The Cursed Blacksmith Who Regressed - Chapter 111

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 111

A white portal.

This meant it was a random gate that didn’t reveal its theme in advance.

Red was annihilation battle, Blue was defense battle, Green was survival battle, so one of these themes would be randomly assigned.

An U-ju smiled.

“Wow, it’s been so long since I’ve seen a random gate.”

“Will it be okay? This doesn’t seem like something to smile about.”

Unlike the cheerful An U-ju, Kim Ha-geom expressed concern for the first time.

Because random gates weren’t just random in theme – they were usually quite difficult too.

However, An U-ju still had no worries.

“So what. The President is here. Right, President?”

“Don’t trust me too much. This is my first time with a random gate too.”

“What if the President says he’s weak?”

“Ah, that won’t do. Just trust me.”

“Yay.”

Then Jin Hyeon-geun approached and asked.

“President, it’s a random gate – will you be alright?”

“I’ll be fine. We’ll manage somehow. I’ll contact you when the raid is over, so don’t wait in the car – rest in a nearby area. If there’s no contact after 7 PM, book a separate accommodation.”

“Still, it’s the first time seeing this type of gate – is it okay for me to leave my post carelessly?”

Ah, I see.

I had naturally given him orders to rest like usual.

But actually, there wasn’t much to worry about.

After thinking for a moment, I just told him to do that.

“It’ll be fine. Just rest. It’s not a completely unfamiliar gate – it’s an extension of gates we’ve already experienced.”

“Understood. Then I’ll take some photos first.”

We naturally had a photo session.

After that, all preparations were complete and we formed a party.

[ Party is being created. ]

[ Party leader is Choi Hyun. ]

“Well then, we’ll be going.”

After greeting, we stepped on the gate line.

Then all the squad members disappeared in an instant.

After the squad members disappeared, Jin Hyeon-geun filmed the empty gate entrance, then got in his car and began moving to a nearby area.

* * *

[ Entering Gate, ‘The Next Story of the Patten Family’. ]

[ The mission will begin when you shout ‘Start’. ]

[ Invader is activated. ]

My vision completely changed.

System notifications appeared and Invader was activated.

The first thing I saw in the changed vision was an inn.

In medieval European fantasy, an inn was like a tavern in Joseon.

A place where scholars, travelers, tourists, monks – everyone gathered to rest.

Among them, the 1st floor of the inn usually operated as both lobby and restaurant.

The 1st Squad members had taken one of the tables and were sitting in clothes that medieval European mercenaries might wear, each with a wooden cup in front of them.

An U-ju admired the changed outfit.

“Oh, isn’t this that chest leather armor? The kind fantasy archers used to wear?”

“It seems like it.”

I answered while looking around.

A bustling, noisy atmosphere.

Before starting the mission, I needed to gather as much information as possible based on what was currently visible.

Normally, that is.

But Choi Hyun didn’t want to do that.

No matter how much it was a linked quest with a random gate, it was still something from the era before the 2nd Great Cataclysm.

That meant there wasn’t much need to worry about it.

‘Even though they say a tiger gives its all when hunting a rabbit…’

Having experience and giving my all in a linked gate from the 1st Great Cataclysm era felt like a national soccer team player going all out at a local soccer club.

But I decided to put aside such thoughts.

Because I remembered my old colleagues who had sent me here.

What feelings did they have when they sent me?

So I decided to get up and move.

Choi Hyun stood up from his seat and said.

“I’ll go gather some information before we start.”

“Huh? Is it okay to just get up and walk around like this?”

“Yes, it’s fine. If there was nothing around, maybe not, but when NPCs are obviously placed here for us to get information from, we should gladly use them.”

People called the people inside gates NPCs.

It was closer to slang than an official term, but it was used so much that it eventually became like an official term.

Getting up from his seat, Choi Hyun took his cup and headed to a table where men were chatting noisily nearby.

Then he naturally sat in an empty seat.

The reason for specifically sitting here?

It wasn’t because it was close.

Looking around, I found one common feature among all the people sitting at nearby tables.

It was symbols embedded in various ways.

A symbol reminiscent of a soaring hawk.

And Choi Hyun had seen this before.

From the mercenaries in the previous gate.

‘And that’s embedded in my leather armor too. So this is the symbol of the Hawk Mercenary Corps that I role-played before.’

Whether before or now, it seemed our assigned role this time was also mercenaries of the Hawk Mercenary Corps.

As I sat down, a half-drunk curly-haired man greeted Choi Hyun familiarly.

“Oh, Choi Hyun’s here. Hey man, how do you always do so well?”

The name was being used as is too.

Choi Hyun answered smoothly.

“What do you mean I do well. I’m just the same as always.”

“Don’t be modest. Don’t you know modesty is useless in this business?”

“That depends on the person. But why did you drink so much?”

“I drank to eat and sleep, why! If you’re not buying, mind your own business~?”

As the curly-haired man laughed “puhehe,” the baldy across from him said.

“By the way, Choi Hyun, did you hear about that?”

Baldy spoke with a mysterious tone.

Interest flickered in Choi Hyun’s eyes.

I got a bite.

Because important information usually came out at times like this.

I answered smoothly.

“Hear what?”

“I heard there’s something unusual among the requests that came in this time?”

“What is it?”

“Huh, the captain hasn’t told you yet even though you’re a core fighter? This is just a rumor, but according to an office staff member, there’s supposedly a request from the Preuzan Ruler among the current cases.”

“Pruzan? You mean Pruzan as in the opponent from the territorial war we participated in on the Patten Family’s side?”

“Yeah, it’s a story from over ten years ago, but that territorial war where you went alone, massacred the family, and eventually took the Lord’s head after bringing back the Lady and son’s heads.”

He remembers it in such detail.

But ten years ago, huh.

So that’s how the time setting works.

Choi Hyun calculated in his head and asked.

“But something seems a bit strange?”

“What is?”

“What we did back then was a territorial war. Didn’t the Patten Family take over Pruzan territory? I killed the lord and his family members back then. So technically, wasn’t this a request from the Patten Family?”

Baldy downed the remaining alcohol in his glass, slammed it down with a thud, and spoke as if adding commentary.

“That’s exactly why it’s so unusual.”

“What do you mean? Explain it so I can understand.”

“Remember that Knight Commander you let live back then? The one who gave the retreat order.”

“I remember.”

“That guy became Pruzan’s new lord.”

“Huh?”

His brow furrowed.

What kind of story is this now?

“Does that make sense? Patten acknowledged that?”

“They had no choice but to acknowledge it. Because that commander was the lord’s only brother.”

“What?”

“Walter Pruzan. That was the commander’s name. So according to noble law, he became Pruzan’s new lord in his place. Oh, of course they paid all the compensation for the territorial war. It was originally a fight between young masters that escalated to an adult conflict anyway.”

A hollow laugh escaped.

He thought he had eliminated all related family members, but who would have thought the Knight Commander was his younger brother.

‘I definitely asked the servants and their families about the son and wife’s location, but I didn’t ask if there were other family members in the territory.’

He had to admit his work wasn’t thorough enough.

Baldy continued speaking.

“From what I hear, Pruzan’s new lord became a vengeful spirit after that incident. He’s been preparing for a long time, determined to somehow repay that day’s humiliation, and finally he’s about to raise the curtain on that revenge.”

“But if he wants revenge, shouldn’t he target me first, since I killed his brother and family?”

“That’s what’s funny about it. From what I hear, that gentleman surprisingly separates public and private matters. We’re mercenaries who only committed the crime of working for money, so if anyone should be held accountable, it should be the Patten Family.”

“Really?”

It was fascinating.

To think he would separate and think about it that way.

Baldy spoke in a subtle tone.

“So, will you do it? It’s not officially accepted yet, but apparently the lord offered an enormous amount as compensation.”

“So if we do it, this time we’d have to fight against the Patten Family?”

“That’s right. Like last time, the Pruzan side will probably go on the attack. But if that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to just put in an assassination request to you? With your skills, assassinating the Patten lord would be a piece of cake, right? Kek!”

Baldy made a throat-slitting gesture.

It wasn’t wrong, but it also wasn’t exactly easy either.

‘Back then it worked because of the special circumstances of being at war, but now…’

Having learned from what they saw back then, both sides would be paying tremendous attention to guarding their lord’s castles.

“Anyway, think about it. I personally hope you’ll take the request. We’ve all only been getting boring requests lately, haven’t we?”

At that moment, starting from Baldy, the entire world except for the squad members turned gray and time stopped.

“Huh?”

“Hmm?”

“Time stop?”

The squad members also stood up from their seats in confusion and looked at Choi Hyun.

Then a System notification appeared before everyone’s eyes.

[ All necessary information has been collected. ]

[ Proceeding to the next sequence. ]

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