The Real Enchanter

"A hammer... It brings back memories, Henrik."

"Haha... It's nothing like that."

"Alright. I'm glad, then."

Doloris lightly tapped her fist against her palm.

Tap.

"Take your time choosing, Lionel. I'm going to head over to the bookstore district with Ruby."

"Yes, Master."

"I need to buy her some magic books."

Honestly, it was more comfortable without Doloris around.

Ruby's eyes were sparkling beside Doloris.

First chicken skewers, then candy, and now books. Today was practically a birthday for the kid.

"Wait here once you've made ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠your choice. Henrik? Mia? Please look after Lionel."

"Of course."

"Don't you worry~"

Doloris and Ruby left the shop.

Tinkle.

The bell chimed, and a quiet stillness settled over the shop.

Countless nameless hammers hung closely together on the dusty display stand.

From here on out, it was my time.

Let's pick one.

Henrik silently pulled hammers from the display.

I inspected them one by one as he took them out.

The first hammer was...

Well, shit. Why is it so creepy right off the bat?

"...That hammer is the Bone Hammer. It's meant for forging, but it carries a rather strong curse attribute."

Oh. This guy has a good eye.

He's seeing exactly what I'm seeing.

"I see. You can speak casually to me, you know."

"No, it is quite alright."

A flat rejection... I reconsidered the situation.

A noble—and a Duchess at that—claims a kid is part of her household, and that kid is forcing a commoner to speak casually to him...

Yeah, demanding it might actually be a burden to him.

"...Okay."

I quietly watched as Henrik pulled out more hammers.

But as the process repeated, nothing really caught my eye.

Either the descriptions were unsettling, or the star ratings were just too low.

I wanted to pick the best possible option...

They say a poor craftsman blames his tools, but the masters who say that are always using top-tier gear.

Still, Henrik's explanations were quite engaging.

"This one is made by compressing volcanic ash. It has good heat conductivity, making it decent for metallurgy, but the handle is a bit weak."

"Ooh."

"This one was used by miners to reinforce tunnels. It's sturdy, but for precision work, it's a bit..."

"Ohhh..."

In the end, they were all pretty disappointing.

Still, I went through the motions of holding each one. That was when I saw it.

An enchant hammer?

Just as I was questioning the unusual name, I read the text below it.

"Chief Artisan?!"

Before I knew it, the words slipped out of my mouth.

Why was a Chief Artisan mentioned here?

"Ah, that hammer... is actually not meant for forging."

The corners of Henrik's mouth twitched.

"Do you know what enchanting is?"

"Ah, not... not really."

With a look that practically screamed 'I've got you now,' he twitched his mustache and began to speak.

"Equipment has grades, represented by the number of stars."

"Yes."

"Enchanting is the act of raising the quality of equipment, completely separate from those stars."

Henrik held up a hammer next to him.

"Let's assume this hammer is a one-star piece of equipment. If you enchant it, its original one-star performance remains, but new layers of power are added on top, one by one. We call this 'enhancement level' or 'plus.'"

"Like... +1, +2, and so on?"

"Yes, exactly. The stars on equipment are determined at birth. The materials, the creator's skill, the process. They cannot be changed."

What is this incredibly familiar system?

It was a system almost every guy from my previous world would know.

The enhancement system of a typical RPG.

And...

"But what makes it possible is enchanting... Please wait just a moment."

Henrik closed his eyes tightly for a second, then suddenly headed toward the counter.

He bent down beneath the table.

Click, click.

What was that sound?

I tilted my head slightly to look down.

What the...

He was spinning the dial of a safe.

No, Yuna, you shouldn't be looking at that.

The safe clicked open, and Henrik pulled something out.

It was a small pouch wrapped in cloth.

He carefully untied the pouch and pinched a bit of its contents between his fingers.

It was a blue powder.

"This powder is the core of enchanting."

Henrik showed me the powder between his fingers.

"You sprinkle this powder over the equipment, then strike it with a hammer to infuse the energy."

He carefully sprinkled the powder over the Bone Hammer from earlier.

Sift, sift...

The blue particles settled onto the hammer's surface.

For a moment, it looked like stardust.

Henrik picked up the Basic Enchant Hammer.

Tap.

He struck it.

The powder glowed faintly. I wondered if it was sinking in, but...

Tap.

"..."

"..."

Tap.

Nothing happened.

And then, it vanished.

The powder failed to infuse, scattering and blowing away from the surface.

Henrik put the hammer down with a bitter smile.

"Yes. If that had worked, I would be making a living as an enchanter."

So it failed?

"Most enchanting these days is done in the Dwarf Company's enchant rooms. They replicate the strikes of a master craftsman to achieve the highest success rate. It's too difficult for human bodies and senses."

"...I see."

It was quite fascinating.

Though, I was a Fire Descendant, so enchanting was a bit out of my wheelhouse. Right, right.

Still, out of habit from picking up every other hammer, I naturally reached out.

Slide.

The moment I gripped the Basic Enchant Hammer...

"Huh?"

What? I can enchant?

My body flinched instinctively.

Is spring finally coming for me?

If I could just breeze through enchanting like this...

"Honey, can you come here for a second~?"

Right on cue, Mia called Henrik from the back.

"Ah, please wait just a moment."

"Sure, go ahead."

Take your time. The longer, the better.

Henrik disappeared into the back room.

I was left alone.

Holding the Basic Enchant Hammer, I looked around.

The Bone Hammer that Henrik had failed to enchant was lying there, and the open cloth pouch sat right next to it.

Fortunately, it seemed some powder was still clinging to the Bone Hammer.

It looked like enhancement was possible.

"Yes."

Just how would the enhancement process work?

I waited in anticipation.

"Huh?"

What is this?

Numbers floated in the air.

And then...

A blue circle appeared over the Bone Hammer in front of me. It was about the size of a coin.

But then, a larger blue circle appeared outside of it.

The outer circle slowly shrank toward the inner circle.

Closer and closer.

The two circles drew near.

The outer circle shrank until the two almost overlapped, passing inside the original circle, and then vanished.

I just stared at it, having no idea what was happening.

Suddenly, Yuna started trembling. What was wrong with her?

What is this? A countdown?

Immediately, a new circle appeared in a different spot.

Once again, an outer circle began to shrink toward it.

It's a classic Korean trait: when given a time limit, you feel compelled to do something.

Without thinking, I swung the hammer down onto the Bone Hammer.

The second circle was shrinking. The moment of overlap had already passed, and just as the outer circle shrank smaller than the inner one, right before it disappeared—

Clang!

And then...

Suddenly, a blatant insult flew at me.

Well, that's a bit harsh.

Time was ticking away, and since nothing else was changing...

A fourth circle appeared. The outer circle shrank.

I struck it again, but...

Faced with another insult, I paused my hammering for a moment.

And then...

Clang!

This time, I struck exactly when the two circles overlapped.

Along with a rainbow light flashing before my eyes...

Finally, some praise.

Wait a minute, this sensation in my hands...

Mr. Terrible. This is getting a bit annoying.

Along with Yuna's nagging, the result popped up.

The powder that had been glowing faintly just moments ago completely lost its light.

"..."

So...

Did I just perform an enchantment?

I replayed the scene in my head.

First, a blue circle appears on the equipment. An outer, larger circle shrinks as it approaches.

There is an exact moment when the two circles overlap. Then, the circle shrinks further and disappears.

Wait, wait a minute...

Isn't this that?

Without realizing it, a smile began to spread across my face.

Yeah?

Actually, it is.

Yuna, I beg to differ.

I'm pretty sure... it is exactly that.

The moment the outer circle perfectly overlaps with the inner circle. If you hit it then, it gives you a high score.

If you hit it too early, too ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠late, or miss it entirely, it's a miss.

So, both times, I had struck long after the circles overlapped.

Which was why I got "Terrible."

"It's a rhythm game."

No wonder I was terrible at it.

When I briefly saw the word "Terrible" pop up twice just now, I was worried for a second that I might not have the talent for enchanting.

But that worry vanished in an instant.

I didn't need to worry about that.

Because... I was...

"Now I can legally play it, right?"

A hardcore, toxic, degenerate player who had spent fifteen years doing nothing but playing rhythm games.

And to put it another way...

I was a rhythm game addict.

A rhythm game demon.