Leather Armor Competition 5
Processing the carcasses of over fifty S-rank monsters took a full five hours. I focused solely on butchering and tanning without a single break during that time, and as a result, my Dexterity stat rose by 34 and my Concentration by 11.
We had a total of 72 hours for the third stage of leather armor production. Only five hours had passed, and I suddenly found myself with nothing left to do.
I couldn't leave too early or it'd draw unnecessary suspicion, so I planned to stick around until the last hour or two. But that left me with way too much time on my hands.
What now?
It's been a while—maybe I should do some personal maintenance.
With some rare downtime, I opened my status window for the first time in ages.
Skills: Status Check, Swiftness
NPC-Exclusive Abilities: Materials, Potion Shop, Quest Assignment, Residual Mana Detection, Leather Armor Shop
My stats, which had stagnated after dealing with those Justice Guild members, had climbed a bit more thanks to the leatherwork. And the moment I glanced at my Intellect, it hit me.
Oh right, Intellect is only at 194?
I'd naturally assumed it would be over 200 by now, but it wasn't—and that meant I couldn't buy an S-rank leather armor in this state.
Since I never entered dungeons and none of my crafting required stats, I'd completely forgotten about it.
Guess I need to grind some Intellect and restock potions by learning herb processing from Taeju hyung.
In a way, it might've worked out for the best. I still had two unfinished potions that required herb work anyway. I'd meant to do it earlier but kept putting it off until now. At least I'd caught it in time.
What about the S-rank leather armor? Will it really match SS-rank plate armor defense?
I was dying to know. It might even surpass SS-rank plate.
The reason? It required a whopping 40 sheets of S-rank leather.
Even Hespera only compressed to 30 sheets, so exceeding that by 10 had me seriously hyped.
If I'd done the compression myself, how many could I have managed? And does it even follow the same process as other hunters?
Curiosity struck me out of nowhere. I skipped straight to the end product via the shop, so I had no idea how it worked.
Seeing Geonmin's process up close recently had sparked it. The so-called compression happened in two stages.
First came mana compression. After butchering and tanning, the hides were still monster-sized—useless for armor. So you cut them, concentrating the dispersed mana into the needed size.
The amount varied by the leatherworker's skill. Geonmin managed 70%.
I figured mine hit 100% automatically.
After cutting the mana-compressed hides, stage two: physical compression. Like a blacksmith hammering metal. Glue two hides with mana adhesive, then hammer them with your mana. Higher skill meant even distribution and better success.
Each success required more mana for the next, but my shop seemed to handle perfect compression automatically to match the listed sheet count.
With flawless butchering, tanning, and auto-compression, my armor outperforming others made sense.
And mana. Mine's fundamentally different.
The core difference between my leather armor and others' was my mana.
Confirming via Geonmin and checking other hunters' sold armors revealed it: during tanning, my hides fused monster and my mana into something new.
Others' just mixed monster and hunter mana separately—like a braid pretending to be one, but I could still feel both.
I believed this mana fusion hugely impacted defense and restoration.
Geonmin said the leatherworker's infused mana drove restoration most. From tanning infusion, compression seepage.
Butchering maximized monster mana first, yet the worker's mana was key.
Restoration worked by mana in damaged armor self-repairing it—but too slow, so users infused their own.
The armor's mana absorbed it, speeding repair, but replaced itself with user mana, which slowly converted back—thinning concentration and shortening lifespan.
Frequent/severe damage worsened it: more user mana, longer conversion, thinner concentration.
Mine was different. Even absorbing user mana, concentration stayed pure—like digesting it into original properties.
Thus, fast restoration without lifespan loss unless half-destroyed.
Downside: absorbed over twice as much mana for same wound size. Probably the mana nature.
So my armor differed vastly from others'. Same level despite differences would be weirder.
Hespera's performance had me curious again. What did the world's top leatherworker produce?
Lost in these thoughts under the guise of maintenance, time flew until exit time.
Whoa, only two hours left. Time to go.
Staying longer was torture, so I prepped to leave: buy the armor.
A-rank leather for production was prepped. Just open shop, buy, visualize design.
I bought it, called to report done, and exited.
* * *
All hunters finished, took breaks. Meanwhile, judges evaluated submitted armors. Once done, everyone gathered in the main hall.
This time, not just the 17 third-stage participants—hundreds of spectators too.
Audience always swelled for results. Buyers, guild scouts.
Previous contests maxed dozens; this drew top national leatherworkers, so crowds made sense.
Lottery caps kept it to hundreds, not thousands.
Noise filled the hall: winner hype, Hespera's surprise entry.
Emcee took stage, quieting them.
"Thank you for waiting. Time for awards and evaluations. As you know, special judge Hespera joined stage three under same conditions. Her entry is evaluated but excluded from prizes. Unlike past contests, all made S-rank leather armor thanks to higher skills and World Leatherworker Association monster support."
Seventeen armors lined up—identical visually. Same specs, hard to tell makers without expertise. Judges blind-evaluated too.
"New: World Leatherworker Association criteria over old. Three categories: Defense (60%), Restoration (30%), Comfort (10%)."
"Defense: +/- vs. average monster defense per rank. Hespera's Korean plate averages + per rank. A+ means average A-rank plate defense. Not absolute—guideline. Restoration same basis; Comfort 100-point scale."
Assistant moved first armor center; eyes locked.
Not all national leatherworkers, but top tiers. Third-stage survivors' works + Hespera's = hype. 1st hers, but 2nd+ intriguing.
"First: Defense A, Restoration A-, Comfort 74. Total 73.4. Maker: Participant 23, Hunter Shin Youngsu."
Expected reaction.
"Yeah, Need Workshop's Shin Youngsu—makes sense."
"Heard only 3 days. A-grade in 3? Solid."
"Youngsu hits A+ normally."
Leather usually one rank below plate for same material. A-leather = B-plate; S-leather = A-plate. Top workers only.
Satisfied vibe. But I didn't get it—why accept downgrade?
Geonmin raged at even matching material rank.
Her work frenzy earned respect. She'd match, surpass soon.
Yet satisfaction at downgrade? Then I spotted contemptuous glare at Youngsu.
Was that it? Did I misjudge Hespera?
Emcee continued: "Second: Defense A+, Restoration A+, Comfort 89. Total 81.9. Maker: 174, Hunter Kim Sangho."
"Whoa, Kim Sangho! Different league."
"Emperor Guild's? Elite!"
The guy Taehee and Jeonghun knew—smug like Youngsu.
Scores mostly mid-late 70s, similar reactions.
First dissatisfied: "Fourteenth: Defense A, Restoration A+, Comfort 91. Total 78.1. Maker: 278, Hunter Ha Geonmin."
Top Comfort, tied Restoration 1st, weak Defense.
"Leather Maniac!"
Geonmin scowled, muttering unhappily.
Hespera's face shifted—approval-ish.
Got her now.
Seventeenth: stunned silence.
"Seventeenth: Defense S+, Restoration S, Comfort 93. Total 93.3. Maker: Hespera."
Dead quiet.
I met Hespera's eyes: Beat that?
Confident for reason. S+ leather matching S-plate, exceeding with restoration.
Shattered "leather one-below" myth.
She handles SS+ leather easy.
Explained "world's best" rep. (Excluding me.)
Others downgrade, she matches—I upgrade.
My eval last? Skipped my number for Hespera. Only mine left.
Waiting, crowd exploded over hers.
"Leather matching plate? Possible?"
"Trick?"
"Same conditions! Hespera—world's best!"
Chaos; emcee: "Evaluations ongoing. Quiet. Last remains. Disruptors ejected."
Quieter, but whispers persisted.
Final eval.
How'd mine score? My tests amateur; pro verdict?
Even I gawked.
"Eighteenth: Defense S+, Restoration S+, Comfort 100. Total 95.5. Maker: Kim Suho."
To be continued in the next chapter...