Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Wah-Wah
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There are moments in life where, even if you predict them in advance and steel yourself, the disgust still surges up uncontrollably when they hit.
And right now, smack in the middle of one such moment, was an unfathomable disaster that any Ias player would desperately want to avoid—a nightmare of an existence looming right before my eyes.
Its name—
'Mingi Baek'
If someone heard those three characters for the first time, most would probably think,
"What, some person's name?"
Associating three characters with a person's name first was just a natural Korean habit.
But the meaning packed into those words wasn't anything as innocuous as a name.
What it held was spine-chilling cruelty and a sticky morass of pure malice.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Master Craftsman's Aura 100% That's right—Mingi Baek was shorthand for "Master Craftsman's Aura 100%!"
Some folks who learned the meaning griped, "Do we really need to abbreviate that?"
But in the fast-paced world of modern online culture,
long, drawn-out phrases quickly became a cardinal sin against readability.
And that's how this bizarre nickname was born.
"Hoo..."
Ignoring the loathsome text flashing before my eyes, I moved my mouse cursor back to the [Reforge] button once more.
Clang clang clang!
The hack blacksmith's hammer rang out yet again—the sound I'd already heard who knows how many times—
And whoosh!
My one-handed sword, already battered by the hammer hundreds of times by now, finally erupted in radiant light, flaunting its newfound presence.
Reforging success.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Anonymous donated 1,000 won! [Want cheers] — Viewer Cheers cheers cheers cheers cheers — Viewer Wanting this? Total scam lol — Viewer Woooow... The viewers joined in celebrating my weapon's growth.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ Dreadflame One-Handed Sword +10 The number after the name had changed, and the weapon now gleamed with an even more brilliant sheen.
[Haha! Success again, eh!]
The NPC, sensing his reforging had worked, boomed with hearty pride as a blacksmith.
At a glance, it looked like a heartwarming scene: someone who'd achieved something, surrounded by people celebrating with him.
A pleasant sight of shared joy and laughter.
But—
"You think this is funny?"
At least, I wasn't part of that scene.
— Viewer Gasp In an instant, the Saintess's hand shot out like lightning.
Swoosh!
The longsword sliced through the air and soared—
Bam!
Crashing down on the utterly unprepared blacksmith.
No one could have seen that sudden outburst coming.
And it wasn't just a swing—it carried a miracle infused with the goddess's blessing—
A mere mortal blacksmith couldn't possibly walk away unscathed.
[Hahaha!]
That is, if this world weren't a game.
[Gear enhancement is my specialty! Entrust it to me anytime!]
The Saintess raised her sword again and slashed at the blacksmith outright.
"I did entrust it to you! And look what happened!"
Four consecutive strikes, perfectly timed to her words.
[Your weapon looks pretty shabby! Let me take a look!]
His retort to her four-hit combo was just another layer of mockery.
"Aaaagh!"
— Viewer Lololololololol — Viewer Did that asshole always have those lines? — Viewer Blacksmith got wrecked lololol It was utterly ridiculous.
Blacksmiths were professionals who made their living off their skills, right?
Reputation was everything in that line of work,
so how could anyone treat a customer like this? I couldn't wrap my head around it.
No, forget reputation—his skills were the real question.
How the hell do you fail this many times just advancing one enhancement level? It defied comprehension.
People make mistakes sometimes, aren't you overreacting?
Bullshit—fine, whatever.
Say you take your phone in for repairs, and suddenly—
Whoops! Repair failed!
You can try again, but that'll cost extra, of course!
Oh, and it might fail again, hehe~!
Where'd my money go? What're you gonna do about it?
What can you even do, you worthless punk? Lol
—If you can stay calm after that, you're either a saint or a total pushover.
In short, this quack deserved to die.
So I tried to kill him, but nope?
Important NPC—can't kill him.
I could only lament the injustice.
In this fantasy world teeming with demons and their minions, a weapon was an adventurer's lifeline.
Yet this clown who mangled lifelines was still in business? It made no sense.
If this were real life, countless adventurers would've died by his hand.
'Or maybe he'd have been beaten to death first?'
He'd just been hacked at multiple times himself, so he'd probably met his end at the hands of other furious adventurers.
[Whoops, my hand slipped.]
Truth be told, drawing this kind of hatred was the inevitable fate of every RPG game's reforging NPCs.
"Hoo..."
Calm down.
Why was I getting so worked up over a mere data blob NPC?
It wouldn't bring back my lost resources or boost my next success rate.
"Next enhancement... let's keep going."
Just one failure—annoying, sure, but I'd barely finished the first level.
Messed up this time? Next one should go better.
Regression to the mean would never betray me.
Ignoring my trembling fingers, I clicked [Reforge] again.
Clang clang clang!
Splat!
Clang clang clang!
Splat!
Clang clang clang!
Splat!
Clang clang clang!
Splat!
That day, I faced a total of nine Mingi Baeks.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ They say people in extreme shock often can't even utter a single word.
"Haha."
And proving that, Lee Min-ji—who'd just hit her fifth Mingi Baek—had lost the power of speech.
— Viewer This is getting rough — Viewer Uh... yeah... — Viewer N... no... The viewers' reactions had shifted dramatically from the start.
They'd been chuckling at first at Min-ji's suffering through back-to-back failures, but—
Splat!
That was just for one or two—no one was heartless enough to mock a victim enduring five rounds of hell.
Even these trolls known as "zero squad" in the community had enough sense to know when to hold back.
Like a martial artist lost in qi deviation, Min-ji stared blankly at the screen, mouth agape in a dazed stupor.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Anonymous donated 1,000 won! [It's 'cause you're not showing Kang-seop bro's face lol] — Viewer Gasp — Viewer Bro you're gonna get banned — Viewer Read the room, dude... "What did you say...?"
Maybe because her mental fortitude had already hit its limit, she'd long since dropped the polite facade.
She'd always kept her speech courteous no matter her actions, but now even that pretense was gone.
— Viewer See ya... — Viewer Not going far~ — Viewer You're legit gonna die rn... The viewers, sensing Min-ji's fragile state, foresaw doom for the clueless one ruining the vibe.
But—
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Anonymous donated 1,000 won! [Bro try dragging Director Kang-seop's face pic east west south north then reforge—guaranteed success lol] "...Hmm..."
It wasn't completely absurd, so his life got a temporary stay of execution.
People analyze failures, aiming for better choices next time.
But if it's pure bad luck? No fix there.
Still, humans try every superstition to nudge their luck.
Faith is one such tool.
When cornered with no way out, people pray to gods that might not even exist.
Lee Min-ji had faith too.
Hers stemmed simply from idolizing a father figure who was religious.
So she didn't care much for memes deifying the director as a god.
Not to the point of scolding like a guardian with "Out!", but she felt a mild aversion.
Even so—
"This pic work...?"
Right now, Min-ji was so broken she had to cling to any superstition to survive.
— Viewer Yep — Viewer Magic — Viewer Yup And so, today, Lee Min-ji took on a new god.
Considering how people often turn to faith as a mental escape when facing uncontrollable crises—
"Please... please! I beg you like this, Director Jeon Kang-seop... This lowly servant pleads thus... Grant me just once your boundless mercy like the vast sea..."
The situation was hilariously apt, yet spot-on.
— Viewer Her lines tho? — Viewer Oh right she goes to church — Viewer Shouldn't she avoid saying stuff like that? — Viewer Shows how desperate she is Min-ji clicked [Reforge] with Jeon Kang-seop's glowing photo dragged to all four cardinal directions.
And her new god responded to his fresh devotee's hopes—
Clang clang clang!
Splat!
Clang clang clang!
Splat!
Clang clang clang!
Splat!
Clang clang clang!
Splat!
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Master Craftsman's Aura 100% —By discarding her like yesterday's trash.
— Viewer Oof — Viewer Where'd that guy go? — Viewer Get him — Viewer Uh... hang in there... — Viewer Was gonna troll but... "Nooooo!"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Anonymous donated 1,000 won! [Aw c'mon it's just once—next one's bound to stick?] ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Anonymous has been force-kicked — Viewer Too far that one — Viewer Keep it going like this! — Viewer Mmmph! — Viewer Eek scary... After a grand total of nine Mingi Baeks, Lee Min-ji...
"Hngh..."
— Viewer ? — Viewer ? — Viewer ? ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [...? Nah?] "Hngh... Hwaaaah...!"
Burst into tears.
Sobbing out loud, with full-on wails.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 📰 Breaking News Galju's stream today was peak entertainment — Anonymous Started with group pile-on for her shitty low-angle cam lol — Reply Tbh she's insanely cute — Reply ↳ Reply ??? — Reply Nah her antics are annoying but reactions were cute af — Reply ↳ Reply Saw her beg for forgiveness once—that did it — Reply ↳ Reply Ok fair 📰 Breaking News Galju is crying — Anonymous Thought it was WWE theatrics but she's legit crying — Reply ? She's crying? — Reply ↳ Reply Check the stream—she's bawling for real — Reply The girl who shrugged off raids from iljjeong fanboys and terror posts is crying? No way lol — Reply ↳ Reply Wtf for real?? — Reply What the hell did y'all do — Reply ↳ Reply We didn't—Jeon Kang-seop did ;; — Reply You guys again? — Reply ↳ Reply For real we didn't this time; 📰 Breaking News Why's this bitch in such a pissy mood today? — Anonymous She's not usually like this... hmm... — Reply Craziest thing—she takes trolling better than straight insults — Reply Seems resistant to curses — Reply Fr, hard to hold back sigh; — Reply Dude; — Reply Viewers trolled hard + got royally screwed on enhancements, mental broke — Reply Fr so damn cute — Reply She's my bias now — Reply Well said — Reply ??? ```