Return to Broad Academy at Dawn
5 a.m. Lee Hyunseung’s house, now that he had returned to Broad Academy.
Clang!Clang!
Lee Hyunseung kept hammering without pause, each strike ringing out in the quiet dawn.
Clang!Clang!
Before long, a system message floated into view.
Will you craft the Fire-Attribute Magazine? Estimated crafting time is 1 hour 0 minutes.
Hyunseung reached out and tapped the YES button.
Fire-Attribute Magazine crafting initiated. Estimated time remaining: 1 hour 0 minutes.
[Legendary] Blacksmith class trait has activated.
Crafting time has been drastically reduced.
New estimated time: 20 minutes.
Hoo…
Hyunseung let out a heavy breath and stared at the item currently being forged. Just as expected from a Legendary rank. The speed is absurd.
The blacksmith class in Broad Academy Online used a very particular crafting system. You tossed the materials for a weapon or item into the basic skill [Blacksmith’s Forge], and they would melt down before emerging as a small solid mass called a [Sphere of Creation]. Then you mercilessly hammered that sphere on the anvil until it shattered. Once it broke apart, activating the crafting skill would automatically begin the item’s creation.
The process was simple: melt the materials in the forge, collect the solidified sphere, smash it on the anvil, and trigger the crafting skill. The game company had designed it this way to reduce complexity so that even players without specialized knowledge could use the system. Thanks to that, anyone could craft items easily.
There was no need to melt iron, temper it, or go through lengthy quenching processes to make a sword. No need to assemble parts and springs to build a firearm. Just throw every required material into the forge, smash the resulting sphere, and activate the skill. That was all.
The time reduction is far more dramatic than I expected.
The crafting method itself was straightforward if you knew which materials to use. The real issue was the waiting time. No matter what you made, once the sphere was shattered you had to wait—anywhere from a few minutes to dozens of days depending on the item.
That waiting period shrank as your blacksmith rank or level rose. What was supposed to take a full hour is now only twenty minutes…
The Fire-Attribute Magazine he was crafting had originally required an hour. But thanks to the [Legendary] blacksmith trait, it had been cut down to twenty. That meant he could produce items three times faster than an ordinary blacksmith.
And I can even craft two at the same time.
The truly astonishing part was the ability to craft multiple items simultaneously. Normally, once you shattered a sphere and started crafting, you couldn’t begin another item until the first one finished. That limitation plagued every blacksmith up to Unique rank. But a Legendary blacksmith could run multiple production lines at once.
It was an enormous advantage. Ordinary blacksmiths who started a twenty-day item would be completely locked out of crafting anything else during that time. Hyunseung, however, could keep churning out other weapons and items even while a long project was running in the background.
I never realized how broken this was in the game, but now that it’s real time, it feels completely overpowered.
Crafting time lengthened with the performance and rarity of the item. That was why regular blacksmiths hated making high-tier gear—they would be stuck doing nothing while they waited. But with two crafting slots available, Hyunseung could work however he pleased. The ability to craft simultaneously was something every blacksmith would envy. Some would probably be willing to sacrifice an arm for it.
I’d love to make high-grade weapons right now, but I don’t have the materials.
It was obvious: the more complex and powerful the item, the higher-quality materials it demanded. Many of those materials couldn’t be bought on the market, which meant the only way to obtain them was to enter the Labyrinth later and gather them himself.
The ingredients he had scraped together with his current funds were only enough for magazines, not for proper firearms or advanced equipment. It should be just about done by now.
Twenty minutes had passed. He looked back at the Sphere of Creation. A brilliant light began to radiate from it.
◈ When used, bullets gain a fire attribute.
◈ Contains a special effect.
[Legendary] Blacksmith class proficiency has increased slightly.
You have successfully crafted an item for the first time.
Achievement [First Steps as a Blacksmith] completed.
You have gained 3 stat distribution points.
Insane. Stat points on top of a Rare-grade item on my very first try?
In this game there were five ranks for both items and classes: Normal, Rare, Epic, Unique, and Legendary. Normal was the weakest, Legendary the strongest. Mythic supposedly existed beyond that, but he had never seen one, so he ignored it.
A Rare item might not sound impressive, but the important point was that this had been his first craft. Crafting wasn’t guaranteed to succeed. Sometimes the Sphere of Creation would explode on failure, and even on success, low proficiency usually produced only Normal-grade items. His blacksmith level was still 1, yet he had created a Rare item at overwhelming speed without a single failure. It was astonishing.
If I raise my blacksmith level a little, I might be able to mass-produce Epics… maybe even Uniques.
That would be enormous. Assume two swords made from identical materials. A Normal-grade sword and an Epic-grade sword might look the same and use the same ingredients, but their performance would differ drastically. Higher rank was always better.
Given a bit more time, he would be able to produce two Epic weapons at once. And if he created firearms of Epic rank or higher, he would also benefit from his class’s special effects. With that thought in mind, he struck the sphere again.
Clang!Clang!Clang!
[Legendary] Blacksmith class trait has activated.
Crafting time has been drastically reduced.
New estimated time: 20 minutes.
He continued feeding materials into the Blacksmith’s Forge, producing more Spheres of Creation and repeating the process.
[Legendary] Blacksmith class proficiency has increased slightly.
[Legendary] Blacksmith class trait has activated.
Crafting time has been drastically reduced.
New estimated time: 20 minutes.
[Legendary] Blacksmith class proficiency has increased slightly.
After crafting for quite some time, Hyunseung looked at the finished products.
Fire-Attribute Magazine. Light-Attribute Magazine. Water-Attribute Magazine. And many others with various attributes.
He examined one of them closely.
Rare Grade
When loaded, grants fire attribute to bullets.
Special effect installed: [Transformation]. The magazine and bullets automatically reshape to fit the equipped firearm—pistol, rifle, or sniper rifle.
Among the various effects, [Transformation] was one of the properties he had deliberately added while crafting. With that special effect, the magazine would automatically adjust its shape and ammunition to match whatever gun he was using.
That should be enough magazines prepared. You never know what might happen, so it’s best to have this much ready.
He slipped the magazines inside his clothes and stepped outside.
Bang!
The door slammed shut behind him. Jeong Eunseo was already waiting.
Hyunseung looked at her with open disbelief. “How did you know where my house is?”
“Something like this is easy to find out. From what I’ve seen of your personality, you seem to like capable people. So I figured I should prove my usefulness one step at a time.”
“…Weren’t we supposed to meet at the academy? Did you really wait here just for that reason?”
She met his gaze and answered calmly. “We’re heading the same way anyway. Besides, I have something to show off, so it was hard to wait any longer.”
She glanced at the car parked behind her and called out, “Could you step out for a moment?”
Click.
“You called, miss?”
A neatly dressed man in his thirties or forties emerged from the luxury limousine. The moment Hyunseung saw his face, he recognized him. Nam Jin-seok…
While Hyunseung stared in surprise, Jeong Eunseo spoke with mild exasperation. “Judging by your reaction… you know who he is too? Then I guess I don’t need to explain.”
Nam Jin-seok. If you were asked to name the top ten mages in the field of emotional magic, he was always on the list. When he touched an object, he could read not only fingerprints but the lingering mana signature of the person who had held it. People called those signatures Mana Traces.
Even ordinary people without mana stats or special classes like gunners possessed tiny amounts of mana. Even newborns. That was why Mana Traces were so important during investigations.
Of course, traces faded over time and were harder to read if the mana was faint, so only a handful of people could appraise them accurately. Nam Jin-seok was one of the few mages in the country capable of reading even the faintest Mana Traces. Such talent was extremely rare, and because accurate Mana Trace appraisers were needed for catching criminals and many other fields, their fees were astronomical. Demand was insane while supply was limited.
Yet Jeong Eunseo had not only commissioned him but brought him along in person. That would have cost an unbelievable amount of money in a single day.
She smiled confidently. “I told you, right? I’ll make sure the compensation is proper. You won’t lose anything by working with me. This is just a small part of it. If we manage to find my grandfather’s legacy, I can do even more. So please think positively about it.”
Hyunseung looked at her and answered as calmly as he could. “Impressive. Then let’s get going.”
He naturally climbed into the car. Nam Jin-seok took the passenger seat while Jeong Eunseo sat beside him. She started to say something, but after meeting his eyes she stayed silent.
Jeong Eunseo thought to herself, Just how unfair must it have felt…?
Grind.
Hyunseung clenched his teeth, suppressing his emotions. You bastards… just wait. Once my innocence is proven and the suspension is lifted, I’ll destroy your careers. Practical exams, written exams, the Class Annihilation Match, and the individual evaluation matches—every single time, you will taste despair. I’ll trample you. Again and again.
Before long the limousine had driven a long way and pulled up in front of a large building.
Screeech.
The driver stopped the car and announced, “We have arrived. This is Broad Academy.”
Jeong Eunseo turned to him. “Shall we go?”
Click.
Without a word, Hyunseung opened the door and walked confidently toward the main gate.