A Pity-Induced Praise

However, Hammerman was not a shameless scammer like Kim Tae-hyun or the NPCs of the Archisus Church. When it came to making a deal, he was the type of person who would fairly and squarely present an item of equal value!

"The story of how I found this armor goes back several months. It's a pretty long story..."

"Give me a three-line summary."

"He said give him a three-line summary! You boring bastard!"

Hammerman thought to himself: If only I could land one solid punch on that GeneralGodTaehyun bastard, I'd have no other wishes in life!

"...I found it in a dungeon."

Now that the rankers' levels were starting to surpass 300, interest in equipment was also skyrocketing. They needed stronger, higher-level gear! Gear that was different from what had been released before!

Kim Tae-hyun, who had dominated the league after bringing Adamantium Armor into the matches, had sent shockwaves through the industry. While the league players were shocked, the ones who were truly devastated were the blacksmiths.

In Pan-On, whenever a player sparked a new revolution or innovation, various methods would emerge in their wake as others tried to catch up. In that sense, Tae-hyun was a pioneer who had ignited an explosion of competition.

Hammerman's plan was to repair and enhance equipment that had been damaged in ancient times. To him, restoring and strengthening old armor seemed far more powerful than crafting something from scratch.

As a result, while conquering a dungeon in the Espa Kingdom with his party, Hammerman had discovered this armor deep in the underground depths.

"Hammerman! This is huge! Armor like that has got to be incredibly good, right?!" The party members who had accompanied him were absolutely thrilled. Since it was protected by multiple layers of magic deep underground, their expectations were naturally sky-high.

"There's a 99% chance."

"Ooooh...! Oooooh!"

"Wait! I'm using a Magic Dispel Scroll!" Riiip!

"Let's head back! I need to repair this right away!"

"Hammerman! Hammerman!"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"So you repaired it, and it turned out to be armor from the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Archisus Church?"

"That's right."

"Oh dear... you poor soul..."

Tae-hyun comforted Hammerman with a look of genuine pity. How on earth did things turn out like that? To work so hard clearing a dungeon, only for the repaired armor to belong to the Archisus Church. If it had been Tae-hyun, he would have shed tears.

"W-Wait. Why am I a poor soul?"

Hammerman was flustered by Tae-hyun's condolences. What is wrong with this guy? Of course, he hadn't expected it to be Archisus Church armor, but Hammerman was actually quite satisfied with it.

"What? You're satisfied with it?"

"Well, yes, I was..."

"You really are an incredible guy, aren't you?"

Tae-hyun was genuinely impressed. To receive such a reward and still keep his mental state intact and be satisfied—only a truly exceptional blacksmith could do that.

"..."

Despite receiving praise from the Kim Tae-hyun, Hammerman felt uneasy. It felt like he was being praised for something incredibly bizarre.

"Oh... that's amazing, Hammerman. Getting praised by Kim Tae-hyun."

"Man, I'm jealous."

"Something... something feels off..."

Tae-hyun took the armor from the dazed Hammerman's hands. The moment the brilliantly shining armor touched Tae-hyun's hands, it suddenly dimmed, losing all its color.

Whoa... this is one bizarre set of armor. Tae-hyun was amazed by the armor's stats. Armor for an assassin!

No, they aren't? The Phytos Church has assassins too, you know?

It was his first time seeing armor specifically for assassins. Its defense was a whopping zero! Instead, it was designed to compensate for that lack of defense with its active skills.

Even for a church that bets everything on luck, this is incredibly extreme...

The description said as much. Armor that sacrificed all defense to bet everything on attack power and stealth, completely unwearable without the protection of Archisus!

Then again, the pool of people who can actually wear armor like this must be pretty limited.

Among the damage-dealing classes, not only did they have to belong to the Archisus Church, but they also had to be willing to bet their lives on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠evasion instead of defense... Even the most agile and nimble rogue classes tended to care quite a bit about their defense stats.

Oh... An Archisus Church quest! Acquiring the armor had satisfied the quest's trigger conditions.

Tae-hyun ignored it this time.

"Thanks. This armor is actually quite useful."

"I-Is that so? Well, I did repair it myself."

Hammerman completely forgot his annoyance from moments ago and grinned happily. Blacksmiths were simple creatures by nature; praise their work, and their mood would instantly improve.

Seeing this, Lucas chimed in.

"Kim Tae-hyun. Don't you think my gear might be a bit better than Hammerman's? To make a proper judgment, shouldn't you take a look at mine and compare them...?"

"Player Kim Tae-hyun! Forget that washed-up loser's gear, how about you take a look at mine instead?!"

"No. I don't need to."

Tae-hyun flatly refused. The only reason he had called this armor useful in the first place was because of the Archisus Church quest, not because of its actual performance.

"Ugh...!"

"Kuh...!"

However, it seemed to be a massive humiliation for both Lucas and GeneralGodTaehyun. The two of them trembled, hanging their heads.

Hammerman, now completely triumphant, sneered at them.

"I win, you idiots! Don't you dare go around bragging that you're better blacksmiths than me ever again!"

"...Just you wait!"

"I will absolutely craft gear that will crush you into the dirt!"

Huffing and puffing, the two of them stormed off.

...Wait. GeneralGodTaehyun aside, wasn't Lucas supposed to be Hammerman's friend? Why was Hammerman suddenly left all alone?

"Anyway, since I received the armor, I'll let you in on something. There's a Clockwork Golem in this Underground Power Plant, and it seems to manage the Blacksmithing Skill."

"Ohhh... thank you!!"

Thrilled, Hammerman grabbed Tae-hyun's hand, shook it vigorously, and then scurried off.

"Sigh. Blacksmiths really are a bunch of weirdos."

...But you're the most famous blacksmith of them all, Mr. Kim Tae-hyun... Ryu Tae-su thought to himself.

"Do many mage disciples come to visit?"

Having returned to the Imperial Elemental Spirit's Room, Tae-hyun looked at the slime and asked. There had to be plenty of players wanting to learn magic skills, not just swordsmanship. For an Elemental Spirit, it wouldn't be surprising if players were lining up out the door!

...Yet, strangely, not a single player was in sight. What's going on?

"My master has decided not to accept any more disciples."

"Huh? Why?"

"After speaking with the Golem, he realized that having disciples isn't necessarily a good thing..."

"..."

Oh... Tae-hyun suddenly felt a pang of guilt. Because Tae-hyun had learned from him first, the mage players had suddenly lost a potential master out of nowhere.

"Hey, no way. There's a real joy in accepting and teaching disciples. Seriously, I mean it."

"Even if you tell me that..."

Besides, unlike the Clockwork Golem's workshop, Tae-hyun hadn't done anything (yet) in this Spirit's Trial Ground.

"Right. Well, I should finish my quest first. Can I challenge the next trial?"

"Yes. My master is waiting for you."

The spells he had obtained from this Spirit's Trial Ground so far were [Flame Magic] and [Frost Magic].

I don't know how many more I can get, but I need to snag at least one useful spell!

Unfortunately, Tae-hyun hadn't really obtained any notable skills from the Earth Spirit's trial. He wanted to get something decent from the remaining trials!

If possible, lightning would be the best.

Since he already had plague magic, black magic, fire, and frost, having lightning magic as well would be perfect... Although he had never said it out loud to save face as his master, he had always been secretly envious whenever Yong-yong used lightning magic.

"...?"

However, what greeted Tae-hyun was an entirely unexpected trial.

Clank, clank, clank— Metallic golems began appearing from all directions!

"...Wait, is this an engineering trial?!" Tae-hyun asked in bewilderment. But no answer came.

Don't tell me the Clockwork Golem found out I stole those parts and is retaliating? Of course not. The Clockwork Golem wasn't that petty.

Ah. Tae-hyun immediately understood the situation upon hearing Carbanog's explanation. Although it was a rather rare case among magical attributes, Metal Magic did exist. It was a magic that rarely saw the light of day, overshadowed by the earth and stone attributes!

In fact, those who learned Metal Magic were usually blacksmiths rather than mages. They would learn a bit of it for self-defense or to aid in their crafting.

Ruuuumble!

When Tae-hyun half-heartedly dodged the attack, Carbanog asked out of curiosity.

Metal Magic is a bit inconvenient.

For starters, most of its spells required you to carry metal materials and consume them upon casting. There was a reason blacksmiths were the ones who usually learned it.

Besides, Tae-hyun didn't feel any need to learn Metal Magic. He already had Highest-grade Mechanical Engineering and Highest-grade Blacksmithing Skill, so why bother...?

Stop. As Tae-hyun continued to dodge with zero effort, the Metal Spirits suddenly halted and began whispering among themselves.

"Aren't you guys going to attack?"

But instead of attacking, the Metal Spirits just kept whispering. Then, all at once, they vanished.

"...S-Still, there's another trial left, right?"

"You have passed all the prepared trials. Did you feel the powerful strength bestowed by the spirits?"

"I feel like I only got some weird power... More importantly, I didn't even see the Lightning Spirit's trial. Is there no way to face it?"

"If you did not encounter it, it is highly likely because you did not possess the qualifications to receive the Lightning Spirit's trial..."

...Wait. Did I encounter the Metal Spirit's trial because my Mechanical Engineering and Blacksmithing skills were too high?

Come to think of it, both Flame and Frost were magic attributes that Tae-hyun already possessed...!