I Became an SSS-Grade Time-Transcending Almighty Blacksmith - Chapter 42

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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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Chapter 42
Chapter 42
The next day.
As always, I finished my work and sat down to eat.
“Squeak! Dinnertime!”
Grom naturally lifted the bed and made himself a spot to sit.
“…Grom, we’ll move to a bigger place soon, so just hang in there a little longer, okay?”
“Squeak? Grom doesn’t mind! As long as there’s delicious food and I can swing my axe all day, that’s enough! Every day is joyful and happy!”
Grom said he didn’t mind, but—
watching him lift the bed and crouch down, I couldn’t help feeling guilty.
Even when he stood, wasn’t he hunching his posture to avoid bumping his head on the ceiling?
With my current assets, I couldn’t afford to rent a luxury mansion outright.
I resolved to find a bigger place, even if I had to rent month-to-month, and finished the meal.
Fortunately, everyone seemed satisfied with today’s menu.
When the meal was done, I turned on New Tube and—
“Oh?”
I found that Sin Gung had uploaded a new video.
Since I’d been curious about the power of the arrows I’d made for him, I played it right away.
It looked like a highlight reel, a condensed edit of a raid featuring Sin Gung as the star.
Thanks to that, I could quickly see his greatest moments.
The first thing that caught my eye was, unsurprisingly—
Whoosh-crack!
Sin Gung sweeping through the monsters at the Gate’s entrance.
The arrows he fired flew at incredible speed and pierced the monsters’ vital points with precision.
The speed was so fast that by the moment he released the bowstring, the arrow had already struck the monster’s weak point.
Naturally—
– ??
– Wait, I knew Sin Gung’s arrows were fast, but this fast?
– Insane ㄷㄷ;
– It looks like Sin Gung is pretty much soloing all the entry-level monsters lol
The viewers watching the video noticed it too.
As Sin Gung’s arrows continued to fell monsters at impossible speeds—
Awakeners started to catch on to what was happening.
– Wait, those arrows aren’t the Storm Wind Arrow?
– Yeah
– I heard the Gate that supplied those closed lol can’t get them anymore
– So what are those?
– I heard from a teammate who cleared with me that they’re arrows commissioned from Iron Hammer
– Iron Hammer?
– Why is Iron Hammer coming up here?
– Iron Hammer?
– Iron Hammer’s max level equipment is like level 11 at best, right? And they made arrows for Sin Gung?
– They basically gave up on the arrow’s base damage. Instead, they maximized the arrow’s ability.
– Ability?
– Look at that speed. The Storm Wind Arrow had High Speed Arrow Level 3, but these are faster than that, right? Has to be High Speed Arrow Level 4 or higher.
– Insane, seriously?
– They made High Speed Arrow Level 4 arrows?
– Even the Yeom Je Brooch was surprised, wow;
Is this what they call internet detectives?
The viewers’ deductive skills were incredible.
The video had only just gone up, and they’d already figured out exactly what arrows I’d made.
After that, Sin Gung’s performance continued.
Not only defeating monsters—
Snap-crack!
he fired arrows at incredible speed to disarm the Gate’s traps, or—
he’d ambush monsters that tried to ambush him instead.
He was fully exploiting the High Speed Arrow Level 4’s performance.
Then came the boss monster raid—
This was where it really mattered.
Screech-howl!
Even here, Sin Gung was pushing the High Speed Arrow Lv 4 to its absolute limit.
— Wow, look how fast those arrows are ㅋㅋㅋ
— Wasn’t the archer supposed to just harass? This is way more than harassment now? ㅋㅋㅋ
— This is insane
— Sin Gung! Sin Gung! Sin Gung! Sin Gung!
— So this is what High Speed Arrow Lv 4 looks like?
That’s right.
An archer’s typical role is to attack the boss monster’s weak points while keeping it off-balance.
The goal is to divide its attention, force it to defend, or prevent it from attacking.
But Sin Gung’s assault was something else entirely.
Using the speed of High Speed Arrow Lv 4, he struck the boss monster before it could even shield its weak points.
Before it could dodge, the arrows were already sinking in.
His speed was so blinding that even this powerful boss monster couldn’t react in time.
Though his attack power was modest, he made up for it with his bow and skill.
Besides, when you considered how he normally focused on harassment and missed most of his strikes, hitting weak points consistently made the lower damage irrelevant—it was actually a far more advantageous position.
Thanks to that relentless barrage, the boss monster’s health drained rapidly.
— Graaaaahhh!
The moment the boss monster began its final desperate surge.
Sin Gung, as if he’d been waiting for exactly this instant, nocked a black arrow, drew the bowstring with such force the bow itself bent, and released.
Thump!
The black arrow struck.
The Death Sentence arrow I’d crafted found its mark in the boss monster’s exposed vital point.
……Crack!
The boss monster fell.
Even though its health had been low, as a boss monster its remaining numbers were still substantial.
Yet it had been felled in a single strike.
There was only one explanation.
‘Instant Death.’
The ability of the arrow I’d made—the Death Sentence.
[ Instant Death Lv 5 ]
That was the effect.
The moment the boss monster fell.
— ?!?!?!?!?!?!
— No way
— One-shot the boss monster?
— How is that even possible ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
— A ranger with that kind of damage output? That’s broken as hell
— I want to play archer too! I want to play archer too! I want to play archer too!
— Mom, my dream is to become Sin Gung! Mom, my dream is to become Sin Gung! Mom, my dream is to become Sin Gung!
— Wait, how did he do that?
— Instant Death.
— Instant Death?
— Yeah, Instant Death effect.
— Wait, Instant Death works on a boss monster that size? Wouldn’t that require an incredibly high level?
— Yeah, it’s high. At least Instant Death Lv 4. Probably Instant Death Lv 5.
— Where would you even find an item like that ㅋㅋㅋ
— Didn’t you hear that the arrows we saw earlier were Steel Hammer’s commission work? That one’s probably a Steel Hammer creation too.
— Seriously, Steel Hammer made that too?
— Blessed Steel Hammer;
— For real, blessed Steel Hammer ㅋㅋㅋ
— Wow, one blacksmith is literally changing the game for Awakeners
— Sin Gung’s rise to fame ㅋㅋ
The viewers erupted in cheers.
How could they not.
The archer’s weakness had always been limited damage output in exchange for free-range attacks.
But Sin Gung showed no such weakness now.
I could tell from the expression on Sin Gung’s face as he approached the fallen boss monster and recovered the Death Sentence arrow, basking in his teammates’ applause.
And.
Watching him like that, I felt a swell of pride myself.
After all, it was I who had crafted that arrow.
And one more thing.
[Hello. This is Gung Si Hyun.]
Another commission note from Sin Gung had arrived.
Looking it over, it seemed he wanted me to make not just arrows, but also an accessory like the Yeom Je Brooch.
“They say human greed knows no bounds—and here’s the proof.”
He hadn’t specified a level, just asked me to attach the High Speed Arrow ability.
Unlike his first commission, where he’d asked if I could manage to add the Instant Death ability as well—
this time his requests were far more extensive.
He wanted arrows and accessories laden with all sorts of rare abilities, and he’d even specified high levels.
Still, with the commission fee being generous, I’d take it if it was feasible.
“What even is this ability?”
Most of the abilities he’d listed were ones I’d never seen before, despite having crafted items with various abilities from countless materials.
I could manage it using the Guidance Function, I suppose.
But I had no confidence in creating something this complex perfectly from scratch.
It seemed a bit beyond my current level, so I decided to ignore Sin Gung’s commission for now.
“Well then, shall we start the afternoon work?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Hehehehe!”
“Grom’s got a full belly and a full heart!”
We’d eaten, so I got straight to the afternoon work.
Thanks to my three assistants, materials were piling up at an incredible rate.
[Using Crafting Skill.]
All I had to do was craft items.
And what’s more—
[Level has increased.]
My level had risen again.
I wasn’t even hunting myself, yet my leveling speed was faster than the promising prospects being raised by the Large Guilds.
Having reached level twelve, I immediately crafted level twelve equipment and posted it to the Trading Post.
– Steel Hammer’s level 12 gear just dropped!!!!!!
– Wow, already? ㄷㄷ
– What’s the standard here?
– Steel Hammer’s level, obviously?
– No way lol even the big-shot prospects from the Large Guilds don’t level this fast.
– Couldn’t they with dedicated support?
– Nah impossible. Even with dedicated support, when you factor in the time Steel Hammer spends crafting and posting items, there’d barely be time to hunt.
– Yeah, that’s true.
– Honestly, considering the speed and volume he’s posting at, he doesn’t seem focused on hunting at all.
– Is it skill proficiency or something?
– But isn’t that weird too? Skill proficiency rising that fast?
– Yeah, seriously.
– No other blacksmiths around so we can’t really tell lol
The Awakener community reacted immediately.
People’s amazed responses were quite entertaining, so while browsing the community, I continued crafting items diligently.
“Kid!”
I heard Toran’s voice.
Toran had been mining at the Mine and stopping by the Blacksmith Shop periodically to drop off Iron Ore.
But this time, his usual rhythm seemed off.
Sure enough, Toran hadn’t brought any Iron Ore this time.
Seeing him like that, unease crept over me.
It was the same feeling I’d had when Serin came rushing in after spotting the Giant Bear.
And as expected—
“We finally broke through to the upper passage!”
“Oh, congratulations!”
“But now that we’re trying to head deeper, we’ve hit a problem.”
“A problem?”
“A Golem’s blocking the way.”
My suspicion had proven correct.
Just as we’d had to defeat the Boss Monster, the Giant Bear, to expand the Beginner Hunting Ground—
now a Boss Monster had appeared before we could expand the Mine.
There was only one thing left to do.
“Emergency assembly.”
Whoosh!
Through the emergency summons, I called all the assistants together.
“A Golem has appeared at the end of the Mine. I think we need to help them.”
We would bring down the Golem together.
Recalling the Giant Bear, the Mine’s Golem would surely be formidable as well, so I was trying to make careful preparations and reorganize our approach.
“Reorganize? Is there any need for that? If we all go together, that’s more than enough!”
“Are you really sure?”
“I’m telling you it’s enough! Just trust me, hoo-ha-ha!”
Toran broke into a broad grin, waving his hand dismissively.
A completely different air from when Serin had mentioned the Giant Bear.
His manner was remarkably composed and confident.
Even so, not wanting to leave anything to chance, I armed myself thoroughly and followed Toran deeper in.
“It’s incredibly deep.”
“You have no idea how hard I’ve been working! This is the least it should be. Hoo-ha!”
The Mine was quite deep indeed.
He had done more than just extract ore—the passages were carefully maintained so they wouldn’t collapse.
It made sense now that Toran had been coming and going from the forest all this time before Grom was summoned.
He must have been hauling timber to erect support beams and keep the Mine from caving in.
What was stranger still was the light.
The Mine should have been completely shut off from daylight.
Yet the interior, while not bright, was suffused with a gentle glow that made the surroundings clearly visible.
Admiring this as I followed Toran deeper, I heard it.
Thud.
Then it came into view.
A cavern far wider than any passage we’d traversed so far.
Not something Toran had dug—it seemed to have been here from the beginning, and in its center.
“Grrrrgh-.”line>
With the scraping sound of stone, a Golem made of rock.

A Stone Golem was rising to its feet.

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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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