The All-Purpose Crafter's First Masterpiece

I pulled the Black Iron Stone, now glowing a deep, heated red, out of the furnace and set it onto the anvil. I began to hammer away. Clang! Clang! It’s impossible to smelt special metals—not just Black Iron Stone, but any of the rare ores dropped by monsters in the Tower or Gates—without using Mana Smelting. That is the sole reason why mass-producing items has failed. Of course, there have been countless attempts using presses and hammers made of mana-infused steel, but most of the results were just ordinary equipment that failed to become true items, with only the occasional low-grade piece being produced.

Because the market supply of items is limited to those crafted by production-class climbers and the drops from the Tower and Gates, the price of even basic-grade items is extremely high. You might wonder, "If items are that expensive, how do climbers manage to scale the Tower and clear Gates?" Well, monsters always drop Mana Stones, and since even low-grade stones fetch a high price, there are quite a few "miners" who make a living by repeatedly clearing the lower floors to harvest them. I hear that if you gather and sell Mana Herbs and minerals, you can earn an income comparable to an average office worker, though it varies. However, you can't earn much by repeatedly clearing floors below the 20th because the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠point yield is too low.

The government's actual benefits are concentrated on the production class and the climbers in the mid-floors (20th and above) who bring in points. Naturally, the early government had to prioritize the mid-floor climbers who were essential for survival, funneling massive benefits their way despite the fierce backlash from those who gave up on climbing. Production workers don't have to pay points, but they must meet government-mandated quotas, while mid-floor climbers must surrender a portion of their points to the state. Of course, it’s not for free; the pay is quite good. With one point worth about 110,000 won, and considering that a Tower Break means one point is essentially the value of a human life—and that you have to hunt monsters to get them—it might even be considered a cheap price for a life.

Regardless, thanks to that system, there’s almost no brain drain of mid-floor climbers to overseas; in fact, we’ve been able to attract many climbers from developing nations in Southeast Asia and South America. Now, having watched other countries collapse over the past few decades, there’s even talk that we should increase benefits for mid-floor climbers even further. And apparently, there are quite a few low-floor combat-class climbers who learn blacksmithing and hammer away to create low-grade or common items, even without a formal Crafting skill. Climbers who aren't in the production class must actually prove they can produce a certain number of items within a set period to receive tax benefits and exemptions from Gate mobilization.

"Well, items are incredibly expensive, and the lower floors of the Tower are relatively safe," I muttered. The mortality rate for the top-floor assault teams is extremely high, but the lower floors have widely available strategies, and if you hunt while wearing low-grade or common items, the death rate is quite low. Many climbers make a living by crafting and selling items made from materials gathered during these repeated lower-floor runs. The items made from low-floor materials are plentiful, but their quality is low, making it hard to earn more than a certain amount of profit.

Clang! I infused my hammer with mana and struck the Black Iron Stone. You can't just hit it blindly with force. Some spots need a heavy blow; others need a light touch. I adjusted my strength according to the part I was striking.

As my skill rose to E-grade, the war hammer was completed.

A high-grade item appeared. The attached traits were great, too. "Attack power 120 with 60 armor-piercing damage? Is this for real?" It’s a weapon that can literally shatter monster skulls with every strike. They say the stats themselves are different from high-grade and up, and this has 80 more attack power than the high-grade steel sword I made last time. I know there's a difference between a blunt weapon and a sword, but this is absurd. "At this rate, I don't even need to change my weapon for lower-floor climbing. Is it time for armor?"

I pulled up my status window to see the stats and level I’d gained from crafting.

I had originally planned to craft leather armor, but since my level and stats had increased and I’d managed to craft a high-grade weapon, I got a little greedy. By tomorrow, the items I posted on the Gallery will have sold, so I’ll use those points to buy rare minerals, fabrics, and leather to fully set up my armor before I start climbing the Tower. For now, since I'm out of mana and stamina, should I browse the Gallery?

After exiting the workshop, I lay down on my bed and opened the Gallery.

I ignored the noisy bulletin board still buzzing about the items I’d posted and clicked on the Tower Strategy board.

I clicked on the 1F-9F strategy post, which was pinned at the top after receiving countless recommendations, and was hit with an overwhelming wall of text. Simply put, the content detailed different strategies for melee, ranged, and magic classes for each floor. It seemed that melee classes had an easier time in the early stages, while ranged and magic users had a harder time.

That’s the reason why you can start mining Mana Stones from the 6th floor. Since the Slime's core is the Mana Stone, you can't get them on floors 1-5 unless you manage to strip away most of the slime! Instead, the combat is relatively easy. They move slowly, and for the 6th floor, if I just craft good armor, even if we just hit each other, they won't be able to pierce my gear. The 7th floor won't be difficult either. In fact, there are plenty of cases where people climb up to the 30th floor wearing common-grade items. The climber's own capability is what matters most.

Anyway, I won't remember everything even if I read a lot due to information overload, so I'll just check each floor as I enter. When I looked around ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the posts to see if there was any side income to be made in the lower floors besides monsters, various bits of information came up.

"This is fun." I lost track of time while reading various strategies and tips. It made me realize why people are so sincere about these strategy and tip posts. "The Tower seems to want people to climb..." I don't know why, but the Tower seems to encourage active climbing. If you don't earn points, you die from the population shortage. Lower floors don't yield much even if you repeat them, and if climbers only repeat the lower floors, there are no mid-floor climbers to clear Gates, which ruins the country. The higher you go, the harder the strategies become, and even now, they are cleared just barely before a break. But our country recently succeeded in having the Sword Saint clear the 49th floor with about two months left, so there's nothing to worry about.

Anyway, I have a lot of information about the Tower, which ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is good. The items I posted for the first time will sell by tomorrow morning, so I should head home and have dinner. I'll buy crafting materials with the points from the sales, craft armor, and climb the lower floors of the Tower. While I'm at it, I'll farm side materials and distribute the unallocated stat points from leveling up into Strength, Stamina, and Mana to speed up my crafting. Hehehe. There are still so many rare metals and materials in the world that I don't know about. My mouth waters at the thought of hammering and touching them with the points I'll get after the bidding ends.

"Ah, I feel like I won't be able to sleep because I'm too excited, just like yesterday." Come to think of it, I haven't slept since midnight yesterday when I awakened, but I don't feel tired at all. Whether it's because the Stamina stat, even at F, is definitely added on top of my existing body, or because I'm still 20 and young, I don't know, but I've even become healthy enough that I only just realized I hadn't slept. It’s amazing that my body doesn't feel tired even after crafting for about 8 hours since breakfast. Is this why the average life expectancy has increased significantly since the Tower appeared 49 years ago?

Still, since the fatigue is slowly creeping in, I have no choice but to give up on dinner with my family and just sleep until morning. I sent a text to my parents saying I’d eat first and then sleep, so they shouldn't wake me up. After finishing a simple meal with the remaining side dishes and even doing the dishes, I lay down on my bed. Maybe it was because I was in an awakened state, but sleep rushed over me as soon as I lay down.

"Hehe." I laughed as I closed my eyes. I’m looking forward to tomorrow morning.