009 - Dagger and Squishy
009 - Dagger and Squishy
That night.
After finishing dinner with Jia, I returned home safely.
Of course, I had to bring back shopping bags overflowing in both hands because she bought me way too many clothes, but thinking that I wouldn't have to worry about clothes for a while, it wasn't all that bad.
Anyway.
'Why did the Teddy Bear Dagger suddenly evolve?'
It was definitely just an ordinary C-rank dagger with a teddy bear drawn on the blade.
There was nothing special about it, nor did it feel like there was any sign it would evolve.
I was planning to use it as a kitchen knife if it didn't sell in the first place.
'What on earth is it...?'
As I was thinking that, a system message popped up in mid-air.
[You have unread notifications.]
Come to think of it, when Jia forcibly dressed me up in new clothes during the day.
I thought I might have seen something.
Could that have been the notification that the Teddy Bear Dagger had evolved?
I hurriedly clicked the message.
Then a new window appeared before my eyes.
- 'Very Slightly Special Teddy Bear Dagger' has fulfilled the conditions to awaken a new power.
- Automatically evolves into 'Red Fang'.
What?
It seems it fulfilled the conditions and evolved without me even knowing.
Even its name had changed to something fitting that gruesome appearance.
And below, the information for 'Red Fang' was displayed.
Red Fang
Rank: B
Quality: Highest Grade
[Potential Abilities]
- 'Sharpness': Extreme sharpness inflicts significant additional damage.
- 'Ferocity': Absorbing a certain amount of blood triggers a state of 'Frenzy'.
[The dagger of a predator that has drunk blood and awakened its true power.]
Upon checking, as the rank went up one tier to B, the overall stats of the dagger had increased.
With a whopping two potential abilities, in terms of combat capability, it was in no way inferior to daggers crafted by other blacksmiths.
In essence, the buyer had purchased a top-tier B-rank dagger for the price of a C-rank dagger.
Though there was nothing I could do since it was already sold.
I felt a bit sorry, as if I hadn't properly recognized its true value.
'Wait, will other equipment evolve too...?'
Suddenly, that thought crossed my mind.
Maybe I just didn't know it.
Could Laevateinn or Daat evolve as well?
No, if so, just how much stronger would Laevateinn, which is already S-rank, become?
Ttiring!
TIP. From now on, you can check equipment capable of evolution in advance.
[List of Evolvable Equipment]
[None]
Regrettably, that wasn't the case.
For a moment, I imagined Laevateinn evolving to SS-rank.
Still, that would have been way too much.
Well, it's already an out-of-spec weapon as it is, so it doesn't even need to evolve.
'Still, since it evolved, I hope it found a good owner.'
Though anyone would be a better owner than that villain from before.
Since I consigned it to Ascent, I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't meet the owner in person to hear how it felt to use.
'I wonder if it's posted on the Hunter Gallery.'
I quietly turned on my phone and searched for 'Don't Play Rogue' on the Hunter Gallery.
Looking at his past posts, he was someone who complained daily about the rogue's short reach and miserable skills compared to warrior classes.
Despite that, he didn't give up, worked hard to save money, and bought a C-rank dagger.
And that turned out to be a total jackpot.
[Title: Wow... The performance is crazy]
[Author: Don't Play Rogue]
First time in my life using a B-rank weapon,
and this thing is ridiculously good.
Mobs that didn't even get a scratch no matter how many times I slashed them are all getting shredded now.
To the blacksmith who made this, I seriously love you.
- Line up in envy
- Super jealous, seriously
- This is why people buy equipment at Ascent
- Who on earth made this?
Thanks to that, the Hunter Gallery was ablaze with discussion about the evolving weapon and who on earth had made it.
Things like whether it was a rare drop from a top-tier gate,
or whether an all-time legendary blacksmith had appeared in Korea.
Having various doubts, everyone was curious about the identity.
[Dear blacksmith, if you are reading this, please make a bow too ㅠㅠ]
[Equipment diff ← I told you guys it exists]
[Current working blacksmith's theory on who made this dagger]
'...I really hope they don't focus their attention on me.'
It was my first time receiving such massive attention in my life, so honestly, I felt a bit embarrassed.
Neither Seoha-eonni nor Ascent would ever give away my personal information anyway.
I figured my identity wouldn't be revealed anytime soon.
Although that villain I ran into last time might be a problem.
Honestly, looking at my cute appearance, who on earth would believe that I forged the dagger myself?
Well, it won't be a big problem.
As I was browsing the Hunter Gallery with such thoughts, I saw an interesting post.
[Title: Isn't Han Seoha's weapon made by that same blacksmith?]
[Author: Anon]
No one knows who made it,
its performance is far more powerful than any S-rank weapon released so far,
and even Han Seoha is close with the Ascent owner, yep.
- Nobody really knows for sure though
└ (Author): No matter how I look at it, I think it's 100%
└└ Evolution could just be a new skill, but crafting an S-rank weapon itself is ridiculously difficult, you know?
- Absolutely not
- Argh, another Hunter-illiterate idiot again
- S-rank uses completely different materials, the materials!
The poor author, who had merely spoken the truth, was getting flamed to the point of practically being lynched.
It couldn't be helped.
Even if equipment with a new mechanism could be attributed to a blacksmith's skill,
an S-rank weapon starts with entirely different materials, and crafting it requires an immensely high level of proficiency.
'I feel sorry for him, but what must be done must be done.'
- Strongest Part-timer: Hunter-illiterate out
There's no way I can miss out on such an entertaining topic.
Alright, let's dive in.
Just then.
A text message notification popped up at the top of the screen.
'Huh?'
It was Ascent's owner, Park Sehee.
Kiddo, the dagger was sold. I sent it to the account you wrote down, so check it.
And if you miss eonni... it's almost closing time, so feel free to drop by♥
'...Uwek, what's with the heart.'
When Park Sehee, who had that immensely muscular body, sent a text like this, it felt a bit weird.
Still, since she was someone whom 'Beloved One' and 'Observation' didn't work on, I had plenty of questions.
I grabbed any piece of clothing Jia had bought me, threw it on, and headed straight to Ascent.
.
.
.
Ascent.
Stepping inside, I saw Park Sehee busily moving about, seemingly tidying up the shop.
"You're here. My goodness... so cute."
Then, spotting me, she looked my way with a delighted expression and beamed cheerfully.
"You got the money alright, right? If you craft good equipment in the future, please leave it with Ascent."
Checking on the way, the money had indeed entered my account.
Indeed, the settlement was fast, and thanks to the name value of Ascent, the equipment itself sold quickly, so there was no reason not to trade decent equipment here.
Anyway.
That's not what's important.
Since I didn't come here to hear about that in the first place.
"So, Owner-nim, what on earth is your identity?"
Someone who could ignore a skill that even works on S-rank hunters, and could even interfere with it.
No matter how I looked at it, she didn't seem like an ordinary equipment shop owner.
"Hmm... right now, I'm just someone who sells good equipment."
Right now.
Does that mean she wasn't in the past?
"Well, I'm not as amazing a person as kiddo thinks. Besides, if kiddo grows a bit more, I wouldn't even be able to block you from peeking like last time."
"Huh, really?"
"Yeah. My skills aren't what they used to be either."
Park Sehee's expression looked a bit lonely.
As if reminiscing about the distant past.
She was still a person full of secrets.
However, it didn't seem like she would tell me all those secrets.
What on earth could her identity be?
"...Then, did you know my dagger would evolve?"
I asked cautiously.
An evolution that even I, the creator, couldn't know before the new function unlocked.
If it was this person, she might have seen that possibility and taken in the weapon.
However.
"Huh? It's not like it's Poké**n, how can a weapon evolve?"
Eng?
It was a reaction of complete ignorance.
Honestly, shouldn't the mood have gone toward her being someone with incredible abilities who noticed the secret of the dagger I made and bought it?
I quietly showed her my phone.
Seeing the Hunter Gallery going wild over the dagger, Park Sehee fell into deep shock.
"Aargh... If I had known this, I would have sold it for more."
She even looked sad because she had sold it for too cheap.
Okay.
I revoke the thought I just had.
I decided to just think of her as a weird muscular woman who, for some reason, could interfere with my abilities.
"Ayy, you should have said something. Do you know how big the price difference between B-rank and C-rank is?"
"I didn't know either..."
"How can the maker not know that!"
Kkeun.
I didn't really have anything to say.
Since the fact that evolution was possible was information even I couldn't know.
As I sighed inwardly, Park Sehee laughed and patted my back firmly.
"Well, these things happen. Since both eonni and kiddo took a loss, it's no big deal, right? Besides, the guy who bought it seemed pretty passionate."
That was true.
Since 'Don't Play Rogue' spent all day praising the dagger and looked so happy that he got banned for a week for flexing his gear.
Thinking it was fortunate that it went to a good person, there was nothing bad about it.
"Ah... right. Kiddo, what are you going to use for your blacksmith name? Looking at it, it seems like a lot of people will be interested in your equipment in the future."
A blacksmith name?
Is that really important?
"Well, anything is fine."
"Anything? Then I'll do as I please. No regretting it later."
I nodded.
Then Park Sehee scribbled something on a small name tag.
Peeking slightly at it, an absurd line was written on it.
Made by Mallangi
"Wait a minute."
"Huh? Why, you said it was okay to do whatever I wanted. It's a name that suits you perfectly, so what's the problem?"
Park Sehee smiled faintly while looking at me. She looked very amused.
The name tags I had seen in the display case, lined up with fancy names, flickered in my mind.
Imagining Mallangi squeezed in between them made me feel dizzy.
"Then, I'll be counting on you for the next equipment too, Mallangi."
"Who on earth uses Mallangi as a blacksmith name!"