have witnessed the crafting process of a Top-Tier Blacksmith.]
The same notification she got when she met the top-tier blacksmith before was now triggering from a player.
After this notification, another one appeared, informing her that her proficiency had increased.
‘This is impossible. This can’t be happening. It’s a bug. Yes, this is…’
Just then.
*Ting!*
[Correction.]
[System is measuring an error.]
[Correction complete.]
Nel thought, *Of course*.
That made sense!
How could a player possibly possess the skills of a top-tier blacksmith?
Top-tier blacksmiths, both players and NPCs, were all level 300 or higher.
In other words, they were the pinnacles of smithing.
For a level 40 player to display top-tier skill, even by hand, was just…
[You have witnessed the crafting process of a Master Craftsman (名匠).]
‘…A M-Master Craftsman!?’
Her eyes trembled.