Chapter 19
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: The Blacksmith's Qualification and the Golden Forge
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Seongsu-dong Hunter Street, Korea's largest equipment production district.
It should have been filled with the clang of hammers and the heat of furnaces, but today the street was deathly silent.
The Daeseong Forge, run by master blacksmith Park Sung-chul with 30 years of experience, was no different.
He stood guard in his empty shop, rubbing his dry face.
"This... doesn't make any sense."
Just a week ago, reservations had been backed up at his forge. But everything had ground to a halt the day Lee Do-ha released the socket harness.
Ding-a-ling.
The door opened, and a young hunter walked in. Park Sung-chul jumped up with a welcoming smile.
"Welcome! What are you looking for? We've got these new B-grade steel swords..."
"Hey, boss, can you fix this for me?"
The hunter pointed to the X-shaped leather straps of the socket harness strapped across his chest.
Park Sung-chul's expression hardened. Another one. Nine out of ten hunters these days seemed to be wearing those leather straps.
"The leather's torn?"
"No, the sword I got from you won't fit in here. Can you modify it to be compatible?"
The hunter held out a masterpiece sword that Park Sung-chul had poured his heart into crafting.
But when the hunter pressed the sword against the core on his back, a sharp warning blared.
Incompatible equipment.
"See? It won't fit. Can't you adjust the specs, boss? It's not lightweight, so I can't carry it around."
Park Sung-chul bit his lip.
Adjust the specs? If he could, he would have already. For the past three days, he'd pulled all-nighters trying to analyze that socket core.
Disassembly, mana injection, alloy ratio tweaks—he'd tried everything. But the warnings and branding system made it impossible to even grasp the principles.
No, even attempting it was out of the question.
That thing wasn't just simple technology. It was an inviolable domain forged between a man named Lee Do-ha and the System itself.
"Sorry, but that's impossible. That core only recognizes Lee Do-ha's gear."
"Oh, really?"
The hunter's face fell in an instant. He sheathed Park Sung-chul's sword without a second thought.
"Guess there's no helping it. I'll just head to Lee Do-ha's shop and buy the new stuff. Sorry."
"W-wait! Hold on! My sword's durability is..."
"Boss, we risk our lives hunting out there. It's not about loyalty—it's about performance."
Bang.
As the door slammed shut, Park Sung-chul collapsed into his seat.
It wasn't just his forge. The entire Seongsu-dong street was dying.
The skills and know-how they'd built over lifetimes had become worthless scraps before the towering wall of the System.
"We're all done for... We'll all die like this."
At that moment, a broadcast echoed through the street—the urgent voice of the association president.
All blacksmiths were to assemble at the System Forge immediately. It was a survival signal, no time for pride.
The same time, at Lee Do-ha's System Forge.
The reception room, freshly expanded, brimmed with suffocating tension.
It wasn't mere tension. The air was crushed by heavy mana that made breathing difficult.
Lee Do-ha sat indifferently in the center of the sofa, while across from him, Korea's Blacksmiths Association President Choi Myeong-seok and his executives sat sweating bullets.
"So, what you're saying, President..."
Lee Do-ha set down his teacup and spoke plainly.
"...is that my tech is destroying the market ecosystem, so I should share it with the association for mutual prosperity?"
Choi Myeong-seok swallowed dryly.
His prepared speech was perfect. Monopoly prohibition, market stabilization, protection of small merchants... The justifications overflowed.
But he couldn't get the words out. Two massive presences loomed like mountain ranges by the window behind Lee Do-ha.
"This tea's good, Do-ha. What kind of leaves are these?"
Korea Rank 1, Wiz Guild Leader Kim O-jun.
Dressed casually in training wear as he sipped his tea, his blue mana chilled the room below freezing.
It was a silent warning. Try any funny business, and you won't leave this room alive.
"Tch, not my taste. I prefer something sweeter."
Beside him, Rank 2 Moon Guild Leader Sylphsong crunched on cookies. Each snap made the executives' hearts sink.
The two monsters who divided Korea's martial might dominated the space like Lee Do-ha's personal bodyguards.
Choi Myeong-seok's hands shook too much to even lift his teacup.
Pressure? Negotiation? Insanity.
They weren't here to subcontract from Lee Do-ha. They were volunteering as shields just to snag one more of his products.
"Kim O-jun, Sylphsong, we have guests. Tone down the killing intent a bit."
Lee Do-ha chided lightly, and Kim O-jun smirked, retracting his aura. Only then did Choi Myeong-seok exhale the breath he'd been holding.
The association's authority they wielded meant less than toilet paper here.
"Sharing the tech is impossible."
Lee Do-ha cut in firmly. No room for negotiation.
"Even if I gave you the blueprints, you couldn't make them. They're not simple mechanical devices. They only work with my intent infused. So what exactly is there to share?"
Choi Myeong-seok's face darkened to an earthy hue.
They knew. Over the past week, the association's elite disassembly team couldn't lay a finger on hundreds of harnesses.
Unscrew even a single screw? Slice a strip of leather? The branding system blared blue warnings and rejected them. The moment force was applied, chilling killing intent targeted the technicians' throats, and the cores locked themselves silent.
It wasn't something to analyze. Without Lee Do-ha's permission, no one could touch or even glimpse it—like a divine relic.
"Then... you're telling us to starve to death! If you swallow the whole industry, what about the thousands of blacksmiths?!"
Choi Myeong-seok squeezed out his last shred of pride in a shout. But defeat already thickly laced his voice.
Lee Do-ha fell silent for a moment.
Orders were indeed exploding. Ten apprentices weren't enough. He needed to run a factory, but civilians couldn't handle System gear.
"If you don't want to starve..."
Lee Do-ha leaned forward. His eyes weren't those of a businessman, but a predator's.
"...come under me."
"W-what? Are you saying... we should become your apprentices? I have 40 years of experience! Me, the association president..."
"Experience doesn't matter. Only qualification does."
Lee Do-ha stood and gazed out the window. Outside the building, thousands of blacksmiths from across the country, summoned by Choi Myeong-seok, gathered like clouds.
"You've brought them all. Perfect. Let's handle it all at once."
"W-what...?"
"Prove it. Show you're artisans, not merchants."
Lee Do-ha raised his right hand.
Snap.
3. Trial System: Golden Forge
[Authority Activated: Blacksmith's Sanctuary]
[Subspace Opened: Unlimited Capacity]
"Wha... what?!"
Choi Myeong-seok, the executives, and the thousands of blacksmiths outside—their visions flashed white simultaneously.
It wasn't mere hallucination. The forge's interior space defied physics, expanding infinitely.
When they opened their eyes again, they stood in an unfamiliar realm.
Endless horizons where sky and earth alike gleamed in dazzling gold.
"W-where is this?"
"The building inside... can't be this big!"
Chaos gripped them as an unbelievable sight unfolded.
Thousands of anvils and furnaces aligned in perfect rows, like reviewing a vast army.
Lee Do-ha was nowhere to be seen. He offered no explanation. Only massive System messages dominated the space, floating in the air.
[Heart of the Hammer]
[Stand before your anvil.]
As if entranced, thousands of blacksmiths walked to their anvils. There lay their personal hammers, worn from years of use.
[Lift the hammer.]
Choi Myeong-seok scoffed and gripped his hammer.
"Hmph, just hammer work? How many years have I been in this game..."
He confidently flexed.
But...
"Urk?!"
The hammer didn't budge. Like a boulder welded in place, it was utterly immobile. Panicking, he grabbed it with both hands and strained, but it stayed glued to the floor.
[Greed]
You mixed impurities to cut costs.
[Deception]
You shipped cracked swords with covers.
Your hammer weighs profit heavier than hunters' lives.
The System's voice pierced straight into their minds.
"Guh... No! I'm... I'm the association president!"
Choi Myeong-seok's face flushed red and purple.
Looking around, most executives and high-ranking blacksmiths struggled futilely with their hammers.
They weren't blacksmiths. They were politicians who'd lorded over technicians to fill their bellies. Their hammers had long rotted.
Clang! Clang!
Then came a clear ringing from somewhere.
Park Sung-chul, the old blacksmith sharpening blades namelessly in Seongsu-dong's corner, and fresh young initiates with calluses just forming.
They lifted their hammers light as feathers.
[Sincerity]
Your hammer was swung solely for survival.
Golden particles enveloped their hammers, shining brilliantly.
Joy filled their faces. Years of poverty and disdain. But their sincerity toward metal had been affirmed.
This golden space spoke no lies.
Lee Do-ha watched silently from somewhere in the void. The chaff was separated from the wheat.
[Verification Ended]
The virtual space faded, returning to the real forge.
Choi Myeong-seok and half the failures slumped on the floor, gasping. The passers stood dazed, hammers still in hand.
The divide was ruthlessly clear.
Lee Do-ha stood at the forge's main entrance. His voice rang out evenly.
"Those who failed, leave. There's no place for you in my forge."
Choi Myeong-seok staggered to his feet.
His face mixed shame and rage, but he couldn't retort. He'd felt the weight of his deeds to his bones.
As they fled, the System's icy warning stabbed their backs.
Those who lost their chance.
Hostile actions hereafter will apply branding.
Now, about 2,000 passers remained—Korea's blacksmith elite.
Lee Do-ha surveyed them calmly.
"If you want to work with me, there's one condition."
A massive contract floated in the air.
[Rank Reset]
Surrender all prior fame and rank to become Lee Do-ha's F-grade apprentice.
Do you agree?
Murmurs rippled. Even for the great Lee Do-ha, abandoning lifelong careers for F-grade probation was too much.
"F-grade...? My 30 years..."
Some shook their heads and left the ranks. But Park Sung-chul didn't move.
He clenched his fist.
30 years—not short. Honor, loyal customers, pride—all to be discarded.
'But...'
He recalled the thrill in the Golden Forge.
The perfect standard that made his life's swords feel like toys. If he could reach that realm...
'Die clinging to the shell, or break it and be reborn?'
Park Sung-chul's gaze steadied, resolute.
An artisan speaks through results, not ranks.
"I'll learn from the beginning again."
With trembling hand, Park Sung-chul signed the contract in the air.
His resolve spurred others. One by one, the true artisans signed, knowing this was not an end, but a beginning.
And as signatures completed, a hidden message appeared before their eyes alone.
"Huh...?"
Park Sung-chul's eyes widened.
The rank they'd feared permanent F-grade would recover with their master's growth—no, surpass limits as he advanced.
It wasn't abandonment. It was Lee Do-ha's gift to reach higher.
Lee Do-ha smiled faintly and opened the door.
"Come in. Welcome to my factory."
This was no mere employment contract.
It was the moment Korea's entire blacksmith industry was absorbed into Lee Do-ha's System.
No more supply shortages. The colossal golden armory to arm hunters worldwide had begun operations.