A Hard-Earned Rest and a Mountain of Tasks
I had rested for a full day after returning home.
Did the fatigue from a long-distance journey bother me?
Not at all.
Heavenly Martial Body — an SSS-grade passive skill that keeps my condition at its absolute peak!
Hah.
The favor of the continent’s greatest detective even makes me hum.
“Why rest, then?”
“Mr. Baek is just a normal person, after all.”
With the support team members also awakened, their stamina was clearly better than that of a normal human.
Even Miss Minjeong, who had invested almost nothing in physical ability, looked perkier than Mr. Baek.
“Is it because of age?”
Shh.
Ingrid.
Truth isn’t always right.
“Then I’ll just train during the remaining time.”
“I’ll rest today.”
Starting tomorrow, there’ll be no time to even blink.
One day of quiet rest is necessary, isn’t it?
I sprawled on the bed, flipping through YouTube videos, searching for my own articles online, and doing some ego hunting.
Is rest really that big of a deal?
So empty-headed and free as I was, the next day arrived in no time.
“Take us to the agency office.”
“Yes.”
At the office, Mr. Baek and the support team friends had arrived even earlier than expected.
“You all came too early?”
“We couldn’t let Park Hunter wait.”
A.
Then I’ll definitely look like an important person.
Seongsu nodded.
“That’s not wrong, bro.”
“Eek.”
The same thing happened at the airport too.
I felt like they’d gathered only yes-men.
But why were their cheeks twitching?
That’s why kings keep courtiers close, isn’t it?
Hoo.
Calm down.
After glancing around the gathered office staff, I spoke the words I’d prepared.
“Let’s take two months off. All of us.”
Question marks floated above everyone’s heads.
Ten seconds of silence, then:
“Is it about resting?”
Mr. Baek sounded genuinely confused.
“Resting is one thing, but readjustment is what we need.”
“I’m sorry to say this, but Mr. Park Hunter’s price is at its absolute peak right now.”
I know that.
—Tower of Chaos full clear.
—Recognition of the Twelve Heroes.
One achievement alone could make it a lifelong snack.
Thanks to the two accomplishments from the Europe trip, the moment I turned on the internet, everyone was busy talking about me.
“So we need readjustment time.”
The corpses of monsters I’d acquired while climbing the Tower of Chaos.
Skills researched while leveling up to B-rank.
Learning blacksmithing.
Confirming and upgrading the Death Blacksmith’s functions.
And a mountain of other things.
“I was able to reach B-rank so quickly because I was ready.”
“Ready?”
“I scraped the bottom for five years.”
While trading ranks with E-class, I’d always pushed myself.
Whenever money accumulated, I bought monster by-products.
I studied anatomy through internet lectures and books, comparing differences between humans and monsters while practicing corpse processing.
Handicraft — a stat representing the effort and hardships of the past five years — rose from 197 to 205.
The experience and Handicraft stat I’d accumulated became the foundation of my growth.
It proved invaluable when crafting undead and learning blacksmithing.
“Lately it’s been getting tough for me.”
There were just too many new things.
Too many to handle.
What had allowed me to run non-stop until now was the intangible assets I’d built over five years.
“The foundation skills of Necrosmith are two in number.”
“Corpse processing and crafting, I assume?”
Mr. Baek let out an “hmm.”
“Aren’t both C-rank?”
“I can’t keep up with the leveling speed.”
Gates will stay quiet for now.
I’ll have to invest time into honing my Necrosmith abilities.
It was the thought I’d sorted out after returning from Europe.
“Shouldn’t you train magic too?”
“You seem to be neglecting magic lately — pay some attention.”
Kuuuh.
You saw it, Mr. Baek?
I’m trying to take advantage of my master’s back.
I have so much to do.
Hic hic hic.
“Understood.”
Is it okay?”
“If you judged it that way, it must be right.”
Kuuuh.
Grateful for such infinite trust.
“By the way, how did the Yuno Palace matter turn out?”
“A listing should appear soon.”
“I’m sorry to say this…”
“Oh. Then I’ll cancel.”
You saw right through me.
Concentrating on skill mastery for two months would cut my income completely.
Even though I’d spent all the money I had on the Tower of Chaos, the thought of no income made it a bit worrying.
“Thank you.”
Any rewards from the Tower of Chaos?”
Ah.
Right.
I’d grabbed quite a few rare-grade items and mana stones.
While most A-rank stones had been used for soul-stone crafting, the rest were still considerable.
“I’ll sort and deliver them today or tomorrow.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Hoo.
There were more places money could come from.
I’d overlooked the by-product section because I was only thinking about Tower of Chaos full clear and rewards.
With B-rank and C-rank stones as well, there’d be enough budget to buy materials for corpse-processing and crafting practice.
“Is the support team okay?”
“Ah. There’s one request, bro.”
Seongsu raised his hand.
Because of me, I’d been a NEET for two months, so I had to accommodate them as much as possible.
“You’ll do the work in the subspace, right?”
“Yes. Except visiting Hanil Blacksmith, I’ll stay home the whole time.”
For two months I’d stockpile materials in the Death Blacksmith and focus on hammering.
When the by-products run low, I’ll have to talk to the boss.
Before entering the Tower of Chaos, I’d live the same way I had when strengthening the undead army.
“Can I visit your house, bro?”
“No problem.”
“Ah. It’s because of training.”
Training.
Now that I thought about it, Isra and Ingrid were watching over the support team’s training.
Good.
“Then I’ll train inside the Death Blacksmith.”
The expanded Death Blacksmith.
A much more comfortable environment than a sauna, right?
While I hammered, I could teach the two vassals.
“Won’t that disturb your work, bro?”
“It’s fine. I could work even while listening to monster screams.”
Even when I’d fallen into the trap set by the Black Sky Society.
Even in the Tower of Chaos, I’d swung my hammer without rest.
The support team’s training was nothing to worry about.
“Amazing. As expected of you, bro!”
“Just let me know in advance. The phone won’t work inside the Death Blacksmith.”
“Understood. Boss!”
I wonder if it’s wrong of me to make them train because of me.
I know Mr. Baek generously gives salary and performance bonuses.
Still.
I felt a little guilty moving according to my own schedule.
“It’s fine, bro.”
“We were already thinking about running some gates together.”
“To help you, bro, I’d need to enter a B-rank gate, right?”
Ah.
So that’s how it goes.
B-rank gates are particularly difficult to overface.
The difficulty gap is huge, and there just aren’t many gates even C-rank can enter.
If we stop there, we won’t be able to follow me in.
The support team’s passionate appearance made my nose sting a little.
“Thank you. Really.”
“Don’t leave us behind. Boss.”
“We’ll train hard!”
A laugh slipped out at the support team’s fighting spirit.
***
Two months of readjustment period.
The first thing I did was check the changes in the upgraded Death Blacksmith.
Death Blacksmith
Workshop Grade: 4
Equipment Level: Low
Capacity: 6,000 → 18,000 kg
Area: 140 pyeong → 420 pyeong
*Work speed decreased by 23%.
*Focus Lv 20
*Endurance Recovery Lv 24
*Enhanced performance of crafted items.
*When processing corpses, there is a low chance of grade increase or granting one additional ability.
*Attached Structures
— Malevolent Pit Lv1
— Cursed Tombstone Lv1
The first change was the capacity increase.
Storage jumped from 6 tons to 18 tons.
Three times as much.
“Even if it could hold a few large bells, this is ridiculous.”
Corpses of large monsters like ogres were insanely heavy.
That was why it was fortunate it could be placed in the Malevolent Pit, which was meant for corpse storage.
If it hadn’t been, I would have had to discard most of the corpses I’d obtained during the Tower of Chaos raid.
“The ability to assist blacksmithing also increased.”
“The probability of additional elements when processing corpses rose!”
The “very low” option had changed to “low.”
I hadn’t seen the additional ability grant option yet, so I couldn’t feel how good it was.
Keep working steadily and everything will come out.
By raising the Death Blacksmith’s grade, the number of craftable structures also increased.
— Revenant Auto Repair Factory.
A factory that automatically repairs damaged undead when entrusted with them. Repair speed depends on the owner’s Corpse Processing understanding.
Area: 140 pyeong.
— Giant’s Tomb.
A structure for crafting large undead classified as big monsters.
Area: 200 pyeong.
“With auto-repair, the master’s workload will decrease greatly!”
“We can expect power enhancement by making large monsters.”
The two vassals’ eyes sparkled.
Death Blacksmith.
The more I look at it, the more things it has. This skill.
The SSS grade value was enough.
Unfortunately, there are no hidden treasures.
“Thief, shut up.”
“Read the room.”
Hmm.
Honestly, the comment I just made was a bit harsh.
There were a total of three structures I could build in the Death Blacksmith.
Even though the space had expanded.
One of the three had to be given up.
“The areas take up too much space.”
“Still, we should build at least one first, shouldn’t we?”
“No.”
“Master. Don’t overthink it — just build one!”
“I don’t have money to build.”
The two vassals pouted their lips.
“Ah.”
“Aah.”
Exactly, it wasn’t money — there were no materials for crafting.
I had to ask Mr. Baek to order materials.
“I wonder if the budget will cover it.”
“Then what structure should we decide to build first?”
“I’ll make the Giant’s Tomb.”
“I thought the top priority would be the Auto Repair Factory.”
Isra’s judgment was correct.
But.
“We won’t be entering gates for now.”
An unnecessary structure could be built later, couldn’t it?
“As expected, Master! I knew you’d make a wise judgment.”
“Kuuu. I can’t fathom the master’s deep intent!”
No.
Not deep at all.
So please be quiet for a moment.
I stepped outside briefly, ordered the materials needed for the command-structure building, and returned.
The next thing to do was…