I Became an SSS-Grade Time-Transcending Almighty Blacksmith - Chapter 82

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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 82
Episode 82
If I spotted an item I wanted, I could request it right away.
But wasn’t this a chance to personally examine items bearing extremely rare Special Abilities?
I had no intention of letting this opportunity slip away.
As a blacksmith, I needed to see those items firsthand.
[This is Kang Cheol-mangchi.]
Would it be possible for me to visit sometime?
I left word and sent the message.
The reply came back immediately.
When I asked if I could come right now, the Awakeners’ Association said they’d send a car at once.
Thanks to that, I.
“Everyone keep working. I’ll step out for a bit and be right back.”
Prepared to leave without delay.
Though.
“Master, I will accompany you.”
“It’s fine if Serin stays. If there’s danger, I can use Emergency Summons anyway.”
“There’s also the risk of an ambush before I can even cry out Emergency Summons, is there not?”
“No, the Association is sending a car, so something like that shouldn’t…….”
“‘Something like that’ implies there could still be problems, however low the odds, does it not?”
“Hmm.”
“I’ll hide in the shadows, so you needn’t count me as being there.”
Serin wouldn’t relent in her resolve.
She was determined to follow me no matter what.
“There’s no need to go that far. Come with me then.”
“Thank you, Master.”
“I’m grateful to you. That’s why you’re looking out for me.”
So I decided to go with Serin.
Then Noum wanted to come along too, but I stopped him since Toran and Grom would surely raise their hands next.
A moment later.
“It’s here.”
A car arrived in front of the house.
I headed downstairs with a light heart and opened the door, and.
“Wow…….”
An enormous vehicle came into view.
A massive sedan of considerable size.
The very kind you’d only see on television.
At first glance, it looked sturdy enough that ordinary bullets would be useless against it.
“Hello, Kang Cheol-mangchi. I’m Yun Sung-hyeok, an Awakener with the Association assigned to guide and protect you.”
“Oh, hello.”
As I stepped out and opened the door, a man in a crisp black suit opened it for me.
Thanks to that, I boarded the car comfortably, and.
“Wow…….”
Another exclamation escaped me.
The rear seat was so spacious I could stretch out and lie down.
The interior, harmonizing deep black luxury leather seats with dark wood paneling, evoked not an automobile but a high-end hotel lounge.
There was even a small refrigerator stocked with various beverages and spirits.
Of course, it was equally full of snacks and fruit to enjoy together.
“It’s all been prepared for you, Kang Cheol-mangchi, so please feel free to enjoy it.”
“Yes, I’ll gratefully accept.”
“Ha, there’s no need to be nervous. Just rest in the back, and I’ll make sure to get you there as comfortably and safely as possible.”
There wasn’t just one bodyguard.
Including the driver, there was an Awakener seated in the passenger seat.
Beyond that, escort vehicles were positioned directly ahead and behind the car I was in.
In this setup, I felt like I’d become some kind of president.
It struck me anew just how much my position as Kang Cheol-mangchi carried weight.
Vroooom.
What an excellent car it was.
Even as it pulled away, I barely felt any vibration.
Honestly, the Association isn’t that far away, but since I had permission.
‘Should I try one?’
I picked up a snack and tasted it.
Soft ganache chocolate.
Mini-sized macarons that melted on the tongue, and homemade yokan cakes made with careful attention to varied preferences.
And the flavor exceeded my expectations.
I found myself wondering if such delicacies truly existed in this world.
As I continued picking at the snacks,
“Should I offer some to Serin as well?”
“No, sir. I couldn’t possibly—”
“Come now, join me. There’s no need to hide anymore anyway.”
“…If you insist, sir.”
Then it struck me.
Serin, who had been watching from the shelter of my shadow, came to mind.
At my command, Serin emerged hesitantly and picked up a snack to taste.
“…!!”
“How is it? Delicious, isn’t it?”
“It’s delicious…!”
“Right? I should buy some of these for home. As snacks.”
“That would be wonderful!”
Her eyes widened with delight.
She seemed particularly fond of the homemade yokan.
You could tell by the way she sampled each flavor one after another.
The water was remarkably elegant in appearance.
At first glance, it looked like some high-grade artifact—something like “the crystalline essence of luminous life.”
As we finished the snacks,
“Kang Cheol-mangchi, we’ve arrived.”
Despite the escort’s vigilance,
we reached the Awakeners’ Association without incident.
Whether for my protection or another reason, we entered not through the front gate but through a rear entrance of the Association—
a hidden one, never disclosed to the public, which ensured my identity remained concealed from all eyes.
The Association Chairman had arranged this.
It spoke volumes about how much the Awakeners’ Association valued me.
Once inside the Association,
“You’ve come.”
“Chairman, it’s been a while.”
The Association Chairman had come to greet me personally.
For someone of his station, surely the days were packed.
Yet he’d descended all this way for me—I was truly grateful.
The moment I saw the Association Chairman, my eye caught on the Gray Gloves I’d repaired.
“How are the gloves treating you?”
I asked carefully.
“Perfect.”
The Association Chairman smiled broadly and removed the gloves to show me.
When I’d first seen them, his hands had been stained black and cracked as though in drought.
That was no longer the case.
Though not entirely healed,
the skin had lightened considerably and all the cracks had vanished.
Still somewhat dry-looking, but even so—how could it be better?
“It’s thanks to you.”
“I’m relieved.”
After exchanging these pleasantries,
“Let’s go down.”
I began descending with the Association Chairman.
Typically, the Association’s public floors start from the first level, and the basement itself was kept secret.
Following the hidden passage downward, I discovered the basement extended far deeper than expected.
I was curious about the place, but security was so stringent
that even the floor number wasn’t visible.
“The underground facilities are classified information of the Awakeners’ Association, so you must keep confidentiality about what you see here.”
“Of course.”
“We’re here.”
It didn’t take long to reach the target area.
We passed through several security measures along the way.
Simple password-locked devices, of course.
Security card readers that only the Association Chairman possessed, and iris recognition systems I’d only ever seen in movies.
After breaching through all of it,
“Wow…”
I’d finally arrived at the place I’d been seeking.
The Awakeners’ Association’s hidden warehouse.
An enormous quantity of items were stored there.
From the note I’d read earlier, I’d assumed only items imbued with special abilities were kept here, but that wasn’t the case.
“This is where the Association stores nearly every item it’s ever recovered. Or more precisely, where it keeps all the most valuable ones.”
A cavernous vault.
Various items filled its interior.
Weapons of every conceivable type, along with armor and ornaments.
It was hard to imagine what wasn’t here.
“Are all of these items recovered from criminal Awakeners?”
“Not entirely. There are those, but we also have belongings left behind by fallen Awakeners during combat, and items with no registered owner from Gate Break incidents. There’s quite a mix.”
Possessions of criminals, items of the deceased.
Perhaps because most of it fell into those categories,
while the items here certainly looked good, the vast majority were badly damaged.
Their durability had deteriorated significantly.
Using them as they were would be difficult.
‘I suppose it makes sense.’
I understood.
If an Awakener had fallen and left behind personal effects, it was natural the items would be damaged.
The same held true for criminal Awakeners’ belongings.
They’d struggled desperately not to be caught, and in that struggle, their items had suffered considerable harm.
Seeing all this,
“Would you like me to repair them?”
That was my first thought.
“If we just leave them like this, they’ll be difficult to use anyway. Wouldn’t it be better for someone to actually use them rather than have them gathering dust in a warehouse?”
These items were precious.
No—they were heartbreaking.
Was this feeling coming from being a blacksmith?
Still, many of these were high-grade items that would have been treasured by Awakeners in their original condition.
Seeing them locked away, collecting dust, felt genuinely painful.
To my words,
“Truth be told, I’ve wanted to ask you for exactly this.”
The Association Chairman answered honestly.
“The problem is, we lack the funds to properly compensate you. Since the Awakeners’ Association is a government agency, our financial operations aren’t particularly flexible.”
“Well, that…”
“So instead of cash, I’ll give you items from this warehouse as payment.”
I hadn’t been particularly concerned about money anyway.
But what came next was an even better proposal.
“Beyond the items we’ve already agreed on, every time you repair a certain number of items from here, you may choose any item you wish from the warehouse as compensation.”
That proposal was,
“That sounds absolutely perfect!”
truly the best offer I could have received.
The items I wanted most were those imbued with special abilities.
Such items rarely appeared on the market, no matter how much money you had.
But if I could obtain these special ability items in exchange for repairing the Association’s warehouse stock,
it was compensation far more valuable than any amount of money.
“Thank you.”
“No, I should be thanking you.”
“We can draw up a contract later. For now, let’s take a look at the items you wanted first.”
And the moment had arrived.
The Association Chairman led me to the deepest corner of the warehouse.
The warehouse itself was located beneath the Association, and we’d already had to pass through numerous security measures.
Yet to reach this place, we had to breach additional security systems at the very end of the vault.
And there,
“This is it.”
Only seven items lay before us.
Few in number compared to the scale of the warehouses we’d passed through.
Yet I could see it at a glance.
The items here belonged to an entirely different class from anything in the previous storage.
“May I take a closer look?”
“Of course.”
With the Association Chairman’s permission granted,
I began examining the items in the room as though drawn by an invisible thread.
The variety was remarkable.
Having received clearance, I proceeded methodically from the first item onward.
[ Red Fang Greatsword ]
Form: Sword
Grade: SS
Requirement: Level 90 or higher, Strength 240 or higher
Description: Forged from the massive fangs of a colossal beast known as the Red Beast, this greatsword radiates killing intent rivaling that of a Demonic Blade.
Attack Power: 510
Abilities:
Berserk of the Red Beast
, Berserk Lv 8, Ferocity Lv 6, Heavy Strike Lv 6, Weight Enhancement Lv 4
“Wow…….”
Extraordinary from the start.
Equipment requiring level 90 and above.
No, not just the level—there’s a Strength requirement attached as well.
With three stat points per level, reaching 240 means I’d have to sink almost every point from ninety levels into Strength alone just to equip it.
Fitting such demanding restrictions,
“this is no joke.”
The abilities bound to the item are equally extraordinary.
Beyond the special ability called Berserk of the Red Beast, there’s also an unfamiliar skill—Berserk—attached to it.
At level 8, no less.
This has to rank among the finest Sacred Treasures not just in Korea, but worldwide.
And the next item I examined was—
“SSS-Grade?”
A tier I’d only ever crafted once before.
An SSS-Grade item.
Moreover, an SSS-Grade item with a level 100 requirement.

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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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