Chapter 64
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: The Making of a Cajón
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Chirr.
The alley at dawn was steeped in tranquility, caught between the cool morning air and the dim light.
Amidst the faint glow of a yellow streetlight illuminating the alley, a humble weaponry shop tucked away in a corner shone with a gentle light of its own, a stark contrast to the surrounding silence.
It was Gorae's Weaponry Shop.
Scrape! Scrape!
Yuhyeon sawed away with a look of intense concentration.
He had been cutting wood for hours, and countless piles of lumber were stacked around him.
Some pieces were crooked, while others were cut with uniform precision, without a hint of error.
"Hoo."
The instrument he was currently making was a Cajón.
Meaning "small box" in Spanish, it was a traditional rhythm instrument originating from South America.
Specifically, he was crafting a 'Modern Cajón,' the most contemporary version of the instrument.
Have I made enough wood for the body?
The Cajón was an instrument with rather interesting characteristics among percussion instruments.
It had the appearance of a six-sided box, and one could strike it with their hands to produce sound, much like a drum.
It was also an instrument capable of producing the sound of strings by striking the playing surface, thanks to the wires or snares installed inside.
I can adjust the tension of the strings as I install them
A key feature was that striking the playing surface produced a chirring sound, rather than the dull thud of a drum.
If one had to make a comparison, it was like a portable drum with a smaller volume.
Now, I just need to make the sound hole, right?
Yuhyeon checked the finished materials one by one, making a list.
He had completed the five panels for the body and had nearly finished preparing the necessary tools and materials for construction.
Only one material remained.
"I guess the main event starts now."
The F-hole.
What Yuhyeon was about to make was the sound hole that would give the instrument its voice.
And not just any sound hole, but the F-shaped one used in string instruments like the violin, cello, viola, and double bass.
Once this is done, it's practically finished.
The F-hole was a design developed around the 16th century in the Cremona region of Italy, which then spread widely.
This shape had the characteristic of adjusting the overall vibration pattern of the instrument to provide a balanced sound and helping to generate a wider range of notes by allowing the air inside to move quickly.
The problem is that its difficult to make.
The issue was that its crafting difficulty was significantly higher compared to a simple round sound hole.
It required such a detailed and precise process that most string instrument makers crafted them by hand using hand tools.
The sound could even change based on minute errors, like shaving off a little too much or too little.
Even Teacher Kim Seongdeuk stayed up all night for it.
It spoke volumes that even the teacher at the workshop often pulled all-nighters just to make an F-hole.
Thats how high the difficulty of the crafting process was.
Nevertheless, there was a reason why makers were so obsessed with the F-hole.
Its beautiful.
It was because they were captivated by the elegant and refined appearance of the F-hole.
Furthermore, depending on its shape and size, it could impart a unique tone and personality.
This meant one could create a special instrument for a single, specific performer.
"Hoo, shall I begin?"
Yuhyeon let out a short breath and picked up a coping saw.
This was the start of a process that might take not just hours, but days.
He had to pour all his effort into creating the best F-hole he possibly could.
Shhk, shhk!
"Ugh."
Out of nervousness, he cut a crooked shape right from the start.
Its a relief I made a mistake at the beginning.
If he had slipped up far into the process, it would have been irreversible. This was for the better.
Without hesitation, Yuhyeon grabbed a new piece of wood and drew the design again.
Scrape, scrape!
After that, a very arduous and tedious process repeated itself.
"Hoo."
If it was even slightly crooked, he would discard the wood without mercy.
"Ah."
If he cut even a little more than the design called for, he immediately picked up a new piece of wood.
The clock in the weaponry shop began to tick by as if time had stood still.
It must have been around the time he had made several hundred saw cuts.
Scrape! Shhk!
How many hours had passed?
By now, his vision was blurry, and he could feel tremors in the hand holding the saw.
Despite this, Yuhyeon continued to saw.
This is what I do best.
Patience, effort, and concentration.
These were the things Yuhyeon did better than anyone else in the world.
They were what had turned a little boy from an orphanage into a violinist and what had earned him recognition from Olsen for his swordsmanship.
You have acquired 1 Willpower by repeating the same action for a long time.
You have acquired 1 Willpower by repeating the same action for a long time
Repeating the same action for a long time
Above all, it was fun.
Some might call it mind-numbingly boring, but for Yuhyeon, it was an incredibly exciting process.
Was this not the moment he was creating an instrument solely for himself?
Its tough, but its fun.
Because it was fun, he didn't let go of the saw, and thus, he never doubted that his instrument would one day be completed.
He continued to cut new pieces of wood.
And so, time flowed on relentlessly.
Four hours
Sweat beaded on his forehead, trickling down to sting his eyes.
Five hours
He felt the sensation in his fingertips begin to fade.
Six hours
Time seemed to slow down.
The only things in his field of vision were the saw and the wood before him.
At some point, it felt as if he were the only one in the weaponry shop.
Almost there
Surprisingly, as time went on, his physical stamina waned, but his concentration rose to a higher plane.
It became so sharp that he could catch even the finest specks of dust, invisible to the naked eye.
And in the moment he felt it.
"One!"
He had completed one F-hole.
One perfect F-hole in just six hours.
But without a moment to rejoice, he immediately lifted the saw again.
One more, with this momentum.
Yuhyeon had one more F-hole to make.
He had to create a perfectly symmetrical F-hole on the opposite side.
Just follow the design.
Yuhyeon was still an inexperienced craftsman.
For someone like him to create a perfectly symmetrical F-hole was a near-impossible task.
Stay calm.
However, if he could maintain his current state, the story would be very different.
He just had to calmly repeat what he had been doing all along.
"...Hyaaawn."
Gessin, who had just woken up, rubbed his eyes and came outside.
He stopped in his tracks as he sensed a presence.
Before him was Yuhyeon, still holding the saw.
Still at it?
He turned his head to check the clock; it was already seven in the morning.
Since Yuhyeon had started working yesterday afternoon, he must have been at it for at least 20 hours.
What? An F-hole?
He caught a glimpse of what Yuhyeon was doing and saw him making an F-hole.
In string instrument making, crafting the F-hole was known to be the most difficult and tricky part.
It required such a precise and delicate process that even he had to scrap his work and start over several times.
Someone who just started crafting yesterday is making an F-hole
Of course, it wasn't impossible.
The fact that it was done by hand meant that it could be accomplished by human hands.
Anyone could make one, provided they sawed along a drawn design.
It was just difficult to do it without any error.
But Gessin couldn't help but be astonished at the scene before him.
Countless discarded pieces of wood were scattered around Yuhyeon.
Nearly 100 pieces of regular wood, set aside specifically for making F-holes, had been thrown away.
He went through that much wood in a single day?
Human stamina had its limits.
Even he, a dwarf, would get tired and take a break after that much work, yet Yuhyeon hadn't lost his concentration.
And watching him, a strong desire began to boil up inside Gessin.
"Well now, I can't be outdone."
He had just finished the third coat of varnish and let it dry.
Gessin headed to a table far from Yuhyeon to work on the remaining bow repairs.
Shhh-shhhk!
Soon, the weaponry shop was filled with a harmony of sounds from their work.
Gessin assembled the frog and button, the final steps of the bow repair.
Scrape! Shhk!
Yuhyeon poured all his soul into sawing, aiming for the final F-hole.
The only sounds in the weaponry shop were those of their work.
Scrape! Thunk!
And when Yuhyeon, without losing focus until the very end, finished his cut.
"Hooah."
He could see that the second F-hole had been successfully completed.
"Hmm? When did you come out?"
Yuhyeon, catching his breath, finally noticed Gessin and spoke.
"Hmm, I've been up for about an hour."
"An hour Hmm?"
Yuhyeon's gaze shifted to the clock.
It was already eight in the morning. This meant an hour had passed since he finished the first F-hole.
Thanks to maintaining his concentration, the second one was completed much more smoothly.
"Looks like you're done preparing the materials."
Gessin murmured, looking at Yuhyeon.
He was bursting with questionswhat kind of instrument was he making that required F-holes, and why did he need strings?
"Yes, now it's time to build."
"Huhu, I'll be looking forward to it."
But he didn't bother to ask.
Hadn't Yuhyeon just declared with his own mouth that he was going to 'build' it?
All he had to do was wait with anticipation to see what kind of instrument would be born.
Alright, lets build.
Yuhyeon smiled brightly.
All the difficult work is done.
Now, all that was left was to literally piece together the finished materials according to the design.
First, attach the strings to the back panel
To make the strings vibrate and produce a metallic sound when struck, he attached four strings to the back panel.
Time to adjust the tension to produce an A note.
Next was adjusting the tension to produce the A note, one of the open strings of a violin.
This was an incredibly easy task for Yuhyeon, a violinist, so he proceeded without a hitch.
Add a button so the back can be opened and closed, and attach a handle to the top panel
The front, back, and side panels were all ready.
The moment to conclude the ten-hour-long journey had arrived.
"Hoo"
Yuhyeon smiled brightly as he applied the slime's mucus to the wood.
And in the very moment he joined all the wooden pieces together.
Tiring!
Instrument crafting is complete.
A pleasant notification sound echoed in Yuhyeon's ears.
It was the sound announcing the completion of the instrument.
You have crafted an instrument not listed in the 'Instrument Crafting' skill.
Grade cannot be determined. Searching for the most similar existing instrument
No search results found.
A series of notification windows appeared.
No search results? Then what happens?
Re-searching
This instrument is identical to the 'Cajón,' an instrument from an unreleased region.
As a bonus for an unreleased instrument, it is assigned an A-grade.
As it was crafted without using the crafting skill, the instrument's ability is upgraded by one tier!
!
Yuhyeon's eyes widened.
He had seen a similar notification before.
My ability was upgraded a tier when I made the work song, too.
Did that mean this one would also be upgraded to S-rank?
As Yuhyeon watched the notification with a trembling heart.
The rank of this instrument is S-grade!
You have gained a large amount of experience for crafting a special instrument.
You have gained 1 level.
You have gained 1 level.
.
.
.
A flood of notification windows poured down before his eyes.
The message saying it had been upgraded to S-rank was followed by notifications of his level-ups.
And at the same time
Achievement Unlocked!
You have unlocked unreleased content!
The 'Cajón' will be registered as a new instrument in the Crafting Skill!
You have acquired the legendary title 'Pioneer of an Unknown World (1)'.
Description: You are a user who has pioneered an unknown world. This is a great achievement. Those who change the world must leave their name behind. As such, we present you with a small gift.
As an achievement reward, all stats, including Divinity and Charm, increase by 5.
A small gift?
Could the stat increase from the achievement be the gift?
But Yuhyeon soon understood the reason.
Tiring!
Skill: Instrument Crafting
Craftable List: Cajón (Newly Unlocked!)
Unlocked by player 'Yuhyeon'
It was because a new instrument had appeared in his crafting skill.
No way.
And because he discovered his own name attached to it.