Independence
Independence
I had no idea how long the sound of hammering had been filling the workshop.
-Kang!
-Kang!
I swept back my sweat-soaked bangs and glared at the furnace where flames blazed fiercely.
The floor was already littered with dozens of orichalcum fragments.
Some had been overworked and stretched like taffy, while others were too brittle and crumbled like crackers with a single hammer blow.
The mineral called orichalcum was far more finicky and sensitive than I'd thought.
Like a teenage boy, it would dart off on its own at the slightest provocation.
"Hoo...."
I lifted a heated ore with the tongs.
This time, the color was different.
It had started as a dark red, passed through orange, and now had taken on a lemon hue so bright it stung the eyes.
This was the data that hundreds of past failures had taught me.
The thick parts needed to wait until they turned a bright yellow for the heat to penetrate all the way through and make them pliable, while the thin parts had to be pulled out while they were still a deep orange to maintain their shape.
-Tssssss!
I placed the heated metal onto the anvil.
I brought the hammer down.
-Kang!
The vibration that reached my fingertips was different.
"Found it."
A smile spread across my lips.
At last, the orichalcum had begun to accept my touch.
It was the optimal temperature, discovered solely through my senses and eye without a guideline.
Rather than the system spoon-feeding me, the thrill came from finding the answer myself.
But the joy was short-lived.
I thought I'd crossed the biggest mountain, only to find a far greater mountain range waiting beyond it.
"How the hell... am I going to finish all this."
I spread my hand out and turned it this way and that.
What I was making now was a gauntlet.
The knuckle joints, the plate covering the back of the hand, the connective parts assisting the wrist's rotation, the guard wrapping the forearm, and the upper arm armor extending to the shoulder.
All of these had to be connected organically before a single gauntlet could finally be completed.
"One finger has three joints... the thumb has two...."
Just one hand had fourteen joints.
Every single one of those joints had to be protected without gaps, never interfering with each other when moving.
To achieve that, I couldn't just stamp them out at once. I had to process each part separately, like small scales, and piece them together.
And that wasn't all.
The curve of the back of the hand needed to be a gentle slope, and the forearm guard had to account for the contraction and relaxation of the muscles as they moved.
"Haha...."
A hollow laugh escaped me.
I hadn't known back when I was working with Guide-nim.
I never had to think about any of this—I just had to make whatever I was told.
The system had been silently handling all these complicated and tedious processes for me.
I muttered quietly toward the empty air.
"Guide-nim... you really went through a lot this whole time."
There was no reply, but for some reason, it felt like the system window was shrugging its shoulders.
Now that the convenience I'd taken for granted was gone, I felt its absence in my bones.
I let out a deep sigh and gazed at the tools scattered across the workbench.
Hundreds of small parts had to be shaved down, trimmed, drilled, and connected.
Just thinking about it was enough to make my head pound with the sheer tedium of it.
But it was strange.
"......."
By all rights, I should have been annoyed and exhausted. Yet some corner of my chest was oddly fluttering with excitement.
I didn't dislike the process of crafting the equipment that would protect my body, stitch by stitch, with my own hands.
No, I was actually enjoying it.
"Alright. Let's do this."
I pulled over a chair and sat down.
I took out a measuring tape and held it against my left index finger.
"First joint length, 2.4 centimeters... circumference is...."
I measured the dimensions and meticulously wrote the numbers onto the parchment.
They were my own fingers, but this was the first time I'd ever examined them so closely.
The thickness of the joints, the shape of the fingernail, even the length the skin stretched when I made a fist.
I was analyzing my own body with the eyes of a true craftsman making something real.
"The thumb joint has a wide rotation radius, so I'll need to leave a little more clearance."
Muttering to myself, I cut out the thinly spread orichalcum plate.
The sound of metal being cut rang out.
I picked up the cut piece with tongs and placed it onto a small anvil.
Then I grabbed a tiny detailing hammer.
-Kong.
-Kong.
-Kong.
The delicate sound of hammering echoed through the workshop.
I rounded the fingernail-sized metal piece, shaping it to fit a finger.
Whenever the angle was even slightly off, I'd heat it in the fire again, straighten it, and hammer it repeatedly.
I lost track of time and became completely absorbed.
Before I knew it, the workbench had small finger joint components with a faint lavender sheen piling up one by one.
Dozens of parts lay scattered across the workbench.
With trembling hands, I picked up the very last component.
If this part was off by even a little, the metal would grind every time I turned my wrist. And if it was too loose, it would lose its function as protective gear.
I held my breath.
I brought a small hammer to the pin I'd secured with the tongs.
If I got the force wrong here, the tower I'd painstakingly built over days and nights without sleep would come crashing down.
-Kong.
A careful strike.
The head of the rivet flattened, firmly binding the two metal plates together.
There was no play.
But it wasn't stiff, either.
At that moment, breaking the silence, a notification rang out from the empty air of the workshop.
-Ding!
[Unique-grade Orichalcum Gauntlet has been crafted.]
[Stats increase as a reward.]
[HP +5]
[Strength +3]
[Agility +2]
[Dexterity +9]
[Orichalcum Gauntlet]
Grade: Unique
[A masterpiece created by SW, a mediocrity, conquering orichalcum through sheer sense and tenacity. A gauntlet born from hundreds of accumulated failures, it unifies perfectly with the wearer because it was crafted by personally measuring dimensions from the knuckles to the shoulder.]
Durability: 2000/2000
Defense: +565
HP: +135
*Physical Resistance: 56%
*Magic Resistance: 46%
*Attack Speed: +38%
*Critical Hit Chance: +21%
*Grants 'Afterimage Slash'
*Grants 'Wave'
*Grants 'Intermediate Fist Technique'
*Afterimage Slash: When performing consecutive attacks with a sword, an afterimage remains in the trajectory of the previous attack for 0.5 seconds starting from the second strike. The afterimage is a mana residual body with substance, automatically generating an additional hit equal to 30% of the corresponding attack power each time it is created. The afterimage vanishes immediately if the consecutive attack chain is broken or the action is switched.
*Wave: Compresses mana into the gauntlet, causing the shockwave upon impact to directly penetrate the target's body. Completely ignores external armor or physical defense and deals internal damage. Upon a successful hit, inflicts the 'Internal Wound' status abnormality on the target for 3 seconds. Enemies in the Internal Wound state receive 15% increased damage from all subsequent attacks. (Cooldown: 20 seconds)
*Intermediate Fist Technique: Allows the use of Intermediate Fist Technique while the gauntlet is equipped.
"UWAAAAAAAH!!!"
I threw my hammer and let out a scream.
I shouted loud enough to make the workshop shake and jumped up and down on the spot.
"I did it! I freaking did it! Crazy!"
The three letters spelling 'Unique' floating in the system window felt like they were going to blind me.
Even when I made Rapier, a Legendary-grade item, I hadn't been this happy.
Back then, I'd been desperate just to follow what the guide told me, and it felt like I'd just added a spoon to a table the system had already set.
But this time was different.
From selecting the materials to adjusting the temperature, the intensity of the hammering, and the design of the parts—
without a single percent of help, this result was born purely from my head and my fingertips.
I calmed my excitement and carefully examined the options.
It was insane.
Never mind the defense and resistances—the skill composition was top-notch.
Especially the 'Wave' skill.
It ignored defense and dealt damage internally.
This was nothing short of kryptonite against monsters that were only hard on the outside or enemies clad in heavy armor.
On top of that, 'Afterimage Slash' was clearly going to give wings to my style, which was all about fast attack speed.
"Hoo...."
With trembling hands, I tried on the gauntlet.
I didn't even feel the sensation of cold metal touching my skin.
The fit was so perfect it was almost an illusion, as if my skin had simply grown a layer thicker.
I made a fist and then opened it.
-Cheolkeok.
-Cheolkeok.
From the fingers all the way to the shoulder, the small components moved organically, following my movements.
There was absolutely no sense of a foreign object.
It was a natural result, considering I'd calculated the length of my fingers and the position of my joints to make it.
This was 'custom production' in its truest sense.
I stared blankly at my tightly clenched fist.
Something hot and choking welled up in my throat.
In the corner of the workshop, the orichalcum scraps I had failed with and discarded were piled up like a mountain.
I had completely lost track of time.
I forgot to eat, forgot to sleep.
When blisters formed on my fingers and burst, bleeding, I'd roughly wrap them in bandages and pick up the hammer again.
The fear of having no guideline.
The doubt of whether I could really do it.
The despair that hundreds of failures had brought me.
Having passed through the tunnel of all those emotions, I finally saw the light.
This gauntlet was a more precious treasure to me than any legendary item in the world.
"I can do it...."
I muttered in a low voice.
Even without the guide, even without the system's help.
If I took it slow, step by step, I could eventually reach my goal.
I brought my gauntlet-clad fist before my eyes.
The faint luster of the orichalcum reflected in my pupils.
Confidence surged within me.
"Alright. I've got the hang of it."
I clenched my fist tight.
Having completed one gauntlet, what remained now was the helmet, the body armor, and the boots.
The road ahead was long, but I was no longer afraid.
On the contrary, I was even looking forward to what kind of trial and error my next work would bring me and how it would help me grow.
"Let's go, Kim Si-woo. All the way to the end."
I picked up the tongs again.
The flames blazing in the furnace were burning fiercely within my own eyes.