Chapter 8
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Full Power Association President
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Less than a month had passed before the emergency meeting was called again.
The guild leaders' faces were filled with dissatisfaction.
"How long has it been since we last met, and they're calling us again?"
"We're busy people too. It's a problem if they keep dragging us into trivial matters."
"Another great success? We're not even surprised by much anymore."
They were the heads of massive guilds, after all.
They knew the blacksmith was incredible, but being summoned this frequently was a blow to their pride—not to mention their stomachs still hurt from the last armor debacle.
Irmi bowed her head.
"I sincerely apologize for the frequent summons. But this time, you absolutely must see it for yourselves. It's not just a simple great success."
The sight of her—the association president's closest aide—bowing her head in apology.
The guild leaders' eyes changed.
Normally, she wouldn't have even snorted at them.
'What kind of mess has he caused this time...'
With trembling hands, Irmi activated the central hologram.
"Here it is. An ultimate success."
Blacksmith's First Longbow
⚡ Grade:F++
📦 Type:Longbow
Options:
1. Slight increase to [Gale Aura] proficiency and mana proficiency
2. Increased [Gale Aura] power, slight decrease in consumption
3. 30% increase to range and penetration
Skills:
[Auto-Aim]: Automatically tracks and corrects aim for vital points of enemies in sight.
[Gale Arrow]: Consumes aura to generate wind-attribute arrows.
[Wind's Eye]: Dramatically increases eyesight; enemy weak points are marked in red.
Special Feature:[Equipment Activation]
A heavy silence descended upon the conference room.
"......"
"......"
Not even the sound of breathing could be heard.
They doubted their own eyes.
'Is what we're seeing... real?'
An ultimate success surpassing 6 options.
[Gale Arrow] for infinite shots without arrows, [Auto-Aim] guaranteeing perfect accuracy, and [Wind's Eye] piercing through weaknesses.
This wasn't a weapon.
It was the ideal incarnate—something every archer dreamed of but could never attain.
But the real shock was something else.
In a trembling voice, Irmi explained the final feature.
"And... a new function has been added to the standard [Equipment Activation] on normal weapons."
Socket Function Activated
- Allows equipping one additional weapon and one piece of armor for overlapping options.
- Weight of socketed equipment is treated as 0.
- Slot Limit: Maximum 2
- Storage Function: Equipment can be directly [stored] inside the socket.
- Usage Requirement: Must equip gear with [Equipment Activation] of matching grade or higher.
"No way..."
The Mitu Guild Leader shot to his feet without realizing it.
The laws of this world were absolute.
Hunters could only activate one main weapon at a time—it was common sense. If you held a sword, you couldn't use a bow; if you held a bow, you couldn't wield a staff.
Yet that bow was shattering those laws head-on.
Firing arrows while benefiting from a sword's options and an armor's barrier simultaneously?
'One hunter with that could take on five of equal rank.'
It was an out-of-spec item, no question.
One thought crossed their minds.
'It's too far beyond human to explain.'
A sense of self-loathing—they might just be ordinary folk lucky enough to awaken.
For all their swagger as guild leaders, they were mere ants before that blacksmith.
That's when I timidly added,
"Oh, and the apprentice system has activated too. I can share F-grade recipes and train ten apprentices. What if we built an association forge and ran it like a factory...?"
In that instant,
They heard the snap of rationality's final thread breaking.
"A factory...?"
The Haedam Guild Leader's eyes shook violently.
Calculations raced through his mind.
Mass-producing that absurd weapon.
Not just one or two, but legion-scale.
What if that blacksmith went to another guild?
His guild was done for.
The enemy would come with an army armed with socket-piercing weapons, and they'd be massacred.
'This is a matter of survival.'
Money was irrelevant.
Whoever secured that man would dominate Korea—no, the world.
Whoever failed would be eliminated and die.
Their eyes shifted from greed to fear, then to madness.
"Hahahahahahahahahaha!"
Suddenly, the Mitu Guild Leader burst into mad laughter.
"Apprentices? Factory? Mass-producing weapons like that?"
"A three-month rookie hunter? Hahahaha! Ridiculous!"
The atmosphere flipped in an instant.
The guild leaders, eyeing each other, simultaneously unleashed their killing intent.
'I have to have him.'
'Even if it means clashing with the association here, taking him means we win.'
'Lose him, and we're dead. Must take him at all costs.'
In that fleeting moment, the prisoner's dilemma ignited.
Whoever moved first left the rest behind.
"All Mitu Guild members! Secure Lee Do-ha! Now!"
The Mitu Guild Leader kicked off the table and launched himself first.
"Sorry, Do-ha, but you'll have to understand. We need to protect you in our guild."
"Out of the way! I claimed him first! He's mine!"
Rumble rumble rumble
The entire conference room shook with mana waves. Cracks spiderwebbed the outer walls, and windows shattered in chaos.
Korea's strongest were charging at me alone, like a pack of starving wolves.
"Have you all lost your minds?! Stop this!"
Headquarters Chief Irmi screamed, blocking their path.
She already held the ultimate success bow.
Emerald Gale Aura swirled like a storm, halting the guild leaders' advance—but it wasn't enough.
One S-grade against seven berserk S-grades was impossible.
Desperately, I looked to Sylphsong.
She, whom I'd saved—surely she'd help. My one ally.
But.
"Um... Sylphsong? A little help here..."
"Do-ha..."
Her voice trembled faintly.
She was shaking too.
Imagining other guild leaders taking him made her blood boil in reverse.
"I know. I know this is wrong."
Her eyes were crazed.
"...But."
Shadows writhed.
Black shadows rose from her feet, reacting to her uncontrollable possessiveness.
"I won't let other scum have you."
"......Crazy."
As the saying goes, even the trusted axe can chop your foot.
Sylphsong unleashed her Shadow Aura and charged.
"Get out of my way! This man's mine!"
"Don't make me laugh! You already got your share last time! No conscience?"
Chief vs. all guild leaders vs. Sylphsong.
Mana clashed with force enough to uproot the association building.
An unprecedented brawl among S-grades in Korea's—no, humanity's—history.
One misfired skill, and the building would vanish without a trace.
On the verge of civil war, in that split second,
"Enough."
No warning, no presence.
As if he'd been there from the start.
Crackle crackle crackle!
Space tore, and a white-haired elder appeared, blue lightning coiling his body.
The Association President.
But not his usual kindly old man facade.
Blue lightning pouring from his entire form devoured all mana in the room.
World Rank 3rd
Steel Guardian
The association president's true form
He twitched a single finger.
That was all.
Boom!!!
With a deafening roar, the rampaging guild leaders slammed into the floor like fallen leaves.
"Urk..."
"Argh..."
"This... power..."
Even Irmi the Chief, newly awakened S-grade Sylphsong, and the renowned guild leaders—
Not a single one could stand.
Everyone except me, Lee Do-ha.
Let's rewind time by 0.01 seconds.
A realm beyond what my E-grade blacksmith eyes could see.
"Association President! Even you can't stop all of us...!"
As the deranged guild leaders prepared a joint aura strike,
The president's eyes cooled icily.
"Words won't suffice."
In that moment, a memory from 20 years ago flashed through his mind.
[20 Years Ago: Seoul]
"Please, spare us!"
"Aaaahhhhhhh!"
"Mom! Mom!"
It was hell.
Buildings collapsed and burned; the ground swarmed with monsters like ants.
The sky was worse. Dragons and wyverns, sky knights blotting out the sun.
The global super monster wave.
The day dubbed humanity's extinction scenario.
People fled to bunkers underground, but it wasn't enough.
Human armies annihilated, hunters despairing and dropping weapons.
Then, young him stood atop the ruins.
"Come at me all at once!!!"
His voice shook heaven and earth.
Rumble—!
Not mere thunderclouds.
A higher concept—the sky itself blackened in fury.
He burned his life force to manifest heaven's lightning.
"Thunder God!!!!"
Rumble rumble rumble!!!
With an earth-shaking roar, a massive pillar of light descended from the sky.
All ground monsters, all aerial dragons trapped in that light.
One strike.
80% of the monsters invading Seoul vaporized on the spot.
Perfect annihilation, no corpses left.
From that day, he became the Steel Guardian, a living legend.
[Flashback End]
Blue light gleamed in the president's eyes.
Flash—!
One flash.
And it was over.
Sylphsong's Shadow Aura, the guild leaders' combined attack—all vanished in an instant.
'I thought we could beat the president...'
'A monster. That's not human.'
Primal fear filled the eyes of the guild leaders sprawled and convulsing on the floor.
He had never revealed his full power before.
Except that day 20 years ago, on the brink of national annihilation.
- Usable once per day
- Draws out all user's potential, exerting power near peak condition.
The president withdrew his aura with a click of his tongue.
If he hadn't held back, the building would've been dust—maybe an entire district of Seoul erased from the map.
"That was close. My power control isn't what it used to be."
He approached me, slumped and trembling on the floor, and extended a hand.
"Are you alright?"
"Uh..."
I stared blankly at his hand.
Residual electricity still crackled at his fingertips.
What had I just witnessed?
This... was S-grade beyond S-grade?
My legs gave out, vision blurring.
"Wha—Huh?"
"Lee Do-ha!"
Thud.
I blacked out.
[Record Complete]
[Observation Target: World]
[Intervener: Inactive]