A True Dwarf
“That technique of yours…”
“Did I get it wrong?”
“No… it isn’t wrong, exactly.”
The dwarf elders watching blinked hard, both eyes wide.
“That—isn’t that Master Hodrak’s Ice-Flame Refining?!”
“He learned it the moment he saw it…?”
The elders reeled as Jinwoo performed the fundamentals of Ice-Flame Refining on sight. Great Hammer crossed his arms and nodded, as if to say, Of course he’s different.
Only Hairun looked unsurprised, thinking, Of course he can.
This was the same Jinwoo who had already stolen Deep Smithing with terrifying speed. Hodrak’s Ice-Flame Refining was said to be brutally hard to learn—but for Jinwoo, that was hardly a problem.
Hodrak’s brow furrowed for a moment.
“You’ve got talent. Fine. Good. Then let’s move on.”
Hairun found himself smiling before he knew it. It was exactly how he had looked not long ago.
Hodrak began teaching the pinnacle of Ice-Flame Refining. His earlier claim—that there wouldn’t be enough time to pass everything on—started collapsing almost at once.
“Then next…”
Clang—!
Whoooosh—.
Crack-crack-crack—.
Heat and cold.
Jinwoo had always had a skill that packed flame into his hammer. With Deep Smithing and Fire Build learned together this time, it had fully solidified as a skill. Cold was no real obstacle either.
I’ve got the Necromayster class effect, after all.
Necromancers had always been a class that carried yin energy.
This suits me perfectly.
It was difficult. But it fit so well that Jinwoo learned Ice-Flame Refining with a smile on his face. It was unquestionably hard—and yet he absorbed it in an instant, leaving Hodrak nothing short of rattled.
Hodrak called one of the dwarf elders over and whispered.
—While I was dead, did some revolution break out among the humans? Why is the level…
—Ah, no… nothing of the sort. Our craftsmanship is still second to none.
—Then why?
—…
Even the elder had no answer. He was seeing Jinwoo’s skill for the first time himself.
“…Done? Then we move straight to the next.”
At first, Hodrak had thought he would only be able to teach the basics.
“Aren’t you pushing yourself a little too hard…?”
“You told me to give it my all, so that’s what I’m doing.”
Hodrak drew a long breath.
If things kept going this way, the terms had changed.
“One hour… this might not even be short…”
The moment the thought landed, his whole attitude shifted. If he could pass everything on, then from here he had to pick up the pace.
And so Hodrak’s earnest transmission began in earnest.
“Balancing ice and flame is what matters. I’ll demonstrate.”
He demonstrated—and Jinwoo learned. Ordinarily, a demonstration would be followed by explanation, then another demonstration, then corrections when the student tried to copy the motion.
“He learned it all from watching once?”
“Hah…”
Only then did the dwarf elders understand.
“Our little swagger was the real joke…”
You have learned Ice-Flame Refining!
Hodrak’s dwarf smithing was nothing like ordinary refining.
They all said they came here to learn, didn’t they.
As expected, it was special—and deep.
Just as I hoped.
Through his hammer, Jinwoo controlled cold and heat at the same time.
This is ridiculously hard.
He had juggled opposing forces before, so he was confident. But locking the balance into place was exacting work.
Still… it’s fun.
“I’ve taught you everything.”
Hodrak’s body began to fade more and more.
“This is a first for me, too.”
Oddly enough, he still had time left.
“I never would have believed—not if I died and came back—that I could pass on my Ice-Flame Refining in under an hour.”
“You did die and come back.”
“So that’s why it became possible…?”
Even Jinwoo’s joke, Hodrak couldn’t quite take as a joke.
Ice-Flame Refining—one-hour clear.
“I was much the same.”
“Little Hairun!”
Hodrak smiled when he saw him.
“Looks like you achieved what you’d been honing.”
“Yes. And then this Jinwoo fellow stole it all from me as well.”
“So I’m not the strange one, then?”
Hodrak let out a long breath. Then he recovered.
“I’ll apologize once more. After I left, our elders seem to have grown anxious. Failing to do anything when Iron Helm was in crisis must have festered into a sickness of the heart.”
Hodrak spoke on.
“I’m not simply asking for forgiveness.”
He clenched his fist tight. Enormous muscle coiled and flexed along his arm.
Shaaaaa—.
The power remaining throughout his body gathered at his fingertips and condensed into a fragment.
“This should be apology enough, yes?”
Jinwoo knew exactly what that fragment was.
“It is.”
◈ Racial trait absorbed
◈ Dwarf added to Soul Resonance
◈ The heat of the scorching earth settles into your body
Jinwoo accepted the fragment from Hodrak.
“The great god has already acknowledged him. I have no choice but to do the same. Elders—listen well. And you, the new Great Hammer over there—listen as well.”
Hodrak’s voice rang hard.
“From this moment on, Jinwoo is a dwarf. Not some honorary dwarf—a true dwarf!”
I can take that as a compliment, right?
Shaaaaa—.
Dwarven power settled into Jinwoo’s body.
Stamina has risen dramatically!
You have obtained a robust physique!
Oh.
In crafting, the higher the stamina, the better—and the number had jumped hard.
Dwarf racial traits really are different.
Compared to other racial traits, this one helped far more directly.
“Time’s up.”
Hodrak’s body had grown completely faint.
“Use it well.”
JinTube.
Viewers who had finished the main broadcast were starting to flood over to JinTube.
“Heh heh heh.”
Just as Dongwoo had expected.
Users hungry for more of Jinwoo’s footage had arrived on JinTube and were already devouring the crafting videos as well. Only two videos were up so far, but both had blasted past ten million views.
“By this point the main-broadcast inflow should already have dried up…”
Dongwoo was bewildered.
“Why is this momentum still climbing?”
Overseas viewers had piled in, and the JBS channel’s views—already riding a wave—had blown past tens of millions and were now eyeing the hundred-million mark.
And in the middle of all that, new video content arrived.
“Perfect timing. I’m editing this immediately.”
Dongwoo opened the files.
“SSR+ grade, right? For that edit I’ve already got a plan for—wait, huh?”
He froze.
“This is… UR?”
And with it came not one but two crafting videos.
At the very end, he opened the file labeled Dragonstone Chain Scythe crafting—
“UR+…?”
UR+.
Two full grades above SSR+ gear.
“N-no way.”
Dongwoo had been studying New Generation nonstop through Sharknet. He’d been playing it himself, too. So he knew.
“This is way too fast…”
Growth never ran forever. After a rapid growth phase came a long stretch of grinding and tempering. But Jinwoo’s growth phase showed no sign of ending.
Ding—!
Another notification chimed.
Dongwoo checked the footage.
“Holy—this guy. Dragon hunting. And crafting while he hunts…? Wait. That’s not even the end? He’s about to raid a tower too?”
Dongwoo was floored.
“This is going into Season Two?”
Jinwoo had risen as the underdog in Season One.
“At this rate… Season Two basically ends the story!”
Season Two. This was going to be the finishing blow.
The newly learned Ice-Flame Refining lined up remarkably well with the refining style Jinwoo already used.
I really want to loosen up my hands with this.
“I’ll get a hammer at the tower. I should prepare in advance.”
Jinwoo meant to have materials ready ahead of time.
Time to call back the attendant I sent out.
Suhaeng-won was currently with Artem.
When he went to Yur, he brought back Eternal Steel.
Then this time, he would bring back something better still.
“Last time we stripped the place for volume.”
This time, he intended to care about quality.
“Let’s try the new refining technique—and Soul Forging on top of it.”
High-quality gear.
“And I’ve already got people to test high-quality gear on.”
Namely, those two miners.
Handing excellent equipment to the people who supplied his materials?
“Then they’ll dig up even better ore with that excellent gear. This is basically an investment.”
In practice, it was mutual benefit.
And their reactions were delicious besides.
Not quite as good as the feel of the hammer in my hand—but still.
Watching them react was entertainment of its own.
Ding—!
Replies arrived less than a minute after he made contact.
Not long after receiving word that both miner users had set out, Jinwoo got another message.
Hello, Lord Jinwoo. My name is Tehunt. I’m the one who purchased the Obsidian Net you listed recently…
Tehunt.
The moment Jinwoo saw the name, he smiled.
“The rank-one hunter. I was wondering when he’d reach out.”
He was also the buyer of this latest Obsidian Net.
“Hooked him.”
The net Jinwoo had sold had reeled Tehunt straight in.
Greetings. This is Jinwoo. Let’s meet and talk it over.