Crafted Amid the Chaos

Suomi.

Game Master Kim Nayoon checked the notification.

"Wow."

He had finally reached a major city—at Level 197.

"Isn't this, like, the latest anyone's ever done it?"

The Rise to Prominence achievement was something you unlocked simply by setting foot inside a major city. In theory, even a Level 1 player could claim it.

And he had just unlocked it at Level 197.

Among the current rankers, he had to be the absolute last one to get there.

"He already forged SSR+ gear… and he's only now arriving at a major city?"

Kim Nayoon's heart was racing.

A major city meant materials and guilds on a completely different scale.

"Everything you can't get in a mid-sized town, you can get in a major city."

The infrastructure available to him would change entirely.

"From this point on…"

This was where the real climb began.

How fast would Jinwoo tear upward once he arrived at a major city? Or would he somehow stall out instead? She was intensely curious either way.

"Obviously he'll tear upward, but…"

The question was how quickly—and how far. The grade he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had already reached made any prediction nearly impossible.

Ding—!

Another notification arrived. But before she could even open it, someone called her name.

"Nayoon GM!"

The vice president had come looking for her.

"Yes, sir."

"The footage is in! They need your narration recorded. And this is weird. Seriously weird."

The vice president's face was twisted in a grimace.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, not wrong exactly. He sent in footage, but the footage itself is… strange."

"Strange how?"

"It's not crafting footage. Apparently what User Jinwoo submitted is a tower clear video?"

"What? A tower?"

Kim Nayoon froze, then frantically checked the notification that had just chimed.

"…He did it?"

His second tower clear. And just like the first, he had soloed it.

"Logical itself rated this place as extremely high difficulty…"

There were over a hundred towers tied to the main scenario. Some were easy; some were brutal. The Maze Mist Tower fell firmly into the latter category—not the absolute highest tier, but nowhere near as soloable as the Tower of Altitude had been.

"Logical's minimum recommended level is… 550…"

And solo clears were listed as impossible.

"It's real. He actually cleared it. Ha… okay. But that's not even the main thing!"

The tower clear alone was staggering—but something even more staggering came next. The vice president's voice rose.

"He crafted while clearing the tower? I watched it myself, and this is…"

Even the vice president was floored. What Jinwoo had done was completely unprecedented. Crafting on an active battlefield?

Crafting demanded intense, unbroken concentration.

"Inside that nightmare of a tower, he forged something! And he pulled an SSR out of it! Does that even make sense?"

"Ah. I see."

The tower clear was astonishing. The crafting… less so.

"…What's with that reaction?"

"Well."

Kim Nayoon said it simply.

"He's Jin. Soloing another tower is genuinely incredible, but… crafting inside a tower? That's not particularly surprising."

Soloing the tower, no matter how she turned it over, was still astonishing. But crafting in a tower? That was exactly the kind of thing Jin would do.

In fact, only Jin could do it.

"…"

The vice president scowled at her as hard as a human face allowed.

"At this point, I'm just jealous. I should've just played Eternal Sunshine back then. What the hell was Jin even like that you people still react like this every single time?"

He squeezed his eyes shut.

The outskirts of Lykkeision.

As a major city, even Lykkeision's outer districts were heavily developed.

"Crowds no matter where you go."

Jinwoo headed from the outskirts toward the lake Larsson had told him about. The lake lay deeper inside the forest.

Whoosh—!

Crack—!

"I got here first."

"What are you talking about? I was here first."

"Stop fighting. The Agent Guild just came through a while ago—if they loop back, they'll vacuum up every last monster again. No point wasting effort on each other. Let's just split it fair."

Deep in the forest surrounding the lake, players were locked in fierce competition over the hunting grounds.

Must be a good farm zone.

Jinwoo cut straight through them.

"This way."

The updated quest marker pointed to the western side of the lake. He mounted Pin and shot forward.

"Pin—!"

They flew for a while.

"There it is."

Flying low, he didn't miss even a small cave entrance.

"Hawk Eyes really does come in handy."

Jinwoo dove hard.

"They said they were in pursuit…"

As he descended, things that had been hidden from above came into view.

A pack of players was already at the mouth of the cave.

"Smash the entrance!"

"Yes, Vice Guild Leader!"

BOOM—! BOOM—!

The cave mouth was sealed behind a massive shield-wall barrier, and the players were hammering it like madmen.

Jinwoo scanned them quickly.

SR-grade. Some SSR too.

Most of them were wearing excellent gear.

"This is your last chance to join the Great Agent Guild!"

The player they called the Vice Guild Leader bellowed at the top of his lungs.

Agent Guild?

Jinwoo had never heard of them.

"Get lost!"

"You travelers really look down on us, huh? We're trying to do this the nice way. Fine. Enough."

In New Gene, you couldn't kill NPCs. You could, however, make them suffer.

"When I want something, I get it. Always have. I'll pay you well for your gear. So—"

"I only make what I want to make!"

"This won't do. Hairun, your head's sitting way too high."

The Vice Guild Leader exhaled a long, irritated sigh.

"Lord Becker."

"I'll handle it. Stand back."

The Vice Guild Leader's equipment was dazzling.

Expensive stuff.

"Come out!"

"Please calm down, Lord Becker. The more you do this, the harder Hairun will be to use."

"Ah, for f— Don't stop me!"

The Vice Guild Leader was completely unhinged. He ignored his own guild members and simply raised an enormous greatsword.

Oh.

Jinwoo studied the blade with genuine interest.

The Agent Guild's blacksmith has some real skill. Not bad at all.

The finishing work was solid.

KRA-KOOM—!

The man smashed the greatsword down with everything he had. Cracks spiderwebbed across the barrier sealing the cave mouth.

Power's a little lacking, though.

Jinwoo stepped forward at precisely the right moment.

"I'm in the middle of a quest. I have business here—please clear the way."

The sudden appearance made Becker whip around and stare at him like a lunatic.

Who the hell was this guy? Did he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not know who he was dealing with?

"…?"

Becker was already in a foul mood.

"What? You don't see the guild banner? Who the hell are you?"

One of the guild members was holding a flag stamped with the Agent Guild's crest.

"So what?"

Informal speech had been offered, so informal speech went back.

A vein bulged on Becker's forehead.

"Ha. One after another, these nobodies who don't know their place…"

He leveled the greatsword at Jinwoo.

"I'm Becker, Vice Guild Leader of the Great Agent Guild. We're conducting guild business right now, you little shit. Get lost!"

The situation was a powder keg—but Jinwoo was perfectly at ease.

Oh.

Being picked on outright in a hunting ground was a surprisingly fresh experience for him.

So this is what it feels like?

Jinwoo was a crafter. In Eternal Sunshine, this kind of collision simply never happened. In New Gene it had been rare as well—he mostly moved with his summons and focused on crafting.

First time.

And it was kind of fun. Becker, for his part, was almost comically textbook.

Alright then.

This situation looked like it could wrap up in an entertaining way. And in a mess like this, there was only one clean, simple solution.

"How about this—whoever wins clears the path?"

Flag on.

Jinwoo's challenge made Becker grin like he was enjoying himself.

"Got some fire in you. What guild are you with?"

"Unaffiliated."

"Ahh. A solo player. That explains why you'd be dumb enough to challenge us after seeing our banner. Fine. I accept—"

Just before Becker could confirm—

"Jinwoo… Jinwoo…"

A guild officer murmured the name under his breath, then his eyes flew wide open in shock.

"…!"

The Agent Guild officer standing behind Becker went pale.

Was this the Jinwoo he was thinking of?

"A-are you by any chance Lord Jinwoo?"

The officer asked urgently.

"You know me?"

"The crafter… Lord Jinwoo. Is that you?"

"Yes."

"KHAHAHAHAHA—! A crafter? Trying to pad your gear advantage? Fine, fine! Let's see just how amazing that equipment of yours really is!"

Becker howled with laughter.

But the guild officer lunged forward in a panic.

The Guild Leader had ordered him to keep the Vice Guild Leader from causing disasters. So far, everything had been containable. Cross this line, though, and it would become an incident—a catastrophic one.

"You absolutely must not fight him."

"What the hell are you talking about? Who is he?"

"We'll discuss it later. For now, you need to step back."

"Who the hell is this guy that you're acting like this!?"

But once Becker's temper was lit, he was never going to back down. The officer let out a long, exhausted sigh. How could anyone be this bad at reading a room?

The Agent Guild was no small outfit. With the main scenario underway, how could anyone not know the name that was on everyone's lips?

And this officer knew even more than most—for a simple reason. He had played Eternal Sunshine for a very long time.

Anyone who had lived through that era knew. Jinwoo was Jin. And touching Jin was the kind of mistake you never recovered from.

"Hey. What are you doing? Sighing? You forget your place?"

Becker still had no idea what was happening.

The officer had no choice. The Guild Leader's orders left him only one option.

"You idiot."

He drove his fist straight into Becker's face.

Same guild—no duel request required. Friendly fire was allowed.

"Agh! What the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hell!"

Becker looked genuinely shocked that someone had actually hit him.

He knows me, then.

Watching the scene unfold, Jinwoo concluded that the officer definitely recognized him.

Not Jinwoo, exactly.

Yeah. Everyone would make that assumption.

Even he had to admit he'd done some memorable things.

Not much I can do about it.

An awl in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a pocket stays an awl no matter how hard you try to hide it.

"Ah, for f—"

The officer spat a curse.

"I told you not to—!"

But the line had already been crossed. He pressed a hand to his forehead. This was a disaster.

"Lord Jinwoo, I am so sorry. This is entirely our fault. Please, just forfeit—"

Becker had no intention of forfeiting. He turned on the officer with murder in his eyes.

"We'll settle this back at the guild, Han-seom. Cursing me out wasn't enough—you hit me? You're finished."

Then he looked at Jinwoo.

"You too, you little shit."

Jinwoo smirked.

I've never used this on a person before.

He was curious how far it would go.

Even at a glance, his gear is solid.

And his level looked high too.

Becker slammed a foot into the ground.

"Super Acceleration."

Skill: Super Acceleration.

"Strength Enhancement. Blessing of the Earth. Berserk."

Buffs layered over his entire body.

"Sky Cleaver!"

Jinwoo drew his Orichalcum Light Blade.

"Summon Unity."

He used only that—simple and clean. He had no intention of even bringing his summons out. The point of this fight was a gear check and getting Hairun free. Nothing more, nothing less. Excess force was unnecessary.

As Becker charged, Jinwoo simply swung.

KRRAAAAAAK—!

"Ghk…!"