Iron Wall

But the dwarf duo, Ju and Woo, seemed not to notice anything ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠strange at all. They bolted off in a frantic rush, looking terrified that Tae-hyun might change his mind.

The passive skill gained from his high Luck, Probability Manipulation, and the passive skill tied to his class as the Avatar of Archisus, Divine Dignity.

Those two were affecting the process separately.

"Tae-hyun-nim. Are you ready?"

"Shall we begin?"

"Start!"

The dwarf duo moved at once.

They looked nothing like they had earlier, when they had practically been on the verge of tears.

Fwoosh—

The furnace, glowing red-hot with the aid of magic, roared as it began melting down the Black Iron placed inside.

The two dwarves immediately started working the bellows from the side. Watching them, Tae-hyun quickly said,

"I'll help."

"Pardon? We can handle this ourselves."

"It's a difficult skill for someone trying it for the first time."

When both dwarves reacted negatively, Tae-hyun answered at once.

"Really? Then maybe I'll go cook something instead, just to cheer you on."

"...We'll teach you!"

It was one of the essential skills for blacksmiths.

Incredibly useful when melting materials or doing similar work.

The moment he learned it, Tae-hyun stepped beside the dwarves and started working the bellows himself.

The skills kept rising quickly.

That was the extra benefit of working with rare metals.

Yeah. This is exactly what I was aiming for!

From the start, the two dwarves had better blacksmithing skills than Tae-hyun.

And yet there was only one reason Tae-hyun insisted on personally joining in.

Skill growth.

If he just left everything to other players or NPCs because their skills were better than his, he'd never grow. Of course, most players did exactly that.

Honestly, that was only natural.

What would a warrior do with blacksmithing?

What was the point of a rogue learning cooking except wasting time?

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

But Tae-hyun didn't see it that way.

There are no useless skills.

Back in Fantasy Online 1, Kim Tae-hyun had put together unpopular skills everyone dismissed as worthless and used them to crush rankers.

If you learned something, sooner or later it would prove useful.

Meanwhile, the mangled armor inside the furnace began melting and separating apart.

The dwarves were dripping with sweat.

Tae-hyun was no different.

Being a virtual reality game, this kind of thing was painfully realistic.

It's hot!

You couldn't underestimate it just because it was a game.

Skills didn't just work because you pressed a button. If using them was exhausting, the player had to endure that exhaustion in full.

"Woo! Bring the True Silver and melt it down!"

"Got it, Ju!"

Dwarf Woo ran off, came back with a lump of True Silver, and immediately started melting it.

...!

The two dwarf blacksmiths both possessed the Advanced Blacksmithing skill.

That skill was what let them combine rare metals like Black Iron and True Silver.

Tae-hyun's blacksmithing skill was still only Intermediate.

Because of that, even seeing the process firsthand wasn't enough for him to properly learn it.

Too bad, but it can't be helped.

If he couldn't learn it yet, then he couldn't learn it yet.

Tae-hyun focused and continued melting the Black Iron.

"Now!"

"Bring it over and shape it!"

The two dwarves rushed this way and that.

The result of mixing Black Iron, True Silver, and several other ores from the merchant warehouse was...

beautiful.

A deep black color giving off a faint, subdued gleam.

Without giving Tae-hyun even a second to admire it, the two dwarves hurriedly poured the melted metal into the mold and started shaping it.

"Cool it! Cool it!"

"Hurry up! It's going to lose its shape!"

Sssshhh—

As the two dwarves waved their hands, a freezing chill poured forth, so cold it looked painful just to watch.

It was a type of magic.

Is that a blacksmithing skill?

"Can I learn it?"

Tch.

There were a lot of skills you could only use if your blacksmithing had reached Advanced.

The skill the dwarves were using right now was one of them.

A skill that created a terrible, freezing cold around the hands.

It would have been hard to use in combat, but when crafting items, it was incredibly useful.

Clang, clang, clang, clang—

The dwarves hammered away, then gestured at Tae-hyun.

They wanted help.

"You have to be careful!"

"If you strike wrong here, you'll ruin the shape!"

"I know."

In response to the dwarves' fussing, Tae-hyun activated Divine Foresight.

The spots where he could safely strike with the hammer were far narrower than usual.

Guess that's because this thing is what it is.

Even with the dwarves using every skill they had to support him, making this armor was no simple task.

After shaping it, they still had to keep hammering it over and over.

Tae-hyun gripped the Ancient Hammer and skillfully worked the armor.

His technique was good enough that even the dwarves working beside him nodded in approval.

Then, while he continued striking the armor and sweating through the effort, a message window appeared.

...!

A Heroic-grade item.

And he even got the privilege of naming it.

Tae-hyun clenched his fist inside.

The message windows crowded his vision.

And from deep in his chest, Tae-hyun felt joy welling up.

This was one of the greatest thrills a blacksmith player could experience—creating a masterpiece like this.

While other people felt exhilaration hunting powerful boss monsters in parties, blacksmiths got their exhilaration from standing alone, hammer in hand, making something like this.

And because this was the first item of this caliber Tae-hyun had crafted in Fantasy Online 2, it made him even happier.

I think I'm actually getting emotional here.

If it had been a full suit of plate, any knight or tanker class would have gladly handed over their entire fortune to buy it.

Normally, Tae-hyun himself wouldn't have been able to equip it because of the level and stat requirements, but—

Thanks to creator privileges, I can still wear it.

That was the privilege of the person who possessed the crafting skill and had personally made the item.

Even if the wearer didn't meet the level or stat requirements, the creator could still equip it.

Of course, performance would drop accordingly, but even so, this armor was still worth wearing.

Tae-hyun immediately equipped Iron Wall.

It doesn't even feel like I'm wearing anything.

Even though it was classified as heavy armor, it barely felt like it had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠any weight at all.

And outwardly, it didn't even look much like armor.

It almost looked like a thick cloth outfit.

"How is it?"

"Are you satisfied?"

When Tae-hyun equipped the armor, the two dwarves asked with shining eyes.

They were exhausted and spent, but the most important thing to them was Tae-hyun's satisfaction.

Tae-hyun nodded.

"It's excellent."

"Hooray!"

"We did it!"

While the two dwarves clapped and cheered in delight, Tae-hyun started tidying up the area and said,

"Then shall we make a weapon now?"

"......"

The dwarf duo stared at each other.

Then they turned and ran.

"Haha. Running away? That's just cruel."

Tae-hyun wrapped both arms around the two dwarves and whispered softly.

The pair trembled like poplar leaves.

No matter how fast they tried to flee, they were never going to outrun Tae-hyun.

"W-we weren't running away."

"That's right. We just... suddenly felt like running..."

"Let's rest a little, then start again. Okay?"

"Yes..."

"Understood..."

The two dwarves drooped and nodded weakly.

Just making Iron Wall had already drained them completely.

But Tae-hyun was relentless.

I need to squeeze everything out of this before I head to the palace!

Since he was on a timer, Tae-hyun was desperate.

Of course, he wasn't planning to start again immediately.

Stamina mattered when making items, too.

If he forced them back to work right now, there was a good chance some kind of penalty would kick in.

And at times like this?

Food, obviously.

While quickly preparing dishes good for recovering stamina, Tae-hyun checked through his item list at the same time.

The reason was simple.

Anything I won't use at least once, I should sell before I go.

Back in Fantasy Online 1, he hadn't cared much about money.

But Fantasy Online 2 was different.

He needed something he could show his family—especially his father.

He couldn't immediately become a ranker or a pro gamer.

I could've just revealed my name, but...

The moment he revealed the name Kim Tae-hyun, there would be at least several hundred people charging in to kill him.

He still had to hold back a little longer.

Which meant money, after all.

There were plenty of players making a solid income in Fantasy Online 2.

Tae-hyun could do it easily too.

He just hadn't bothered.

What should I sell? Hmm. Burning Steel Heavy Armor, Burning Steel Axe. Yeah, those two have to go.

Kim Byeong-guk, who'd lost those two items in PK, was still desperately searching for them.

If he ever found out the truth, he'd cry tears of blood.

And what else? Orc Skull Crusher, I should keep that.

The reward he'd gotten in Tyrum, Orc Skull Crusher.

He couldn't use it yet, but he didn't want to sell it.

It was a Heroic-grade item, and it felt like it might be tied to a quest someday.

Besides, I've got a grudge with the Orcs too.

You never knew when the Great Chieftain Karag might suddenly come looking to avenge his son.

Oh, and the daggers need to go too. The Pirate Captain's Well-Crafted Dagger and the Very Light and High-Quality Dagger. I'll sell both.

The Pirate Captain's Well-Crafted Dagger was an item he'd gotten on Katerand Island.

He'd grabbed it more or less at random from the treasury. It was a pretty good item, but useless to Tae-hyun.

It was the sort of thing thieves would love.

And the Very Light and High-Quality Dagger was the item that had once caused a huge uproar on the forums.

A few people had even made bets over it.

That item.

The one Tae-hyun had asked about once, then forgotten about after casually moving on.