Chapter 76
Chapter 76
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Weapon for the Madman
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Clang! Clang!
“Huff! Huff!”
Clang! Clang!
“Heave! Hek!”
The second floor of the workshop was filled with two kinds of sounds.
The sound of the hammer striking down.
And the sound of me panting.
‘This is no joke.’
This crafting session was on another level compared to the last one.
Maybe because it was our first time using ‘Mithril,’ but Demir was putting everything into it.
And so was I, fully immersed with all my focus.
‘Jang Dae-woong is so bold. It’s like looking at Zhang Fei standing at Changban Bridge.’
One of the greatest generals from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, brimming with valor and courage.
I pictured Zhang Yi-de’s fierce visage.
The image of him holding his spear at an angle, roaring fiercely in front of hundreds of thousands of enemy troops.
Demir shouted.
“Excellent! Even in the master’s world, there are figures as magnificent as the master!”
The gauntlet taking shape was infused with an unmatched heroic spirit.
Clang!
Demir hammered the mithril with his ‘soul’ poured into it.
Was this what they called coating?
A mystical energy from the hammer slowly melted the mithril, plating it evenly.
Clang! Clang!
Golden sparks burst from the hammer strikes.
Each spark made the mithril spread out evenly and flat.
Did Demir realize?
That the process itself would shock any production-class hunter who saw it.
Demir savored each hammer strike as if possessed.
“Hoo, Yi-de, was it? Truly a man whose valor reaches the extreme! Of course, even for an item meant for a madman, we must add a spoonful of bravery!”
Demir grinned.
“Ooh, what’s this now?”
He marveled once more at the next figure I envisioned.
“From that Changban faction again? Ah, master! What is the name of this man who faces tens of thousands of soldiers with a child strapped to his body!”
“Mm, he’s Zhao Zilong, as passed down in our world.”
As I thought of figures fitting for a berserker.
My mind went all the way back to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms comic I read as a kid.
Whether he was real or fictional, it didn’t matter.
The majesty of those two generals etched in my memory was tremendous enough.
As long as I conveyed that feeling, it was fine.
“Magnificent, master! The fighting spirit mixed in the sweat of those two warriors reminds me of myself and Eldrin facing a giant dragon!”
“That fits too.”
Clang! Clang!
Demir shouted one-liners like a farmer swinging a sickle while singing work songs.
I just chimed in with “Alright!” or “Amazing!” like someone shouting along.
Clang! Clang!
“Perfect! Now, if we mix in ten kinds of insane weapons at the end? Yes, this will be the weapon for the world’s most valiant madman!”
[Item: Giant Soldier God’s Fist]
[Grade: A]
[Type: Blueprint]
[Description: A blueprint for crafting the ‘Giant Soldier God’s Fist.’]
[Effect 1: Allows crafting of ‘Giant Soldier God’s Fist.’]
[Effect 2: Requires 200 ‘Iron Ingots,’ 20 ‘Silver Ingots,’ and 2 ‘Mithril.’]
[Effect 3: Boasts outstanding performance due to its complex crafting difficulty.]
Giant Soldier God’s Fist.
What would this reborn creation look like after passing through our hands?
“Master!”
Demir shouted as he slammed the hammer down vigorously.
“What.”
“Pull yourself together just a bit more! It’s almost complete!”
[Completion: 98%]
The status window floating in the air showed 98.
Yes, Demir was right.
It was really almost done.
The long march that had me breathing the dawn air fourteen times.
Was finally coming to an end.
Clang! Clang!
I poured my thoughts into Demir even harder.
I circulated the Pure Azure Heart Technique with an even purer mind.
“Master!”
“What now?”
“The name of this won’t be Giant Soldier God’s Fist!”
“Then?”
“It’s Giant Soldier God’s Fist!”
“Giant Soldier… what?”
I froze.
My face went blank for a moment as I poured my soul into it.
What? Suddenly Giant Soldier God? Giant huge idiot?
What the hell.
It felt like the genre had suddenly shifted after all that hard work.
“I don’t know the reason either, master! The name just engraved itself as we neared completion. Haha, Giant Soldier God—truly an insane name.”
Clunk.
Demir stopped his hammer.
Because I had stopped sending my thoughts.
“Master? Why the sudden stop?”
“No, is this for real?”
“What… is the problem?”
“No…”
Cold sweat dripped down.
The name of the limited-edition weapon No. 2 for the workshop’s VIP was Giant Soldier God?
Even setting aside Demir’s reputation.
Would the berserker who paid 30 billion just sit still with a name like that?
‘No way.’
This was the guy who demolished Oseong Group’s building just because they allegedly ordered his assassination.
He might blow up the workshop upon seeing the item’s status.
“Oh man, we made an insane item, but now the name’s insane too—what are we supposed to do…”
“It’s too late, master. We can’t scrap two weeks of work!”
Clang! Clang!
Demir resumed swinging his arm after the brief pause.
[Completion: 99%]
“It’s basically done anyway, master!”
“Yeah…”
Truth be told, we couldn’t back out now.
I couldn’t just stick to blacksmithing forever.
Let’s finish it and check the performance!
[Completion: 100%]
[Congratulations!]
[Soul has been infused into the crafted weapon.]
“Hoo! Hoo!”
Thud! A sense of release washed over me along with ragged breaths.
Thump thump thump thump!
My heart raced wildly.
It pounded so madly I felt dizzy, like I had anemia.
I collapsed backward, leaning against the wall with my eyes closed, and Demir approached.
“Master.”
“You worked hard, Demir.”
“You too, master. Here.”
He extended the gauntlet toward me with eyes gleaming with excitement and anticipation.
“This is the masterpiece we created together.”
“…”
Ah.
It was moving.
A thrill ran through my entire body.
Yeah, whether it’s Giant Soldier God or Tiny Soldier Idiot, who cares?
It was my creation, born from my painful effort.
[The weapon’s grade has been upgraded!]
[Acquired ‘Giant Soldier God’s Fist’ (S-Grade).]
“Yeah, Giant Soldier God. Show me your power.”
I carefully took the gauntlet from Demir.
My second official S-Grade weapon, painstakingly crafted from an A-Grade blueprint!
[Item: Giant Soldier God’s Fist]
[Grade: S]
[Type: Gauntlet]
[Description: A weapon crafted by the legendary blacksmith Demir and his master while out of their minds! This gauntlet, inheriting the keywords ‘valor’ and ‘madman,’ boasts utterly insane performance.]
[Effect 1: Strength +100.]
[Effect 2: Attack Speed +200%.]
[Effect 3: When not in one’s right mind, damage +300%.]
[Effect 4: Upon effect activation, the gauntlet temporarily enlarges.]
“This is…”
I stared blankly at the weapon’s stats.
Contrary to the name, the performance was ridiculously good.
‘Effect 1’ and ‘Effect 2’ were typical of S-Grade weapons, but massively inflated compared to existing ones.
“And 3…”
It was pure madness.
Tripling damage when not in one’s right mind.
Imagining the current berserker three times stronger…
‘Terrifying.’
It seemed perfect for synergy with berserker mode skills.
Or maybe other uses.
Like casting a mind-loss spell to induce frenzy…
Of course, whether Jang Dae-woong would like it was another story.
And then.
“What’s Effect 4?”
As I muttered, Demir nodded.
“Hmm, probably from the Giant Soldier God’s Fist name.”
“…Huh?”
“Exactly as it says. Giant Soldier God’s Fist! The fist of the god of giant soldiers, right? So the fist gets that big.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s a bit iffy that it’s the god of giant soldiers, not a giant god.”
“Ugh, whatever. I give up.”
I shook my head.
In a way, it was amazing.
What was this system?
How could it create items like this?
“Don’t worry too much, master. Weapons don’t betray effort. It’ll perform exactly as much as we poured into it overnight.”
“Yeah, I suppose.”
“That’s the artisan’s faith! More importantly, look at how much I’ve grown, master.”
[Demir’s status is being adjusted.]
[Proficiency +4.]
[Proficiency +3.]
[Proficiency +4.]
….
[Proficiency +6.]
[Proficiency +7.]
[The level of skill ‘Advanced Item Crafting’ (Lv.1) has increased by 1.]
[All stats +2!]
“Hoo.”
A lot of proficiency as before.
But.
Even after crafting an S-Grade weapon, the skill level only went up by 1.
Advanced must be that tough to level.
It’ll probably slow down even more as it rises.
“Anyway, good work all this time. Let’s take a break from S-Grade weapons for a bit.”
Fatigue crashed over my body.
I’d leave the berserker’s review for later.
First, I needed to lie down and sleep.
* * *
“As expected! Kahaha! Little bro! Amazing! I love it!”
Jang Dae-woong was extremely satisfied.
More than I expected.
Click!
He equipped the gauntlet and swung it around.
Rubbing it here and there with his calloused hands.
“The fit is great. The name and performance are to my taste! Definitely worth 30 billion!”
“…Really?”
“Yeah, the design mixing blue and red hues is totally my style, and it synergizes perfectly with my skills. Especially Effect 4… wow, it’s insane. Even I, Jang Dae-woong, got chills. Kahaha!”
“Effect 4?”
I was curious what skills he had to get chills from Effect 4.
But I didn’t ask.
Asking a ranker’s skills was taboo.
The surprising part was.
‘He likes the name too?’
Giant Soldier God?
Well, all’s well that ends well.
As long as the VIP customer was happy.
“You can disclose the weapon info or keep it hidden. But we might announce the No. 2 bid price of 30 billion—is that okay?”
“Of course! I’ll test it a few times and leave a review! Haha!”
Jang Dae-woong flexed his bulging arms and laughed heartily.
He had such charisma when smashing buildings.
But in private, he was a total goofy big bro.
‘Still.’
A strange feeling welled up.
‘It feels good.’
Someone liking the weapon I made.
Thinking they’d cherish and use it.
It felt incredibly rewarding and novel.
I gave a soft smile and bowed to Jang Dae-woong.
“Berserker, thank you for using Demir Workshop.”
“Haha. Yeah, little bro. Plans for No. 3?”
“That… I’ll challenge after the announcement later.”
I couldn’t just craft weapons all day.
Having received recommendations from five rankers was an honor.
Now was the time to accelerate my own growth once more.
“Yeah, that’s right. Dungeon Maker’s event is coming up soon.”
As Jang Dae-woong smiled warmly and nodded.
Step, step.
Someone climbed the stairs from the first floor.
“Oh, Berserker! You’re here! Nice to see you! Skeleton Lord too!”
Ranking 509, Black Sword Lee Seon-ah.
“Hoo? What brings Black Sword here?”
“Haha, can’t I visit?”
“Well, not that, but. Hahaha. Anyway. If you have business, go ahead. Let’s all meet up in about two weeks. You haven’t forgotten that Mirage girl’s content, right?”
Ah.
Ranking 5 Dungeon Maker, Delilah’s nickname.
Mirage.
The legendary figure whose half-yearly content guaranteed a ranker spot if you passed.
I clenched my fist.
‘The day is really almost here.’
Participation required A-Grade hunter status.
Currently B-Grade, so I needed to awaken to A-Grade within two weeks.
“That’s why I’m here! Skeleton Lord!”
Lee Seon-ah smiled brightly at me.
“Would you like to challenge an A-Grade dungeon with my Black Sword Guild? Of course, we’ll finish it within two weeks! Terms as Skeleton Lord desires!”