A True Artisan
I guess it’s time to make the knife.
I had planned to ask the chef one last thing before I got started—whether she wanted any specific inscription engraved on the blade. An initial, a personal motto, something like that.
Adding a personal touch was practically a golden rule in the customization business. Granted, I had only ever done it in a game so far.
Without thinking much of it, I turned my gaze toward the chef.
...Wait, what?
The atmosphere was bizarre. It wasn't just the punk spiritualist who had been glaring at me until a moment ago.
Seo Jian, the executive secretary, and even the other attendants standing further back—every single person in the room was frozen solid, their mouths hanging wide open. They kept looking back and forth between the ventilation shaft and me.
...What is it this time? Didn't they ask me to exorcise the thing?
"Wait, wait a minute! Chef?!"
Seo Jian’s urgent cry shattered the silence. When I looked over, Chef Kim Hyeyun was sliding sideways to the floor. Fortunately, Jian, who was standing right next to her, quickly reached out and caught the chef in a supportive embrace.
"Chef! Chef, wake up!"
"Call an ambulance, quickly!"
A luxury suite.
"Sigh..."
I was buried deep in a high-end sofa so plush it felt like my body was melting into it. A five-star hotel, and a suite room at that. Was I really allowed to enjoy this kind of luxury?
Ah, I was practically dissolving. I didn't know the exact rates, but a single night here easily cost thousands of dollars.
After I had stood there blankly watching the chef get loaded into the ambulance, the executive secretary, wearing an incredibly solemn expression, had guided me to this room. He left me with a single instruction: "Please rest comfortably here for today and wait."
The vibe was strange—I couldn't tell if I was being kicked out or treated like royalty. But as I lay on this incredibly soft sofa, none of that really mattered anymore.
With a soft whir, the automatic curtains slid open, revealing a panoramic night view of the heart of Gangnam. The densely packed skyscrapers poured out their respective lights into the dark. It looked almost like a single, massive living organism.
"Wow..."
Until just recently, I had been cooped up in a cramped studio apartment, playing games all day long. They say if a person's life changes too suddenly, they die. I wondered if this sudden upgrade was shaving years off my lifespan.
Slurrrp! Chomp, chomp!
"Man, this champon broth is killer. I guess this is what five-star quality tastes like. Hyung-nim, do you want a bite?"
Sitting at a round table in the corner of the suite was Jin Muyeong, the punk spiritualist, greedily devouring a bowl of seafood champon he had ordered from room service. I stared at him, utterly dumbfounded.
...But why is he eating his champon in my room when he said his room is next door?
It seemed he had also been assigned a room while working on this commission. But instead of resting in his own quarters, he had changed into a casual hoodie and slipped over to knock on my door.
The prickly attitude he had shown back in the restaurant was completely gone. After asking for my age and realizing I was older, he had suddenly started calling me "hyung-nim" left and right.
"If you had only come sooner, hyung-nim, I wouldn't have had to suffer like a dog for three whole days."
"..."
"By the way, you said you're from the Tianshan Sect, right? I noticed earlier that your Korean is incredibly fluent..."
...Hmm. Fortunately, Jian had coached me on what to say beforehand.
"...My mother is Korean."
"Oh! No wonder!"
Jin Muyeong slapped his knee dramatically. Thankfully, he didn't pry any further. Just then, Seo Jian, who had been on the phone outside, stepped into the room.
"Is the chef alright?"
"Ah, yes. I just got word that she woke up a moment ago."
Seo Jian finally looked relieved.
"The hospital said there's nothing wrong with her. Apparently, she was just under extreme tension for too long, and it all hit her at once when she finally relaxed. Still, just to be safe, they're keeping her overnight, and she'll be discharged tomorrow morning."
"That's a relief."
It seemed I hadn't accidentally broken anything. Relieved, I tapped the Restraining Charm hanging inside my clothes. When I drew the talisman earlier, I had slightly loosened the charm's control to let some spiritual power flow. I had quickly tightened it back up the moment I finished to prevent any leaks, but still.
The effect was certainly incredible, though.
What I had engraved on the Yellow Talisman Paper on the spot wasn't the circuit inspired by the Hellfire Sword I made last time. If a fire broke out indoors, it would be like burning down the house to catch a flea—the damages alone would easily run into tens of millions of dollars.
So, a sudden idea had struck me. It was the circuit structure that activated the divine skill, Purifying Light, which was used to deal with undead or ghost-type monsters in the game. It was a circuit I usually engraved on the gear of priests or paladins. I had simply adapted it on the fly.
...But the effect was way better than I expected.
Even though I was carving the circuit instead of drawing it with a brush, pouring my earnest intent into it had perfectly sealed and amplified the spiritual energy.
Ding-dong. As I was lost in thought, the suite's doorbell rang. The executive secretary opened the door and ushered someone inside.
"I am Yoon Seah, the Executive Director of TK Group's hotel management division."
This person was the Executive Director? ...What? Why is she so young? She looked to be in her early thirties at most. A young woman in a sophisticated suit stood before me. The moment she entered, she bowed a full ninety degrees toward me.
"Thank you so, so much. Because of the pressure from the Xuanwu Family, everyone was playing it safe and refused to even touch the issue... Thanks to you, Master, our group has been saved."
According to the explanation she laid out, the situation was roughly this: In a few days, a massive social gala gathering prominent figures from politics, business, and the spiritual world was scheduled to be held at this hotel's restaurant.
However, a conflict over a redevelopment project had arisen with a branch family of the Xuanwu Family—one of the Four Great Families. To humiliate and tame the TK Group, they had deliberately planted a horde of vicious cursed spirits in the main chef responsible for the event.
"Once the chef's kitchen knife is fully crafted, we will make sure to compensate you generously for your grace, with absolutely nothing lacking. You can certainly look forward to it."
Director Yoon smiled softly and placed two tickets on the table.
"Since it's late today, please rest comfortably in this suite for a few days. And these tickets are VIP invitations for the day of the gala. I would be honored if you could watch the chef cook with the knife you craft, Master."
Director Yoon bowed politely as she spoke. A suite room. Looking at the bed, it seemed so soft that I wanted to dive onto it right this second. However...
My fingertips were starting to tremble slightly. A strange anxiety and restlessness began to bubble up in my chest.
That's right! For ten years, I was a man who had swung a hammer in front of a forge every single day without fail.
After the game's service ended, I hadn't been able to hold a hammer for a while, and only recently had I begun to taste that sensation again. As a rebound, my body had become one that simply couldn't endure a single day without hammering.
Yes. I was currently seized by an overwhelming urge to run back to my workshop, light up the forge, and start hammering right this instant.
I had been waiting quietly because they told me to standby, but the chef was fine now, and the client, Director Yoon, had expressed her gratitude so happily. Everyone was happy. Wasn't the situation basically resolved?
The only unhappy person here was me, suffering from severe hammer withdrawal.
My current favorite, the 1.5-kilogram hammer made of high-density tungsten alloy—Iron Boy. He was probably waiting anxiously for my return right now.
Then, I recalled the chef's knife from earlier. That minutely thick blade and the off-center balance. I couldn't let her chop green onions with a knife whose balance was so utterly ruined. She would be holding it again as soon as she was discharged tomorrow; what if she tore her ligaments?
I had rolled around as a blacksmith for ten years. Seeing room for improvement in a customer's equipment right before my eyes and just lying down to sleep?
My professional pride simply wouldn't allow it. My hands were itching to get in front of the forge and craft a customized knife perfectly tailored to the chef.
Well, since the situation seemed resolved anyway, I stood up from the plush sofa without a shred of lingering regret.
"Jian, could you call a taxi for me?"
"Huh? Why so suddenly?"
"Ah, is there something uncomfortable..." Director Yoon also took a step forward, looking flustered.
"You said the chef is being discharged tomorrow morning, right?" At my question, Jian nodded blankly.
"Then I should have the new knife ready for her first thing tomorrow morning. You mentioned there's an important event in a few days, and it takes some time to get used to a new knife."
I had to get to the workshop quickly. Just raising the temperature of the forge would take quite a while. And my beloved Iron Boy was waiting!
"...W-Wait a moment, Master," Director Yoon stammered a beat late, her mouth hanging open in a daze.
"P-Please don't do this, stay and rest for a few days. We will compensate you even more handsomely. If there is any amount you desire, we will gladly..."
"I-I heard the spa in this hotel is absolutely incredible, hyung-nim! You should try it before you go!" Even Jin Muyeong, who had been eating champon, set down his chopsticks and chimed in excitedly.
...What is wrong with these people all of a sudden? Their eyes were gleaming with a strange intensity, as if they had all agreed on something beforehand. Well, whatever.
"I'll be heading to my workshop. Jian, you can use this room if you'd like."
"What?! Ah, wait, I'm coming with you! Hold on!!"
Slam.
Inside the suite room after Dohyun and Jian had departed, Director Yoon Seah, her executive secretary, and the 3rd-class spiritualist Jin Muyeong stood frozen, their eyes blank with shock.
Yoon Seah had suddenly inherited the succession at a very young age and was thrust into leading the group. But putting the harsh realities of corporate management aside, the real problem lay elsewhere. Having just taken over, she hadn't realized how vicious the people of the spiritual world could be.
As a price for offending the Xuanwu Family, the entire group was slowly being choked to death. They had spent astronomical sums to hire numerous spiritualists, but all of them had turned tail and fled, terrified of retaliation from one of the Four Great Families.
She had reached out this time clinging to straws, only for this incredibly young eccentric from the Tianshan Sect to resolve everything in a single stroke.
Furthermore, before she had even arrived at this room, the 3rd-class spiritualist Jin Muyeong, who had been there first, had sought her out. At first, she thought he had come to claim some of the credit for himself.
Instead, Jin Muyeong had practically foamed at the mouth, talking endlessly about how formidable the evil spirits that the eccentric had dealt with were, and how mind-blowing the feat itself was.
Half-skeptical, she had quickly dispatched her people to verify it, and the results proved that Muyeong's words were by no means an exaggeration.
According to the investigation, those were foul entities that would require at least a high-ranking 2nd-class spiritualist or a high priest to barely manage an exorcism.
Director Yoon realized instinctively. A lifeline that could save her group had appeared right before her eyes.
Ah...
She had intended to bind him to her side by any means necessary while he stayed here. She had planned to keep him in the suite for a few days, share a glass of high-end wine, and naturally invite him to become an advisor for the group—tying him to a permanent alliance with a hefty retainer.
Only then did she realize how petty and worldly her thoughts had been. The curse of the Four Great Families, the crisis of the conglomerate, the luxury suite, and the promise of hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation—to that young man, none of those grandiose things mattered as much as crafting the single knife he had promised.
Jin Muyeong also found the situation completely incomprehensible. ...I really can't figure that guy out. A multi-day stay in a luxury suite, VIP invitations, and a massive reward.
He had even gone out of his way to foam at the mouth explaining to Director Yoon just how incredible Dohyun's feat was, making sure she knew exactly how amazing he was so she would compensate him handsomely.
If it had been Muyeong, he would never have walked away. Yet, Dohyun had rejected all of it, leaving the room in a hurry just to craft a single knife.
...Is that what they call a true artisan?
The hotel hallway.
"D-Dohyun! Wait for me!" Seo Jian was hurriedly chasing after Dohyun in her high heels.
Seriously, I asked them to call a taxi, so why did they all just stare at me blankly? My heart was already pounding at the thought of lighting the forge. I had to get back to the workshop immediately and feel the grip of my favorite hammer, Iron Boy.
"Ah, this elevator is taking forever." Dohyun tapped his foot anxiously, already sketching the blueprint of the new kitchen knife in his mind.