Crafting Battle (3)
Crafting Battle (3)
I was sprawled out flat on the floor of the workshop.
"Crack! I can't do this anymore!"
Sweat dripping from my entire body had soaked the floor.
Every breath I took felt like my lungs were being torn apart.
For days, I had locked myself in the workshop, cramming the processes the Guide suggested into my head and focusing on developing the sense for handling Aura.
To hold onto the Cloud Stone that kept slipping through my fingers, I couldn't let my concentration waver for even a moment.
The work of finely controlling Aura and maintaining its form caused dozens of times more mental fatigue than physical.
But even in this hellish work, there was one gain.
[Aura: 35]
Looking at the status window floating in the air, I chuckled.
My Aura, which was 31 right after healing Hong Su-yeon, had naturally increased by 4 after being constantly squeezed and used.
At first, I recalled how my Aura had increased from absorbing the Fire Energy residing in Hong Chae-yeon and Hong Su-yeon's bodies, and I even thought about trying a trick of my own.
In my desire to quickly raise my Aura, I tried to absorb the flames raging in the workshop forge, and even went outside and put my hand over a gas stove flame.
The result was obvious.
It was just damn hot and nothing else.
It seemed that ordinary flames or heat couldn't absorb and increase Aura.
It had to be Fire Energy containing special magic.
Truly, nothing in the world comes for free.
I had no idea how many days I'd been rolling around in the workshop.
"Ugh, the smell."
The sour stench stinging my nose made me frown automatically.
Dragging my body, heavy with soaked sweat, I staggered out of the workshop.
When I came out to the living room, the scenery seeping in through the full-length windows filled my vision.
Soft moonlight dyed the living room floor white, and the night view of Seoul spreading widely below sparkled beautifully like tens of thousands of fireflies gathered together.
It was a view I couldn't even imagine in my old cramped room that smelled musty.
I wanted to properly enjoy this magnificent night view, but my current state was a mess.
"First... let's wash up..."
I peeled off my sweat-soaked clothes and headed straight to the bathroom.
As warm water poured down, my tense muscles felt like they were melting away.
I stood under the water for nearly an hour, washing away the old grime and fatigue.
Feeling fresh and dry, I came out to the living room with a towel draped over my head.
Feeling refreshed, I picked up my phone from the table.
As soon as I turned on the screen, a text message popped up in the notification window.
[Association President-nim: The time and place for the competition have been decided.]
A huge crowd was making their way toward the massive stadium where the competition was being held.
It was impossible to know what intention the Korea Hunter Association President had in blowing the scale up this much.
But the Association President chose the unconventional method of simultaneous offline and online live broadcasting, saying the competition had to be known to as many people as possible.
Those who came to the stadium to watch in person were charged a considerable entrance fee.
And it was announced that the entire entrance fee would become the enormous prize money given to the winner of today's competition.
For those who couldn't get tickets and watch offline, a Nutube real-time live broadcast was being conducted simultaneously.
One of the men heading to the stadium spoke up in an excited voice.
"Who do you think will win? I still think the hottest SW right now... ah, should I say Kim Si-woo now? I think Kim Si-woo will win."
Then a man with glasses in the group pushed up his frames with a finger and countered.
"I think Kim Dal-gak will win. Rumor has it, he poured his entire fortune into buying materials to win this competition no matter what."
Another man listening smirked and interjected.
"But no matter what the materials are, isn't it just luck? Honestly, it should be renamed a luck competition, not a crafting competition."
At his harsh truth bomb, the two men nodded as if at a loss for words, agreeing.
"Now that I think about it, that's right."
As the group stepped inside the stadium, the interior was already boiling with the energy of the crowd.
The tens of thousands of seats in the audience were packed so tightly there wasn't an inch to stand, with not an empty seat to be found.
One man, seeing the set-up area prepared for the competition where everyone's gaze was directed, widened his eyes and asked in a flustered voice.
"...What is all that?"
At the end of his gaze, two starkly contrasting spaces were placed side by side.
One side was a rough forge with a massive brazier blazing with bright red flames, and the opposite side was a luxurious space that looked like a splendid European noble's palace room had been transplanted whole.
The man with glasses clicked his tongue and explained.
"Ah, you don't know? Crafters value the environment they work in that much. Like, in games, a prime enhancement spot? Think of it like that."
The man who heard the answer muttered as if dumbfounded.
"...They do all sorts of things, huh?"
When the murmuring in the venue reached its peak, the emcee started speaking into the microphone with flashy lighting.
The venue instantly went silent.
The rules of the competition were very simple.
The emcee explained in a ringing voice that the condition was that the person who creates the highest-grade item within the next 12 hours would win.
And so, with the emcee's countdown, the crafting competition of the century began.
Once the competition started, people's gazes naturally turned to both set-up areas.
Then soon, murmurs mixed with puzzlement burst out from all over the audience.
After all, looking at Kim Dal-gak's set-up area, it was literally piled high with top-grade items and rare materials to the point where you couldn't even see the person working properly.
Sparkling gems and leathers were dampening spirits, blending with the fancy chandelier lighting.
On the other hand, looking at Kim Si-woo's set-up, the rough forge, all that was on the spacious workbench was one white, large feather, one round white stone, and something that looked black.
It was such a sparse setup that the large forge looked empty.
The audience tilted their heads and began to murmur.
"Well... he seems like he just awakened recently, so I guess the difference in financial power with an established blacksmith is huge."
"What can you do with only those materials? He must not have had money."
Kim Dal-gak also glanced at Kim Si-woo's table across from him, preparing, and snorted.
He raised his chin high enough for everyone to hear and sneered.
"If it's at this level, should I have saved some material costs too? It's way too underwhelming~"
The mocking provocation echoed through the venue.
But that relaxed sneer didn't last even a minute.
Suddenly, a dazzling golden energy burst out from Kim Si-woo's body as he stood in the forge, like an explosion.
It was the radiance of Aura.
Clad in golden energy over his entire body, he picked up the white stone.
Then, he placed the stone into the blazing forge with tongs, took it out, and placed it on the anvil.
Next, a purple hammer was grasped in his hand.
It wasn't the method of opening a skill window, pressing the craft button, and tapping at the air.
He raised his arm high and began hammering the ore on the anvil directly.
At that moment, the tens of thousands in the audience seats were engulfed in perfect silence.
Everyone's expressions were colored with uncontrollable shock.
Including Hong Chae-yeon, Hong Su-yeon, and Cha Seo-yun in the stands, everyone in the stadium, and even the viewers watching the Nutube live broadcast from beyond the screen, were all simultaneously struck with shock.
'Now... he's actually crafting it himself?!'
It was a wondrous method no one had ever imagined.
Among them, the one most flabbergasted was the opponent Kim Dal-gak, who had been acting relaxed across the way.
He dropped the expensive material he was holding onto the floor and stared at Kim Si-woo as if his eyeballs would pop out.
The emcee holding the microphone also couldn't keep his wits about him and cried out in an excited shriek.
"Everyone!!! Can you clearly see with your own eyes?! SW... no, Kim Si-woo-ssi is crafting equipment directly!!!"
-Clang!
-Clang!
A crisp hammering sound that seemed to tear through the speakers filled the stadium.
Whenever the red flames bursting from the forge and the golden Aura wrapping around Kim Si-woo's hammer clashed head-on, a pleasant sound rang out.
Each time that clear, pure sound rang, the audience's shoulders flinched.
They couldn't even let out a breath and were helplessly drawn into that overwhelming spectacle.
Every time Kim Si-woo hammered in a steady rhythm, sparks flew into the air.
The sight of red embers and golden energy mixing and scattering like stardust was marvelous like a work of art.
At the beautiful feast of light blooming from the tip of the hammer, everyone, before anyone else, was staring intently, entranced.