Demand Without Supply
Back when I was a kid. Whenever the teacher asked about our dream jobs, I always said hunter blacksmith. Of course, that's just a story from my ignorant childhood.
"Ugh, fuck."
Thinking back now makes me dizzy. Dreaming of making a living off the money those bastards tossed my way.
Hunter blacksmith. There used to be such a thing in our country once. A regular blacksmith living an ordinary life would supply gear to hunters, and boom—they became a hunter blacksmith. No qualification exams, no certifications needed. Just delivering goods to hunters earned them the title of master artisan. Massive profits were the bonus.
The main customers for hunter blacksmiths were the early hunters pushing through the lower floors. They'd kit themselves out head-to-toe in top-grade gear made from the finest materials. Even veteran rankers who knew better tried to talk them out of it, but it was useless. Those hunters were pumped full of hunter high and wouldn't listen. Picture a nouveau riche decked out in designer labels from head to toe.
But once the tower's mid-layers started getting seriously tackled, hunters stopped seeking out blacksmiths. They'd realized Earth-made gear couldn't handle the tower's enemies anymore. In simple terms, it had reached its expiration date.
With their old equipment useless, hunters—who didn't want to ditch their armor for functional t-shirts and go climbing—went through trial and error before starting to farm. They'd strip elves they met in the tower, loot mages, even peel the saintess bare, and use that stuff themselves. Surprisingly, it worked great. A saintess's threadbare robes were tougher than chainmail and plate gauntlets. An elf kid's bow snatched after a knuckle-rap did more damage than a double-barrel shotgun.
No one knew why. Science couldn't explain it. When our mercenaries stripped goblins or kobolds, we saw zero effects, which only added to the confusion. Looking back now, it was all about utilizing nodes. Tower elves knew how to use them; goblins didn't.
Yeah, that's right. Humanity had been stuck in that tower for decades without figuring out the Black Tower's secret. And I cracked it in half a day. Was this really okay? Was I the one who'd end up resolving humanity's worst catastrophe?
With my education fully complete, all that was left was real-world practice. My first product: civilian defense artifacts. I meticulously checked every bit of the massive data dump Ya-geumsul-sa had uploaded to the gallery.
"Necklaces, bracelet artifacts..."
True to their defensive purpose, most were wearables. The designs weren't flashy, making them ideal for mass distribution. I flipped through pages, scanning the product list. Deeper in, non-metal options started appearing.
"Grip tok?"
Any more snark, and Ya-geumsul-sa would get pissed. I quickly skipped ahead and read the crafting methods.
[Disposable Mana Barrier Ring]
- Forms a protective shield for 3 minutes when the wearer takes lethal damage.
- Can be recharged with mana for multiple uses, but explicitly state that the creator bears no responsibility for resulting damage.
A ring? Rings are fine. Low material needs, easy to make. Not cumbersome, so high wearability.
- Recommended material: Mithril
Fuck, what? Mithril right off the bat? Thinks I'm forging the One Ring? Does mithril even exist?
- If no mithril or for mass production, gold is fine as a substitute.
Now that's more like it. Gold felt welcoming after seeing mithril. Like spotting English amid foreign languages. But gold prices? Still burdensome. My artifacts need to be everyday wear for everyone, young and old. Skip gold too, regrettably.
- Hate all that? Just carve wood then.
Passing mithril and gold tanked the vibe hard. Wood.... Not bad. For solo handmade production, wood maximizes output. Cheap to supply too.
"Still doesn't grab me though."
National sentiment matters too. "Wood ring" sounds.... a bit cheap. Poor young couples making them on workshop dates. Some prideful types would skip wearing it and die to a bullet.
......Is she watching?
Dark iron? First time hearing it.
The photo Ya-geumsul-sa sent showed a somewhat dark metal. Despite the unfamiliar name, I knew it instantly. Kobold scrap.
Ya-geumsul-sa explained at length. In summary: high mana conductivity, perfect for simple artifacts. Downside is it's useless for high-rank hunters by our standards, but worth tolerating. As she said, most rational option so far.
Everything's perfect except the supply issue.
I checked the marketplace site for kobold scrap, just in case. No listings, as expected. Easily obtainable from lower floors, but zero industrial value. Miracle metal even scrap grannies skip. Can't even recycle it as iron. Who'd sell used junk like that?
Guess I gotta fetch it myself.
I turned toward where the tower loomed. The Black Tower.... Rallying manpower just for kobold scrap was impossible. No mercenary would waste time for scraps of mana stones. I'd have to solo it.
Black Tower deploys platoons from floor 10, companies from 15+. But single-digit floors? Well-trained civilians can clear them. Floor 1's where attention-seekers film solo hard-mode challenges. Doable solo for normals.
Yeah, I can handle easy mode alone.
Non-combat role or not, I'd led mercenaries to floor 20. Even snagged a troll by accident. Unlocked combat skills too: Warhammer Mastery, Body Enhancement, Mind Enhancement passives. Can't spit fire or shoot lightning like others, but awakener's an awakener.
Time to climb. I packed as I resolved. Spacious bag for mana stones and kobold scrap. Grabbed a pistol too. Warhammer ideal, but can't swing an untested weapon. Safe play today: collect scrap, practice warhammer later. Stuffed in water and energy bars, then opened the gallery.
Found kobold brats illegally squatting on my precious dark iron. You shouldn't have done that. Heading to the tower.
Comments poured in right after posting. Mixed reactions. Half advised against personal sourcing—inefficient, they said. Fair point. But dark iron's supply is critically low. I had to become my own supplier.
The other half? Just hyped someone was off to fight.
Smiler jumped straight to boomer mode. Guess it's "Smiler?" not "Smiler^^". Pain to tangle with. Ignore and keep moving.
Not actually watching, right? I snuck back and knelt beside Smiler's spot.
A glow appeared with Smiler's comment. Trade signal. Didn't have much, so I tossed in an energy bar from my pocket. The glow vanished.
Warhammers from our history had long hafts, small heads—for handling heavy weapons. But Smiler's was movie-style: short haft, massive head. Something for dwarves or Norse gods?
"Hup—cha—!"
Grabbed it one-handed. Solid heft. "Light" my ass—total lie. Compared to Eponine's forging hammer, this was cheap. Would carry to get used to weight, but tower? Stick to pistol.
How to carry this though? Everyone packs a pistol these days, but openly flashing swords or mauls on streets? Different story.
Pistols are self-defense; mauls look like you're hunting someone. Makes you seem like a thuggish hunter. Even those who bash heads use guns for it, but psychological resistance from unfamiliarity lingers. As I pondered, Yo-i-yo-i commented.
Yo-i-yo-i's gift: bag like a shoe sack. Untied, slid in warhammer—instantly felt a third the weight. Unlike Smiler, Yo-i-yo-i doesn't bullshit. Didn't stop there, kept looking out for me.
Nightmare mode? I inwardly scoffed at their fuss. As if. Over 30 years, countless hunters climbed—no testimonies beyond hard mode. Even if it exists, no issue. I won't pick it.
[Solo Challenge.]
[Floor 1 selected.]
[Recommended difficulty based on climber's average potential.]
[Haiseon's recommended difficulty: Nightmare.]
[Nightmare difficulty auto-selected.]
Oh, fuck off.