Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: I Still Want to Make Things (5)
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Hyun-soo was surprised that simply sharpening the sword had increased its attack power by 2% and durability by 5%.
‘Oh, is this what happens when you sharpen a sword well?’
Of course not.
Having never played a game in his life, Hyun-soo didn't know this wasn't something that happened just from a good sharpening.
It was only natural for a sharper sword to have higher attack power.
Hyun-soo handed the well-sharpened sword to Instructor Jack.
Jack smiled with satisfaction as he looked at the excellently sharpened sword.
And since NPCs could also check artifact information,
he glanced at it and checked the detailed information.
“Gasp!?”
Jack looked back and forth between Hyun-soo and the sword several times with shocked eyes.
Though Hyun-soo didn't know it, a permanent 2% increase in attack power and 5% in durability was a huge deal.
It meant Jack could now deal more damage without doing anything extra!
“You, you're incredible! A truly incredible blacksmith!”
[Your affinity with Jack has increased.]
But it didn't end there.
Jack couldn't hide his excitement.
“It would be a crime for me to pay only 50 Silver for this level of sharpening!”
With that, Jack handed him a gold coin.
[You have acquired 1 Gold.]
The currency in Ares is divided into Silver and Gold.
100 Silver equals 1 Gold.
Furthermore, users in the beginner zone start with only 10 Silver.
Yet Hyun-soo, who had agreed to 50 Silver, received double the amount, putting him at ten times the money of a typical user.
‘What a, what a score!’
And Hyun-soo smelled something.
*Sniff, sniff.*
There was a scent. A scent.
It was the overwhelming scent of money.
‘So I've earned a thousand won.’
Of course, Hyun-soo didn't think it was a small amount.
This was the beginner zone.
The volume of currency exchange in the beginner zone was low, and the rewards were generally very small.
‘Was my balance around 1.01 million won?’
That was Hyun-soo’s bank balance before he logged in.
Every penny counts.
And fortunately, our dear customer…
“Hey everyone, come over here!”
…was gathering more customers.
“What's going on?”
“Instructor Jack, what is it?”
The instructors swarmed over.
There were about a dozen of them.
“Take a look at this sword. This young man sharpened it for me…”
“Gasp!”
“N-No way!”
“Incredible!”
The instructors stared at Hyun-soo with astonished expressions.
A moment later.
Hyun-soo cleared his throat, *ahem*, and took a deep, diaphragmatic breath.
Then he bellowed with all his might.
“Form a liiiiine!”
At Hyun-soo's shout, the instructors formed a line.
[You have sharpened the sword with the highest skill.]
[The sword's attack power has increased by 2% and its durability by 5%...]
“I-It's real? H-Here, take 1 Gold!”
[Your affinity with Brown has increased.]
“Do my sword next!”
[You have sharpened the sword with the highest skill...]
[The sword's attack power...]
“Can you sharpen axes too?”
“Ah, of course. My dear custom… I mean, Instructor, hehe!”
[You have sharpened the axe with the highest skill...]
[The axe's attack power...]
“I'm in a good mood. Here, I'll give you 50 Silver more. Here's 1 Gold and 50 Silver!”
“A handsome instructor like you is so generous too.”
The instructor resembled an orc.
“Ha, hahaha... What the hell. 50 more Silver!”
A total of 2 Gold!
And Hyun-soo was starting to understand his own value.
“Ah, my apologies, Instructor.”
He adopted an exaggerated tone, as if something truly unfortunate had happened to the next instructor in line.
It was just like how he used to sell to shrewd old ladies.
‘Oh dear, what a shame, this is the very last kitchen knife I have! Ah, really. It's the last one, ma'am!’
“Unfortunately, I only have a few whetstones left, so I'll have to raise the price.”
“What!? H-How much!?”
Hyun-soo still had 40 whetstones in his inventory.
“I only have five left, so from now on, I'll have to charge 2 Gold.”
“Ahaha, you had me worried for a second. Only 2 Gold for a 2% attack boost? That's a steal, an absolute steal. Don't you think?”
“You're right, you're right!”
Just then, Hyun-soo noticed a group approaching from a distance and tilted his head.
“Who are they…?”
“They're instructors from the next town. I sent a carrier pigeon to call them. Shouldn't we share such a great opportunity!”
But Hyun-soo was a calculating person.
After sharpening the weapons for the local instructors, he sharpened one for an instructor from the neighboring town.
And then.
“Unfortunately, I've used up all my whetstones, so I'm afraid I can't do any more today. I'm very sorry.”
“W-What!? But we came all this way!?”
“Then please come back tomorrow. I'll sharpen them for you then. However, I'll have to charge 2 Gold and 50 Silver tomorrow. Is that alright?”
“Of course it is! You must do it for us tomorrow!”
“Certainly. Oh, and if you promote this in your town, I'll give you a 50 Silver discount.”
“Ooooh.”
“A 50 Silver discount off of 2 Gold 50 Silver!? It's practically free, free!”
One customer brings another.
But calling them suckers wasn't quite right; the 2% attack power increase was far more significant than Hyun-soo had anticipated.
After parting with the instructors, Hyun-soo took a deep breath.
“Hoo…”
He closed his eyes and opened his inventory window.
When the translucent inventory window appeared before him,
Hyun-soo peeked with one eye and marveled at the gold he saw.
[39 Gold 38 Silver.]
Converted to real money, that was worth about 40,000 won.
Time in Ares passed three times faster than in reality.
In other words, one day in reality was three days in Ares.
In just a few hours, Hyun-soo had earned 40,000 won.
“…”
Hyun-soo's heart suddenly swelled with emotion.
Of course, this gold would be invested in getting the VVIP capsule.
But watching the instructors' reactions, he felt it.
The world his father had spoken of.
A world where people rejoiced at the sight of the things they created.
This world was exactly that.
They were delighted with the product he had created, thanked him, and valued him.
Hyun-soo was now in such a dreamlike world.
Also, that wasn't the only reason his heart was overflowing.
“Hah…”
He wiped away a tear that trickled from one eye.
It's fun.
It's insanely fun.
So fun he could go crazy and jump for joy.
Even though he was repeating a difficult grind, for the Hyun-soo of three years ago, it was the most fun thing in the world.
He was overjoyed that he could once again do something that made him happy.
Just as he was getting sentimental,
[Roun: Still playing?]
A whisper came from Ji-hoon.
Ares allowed duplicate character names.
Instead, you had to enter the other person's phone number next to the duplicate name for a unique code to appear.
[Hyun-soo: ye.]
[Roun: Sounds like you were having fun. Let's head home.]
[Hyun-soo: ok]
Looking down at his right hand, Hyun-soo smiled faintly and logged out.
***
A corner table at a chicken restaurant late in the evening.
Ji-hoon watched his friend, Hyun-soo, chattering excitedly.
‘He must have really had fun.’
It had been a while since the guy had been this flushed and talkative.
After that incident, Hyun-soo had become very quiet.
Today, he was laying it all out about Ares, as if making up for all his past silence.
And through his story, Ji-hoon learned that Hyun-soo's blacksmithing skills were actually effective in Ares.
‘Wow, he's a crazy OP character...’
His father, the only one in the world called a Master Craftsman.
And Hyun-soo, who was skilled enough to be called a Master Craftsman worthy of his father.
Since his father had tragically fallen into a vegetative state, perhaps the world's greatest Master Craftsman was now him.
“By the way, is it normally this easy to get Dexterity stats?”
“Huh?”
Ji-hoon tilted his head.
Dexterity stats?
Ji-hoon shook his head.
“What are you talking about? Easy? It's incredibly difficult.”
“Really?”
One of Ares's strengths was that you could raise stats by repeating certain actions.
This effect was especially noticeable in the beginner zone.
But even that was no easy task.
You had to hit a wooden dummy for six hours just to gain 1 Strength stat.
And the Dexterity stat was the exclusive domain of production classes.
You could also raise it through grinding.
But it was still not easy.
“There was a topic on the Ares community site once: Leveling Up vs. Raising Stats.”
Hyun-soo listened attentively to Ji-hoon's explanation.
“And everyone said leveling up was easier.”
It was obvious.
Levels went up just by hunting, but stats did not.
You might get Dexterity by repeating an action for four or five hours in the beginner zone, but once you left it, the probability became abysmal.
Of course, there was a better bonus for this at lower levels.
“Really? I guess leveling up is much easier than I thought.”
Well, everyone's standards were different.
Ji-hoon thought that it was possible for Hyun-soo to feel that way.
Come to think of it, Ji-hoon had only heard that Hyun-soo made a rare artifact and was running a business.
He didn't know what his current status window looked like.
“Install the Ares app.”
You could check a character's status window on a smartphone.
‘He says raising Dexterity is easy. Did he raise it by about 3 points?’
Even that was an enormous amount of Dexterity.
Most users couldn't even gain any of the five basic stats—Strength, Agility, Stamina, Wisdom, and Intelligence—before leaving the beginner zone.
Needless to say, the same went for Dexterity, which was classified as a special stat.
‘Even 3 points would be insane…’
Hyun-soo downloaded the Ares app and opened his status window.
Then he handed it to Ji-hoon.
Upon seeing the status window, Ji-hoon shot up from his seat without realizing it.
*Screech-!*
“W-What the!?”
“…Everyone's staring because of you.”
The sound of the chair scraping drew everyone's attention.
Ji-hoon sat back down and tried to calm his racing heart.
“Th-This bastard is insane…!”
“Why? Is there a problem?”
“A problem? Of course there is, you idiot!”
“???”
Hyun-soo wore the innocent expression of a lost puppy.
Ji-hoon, wondering if he had misread it, closed the Ares app and opened it again.
But the status window before his eyes was real.
“I've never seen anything like this…”
“What is it? Just say it! Say it…!”
Despite the urging, Ji-hoon just stared blankly at the status window.
‘Holy crap, is this even possible?’
(Hyun-soo)
Level: 1
Job: Unemployed
Strength: 10 Agility: 8 Stamina: 8 Wisdom: 7 Intelligence: 7 Dexterity: 63
Hyun-soo called out to him in frustration.
“Hey, what is it!”
“You still don't get it? Hyun-soo, you're level 1.”
“So?”
“At level 1, all stats are 5, you know?”
“Uh-huh.”
“But your Strength is 10? That's double a normal level 1's, do-u-ble!”
“What about it?”
“Hey, you're exactly twice as strong as other level 1s right now!”
“Gasp!?”
“…?”
Ji-hoon gave him a look that said, *what kind of guy is this?*
Of course, the stats displayed in the window included all effects from titles, artifacts, and so on.
‘And this advantage will last a lifetime…’
Even at level 100, Hyun-soo was bound to have higher stats than other users.
But what shocked Ji-hoon wasn't these stats.
He ran a hand through his hair.
“I've never seen anything like this. A level 1 with 63 Dexterity, and on the first day of playing?”
That meant he had raised at least 50 points in a single day.
Even considering the boost from the beginner zone, it was an absurd number.
“What happened?”
“Maybe it's because of that?”
Only then did Hyun-soo explain the "unconventional" notification and the messages he got while sharpening.
“Unconventional…?”
Why did that happen?
‘Did that notification pop up because he's so OP from the start that he doesn't need the game's system boosts?’
But there was something even more shocking than that.
‘What's going to happen when this guy changes his class to blacksmith…?’
Hyun-soo hadn't changed his class yet.
This meant he had no skills and hadn't received any stat bonuses from a class change.
Skills not only assisted in crafting but also had various other effects.
Increased probability of creating higher-grade artifacts.
Increased artifact crafting speed.
And dozens of others, including the power to bestow superior special abilities on artifacts.
*Gulp-*
Ji-hoon's jaw dropped.
He was Hyun-soo's best friend.
“You, you bad guy…”
He was dying of envy.
“…?”
Suddenly labeled a bad guy, Hyun-soo tilted his head in confusion.
Oblivious to what would happen once he changed his class.