I Became an SSS-Grade Time-Transcending Almighty Blacksmith - Chapter 22

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 22
Episode 22
Whirrrrr!
“Gate detected! In the vicinity of Guak Mountain!”
“Guak Mountain? That’s quite a distance. What’s the stability?”
“Stability… 31%. Rather low! And the fluctuation is quite intense! We estimate the monsters at Level 50 or higher!”
Gate Response Headquarters.
A subordinate institution of the Awakener’s Association, it existed to locate and respond to every Gate appearing across Korea.
The methods varied.
They employed Gate detection devices crafted from Magic Stones, received civilian reports, and relied on other means.
With these methods alone, they could discover most Gates without difficulty.
Once a Gate was found,
“This is grave. Escalate the priority and report it to the Association immediately.”
“Yes, sir!”
The Gate’s condition was reported to the Association.
The Association analyzed the Gate’s level, distance, and other factors, then dispatched appropriate Awakeners or guild teams to the site.
This was Korea’s most fundamental Gate response protocol.
“Still, I’m concerned. The Gate occurrence rate has risen significantly.”
“It appears to be a global phenomenon.”
“We’re managing for now, but I’m starting to feel a shortage in the number of Awakeners.”
“Even so, thanks to the recent Supply Series, new Awakeners have been growing stronger rapidly. The death rate has dropped as well.”
“The Supply Series?”
“You haven’t heard of it? It’s Korea’s first—no, the world’s first—creation of what is believed to be a Blacksmith Awakener…”
Whirrrrr!
“Of all times.”
As Gate occurrence had increased recently,
the Gate Response Headquarters staff moved with greater urgency.
Surely, the Awakeners belonging to the Association and guilds were likewise working at a feverish pace.
Then,
“Gate detected! A report has come in of a Gate manifesting at a children’s park in Sosol District! The monster Level is estimated at a minimum of 10!”
Another new Gate had emerged.
A Gate appearing in the city outskirts.
Assuming such a location wouldn’t be too difficult to clear, they contacted the Awakener’s Association—
“No Awakeners available?”
A problem had arisen.
Had too many Gates appeared at once?
There weren’t enough Awakeners.
New Awakeners existed, but the Gate’s level was ambiguous.
Deploying novice Awakeners was risky; using skilled ones seemed wasteful.
Besides, every capable Awakener had already been dispatched to clear other Gates.
Yet waiting was impossible—the Gate’s low stability meant that the moment it opened, monsters might spill out unchecked, triggering a Gate Break.
“There’s no choice.”
Forced to act, they gathered novice Awakeners.
It was somewhat risky, but they increased the numbers accordingly.
Still, thanks to the recent Supply Series, new Awakeners had supposedly gained considerable combat prowess.
They could only hope the Gate would be cleared without incident—
“…Headquarters Commander?”
“Has something gone wrong already?”
“Well, you could call it a problem… The thing is, the Gate has already been cleared.”
“Already? Even accounting for the increased numbers, I didn’t think the new Awakeners could clear a Gate that quickly.”
“That’s not it. By the time the Awakeners arrived, the Gate had already been cleared and was dissipating.”
“…What do you mean?”
An anomaly had occurred.
The Gate had already been cleared.
“What’s the Association saying?”
“The Association claims to have no information on it either. There were no reports of any Awakener entering the field. Most people either fled or hid, so we couldn’t obtain proper testimony, but…”
“That’s strange. Even if someone cleared it, how could they do so this quickly?”
If it were the lowest-tier Gate, perhaps it could be understood.
Yet the monsters were expected to be Level 10 or above.
Clearing a Level 10 Gate typically required a party of at least Level 10 Awakeners working together.
You’d need to be at least level 15 to 20 just to attempt it solo.
Even then, it’d be brutal.
To clear it this quickly, you’d have to be an Awakener with over 30 levels in Agility, at minimum.
Could someone like that really be wandering around unregistered with the Association or any guild?
The inconsistencies bothered him.
“……Well, the Association can sort out the details. Let’s move on to the next Gate.”
“Yes, sir!”
Gates were materializing everywhere, and they needed to be cleared immediately.
The headquarters director pushed aside his unease and moved on to the next task.
Better to count blessings.
He could only hope some kind-hearted Awakener had expedited these clears for the city’s sake.
* * *
After a brief outing, I returned home with Serin.
The moment we arrived, I turned to her.
“Serin, would you help me with something?”
“I’ll lay them out for you.”
Sudden as it was, I started examining the spoils Serin had gathered from clearing the Gate.
The first items to catch my eye were standard monster drops.
A Crude Boar Bow.
A Tusk Necklace.
And so on.
From those items alone, I could tell exactly what kind of monsters had inhabited the Gate she’d cleared.
“It was a boar Gate?”
“A vast forest terrain with wild boars. Because I moved through the trees, I was able to travel quickly with minimal combat.”
Wild boars.
Whatever kind of boar they were, they’d pulverize the slimes and horned rabbits from my hunting grounds in a single blow.
Which meant the Gate Serin had cleared was significantly harder than my own hunting grounds.
And yet she’d cleared it so fast.
“That’s impressive.”
“It’s thanks to the equipment you crafted for me, Master.”
My prized S-rank creation, the Frost Tracker, Ikaya, had certainly contributed with its high attack power.
But the real wonder was her skill itself.
‘Still, not a single material item. That’s odd.’
Every monster that fell in my hunting grounds dropped material-type items.
So I’d held out hope, but—
Not a single material item appeared.
And because Serin had ignored ordinary monsters as much as possible to move faster, the number of items she’d acquired was fairly small.
As if reading my thoughts, she spoke first.
“I apologize. To clear the Gate as quickly as possible with your safety in mind, I deliberately avoided the ordinary boars as much as I could……”
Serin offered an apology, but—
“No, you did well. Actually, this confirms something for me. Hunting in Gates is nowhere near as efficient as hunting in my exclusive hunting grounds.”
Looking at the item grades made it clear.
The best item was C-rank.
The grades were low, and the stats looked mediocre.
Even if I listed them on the trading post, the prices would be abysmal.
I could dismantle them for scraps of material, but honestly, I doubted even that would yield anything worthwhile.
No matter how I looked at it, my hunting grounds in the Forge of Time were in a different league entirely.
Having reassessed the value of the Blacksmith’s hunting grounds, I turned to examine the next item.
And that’s when I saw it.
A Wild Boar’s Tusk.
“A material?”
An item I hadn’t expected at all.
A material item.
Weren’t materials supposed to only drop in my hunting grounds?
Confused, I looked at Serin.
“I defeated the strongest individual and obtained this material through Butchering. I only managed to extract the tusk in my haste. I apologize.”
This was one of her skills.
It seemed to be an effect of the Butchering skill.
That Butchering skill had allowed me to gather more materials than usual when hunting in my grounds.
And now it appeared to be doing the same for her.
It seemed the ability included obtaining monster materials outside of hunting grounds, not just within them.
“There’s no need to apologize. Besides, this is quality material I’ve never found in my own hunting ground.”
That was true.
My hunting ground’s monsters were currently scaled to match my Level.
As my Level rose, their strength increased gradually as well.
Yet even so, I’d never encountered materials of this caliber until now.
Especially since this wasn’t from an ordinary monster—it was boss-tier material, wasn’t it?
My hunting ground hadn’t spawned a boss monster since the Twin-Headed Wolf.
This material felt extraordinarily precious to me.
And the crowning treasure was none other than.
[ Lowest-Grade Magic Stone ]
[ Lowest-Grade Magic Stone ]
…….
This.
Something I couldn’t obtain from my hunting ground.
The most essential element for raising the Level of my Forge of Time.
Magic Stones.
Of course, clearing a Gate naturally yielded Magic Stones.
But since I’d only worked within the Forge of Time and never once encountered a Gate myself—
It was only natural that finding Magic Stones directly for the first time astonished me.
Well, truthfully I only watched from outside while Serin cleared it alone, so it’d be odd to claim I obtained them myself.
Regardless, what mattered now was this.
“A Low-Grade Magic Stone!”
What Serin brought back wasn’t merely Lowest-Grade Magic Stones.
[ Low-Grade Magic Stone ]
A Magic Stone of far greater value than the lowest grade.
A Low-Grade Magic Stone had appeared.
Even checking the exchange right now, a Low-Grade Magic Stone went for roughly ten million won.
Ten times the price of a Lowest-Grade Magic Stone.
The earnings from clearing a single Gate in one go were astronomical.
Well, thinking about it, the sum made sense.
Normally, Awakeners would form parties, risk their lives to clear Gates, and then divide all the rewards equally among members.
But thanks to Serin, I’d monopolized every last bit of compensation.
As I stood there briefly considering what to do with it—
“Ember, the next upgrade to the Forge of Time requires sixteen Lowest-Grade Magic Stones, right?”
– That is correct.
– Sixteen Lowest-Grade Magic Stones.
– Alternatively, one Low-Grade Magic Stone and six Lowest-Grade Magic Stones may be used.
“Perfect.”
My ability.
I decided to use it to strengthen the Forge of Time.
There was no point in selling it; I’d only need it again later anyway.
Now that Magic Stones had come into my possession, I decided to put them to use immediately.
“Does the order matter?”
– Not at this time.
– You may freely choose any tool or section you wish to upgrade.
The critical question was what to strengthen.
So far, I’d upgraded three things total.
Raised the Forge of Time to Level 3, acquiring various unlocked sections.
Raised the Blacksmith’s Hammer to Level 2, acquiring Special Crafting.
Raised the Blacksmith’s Anvil to Level 2, acquiring additional codex entries.
But that wasn’t all.
Like my Blacksmith’s Bag, there were still elements at Level 1 that I hadn’t upgraded yet.
Weighing which element to strengthen, I—
“The Forge of Time.”
Made my choice the moment I finished deliberating.
Rumble—
I stepped into the forge.
Afterward, the place Serin and I moved to was—
[ Blacksmith’s Attendant Waiting Room ]
The Blacksmith’s Attendant Waiting Room.
And in the center of this empty space sat only one thing.
[ Blacksmith’s Summoning Platform Lv 1 ]
A summoning platform.
“Ember, if I raise the summoning platform’s level, I can summon additional attendants, right?”
– That is correct.
Indeed.
What I chose was this summoning platform.
Strengthening other elements would be worthwhile too, but what I’ve felt most acutely from enhancing things so far is the attendant summoning.
In other words, Serin’s strength.
Because of her, I could sit idle and gain experience and materials, and not only that—she’s taken on my escort duties outside as well.
If a new attendant were to be summoned through the attendant summoning.
It seemed like whoever was summoned would be of great help.
And so.
[ Would you like to raise the level of ‘Blacksmith’s Summoning Platform Lv 1’? ]
[ Y / N ]
“Yes!”
I decided to raise the summoning platform’s level.
The moment I pressed the approval button, all the Low-Grade Magic Stones and Lowest-Grade Magic Stones that Serin had gathered disappeared.
And even the Magic Stones I’d purchased additionally to make up the shortage vanished.
[ Blacksmith’s Summoning Platform has become Lv 2. ]
[ You can now summon an additional attendant. ]
The summoning platform’s level had risen.
Its appearance had changed too—the magical circle patterns originally drawn on the platform became larger and more geometric in form.
Well, I wasn’t quite sure about that.
The moment the summoning platform’s level rose.
I prepared to summon a new attendant.
[ Constructing a summoning circle to call forth a ‘Blacksmith’s Attendant’. ]
[ The rank of the summoned attendant will be determined by your evaluation grade. ]
Clang!
I swung the hammer I’d brought with me hard toward the summoning platform.

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