First Crafting (1)

I looked up how to use the Crafting skill, but there wasn’t much information available.

Not many people had item-crafting skills in the first place.

They said there was only one person in all of Korea with the skill—if no one was hiding it, that meant something.

“So crafting skills are that rare?”

It seemed like other countries didn’t have many either.

According to news articles and scattered forum posts, fewer than a hundred confirmed crafters existed worldwide.

The Tower had been here for over ten years. Only a hundred people in a decade? That was ridiculous.

I’d just poked a bug and said a few words, and the skill appeared. Something felt off.

The more I researched, the more I realized my Crafting skill wasn’t normal.

“Everyone else’s has a rank?”

Other people’s crafting skills came with letter grades. The sole Korean crafter had started at C-rank and worked their way up to A-rank.

My own awakening looked completely different.

When you factored in my body changing, the whole thing felt downright alien.

I’d searched to see if anyone else had transformed like me. There were shapeshifting skills, sure, but no records of anyone’s body changing completely.

And absolutely no one had switched genders. The more I learned, the weirder it got. An EX-grade skill no one had ever seen before just made it all stranger.

Still, the research wasn’t completely useless. I at least figured out the basic method for crafting.

The first person to awaken a crafting skill had left advice for later awakeners: Read the skill description and let your body move on instinct.

It was incredibly unhelpful, but other hunters just nodded like that was normal.

I understood. When I first used Carapace Bug, I hadn’t known the exact method either. My body had simply done it.

So if I wanted to use the Crafting skill, I just needed to focus and wish for something to be made….

“……”

I closed my eyes and concentrated, but nothing happened. They said I’d feel it instinctively. What was going on?

Carapace Bug activated the moment I thought about it. Why wasn’t this working?

I scratched my head and sat on the edge of the bed. What was the problem? Why wouldn’t the skill trigger?

Had I missed something?

I checked the skill again. It was definitely the Crafting skill….

“Mimic into equipment… wait a second.”

When I first got the skill I’d only skimmed the description. I’d been too distracted by Appraisal to pay attention.

Looking at it now, the skill was strange. The name said Crafting, but the explanation didn’t mention making anything.

Mimic insects into equipment… I already knew “insect” referred to my bugs thanks to the other skills, but turning them into equipment sounded different from regular crafting.

When I thought about the word “mimic,” it sounded like simply changing a bug’s appearance.

Like how insects disguise themselves to hide from predators, right?

“…Sword? Come here for a second?”

Sword had been curled up on the bed. At my call it slowly approached, and the sight still sent a shiver down ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my spine.

I thought I’d gotten used to it, but those countless ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠legs were still hard to handle.

When it wrapped around my arm the legs were hidden, but right now… I felt goosebumps rise as I stretched out my hand and let it crawl up.

Ugh… this was going to take a while to get used to.

“Okay. I’m going to try something. If it feels weird, tell me. Got it?”

Click. Click.

It answered by snapping its sharp mouthparts. I took a deep breath and activated the Crafting skill.

What I held in my hand was… Sword. Carapace Bug. Only three days old, basic length ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠twenty centimeters, but by spreading its overlapping carapace it could extend up to forty centimeters….

Its given purpose was to become a sword. It could only turn into a sword. So what shape would be best?

My strength could handle a fairly heavy blade, but I didn’t want anything too big.

A little longer than forty centimeters would be nice.

I wasn’t into flashy designs, so something simple….

“Ah.”

When I opened my eyes, Sword had vanished from my hand and a single sword rested there instead.

The sight made my stomach drop.

It looked like the skill had activated, but… I hadn’t just used Sword as raw material, right?

It said mimic, so….

Unease bloomed deep in my chest. If that was really what happened….

Click.

“Ah, Sword?”

Vrrr.

The sword vibrated with that familiar clicking sound. Thank goodness—Sword itself seemed fine.

The shape matched what I’d imagined so perfectly that I examined the blade closely.

It resembled the original Sword: a glossy black blade and hilt. The only unusual detail was a long red line running along the edge….

“Sword, can you move like that?”

Since it was a mimic, I wondered if it could still move.

I immediately regretted asking.

What ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I’d thought was a red line wasn’t a line at all. The moment Sword’s legs sprouted out and wiggled, I nearly dropped the sword.

I was so shocked I couldn’t even scream. I’d assumed the most it could do was tremble, but….

It looked like centipede legs had grown from the blade. That was exactly what it was.

I swallowed the words I wanted to say—Sword would get sad if it heard them—and gently set the sword on the floor.

Even in sword form it could move freely. The way it scuttled across the floor with tiny clicking legs made it seem like only its appearance had changed.

But if it was like this, was it even useful?

“Hmm. Appraisal?”

I wanted to see if anything had changed, so I checked Sword’s information.

“…Huh?”

The description was different. It used to explain Sword as a bug, but now it described the sword I had imagined.

The abilities hadn’t changed, yet the explanation looked like any ordinary sword’s.

The only new part was the note at the bottom saying it was in mimic state.

Even that appeared translucent, so I guessed other people probably couldn’t see it.

Or maybe you needed an Appraisal skill like mine.

When I touched it with my hand the original information popped up too, so I started to understand what the Crafting skill actually did.

It seemed to let me change the appearance of bugs I created and hide their true information.

The more I thought about it, the less it felt like “crafting.” Was this really crafting?

Well, the length had increased slightly from the original, so there was an external change. It wasn’t completely unchanged.

Since it had grown bigger than the original Sword… I guess it technically counted as crafting?

Now that I fully understood the skill, it was time to duplicate items….

“Wait. Doesn’t this mean I can only craft if I create the bugs myself?”

Other crafters used magic stones or materials from dungeons….

I couldn’t decide if this was good or bad.

Other crafters didn’t need to climb the Tower. They just processed materials other people brought them.

That meant if I didn’t keep climbing the Tower and creating bugs, I’d have no way to make items.

“Ugh, it’s so ambiguous.”

No matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t see a clear advantage. There wasn’t a single reason to feel good about this….

Well, I was still only on the first floor, and the Tower didn’t feel particularly difficult, so it wasn’t entirely bad.

If I could climb easily, gather points, and keep creating bugs….

Since crafting didn’t consume anything else, it meant that as long as I gathered points I could make as many items as I wanted.

Unlike other crafters, I didn’t have to rely on anyone. I could do everything alone, which meant I could keep more of the profit.

Though I wouldn’t be able to do anything with materials other people brought….

“Wait. Does the skill really not let me use other materials?”

The description didn’t say that. It only mentioned mimicking insects. It never said I couldn’t combine them with other things.

Besides, some insects used leaves and other materials to disguise themselves….

It wasn’t impossible.

But the current problem was….

“I don’t have anything to test it with?”

Using everyday items would waste points, and I had a feeling I’d get materials if I climbed the Tower a bit more.

That let me make a plan.

“First I’ll make one item, sell it, then when I get materials from the Tower I’ll try crafting with them.”

Now I had to decide what to craft first.

Since I was selling it, I needed something people would actually want….

Something like Sword would be fine, but people probably weren’t looking for plain designs.

In times like these, the Hunter Gallery was perfect. Even if some of the information was useless, it had the most hunters. Surely people had posted what they wanted.

It couldn’t be filled with only weird stuff, right?

I picked up my phone and searched for items. What did people usually look for…?

…Wow. How was I supposed to sort through this?

The search results were flooded with garbage posts. I slapped my forehead. Galleries really weren’t easy.

How long would it take to read and filter all of this?