The Synthesis Gamble That Beat the Odds
The workshop inside was surprisingly spacious.
I hadn't realized from outside, but it was about the size of three shipping containers put together.
“No one here...?”
The floor was so filthy that even stepping in made you feel uneasy. Metal dust and sawdust littered the place like they'd been hit by a bomb, and every time I breathed in, it felt like dust was sliding straight into my lungs.
*I'd catch a chest cold for sure.*
A steel cabinet filled one entire wall was locked with triple layers of deadbolts.
I didn't know what was inside, but it had to be something valuable.
“Excuse me... Kim Cheolgeun? Are you there?”
He wasn't running a business, apparently.
Just as I was about to turn around—
*Drurrr... Puhuh...*
A soft snoring sound reached my ears.
Following the noise, I spotted a pair of callused feet sticking out from under a desk in the corner, soles facing up. The man sleeping in the chair with the backrest fully reclined had the fantasy novel cover titled “Post-Divorce EX-Rank Blacksmith” draped over his face.
*Hmm... Should I wake him?*
He was sleeping so deeply it would be awkward to disturb him.
Why did my father's face from the phone call earlier flash in my mind when I saw this sight?
Based on the “Help Wanted” sign by the entrance, I wondered if he originally had a partner who worked shifts with him. Maybe for some reason he was now working alone day and night, couldn't even go home, and had turned into this worn-out state?
Should I wake this guy or not?
While I was still thinking, I timidly knocked on his desk.
*Knock knock knock.*
“Umm...”
Hearing the noise, he slowly lowered the book covering his face, rubbed his eyes, and gave a huge stretch.
“Huaaam. Sorry, I'm really tired.”
The joints in his body cracked audibly from the stretch.
“Hello, Boss.”
“Huaaam, but... who was it again? Your face looks familiar.”
“I saw you recently with Teos-hyeong. Don't you remember?”
I started with Teos-hyeong.
My Hunterpol connections.
“Oh, I remember! I remember! Teos-hyeong's newbie pet?”
*Pet?*
*Tsk, you're a newbie, but calling me a pet to a customer? Come on, let's go somewhere else.*
“Were you here for an errand? We are looking for help, though.”
“Really? I'm here to entrust work, not an errand. Come on, let's go somewhere else. I even brought up-grade mithril.”
“Ahaha, sorry, sorry. My mistake. Customer, how can I help you?”
Capitalism as always.
He should have thought of this earlier.
I flicked my fingers twice toward the entrance.
“Hansik, come out.”
*Clack clack clack—*
Hansik, guarding the entrance, appeared.
He was fully equipped.
“This whole thing needs repair.”
“Repair? Kim Cheolgeun. But the worm... Why is it just melted like that? The condition is pretty bad.”
“Yeah, can this be repaired? The item info says if repair fails, it gets destroyed.”
“It's plausible, but it won't be easy. Where did you even find this antique? Ah! Is it from a skeleton excavation team? No, wrong. If it had an item inside, there should be physical damage. It can't be this intact. Or was it recently discovered Tomb Gate artifact excavation team? That must be it! Is it on the market?”
The recently discovered Tomb Gate...
It sparked interest, but that wasn't my current business.
I half-made it up.
“Well, something like that.”
“First, strip it.”
“Don’t freak out.”
“Freak out? Don't worry, I've already had enough of a shock.”
“You want me to actually freak out?”
“Ah, you guys always look at people this way. I said I won't freak out.”
Hansik's shocking appearance required enough warning before you saw it.
That was manners.
“Okay, Hansik, strip.”
“W-wah! Crap, you startled me!”
I told you not to freak out.
* * *
After smoking one cigarette, Kim Cheolgeun finally calmed his racing heart.
“So your class is Summoner-type. Those are summons?”
“Yes, secret. Please don't spread this around. I'm telling you because you're Teos-hyeong's acquaintance.”
“Hoo, what do people take you for? You wouldn't miss a regular customer, right? Don't worry. The blacksmith profession itself has a tight mouth.”
“Really?”
“Of course. While repairing other people's equipment, you inevitably learn about hunters' item specs. That's incredibly sensitive information.”
He seemed to want to use informal speech.
It made sense. Kim Cheolgeun looked older than Teos-hyeong. It was ironic that he called him “hyung,” but in this world, level determined age. No doubt he was older than me in both age and level.
And blacksmith connections?
Just as rare as Hunterpol connections.
“You can speak casually with me.”
“Sure, sure. Thanks. I've become a real uncle to all the young friends, treating them like my own sons, and informal speech just feels natural. Hahaha.”
“Do you have a son?”
“Yeah, I do. I have a daughter too, and the wife is over in California, USA. I'm a stork dad. Haha.”
“Oh...”
I felt awkward for no reason.
Well, it wasn't a cuckoo dad or anything, but a stork dad wasn't a flaw either.
But my eyes landed on the “Post-Divorce EX-Rank Blacksmith” novel on his desk.
“Sigh, even though they say it's good money and come to Korea, now the kids don't want to come. The second one has forgotten Korean completely. In the past, the kids who followed me everywhere saying ‘Appa, Appa’ now don't even remember their dad. They only call when they need money.”
“If you go live with your family in the US, you could.”
“I want that too, but I know how troublesome it is for awakened ones to leave the country. The government keeps its eyes wide open watching so awakened ones don't leak overseas.”
“Is it that bad?”
“Ever since an S-rank hunter was stolen from China, it's gotten worse. Now no matter the grade, once awakened, everything is under special management. You probably registered with the Awakened Management Association too, right? Tax benefits and such aren't free. In reality, we're tied to the country.”
“You can still travel, though.”
“Yeah, if you apply in advance, you can go. In winter when business is slow, I close the shop and go on vacation to Canada. At first it was fun seeing the kids, but no matter how hard I studied English, all I heard was ‘Sollala, sollala.’ Honestly, I wonder if I'm forcing my wife and kids to like me. The kids feel lonely when they go, lonely when they meet, the distance between family members grows.”
While saying this coolly, the desk was covered in family photos. The taxi driver's life complaints were avoidable thanks to his father's calls, but Kim Cheolgeun's life complaints were harder to dodge.
“Keep your spirits up. Good days are coming.”
“Family is family only when they're together. I talked too much, huh?”
“No, not at all.”
“Your impression is so easy, the personal stories just flow out. It's been a while since I talked about my heart, and it feels refreshing. Haha. Since you're grateful, I'll give you a discount on labor. Because you're Teos-hyeong's acquaintance.”
“Thank you.”
“Let me see... Honestly, I can't promise it won't break, but no one in Oryukdo fixes it this cleanly. Item doctor, maybe.”
“I'll leave it to you.”
He put on glasses with multiple lenses and started inspecting the item.
[(Rare) Rusty Ruler's Helmet], [(High-grade) Broken Wanderer's Armor], [(Rare) Damaged Tracker Boots], [(High-grade) Dirty Wind's Touch], [(Rare) Rusty Drabite Pickaxe].
“Hmm, but... Even if this gets repaired, the failure rate is high, so what do you think about just doing synthesis instead?”
“Synthesis?”
“If you repair, first you need two high-grade, so two low-grade mithril plus three rare for a total of three mid-grade mithril in materials. It can break too. Plus labor is separate. I'll only charge you three low-grade. Normally I'd take five.”
How much?
Roughly, low-grade at one million each, mid-grade at ten million, so about thirty-eight million.
“Hee.”
“Expensive? No, other places take more. I'm giving you a special discount.”
“Um, then what is synthesis?”
I'd heard about it from Huntred but didn't remember well.
“Newbies are newbies. Synthesis recipes aren't something anyone can make. Only I can!”
First, let me brag once.
“Amazing!”
“Hmm. Synthesis plate: put one mid-grade mithril in a five high-grade or higher item and spin the gacha to summon a new item.”
“Gacha?”
“Yeah, gacha? Pull! Gambling!”
Gacha was the random item or character obtaining system in games. It manipulated luck with terrible odds and downgraded even well-made games to pure luck games.
“What's the probability?”
“Two high-grade and three rare. Let me calculate.”
He started pounding on a calculator.
“39% chance for high-grade, 59% for rare, 1.98% for unique, 0.02% for legendary. No failure.”
“Wow, even legendary comes out?”
“0.02% so it almost never happens. Like winning the lottery, but not Korean lottery, more like the Super Bowl. Don't expect legendary, actually you're going for the unique chance.”
I fiddled with the mid-grade mithril in my pocket.
“High-level players just throw away high-grade and rare and spin the gacha, right? Honestly, fixing high-grade and rare isn't worth it. In the worst case, if the three rare break, it's a loss right now. And even if I sell the repaired one, it's used value... if I want to use it myself, whatever.”
Unique was said to be the price of an apartment in Seoul...
A 2% chance to win the lottery?
If I thought that way.
*Decision!*
“Synthesis success!”
“Success?”
“Yeah! Success!”
“Okay! I'm hyped! Normally I'd charge five low-grade for labor, but today I'll do it for free.”
“Thank you!”
“Because you're like a son. But don't treat me like your father.”
He dragged a wheeled table from the corner.
It looked heavy, so I helped Hansik and Kim Cheolgeun.
A cloth covered the table. When Kim Cheolgeun lifted it,
“Wow...”
A game board with a mid-grade mithril the size of a bowling ball embedded in the center was revealed.
Mid-grade mithril. The market price I'd just checked was three hundred and eighty million.
“Impressive? I made it.”
“Wow. Amazing.”
“Hmm. Now place the material items here. This is my favorite moment.”
He carefully arranged the items from helmet to pickaxe into a pentagram.
“Mid-grade mithril.”
“Ah, yes, here.”
He wiped the mid-grade mithril I gave him with a handkerchief.
“Even if it's superstition... pray, too.”
“Yes!”
I clasped my hands and prayed.
“Be ni da, be ni da.”
Hansik followed along.
Kim Cheolgeun blew a puff of air on the smoothly wiped mid-grade mithril and gently placed it on the central high-grade mithril.
*Splish.*
Like superconductivity?
The surrounding air seemed to grow heavy, and the mithril floated upward.
“Keep praying!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Be ni da, be ni da.”
One unique like a toadstool...
*Zzzzt zzzzt!*
Synthesis began.
A crack appeared in the mid-grade mithril, bursting with purple sparks. The five arranged items rose into the air, spinning at incredible speed and creating a vortex that wrapped around them. The wind force scattered dust everywhere. I covered my mouth and barely opened my eyes to watch, but Hansik was jumping around like he was possessed while praying.
This was why the workshop was in chaos.
The mana sparks from the mid-grade mithril spun in circles too fast for the eye to follow,
*Whoosh.*
And instantly absorbed the five sacrificial items.
After a moment of silence,
*Zzzzrrrrr!*
An enormous burst of light erupted. When I slightly opened my closed eyes,
*Splish.*
Something was floating.
“It, it's floating!”
“Ma-ma-magic!!”
Surrounded by purple light, it was a brand-new necklace with not a single speck of dust.
Purple.
That meant unique.
“Waaaaah!”
Kim Cheolgeun, Hansik, and I hugged and jumped around.
We had broken the 1.98% probability!
Dad! I won the lottery!
I can just sell this!
It's not bound!
Real lottery! Lottery!
“Appraisal!”
As it was brand new, the item description window flashed brightly.
---
**ITEM APPRAISAL** **Name:** Purple Royal Necklace **Grade:** Unique **Properties:** - Grants +50 Agility and +30 Intelligence when equipped - Randomly absorbs mana from nearby mithril for 1 minute - Can be sold for 3,000,000,000 won
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