Rabbit Feet and Blacksmithing Lessons

After earning praise from the Count once again, Kim Tae-hyun stepped outside with August.

"So what are you planning to do now?"

"I still need more rabbit feet. Shame."

Tae-hyun already had 1,500 Luck and still wanted more. Somewhere, the developers were probably clutching the backs of their necks and collapsing.

"Hm? Rabbit feet? You need those? Is there somewhere to use them?"

"I'm learning to cook for the Tyrum Hunters, aren't I? Turns out rabbit feet make pretty decent ingredients."

"I tried one before, and it didn't taste like much... Still, if you need rabbit feet, I can give you some."

"Pardon?"

That was one of the advantages of doing things for a faction.

Thanks to accidentally clearing the Tyrum Ranger quest, Tae-hyun had piled up a fair number of contribution points. It was hard to tell exactly how much that was worth, but it didn't really matter.

"Then give me all the rabbit feet!"

The Tyrum Hunters' warehouse was packed full of rabbit feet.

They weren't especially useful, but since they were said to bring Luck, the hunters had dried them and hung onto them anyway.

Besides, rabbit feet weren't considered particularly valuable to the hunters. Even taking that huge quantity barely cost him any contribution points.

Grinning from ear to ear, Tae-hyun gathered them up.

Seeing that, August said with an uneasy look,

"I don't particularly want to eat them, so give them to someone else."

"Yes, sir!"

At that very moment, groans were rising elsewhere.

"Aigoo..."

"He found that way..."

They had thought everything would be fine until the next patch, since the rabbits' respawn had been blocked. But to think he'd extort rabbit feet out of the Tyrum Hunters.

The Tyrum Hunters were a faction notoriously difficult to befriend. Starting with their representative NPC, August, they were all prickly hunters with rotten tempers.

With someone like Tae-hyun, pushing back hard actually made a good impression, but most players couldn't manage that.

They were too worried that if they acted aggressively for no reason, they might get penalized.

Tae-hyun had never intended to accept the beginner tutorial quests in the first place, so he could respond that way without hesitation.

And after that, he'd even forced his way through the Tyrum Ranger quest too...

"How much Luck now?"

"2,495."

"That's insane."

That one muttered sentence summed up what they were all thinking.

Luck 2,495.

There wasn't a single player with one stat that absurdly high.

And Tae-hyun was only Level 25.

Thank God it was Luck. If it had been any other stat, they couldn't even imagine what would have happened.

Choi Myung-sung calmly nodded.

Seeing that, the other employees perked up and asked,

"Oh, Team Leader. Do you have some kind of solution?"

"A solution? It's way too late for that. Kim Tae-hyun's going to class-change into the Avatar of Archisus. He'll be the second player on the server to get a Legendary Class."

Choi Myung-sung's calmness came from pure resignation.

If you give up, life gets easier.

"It's already too late, so let's just relax and enjoy the show."

"No, Team Leader, you can't say that when you're a fan!"

"What do you expect me to do? Did I tell Kim Tae-hyun to go hunt rabbits?! He figured out a way to class-change on his own, so what exactly am I supposed to do about it?"

Honestly, he had a point.

Tae-hyun hadn't gotten advice from anyone. He had simply found the method by himself.

"What did the Avatar of Archisus have again?"

"All Legendary Classes are special, but the Avatar of Archisus is especially weird, even among them."

"Kim Tae-hyun's heading to the forge. Can I switch the screen?"

"...Fine. Let's watch another player."

After finishing that mountain of rabbit-foot cooking, Tae-hyun wasn't even tired; he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was already heading to the forge.

His persistence really knew no limits.

Tae-hyun looked over the skill window with a deeply satisfied expression.

Leaving aside the fact that his Luck had blown straight through the ceiling, what really pleased him right now was the growth of his Cooking and Blacksmithing skills.

Once Cooking hit 10 and then reached 99% from there, it would advance to Intermediate Cooking. Blacksmithing worked the same way.

And Beginner Cooking versus Intermediate Cooking were worlds apart.

If Beginner Cooking was just plain coffee, Intermediate Cooking was TOP.

The very kinds of dishes he could make would change, and their effects would leap to a whole new level too.

Tae-hyun's plan was simple.

Stay in Tyrum City for a while and raise Luck as much as possible. Until rabbit feet stop dropping. And while I'm at it, push Cooking and Blacksmithing to Intermediate.

Since he was classless, just a Jobless, he felt like he had to do at least that much before he could move on.

Truth be told, Tae-hyun's situation right now was extremely awkward.

Even a slightly difficult quest or dungeon would be much easier if he partied with other people.

But Tae-hyun was Jobless.

When forming a party, the first thing people checked was class.

A warrior-type class to tank hits up front.

An archer, thief, or mage-type class to deal damage from the middle line.

A priest-type class to heal from the rear.

Raids were easiest when classes were balanced like that.

And naturally, Jobless fit nowhere in that setup.

Clang, clang, clang!

The bright sound of hammering rang out.

"Let's see... now you're finally starting to look the part. I can teach you some new techniques now."

"New techniques?"

Tae-hyun's eyes lit up.

"That's right. If you were an Arcane Blacksmith, I could teach you a lot more, but..."

Gurendal shot Tae-hyun a glance.

It was a look that clearly said, Even after all this, you're still not taking it?

Of course, Kim Tae-hyun was not the kind of man who would fold under a mere look attack.

He took it in stride with perfect calm.

"Since you aren't one, I'll just teach you a few simple things. Repair, Enhancement, Sharpen, and Rust Removal."

"...!"

The complete blacksmith starter package!

If Tae-hyun hadn't built up a relationship with Gurendal, there was no way he could have gotten these skills so quickly.

All that effort getting close to him really paid off!

Other players cursed Tyrum City and wouldn't even spit in its direction, but Tae-hyun was different.

To him, this place was practically a land flowing with milk and honey.

Repair was the skill used to restore the durability of worn items, one of a blacksmith's main sources of income.

In Fantasy Online 2, repairs were no joke.

In other games, you'd just hand over some money and your gear would go ding! all fixed.

But Fantasy Online was different.

The result of a repair depended on the blacksmith's skill level.

A skilled blacksmith could restore durability to full, and sometimes even improve the item's performance.

But a low-skill blacksmith? Not only could they fail to restore it fully, they could make a mistake and lower the item's maximum durability, or even reduce its performance outright.

And the stronger the item, the harder it was to repair.

For beginner gear, you could just learn Repair yourself and handle it. No big problem.

But once you got to high-level gear, you had to seek out a specialist blacksmith.

If you tried to save money by handing it to just any random town blacksmith NPC, you could wind up weeping tears of blood.

Sharpen and Rust Removal were temporary enhancement skills for weapons and armor, respectively.

One temporarily increased a weapon's performance before battle, while the other temporarily improved armor.

If there was a blacksmith in the party, these were among the first skills the party members would beg them to use.

They sounded simple, but they were excellent skills.

Players in Fantasy Online were extremely sensitive to even the smallest buff.

The game's difficulty was no joke.

A single buff could mean the difference between life and death.

Before fighting, people visited a temple for blessings, found a cook for buff food, and sought out a blacksmith for enhancement support...

That kind of routine wasn't unusual ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at all.

If anything, it was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠standard procedure.

And then there was Enhancement.

...I don't really want to learn Enhancement, but...

There was a reason Tae-hyun was reluctant.

It was tied to some very painful memories.

If Repair was a blacksmith's daily bread, Enhancement was their lottery ticket.

When players asked a blacksmith for repairs and the repair failed, they got angry, sure, but most of the time they didn't go completely berserk.

After all, the item was still there.

But if Enhancement failed?

That kind of screaming charge was the norm.

And the more precious the item, the worse it got.

The failure penalty for Enhancement couldn't even be compared to Repair.

At worst, the item could shatter completely.

Even so, people could never give up on enhancement.

Because even an ordinary Normal-grade item, if enhanced enough times, could become a masterpiece that surpassed Rare or even Heroic gear.

Any guild with real size usually raised a few blacksmiths separately, and among them, having one dedicated enhancement specialist was essential.

In the end it was still a matter of probability, but the more skillful the blacksmith, the higher the odds of success became.

Even back in Fantasy Online 1, truly skilled blacksmiths had been wildly popular.

But...

How many items did I blow up trying to enhance them?

Just thinking about it made his stomach hurt.

Other blacksmiths at least got guild support. Tae-hyun had to run around alone gathering enhancement stones, materials, and scrolls himself.

When he failed, the mental damage was multiplied several times over.

Sigh. Still, I have to learn it.

As long as he was a blacksmith, there was no avoiding it.

"Now then. About the Repair skill..."

Gurendal began explaining.

Just then, someone walked in.

"Anyone here?"

"Huh? You're still here?"

It was Gu Sung-wook, the one who had previously asked Tae-hyun, "How do I get close to Gurendal?"

The moment he spotted Tae-hyun, he hurried over as if he had found a savior.

"Oh! It's you. Good, perfect timing! Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"No refunds."

"Pardon? No, I'm not asking for a refund... I just had something I wanted to ask!"

"Please wait a moment."

"...?"

"I'm in the middle of learning a skill right now, so you'll have to wait."

"Ah. I'll wait."

Gu Sung-wook obediently sat down.

He was the one in need, after all.

Gurendal, having had his explanation interrupted, gave Gu Sung-wook a sidelong glance before continuing.

"Now then. About the Repair skill..."

"Um... when will this be over?"

"Impatient little brat. Rice only becomes rice after it's had time to boil. Just because uncooked grains rush it doesn't make it done any faster!"

Gurendal erupted in anger, saying something that sounded very familiar.

Beside him, Tae-hyun immediately chimed in and clicked his tongue in agreement.

"Gurendal is absolutely right!"

There was a saying that an in-law who butts in to "help" is even more infuriating, and that was exactly how it felt. Gu Sung-wook glared at the annoyingly smug Tae-hyun.

I wish I'd run into him in the arena. No—better yet, out in the field...

"Now then, do you understand what the Repair skill is?"

"I think I understand a little now!"

"Good. Then do it again."

Gurendal had the kind of personality that was meticulous to the point of obsession—a full-blown perfectionist.

And that showed in how he taught too. Again. Again. Again. As many times as it took.

Of course, if you showed even the slightest sign of getting bored, your affinity with him plummeted.

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

Tae-hyun had already figured out exactly what sort of person Gurendal was.

Without showing the faintest trace of boredom, he brought the hammer down again.

"Haa..."

Gu Sung-wook's sigh only grew deeper.

"What is it?"

Tae-hyun was still human, so naturally he felt a little guilty.

This time I won't charge him for the question.

"Well... you told me I should get closer to the Tyrum Hunters."

"I did."

"I've been working through the quest line for now, but... the progress is just too slow. Is there any other way?"