Chapter 83
Chapter 83
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Blacksmith Father's Enthusiasm
Don't you know why I'm upset?
After that, things proceeded smoothly.
"Father, this is Ron. He's the one who helped me and Ga-ram, the guild master of the guild I'm joining, and my close little brother who calls me hyung."
"Ah...! So you're the one who helped my Myeon-neul baby? You should have told me sooner! It's great to meet you. I'm Lee Kang-cheol, father of Hun-gyu."
"Ah, nice to meet you too. I'm Yi Ron."
While exchanging light greetings like that, I handed the two daughters over to Ms. Ga-ram.
After having a more in-depth conversation...
Hun-gyu hyung's father didn't know the details of how I'd helped the two.
But he had heard that thanks to my help, he'd recovered his sexual function and a child was conceived.
Maybe because of that, I could feel strong goodwill in the way he looked at me.
And at that moment.
"Thank you so much! I had no idea and kept nagging every day about when I'd get to see my grandchild... Really... thank you so much...!"
...He didn't know the truth?
As I shot Hun-gyu hyung a glare like, What is this about?, he spoke up.
"...I kept it secret from Father because I didn't want to burden him."
"Still, you should have told your family at least."
Even so.
Keeping something this important from family too seemed a bit much, but just as I was about to scold him...
"I'm fine with it. If anything, Hun-gyu ending up like that was all my fault."
"How is it your fault, sir?"
The explanation that followed went like this.
"Our family has been blacksmiths for generations. I taught Hun-gyu metallurgy to carry on the trade... but then the tower suddenly appeared. Though the timing differed, both father and son awakened as climbers. As blacksmiths, that is."
"Ah."
I could guess the rest without being told.
Hun-gyu hyung lost his sexual function due to intense heat.
In a situation where it was unclear if it was from a skill or blacksmith work, telling the truth would have...
"He definitely would have blamed himself. He might have even quit blacksmithing upon realizing his son became impotent because of him."
...Yeah, it was easy to imagine it going south.
I could fully understand why Hun-gyu hyung had kept the truth hidden.
"It's not your fault, Father. And it's all better now, so don't worry—just prepare to be a grandpa."
"...Right. Grandpa. I'm going to be a grandpa...! Th-this isn't the time! I need to make gear for the grandchild who's about to be born...!!!"
"Aigoo, here we go again. The baby isn't even born yet—we don't even know the gender, so why are you making gear already?!"
"You fool! If you don't know, make both! What's there to worry about? I'm Lee Kang-cheol! There's no gear I can't make!"
"You retired because of your bad back—please put down the hammer."
"Shut it, you brat! For my grandchild, even a broken back is fine!"
Bang bang-!!
"Haha, what a mess."
Just like that, the father and son duo started their chaotic WWE...
Crash-!!
"Get out of the way, you brat! I'll make the grandson's gear!"
"If you're retired, just quietly put down the hammer. Even if we make it, I'll do it—not leave it to you, Father."
"Have you ever seen such an unfilial brat...! No choice—follow me to the 7th floor right now. We'll settle the rights with a duel!"
"Ha! Fine by me!"
...Wait, no—on second look, it was a full-on UFC match over the rights to make gear for the grandchild.
I didn't get it at all.
Blacksmiths must have some special sentiment I didn't understand.
But anyway.
"Team Leader Yangbok. What's on the 7th floor that duels are a thing?"
"Floors 5 through 7 have various climber-exclusive facilities."
Climber-exclusive facilities?
Hmm... Come to think of it, I did see something like a gym on the 5th floor.
Is that what they mean?
"Yes. To be more precise..."
5th Floor - Climber Exclusive Fitness Training Room
6th Floor - Tower Virtual Combat Simulator & DPS-Measuring Dummy
7th Floor - Climber Exclusive Duel Arena
"...That's the kind of facilities."
"...?"
...Yeah, whatever.
The gym on 5 and virtual combat sim on 6 made intuitive sense for climbers.
The DPS dummy could be for checking strength gains after swapping gear on 3-4, which was understandable.
But the duel arena on 7? No clue.
It was clearly a controversy factory that would spark all sorts of incidents just by existing.
Why the hell did the Doctor make that?
"To facilitate smooth coordination of climbers' opinions."
"Huh? That?"
"Just a few years ago, any disagreement led to drawing weapons or casting spells. For climbers who risk their lives, fists were closer than the law."
So he made a duel arena...?
Like, if talks break down, "Let's duel to see who's right!" or something?
"Exactly."
"For real?"
"Yes. In the climber industry now, challenging a duel verdict gets you branded a deadbeat—no more climber treatment."
Huh, really.
According to Team Leader Yangbok, this was industry average.
What kind of average is that?
Such thoughts of 'Korea... is this okay?' were fleeting.
"But duels have establishment conditions."
"What's that?"
"It's a declaration among climbers heading to duel about why this duel is happening. If it doesn't get majority approval from on-site climbers, the duel doesn't stand—and that's treated like deadbeat status too."
"Ah."
So, picking a petty fight gets you labeled idiots by surrounding climbers and marked deadbeat?
Assuming surrounding climbers are sane, it might work okay.
But anyway.
This felt oddly familiar...
"...Isn't that just trial by combat?"
"Some climbers call it that."
...No wonder.
That's why Bug Hater was waiting on 7 yesterday.
Probably planned to sic Park Hyun-su on me for a match.
####
While the Lee father-son duo huffed and insisted on dueling...
"Oh my~ You both need to calm down a bit...?"
"G-Ga-ram! I'm sorryㅎ...!!!"
"M-Myeon-neul baby! I'm sorryㅎ...!!!"
Zzzzt-!
Shiver shiver shiver-!
...Thud!
"Sorry about that, Ron~ I paralyzed them for a bit, so now you can browse comfortably~!"
Ms. Ga-ram, who had been playing with the kids in the back of the shop, came out.
And subdued the two men in one shot with what looked like an electric shock device—a magic tool.
"Uh... is this okay?"
"Yes? Oh~ It's fine~! This magic tool is made as a health product~!"
"Huh? Really?"
"It zaps with electricity to remove bodily waste. It huuuurts a tiiiiny bit, but the effects are guaranteed~?"
"Ah... if so, then... okay."
Honestly, I'd been wondering how to subdue them without injury, so I decided to think positively.
Anyway.
There was a brief commotion, but.
Just as I was about to look around the now-quiet shop's gear...
"Ah, by the way, Ron."
"Yes?"
"Why are you looking for gear?"
Ms. Ga-ram asked with a smile that felt somehow chilling, genuinely curious, so I explained...
"I hired a new employee yesterday."
"Oh my, really?"
"Gave them a tough entry test, but they handled it fine, so I want to give a gift."
"Oh my, really?"
"Came here on recommendation for decent gear, and it's Hun-gyu hyung's dad's shop."
"Oh my, really?"
"......Ms. Ga-ram?"
"Oh my, really?"
...What? What's going on.
Why was Ms. Ga-ram acting like this?
Repeating the same line with that eerie smile—did some weird phenomenon happen that I didn't know about?
If not...
"...Are you mad?"
"Oh my, me? No way~! My husband and I plan to live gratefully to you forever~!"
"Then why...?"
"No idea what you mean... I was just curious. We could make most things—Hun-gyu or me. But you went looking elsewhere."
"Ah."
This seemed like...
I'd trampled the pride of these two master craftsmen.
"Even with top-claaass equip. maaakers like us? Right, Hun-gyu?"
"Ugh... yeah... Ron... too... mean..."
How hurt was his pride to speak like that while paralyzed?
This was my fault.
Even if they were busy with guild withdrawal, as my exclusive smiths.
I should have at least proposed once before seeking elsewhere.
"I didn't think that far. Sorry."
"No need to apologize. We just... wanted to repay the favor quickly, even a little."
"Yeah... ugh..."
"Hun-gyu, that's enough talking. Bring out that spear we made before."
"Ugh... okay..."
Root... rumm... rumm...!
Paralyzed Hun-gyu hyung rummaged through his sub-space pouch for a while, then pulled out a spear as tall as me, pure white like an eye.
Speaking for him, Ms. Ga-ram said,
"This spear was made by grinding a horn fragment from the named monster 'White Whale' we got as reward for completing a foreign commission."
"Horn fragment?"
"Yes. The monster was so huge, the fragment alone made a fine weapon. Hard and sharp, so we made it a spear."
White Whale... like the white whale?
I didn't know the size of that whale monster.
But making a spear my height from a fragment meant it was huge.
Made as payment for a foreign commission—looks like their tower's no picnic either.
"Doesn't look ordinary at all."
"Uwe... be...st... in... co...untry..."
"...What'd he say?"
"He guarantees no better spear in the country."
"Uuuu..."
"Now that we're family, special gift to get along from now on."
"...?"
The last was just groaning—how'd she interpret that...?
Something like "This much for marriage-worthy"?
"Uwooo......"
"Armor needs measurements, so come later. Take the weapon for now."
"Ah, sure."
Anyway. Don't know the principle.
But with assurance of armor later from Hun-gyu hyung.
I took the pure white spear from Ms. Ga-ram.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ White Horn [A] -[White Nightmare] : Spear made from the horn of the 'White Whale,' called the nightmare of the seas. Extremely durable; not easily damaged. -[Nightmare Brand] : Brands the target with a nightmare mark on hit. Branded targets have all stats reduced and take increased damage. -[Endless Nightmare] : Absorbs target's HP or mana on damage dealt. Absorption greatly increases if target has nightmare brand. ...
"...Wow."
As Hun-gyu hyung said, hard to find better spear domestically.
Just a poke applies all-stats-down and increased damage debuff.
Plus HP/mana drain effect.
Effects scream A+ rank, not A.
Maybe even S borderline with hype—why A-rank?
The reason was the bottom effect.
-[Approaching Nightmare] : Nightmare erodes flesh proportional to brand count.
Current Erosion (0%)
"Hun-gyu hyung. Doesn't this seem problematic?"
"Uwu...! Aaa...!"
"Focused on material's innate power, so it ended up like that."
"Preserving innate power is good, but..."
Even so, it needed to be usable.
This preserved the material's power too much.
Exaggerating, might need S-rank healer to fix.
"...Gifting something like this usually gets a slap."
"Uwu..."
"Hun-gyu knows, but believes you have a way, Ron."
This guy really...?
Thinks I'm a vending machine where answers pop out on tap?
Alchemy maybe, but this ain't my field!
"Master. If you want to tame that magic spear, I'll help."
"Huh?"
No, why would that work?
"Forgot who I am? I'm the sacred relic of the orc tribe. Can crush puny magic spears or swords! Trust me, Master!"
"...How?"
"Simple! Wrap in aura and beat the crap out of it! These things only listen when beaten near breaking."
"Yeah?"
Come to think, even machines work better after a smack.
Equipment probably similar.
In that sense,
"Screw it, let's try."
I wrapped aura around Labrys, back in axe form.
Shake shake shake...!!!
"Whoa, oof! Stay still. You'll break a bone."
Soothing the spear trembling like an aspen leaf, sensing its fate.
I struck with force not to break it.
Clang-!!!
Crack-!
"Ah, cracked a bit. But it's just the end, so fine, right?"
...!!!
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⚔ STATUS UPDATE ⚔ ['White Horn's' 'Approaching Nightmare' effect is sealed.] ['White Horn's' rank rises to A+.] .
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