Beyond Every Limit

"Growth was supposed to stall out around now. The stretch from SSR+ all the way to UR is a wall people usually can't help but hit."

He had blown through that stretch like he was tearing down a highway.

Fritz slapped his own cheek hard.

"This isn't the time. This isn't the time for denial."

How had he done it? Sitting around calling it impossible wasn't going to cut it.

Right now, he needed to make a video.

"A praise video… no— a review video. I've got to make a review video."

And for that, he would have to throw himself back into the bidding wars.

At that same moment, Mr. Left was having the exact same reaction.

"I've never been this wrong about a prediction in my life."

Of course, over on the Sharknet community, Fritz and Mr. Left were raking in the praise.

The praise made sense—they had been reviewing and recognizing Jinwoo long before he became the issue he was now.

But neither of them had ever imagined he would grow this fast.

He was an out-of-spec blacksmith, sure. But this had already blown past "out of spec" entirely.

"It's only been a little over a month."

And he was making UR+?

"He hasn't even broken level 300."

That much could be confirmed through the JBS channel. Comparing the Jinwoo on screen against the monsters coming out of the tower, analysis posts had already concluded he wasn't level 300.

After those posts, JBS had gone ahead and addressed Jinwoo's level on the channel itself—the impact was simply that much bigger that way.

"He's in the 200s, and he's making UR+… There's literally no precedent for that."

Mr. Left had arrived at the exact same conclusion. Of course, his approach was a little different.

"We're going full praise video."

If people were going to congratulate him for buying in at the bottom, it was time to bask in that praise.

"Honestly, I never expected him to get this fast. Jinwoo."

Mr. Left gave an awkward little smile.

"But thank you all the same!"

The same Mr. Left who had rated Jinwoo so highly was now being rated highly himself—all thanks to Jinwoo.

A sushi restaurant in Yeouido.

PD Han Ingu, who had arrived first, was beaming from ear to ear. The moment Jinwoo walked in, he rushed over in his socks to greet him.

"Aigoo, Jinwoo-nim!"

"You can just call me Jinwoo, casually is fine."

"Ah, yes, yes! Jinwoo-ssi. This is huge. This is absolutely huge. It's all thanks to you!"

Until now, PD Han Ingu had kept his composure. But the second he saw Jinwoo, all the fussing he had been holding back came pouring out on its own.

"I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠believed in you. I truly believed—but if I'm honest, I was anxious too."

"I know."

That was exactly why, back at that first meeting, Jinwoo hadn't tested him. If a man had a good eye, that eye deserved a reward.

Everything PD Han Ingu was reaping now was the payoff for finding a treasure named Jinwoo faster than anyone else.

"You should be even more anxious now," Jinwoo said.

"Episode two is going to do even better."

At that, PD Han Ingu nodded so hard his head nearly came off.

"That's exactly what I wanted to talk about first. When I saw the report, I was stunned."

The episode-two footage Jinwoo had sent over was practically a compilation special.

"You sent three segments all in one package."

And every one of those three pieces of content hit hard.

"Honestly, we could split each one into its own video and still have more than enough."

"I heard the Netfelix deal went through," Jinwoo said.

"We're competing on the same stage now."

MeTube views and Netfelix popularity rankings weren't the same metric, so it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was hard to declare a clear winner or loser. Public consensus right now put Jinwoo's video at number one—but that wasn't a clean, apples-to-apples comparison.

"So I figured I'd make the difference impossible to miss."

If episode one had been a simple introduction of himself, episode two was the one where he would properly show what he could do.

Well, it's not actually that grandiose.

As he worked through the quests, stacking the three together just seemed like the better call.

They feel like a set.

Of course, only Jinwoo—the one who had actually run the quests—felt that way, which left PD Han Ingu no choice but to be amazed.

"I've heard some things. Right now over at KBC, Leap Guild has decided to put their full weight behind Slayer."

"Leap Guild is the number-one guild right now, isn't it?"

"Yes. That's right."

"Then their episode is going to come out with a lot more force than the first one."

"Apparently they're clearing a four-star tower. That's why they're currently at war with the other top-tier guilds."

"At war" was the phrase, but it took several top guilds banding together just to contest Leap Guild—and even then, contesting was all they could manage. Their odds of actually winning were vanishingly slim.

"Sounds like a good matchup."

"We've got time on our side this round. We've expanded the team, and we're planning to put a stronger episode two on Netfelix than the first."

PD Han Ingu meant to pour everything into episode two.

"You've handed me content like this. If I can't cut it properly, that's on me. If we don't take number one, that's when we actually have a problem."

With material this good, failing to hit first place meant he ought to hand the PD seat right back.

"Then…"

PD Han brought up the most important item on today's agenda.

"Let me go over the ad deals first!"

Ads. A single video had drawn in an absurd number of them.

"We've gotten a flood of ad offers from major corporations. The terms are solid, and the pay is excellent."

Sponsorships from all kinds of big companies had lined up. PD Han Ingu had already done a rough filter, but final approval still had to come from Jinwoo.

"I trust you've already sorted them well, PD Han."

Jinwoo didn't bother touching the ad package himself. The money from ads simply wasn't that important to him right now—he was already earning plenty through crafting.

PD Han would've already matched everything properly. So at times like this…

Trusting him was the right answer.

"…"

That single line, loaded with trust, made PD Han Ingu's eyes go damp.

To be believed in like this…

It had been the same from the very ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠beginning. When no one else put any faith in him, Jinwoo alone had believed.

He swallowed hard, forcing the emotion down.

"I will repay that trust properly."

Lykkeision.

Back in the great city, Jinwoo's first move was to summon Suhaeng-won.

Shaaaaaah—

"You called for me, Master!"

"It's about time we paid those two miners a visit, Suhaeng-won."

Jinwoo intended to deliver custom gear to the two miners through Suhaeng-won.

They really came through this time.

Thunderstone and Wrath Orichalcum. Thanks to those two UR-grade materials, he had been able to put Harmonia Smithing to full use.

"Ready, sir!"

"I'm sending gifts."

Jinwoo pulled out the materials at once.

Mithril. Orichalcum. And—

All of them materials Suhaeng-won had mined.

I'll use Harmonia Smithing on these to forge the pickaxes.

"There's a lot you can do with this."

Harmonia Smithing was the smithing of harmony.

Put another way…

In short, it meant he could fuse attributes together—or apply them separately. A form of attribute imbuement, essentially.

"And if I add Flame Engraving on top of that…"

That meant he could fulfill every fussy custom request Yur and Artem had made, no matter how particular.

Before, my skill just wasn't enough.

So he had customized only as far as he could manage and sent the results along.

But now was different.

"I can do all of it. As much as they want."

Jinwoo immediately bought a ruby off the auction house. It was a fairly expensive one, but he purchased it the second he saw the grade.

"I'll use this for the Flame Engraving."

Then he bought a sapphire as well. Rubies and sapphires were classic elemental gems.

"Dust. Coco!"

Jinwoo summoned Dust and Coco. If he used the two spirits' power to draw out the materials' full potential, he could maximize each attribute.

"Pyorong—"

"Kyaang—!"

The two spirits appeared in a full display of force.

"Your turn now."

The two spirits glanced at each other once—then settled onto the materials.

The two spirits' power soaked into the materials.

"Good."

Clang—! Clang—!

Jinwoo began the real work in earnest.

"Earth Rune."

Mid-swing, he activated the Earth Rune.

"I got something as a reward for reclaiming the temple."

While clearing the Tower of Sulfur and the Blast Furnace, Jinwoo had received a first-clear reward: an Earth Rune Upgrade Ticket.

The Earth Rune had originally been a rune that temporarily boosted the Strength stat.

Jinwoo used the upgrade ticket without hesitation.

Shaaaaaah—

Rune: Eternal Earth Rune.

"Temporarily increases Strength and Stamina."

Jinwoo grinned.

"Now that's a first-clear reward."

Who knew a rune upgrade ticket could be this good.

"This is easily on par with a three-hundred-percent drop-rate boost."

With the Eternal Earth Rune active, Jinwoo hammered away.

Clang—! Clang—!

And then—

"The Eternal Earth Rune's effect is something else. You can really feel it."

In pure stats alone, it felt like a boost of several hundred.

"Runes really are better the more of them you have."

Jinwoo handed the two finished pickaxes to Suhaeng-won.

"Take these and join up with Yur and Artem."

Watching his master work, Suhaeng-won was moved. Right now, Jinwoo was forging pickaxes out of the very minerals he himself had mined.

Trickle—

Moist tears began to well in Suhaeng-won's eyes. More than that—there was actual emotion on his face.

First, who had been summoned just in case of any unexpected situation, let out a long breath at the sight.

It was genuinely astonishing.

"Even.I.A.Hero.Rank.Undead.Cannot.Do.That."

Even First, a Hero-rank undead, could not make a face like that. That was technique. Extraordinary technique.

So he's specialized in this direction.

Jinwoo found it delightful. Some thralls specialized in combat; others specialized like this.

"I will mine even better minerals. Please look forward to it."

"I will. I trust you."

With those words, Suhaeng-won took the two pickaxes and headed for the rendezvous point where Yur and Artem were waiting.

The quest granted by the Lord of Souls and the Abyss.

The marker pointed somewhere a fair distance from the great city of Lykkeision.

"Looks like the path is pretty tangled."

Jinwoo summoned Bon the Dragon first.

"Bon."

He planned to travel on Bon's back.

That was when—

"You son of a bitch. Finally found you. Did you really think I'd just let this go?"

Becker, Vice Guild Leader of the Agent Guild—the man Jinwoo had ended in a single PVP hit—had tracked him down for revenge.

For a moment Jinwoo didn't recognize him. Then it clicked.

"Oh. You."

The user who had tried to work Hairun like a slave.

"Perfect timing, actually."

Jinwoo smiled as he looked at him.

"I was just wondering how I was going to find you."

He started walking toward him, unhurried.

"Thanks for dropping by."