Reinforcement
Equipment reinforcement.
The indispensable condition for surviving the Tower.
No matter how high a hunter’s level was, no matter how good their stats were, there was a limit to how far they could go in the upper floors without proper gear to back them up.
Then again, that also meant that with the right equipment, you could defeat opponents far stronger than yourself.
That was why the artisan street in Thebes was always packed.
It was filled with hunters chasing the one chance that might change their fate.
If they succeeded, it was heaven. If they failed, it was hell.
And before that stark divide, countless hunters were gambling again today.
Clang!
“Ah, it still didn’t break?”
A D-class hunter stared down at his sword with trembling hands. He was challenging a +4 reinforcement.
Clang!
“Please, please! Just this once!”
Clang!
A flash burst out.
“It worked! It worked!”
+4 reinforcement success. The hunters around him shot him envious looks.
But right beside him—
Clang!
“God, Allah, Buddha, please….”
The hunter clasped his hands together and prayed with desperate sincerity.
Clang!
“Pleeeaase! Let’s gooo!!”
Crash—
“Ah. This game is fucking trash.”
“Heh heh heh. That’s why I told you to stop. You’ll be out mining for another week.”
“Pfft! If you hit it once with good odds, it’ll recover~.”
“Are you a genius?”
One hunter sank into despair as he touched the shattered fragments in his hands.
He had tried to push from +6 to +7 and ended up completely destroying his gear.
The failed hunter’s face twisted.
Then he glared at the blacksmith who had been reforging his equipment, as if it were somehow his fault.
“What’s your problem! Are you saying this is my fault?”
“N-no, that’s not it, but….”
“Then why are you making that face?”
“You should’ve handled it more carefully, like you were babying it or something….”
“I warned you!”
The blacksmith looked wronged.
He had only been hammering as instructed.
Cheers and screams kept erupting one after another along the alley.
“Yes! +5 success!”
“Aaaagh! My armor!”
“Sh-should I try one more reinforcement?”
“I’ve got a feeling this one’s going to work….”
The mad, feverish atmosphere that was unique to artisan street.
Perhaps even fiercer than the gambling dens in Blackjo’s tavern.
Amid all that chaos, there was one smithy that remained oddly quiet.
Jingle—
“Who—ah!”
The blacksmith looked up, and his eyes widened.
“Kim Jun! My hero!”
The dwarf blacksmith Aaron dropped his hammer and ran toward Kim Jun.
“Wahahahaha! Good to see you, good to see you!”
“You’ve been well?”
There were tears gathered at the corners of Aaron’s eyes.
After the Lunaurium Hammer, passed down through his family for generations, had been ruined, he had fallen into complete despair.
Customers had gradually drifted away, and the fire in his forge had begun to die.
But after obtaining the Hammer of Belleron that Kim Jun had given him, everything changed.
Looking around the smithy now, it was a world apart from before.
The forge was blazing again, and the anvil that had once gathered dust was gleaming with polish.
Even the tools hanging on the walls were neatly organized.
“So, what brings you here today? Reinforcement? Crafting?”
“There’s nothing left to craft, really. What you made was already excellent.”
“Uwahahahaha! Of course it was! Then you’re here for reinforcement?”
“Yes… but the price—?”
Kim Jun stared at the posted rates and blinked in surprise.
Compared with other smithies, they were nearly fifty times higher.
“Ah, about that. I lowered the price to chase off the riffraff. For you and your companions, it’s free, isn’t it! Wahahahaha!”
Aaron meant every word.
The benefactor who had rekindled the forge that had been dying out.
The person who had restored his pride as a blacksmith.
How could he ever repay that debt?
For Aaron, this was the only way he knew.
“You really don’t have to do that.”
“Nonsense! What do you take me for? Just being able to swing my hammer again leaves me with no regrets, even if I die tomorrow! Now then, shall we begin?”
Kim Jun started pulling Lunaurium out of his subspace pouch.
Crash—
Shimmering silver ore began piling up on the workbench.
“W-wait! Why is there so much…! Just how many pieces is this?”
“Haha….”
Kim Jun had used berserk to sweep every monster and boss from Floors 11 through 15, so Lunaurium had piled up like a mountain.
Aaron counted them one by one and gasped.
“A thousand?!”
“About that, I think.”
Kim Jun replied calmly.
“W-with this much….”
Aaron’s eyes flashed. His mind was already racing through the numbers.
With this much material, the Hammer of Belleron doubling the reinforcement success rate, and its anti-destruction property…
“I could probably get each piece to +15.”
+15.
That was insane.
“And these are all high-purity Lunaurium, too?”
Aaron lifted each lump of ore and held it up to the light, marveling.
They were on a completely different level from the Lunaurium mined in ordinary veins.
The color was cleaner, and the strands of mana flowing through the grain were visible even to the naked eye.
Usually, even if hunters mined all day long, they needed extraordinary luck just to get one or two pieces of ordinary Lunaurium.
But now.
In front of Aaron’s eyes, there were a full thousand of those gem-like, high-purity stones piled up like a mountain.
He was speechless for a moment.
“With materials this good, I could even push it to +20.”
Grip—
Aaron took up the hammer, then began lifting Kim Jun’s gear with renewed energy.
“There’s technique to hammering, you know. It’s not just a matter of chance.”
Of course Kim Jun knew that.
The reason he had entrusted the Hammer of Belleron to Aaron in the first place was exactly that.
Good materials and tools mattered, yes, but a blacksmith’s skill was the true heart of it.
“I trust you.”
“Of course! Just leave it to me!”
Aaron rolled up his sleeves and raised the hammer.
“Huuuu.”
With a deep breath, Aaron’s expression changed. The playful glint in his eyes vanished, replaced by the focused gaze of a true artisan.
The way he looked at Dragon Eater on the workbench was the concentration of an artist.
He picked up a piece of Lunaurium and held it up to the light, turning it slowly as if reading the flow of mana.
“Good. This one’s got the strongest energy.”
He placed the selected Lunaurium beside Dragon Eater.
The dragon aura pouring from the sword and the mana within the Lunaurium began to respond to each other.
Faint static crackled through the air.
Aaron slowly raised the Hammer of Belleron. Decades of experience had seeped into his wrists and shoulders.
“Now.”
In that instant, the Lunaurium’s mana and the aura of Dragon Eater resonated perfectly.
Clang—!
The hammer came down.
It wasn’t a simple strike.
It was a perfect blow only a craftsman with decades of experience could deliver—one that pierced the core precisely without resisting the flow of mana.
A blinding light burst forth.
[“Dragon Eater” Reinforcement +2 Success!]
Watching the scene, Kim Jun thought to himself, Two levels in one shot? I knew I hadn’t made the wrong choice.
Aaron’s skill was art itself.
This wasn’t just relying on odds; it was the technique of a true master who could see through the essence of materials and equipment.
“Oho, this one’s got good energy!”
Aaron examined the newly enhanced Dragon Eater with satisfaction.
The dragon aura pouring from the blade had grown even more intense than before.
“Next!”
Aaron began selecting Lunaurium again, this time even more carefully, even more precisely.
From +3 onward, you had to pay far more attention.
Raw mana alone wasn’t enough; the equipment’s own resistance also grew stronger.
Aaron slowly rotated the Hammer of Belleron, checking its center of balance.
He took out two pieces of Lunaurium and carefully placed them on either side of Dragon Eater to balance the work.
“Huu….”
With a deeper breath, Aaron’s concentration sharpened to an extreme.
Clang! Clang!
This time, two strikes came in rapid succession.
The first opened the flow of mana, and the second locked it into place—a highly advanced technique.
Click.
As something snapped neatly into alignment—
[“Dragon Eater” Reinforcement +3 Success!]
“Good!”
Aaron clenched his fist.
“Now we’re really getting started. Let’s keep going!”
After that, Aaron’s hammer never stopped.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
[“Dragon Eater” Reinforcement +7 Success!]
[“Dragon Skin” Reinforcement +5 Success!]
[“Dragon Claw” Reinforcement +6 Success!]
*
Time passed, and by the time night had deepened, all the reinforcements were finally complete.
“Huu! Done!”
Aaron wiped away his sweat and looked over the equipment on the workbench.
They were radiating power on a level that couldn’t even be compared to before.
“Incredible.”
Kim Jun admired the reinforced gear as he checked it over.
Of the thousand Lunaurium pieces, only about four hundred had been used so far.
The current reinforcement values were—
[“Dragon Eater” Reinforcement +15 Success!]
[“Dragon Skin” Reinforcement +13 Success!]
[“Dragon Claw” Reinforcement +12 Success!]
“You really aren’t going to reinforce them any further? That’s a shame.”
“No. I can’t use it all for myself.”
Of course, if they used the remaining materials, they could easily push everything to +15. Maybe even +20.
But then Kim Jun’s thoughts drifted to his companions.
The ones he worried about most were Ryu Jia and Han Suin.
Lee Seoyeon was a healer, so with her own regeneration and support abilities, she was safe enough. And Park Minsu, as a tanker, had the toughness to handle himself.
But Ryu Jia was a pure damage dealer who hadn’t invested a single point into vitality. Even with high level, one solid hit could be dangerous.
And Han Suin…
Not this time.
Kim Jun’s chest grew tight.
The first person to die in his previous life.
He still remembered it vividly: the cold body growing colder, the eyes frozen open toward the sky.
Han Suin was an S-class assassin. She was fast and agile enough to evade most attacks.
But her job also meant fighting at close range more than anyone else.
I have to make them as safe as possible.
Kim Jun looked at the remaining Lunaurium and made up his mind.
He didn’t want to see that scene again in this life.
Jingle—
“Is this the place?”
Park Minsu’s head popped through the doorway first.
After him, Ryu Jia, Lee Seoyeon, and Han Suin appeared in turn.
“This is the place, all right!”
“Oppa!”
“Guild leader~.”
“…”
As Kim Jun rose from his seat, all four of them relaxed slightly, as if relieved.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m alive, thanks to you.”
If not for Lee Seoyeon’s healing, Kim Jun would probably still be lying in bed right now.
“Still makes me mad….”
“H-ha ha. Anyway….”
Kim Jun quickly changed the subject as he turned away.
“Let’s start with everyone’s armor. Your weapons are already strong enough to cover the current level.”
For reasons he didn’t fully understand, the four of them had all leveled up when Kim Jun subdued them.
By as much as +2 each.
They were already approaching level 20, so even without weapon reinforcement they could still cut down the monsters on the next floor with ease.
What they needed most right now was armor.
After all, you had to survive if you wanted to deal damage.
“Fine, I’ll go first.”
Park Minsu thudded down a heavy plate cuirass.
Lee Seoyeon took out her sturdy robe, and Han Suin handed over a lightweight set of armor instead of a dagger.
Clang!
Clang!
While their armor was reinforced one by one, everyone wore satisfied expressions.
But then—
“I want this one!”
Ryu Jia smiled brightly and lifted her wand high.
The Branch of Sorcery Kim Jun had given her after clearing Floor 6.
[“Branch of Sorcery”]
[Grade]: C
[Trait]: Rises in grade in proportion to the user’s mana
[Effect]: Magic attack power +20%, mana consumption 15%
Park Minsu narrowed his eyes.
“Hey! I said not the weapon! I told you to do the armor, not the weapon!”
“Ah, no! No way!”
“What an extreme damage junkie!”
“Ahhh, I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you~.”
Ryu Jia cut off Park Minsu’s grumbling with a wave of her hand and even hummed cheerfully.
“If my weapon’s stronger, the mobs die faster, and if the mobs die faster, we’re all safer~.”
“Hey! I’m the one who always takes the hits for you!”
“That’s your role! So, are you saying you won’t protect me?”
Park Minsu was left speechless.
“Y-you…!”
Ryu Jia tilted her head slightly and stepped closer with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“You’re not going to protect me? Hm?”
“…”
“Hm? Hm?”
“I-I’ll protect you….”
“Then that’s fine! Mister dwarf, this one!”
Ryu Jia beamed as she handed it over to Aaron.
Park Minsu turned his head away in irritation, but the tips of his ears were red.
22