All‑Master Who Regressed to Bronze - Chapter 9

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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 Who Regressed to Bronze Episode 009

A few days after the placement exam ended.

Shin Hyeok’s name appeared in the media without missing a single day.

[The Divine of Shinwha, Writing a Legend!]

[About How I, Who Was Called a Useless Scrub, Actually Had the Power to Place First in the Placement Exam]

[Shin-hyeok Choi, Let’s Learn About His 3 Years in High School!]

They even showed interest in Shin Hyeok’s past.

After all, there’s always a middle ground to everything.

If they could learn even a little about the process that led to Shin Hyeok’s existence, a second Shin Hyeok might be born – it was only natural.

‘What a pointless endeavor.’

But from Shin Hyeok’s perspective, knowing that all of this was meaningless, it only looked like wasted effort.

“Shin Hyeok, what are you thinking about?”

“Oh, I was just spacing out for a moment. We’re almost at Cheonggyecheon. Should we get off?”

“Yeah!”

Shin Hyeok was awakened from his thoughts by the voice of Su-a, who was sitting next to him in casual clothes.

The two of them were now at Cheonggyecheon.

The gently flowing Cheonggyecheon was also famous as a dating spot for many couples.

But that was only the story from before the Dimension Arena opened.

Clang! Bang! Bang! Clang!

“Welcome!”

“Our workshop’s weapons are the best!”

“What? Our workshop’s weapons are the best!”

“Take a look at our shields! They’re made by Master Hwang Chil-deuk!”

Cheonggyecheon was bustling with noise.

Workshops scattered everywhere.

The sound of hammering coming from those workshops.

And finally, the fierce battle to sell items made in the workshops.

“It’s an interesting place, isn’t it?”

“It really is.”

“So you said you came here today to find a craftsman?”

“Yeah, well… probably not a craftsman though.”

“…?”

Su-a, who had been watching the fierce competition with interest, tilted her head at Shin Hyeok’s incomprehensible words, but Shin Hyeok didn’t bother to explain.

Eventually, Su-a, who ended up following Shin Hyeok without knowing anything, began to feel increasingly strange.

“Why are we going to such a secluded place?”

Because Shin Hyeok was moving toward the dark and damp central area instead of the outskirts where many other craftsmen were.

Shin Hyeok shrugged his shoulders as he walked ahead.

“Well, obviously because the craftsman apprentice I’m looking for is here.”

“Craftsman apprentice? Wasn’t it a craftsman?”

“Since he’ll become a craftsman later, isn’t it the same thing?”

“…Shin Hyeok! You promised the chairman! That you’d show results! But if you bring a craftsman apprentice, how do you plan to keep that promise!”

Su-a, finally understanding Shin Hyeok’s thinking, flapped her body like a penguin and scolded Shin Hyeok.

‘How unfamiliar. Being worried about by someone.’

Su-a’s concern.

Knowing that it came from genuine care, Shin Hyeok smiled warmly and calmed Su-a down.

“Don’t worry. The person we’re going to find is just a craftsman apprentice for now, but he’ll become a Meister who surpasses craftsmen in the future.”

“Meister? What’s that?”

“Ah, it probably hasn’t been revealed yet. Just think of it as… item grades. If ordinary craftsmen are common grade, then Meisters are rare grade.”

“Ah, I see. But Shin Hyeok, how do you know such things-“

“Alright, that’s enough. Now shall we go meet today’s main character?”

While he didn’t particularly intend to hide his information as a regressor, thinking it wasn’t the right time, Shin Hyeok quickly changed the subject.

Su-a puffed her cheeks and protested at Shin Hyeok’s unwillingness to explain, but only briefly.

“Here it is.”

“…Is there really someone here who will become the Meister you mentioned?”

Su-a couldn’t hide her surprise at the scene before her eyes.

“This isn’t a workshop, it’s no different from a shack!”

Because the workshop before their eyes was as shabby as a makeshift hut.

The roof had holes scattered throughout, and the door was half-destroyed and unrecognizable.

For Su-a, who had been an ordinary commoner, the very fact that people lived in such places was fascinating.

But Shin Hyeok didn’t mind this fact and entered the shabby workshop.

“Light.”

Whoosh!

[You have learned the skill: Light.]

[You lack sufficient skills to master basic magic.]

Shin Hyeok’s light brightly illuminated the workshop interior, which was pitch dark without even a fire lit.

When Su-a gasped in admiration at the sight that looked like a ray of light in a dirty world.

“…Who are you? This is my home.”

“Ah, ahhh! I’m, I’m sorry! I’m Su-a Han, though it’s late for introductions. This guy here is Shin-hyeok Choi.”

A man with a shabby appearance and grime streaming down appeared.

When the startled Su-a rattled off introductions for herself and Shin Hyeok, the man let out a bitter laugh.

“What a good-looking couple. You don’t seem like people who belong in a place like this, so please leave.”

Shin Hyeok approached the man who was acting like a vampire seeing light when faced with Su-a and Shin Hyeok, who seemed like they would shine wherever they went, unlike his own shabby self.

“No. I came here to take Se-jin Bang with me.”

“…Do you know me?”

The shabby man.

Se-jin Bang couldn’t hide his bewilderment at Shin Hyeok seeming to know him, then soon hardened his expression.

“Of course I know. Aren’t you the one who joined a workshop belonging to our Sinwha Guild, couldn’t overcome the internal power struggles and was expelled, and then was made unable to even properly hold a hammer by their connections?”

“…Our? Ah, now that I look at you, you have a familiar face. Aren’t you Shin-hyeok Choi, the third-generation chaebol of the great Shinwha Group?”

Because Sejin had been kicked out of a workshop belonging to the Shinwha Group’s guild and simultaneously made unable to set foot in the blacksmithing industry.

Behind all of this was the Sinwha Guild.

Furthermore, since Shinwha Group was involved, it was natural for Sejin to show a sharp reaction toward Shin Hyeok.

At Sejin’s sarcasm, Shin Hyeok looked at Sejin quietly.

“Se-jin Bang.”

“…What, do you think I’ll submit if you glare at me like that?”

“No. You seem to be misunderstanding something.”

“…?”

The statement that he was misunderstanding something.

When Sejin tilted his head at those words, Shin Hyeok slowly began to explain.

“Have you ever heard my name before the placement exam? Have you seen my face in the media?”

“Uh…”

“You haven’t. Because I’m the eldest son of a child cast out by Shinwha Group.”

“A cast out child… you say?”

And after hearing all that explanation, Sejin had become as polite as when they first met.

Because just as Shin Hyeok explained, Sejin had never heard about Shin Hyeok until after the placement exam ended.

Realizing that Sejin was ready to have a proper conversation again, Shin Hyeok began his persuasion in earnest.

“Yes, I had a predicted tier of Bronze for all 3 years at Player High School, was called Useless Scrub at school, and was ignored by all the students. My friend Su-a here can vouch for that.”

“Yes! Shin Hyeok was kind and sincere but was called Useless Scrub because he was an incompetent scrub.”

“…Anyway, that’s right. In other words, I’ve lived a life largely unrelated to Shinwha Group. So I’m not the target of your anger, Se-jin.”

Shin Hyeok coughed at Su-a’s innocent face as she vouched for his pathetic past, but he didn’t forget his duty.

He was part of Shinwha Group, yet had lived a life that wasn’t part of Shinwha Group.

So don’t get angry at me, get angry at someone else.

At Shin Hyeok’s words that carried such meaning, Sejin finally came to his senses and bowed his head toward Shin Hyeok.

“…I’m sorry. I’ve been through so much that I get worked up just hearing the word Shinwha.”

“I understand. That’s understandable. So, Se-jin Bang.”

“Yes?”

“Would you like to join hands with me?”

“…?”

A sudden proposal.

As Sejin tilted his head in confusion, Shin Hyeok took out blessed steel from his inventory.

“This is blessed steel. Unique grade. If we make a weapon with this, it would be really… great… but the problem is we don’t have an excellent blacksmith….”

“Th, that’s right! Excellent materials shine in the hands of excellent blacksmiths!”

Blessed steel.

Faced with a unique-grade material item, Sejin drooled and nodded frantically.

Both his angry demeanor from moments ago and his polite appearance had completely vanished.

“Among the blacksmiths I know, the most excellent one is Se-jin Bang… Are you interested by any chance?”

“…Of, of course! B, but I’ve been blacklisted by the Shinwha Guild workshop craftsmen, so I can’t even properly hold a hammer. If I were to pick up a hammer, retaliation would come.”

But Sejin was already scared before even starting.

This showed just how much Sejin had suffered at the hands of the Shinwha Guild workshop craftsmen.

Of course, this didn’t apply to Shin Hyeok.

“Do the Shinwha Guild workshop craftsmen happen to have the backing of Shinwha Group’s former chairman?”

“What? How could that be? Didn’t he pass away long ago?”

“Then that’s fine. Let me just make one phone call.”

“Yes….”

The sudden mention of Shinwha Group’s former chairman.

In other words, when Shin Hyeok brought up his great-grandfather, Sejin looked bewildered.

“Yes, Grandfather. I found a craftsman to bring along. Can we go to the workshop right away? Ah, you’d like to have a word with him? That’s not difficult. I’ll put him on. Sejin. Please take the call. It’s my grandfather.”

“G, grandfather means the chairman of Shinwha Group, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right. So please take it quickly. Grandfather seems very interested in you, Sejin.”

“…Gulp!”

But the bewilderment turned to shock with the subsequent one-on-one phone call with Choi Cheolho.

Choi Cheolho, who could make even Sejin—who would grind his teeth at the mention of Shinwha Group—answer the phone politely, casually opened the conversation.

-I’m the chairman of Shinwha Group, Choi Cheolho. Who are you?

“…I, I’m called Se-jin Bang. I o, originally worked at Shinwha Workshop but now I’ve been fired and am staying at Cheonggyecheon.”

Sejin introduced himself to Choi Cheolho with a trembling voice.

A hearty laugh reached Sejin’s ears.

-You were a Shinwha person! I see, but you were fired? To fire such an excellent craftsman that my grandson would bring along. Can you tell this old man what happened?

“Ah, well, you see….”

Moved by Choi Cheolho’s question that reminded him of his own grandfather, Sejin reported everything he had experienced to Choi Cheolho in detail without leaving anything out.

-…Look at these bastards! How dare they mess with what’s mine? Did you say Se-jin Bang?

“Yes? Yes!”

-Though you already promised Shin Hyeok, you’re still a Shinwha person. And I, Choi Cheolho, never abandon my people! So come back to work at the workshop with Shin Hyeok.

“Is, is that really true?”

Having heard everything, Choi Cheolho was furious and urged Sejin to return to work at the workshop.

Sejin’s eyes widened as if they would pop out, never having expected to be directly recognized by the chairman.

After throwing in a few appropriate words of encouragement.

When Choi Cheolho hung up, Sejin looked at Shin Hyeok with a dumbfounded expression.

Feeling Sejin’s gaze directed at him, Shin Hyeok smiled brightly and said.

“The hammer. Don’t you want to hold it?”

“Shin Hyeok… I want to… hold the hammer….”

Thud-

Despite the dirty floor covered in filth, Sejin dropped to his knees without care and bowed his head before Shin Hyeok.

‘SSS-grade blacksmith get.’

This was the moment when Sejin, who would later be called an SSS-grade blacksmith, Meister, God’s Hand, and other titles, came under Shin Hyeok’s command.

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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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