All‑Master Who Regressed to Bronze - Chapter 122

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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All Master Returning to Bronze Episode 122

“A-ahem. So what kind of favor is it?”

Though he had agreed to grant the favor, Goldrich was busy reading the situation, worried that Shin Hyeok might ask for something impossible or based on great losses.

At this, Shin Hyeok released the shoulder he had grabbed and even brushed off the dust from his shoulder with his own hands, wearing a smile.

“I still think I’m lacking.”

“…Pardon? No, with your level, boss, if the Integrated League opened right now, you could easily secure a spot, couldn’t you?”

“What I want isn’t just any spot.”

“Hmm… Something like forming an alliance with the Lower Dimension?”

“No way.”

“Then the Upper Echelon?”

“Think bigger.”

“…Are you thinking of elevating your own dimension directly?”

“Close enough.”

“Crazy! That’s impossible!”

Goldrich, who had been gradually inferring Shin Hyeok’s goal, immediately jumped up upon hearing a rough outline of Shin Hyeok’s objective.

“The Lower Dimension folks may look pathetic getting pushed around by the Upper Echelon, but they’re by no means pathetic beings! Do you know how many countless strong individuals from Extraneous Dimensions have coveted the Lower Dimension’s position?”

“I know.”

“…I don’t know why you know that, but then you must also know this well. For hundreds of years, while the Lower Dimension’s rankings may change, the names have never changed.”

“I know that too.”

“Haah… Let’s stop this headache-inducing talk here. It’s not related to me anyway, so I don’t want to hear more.”

“Well… do as you please.”

Goldrich, judging that Shin Hyeok was dreaming an absolutely impossible dream, shook his head vigorously and covered his ears.

He thought it would only tire him out to listen more.

Of course, Shin Hyeok’s thoughts were different.

‘You also walked a similar path to mine in the end. It’s just that you chose compromise while I choose to advance forward.’

Goldrich.

A wandering merchant of human origin called the Gold Maniac.

Since Shin Hyeok knew better than anyone what his ultimate goal was, Goldrich’s reaction was amusing, but he didn’t show it.

As Goldrich said, it wasn’t something that could be accomplished right away.

Therefore, Shin Hyeok stopped subtly probing Goldrich and brought up the main point.

“I can handle my own growth, but my pet is a bit different.”

-Caw!

“Ah, this fellow. Did you use the scroll you bought from me?”

“Right. But this guy awakened gold power.”

“I see. Gold power is indeed a good ability… No, wait, a mere pet awakened gold power? Do you know how much gold I spent to obtain gold power, and it awakened gold power just from clicking one scroll?”

“A mere… pet?”

-Caaaaaaaw!!!

“Aah! Aaah! Aah aah! Please stop him, boss! I misspoke!”

“Right, let’s behave. Kkamak, you stop too. Just eat your snacks.”

-Caw caw!!

Of course, there was a brief commotion in the process.

Goldrich was dumbfounded that a mere pet possessed gold power, which could be considered his main strength, and Kkamak retaliated.

Goldrich, who suffered from the furious Kkamak’s fierce beak pecking, looked with disbelief at Kkamak gnawing on the snack Shin Hyeok had given him – a gold bar – while making a tearful face.

“You give gold as snacks?”

“He can only eat gold since awakening his origin.”

“Huh, that’s quite a big penalty.”

“It’s fine. I have a lot of money.”

“…By any chance, don’t you need a new pet? I eat well on my own and take walks by myself too.”

“No thanks. Kkamak is enough.”

After Goldrich’s attempt to find a new owner who would give pure gold bars as snacks failed.

Shin Hyeok stroked Kkamak’s soft feathers and said.

“I want to obtain a pet-exclusive trait scroll.”

“You want something expensive and rare.”

“Since the Dimension Arena mainly gives rewards focused on player growth, rewards related to Kkamak don’t come out well. It might be different if I were a tamer.”

“Understood. Still, it’s not extremely difficult.”

Pet-exclusive trait scroll.

Trait scrolls that grant traits were rare, and pet-exclusive ones were even rarer.

However, for a wandering merchant of Goldrich’s caliber, it wasn’t too difficult a task.

Since he could encounter all sorts of items while traveling through dimensions, it wasn’t something he couldn’t obtain if he put in the legwork.

If Shin Hyeok had wanted items or information beyond his capabilities, Goldrich would have been in trouble.

But a pet-exclusive trait scroll was well within acceptable range.

Of course-

“But make it legendary grade.”

“No, boss! Are you crazy? Legendary grade isn’t some pet’s name, how am I supposed to get that?”

If it was legendary grade, that was slightly different.

Legendary grade.

A grade that even the top-tier strong individuals in a dimension couldn’t easily obtain.

Selling such an item instead of using it yourself was truly an uncommon case.

It’s different from equipment or materials.

Traits are the foundation of a player.

It would be unfair to compare them to equipment that can break or be damaged and can be replaced when the time comes.

Still, if there was a mitigating factor, it was the ‘pet’ aspect.

Pets are players’ companions and reliable allies, but ultimately they’re close to third parties.

Therefore, trait scrolls, skill scrolls, equipment, etc. related to pets have lower value compared to what players use.

Of course, the legendary grade name doesn’t go anywhere, but that wasn’t important.

The reason was simple.

“That’s for you to figure out.”

“Pardon?”

“Do I have to tell you everything one by one? Goldrich. We have a give-and-take relationship, not one where one side just keeps giving. You haven’t forgotten the most basic thing as a merchant, have you?”

“…”

“Let’s do well.”

“…Yes.”

Because it wasn’t Shin Hyeok who had to do it.

If obtaining a legendary grade pet trait scroll was difficult, then he should find a way to get it despite the difficulty.

And above all, Shin Hyeok knew Goldrich’s abilities well.

‘He’ll manage to get it somehow. He’s a man with the ability to be called the Gold King beyond Gold Maniac in the future.’

Because Goldrich was the being who would eventually possess wealth great enough to be called the Gold King, surpassing his current nickname of Gold Maniac.

Of course, the Upper Echelon players called him by that derogatory term meaning just a nouveau riche with lots of money, but no one disparaged his abilities themselves.

Therefore, Shin Hyeok trusted Goldrich and delegated full authority to him.

Well, in crude terms, he was passing the buck, but he couldn’t deny that there was trust at the foundation.

“Give me your business card before you go.”

“Haah, you know this is expensive too, right?”

“I know. But won’t you give it?”

“…I’ll give it to you.”

After entrusting Goldrich with finding trait scrolls for Kkamak’s growth.

Shin Hyeok obtained Goldrich’s business card once again.

At this, Shin Hyeok smiled inwardly and nodded with satisfaction.

‘The sunk costs are gradually increasing. If I get it a few more times, he won’t be able to escape.’

A wandering merchant’s business card.

This was the wandering merchants’ joker.

A joker that allows one to easily cross the walls between dimensions.

Naturally, such power could not come without a price.

The wandering merchant’s business cards were so expensive that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that each card consumed the equivalent of one person’s worth of gold.

He had torn through two such cards, and in the process, Goldrich had failed to obtain what he wanted.

From the first card, he received a promise for a meeting with Sejin.

From the second card, he received a promise for iron ore ingots, but ultimately held nothing substantial in his hands.

For that, he would have to use his third and fourth cards in the future.

‘You’ve been kidnapped.’

Goldrich, who was actually being manipulated by Shin Hyeok, disappeared with a sigh amid golden light, unaware of this fact.

“Well then, shall I go see Sejin hyung’s face?”

The deal had been successfully completed.

Now what remained was the final piece to complete the successfully concluded transaction.

It was time to go meet Sejin.

Crash!

After sweeping all the iron ore chunks that filled the massive warehouse into his inventory, Shin Hyeok left the Sacheolseok Mine.

* * *

Mythic Forge City.

The massive workshop located at the very center of that place, which grew larger with each passing day.

The surveillance and security of that place, watched by the entire world, was beyond strict, but that didn’t apply to Shin Hyeok.

“It’s an honor to see you. Please go inside.”

“You’re always working hard.”

Lightly passing the guards protecting the workshop, he went to the top floor of the workshop.

Moving to the Forge Master’s Workshop, Shin Hyeok could see Sejin, as always, absorbed in his work.

Despite his skin being burned completely black beyond bronze from the hot heat spewing from the furnace, Sejin did not put down his hammer.

Because he couldn’t forget the past when he was forced to put down his hammer against his will, Sejin acted like an ordinary blacksmith even now when he was called the world’s greatest craftsman.

Knowing that heart better than anyone, Shin Hyeok watched with a bitter smile, and revealed his presence when the work was nearing completion.

“Hyung.”

“What, it’s Shin Hyeok. You should have said something when you came. I didn’t even know you were here.”

“That’s because you’re weak, hyung.”

“Ha, are there even people who aren’t weak by your standards?”

“There are a few now. Though they’ll be gone soon.”

“You little… That’s so like you. Sit down. Coffee?”

“Yeah, coffee. I can’t forget the taste of the instant coffee you make, hyung.”

“Hehe, I’ll make it right away.”

Though he could have been startled by the sudden presence, Sejin, now accustomed to it, just chuckled and tore open instant coffee to make it in a paper cup and brought it over.

As befitting the world’s greatest blacksmith, Sejin’s wealth was enormous, but his humble nature hadn’t changed.

Because that was quite pleasing, Shin Hyeok wrapped both hands around the warm paper cup and took a sip.

“What were you working on?”

“I was learning the working methods of the dwarves through the items you brought. There’s quite a lot to learn. Rather, it was good because I could feel experiences I didn’t have.”

“Is it at a level for you to learn from, hyung?”

“In terms of raw talent and ability, I’d be higher. But the tower of techniques that they, born as a craftsman race, have accumulated steadily over centuries is high. You know the saying that no matter how tall a person is, they can’t see farther than someone looking down at the world from a giant’s shoulders? That’s exactly how it felt.”

“You had a good experience.”

“It’s all thanks to you. Who else could bring items containing dwarven techniques? No one but you.”

“Well, I can’t deny that.”

Sejin was analyzing, melting, directly touching and hammering the dwarven items that Shin Hyeok had brought from the Sacheolseok Mine, absorbing everything about them.

And the result came back as a butterfly effect that even Shin Hyeok hadn’t anticipated.

“I feel like I’ve overcome a wall.”

“…Huh?”

“It’s interesting. This feeling where everything in the world looks like materials I should handle. It’s indescribably refreshing. It’s not like climbing onto a giant’s shoulders, but like I’m becoming the giant myself.”

“…Wait, hyung, don’t tell me?”

“Yeah, probably. The SS rank that’s beyond the S rank you mentioned, Shin Hyeok. I think I’ve reached there.”

“…Ha, haha. Crazy. You really are like a monster, hyung.”

“It’s absurd hearing that from a real monster. Hey, you’re more of a monster, you know?”

SS rank in metallurgy skill.

A level that couldn’t be easily found even in Ironforge, the upper dimension of the dwarves.

Sejin had finally reached such a level.

“Now then, take out what you brought.”

“You knew?”

“What reason would you have to suddenly come see me? Obviously you came because you have something that needs my help. Right?”

“…Your intuition is at level one hundred. Right. I brought iron ore stones. I need to refine them. Can you do it?”

Sejin, having announced that he had stepped into a new realm, dove straight into the main topic without hesitation.

Feeling awkward that his thoughts were discovered, Shin Hyeok glanced at Sejin and asked.

Iron ore stones.

The arduous process of breaking stones containing unique-grade materials and melting them with heat to extract only pure iron ore.

Naturally, since he had never done it before, there would be trial and error, and he would suffer all kinds of hardships in the process, but—

“Just trust me, hyung. Bring it all.”

What Sejin would say was already decided.

Watching Sejin pound his chest and show confidence, Shin Hyeok smiled back and opened his inventory.

Crash!

“Then I’m counting on you, hyung!”

“…Hey, you come here.”

“Ugh! Urgh! Ugh ugh!”

Of course, even such a Sejin had no choice but to grab Shin Hyeok’s neck the moment he saw the iron ore chunks filling his workshop.

Even while feeling Sejin’s hands tightening around his neck, Shin Hyeok burst into laughter.

Because at this moment, he could clearly feel that he had escaped from the heavy matters of the Homo Novus Empire and upper dimensions.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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