I Became an SSS-Grade Time-Transcending Almighty Blacksmith - Chapter 73

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

Chapter 73
Chapter 73
Card Wizard, Do Garam.
An Awakener who had never once cracked the top 100 rankings.
Though the Four-Leaf Clover Bracelet had recently pushed him to twenty-second place, his ranking had been steadily plummeting ever since the bracelet broke in a surprise attack.
Yet he—
“Wow, he really cleared that Gate alone?”
“Without a party? Solo? Who is this guy?”
“Don’t you know? The wizard Do Garam.”
“The wizard?”
“Well, honestly, the gambler epithet suits him better. Anyway, he’s one of the rising stars these days.”
“A rising star? I thought he wasn’t even a new Awakener.”
“That’s what makes it so strange. The guy couldn’t even crack the top hundred before, but now he’s climbed all the way to twelfth place?”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Make sense or not, that’s what’s actually happening right now.”
Do Garam had become the talk of the Awakener community.
It wasn’t uncommon for talented new Awakeners to climb rapidly and make names for themselves.
But for an already-established Awakener who’d languished outside the top hundred to rise through the rankings this fast was extraordinarily rare.
“And apparently his combat style is quite entertaining?”
“What exactly makes it so special?”
“Want to see? Oh, I’ve got a recent video. It’s party footage, though—I mean, where else would videos come from if not party content?”
His rise to fame came largely from his distinctive combat style.
While flashy fighters like the Flame Emperor who wielded only fire, or the Divine Archer who rained arrows endlessly, were common knowledge among Rankers—
Do Garam, the Card Wizard, possessed a battle method entirely unlike any of them.
Looking at his footage:
– Fire.
Whoosh!
He’d draw a card painted with flames and unleash fire like the Flame Emperor.
– Arrow.
Thwick-thwick-thwick!
He’d draw a card painted with bow and arrow and fire projectiles just like the Divine Archer.
– Poison.
He’d inflict status ailments like poison or paralysis upon his foes.
At first glance, it seemed like an overpowered Job.
But it was not.
Every card he used was random. The cards’ power varied unpredictably, and since the card types themselves were also randomized, he could draw a water card before a plant-type monster—that was the Card Wizard.
And yet—
“Wow, he’s really strong though?”
“Right?”
“Is the Card Wizard really such a powerful Job? And his luck with drawing cards is insane. How can someone be that fortunate?”
Do Garam was different.
The right card appeared at the right moment before his enemies, and the cards’ power was consistently high.
F-rank cards, the lowest tier, didn’t even appear.
His average ranged from B to A.
When luck favored him, S-rank cards and higher showed up with surprising frequency.
More than that—
– Lightning. Sword.
Do Garam drew two cards at once.
– Lightning Sword.
Crack-boom!
He’d demonstrated a Fusion Technique.
Its destructive power was easily on par with a true Ranker’s.
Before long—
“Wow, he really made it to tenth place?”
“At this rate of growth, he might go even higher than tenth?”
Do Garam truly reached tenth place in the rankings.
Many believed his potential didn’t end there.
As a result—
Do Garam swiftly gained enormous popularity and was acknowledged as a confident Ranker in his own right.
And so, many reporters gathered in front of the Gate Do Garam was clearing, hoping for an interview.
The moment Do Garam finished clearing the Gate and emerged.
“Do Garam! How were you able to rise to Ranker status so quickly?”
“I heard you were outside the top hundred for quite a long time! Was there some catalyst for this sudden growth?”
“Say something, please!”
Reporters rushed forward eagerly, thrusting microphones toward Do Garam.
Rather than looking flustered, Do Garam instead.
Raised his left hand to point at the necklace, then raised his right to display the bracelet and ring.
“It’s all thanks to Kang Cheol-mangchi!”
He shouted out Kang Cheol-mangchi’s name.
And he didn’t stop there.
“Kang Cheol-mangchi! No, the godly Kang Cheol-mangchi! Long live Cheol-mangchi! C! Heol! Mangchi! Hurrah!”
He unleashed an impromptu cheer in Kang Cheol-mangchi’s honor.
The news was picked up by reporters and spread rapidly in all directions.
[ What’s with Do Garam lol ]
C! Heol! Mangchi!
[ So there really are people who do impromptu cheers like that in real life lol ]
Damn it, Godly Kang Cheol-mangchi again! I was just trying to go to bed after reading this post, but now Kang Cheol-mangchi again….
[ So why did he suddenly start praising Kang Cheol-mangchi? ]
No comment
– Didn’t you watch the video? Those accessories were made by Kang Cheol-mangchi. Thanks to them, his combat power shot up and he made Ranker
– No matter how good Kang Cheol-mangchi is, it doesn’t make sense that he lifted an Awakener from outside the top hundred to Ranker status
– That bracelet looks like he was already wearing it
– I’m not sure exactly, but it seems like that’s not it?
– The bracelet was repaired, and Kang Cheol-mangchi made the necklace and ring new, it seems
– Godly Kang Cheol-mangchi ㄷㄷ
– Kang Cheol-mangchi’s that good?
– I knew he was skilled, but is he already at that level?
– He can make Awakeners who aren’t even ranked into Rankers?
– If he can do that much with just accessories, when he starts making full equipment, he can pick someone he likes and turn them into a Ranker lol
– fr fr lol
Countless Awakeners began to react.
Of course they did.
It wasn’t as though he’d lifted an Awakener ranked around eleventh or twelfth—already with one foot in the Ranker tier—into the top ten.
He’d taken an Awakener who had originally been outside the top hundred and made them a Ranker.
The Awakeners who heard this news.
‘What if I could too?’
‘If I received equipment from Kang Cheol-mangchi….’
‘This is my chance!’
Even knowing full well the level restrictions on items Kang Cheol-mangchi could produce.
They paid no mind to it and sent him commissions blindly, or placed reservations for future work.
Even the Rankers themselves felt the pressure, and sent commissions to Kang Cheol-mangchi to defend their positions.
As the situation escalated.
[ King Maker—Kang Cheol-mangchi ]
A new epithet began to attach itself to Kang Cheol-mangchi.
* * *
“Wow, this is insane. Do you really earn this much money once you reach this ranking?”
What the client said about liquidating his entire fortune and taking out a full loan wasn’t mere exaggeration.
The repair cost for the Four-Leaf Clover Bracelet alone had been astronomical.
And on top of that, he’d paid an equally enormous additional sum to purchase the necklace and ring I’d made.
Thanks to that.
[ You have purchased a High-Grade Mana Stone. ]
[ You have purchased a High-Grade Mana Stone. ]
…………
I was able to purchase all the High-Grade Mana Stones I needed.
After that.
I proceeded as I’d been planning.
[ Blacksmith’s Hammer has reached Level 5. ]
I raised the hammer’s level.
Raising the level of other elements would be nice too.
But what I truly needed most right now was the heart of the blacksmith—the element directly involved in item creation, repair, and modification.
a hammer, after all.
Though even so, there’s still quite a bit of money left over.
“It’s daunting.”
Converting the next required amount to currency, it comes to roughly 16 billion won.
I’ve officially crossed into the territory of over 10 billion.
Thanks to Noom recently joining as a new assistant, the speed at which we earn money has doubled.
No, more than doubled, really.
And yet I still need to accumulate over 10 billion won.
On top of that.
“The next is 32 billion, and after that, 65 billion?”
The Mana Stones required next are even more daunting.
To speak in precise figures rather than approximations, the cost of the Mana Stones needed next is 16.384 billion won.
The amount needed after that is 32.768 billion won.
And even this is only possible because the Association has set fixed prices for Mana Stones.
It’s because the number of Gates has increased recently and Awakeners are growing more active, so Mana Stones are in abundance.
If the supply of Mana Stones dries up, they’ll surely become more expensive.
But what can I do about it?
I can’t exactly go out mining Mana Stones myself right now.
There’s still only one thing I can do.
[ Using Repair Skill. ]
Swing the hammer.
And.
Clang!
The effect of raising the hammer’s Level was immediate.
The difficulty of repairs had definitely decreased.
Or rather, the difficulty remained the same, but because the hammer itself had improved, it felt easier.
Well, because of that.
“So now I can handle equipment up to Level 70 without problem?”
I was able to increase the tier of items I could repair.
No, it wasn’t just Level 70 equipment.
My own Level had risen further thanks to Serin’s hunting in the meantime.
So I could repair items beyond that as well.
Of course, when it came to crafting, I was still limited to creating items at my own Level.
As I continued repairing items that way.
“Noom, how’s the crafting going?”
“Noom’s doing fine!”
“Your Level’s been rising?”
“Noom can handle matching the Level now!”
I watched Noom, who was diligently swinging a Wooden Hammer beside me.
Recently, I’d had almost no need to teach Noom new crafting techniques.
Even as uncreative as Noom was, he could manage to raise the Level requirements of his crafted goods to match his own increased Level.
And since almost no new materials were coming into the warehouse anymore.
I’d heard, in fact, that Zone 2 was nearly finished being cleared.
So of course there were no new materials appearing.
‘Then soon….’
Zone 2’s clearance was nearing completion.
A Boss Monster had appeared at the end of Zone 1.
And just as Zone 2 had opened after we defeated that Boss Monster.
When Zone 2’s clearance finished, wouldn’t another new Boss Monster appear, and Zone 3 open up?
Facing a Boss Monster would be dangerous, certainly.
But I’d need to reach Zone 3 soon and secure a new supply of materials.
While I was thinking that.
“Master.”
Serin had arrived.
Serin, who regularly cleared the hunting ground and returned, but the timing of her appearance now was different from usual.
Besides, Serin rarely spoke to me when I was working.
She hated interrupting my work.
So for her to appear sooner than usual and call out to me while I was swinging the hammer was unusual.
In that moment.
I could sense it.
“A Boss Monster?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
The Blacksmith’s Hunting Ground.
A Boss Monster marking the end of Zone 2 had appeared there.
I would have panicked before, but now I felt nothing of the sort.
If anything, I’d been waiting for this.
“Emergency assembly.”
Whoosh!
“Hm? It’s not dinner time yet, is it?”
“Chirp?”
“A Boss Monster’s appeared in the hunting ground. Could everyone lend a hand?”
“A Boss Monster, you say? It’s been ages!”
“Chirp-chirp!”
“Noom! Noom wants to come too!”
“Noom, will you be alright?”
“Noom can fight! Noom can help!”
“That’s fine then.”
I summoned all the assistants through the emergency call and headed for the hunting ground.
Once inside, I began moving toward where the Boss Monster had appeared, but—
“Why is this place so sprawling?”
“Chirp…….”
“That’s why I said you should’ve laid down a cart like the kid suggested.”
“My own legs are far swifter than any cart, sir.”
“True enough for you alone, but not now. Even the little one’s struggling.”
“Actually, I’m—”
It was far.
Of course it was—we had to reach the far end of Zone 2.
For someone as nimble as Serin, perhaps it was nothing. But Toran and Grom could only feel the distance stretch before them.
So.
“Master, if you’ll forgive me.”
“Yes? W-wait—!”
Serin suddenly scooped me up into her arms.
What people call a princess carry.
In all my years—barring infancy—I’d never been held like this.
Not only that, I’d never cradled anyone in my arms that way myself.
And here I was, losing my first princess carry to Serin of all people.
Indifferent to my protests, Serin—
Whoosh!
—tore through the hunting ground, leaving the other assistants behind.
The speed was extraordinary.
The rushing wind made it nearly impossible to keep my eyes open.
“Serin, the others won’t be able to keep up!”
“Can’t you summon them through the assembly once we arrive?”
“Ah, right—you have a point.”
And so I found myself at the far end of Zone 2 in what felt like no time at all.
Only once Serin released me from her princess carry did I—
“Is that the Boss Monster of Zone 2?”
“Yes, it is.”
—finally get a look at the newly appeared Zone 2 Boss Monster.
It was none other than—
“……Quite striking, actually.”
“It appears to be a variety of Saber-Toothed Tiger.”
True to its name, the monster bore twin fangs as long and curved as swords.

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