A Masterpiece of Play

No matter how she looked at it, the sheer volume of work and the weight of responsibility were far too immense for a mere player to handle. She knew Kim Tae-hyun was the representative of Team KL and that he was involved in its management, but... still, this was too much!

"Because I've been doing it from the very beginning?"

"...Shouldn't we help him out a bit?" Lee Se-yeon asked Lee Da-bi without thinking.

Lee Da-bi wore a flustered expression.

"Why are you asking Da-bi?"

"Ah... right." Lee Se-yeon quickly conceded. Come to think of it, this was only happening because Kim Tae-hyun was a madman; it wasn't Lee Da-bi's fault.

"I'll do it!"

"Huh?"

"What?"

Tae-hyun and Lee Se-yeon stared at Lee Da-bi. She had clenched her fists, her eyes burning with determination.

"No... Da-bi, it's fine. Aren't you busy with your own work? You have to manage Power Warrior too."

"I can do both. I might be lacking at first, but I'll work hard starting now."

"Why waste that effort on something like this...?" Tae-hyun was reluctant. He simply wanted Lee Da-bi to focus on the game.

It's because of you.

I-I'm sorry. I just spoke without thinking...

Lee Se-yeon was so apologetic she didn't know what to do. Seeing her like that made it hard for Tae-hyun to say anything more, so he kept his mouth shut.

"Well... fine. If you want, you can join the meetings."

"Please leave the chores, like cleaning the meeting room, to me!"

"No, that's not the kind of meeting we have." Tae-hyun was dumbfounded. Why was she being so extreme?

"But as a beginner, I can't just sit there doing nothing..."

"Yes, you can! We're just listening to opinions. Stop thinking such scary thoughts."

Which direction to steer Team KL, what to think of the sponsorship proposals received from various corporations, whether to reject an advertisement offer from a company with a bad reputation that might hurt their image later... These were the kinds of things Tae-hyun discussed in his meetings. Most of these materials were compiled and organized by their agent anyway. There was absolutely no need for Lee Da-bi to do any chores.

"I'm telling you in advance, it's nothing special. It's mostly just us agonizing over choices."

"That's fine. I will definitely help!"

"...Alright. Thanks." Tae-hyun smiled and patted Lee Da-bi's shoulder. Unlike a certain someone who got smacked on the back of the head for not even soaking her dishes in water after eating, Lee Da-bi was being so considerate and trying to help. It was both admirable and touching.

Watching them, Lee Se-yeon felt a strange pang of envy.

"I'm envious."

"...?!"

When Ryu Tae-su muttered beside her, Lee Se-yeon's heart nearly leaped out of her chest.

"W-W-What...?"

"Isn't it cool to see a player autonomously participating in team management and thinking so seriously about it? I want to become a player like that too."

"..."

Lee Se-yeon decided she needed to keep Ryu Tae-su at a distance from now on. This punk is going to give me a heart attack...!

Yes! Tae-hyun cheered inwardly. As a blacksmith, he had performed tens of thousands of repairs, but this one felt entirely different. He had failed so many times.

What on earth was this thing that caused me to fail so much? It was genuinely astonishing in hindsight.

Having fallen asleep out of sheer boredom from watching the endless cycle of "Repair -> Fail, Repair -> Fail," Carbanog quickly scrambled to its feet to offer congratulations. It was pretending it hadn't been dozing off!

After all this suffering, surely a decent recipe or skill will drop, right?

Clack, clack, clack—

A recipe was inscribed on the wall at the end of the passage. As soon as he checked it, a message window popped up.

This was a Secret Skill containing various toy crafting recipes handed down by the mechanical engineering blacksmiths of the Ancient Empire over a long period. As the skill level increased, more recipes would be unlocked.

*The unlocked recipes are influenced by achievements.

"..."

"It's nice that my skill level went up, but the cost-efficiency seems terrible." Tae-hyun clicked his tongue. While Carbanog hopped around in excitement, Tae-hyun remained surprisingly calm. As a blacksmith, you couldn't survive long if you let every little thing sway your emotions. A true blacksmith had to be able to hold back tears and start crafting anew even if a piece of equipment they had spent years making shattered during enhancement.

Compared to such bitter experiences, wandering around the basement of a power plant only to receive a garbage reward was entirely bearable.

Let's just be satisfied that my skill level went up.

Once any skill reached the Master rank, the difficulty of raising it by even a single percent skyrocketed to hellish levels. From that perspective, the time spent in the power plant hadn't been in vain. When else would he get to clear a quest of this difficulty?

The problem was... I can't keep clinging to this forever. If Tae-hyun were a pure blacksmith, he would have stayed until he repaired every single part here, but he was the Avatar of Archisus.

Not only did he need to learn magic skills from the spirits right away, but he also had class quests remaining. He couldn't dedicate himself solely to this. The most efficient way was to secure good recipes and skills first, then use them to steadily raise his Mechanical Engineering skill level...

But of all things, it had to be "Toys." Toys... Toys, huh? Usually, toys had literally joke-like effects.

Upon use, sets ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠off a firework filled with beautiful flowers.

The moment it is stepped on, makes a farting sound with every step for one minute.

Lights up a colorful lantern that grants a bonus to dancing. Your shadow will dance along with you.

These kinds of mechanical engineering toys were so trivial that almost no one crafted them seriously. Most of the toy items circulating in the market right now were made by casual blacksmith players. The blacksmiths who seriously pursued Mechanical Engineering were either making much more complex machinery or running wild with an obsession for bombs! Toys like these could be covered by general Blacksmithing Skills even if one's Mechanical Engineering skill was low.

What recipes do I have unlocked right now?

Two... The rest will probably unlock as my skill level goes up. Should I try making them first?

Tae-hyun borrowed the Imperial Cog Golem's workbench and began crafting. Although the NPCs of Ancient Empire University had a bit of a madman streak, they had one saving grace: they were incredibly generous with resources. If it was for crafting, they wouldn't say a word even if he wasted the materials inside. Normally, it wouldn't be surprising if he got hit with a string of failures, but...

Checking required materials.

...Are these lunatics insane? Why would they make a toy out of this?!

Tae-hyun was dumbfounded. What was a toy supposed to be? Shouldn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it be something easily made with common materials found nearby? The parts listed here required gathering materials like highest-grade steel, finding their respective recipes, and crafting them one by one. It was exactly the kind of material-gathering quest that ruined a blacksmith's temper! Gathering the materials was hard enough, but then you had to process them once, process them again, and if the craft failed, you had to start all over from the beginning...

Ugh. Just thinking about Pan-On 1 makes me feel nauseous.

Tae-hyun shook off the memories and got to work. He had no idea what kind of toy required such high-grade materials, but he might as well make it! Fortunately, the Imperial Cog Golem's workbench was fully stocked with these parts as well.

Tae-hyun looked around and stuffed the parts into his pockets. Carbanog watched in sheer admiration. This guy really won't starve to death no matter where he goes!

"Alright. Let's start crafting."

"..." Are you kidding me?

Only after trying over and over again did Tae-hyun finally get a feel for it.

...No. At this point, my pride is on the line. I have to see this through.

Tae-hyun's eyes blazed. Of course, Carbanog was right. This crafting process was incredibly cost-ineffective. He was wasting expensive materials and burning through precious time just to make a toy from the Ancient Empire. ...But sometimes, humans did irrational things.

Who needs a reason to craft! You just do it!

For the first time in a long while, Tae-hyun burned with the passion of his Pan-On 1 blacksmith days.

"Again!"

...Getting a successor title from a toy is a bit awkward, but...

"...?!"

The description was far more absurd than he had anticipated. Tae-hyun rubbed his eyes and checked again. Did I read that right???

This is...! Does anything associated with the Ancient Empire become completely broken, even a toy? Tae-hyun was genuinely shocked. He hadn't expected it to have this level of performance. He had steeled himself even if a useless joke item came out...

It's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠limited to ten uses, but this is more than enough to be grateful for. No! I need to make more!

Tae-hyun's mind raced. He absolutely had to have a few more of these toys in his possession.

—...Whir. It seems it is time for you to go learn magic.

"No! I still have so much more to learn, Golem Master!"

Tae-hyun's tone had suddenly shifted to highly formal. He was clearly desperate to stay.

A moist dewdrop formed in the corner of the Golem's eye. Since the Golem had no emotions, it was definitely just dew.

—...Whir. No. You must learn magic. I promised the spirit.

"But I want to learn more from you!"

—Whir! Go learn magic!

The Cog Golem began to drag Tae-hyun out. At first, it had been delighted to have a disciple and had generously showered him with resources, but the rate at which he consumed materials was astronomical. If left unchecked, he would bankrupt the entire workshop!

—Whir. Promises are important! One must not steal another's disciple!

"Wait, you're the one who barged into someone else's training ground and dragged me here in the first place...!"

—Whir! Quiet!

The Cog Golem was learning many things in a short span of time. One of them was that taking on a disciple wasn't always a blessing!