Friends Make the Best Shields
Friends really were the best. Kim Seokcheol was the type who had poured everything into a single minor without touching a double major. His goal, inherited from his blacksmith father, was to elevate his family to noble status. And the proven ability that made it possible—eighth rank in the year—served as both his driving force and foundation. But lately, Kim Seokcheol’s main interest had shifted elsewhere.
‘Lee Seokhyun.’
Unlike Woo Dohyun and Yu Sohyun, he looked like an ordinary commoner with nothing special going for him, yet there was a subtle sense of distinction about him. If he had flaunted an obvious talent like the other two, it would have been easier to understand. But Lee Seokhyun was strangely ambiguous. No one could clearly explain how he had taken first place in the survival exercise, and yet he didn’t seem weak when you watched him in bare-handed sparring. He had solved all five problems Professor Lee Hwaryeong had carefully selected, and he had naturally claimed the class representative position on top of it.
‘It’s fascinating.’
They had all started school on the same day, yet Lee Seokhyun somehow carried the scent of a seasoned veteran. In fact, that very atmosphere was probably what had made him class rep. The most surprising part was that he had chosen a triple major.
‘All three of them, at that.’
It was extremely rare for a student to successfully advance while double-majoring in magic engineering, martial arts, and the minor track. Most people gave up before that point. Professors thoroughly vetted any student who applied for multiple majors, especially since many were driven purely by academic passion. Just look at how much trouble Benras had gone through simply to take magic engineering and the minor. Yet Lee Seokhyun had been granted permission to take every major without any in-depth review. It could have been seen as special treatment, but everyone stayed silent because they knew what he had already shown.
‘No, after seeing what he’s capable of, it can’t really be called special treatment.’
Kim Seokcheol organized his thoughts and headed straight for the blacksmith workshop in the minor studies building. The class had originally been at risk of cancellation with only one applicant, but two more students had signed up this time, saving it from being scrapped.
‘I wonder who they are. Are they fellow dreamers who want to become blacksmiths like me?’
Kim Seokcheol had clung desperately to the rankings and achieved eighth place, but he never viewed that position as power. To him, it was simply an indicator of his effort and accomplishment. One of his core beliefs was that it should never be used to discriminate against others. No matter who showed up—even students stuck in F-class—he was confident he could get along with them. Maybe they would even quietly see him as a senior due to the skill gap.
With those happy thoughts in mind, he stepped into the workshop.
“Seokhyun, someone’s here.”
“It’s not just ‘someone.’ He’s our classmate. Don’t you even know that?”
“I’m bad with names.”
“What a thing to brag about.”
There sat Lee Seokhyun with a serious expression in front of the anvil, and right behind him stood Meiri Meribel with a blank face.
‘What kind of combination is this?’
Kim Seokcheol’s mind went blank.
‘Yep, it’s Kim Seokcheol.’
Thankfully, this part was proceeding exactly as it had in the game. That was a relief.
‘I have no idea what kind of butterfly effect I might cause, so it’s nerve-wracking.’
The more branching points a game had, the harder it was to predict the future. Final Destiny had an absurd number of endings and routes, so every choice could lead to completely unpredictable outcomes. That was exactly why it was best to handle everything that needed to be done as quickly as possible.
‘Kim Seokcheol is one of the characters who is absolutely essential to Lee Seokhyun.’
With nothing but his hidden skill monopoly as a natural talent, Lee Seokhyun desperately needed what players called “gear carried.” And not just decent cost-effective equipment—his gear had to be straight-up cheat-level if he wanted to function like a real person. While monopolizing skills was huge, equipment was still an incredibly important factor in the game that couldn’t be ignored.
In that sense, Kim Seokcheol was an outstanding craftsman. Starting with his main skill Blacksmith, he had naturally acquired Touch of the Masterpiece and Soul of the Artisan thanks to his family background. Anything Kim Seokcheol made was generally evaluated as at least a fine piece. He was someone I absolutely had to get close to.
In fact, choosing Barktor’s class had been seventy percent because Kim Seokcheol was taking it. The remaining thirty percent was obviously so I could maintain my own gear once I started relying on equipment.
“Hey Seokcheol, nice to meet you. We sit right next to each other, remember?”
“Uh, yeah… I remember.”
“Let’s get along well. As friends.”
“Uh… yeah, sure. I’d like that.”
At the beginning of the semester, that awkward moment where everyone had to forcibly break the ice by introducing themselves was inevitable. In times like these, the title of class representative was incredibly useful. It wasn’t strange to know someone’s name, and approaching them casually didn’t raise much suspicion. The class rep position was the perfect role for that.
“Oh! Everyone’s here. Then let’s begin class right away. What’s the new student’s name?”
“It’s Kim Seokcheol, sir.”
“Have you ever done any blacksmithing work before?”
“Yes. It’s still lacking, but I can vaguely perform mana forging.”
“Ho, a first-year who can already do mana forging? Impressive!”
The conversation sounded like something out of a cheap RPG talking to an NPC, but in a way it made sense. A professor who had barely escaped class cancellation paired with a student who had secretly admired him—the combination was bound to be awkward. Because they were both being so careful with each other, the dialogue came out stiff and artificial.
“Well then, I suppose we should start with simple introductions,” Barktor said, beginning to write on the board with slightly awkward movements. “First, my name is Barktor Buvemus. You can comfortably call me Professor Bark.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Thank you for the energetic response, but you don’t need to reply out loud every time. From now on, I’ll explain why blacksmiths are necessary and what kind of influence they hold.”
Barktor ran the class in a way that boosted self-esteem. He was clearly trying to be considerate toward students who might feel discouraged for taking such an unpopular minor with only three enrollees. He covered how to make and use weapons, how to maintain them, and how to store them for long periods. It was a basic theory class that explained the influence a blacksmith could have in a party and why they were so important.
“You might think, ‘Why would a blacksmith join a party?’ But when you go on adventures, the chance to meet a skilled blacksmith is extremely rare.”
He continued emphasizing the importance of blacksmiths and how necessary they were in real combat. He was clearly trying to fill the students with confidence so they would keep attending class, but it was mostly pointless.
‘Even if Meiri doesn’t know, Seokcheol and I are definitely going to learn this.’
It wasn’t completely meaningless, but Kim Seokcheol was already overflowing with passion for blacksmithing. And I already understood its necessity far too well.
‘Right now, the only person in the academy who can reinforce Arachne’s Breath is Professor Barktor.’
There were ways to reinforce it outside the academy, but I had other things I needed to handle out there. It was better to take care of everything I could inside the academy first. Despite its long name, the weapon called Arachne’s Breath didn’t actually have a very long shelf life.
‘Even in the early to mid-game, it was basically just for self-comfort.’
In truth, its usefulness pretty much ended the moment I obtained the spider title. It was a weapon with an extremely short lifespan. The warden had treasured it when I first got it, but the moment I entered the academy, it lost its meaning.
If this had been before I got the title, I would still be cherishing the weapon. But now, I needed to reinforce it as quickly as possible. Even if there was a high chance the weapon would break during the process, I had no choice.
‘I need to move as fast as possible while I still have the tempo.’
Barktor diligently continued his theoretical explanation until he seemed to decide we would get bored if he went any further. He guided us to the anvils.
“That’s enough theory for now. It’s time for proper hands-on practice. Seokcheol, since you can use mana forging, go ahead and try making a sword by yourself.”
There was no need to rush since we only had to work until class ended. We could go as far as we were able. As soon as Barktor finished speaking, Kim Seokcheol’s eyes sparkled and he nodded vigorously.
Mana forging. While regular forging involved hammering superheated iron to shape it, mana forging literally infused mana into the hammer. It had many benefits, but simply put, it was an upgraded version of regular forging.
As soon as the topic of real practice came up, Meiri Meribel stepped far back behind me and assumed the position of an observer. I had sensed it during the theory portion as well—she really didn’t seem interested in blacksmithing at all.
‘She’s not going to follow along with this.’
She probably hadn’t chosen the class without thinking. If it didn’t suit her aptitude, she would definitely switch. Since I had said earlier that I couldn’t handle mana, I stood in front of the furnace and began the forging process, sweating profusely.
Barktor watched me with a look that said ‘What if he gives up?’ but from my perspective, that kind of attention was even more burdensome. Anyway, after hammering iron diligently for an hour, I managed to produce a result I was satisfied with.
You have acquired Blacksmithing (Beginner).
‘That’s good enough for now.’
The basics were done. From here on was the real main event.
‘Gainard’s martial arts class and Akasa’s one-on-one transmission.’
It was time for proper training.
‘I should head over quickly and at least warm up.’
As soon as class ended, Barktor made us put down our tools. He poured on the self-esteem fuel nonstop—‘It was tough, right?’, ‘You’ll get used to it.’, ‘You can do it.’, ‘You have talent.’—and even saw us off. Just as I was about to head to the martial arts building after receiving that send-off, I spotted something in the distance.
“What the…?”
“Hmm?”
Zombies? Vampires? A demonic attack? I couldn’t identify them exactly, but people wearing white lab coats with deathly pale skin were groaning as they shuffled toward us.
“Senior Bermu! That’s where Lee Seokhyun is!”
“I see him! I see him too! We’ve finally made it this far! Just a little farther!”
“Wouldn’t it be better to use wind magic to increase our movement speed?”
“How could we resort to such tricks when bringing an adorable junior to the lab?! Have you forgotten Professor Gi Juseon’s words that the important thing is sincerity?!”
“Ah, I’m sorry!”
They seemed to be speaking quite loudly, but in the hallway it sounded like nothing more than mosquitoes buzzing. White coats, Gi Juseon, Bermu… Bermu?
Bits of game knowledge I had forgotten were resurfacing one by one, allowing me to accurately grasp the current situation.
‘They’ve come to recruit me.’
If the rumor that I had solved all five of Professor Lee Hwaryeong’s problems had reached the professors’ ears, this outcome was only natural. Though they called it recruitment, it was basically kidnapping. When that many people surrounded one person and said, ‘It’s okay to refuse, so just come to the lab for now,’ who could possibly say no?
“There he is! Pick up the pace!”
“Everyone, walk faster!”
“I don’t usually walk this much, it’s so hard!”
“Damn it! Before I started working in the lab, I could easily walk thirty thousand steps a day!”
“Who knew three hundred meters would be this difficult!”
“Lee Seokhyun! Who is Lee Seokhyun?!”
After sharpening my senses as much as possible to listen to their conversation, I learned the very fortunate information that they still didn’t know what I looked like. It seemed Gi Juseon had only told them I was a first-year and given them my name before sending them to find me. If that was the case, there was only one option.
“Seokcheol, remember what I said about getting along well?”
“Huh? Uh, yeah.”
“Friends are supposed to help each other, right?”
“…?”
If I ignored the question mark at the end, it was clearly an affirmative, so I moved a little distance away from Kim Seokcheol and opened my mouth.
“Whoa, look who it is! It’s Lee Seokhyun, first-year sixth rank and representative speaker!”
With those words, I turned and ran in the opposite direction without looking back.
“Found him! We found him!”
“Hallelujah! Hullelujah! Hullalujah!”
“Lee Seokhyun! Lee Seokhyun! Lee Seokhyun!”
“You are my slave! You are my rest! You are my vacation!”
“I’m crazy for you! I’m crazy for you! I’m crazy for you!”
“W-wait, this is— That’s not me! I’m really not— Aaaaaaaaagh!!!”
I ignored the screams coming from behind me.
Friends really were the best. There was no better shield than that.