I Became an SSS-Grade Time-Transcending Almighty Blacksmith - Chapter 102

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

Episode 102
Episode 102
Some time after I’d crafted equipment for Kim Tae-san.
“A promotional video?”
“Yes. Since he’s our first Guild Member, we can raise his profile and showcase the guild’s potential through it.”
“Hmm, do you think it’ll work?”
“Other guilds do this kind of promotion all the time. And from what I can see, I’m pretty confident it’ll succeed.”
“Go ahead and give it a try, Lee. I’m not familiar with this side of things.”
“All right, I’ll make sure it’s a success!”
Lee Seo-yun had come to me with this proposal.
She wanted to create a Steel Guild channel.
And upload Kim Tae-san’s promotional video there.
To be honest, I’d been skeptical at first.
But once we posted the video and watched the response come in.
– Kim Tae-san is insane
– Level 30? How did someone this talented stay unknown and quiet all this time?
– This is huge
– All thanks to Kang Cheol-mangchi lol
– Yeah his abilities were kinda awkward before, but ever since meeting Kang Cheol-mangchi, they’ve really shined
– Actually call him King God Hammer, not Kang Cheol-mangchi
– Kang Cheol-mangchi is a god!
– King Maker, Kang Cheol-mangchi. His title wasn’t wasted in this video
– The title really suits him lol
– Everyone who passes through Kang Cheol-mangchi’s hands becomes a king~
– So how did Kim Tae-san even get in? I wanna join too, tell me the secret ㅠㅠ
– When’s the next recruitment for Steel Guild? I wanna apply;
– Kang Cheol-mangchi seems to have his own criteria, but I still don’t know what;
– Kang Cheol-mangchi, I’ll adjust everything for you, please accept me ㅠㅠ
The response was incredible.
It ranked first in the Awakener category on the platform, showing just how huge the popularity was.
Actually, it went beyond that.
Since the video had only been up for a short while, it was at this level.
But seeing it already crack the top five overall, it looked like it’d hit number one on the entire platform by the end of the day.
I hadn’t expected it to be this popular.
This genuinely caught me off guard.
“Didn’t I tell you? I said it’d succeed?”
“It’s impressive……”
“Going forward, if we keep uploading content like this—new Guild Members, major guild developments—it should work well. Oh, and you could also upload videos directly, sir.”
“Me?”
“It’s trendy these days for guild leaders to stream directly and interact with people. Though, it might still be risky at this stage. Let’s wait until we have the guild building set up.”
“You think they’d like that?”
“They’ll definitely go crazy for it.”
Lee Seo-yun.
I’d heard from the Association President that she was a skilled employee.
But I hadn’t realized she was this good.
At this level, I felt like giving her a bonus every single day.
And shortly after, as I’d predicted, Kim Tae-san’s promotional video climbed to number one on the platform’s trending videos.
Having suddenly become a star, Kim Tae-san.
“Are you all right, Kim Tae-san?”
“Ugh, I still can’t believe this is happening. Everyone I know has been contacting me—it’s absolute chaos.”
He was struggling with his sudden fame.
The saving grace was that his face hadn’t appeared in the video.
Since Kim Tae-san found it uncomfortable, only footage of him in his equipment was released.
Especially given that his full-body armor exposed no skin whatsoever.
Once he took off the armor, almost no one could recognize him.
Still.
“But honestly, it’s not a bad feeling. Seeing comments from people who want to be like me makes me happy. Haha.”
Kim Tae-san seemed to be adapting well enough.
Hearing that made me feel good too.
The Steel Guild’s first step—a resounding success, you could say.
I had plenty of worries when I decided to establish a guild.
I never expected things to go so smoothly.
Excited, I thought about recruiting a second guild member right away.
“If you ask me, I think it would be better to build a guild headquarters first.”
“Hmm, you think so?”
“Yes. Having a proper guild building would make it easier for you to meet with guild members comfortably, and it would give everyone a better place to gather and bond.”
But there was something I needed to figure out first.
A guild building.
Honestly, I had no idea where to start.
I didn’t know which building to buy, where to find it, or how much it would cost.
Looking at what people called the major guilds, their headquarters were always massive and elaborate.
Something like that would probably be expensive, and I wasn’t sure if it was even feasible.
“How much do you think the price would be?”
I asked, a note of anxiety creeping into my voice.
“Thinking about the future, I’d recommend looking for a location near the Awakener Association. The building itself also needs to be of a certain scale…”
Lee Seo-yun finished her calculations after a moment of thought.
“You should expect to budget at least fifty billion won.”
Fifty billion won.
Hearing that figure, I was surprised—but for a different reason.
“…Fifty billion is enough?”
It might have been different if this were the old days.
But that’s not who I am now.
Just the cost of Mana Stones alone to upgrade the Time Smithy comes to around sixty-five billion won.
And yet, I could apparently acquire a large, impressive guild building near the Association for less than that.
In that moment,
I understood.
‘My sense of money is completely broken.’
My economic perspective had been utterly warped.
At this point, even everyday expenses felt manageable in a strange way.
In that sense,
“Fifty billion won. I’ll prepare it.”
Fifty billion.
It wasn’t easy money for me, but it wasn’t an impossible sum to earn either.
Hadn’t I felt this not long ago?
When I decided to make money and started swinging my hammer, I could earn far more than I’d anticipated.
Thinking it over,
“I’ll leave the building acquisition to you, Seo-yun.”
“Just leave it to me! I’ll make sure to find the absolute best location!”
After entrusting the building search to Lee Seo-yun,
I headed straight to the blacksmith shop
and swung my hammer with a sharp clang.
The rhythmic strikes began.
* * *
“Just leave it to me! I’ll make sure to find the absolute best location!”
Lee Seo-yun.
She began searching for the building immediately.
This would be the headquarters of the Steel Guild.
For any other new guild, leasing a suitable space would suffice, but the Steel Guild was different.
As she saw it,
the Steel Guild would grow at an extraordinary pace.
Like the five major guilds known as Korea’s finest.
Or perhaps even larger than that.
So, from the very beginning, she intended to purchase a building worthy of that prestige.
That wasn’t all.
‘Security.’
Jang Gang-cheol was no longer merely a blacksmith.
He was the guildmaster of the Steel Guild.
Therefore, guild members would need to see him,
and for that, he needed to be present at the Steel Guild’s building.
But how many people were targeting Jang Gang-cheol?
Not just Korea, but overseas as well.
Countless people had their eyes on Kang Cheol-mangchi.
Which meant the Steel Guild’s building had to be safer than anywhere else.
So.
“Association President.”
– What’s the matter?
She had decided to seek the Awakener Association’s help.
Fortunately, the Association President held Kang Cheol-mangchi in high regard.
He was doing his best to ensure that Kang Cheol-mangchi could remain in Korea, offering what assistance he could.
Given as much.
“I’m looking to purchase a building for the Steel Guild. Could you help me with that?”
The building she had her eye on was located right next to the Awakener Association.
It was said to be one of the safest buildings in all of Korea.
* * *
There were many ways to make money.
First, the easiest was, after all.
[ Crafting complete. ]
[ Crafting evaluation: S ]
[ You have obtained a Slime Seawater Bed. ]
Making furniture like beds and chairs.
I’d earned considerable sums selling these before.
Yet there were still plenty of people willing to pay large sums for such things.
People for whom time was money.
Corporate chairs, wealthy Awakeners, top celebrities, prominent figures in politics and business.
And that was just the beginning.
Now, I could even.
“Seo-yun, could we sell these overseas as well?”
“Of course. There would be tariffs, but even accounting for those, there are plenty of people willing to pay premium prices for your furniture.”
I could export the furniture.
Unknown to me, news of my furniture had already spread overseas.
Hospitals in Korea were fitted with Kang Cheol-mangchi brand beds, and the medical standards there were supposedly remarkably high.
Wealthy people in Korea used Kang Cheol-mangchi brand beds, and even two hours of sleep supposedly wiped away all fatigue.
Such rumors.
I sold furniture to such people.
“……I may have mentioned that, but it’s more popular than I expected. It’s incredible.”
I’d been selling them off.
The blueprint I’d devised before — the Slime Seawater Bed.
It was a bed with quite good performance, requiring nothing more than basic wood, materials from common monsters like slimes, and seawater.
Mass production wasn’t particularly difficult.
Selling just those alone brought in enormous profits.
But naturally, this wasn’t all.
“Toran, are you ready?”
“Of course, kid. I’ve mined everything in sight, so use it however you like!”
All this time, Toran had been mining Luminance Stones in massive quantities.
Thanks to that, using all those Luminance Stones as a base.
[ Crafting complete. ]
[ Crafting evaluation: S ]
[ You have obtained a Luminous Necklace. ]
[ You have obtained a Luminous Bracelet. ]
[ You have obtained a Luminous Necklace. ]
[ You have obtained a Headlamp. ]
…….
I’d crafted the lighting set I’d mentioned before.
This lighting set was an item designed to prepare for Dark-Type Gates.
And a considerable number of Gates were these Dark-Type Gates.
So there was still domestic demand, of course.
“The demand is beyond what I expected.”
And they were actively traded overseas as well.
Of course, each of these items was cheaper individually than the furniture.
But considering that making a single bed took roughly twice as long as other items, this too brought in quite respectable profits.
Beyond that, I recalled all the items I’d crafted so far and produced as many valuable pieces as I could manage.
And I sold them without regard to domestic or international borders.
How much time had passed like that?
Much faster than I’d expected.
“We’ve gathered it all.”
“Already……? You’re truly remarkable, Kang Cheol-mangchi.”
“It’s thanks to you, Lee Seo-yun. With you handling the negotiations, I could focus entirely on production. And you took charge of all the export arrangements as well.”
Five billion won. I’d managed to gather it.
“And, did you know? Your name is spreading overseas along with the exports.”
“Ah……?”
“It’s enormous already. They’re asking—had Korea been monopolizing items like these? Will you sell to us? We need Kang Cheol-mangchi. That sort of thing.”
Along the way, spreading my reputation abroad had been an unexpected bonus.
Well, with things like this, I’ll be able to receive substantial commissions from overseas later on.
Though on the flip side, it also means more people will be targeting me—which makes me a bit uneasy.
For that reason, a new headquarters to protect me going forward.
The location of the guild building was supremely important.
“Thanks to the Association President, I was able to purchase a far better building than I’d hoped for, at a far better price than expected.”
At last, the building had been decided.
The guild building selected as Steel Guild’s headquarters.
Its location was none other than.
“Right here.”
“This is…….”
“Look over there, do you see it?”
“The Awakener Association!”
“Exactly.”
Right beside the Awakener Association.
Next to the Awakener Association, where countless Awakeners—including Rankers—came and went constantly.
It was said to be the safest place in all of Korea.

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