Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: I Still Want to Forge (3)
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A fire ignited in Hyun-soo's chest.
Why did he love being a blacksmith?
It was because even when starting with the same ore, the results could be completely different.
The struggle before the blazing inferno.
And at the end of that struggle, a creation that was entirely his own.
Every time he brought one to life, Hyun-soo felt an indescribable sense of accomplishment. It was an addiction.
Three years had passed since that day.
‘Can I really do this?’
Truthfully, he wasn't sure.
It had been nearly three years since he'd last held a hammer.
Then, Ren, who stood behind him, spoke.
“If your skills don't match your arrogant words, I'll beat you to a pulp.”
“And if I succeed magnificently, will you grant my request?”
Ren was dumbfounded.
It wasn't as if there hadn't been other outsiders who acted like they knew everything.
But whenever he actually handed them a hammer, they'd end up doing all sorts of bizarre things.
But Hyun-soo looked at him with sincere eyes.
‘I absolutely need this smithy.’
He'd heard that quests didn't always have to be triggered by an NPC.
“Fine. But if you fail, be prepared for the consequences. What is it you want?”
“I'd like your permission to use this smithy.”
“This smithy?”
Ren, who had been looking incredulous, let out a smirk.
“Be my guest.”
*Ting!*
[Quest: A Wager with Ren]
Grade: C
Requirement: One who has accepted Ren's challenge.
Reward: Use of the smithy.
Failure Penalty: Drastic decrease in affinity with Ren.
Description: Prove yourself to Ren by forging a magnificent sword.
Ren watched Hyun-soo, who had accepted the terms, crossing his arms.
‘Foolish brat.’
He must have picked up some trivial knowledge about blacksmithing somewhere.
But the craft of blacksmithing itself was not as glamorous as he probably imagined.
It takes a blacksmith a very long time to create a single weapon.
Even if it looked easy, it required a great many steps.
Before starting, Hyun-soo looked around.
‘I can see why he's a blacksmith in the beginner's zone.’
[Beginner Blacksmith Ren Lv. 15]
He had just taken his first steps.
Hyun-soo first used tongs to pull the heated ore from the fire and placed it on the anvil.
Then, with the hammer in his right hand, he began to strike.
After hammering for a while, the ore stretched into a long shape.
He literally folded the elongated, glowing ore and struck it.
*Claaaaang—!*
*Claaang—!*
*Claaaaang—!*
And each time he folded the ore, hot sparks flew.
Hyun-soo repeated this process.
Once, twice, four times, eight times. Over and over.
“What is he doing?”
Ren furrowed his brow.
He asked because he had no idea what the man was doing.
The question almost left Hyun-soo speechless.
‘He doesn't know this...?’
Are the beginner blacksmiths in this game only capable of mimicry?
Then again, this was a game.
If a blacksmith like that existed in real life, he'd starve, but here, he was a Level 15 blacksmith.
“Do you know why you haven't been able to make better swords?”
Ren looked puzzled.
“It's because you don't use the folding technique.”
“The folding technique...?”
“By repeatedly hammering the metal with the folding technique, you can remove more impurities, and the steel gains greater hardness.”
“...?”
Ren's eyes widened as he stared at him.
No, Ren didn't fully believe him yet.
But Hyun-soo continued.
“The sword you were trying to make seemed to be a single-edged blade. This is a common method for refining steel when making that type of sword.”
After saying that, Hyun-soo began to move faster.
Now it was time for quenching, so he plunged it into cold water.
*Sssss—*
Smithing was a repetition of quenching and hammering.
The more it was quenched, the stronger the steel became.
Several hours passed in a flash.
But Hyun-soo had lost all track of time.
‘This is fun...’
It was the first time he had hammered and quenched in a whole three years.
At first, it felt awkward, as if he couldn't get it right.
But as he continued, his past skills started to return.
*Claaaaang—!*
He couldn't hide his excitement as he watched the fiery fragments leap up.
It was fun.
So much fun it was almost maddening.
The work he had longed to do.
Being able to do again what his ruined right hand had prevented him from doing brought him an indescribable pleasure and joy.
And Ren watched his back, seeing his incredible focus.
Finally, after repeating the quenching and hammering an untold number of times, he began to shape the blade.
*Claaaaang—!*
*Claaang—!*
*Claaaaaaaang—!*
Ren stared, wide-eyed, at the sight of Hyun-soo hammering before the scorching furnace.
‘Th-This is different...’
Until a moment ago, he had thought it was just part of the process.
But as Hyun-soo began his hammering in earnest, Ren's mind started to change.
And for Hyun-soo, a series of mysterious notifications were ringing.
[You are displaying blacksmithing skills that defy common sense for your level.]
[You have acquired 1 Dexterity.]
Hyun-soo looked puzzled.
‘Is it always this easy to get stats?’
Then, another notification appeared for Hyun-soo.
[Your affinity with Ren has increased.]
‘Oh...?’
He had heard about the affinity system from the instructor.
It was basically a favorability rating; the higher the affinity, the more favorably an NPC would treat him.
In fact, if his affinity reached the highest level, he could even buy something for 8 silver that normally cost 10 silver at the market.
And Ren continued to watch Hyun-soo as he shaped the blade.
He was beginning to be mesmerized by Hyun-soo.
***
[An illogical event, inconsistent with the user's level, is occurring.]
Pureum Inc.'s Special User Management Team.
Lee Ji-hee, an employee monitoring the screens, looked up in surprise.
‘What in the...?’
The Special User Management Team was responsible for monitoring users who found hidden pieces, triggered incredible quests, or exhibited unusual behavior.
This was the first time Ji-hee had ever heard such a notification.
“M-Manager!”
Kim Tae-seok, the manager of the Special User Management Team, hurried over.
“An illogical event, inconsistent with the user's level...?”
Tae-seok looked at the monitor, at the user named Hyun-soo inside the smithy.
Tae-seok had seen this "illogical event" notification pop up several times for users with the chef class.
But never for a blacksmith.
It was a notification that occasionally appeared for Level 1 chefs who were head chefs at hotels in real life and displayed incredible knife skills.
But it wasn't something to be too concerned about.
After all, once a dish was made, that was the end of it.
In the early days of Ares, such notifications were quite common, but they had stopped appearing after the threshold was raised.
But now, after a long time, the notification had sounded again.
‘What is this...?’
The monitor flashed again, spitting out another notification.
[A Level 1 user is exhibiting skills equivalent to at least a Master-rank blacksmith.]
[An illogical event, inconsistent with the user's level, is occurring.]
“M-Master-rank!?”
The blacksmith ranks are divided into Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Master, Artisan, and Grandmaster.
And Master-rank blacksmiths were at least Level 300.
What was more interesting was that among all the blacksmiths over Level 300, there were fewer than five in the entire world who possessed Master-rank skills.
Furthermore, most of those users also had passive skills.
But this user was demonstrating Master-rank proficiency without a single skill.
And in the beginner's zone, no less.
Tae-seok quickly explained the situation to Ji-hee, and she was left speechless.
“Do blacksmiths even exist in real life these days?”
“I've heard a few are still around...”
The situation was so astonishing that even Tae-seok could only stare blankly at the monitor.
Then, a question occurred to Ji-hee.
“If his level is low but his skill is exceptional, what happens to the artifact he creates?”
The probability of a user creating a high-grade artifact was split fifty-fifty.
Half was luck, and the other half was skill.
In reality, blacksmith users used blacksmithing skills, but they usually just pressed the 'Auto-Craft' button to start the process automatically.
Naturally, auto-crafting had its limits when it came to the finer details.
A cold sweat trickled down Tae-seok's back as he spoke.
“If he crafts it well, he'll probably get a high-grade weapon usable at his level.”
It was an obvious answer.
Even without skills, even at a low level.
If something was crafted with exceptional skill, it was only natural for it to turn out well.
“That's not what we should be worried about.”
Employee Ji-hee swallowed dryly and looked at the monitor.
“We should be worried about the rewards a user gets for creating something with such illogical skill.”
***
Before long, Hyun-soo's work was reaching its final stages.
After oil quenching, he was now in the process of engraving a pattern onto the sword.
‘Did I get five Dexterity already?’
This game sure made it easy to get stats.
The moment he finally finished the engraving.
*Claaaaang—!*
A notification sounded.
*Ting!*
[You have crafted an unbelievable sword in the beginner's zone.]
[Assessing Grade...]
[Grade: Rare]
[Please name the sword.]
[You will receive a reward for being the first to craft a Rare grade artifact.]
[You have acquired +1 to all stats.]
[You have acquired 10 Dexterity.]
[You have acquired 30 Fame.]
[You have acquired the title: The One and Only Creator of the Beginner's Zone.]
‘Why are so many notifications popping up?’
Tilting his head, Hyun-soo looked at the completed sword.
He knew that artifact and skill grades were divided into Common, Rare, Epic, Unique, Legendary, and Divine.
Additionally, the first person to create an artifact of a certain grade would receive stats, Dexterity, and Fame as a reward.
Of course, creating another artifact of the same grade afterward wouldn't grant the same reward.
(Unnamed)
Grade: Rare
Durability: 1,000/1,000
Attack Power: 36
Requirement: Level 1-30.
Special Abilities:
·Strength +2, Agility +1.
·Active Skill: Quick Draw.
Description: The finest sword a Level 1 user can wield, born from the crudest of materials.
‘Oh, this seems pretty good.’
Didn't the description kindly say it was the finest sword a Level 1 could use?
Hyun-soo briefly pondered what name to give the artifact.
And Hyun-soo, who was terrible at naming things, quickly decided on one.
“Hyeon's First Sword.”
[You have named the sword 'Hyeon's First Sword'.]
It was a rather absurd name.
But if he were to continue playing Ares, Hyun-soo figured he would be making many more artifacts like this.
In that case, having his name attached could turn it into a brand.
Next, he checked the title.
(The One and Only Creator of the Beginner's Zone)
Unique Title
Grade: A
Special Abilities:
·All Stats +1
·Artifacts crafted are 2% more exceptional.
·Dexterity acquisition rate +10%.
·Dexterity +10%.
‘An A-grade title?’
Titles were divided into Multiple Titles and Unique Titles.
Multiple Titles could be obtained by any user who met the requirements.
Unique Titles could only be obtained by the very first user to achieve the feat.
Naturally, Unique Titles were far better, and title grades ranged from D to SSS.
‘Is this pretty good?’
But right now, there was something more important.
It was the piercing gaze he felt from behind him.
Hyun-soo held out his finished creation to Ren.
After examining the sword, Ren's eyes went wide.
“I-Impossible...”
It was a Rare artifact.
Ren the blacksmith knew what kind of place this was.
It was where the outsiders first set foot.
Even Ren, as insignificant as he was, possessed skills.
But there was no way this man had any skills.
It was pure, unadulterated skill.
“Is this proof enough?”
Moreover, just by watching his process, Ren felt as though he had become a slightly better blacksmith.
Hyun-soo waited for his answer, and Ren gave the best one possible.
*Thud—!*
Ren the blacksmith fell to his knees.
[Quest: A Wager with Ren - Complete.]
[You may now use the smithy.]
“P-Please...! Please teach me your blacksmithing techniques!”
A man of the same craft wanted to learn from him.
It showed that he had clearly realized the gap between them and felt no shame in seeking his tutelage.
In other words, it was the highest form of praise.
Just then, an additional notification appeared.
[Hidden Quest: Develop Ren has been generated.]
‘A hidden quest...?’