Planned Obsolescence

Once the antidotes were distributed, the preparations were mostly complete. What need was there for an elaborate plan when preparing for hit-and-run battles on other floors? What they needed was adaptability and quick reflexes! The ability to respond to situations on the fly was what mattered most. In that regard, these rankers had the basics down. They were the kind of guys who could be thrown anywhere ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and still manage to save their own skins and run away! Tae-hyun smiled warmly. But for some reason, that smile sent a shiver down the rankers' spines.

"He's not planning to... pull a Cain, is he?"

"...Kim Tae-hyun. If you're planning to pull a Cain, tell us in advance."

"Huh? What does it mean to pull a Cain?"

Tae-hyun was genuinely puzzled. Did they mean something different from how he usually used the term? In Tae-hyun's team, to pull a Cain usually meant doing something incredibly foolish or digging one's own grave...

"You know, making us... self-destruct..."

"Ah. Don't worry. Why would I ever do something like that?"

"Whew. What a relief."

"See? Cain is a special case. We're far too valuable as combat assets."

"Unless it's absolutely necessary..."

"Huh? Did you say something just now?"

The rankers felt like they had heard something, but they couldn't quite make it out. Their survival instincts had flatly refused to process the words.

Having wrapped up the brief discussion, Tae-hyun moved on to the next step. "We can make up plans on the fly, so we don't need a formal one. But your gear is in a pathetic state. Especially since some of you idiots don't even have any..."

Tae-hyun's gaze practically screamed, Look at these pathetic losers, losing their own gear. Of course, the rankers felt incredibly embarrassed. They were the ones who had prayed to the World Tree the wrong way and had their weapons and armor snatched away!

But seriously, isn't the World Tree the weird one here? What kind of World Tree steals player equipment? No matter how corrupted it was, that was just absurd...!

"I guess I'll have to craft some on the spot."

"!!!!"

The rankers' eyes instantly lit up. Tae-hyun had mentioned making gear for them, but they never expected the opportunity to come so soon!

"Me... Me too! I want one!"

"Get out of the way, you bastard! Your gear is perfectly fine!"

The rankers began grabbing each other by the collars, devolving into an ugly squabble over who would get theirs first. Ignoring the chaos, Tae-hyun walked forward.

"I should borrow the Shadow Elves' forge..." Back at the fortress, he hadn't had the time or luxury, but if he could borrow the Shadow Elf tribe's forge, that would change things.

"Absolutely not."

"Why not?"

"You could die."

"I'm not asking to borrow your lives, just your forge."

"Our forge is a dangerous facility, unfit for non-professionals."

The Shadow Elf warrior spoke coldly, but Tae-hyun scoffed. Who was calling whom a non-professional?

"Don't worry. I'm an expert."

"I highly doubt that..."

Though highly skeptical, the Shadow Elf was swayed by Tae-hyun's overwhelming confidence and guided him to the forge. Aside from being wide and open to the elements, the forge didn't look particularly special.

Metals from the Demon Realm are usually of higher quality. Since they were infused with potent demonic energy, their performance was naturally superior.

"Can I use those metals over there for free?"

"Do as you wish."

The Shadow Elves nodded indifferently. It was a naive assumption, thinking there was only so much metal Tae-hyun could possibly use.

Hehehe... Foolish Shadow Elves...

Tae-hyun immediately pumped the bellows and pulled out steel ingots to melt them. At that moment, system messages popped up.

Spirit Magic? What's that about? Looking at the messages, Tae-hyun realized that this forge utilized Spirit Magic. The most crucial element of any forge was heat! Only a forge capable of producing intensely hot flames could craft high-quality works.

The Underground Alliance Goblins generated fire by redirecting the entire power source of their moving castle, while the Dwarves used their secret Dwarven magic. The Demon's Forge and the Angel's Forge in Tae-hyun's territory also relied on the power of their respective races... And the secret of the Shadow Elves was Spirit Magic!

"We told you it was dangerous!" the Shadow Elves shouted in panic. Since this forge harnessed a powerful and violent fire spirit, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a single rampage could turn the entire area upside down. They had to suppress it immediately! "Mages, prepare the—"

Thwack!

"...??"

"Whoa, startled me."

Tae-hyun looked at the fire spirit while holding his hammer. It had lunged at him so suddenly that he swung in a panic, but it seemed to have connected perfectly.

Wait, a spirit can take damage? The Ancient Hammer was only supposed to deal damage to non-living things.

It was merely a shadow cast by the spirit sealed within the forge! Thanks to that, the Ancient Hammer was able to obliterate it in a single strike.

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

Even a fire spirit's rage could be instantly adjusted!

Spirit Hearth was, quite literally, a skill that used spirit-trapping stones to boost a forge's heat. It was a highly versatile skill that would synergize perfectly with any forge—be it the Demon's Forge, the Angel's Forge, or the Goblin's forge!

The only problem is that I need to find spirit stones. Spirit stones—stones containing sealed spirits—were not easy to come by. And using weak, low-grade spirit stones would only yield negligible effects...

Well, I should finish crafting first and worry about that later. Tae-hyun began by forging a few Dae-man-bul-gang-geom. Since he used the Demon Realm's hellsteel and borrowed the power of the fire spirit, additional effects were imbued.

The Demonic Dae-man-bul-gang-geom was fundamentally superior to the standard Dae-man-bul-gang-geom in almost every way. It had a few weaknesses, but they were minor enough to be ignored!

After quickly fabricating his own gear and a few bombs, Tae-hyun began crafting equipment for the rankers. Hmm. This is tricky.

If I lower the durability to boost the performance, it might cause problems later. Tae-hyun possessed god-tier control and absurd luck, allowing him to use an item with 5/5 durability for an entire year, but the other rankers were different. There was a reason durability was considered a crucial stat on equipment! No matter how great the performance, it was meaningless if the weapon broke or dulled too quickly.

I should probably balance it out a bit, right? Although he wasn't spending days pouring rare, high-grade materials into crafting artifact-level gear, Tae-hyun was still an artisan. Even if it was a piece of equipment made in ten minutes, he poured his utmost effort into it!

Yeah, I guess so.

...I-Is that so? Tae-hyun wavered for a moment. While it was better for the rankers to have higher stats... Sure, he could follow them around and repair their gear, but...!

Exactly! Since they lack raw skill, we need to maximize their output! Now was not the time to leisurely worry about durability when they were up against demons. They needed more explosive power! I can just make three of each item and hand them out. With that thought, Tae-hyun immediately began mass-producing the gear.

The first ranker to receive a weapon was Johansson. Surprisingly, the other rankers had willingly yielded to him.

"If it's Johansson, I can accept that."

"He's so pitiful, let him have the first one."

The reason was simple. Johansson was the only ranker who had lost all of his equipment to the World Tree! While others had lost a piece or two, Johansson's total loss made him uniquely tragic.

The two-handed greatsword was named the Great Demonic Steel Greatsword. Johansson accepted it with a pounding heart.

"Heuuuup!"

These insane stats! Johansson blinked repeatedly in disbelief. The surrounding rankers stole glances at him, unable to hide their curiosity.

Are you going to keep it to yourself?

If you got it, show us the stats already!

Just how good was it to make his eyes roll back like that? Johansson, trembling with excitement, checked the stats again. Of course, looking at it twice didn't change what was written.

Insane attack power, critical hit rate, and a messy clutter of additional options! Normally, a blacksmith's creations reflected their personal style. Weapons made by blacksmiths who focused on enchanting would have various magic skills attached, while those made by critical-hit specialists would feature critical-rate boosts.

But Tae-hyun's gear... felt as if every single good option had been forcefully crammed into it! A veritable gift set of overpowered stats—that was Tae-hyun's signature style.

Johansson was absolutely certain. Even if Tae-hyun decided to play solely as a blacksmith ranker, he would easily dominate the market. His work didn't pale in comparison to the masterpieces crafted by the game's most famous blacksmith rankers.

The Strength requirement is a bit high, but... Once you reached ranker level, you usually had a skill or two that let you bypass equipment requirements at a penalty, so it didn't matter. Johansson possessed the Giant's Strength skill, allowing him to force-equip it even if his Strength stat fell short. No problem at all!

In that case, there was only one thing left to do.

"Loyalty! Loyalty! Loyalty!" Johansson raised the greatsword high and roared. Tae-hyun tilted his head. This wasn't the reaction he had expected.

"Did you actually read it properly?"

"...I did. Did I miss something?" Johansson checked the item description once more. Why was he acting like that?

"...Uh... I think there's a typo in the numbers, Kim Tae-hyun."

"Haha. There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Here, I'll give you two more, so use them sparingly."

"...D-Disposable gear?!" Realizing the truth, the rankers were struck with horror. My god, Kim Tae-hyun was pioneering a terrifying new horizon in blacksmithing! Disposable, instant-use equipment!

There was a running joke among blacksmiths:

Hey, make it moderately sturdy. If you make it too durable, you'll go out of business.

If gear never broke, who would buy new ones? They would just keep using the same thing forever. It was a sarcastic joke mocking that exact mindset.

Of course, no blacksmith was foolish enough to intentionally craft weak gear. It would only hurt their own reputation. Who would buy something with terrible durability? Unless there was a highly specific reason...

But Tae-hyun was currently crafting gear that players had no choice but to use, despite its abysmal durability. With stats and options this overpowered, you simply had to suck it up and use it! And since it would break quickly, you'd have to buy another one...

He's terrifying, Kim Tae-hyun! He's completely determined to suck us dry of every penny!

I need to tell my blacksmith friend. A boom of disposable gear is coming soon.

Of course, no such boom would ever arrive. Tae-hyun hadn't even given it that much thought in the first place.

Hmm. Surprisingly, they aren't complaining. Is it because the other stats are decent? To be precise, it wasn't just "decent"—it was downright broken.

"Take this."

The Shadow Elves handed over a cloak. It was a cloak imbued with the power of the Shadow Elves, granting invisibility to whoever wore it. For a rogue, it was a ridiculously overpowered item! However, it also had a catch. It was a time-limited item.

Did they craft this by applying an enchantment on the spot? I'm so jealous of their racial traits. The more he saw of the Shadow Elves' racial traits, the more envious he became. How could they have such an amazing ability?

"But do we absolutely have to bring that demon along?"

"We need at least one guide."

The Shadow Elves cast displeased glances toward them. And for good reason... Because the Great Demon of Discord, Pogalo, was standing right there in their midst.