How Does It Work Like This?
No matter how high your Blacksmithing skill was, it didn’t mean incredible items would come out every single time.
It had been the same in Fantasy Online 1.
High-grade items or items with exceptionally strong stats only appeared at a certain probability. The Blacksmithing skill increased both the maximum performance an item could roll and the odds of getting it.
But Tae-hyun had simply smashed through that probability wall with pure luck.
“By the way, who is Archisus?”
“Archisus? The God of Luck. Why are you asking that all of a sudden? Did this throw you off too?”
“Haha. Yeah, I guess it did.”
Because he’d started without even checking the basic information people had organized on the forums, little problems like this kept popping up.
The God of Luck? So when they say Archisus played a prank, that’s just an expression.
Like when someone beat some unbelievably tiny probability and people had no explanation for it.
“Huh. Well now. Looks like you really do have talent. August told me about you, but the way you handled the hammer was so clumsy I honestly didn’t expect much...”
Gurendal’s appraisal of you has increased.
“Make the rest of the daggers too. Now I’m looking forward to it.”
“Yes, sir!”
He answered energetically, but uneasiness crept in.
Luck was the kind of stat that could stab you in the back at any moment.
What if the next item he made was completely ordinary?
Well... does it matter?
The quest itself only required him to make ten. Even if he failed to produce another Rare-grade item like before, Gurendal probably wouldn’t blame him.
Tae-hyun was still a beginner blacksmith, after all.
You have crafted a Light Dagger.
You have crafted a Light Dagger.
You have crafted a Light and Well-Made Dagger.
You have crafted a Light and Well-Made Dagger.
Your Blacksmithing skill has increased.
You have crafted a Very Light and Well-Made Dagger.
“...!”
A brilliant purple light suddenly burst out.
Gurendal, who had gone back to his own work, jerked around in shock.
“What the hell?!”
◈ Durability: 40/40
◈ Attack Power: 90
◈ Attack Speed: 1.5x
◈ Critical Hit Chance: 10%
◈ Does not count toward inventory weight.
◈ Does not count toward equipped weight.
◈ Has a certain probability to inflict Bleed, Stun, or Limb Break.
◈ The craftsmanship of its maker is terrible, yet for some reason its performance is insanely good.
◈ One would be justified in suspecting that Archisus himself descended and forged it.
Tae-hyun immediately checked the item’s grade.
“Th-this is... truly incredible! Truly incredible!”
Gurendal could only keep repeating the same word.
He stared at the dagger Tae-hyun had made for a while, then nodded.
“It’s certain. You have talent! Talent even greater than mine!”
“No, this isn’t talent, it’s just—”
“If I discover a gifted prodigy like you and fail to raise him into a great blacksmith, then I ought to hang myself! I’d have no face to show my master!”
Gurendal’s Successor
You are someone talented enough to catch Gurendal’s eye.
Gurendal wishes to take you on as his disciple and pass down his secret arts.
The chance to become the direct disciple of Gurendal, one of the finest blacksmiths in the Salz Kingdom, is not an opportunity one easily gets.
🎁 Reward: Class Change to Arcane Blacksmith
Why is everyone in this damned city trying to force me into a job?
If anyone else heard him thinking that, they’d curse him out for being spoiled rotten.
Other players bent over backward just to get a Rare class, but Tae-hyun had already refused both Rare and Heroic classes.
“I’m sorry. There’s something else I want to do...”
He couldn’t quite bring himself to say he wanted to keep leveling as a Jobless.
No matter how Gurendal is, even he’d get mad at that.
“What? Then what in the world could be so important? Is it because you dislike blacksmithing? Blacksmithing is by no means an easy class!”
I know that better than you do, old man.
He’d rampaged around Fantasy Online 1 as a blacksmith. There was no way he looked down on the class.
“Even if we’re less flashy than knights, even if we aren’t as strong as warriors, do you know who those bastards bow to? Us. Blacksmiths!”
“I’m really sorry.”
Gurendal is deeply disappointed.
Damn it.
“Then I suppose there’s nothing to be done... You say you want to learn blacksmithing, but not become a blacksmith. I can’t say I understand it, but I’ll respect it. If you ever wish to train under me, just say the word.”
“Thank you.”
Quest complete.
You have acquired Dagger Crafting Technique.
You can now create a variety of daggers depending on materials and methods.
Even if you were just making a dagger, the final result changed depending on what materials you used and how much time you invested.
The daggers Tae-hyun had just made were crafted from ordinary steel and leather.
Of course, even so, since it was a Heroic-grade item, its performance was absurdly good.
If he’d used premium materials like silver, platinum, black iron, true silver, or Adamantium, he might have produced something truly monstrous.
The problem is my skill level’s too low, so I can’t handle those yet...
Tae-hyun found himself curious just how good this dagger really was.
Compared to other items, it was overwhelmingly superior, and it had neither a level requirement nor a stat requirement, so it was obviously good.
But strong equipment usually came with level and stat requirements.
That was why, at higher levels, even mages often had a hard time equipping a single dagger appropriate to their level.
There had been complaints like that, but there was nothing anyone could do.
Most of the settings had been created by the AI, after all.
“Should I look it up?”
Fantasy Online 2 Mania was a site players all over the world frequented.
Naturally, the speed at which posts went up was insane.
Without thinking much of it, Tae-hyun uploaded a picture of the item.
Since so many posts flooded in every second, he assumed even if he posted something, he’d get maybe a few replies before it sank without a trace.
And then Tae-hyun got up from his seat.
He was planning to take a short break.
“Son, have you been gaming this whole time?”
“Didn’t you say I was free until next semester if I met the conditions?”
“Even so, if all you do is sit around and play games, your body’ll rot.”
As he said it, Kim Tae-san bumped his fists together.
“How about a sparring match? Been a while.”
Tae-hyun’s father, Kim Tae-san, loved working out.
Ever since he was little, Tae-hyun had learned martial arts from his father.
Though lately, they hadn’t done that.
And there was a reason for that.
“No thanks. You’ll just sulk again if I win.”
“S-sulk? Who the hell sulks? Who said I sulked?”
“When you lose, you keep insisting we go again until you win. It’s exhausting.”
Tae-hyun shook his head.
At some point, working out had become something he did alone.
Apparently struck where it hurt, Kim Tae-san hurriedly changed the subject.
“Ahem. So... you said you were playing that game, right? Fantasy Online 2.”
“Yep. If you’re interested too, Dad, why not join me?”
“Forget it. What kind of old man plays games at my age?”
“Come on... I know all about how you used to be a total gaming addict...”
Tae-hyun looked at his father like he was being ridiculous.
He still remembered it clearly from when he was young.
His father had gotten addicted to a game called Lineage, played like a complete maniac, and then gotten smacked across the back by his mother.
“I definitely remember a bunch of huge middle-aged guys coming over to the house too. Calling you Lord of the Castle, Lord of the Castle...”
“W-what nonsense is that? That never happened.”
“Dad. Don’t underestimate my memory just because I was a kid. I remember everything. That was your guild, wasn’t it? And you were the guild master. Wait... those guys looked kinda rough. Were they mobsters or something?”
“Mobsters, my ass! They were friends from the gym!”
“So you were hanging out with them, then?”
“Urk!”
Realizing he’d been lured into Tae-hyun’s verbal trap, Kim Tae-san groaned.
“Instead of dragging people who don’t even want to go and making them play golf, why don’t you call up your old buddies and try Fantasy Online 2? It’s fun. You could even play with Mom. There’s a lot of fun in just traveling around too.”
“Forget it, punk. I’ll stick to golf.”
“You could do that indoors too...”
“By the way, seeing you work so hard at that game... how good are you in there, exactly?”
Since he’d been a ranker himself back in the day, Kim Tae-san was curious where his son stood.
He’s my son, after all.
He must be ranked pretty high, right?
“I still haven’t even changed classes yet.”
“What?! Why not?!”
“I’ve got something I’m doing...”
“What kind of way is that to play a game? If you decide to do it, then do it properly—get into the rankings, get on broadcasts, and if you’re really good, go pro!”
“I’m just playing for fun. Why take it that far?”
“Every word out of your mouth gets under my skin. Don’t waste your talent! You know you could be good at games too!”
“Isn’t this doing pretty well already?”
“No, you little punk!”
“Then why don’t you come in and have a match with me yourself?”
“What? Then let’s— no, I said I’m not playing games!”
“Tsk.”
He’d almost had him.
Tae-hyun clicked his tongue in disappointment.
Realizing he’d nearly been sucked in, Kim Tae-san glared at him.
“Get out, punk! Go run a lap around the neighborhood!”
“Why the neighborhood when there’s a treadmill downstairs?”
“Run! Get out there and run!”
Grumbling, Tae-hyun changed into workout clothes and headed outside. Once he was gone, Kim Tae-san glanced around and pulled out his phone.
“Hey, yeah, it’s me. You still play games, right? You know Fantasy Online 2?”
A sound body houses a sound mind.
When people heard the phrase gaming addict, they usually pictured someone planted in a chair all day, doing nothing but playing.
But Tae-hyun wasn’t like that.
You wouldn’t think that would apply to virtual reality games, but in some ways it mattered even more.
Since you were physically moving your body to fight, lacking real combat sense was a huge handicap.
Ji-soo had suffered because of exactly that.
She’s seriously too clumsy. I’m actually worried she might get bullied at school.
It was that bad.
After finishing his run, Tae-hyun stretched.
The martial arts and exercise he’d done steadily since childhood were helping him in-game too.
Half my control probably comes from that.
That was what Tae-hyun believed.
“One sundae soup, please!”
“Aigoo, long time no see. Why haven’t you come by?”
“Haha. Sorry about that.”
The place he stopped after working out was the sundae soup restaurant he frequented.
Tae-hyun loved the soup there.
The owner recognized him at once and greeted him warmly.
“Here you go! I packed it full of meat.”
“Thanks!”
He was happily stuffing spoonfuls into his mouth when a news segment came on the TV inside the restaurant.
“Aigoo, that’s awful.”
“Huh? What is?”
Tae-hyun looked up from his meal.
The owner was clicking her tongue as she watched the TV.
“If you end up with the wrong landlord, people running a business really suffer. Makes me a little worried too.”
“Wait, what? Did your landlord pull some kind of power trip on you?”
Tae-hyun knew exactly who owned this building.
His father.
Of course, the owner didn’t know that.
“No, our landlord’s a kind man. Everyone in the neighborhood says he’s generous... but I heard he has a son.”
“...?”
Tae-hyun tilted his head.
What did that have to do with anything?
“What’s that got to do with it?”
“Our restaurant does well, right? Last time the landlord came by and ate here, he spent over an hour complaining about his son. Said he got into some weird university department and he had no idea what the boy was going to do with his life.”
...
Tae-hyun slowly clenched his fist.
This bastard. What kind of nonsense is he spouting outside the house?