Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: 19. Spotlight (3)
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Half a year ago.
Yoo Jung-young entered secluded training.
It was a training session she began after achieving some modest results in her own right, but at first, her growth didn't keep pace with her expectations.
Paass.
"Another failure, huh."
She stared blankly down at the sword.
Its original attack power had been 3, so after Yoo Jung-young hammered away at it all day, she'd managed to raise it by a single point. It wasn't satisfying. It had been over two weeks since she started her seclusion, but in the countless repetitions, she'd never once exceeded a gain of 1 in attack power.
"This won't cut it."
Thud.
She tossed the sword aside.
The pile of swords stacked high bore witness to her efforts so far, and Yoo Jung-young lit the forge once more, diving back into her work.
Whoosh.
Roooar.
Clang, clang!
It was a familiar sight.
Her skin, glowing red from prolonged exposure to the flames, no longer even registered the heat. Yoo Jung-young lost herself in thought. What exactly was going wrong? The mana that billowed up with each intense strike was the key element in reinforcing the item. If she struck it at a steady rhythm with precision, the mana would seep into the item just as she intended, boosting its effects.
It was exactly like Kang San did.
She and Kang San used the same method, so she couldn't understand why her results topped out at a measly +1.
'I don't think my technical skill is inferior to Mr. Kang San's. At the very least, when it comes to handling steel, I'm definitely superior. So the reason the results aren't satisfying must be the mana. How you guide the mana—that's the most crucial point in dramatically enhancing an item's power.'
"Hoo."
She caught her breath.
She tried to calm herself.
The intangible force that had to be felt not through the five senses granted to humans, but through the realm of extrasensory perception.
That which couldn't be seen with the eyes, to the point where one might say it didn't exist—Yoo Jung-young sensed it precisely and guided it.
Mana existed.
When mages cast spells.
When swordsmen exploded their mana.
The intangible power boiling furiously took form, revealing its presence.
Clang!
She guided the mana.
The blazing mana coiled around the hammer, striking the steel dead-on.
Clang.
Clang, clang!
A month?
Two months?
She had no idea how much time it would take.
But Yoo Jung-young endured with quiet resolve.
Impatience was poison.
Forgetting the flow of time, she focused entirely on this moment of wielding the intangible force.
While many things happened in the outside world.
Yoo Jung-young's sense of time gradually crumbled away.
It was perfect isolation.
She hadn't set foot outside the workshop, and for food, she consumed simple preserved rations supplemented with nutrients to maintain the bare minimum. Dry, tasteless foods meant for long storage. Even with proper nutrient management, her face grew gaunt day by day—it was unavoidable.
Then one day.
Yoo Jung-young felt something peculiar.
Whoosh.
Roooar.
The flames rose.
They billowed as if coiling around her, close enough to scorch her skin at any moment.
Yet.
'It's not hot.'
It was strange.
She was used to the heat from the repetitive work, but for it to not feel hot even in direct contact was abnormal. Yoo Jung-young didn't shy away from this eerie moment. Each time the flames surged, she felt the intangible energy more clearly, and as she raised her hammer, the flames and mana coiled together.
Whoosh.
Bang!
She struck the steel.
In that lightning-like blow, flames erupted and mana scattered.
A shiver ran through her.
Until now, it had only been guiding the mana, but now she felt the mana being swept up violently by her hammer strikes.
Clang!
Clang, clang!
It wasn't a skill.
Some blacksmiths learned a skill called 'Hammer Strike' for their work, but Yoo Jung-young was doing this solely through her own senses. Her emaciated body, starved of nutrients, squeezed out every ounce of strength. Her eyes were sunken with dark circles, but the burning flames reflected in her pupils blazed with fierce ambition.
A state of no-self.
Forgetting concepts of time and space.
She raised the hammer.
Felt the fire.
Guided the mana.
And brought the hammer down.
She raised the hammer again, felt the fire, guided the mana, and struck the exact same spot once more.
Clang!
Roooaaar.
The flames coiled around her.
She immersed herself in the work for a long while like that.
And finally.
Sizzle!
"...Did it work?"
She lifted the sword.
Its iridescent gleam made her emotions surge wildly.
Originally attack power 3.
Now it possessed a whopping 9—three times that.
This was a revolution.
Despite creating such an astonishing result, Yoo Jung-young wasn't satisfied.
'Just a bit more. I need to make it fully mine through my own technique.'
She tossed the sword aside.
Up until now, failures had piled up; from here on, successes would form mountains.
More perfectly.
More powerfully.
Having entered a new world, Yoo Jung-young reignited the forge, her ambition boiling over.
Roooaaar.
A month later.
Yoo Jung-young finally concluded that her training was complete.
Creeak.
Thud.
The door opened.
As Yoo Jung-young staggered out, a blacksmith from Iron's Forge passing by in the corridor looked shocked.
"...Jung-young?"
"Huff. I finally finished my seclusion."
Everyone flew into a frenzy.
It was inevitable.
Back when Yoo Jung-young was called the Master Blacksmith, if only briefly, the world's attention had focused on Korea's blacksmiths. It was only natural. In a changing world, people who couldn't adapt were reduced to mere repair and maintenance work, never recognized for more. But Yoo Jung-young's unprecedented case had shown new potential for growth.
Yoo Jung-young was everyone's hope.
Yoo Jung-young was everyone's future.
They all rushed over.
Supported by them, Yoo Jung-young—her energy depleted—needed to recover her body first and foremost.
"So, any results?"
The forge master asked with eyes full of expectation.
Yoo Jung-young sipped warm tea.
Despite her constant exposure to heat, the warmth sliding down her throat felt like it was melting her body.
"Yes, there were."
"What's your plan going forward?"
"Could you get me my phone first? There's something I want to check."
Her own progress.
She wanted to share this good news with Kang San.
But texts went unanswered, calls too.
At first, she thought he was just busy, but while chatting idly with the master, she heard unexpected news.
"Remember that incident from before? The E-rank link phenomenon near Wangsimni M Hotel—some hunter passing by saved people and vanished. Turns out the guy was a D-rank hunter named Kang San. Everything he's done since has blown up big time. Even Lieutenant Kim Chun-sik, who's called the Army's Star now, got help from him..."
She perked up her ears.
Kang San.
She hadn't expected that name from the master's mouth.
The more she heard, the more impressive it was.
She knew Kang San wasn't ordinary, but the details about helping Kim Chun-sik and the Wangsimni incident were news to her. What was clear was that after this issue blew up, Kang San had gone dark.
She pondered.
Should she go find Kang San?
No matter how much he'd gone dark, he'd show up for her visit.
But first, there was something she had to do.
She had a contract with Kang San.
So when they met again, she wanted to give him not just news of her progress, but a solid gift.
Yoo Jung-young said,
"Master, could I ask one favor?"
"Say it. Anything's possible."
Kang San had proposed to her.
In exchange for granting her the rights to this technique, to repay him upon success.
Yoo Jung-young's eyes sharpened.
"Call all the reporters you can reach. I'll reveal my achievements right in front of them."
The open lot in front of the workshop.
Reporters swarmed in.
They all wore puzzled looks.
"Yoo Jung-young? What the hell is she planning?"
"Trying to scam us with some plausible story again? Remember when she called herself Master Blacksmith and made a huge splash, then suddenly vanished before the truth could be verified? Classic con artist move."
"Scam or not, it's good material for articles."
Past events.
The silence had tarnished Yoo Jung-young's reputation.
Her demonstrated results had been real, but over time, it came to look like a scam.
Logically, receiving countless offers yet suddenly entering seclusion looked like nothing but evasion. So the reporters' reactions were logical. They suspected the boy who cried wolf—Yoo Jung-young—was setting up another stage to fool people.
"Here she comes."
"Shoot."
Flash.
Flflash flash.
Flashes erupted from all sides.
Yoo Jung-young walked out with a composed expression.
Meeting the gazes looking up at her, she took the mic and spoke.
"I'm Yoo Jung-young. The reason I called you reporters here is to showcase the technique I've honed during this seclusion. First, please verify this sword's stats."
Swish.
She held up the sword.
Its sharp blade glinted in the sunlight.
Murmurs rose.
"What?"
"Why show us that?"
No one understood.
It was just an ordinary D-rank item, so they stared at Yoo Jung-young, demanding an explanation.
Yoo Jung-young said,
"In truth, this sword was originally an F-rank longsword. An item that boosted attack power by 3 has been upgraded by my hands into a D-rank longsword boosting attack by 12. This is what I wanted to tell you all today. It's the reason I had to enter seclusion, and proof that blacksmiths deserve greater recognition going forward."
"Gasp."
"No way."
"That's possible?"
The reporters' murmurs grew louder.
They couldn't believe it.
It wasn't just a +1 or +2 bump.
A full fourfold increase.
It might seem dramatic due to the low starting rank, but even so, the impact of this result was immense.
A true revolution.
One reporter shouted,
"I can't believe it. Prove this isn't fabricated!"
It was a natural question.
She could just bring another item and claim it was real.
Given her suspicious history, her words naturally drew skeptical glares.
It was exactly as expected.
Yoo Jung-young had orchestrated this situation.
A stage where reporters doubted, and she proved them wrong.
Yoo Jung-young said,
"Of course, I fully understand that skepticism. So."
She met their eyes.
Her gaunt face remained, but the ambition flickering in her gaze seemed ready to devour the reporters whole.
"I'll show you right now."