The Blacksmith of Bonds

I opened my eyes.

"...Ah."

My throat was raw; the sound that came out was more groan than word. I tried to push myself up on my arms, but my whole body ached like I'd been worked over with a club.

Well — I had been hammering all night, so this was getting off easy.

I finally managed to peel myself off the workbench. Outside the window, the world was bright. I'd hammered until I collapsed into something like sleep, and already the sun was high overhead.

My stomach growled first. Come to think of it, I hadn't eaten a thing since last night.

I chugged water until my head cleared a little, then looked again at the notification still floating at the edge of my vision.

Charm. I'd been too out of it yesterday to think about it, but looking at it again, I almost laughed.

"Charm? What, am I supposed to use this to pick up heroines or something?"

Even talking to myself felt embarrassing enough that I coughed into my fist. And yet — why did part of me not mind it at all? A guy grinning over a single Charm stat. Ridiculous.

"Heh heh..."

I let myself daydream for a second. Two Charm just for finishing one Exclusive Weapon — so every time I saved a heroine, it would keep climbing? Then eventually I'd really...

"Snap out of it, Kim Woon."

I cut myself off before I could get any further ahead of myself. Food first.

I raided the fridge, ate whatever was there, and only then picked up my phone.

The screen was black with notifications.

Three missed calls. Twelve messages. All from Lee Rin.

The last message was from three in the morning. After that, silence — so she'd finally given up and gone to sleep.

Half guilty, half amused, I hit reply.

I still didn't know why she'd been hyping me up like this since forever.

I set the phone down and a smile slipped out before I could stop it.

She'd fretted until three in the morning, finally crashed from exhaustion — that much was written all over the chat log — and now a few replies had her bouncing off the walls again. Cute.

...Except I wasn't supposed to be thinking that. She's my childhood friend. What kind of thought was that?

I washed up, threw on clothes, and checked my wallet for my ID first thing. Like Rin had said yesterday, that one card should be enough.

I caught ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a taxi out on the main road.

"Awakeners Association, please."

"Ah, heading in to register today? Lot of new awakeners lately."

The driver glanced at me in the rearview. I didn't think I looked particularly special, so I wondered how he knew — then figured that at this hour, most people going that direction probably were.

"Yeah, something like that."

I watched the city slide past and let my thoughts wander. People said everything had changed after the Gates appeared, and it showed — hunter shops and gear stores on every other corner. The Association building itself stood out most of all: a national institution planted right in the heart of downtown, all rigid lines and quiet intimidation.

I got out and looked up at it.

"...It's huge."

The idea that this place managed every awakener in the country suddenly felt real. And now I was about to step into that system myself.

In the lobby, the front desk pointed me to new registrations. I took a number, waited a short while, and my turn came up fast.

"New registration? Have a seat here and place your hand on the scanner."

I sat where the clerk indicated and set my hand on the silver circular device.

A low hum. Something appeared on the screen.

The clerk's brow furrowed slightly.

"Uh..."

"Is something wrong?"

"This is... just a moment."

He tapped the screen a few times and checked again. I leaned over for a look.

A flicker of panic crossed the clerk's face. I flinched inwardly but kept my expression as blank as I could. I'd expected something like this.

"Sir — the job field is reading strangely. What is your actual class?"

"Uh... just Blacksmith."

"And the rarity? It's almost unheard of for a scan to fail this completely."

I ran the numbers in my head. Saying Transcendent out loud would blow this wide open — pure instinct told me that. The known scale only went up to Mythic.

"Hmm... it showed as Epic on my end. Maybe the machine glitched."

Not a full lie. I'd just... scaled the truth down a little.

The clerk looked from the screen to me, then finally shrugged.

"Could be. These machines have been acting up now and then. Your rank came through clean, so I'll process the registration with that. You can come back for a re-scan on the job field later."

"Thank you."

I let out a quiet breath of relief. We'd gotten past it without a scene.

He never even asked about skills. Apparently that wasn't required for registration — and I had no reason to volunteer Forging, Appraisal, or Sharp Eye unprompted.

A short while later, I took the finished card.

One clean little card. With this, I was an official awakener.

I turned it over in my fingers as I left ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the building. It felt strangely solid — and, at the same time, uneasy. Those question marks. I couldn't shake the feeling they'd come looking for me again someday.

Outside, I was about to check my phone when someone spoke beside me.

"Um... would it be okay if I asked for your number?"

I turned. A woman about my age stood there. I thought maybe I'd seen her waiting inside, but nothing stuck.

"...Sorry?"

"I know that might sound weird. I just... kind of wanted to talk to you."

I blinked. This had never happened to me in my life. The original body hadn't exactly been the type people approached like this either, as far as I remembered.

"Ah... sorry, I'm kind of in a hurry."

I made a vague excuse and walked off. The back of my neck prickled; when I glanced over my shoulder, she was still watching me. What was that about?

Don't tell me... Charm?

I shook my head, telling myself not to get carried away. But no matter how I turned it over, that exchange hadn't felt natural.

I was pulling out my phone to text Rin when someone called from behind.

"Excuse me — a moment."

Again?

A sigh escaped on its own. Whatever was going on today, I waved them off without even turning around.

"Sorry, I'm really busy right now, so the number thing—"

"...I'm sorry? What number?"

The voice was nothing like the woman's. Low. Professional.

Only then did I look back.

A middle-aged man in a sharp suit stood there looking baffled, an Association badge hanging from his neck.

"..."

"..."

Silence. My face burned. A couple of staff members walking past glanced our way, which only made it worse.

"S-sorry. Wrong person."

"Ah... right. I'm from the Association President's office. You are Kim Woon, correct?"

Association President. The words snapped me fully awake.

"...Yes, that's me. But why would the President—"

"The President would like a brief word. He received a report of an anomaly during your registration and wants to confirm it himself."

Anomaly. The question-mark job scan.

My heart picked up. Had something already slipped?

"Will this... take long? I actually have plans today—"

"It won't take long. This way, please."

He was already walking. No room to refuse. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I followed.

The whole elevator ride, every worst-case scenario ran through my head. Had they caught the Transcendent rarity? Or was this just how they treated every new awakener? But if it were routine, why had the clerk looked so rattled?

The doors opened onto the President's office. The nameplate was large and unmistakable.

Kang Chul-hoon.

Two knocks. A reply. I opened the door.

A man stood with his back to the wide windows of a spacious office. Even at a glance, the build was serious — all muscle, nothing ordinary about it. So the rumors about him being a pure combat type were true.

He looked about fifty, but his body was far too solid for that age.

"Mm. You're here."

His voice was heavy from the first word. He gestured for me to sit; I carefully took the sofa.

Trophies and plaques lined one side of the desk — the kind of collection that said decades in this world, not years.

"Kang Chul-hoon, President of the Awakeners Association. Late introductions, I know."

"Ah — yes. Kim Woon."

He folded his arms and looked me up and down. The gaze was so direct it was almost uncomfortable.

"I heard the scanner threw an odd reading during your registration."

"Ah... I think it was just a machine error."

"That's what the report said, yes."

Kang Chul-hoon huffed a short laugh. Somehow it felt like a laugh that already knew everything.

"Thing is, I've been in this business for decades. I like to think my eye for people is better than any machine."

He looked straight at me and went on.

"You—"