Let Me Place My Hand on Your Chest

'Do whatever it takes, huh... That's not how the world works.'

Dohyun thought, glancing at Yu-ha, who was fidgeting anxiously a short distance away.

Give and take. That was the law of the world.

Well, Dohyun had already browsed the community boards and the shops in the Goblin Market.

He had a decent grasp of how the market prices worked in this industry.

If he wanted to, he could have named his own price.

But things like this weren't meant to be spoken aloud by the craftsman himself.

Indeed! Had anyone ever seen a doctor discuss money directly in front of a patient?

Branding was all about image.

Just as a doctor saving lives would lose trust if they brought up money first, wasn't he in a similar position from the perspective of saving swords?

No matter how grand the work, the moment he priced it himself, it risked looking like a mere means to extract that sum from others.

That would make him look like a money-grubbing artisan.

But what if those roles were separated? Haha... Even celebrities had agencies negotiate their appearance fees. This was only natural!

Of course, he had already texted Seo Ji-an all the details regarding the sword's condition and the work required for the repair.

All that was left was for her to squeeze out the maximum amount possible! Only then would he keep his prestige intact.

'In short, negotiate with my manager.'

Dohyun deliberately stepped away to give them some space to talk.

From a distance, Yu-ha's voice drifted over, filled with constant surprise.

"Yes... Yes..."

"...L-like that?!"

"...N-no. That's true, but..."

"...Yes, yes..."

"N-no... I will do that, yes..."

She was flustered beyond belief.

After talking on the phone for quite a while, Yu-ha finally finished the call and trudged back, looking completely drained.

"...She wants to speak to you again."

Dohyun took the phone back.

Hearing the terms she laid out next,

"What...?!"

Dohyun was temporarily lost for words.

"..."

"...Is... is that even possible?!"

...She managed to get this much?

It was far more than he had expected. Way more. Actually...

'...She really is an incredibly competent broker.'

Dohyun led the way out to the mansion's courtyard.

Yu-ha followed behind him blankly.

'...A revenue-share contract.'

A down payment of 100 million won just for the repair.

On top of that, in exchange for providing maintenance services, she had agreed to give him a portion of the income she earned as a spiritualist for the next ten years.

...And a whopping 30 percent at that.

When she first heard the terms, she had doubted her own ears.

Thirty percent for ten years.

The nightmare of her days working under an exploitative agency in Japan almost flashed before her eyes.

But listening to the broker's explanation, it didn't seem entirely unreasonable.

According to the broker, it was common to sign revenue-share contracts when commissioning workshops for Eul-grade or higher spiritual tools.

Unless, of course, the client was a tycoon who could easily cough up billions of won upfront.

This was news to Yu-ha.

She had never made a proper commission or contract before.

In the first place...

'Eul-grade...?'

In truth, she didn't even know the exact grade of this sword.

She knew it was an incredible weapon, but she had no idea how highly it was regarded in the spiritualist world, or how it would be priced.

Because her mother wasn't a spiritualist, her grandfather hadn't bothered to tell her about this side of the world.

'You have no need to know.'

He had tried his best to keep his daughter away from anything related to the spiritualist world.

It was likely out of a desire to protect his daughter from this dangerous realm.

That was why Yu-ha herself only truly realized the fame of her grandfather, the 'Sword Demon' Ishihara, after she entered the spiritualist world.

...Honestly, even so, it wasn't a small sum of money.

But looking at it objectively, it was a contract where she had nothing to lose.

After all, if she couldn't fix this sword, she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wouldn't be able to complete a single proper commission here anyway.

Furthermore, it was a contract where he would only get his share if the sword was restored.

In other words, if this man couldn't fix the sword, he wouldn't get a single penny beyond the 100 million won down payment.

'...Which means he's confident.'

That fact actually made him seem strangely reliable.

What did a mere thirty percent matter? As long as the sword was restored.

Once that happened, she would surely ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be able to become like her grandfather.

'Once you learn how to wield this sword, you will surely become the greatest spiritualist, just like your grandfather.'

She had held onto those words all the way here.

She didn't know much about the sword's grade. Even so, she had never doubted it.

The Sword Demon Ishihara. There was no one in the Japanese spiritualist world who didn't know that name.

And she was the sole remaining bloodline of that great spiritualist.

So if this sword could wake up again, she was willing to give even more.

"Since I've already received permission, I'll start setting up."

"Ah, yes..."

But...

'Is he really going to fix it right here, right now?'

Yu-ha was puzzled. This was just the villa's garden; there wasn't even a forge here.

She had naturally assumed that once the consultation was over, they would head to his workshop. Yet out of nowhere, he had told her to follow him outside because he was starting immediately.

Come to think of it, the box Dohyun carried on his back caught her eye. It was a large, pitch-black wooden box wrapped in luxurious cloth.

She had been wondering what it was ever since he first walked into the drawing room...

Thud. Dohyun set the box down on the ground, opened the lid, and began taking things out to arrange them.

'What are those?'

A small forge, a hammer, tongs, and various tools of unknown names were neatly laid out.

Yes, it was almost as if he had transported an entire blacksmith shop right here.

'Based on my experience, I figured I'd have to go on business trips often.' Just like today.

Dohyun looked down at the items in the case with satisfaction. It had always been like that in the game, after all.

And even if it weren't, Dohyun was the type of person whose hands would itch if he didn't swing a hammer every day.

So, after receiving the commission fee from the TK Hotel job, there was one thing he wanted to make above all else. This was it! The portable blacksmith kit.

Back in his gaming days, without this, wandering across the vast continent to complete quests, learn secret techniques, and gather materials would have been utterly impossible.

'No matter who made it, it's a beautiful sight.' Oh, for the record, he was the one who made it.

Among the tools, the most important was this portable forge.

"Oh? A forge. I didn't know something like this existed." Yu-ha's eyes widened in wonder.

It wasn't as if there weren't portable forges on the market that used kerosene or charcoal.

But in Dohyun's eyes, carrying fuel around was far too heavy and inefficient.

Since he had customized and carried one in the game, recreating its structure in reality posed no challenge at all.

'First, I need to heat up the forge.' Dohyun placed his hand on one side of the forge.

And as he injected his spiritual power, whoosh! Blue flames flickered and surged into the air.

This was another reason why Dohyun rejected commercial forges.

This forge was covered in inscriptions he had carved himself for convenience, and the most important among them was this: Spiritual Power Combustion.

It was a circuit that burned injected spiritual power directly into flames.

Thanks to this, there was no need for firewood, charcoal, or oil. The fuel for this forge was only one thing—Dohyun's own spiritual power.

Controlling the fire was the core of blacksmithing.

One could adjust the fire's intensity using bellows and firewood, or by turning a dial. However, such physical methods inevitably led to minor errors and time lags.

That level of precision was not enough to satisfy Dohyun.

A perfect control that didn't allow even a split-second delay. For that sole purpose, he had engraved a circuit that ignited fire directly through spiritual power.

And after countless hours guarding the forge, honing his control, Dohyun had reached a realm where he could freely manipulate the temperature and properties of the flames the instant he thought of them.

Once the flames stabilized, Dohyun immediately brought the sword close to the forge.

The first task was to strip away the reinforcement materials that those strange artisans had sloppily slapped onto it.

Since melting points varied by material, he carefully adjusted the flames while observing the state of the metal.

Sizzle— He began to melt away only the parts that had been clumsily added later.

Meanwhile, Yu-ha, who was watching from beside the forge, stared with wide eyes.

'Is this... actually powered by spiritual power?'

At first, she thought it was just an ordinary portable forge. The kind that used gas or oil to light a fire.

But it wasn't. The flames were moving as if alive, following his hand gestures.

The intensity waxed and waned, and even the color shifted subtly, as if reading his mind.

Only then did Yu-ha realize. What ignited the fire, and what was manipulating it so freely now, wasn't the forge at all—it was this man's spiritual power.

And what those flames were melting away were the ugly marks covering the blade.

These were the traces left by those who had at least attempted to work on it in the workshops she had visited.

One person had poured the wrong molten metal to fill a crack, while another had added an unknown alloy, claiming it would allow spiritual power to flow.

None of them had managed to save the sword; they had only added more scars.

Dohyun's flames were melting away only those accumulated traces of failure, as if selectively filtering them.

Meanwhile, the original blade underneath remained completely untouched.

If the fire were even slightly too hot, the original blade underneath would have melted along with it.

'This is impossible.' Yu-ha was a spiritualist, after all. That was why she could see it so clearly.

Converting spiritual power into fire was hard enough, but to change the intensity and nature of that fire at every single moment?

In the first place, emitting spiritual power at a constant strength required immense training.

Yet the man before her was performing this insane level of control as naturally as breathing.

'Is this really a level of control a human can achieve?'

Yu-ha watched the dancing blue flames with bated breath, thinking.

This time, really, truly... this sword might actually come back to life.

Once all the foreign substances were cleared away, the original form of the sword hidden beneath was revealed.

However, ugly gouges and damaged spots remained wherever the materials had been stripped.

He needed to fill these gaps with a metal close to the original material.

'I'm glad I brought this.' Dohyun rummaged through the inside of the kit and opened a box filled with small leather pouches.

'It should be around here... Ah, here it is.'

He always carried various basic alloys and powdered steel just in case.

After carefully scanning the damaged cross-section of the sword, Dohyun selected three leather pouches and began pouring their contents into a crucible.

This was to mix and create a metal that perfectly matched the sword's original composition.

Steel powder to serve as the skeleton, wrought iron powder to add flexibility, and a special alloy powder to help it retain spiritual power.

Dohyun mixed them, relying solely on his eyes and the sensation in his fingertips to adjust the ratios down to the finest detail.

'This amount should be enough.' Dohyun applied the spiritual flames to the small crucible resting on one side of the forge.

The mixed steel powder melted in an instant, bubbling into glowing red molten metal.

Lifting the crucible with tongs, Dohyun carefully poured the molten metal over the scarred areas.

Sliiiip. The molten metal seeped in without leaving any gaps, smoothly filling the gouges like new flesh.

Then, he picked up his familiar hammer.

'Hehe. Long time no see, Ol' Reliable.'

Clang...! Clang...! Clang...! The cheerful sound of metal striking metal echoed through the courtyard.

Repeating the process of hammering and cooling, he perfectly restored the shape of the sword.

The reinforcement was done.

'Now... shall I engrave it while it's still hot?'

There was something he had checked first when reading the circuits earlier.

The input circuit in the hilt that absorbed spiritual power.

Every other part repelled spiritual power. It could only be channeled through the patterns on the hilt, and even then, the circuit was designed to only allow a specific frequency of spiritual power to pass.

This was likely the main reason why the sword hadn't been working.

'Hmm... Is it roughly this wavelength?'

The family that had maintained this sword for generations probably adjusted the circuit to match each new owner whenever it was passed down.

'Now that the family is gone, there was no one left to adjust it.'

Besides, since her mother hadn't worked as a spiritualist and had let the sword rot away, she wouldn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have known about this either.

'Well, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠whatever.' To make this sword usable again, he had to adjust the circuit to match that woman's spiritual power.

To do that, he first needed to check her spiritual power. Dohyun raised his head.

'Now then...' He lightly gestured to Yu-ha, who was watching with bated breath from a distance.

"Could you come over here for a moment?"

"...Yes?" Looking completely clueless, Yu-ha hesitantly approached.

Dohyun stared at her in silence for a moment as she drew near.

'Hmm... where should I touch to get the best grasp of her spiritual power's texture?' Gauging the location, Dohyun finally spoke.

"Hold on."

"...?"

"I'm going to place my hand on your chest."

"..."

Instantly, Yu-ha's face flushed bright red and froze.

"...W-what?!"