The Awakening of the All-Purpose Crafter

The era of the Tower. Has the energy revolution using Black Iron Stone finally succeeded? Prices are skyrocketing as the US and China hoard low, mid, and high-grade stones.

The mortality rate of low-floor climbers has risen by 23% compared to last year. This is due to the lack of supply for equipment items. Experts say, "Korea's rate is relatively low."

The pride of South Korea, the Sword SaintBaek Gangho. Today, he broke through the 49th floor, the highest level, which had 56 days left on the Tower Break timer. "Our country is safe." It appears this is thanks to the information provided to allies by the United States, which was the first to complete the 49th-floor conquest, and...

It was a notification from the world, forcibly injected into the minds of all humanity. Simultaneously, Gates appeared across the globe, and the invasion of monsters began. Dimensional erosion occurs when a Gate vanishes after spewing out an enormous number of monsters, leaving behind a lair teeming with beasts—a Dungeon.

While modern technology could manage to kill some monsters even if a Gate clearance failed, it couldn't prevent the damage, and Gates appeared without exception, even in densely populated cities. Especially when strong monsters appeared in urban areas, they could be suppressed with modern firearms, but the damage was immense. Cleaning out the resulting dungeons could reclaim the eroded areas, but the destruction of existing infrastructure due to terrain changes was inevitable.

Was humanity just helplessly suffering? That wasn't the case. Along with the Gates, black towers rose in the capitals of each country. Climbing them granted power. It was like a game where one gained a job based on their talent and increased stats and skills by ascending the Tower.

-The rise in the mortality rate of low-floor hunters, hidden behind the stable supply of points...

Beyond the countless gray skyscrapers of Seoul, the black tower pierced the clouds and rose to the very end of the sky. That massive structure. When you turn 20, you are summoned to the Tower from wherever you are in your country. In the nude. Since only items made from materials found in the Tower or Gates can be brought inside, you are naked when you automatically enter the tutorial.

Every country burns through an astronomical amount of points every month, but since only a portion of the population is summoned, it was fortunate that there had never been a shortage of points. Anyway, as soon as it hit midnight, I was summoned to the Tower and just finished the tutorial. Because once you enter the 0th floor of the Tower, the tutorial is complete and your job is determined.

"What kind of job will it be?"

The warrior class that most people get? A rare ranged class? Or perhaps the rare magic or healing types?

"Status Window."

I calmed my trembling heart and looked at the translucent hologram floating before my eyes.

"A crafter?"

Two skills that clearly look like production skills, an Appraisal skill that every awakened person is supposed to have, and Gallery, an all-purpose communication skill. And Dimension Workshop?

"This feels like a jackpot."

First of all, I don't have skills to hunt monsters, so I don't have to climb dangerously. Naturally, the government won't mobilize me for Gate subjugation, and I can craft items that are in high demand but have zero supply to sell to other climbers. It’s a job equivalent to royalty.

If you craft using byproducts or minerals from monsters found in the Tower or Gates, you get excellent results, but there's no problem making items using ordinary Earth minerals either. Of course, when crafting with Earth minerals, the performance drops or there's a high chance it won't become an item at all. Anyway, I won't have to worry about money from now on! Since production classes aren't mobilized for Gate subjugation as long as you donate your skills, it's a total win-win.

"My life is finally blooming!"

Firearms are useful for Gate subjugation, but since you can only enter the Tower with items, most climbers can only use drops obtained in the Tower or items they've crafted themselves, so even low-grade goods have high prices. Stats are all F-grade right after awakening, so there's no need to look at them. Anyway, looking at the job name, it seems to have excellent utility even among production classes, so let me check the details.

"Skill details."

Judging by the comprehensive content, it seems to be a late-bloomer type job, and since there are no specific items I'm restricted to, it feels like I can do anything. By the way, Dimension Workshop? Does that mean entering a workshop in another dimension? It should help with maintaining anonymity... Considering the incidents that happen to production-class climbers, this is a real jackpot.

"I can't miss the Gallery."

"Yes."

Hmm, in this case, I'll go with my job name, 'All-Purpose Crafter.'

I passed the duplicate check on the first try and opened the Gallery window, where a familiar interface appeared.

[Sell] [Buy] [Share] [Point Charge] [Point Conversion] [Free] [Boast] [Melee] . . .

Below the melee class, there were boards for each job type, and it was in the form of a familiar community. As it was an interface created by a transcendental being, I clicked on the production board first.

[Chat] It's so frustrating that stats and bonus effects are truly random.

[Tip] If you can engrave mana on crafted items, the money you make changes!

[Chat] Potion efficiency varies wildly depending on the ratio . . .

There were quite a number of posts spread out below that as well. I looked through the [Real-time Trending Posts] and clicked on a banner that caught my eye.

I just had my sword repaired, and they shaved off over 40 of my maximum durability... They took the money, and they turned my weapon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into a rag. I could just beat them to death, but I gave them the money, I found all the materials needed for the repair, I did everything!!! The durability is under 30, so it'll ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠break after hitting a few things. Argh.

It was a post lamenting that the weapon's durability had become too low after entrusting the repair to a blacksmith, and there were comments below it.

It was a story about someone complaining that their expensive weapon item was in bad condition because its durability had dropped by more than half, with sympathy from fellow swordsmen, pity from mages, and the blacksmith's claim that it couldn't be helped. Afterward, I went into the sales posts and scanned the performance of the items.

Hmm, the general market price for items is 100 per attack power and 60 per durability. 3300 + 2640 = 5940 points. Points can't really be exchanged for cash, but since it's said that climbers trade them at about $100 per 1 point, and the won-dollar exchange rate is 1:1130, if you were to trade for cash, it's an enormous price of 670 million won.

Like this, even items without special options boast enormous prices just by having attack power and durability attached. The reason is that items have to be hammered out by hand, so supply is significantly lower than demand, and there's even a difference in skill between item crafters, so while low-grade items are expensive, high-grade items have so little stock that they are rarely traded.

"Exit."

After browsing the Gallery for a long time, I checked the time and saw it was just past 6 AM, so I exited the Tower.

"I should try the Dimension Workshop skill too."

Just as I was about to use the skill, I heard a knock.

Knock, knock.

"Hyung... come out to eat."

"Yeah."

The sleepy voice from outside the room following the knock called me back to reality. I got up from the bed and went out to the living room.