I Became an SSS-Grade Time-Transcending Almighty Blacksmith - Chapter 65

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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 65
Chapter 65
Noum, the lone craftsman’s copycat.
The reason his epithet was “the lone craftsman’s copycat” rather than something like “the lone craftsman’s apprentice” was simple.
“So you’re saying you just copied things that the lone craftsman actually made?”
“Yes! Noum copies well! Noum couldn’t do anything too difficult. But Noum can copy most things! The lone craftsman even praised Noum!”
“What did he praise you for?”
“He said Noum helped him save time! He said thanks to Noum, he could turn down annoying requests!”
Noum possessed no creativity whatsoever.
He simply observed items others crafted and replicated them.
The problem was that even his replications weren’t perfect.
“Then I could make more wooden hammers just like the one I just made, right?”
“Noum, complex things are hard!”
That was the answer that came back.
Honestly, if a wooden hammer counted as complex, I wondered what could possibly be more difficult than that.
It didn’t seem like the real issue at all.
“Then, how about you try watching this?”
I picked up the hammer again.
[ Activating Crafting Skill. ]
I began creating a new item.
The item I crafted this time was:
[ Crafting Evaluation: S ]
[ You have obtained a Lower-Grade Short Sword. ]
[ Lower-Grade Short Sword ]
It was an ordinary Lower-Grade Short Sword.
Originally it would have been a Standard Series Short Sword, but now that I’d reached Level 20, I could craft from the Lower-Grade line going forward.
In any case, after crafting the Lower-Grade Short Sword and showing it to Noum:
“Can you do it?”
“Noum can do it!”
Noum squatted down right beside me, placed an iron chunk on the ground,
and with a sharp clang,
began swinging the hammer.
But his posture seemed strangely familiar.
Well, it made sense.
‘That’s my stance.’
Though he was kneeling on the floor to swing from a lower position,
Noum’s technique mirrored mine.
In fact, it went beyond mere similarity—it was perfectly identical.
Even the points floating above the iron chunk matched exactly what had surfaced when I crafted the Lower-Grade Short Sword,
and as Noum swung the wooden hammer exactly as I had,
“Noum finished!”
[ Lower-Grade Short Sword ]
Noum had successfully crafted a Lower-Grade Short Sword.
Checking the item information, the Grade was S.
It was perfectly identical to the one I’d made.
However, since the Lower-Grade Short Sword had been too simple, I decided to verify once more with a different item.
[ Activating Crafting Skill. ]
This time I decided to make the difficulty as high as possible within regular crafting.
The item would be an ordinary spear,
[ Please select materials. ]
but I wouldn’t be using just one material.
For the spearhead, I used Black Iron that Toran had recently been mining from Zone 2.
For the shaft, I used the Clean Wind Wood I’d worked with before.
And around that completed shaft, I wrapped Thorned Scorpion’s Shed Skin.
Then I even added ornamental decorations from leftover monster materials.
[ Crafting complete. ]
[ Crafting Evaluation: SS ]
[ You have obtained a Scorpion’s Assault Spear. ]
I had created an item.
Though I’d used various materials, truthfully it was flashy rather than substantive.
Doing it this way makes it hard to draw out the full potential of each material.
All it amounts to is a shallow touch—various low-level abilities attached to the finished item, and nothing but wasted materials.
That’s precisely why I’d made it in the first place: to confirm Noum’s ‘Imitation’ ability.
[ Crafting complete. ]
[ Crafting Evaluation: SS ]
[ Obtained ‘Scorpion’s Assault Spear’. ]
“Noum, I finished it!”
“Wow, that was fast!”
“I’m confident when it comes to copying! My teacher always praised me for it!”
Noum replicated it flawlessly.
The Crafting Evaluation, the item name, the attack power, the level of every ability—everything, perfectly.
And that’s when I understood.
Noum was.
‘Basically a mass-production factory.’
Less a blacksmith than a machine stamping out whatever blueprint I fed it.
And if I had someone like that.
‘I could just hand over all the leftover materials and have them processed into items without me having to lift a finger.’
All the mass-produced goods I’d been making until now.
Low-tier Standard Series items, furniture like Leaf Beds, and so on.
Items I was honestly tired of churning out by now, leftover scraps—I could dump it all on Noum.
And with the time I’d save, I could work on new items instead, or take on special commissions.
The more I thought about it.
“Noum……!”
“It’s Noum!”
“I love you!”
“Noum loves you too!”
Affection welled up for Noum.
I’d been a bit nervous about having a new assistant, wondering if they’d actually know blacksmithing.
This was almost too good to be true.
Only one problem, though.
“So I’d need to show you each thing at least once before you can copy it, right?”
“Yes! Noum can copy anything!”
“Good. I’ll make everything sorted by material type… and I’ll tell you the priority order too. Just ask if there’s anything you don’t understand.”
“Noum can do it!”
Noum was basically a blank slate.
I had to show them everything from start to finish with my own hands.
Even a simple iron sword—if I didn’t demonstrate it right in front of them, they couldn’t make it on their own.
Or to put it more precisely.
“You really can’t even make a basic iron sword?”
“I’m not confident about it……”
“How about you try anyway? It’s not like it matters if you fail—we can just disassemble it.”
“Let me give it a shot!”
Clang!
[ Crafting complete. ]
[ Crafting Evaluation: F ]
[ Obtained ‘Standard Iron Sword’. ]
“……”
“I told you I couldn’t do it! Wahhh!”
Without me showing them the process, even the most basic iron sword came out pathetically unfinished.
Well, it didn’t matter.
It’d been a while anyway, so it was a good chance to review everything I’d made up to now.
“All right, let me start. Noum, watch carefully.”
“Noum, focus!”
[ Using Crafting Skill. ]
I began teaching Noum to craft, based on the materials I had on hand.
Though “teaching” was really more like inputting a crafting formula—still, what I was making.
was.
[ Obtained ‘Swift Rabbit Spear’. ]
Starting with the rabbit spear, the first item I’d ever made from monster materials.
[ Obtained ‘Lower-Grade Black Iron Spear’. ]
Items crafted from Black Iron, a new material he’d only recently acquired.
So he began by creating every item that could be made from a single material.
Next came items requiring two or more materials mixed together,
or those involving rather intricate processes.
He even demonstrated the basic procedures for breaking down ore and wood into ingots and lumber—materials that could be recombined into finished goods.
After that,
“When materials overlap, you should craft Leaf Beds first. They’re in the highest demand.”
“I understand, Noum!”
“When you have leftover materials, making Arrow Bundles works best. Oh, now that you mention arrows—if Serin, Toran, or Grom ever need something, you make that your top priority.”
“Of course!”
“And also…….”
He walked through the entire priority list.
Even just this took an enormous amount of time.
Well, considering how long I’d been doing this myself,
this much time was only natural.
Rare materials like White Steel occasionally had no stock, so he couldn’t teach Noum their recipes, but that was fine.
He felt a bit apologetic to Noum, but he wanted to handle those rare materials himself for now.
He planned to teach Noum their crafting methods once inventory built up later.
He’d been worried Noum might feel slighted,
“You always do this too! Noum is used to it!”
Noum didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.
Genuinely so.
After teaching Noum every item recipe he could recall,
“Alright, Noum! Shall we get started?”
“Noum likes it!”
Clang!
He began crafting items alongside Noum.
He’d already been struggling with how quickly items were piling up in the Warehouse after giving Serin, Toran, and Grom each a Spatial Bag and even building them a Cart.
Thanks to Noum, he could now accelerate the work by twice the speed.
No—more than that.
“It’s pretty fast, isn’t it?”
“I’m confident I can keep up with you!”
Noum’s crafting speed was surpassing his own.
While Noum couldn’t create new items from scratch, his speed at mass-producing standard designs was faster than his.
Given that,
“Then shall we clear out the entire Warehouse together?”
“Noum will do his best!”
He began swinging his hammer alongside Noum with even greater fervor.
* * *
“This new recruit is adorable!”
Jang Gang-cheol and Noum.
While the two of them swung their hammers earnestly,
“Shall we get started too?”
“I’ll head out first.”
“Chirp!”
Jang Gang-cheol’s other assistants
—Serin, Toran, and Grom—each began their own work.
Serin hunted monsters, Toran mined ore, and Grom felled trees.
What was peculiar was that even when they all returned from their respective tasks,
“Still at it, eh.”
the Blacksmith Shop looked exactly the same.
How either of them could stand in one spot, swinging only a hammer for so long
—time seemed to flow differently for Jang Gang-cheol and Noum, who continued their rhythmic labor.
The only things that had changed were the materials and items laid out before them.
But then again, the other assistants were equally devoted to their own work and just as focused, weren’t they?
Watching them with satisfaction, they would go about their duties,
“Hmm?”
when they noticed something odd.
The materials in the Warehouse were decreasing.
They’d only just restocked it,
“You’re working hard at this.”
When he thought about it, it made perfect sense.
When Jang Gang-cheol had crafted items alone, he couldn’t keep up with the materials the three assistants supplied.
But now that Noum had joined them, the two of them together were working at least twice as fast.
Which meant materials were being consumed at twice the speed as well.
And yet.
“What—what is this! Why are we going through everything so fast!”
The materials were depleting far faster than he’d imagined.
The moment Jang Gang-cheol and Noum really started pushing their pace, the Warehouse’s supplies began vanishing rapidly.
Until now, even with casual breaks, the materials hadn’t run low like this.
But now wasn’t the time for casual breaks.
At this rate, the Warehouse would be picked clean.
And as a miner.
Hearing a blacksmith say “I’m out of materials” was nothing short of humiliation.
“No! I won’t let that happen!”
Clang, clang, claaaang!!
Toran jumped onto a Cart and rushed deep into the Mine, swinging his pickaxe with desperate fury.
And this burden fell on more than just him.
“The materials…”
Whisk!
The moment Serin saw the monster parts in the Warehouse running low, she bolted toward the hunting grounds.
Usually, to conserve arrows, she often hunted with her short sword.
But there was no time for frugality now.
She began firing without restraint, drawing her bowstring again and again, slaughtering every monster in sight.
“Chirp?!”
Grom was no different.
The moment he realized the wood in the Warehouse was running out.
“Chirp! Grom must earn his keep! Work harder!!”
Crack, crack, crrack!
He swung his axe with frantic urgency.
And so, the Blacksmith Shop began to glow hot with the fervor of five souls working as one.

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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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