I Became an SSS-Grade Time-Transcending Almighty Blacksmith - Chapter 59

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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 59
Chapter 59
So it made sense that my assistants were struggling.
While we had only just reached Level 20,
our opponent had to be several times our level, at minimum.
‘What do I do.’
This was troublesome.
If the opponent was that Jeok-byeok, there was no way we could win.
An Awakener of Jeok-byeok’s caliber would be strong enough to swat away that Storm Serpent in a single blow—the one Serin and I had barely managed to bring down.
A true monster.
Perhaps even a match for a ranker.
And yet, there was a way to survive.
‘Jeok-byeok thinks Toran is Kang Cheol-mangchi right now.’
That much was obvious from what he was doing.
If Jeok-byeok had put his full strength into attacking Toran, it would have been truly dangerous.
But Jeok-byeok was holding back, trying to knock Toran out.
He thought Toran was Kang Cheol-mangchi—and meant to abduct him.
So then.
‘I need to run.’
This was the right call.
If I escaped alone, the whole problem would be solved.
Even if Toran was taken, I could summon him back with Emergency Summon.
The trouble was.
“I won’t need the others. Especially that archer—I’ll tear her to pieces myself.”
Jeok-byeok only meant to abduct Toran.
Right there beside Toran lay Grom, sprawled on the ground.
And Serin, pulling back her bowstring.
Neither of them would be let go alive.
Serin, at least, was fast enough that she might escape even if Jeok-byeok was stronger.
‘Grom.’
Grom couldn’t run.
If this were a game, even if Grom died, I could just revive him.
But this wasn’t a game.
There might be some revival function in the assistant’s lounge or summoning chamber.
But if there wasn’t… I would lose Grom here.
That couldn’t happen.
I had to find a way.
The moment that thought crossed my mind.
From above,
“Criminals causing trouble in broad daylight.”
A voice rang out.
A voice dense with overwhelming pressure.
And a voice I felt I’d heard before.
The instant I heard it,
“Hah—!”
Jeok-byeok. Jang Tae-soo.
His expression hardened, and he thrust his arms up urgently.
In the next moment, Jeok-byeok deployed a thick crimson Defensive Barrier with all his might.
Then.
A fist descended from the sky,
smashing down with a deafening boom!
It struck Jeok-byeok’s Defensive Barrier.
The shockwave that exploded outward was so violent it seemed impossible it had come from human collision alone.
Trees planted in the garden swayed violently; stones lodged in the earth were torn free and hurled through the air.
I wondered where exactly the attacker had fallen from.
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.
The sound of helicopter blades echoed from above.
‘Don’t tell me he jumped from a helicopter.’
Was that even possible?
Could that even be called human?
That said, Jeok-byeok holding his ground against an assault like that is impressive in its own right.
Well, though it looks like even Jeok-byeok is reaching his limit soon enough.
“Ugh.”
With Jeok-byeok’s groan.
Crack.
Fissures began spreading across the crimson Defensive Barrier.
Once the cracks started, they spiderwebbed outward, becoming a gaping chasm.
And unable to withstand it any longer.
Shatter!
It shattered.
Then, as expected.
“Aagh!”
Jeok-byeok was driven into the ground by the fist of the mysterious man who’d descended from the sky.
The worst criminal who, just moments before, had been pushing me and my assistants back.
Jeok-byeok, Jang Tae-soo, was covered in blood and hammered into the earth with a single blow.
The man who landed on the ground that way.
“Got some nerve on you, Jeok-byeok.”
He adjusted the Black Gloves on his thick fists as he spoke.
Though Jeok-byeok hadn’t been completely knocked out by that one strike, either.
“Ptuh. What brings the heavy-bottomed Association Chairman all the way here?”
“You know the reason better than anyone.”
“Kheh-kheh, so that really is Kang Cheol-mangchi after all.”
He spat out blood-tinged saliva as he answered.
‘The Association Chairman?’
That voice did sound familiar somehow.
A voice I’d heard more than once in Gate reports.
A face I’d seen.
It was definitely the Association Chairman.
Though standing here in person, he radiated a pressure that bore no comparison to seeing him on television.
‘The Association Chairman is that strong?’
Then again, I’d heard that the current Association Chairman was once called the greatest Awakener of his generation.
So strength was only natural.
Of course, I’d also heard that for some reason, he’d retired from active duty and taken the position of Association Chairman afterward.
“There’s nothing more to discuss with a criminal.”
No lengthy conversation followed.
The Association Chairman raised his fist instead of answering.
No matter how strong Jeok-byeok was, he’d struggle to withstand another blow from that fist.
Just as the Association Chairman was about to throw his punch.
“Kheh-kheh, getting a bit slow in your old age, are we, Association Chairman?”
Boom!!
Jeok-byeok unfurled a Defensive Barrier and retreated.
The barrier shattered instantly, but by angling it as it broke, it deflected the Association Chairman’s attack by the narrowest of margins.
In the hand of the retreating Jeok-byeok was.
“Toran!”
Toran, held fast.
Curled up tight within a crimson Defensive Barrier.
At this, the Association Chairman furrowed his brow and stomped the ground.
Like a cannon firing, the Association Chairman’s body shot forward at tremendous speed.
But beside the smiling Jeok-byeok.
“Boss!”
Jeok-byeok’s Colleague, who’d been swept away by the shockwave earlier.
A small, lean-looking man reappeared.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, sir!”
“I’m taking Kang Cheol-mangchi. Don’t expect to see us again, Association Chairman.”
Just before the Association Chairman’s fist could land.
Flash!
Jeok-byeok and his companion vanished.
It seemed the lean man possessed an ability related to Teleportation.
“Damn it.”
Had there been no information about Teleportation?
The Association Chairman, evidently caught off guard, let out a brief curse.
Then.
“Issue an immediate, intensive manhunt for Jeok-byeok. He’s abducted a Dwarf presumed to be Kang Cheol-mangchi. Even if it’s Teleportation, the range shouldn’t be that wide….”
The Association Chairman began coordinating with the Awakener Association to locate Toran.
* * *
The Chairman of the Awakener Association.
The moment the location of the reported Archer was pinpointed, he began moving.
Honestly, even for an unregistered Awakener, it wasn’t the kind of matter that called for the Chairman himself to take action.
‘A Dwarf and an Orc that appeared from nowhere. An Archer. An arrow that felled the Storm Serpent in a single strike. And… that man.’
The Chairman’s instincts were stirring.
There was something about this incident.
Feeling the urgency of it, he moved with a helicopter in tow.
“Chairman!”
“Have we arrived?”
“We have, but it looks like someone else beat us there!”
Commotion was visible at the destination.
Awakeners possessed sharper senses than ordinary people.
And so they could see.
The crimson Defensive Barrier shimmering at the destination.
“…Jeok-byeok. Jang Tae-soo.”
A criminal ranking among the highest tier of Awakened criminals.
It was unmistakably him.
The moment he recognized this.
Whoosh!
“Chairman!”
The Chairman leapt from the helicopter.
And then.
Crack!
He immediately struck Jeok-byeok with tremendous force.
Though the Chairman had retired, his former prowess hadn’t disappeared.
Under that devastating blow, Jeok-byeok was sent flying, helpless.
And yet.
‘So he really is Kang Cheol-mangchi.’
The Chairman thought.
Since Jeok-byeok had mentioned the name ‘Kang Cheol-mangchi.’
However, there was something he hadn’t anticipated.
“I’m taking Kang Cheol-mangchi with me. Let’s not see each other again, shall we, Chairman?”
Snap!
Jeok-byeok disappeared with the Dwarf presumed to be Kang Cheol-mangchi.
Who would have thought he was with a Teleportation-class Awakener?
Teleportation-class Awakeners were already extraordinarily rare among Awakeners.
He hadn’t expected such a Teleportation-class Awakener to be at his side.
Still, thinking the range of Teleportation shouldn’t be so vast, he moved urgently to issue a manhunt for Jeok-byeok.
“Uh, Chairman?”
The man beside him spoke.
A face the Chairman recognized.
When the Archer felled the Storm Serpent.
The man who appeared in one corner of the photograph.
The very man whose instinct had driven him all the way here.
“Thank you. I’m alive because of you.”
“I’ll accept your thanks another time.”
Still, since instinct wasn’t infallible, he first wanted to search for the Dwarf that Jeok-byeok had taken.
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about Toran.”
“Toran? Is that the Dwarf’s name?”
“Yes.”
“No need to worry? Isn’t he your colleague?”
“Yes, which is exactly why you don’t need to worry.”
The man was saying something strange.
His colleague had been abducted by a criminal, yet there was no need to worry?
What in the world did that mean?
“Emergency Summon.”
The moment the man muttered those words.
“Ugh!”
Thud.
A dwarf appeared right beside the man.
As if summoned while still inside the Defensive Barrier, the dwarf materialized in a curled position and crashed onto the ground on his backside.
The instant the Association Chairman saw this.
His instinct boiled to its absolute limit.
There was no concrete evidence, but his instinct was screaming like a madman.
This man was surely.
“Are you Kang Cheol-mangchi?”
The world’s first and only Blacksmith Awakener.
Kang Cheol-mangchi.
* * *
Meanwhile.
“Khehehe, this is the first time I’ve seen the Association Chairman’s face scrunch up like that.”
“You’re truly remarkable, sir! To pull out Kang Cheol-mangchi at such a moment!”
“No point wasting time on some old relic like that. Our real target was this one anyway.”
“Absolutely, sir!”
Before Jang Gang-cheol used the Emergency Summon.
Jeok-byeok had not lost his smile.
The fact that he’d pulled out Kang Cheol-mangchi, and even dealt a blow to that Association Chairman, felt utterly exhilarating.
“I’ll arrange a ship right now! We leave for Korea immediately!”
“Yes. That’s what we’ll do. But is this creature really a dwarf? Fascinating.”
“Isn’t he a real dwarf? Short, with a beard—he’s got all the hallmarks.”
All that remained now was to escape.
There was no telling what the enraged Association Chairman would do to catch them.
Still.
“With Kang Cheol-mangchi in hand, we’ll make a proper fortune, won’t we?”
“Of course, sir!”
Now that they had Kang Cheol-mangchi.
Whether China or anywhere else, doors would certainly open to them with open arms.
Though official recognition would be another matter.
Kang Cheol-mangchi would likely be sold to another nation and locked away in some hidden chamber, swinging a hammer for that country’s Awakeners for the rest of his life.
Not that Jeok-byeok cared about that.
In any case, just as he was about to move.
“…Sir?”
“What is it?”
“Where did the dwarf go?”
“Huh? Of course he’s here… wait?”
The dwarf had vanished.
The spherical prison made of the Defensive Barrier still remained.
But the dwarf inside it had disappeared.
“How is this possible!”
It made no sense.
His spherical Defensive Barrier was the ultimate prison.
A prison with not a single gap, incomparable to prison bars.
How could anything have escaped?
“Uh, sir… what do we do now?”
Things had gotten complicated.
They’d planned to sell Kang Cheol-mangchi to another nation and live the high life.
But Kang Cheol-mangchi had vanished.
Jeok-byeok’s expression twisted, but he had a fallback plan.
“We sell information about Kang Cheol-mangchi.”
“Sir?”
“Since we won’t be able to have him anyway, we might as well sell what we know and cover the boat fare.”
“Go back to…?”
“The Association Chairman’s already suspicious. There’s no way we could kidnap him again.”
“Ugh…”
“Sell the information right now. Location and details about Kang Cheol-mangchi.”
“Yes, sir! I’ll look into it immediately!”
In other words, the way to dispose of information about Kang Cheol-mangchi.
Until now, with no information about Kang Cheol-mangchi in circulation, no one had been able to move.
But once details about him spread, everything changes.
Criminals hungry for his bounty.
Dark Awakener organizations coveting his strength, foreign powers seeking leverage—
The number of those after him was beyond counting.
And so, when Jeok-byeok sold the information about Kang Cheol-mangchi,
“Is the information credible?”
“The credibility was actually somewhat unclear… but given that the Association Chairman appeared in person, it seems there’s at least some possibility to it.”
Countless eyes turned toward Kang Cheol-mangchi.
Or rather, more precisely, toward his assistant.
Toran Stonebreaker became the focus of their attention.

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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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