This is Troubling...
"Boss, what the hell are you? Even the master blacksmith in Gangnam with his dwarf skills couldn't sharpen a blade like this. Restoring a weapon with trashed durability to brand-new condition? Are you some legendary hidden-class blacksmith from the myths?!"
Praise poured out of her without so much as a breath. I scratched the back of my head and shrugged it off like it was no big deal.
"Just a repairman with decent handiwork, that's all. Anyway, I broke it by accident, but I fixed it up good as new, so we're square, right?"
"Square? Hell yeah! No, I should be paying you extra for the repair! Thank you so, so much!"
Seo Ayoung kept bowing at a perfect ninety degrees, expressing her gratitude over and over.
"I'll never forget this favor! I don't have cash right now 'cause I'm scraping by on installments, but I'll clear gates with this sword and pay you back for sure! I know where your workshop is now, so I'll drop by often!"
Her personality flipped all of a sudden. Well, still felt good knowing I'd bailed out a bottom-rung hunter.
"Oh, right! Your number! Gimme your number!"
When was the last time a girl asked for my number...? Hmm... never.
She practically forced my contact into her smartphone, then asked again.
"Ah!? I've been talking nonstop about myself! What were you gonna say, boss?"
"Eh... just spread the word, y'know? Get more repair jobs coming in."
"Of course!! No problem! Um... I don't have friends, but I'll look for some!"
A pretty girl like her having no friends? Kinda refreshing, in a weird way.
Well, her personality is a bit off.
Seo Ayoung clutched her treasure of a sword tight to her chest and dashed out of the junkyard, yelling back.
"I'll definitely come back! Boss!"
"Sure thing."
I watched her retreating figure and let out a chuckle. A struggling newbie hunter living on installments—felt kinda like looking at myself not long ago. Made her cute, tugged at my heartstrings. And that admiring look in her eyes? Not half bad.
Ride the vibe into something more?
I shook my head. Yeah, right. As if my life had room for that.
"Fine. Just send lots of customers my way. Help me make bank."
I stepped out to lower the shutter.
A little later, Seo Ayoung arrived home. After a quick wash-up, she headed to her room, pulled out her reborn sword, and gazed at it endlessly while humming a little tune.
"Hehe, I was so pissed when I got scammed—wanted to die. But it turned into this."
Truth was, she'd been scammed—not quite, but close. A D-rank sword, sure, but with barely any durability left, bought on installments for 6 million won. Her own fault for not checking closely. She'd been forced to hunt with it, swallowing her tears.
"He was pretty handsome, right...? How old is he? Didn't even ask."
But something felt off. Her room was in a high-end mansion most people couldn't afford. For an installment-life low-rank hunter, she was loaded.
Then—
The door burst open, and someone strode right into Seo Ayoung's room without knocking.
"Seo Ayoung. You went to a gate alone at dawn again? I told you I'd cut off your allowance if you kept that up!! Where does an F-rank get off wandering around at night like that!!"
A voice brimming with overwhelming charisma. The woman—wearing a tank top and short training pants—looked like Seo Ayoung but far more mature and alluring, her features sensually sharp. She was half a head taller, too. But what really drew the eye was the natural pressure radiating from her body. The air grew heavy just from her breathing—a presence only the strong could emit.
"Sis! No, something amazing happened today!"
Seo Ayoung shouted at her sister, Seo Ara.
"That sword I got scammed on? It broke. But I met this super weird guy, and he turned my shattered sword into this in just ten seconds! Look!"
Seo Ayoung proudly drew the sword and thrust it in front of her sister's face. Seo Ara, who'd been gazing at her sister with lazy pity, locked eyes on the blade.
"......What the hell is that?"
Her gaze sharpened in an instant.
"G-gimme that!"
She snatched it from Ayoung's hand. As Korea's A-rank hunter and vice-master of the 11th-ranked guild, her senses swept over the changes infused in the sword. She knew her sister's blade wasn't up to snuff. With her own money, she could've replaced it—but she'd let it slide to teach a lesson. That's why she'd been scolding her for sneaking to gates at night with that junk.
But... this sword in front of her wasn't the durability-dead trash Ayoung had been scammed into buying.
What... is this? Possible?
Her expert eye befitting an A-rank confirmed it. This wasn't just repaired—it felt like time had been rewound, perfect as new.
"Seo Ayoung."
Her voice dropped low.
"Where'd you get this fixed?"
"This? Some junkyard on the outskirts of Seoul..."
Seo Ara shot back incredulously.
"A junkyard? A junkyard fixed it like this?!"
"Uh, yeah? What's wrong?"
"Contact info!"
Ayoung flinched at her sister's intensity.
"O-of course I got it..."
A sly, intrigued smile spread across the A-rank hunter's lips. A miraculous skill even she, ranked 11th in Korea, had never seen. And the guy with it was holed up in a backwater junkyard...
"He in a guild? His rank? Which gate'd you meet him at?"
"W-wait, one at a time!"
Gate items were beyond valuable. Their worth skyrocketed with rank. But there was a catch: durability. Everyone knew gate gear wore out, becoming unusable no matter how good. A skilled blacksmith made it usable again.
But production classes were rare, especially top-tier ones. Korea favored combat hunters, so it was worse here. Only recently were voices calling to nurture production jobs louder—but still quiet. Why? Raising production took time; better to level combat hunters for faster gate clears and item drops. Just swap gear when it broke. That was the global mindset, Korea included.
But as an A-rank, she knew better. Finding gear that fit perfectly was hell. Higher rank didn't always mean best—sometimes a synergistic B-rank beat an S-rank. Tossing a battle-tested item due to durability hurt.
And now... a repairman who made worn-out gear like new?
This was huge.
Seo Ara decided she had to scout this guy Ayoung met.
But it was 2 a.m. Bad time to visit.
Stay cool. Don't make a bad first impression.
She turned to her sister.
"You got nothing tomorrow, right?"
"Nah? I'm super busy? Gotta grind gates like crazy to pay installments?"
Seo Ara barked.
"Cut the act, you brat! I'll cover 'em! Dress pretty tomorrow and take me to that junkyard, got it?"
Hearing her installments covered, Ayoung cheered.
"Deal!!"
The junkyard, lights out. An old bed. Creak— the ancient mattress groaned, drawing a wry laugh.
"Yeah, time to let you go too."
Excitement kept sleep away. I'd hit an F-rank gate matching my level, but one-shotted monsters and even snapped Seo Ayoung's same-rank weapon.
I'm stronger. Definitely. This puts me at D-rank, no—C-rank level.
The dream combat class. And my repairman skills kept improving too.
Lying there, I opened my status window and launched the Multidimensional Secondhand Market. Couldn't sleep? Community time.
But right as I logged in, it blinked with new messages.
Let's see... sender...
What confidence—using his real name as ID. Dragon thing? He'd been spamming during my gate run.
I smirked, got up, and headed to the fridge.
I attached five chocolates. Seconds later—
New message received.
Dimensional mail from Jermad-nim has arrived. Confirm?
I replied before checking the mail.
Did his fantasy world have that too, back in the day? I messaged casually, like hearing an old tale.
No one knew gates' origins or why. They just appeared one day—before my time. I lived in that era, that's all.
But Jermad's reply chilled my spine, shattering my light mood.
I muttered without thinking.
"What...?"