The Cursed Blacksmith Who Regressed - Chapter 23

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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 23

[ Moving to the 40th Floor. ]

[ You have entered the 40th Floor. ]

Finally, the 40th Floor.

There were two major achievements Choi Hyun had accomplished while reaching the 40th Floor.

Namely, ‘No Hit’ and ‘Fastest Clear Time’.

‘In the case of fastest clear time, it wasn’t specifically indicated by the System, but at least as far as I remember, my current record should be the fastest.’

Choi Hyun wanted to maintain this momentum and keep this record until the end.

However, he was slightly worried about the 40th Floor that was about to begin.

[ Beginning the 40th Floor challenge. ]

System notification.

At the same time, a silhouette appeared before his eyes.

Its outline gradually gained detail, and soon a knight appeared, his entire body encased in armor including a helmet.

– Wandering Knight Lv.40

Wandering Knight.

That guy, commonly called the Wandering Knight, was the gatekeeper of this 40th Floor.

He was an impressive fellow with a helmet that covered his entire face, and soon made a clanging sound as he stylishly drew the sword at his waist.

Intense fighting spirit could be felt.

In response, Choi Hyun also drew his complete sword and took his stance.

‘He’s not officially designated as a mid-boss, but he’s called a mid-boss because his combat power is too strong.’

Almost all Players taste defeat here.

That’s how exceptionally skilled the Wandering Knight’s swordsmanship was.

Of course, he was confident he could win.

No matter how much of a Wandering Knight or mid-boss he was, compared to the ones he’d seen at the end of destruction, this was just child’s play.

Soon, the Wandering Knight charged toward Choi Hyun first.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

Heavy footsteps.

Choi Hyun also ran straight toward him.

He couldn’t dodge at times like this.

Rather, closing the distance together and giving him timing to swing his sword was more dangerous.

‘I need to seize the initiative in timing.’

[ Hyper Focus activates. ]

[ Nimble Footwork activates. ]

[ Nameless Movement Technique activates. ]

Swoosh!

As he began running, movement-related skills instantly gave him acceleration.

And a few seconds before collision, Choi Hyun threw his hammer at the Wandering Knight.

The hammer, thrown like an axe, aimed precisely at the Wandering Knight’s torso.

The Wandering Knight immediately swung his sword to deflect it.

That’s fine.

It was intentional.

Choi Hyun entered at the timing when his sword was swung and thrust his sword toward the back of his neck.

Squelch!

A hit!

It was a successful strike.

[ Nameless Swordsmanship activates. ]

[ First Strike activates. ]

[ Critical activates. ]

Skill notifications indicating appropriate activation followed, and Choi Hyun, having succeeded in his first strike, immediately retreated to create distance.

Whoosh!

He swung his sword.

Though Choi Hyun wasn’t in front of him, it was a sword swing made instead of an angry shout.

One of the Wandering Knight’s characteristics was that he absolutely never uttered a sound.

Even with blades piercing his entire body, arrows hitting him, his heart being pierced, even being poisoned or his whole body catching fire, he remained silent.

The reason was unknown.

‘Seeing that holy attribute doesn’t deal additional damage, he doesn’t seem to be undead.’

Well, it didn’t matter anyway.

His identity wasn’t particularly important.

Having successfully landed a big hit, Choi Hyun raised the corners of his mouth.

Now that he’d landed the first strike, all that remained was to slowly toy with him until death.

Soon he began closing the distance again, and Choi Hyun ran toward him once more.

Then this time, he summoned a material hammer and threw it at him.

Whoosh!

He twisted his body to dodge.

It was an evasive maneuver showing his will not to fall for the same trick. However.

Stab!

Choi Hyun succeeded in landing another effective hit.

As soon as he performed his evasive maneuver, Choi Hyun entered his blind spot and thrust his sword into the gap between his neck armor.

[ Back Attack activates. ]

[ Critical activates. ]

Choi Hyun smiled as he drove in his sword.

‘You should have been more careful of your back.’

Choi Hyun created distance again, and the Wandering Knight expressed his anger by swinging his sword greatly.

Then red heat haze rose from his body.

[ Wandering Knight uses ‘Vow of Rage’. ]

Vow of Rage.

One of the few skills the Wandering Knight possessed, it was a buff skill that increased overall stats when used.

‘The appearance of Vow of Rage means we’ve entered the second phase.’

The summit wasn’t far now.

Vow of Rage only appeared when health dropped below 30%.

‘But for Vow of Rage to appear after just two hits means his health is lower than I thought?’

It was a misunderstanding.

The Wandering Knight’s health wasn’t low.

Choi Hyun was strong.

He had to be.

They were attacks mixed with various skills, precisely targeting vital points.

Moreover, while Choi Hyun’s level was 20, the synergy of his stats was definitely not that of a level 20.

Physical prowess more than sufficient to shave off this much health with just two hits.

The Wandering Knight, having entered the second phase, quickly closed the distance with Choi Hyun.

Whoosh!

A heavy sword came flying.

Choi Hyun didn’t dodge but watched it calmly before swinging his sword as well.

Swish- Clang!!

[ Parrying activates. ]

This time he used parrying.

The sword deflected elsewhere, creating an opening, and Choi Hyun knocked him down with a front kick.

Choi Hyun immediately rushed in, stepped on the wrist of the hand holding the sword, then gripped his sword in reverse and pierced through his hand.

Crunch!

A gruesome sound rang out.

But the Wandering Knight remained silent as always.

However, despite the silence and the pain it felt, the creature eventually had no choice but to let go of its grip, and as soon as the sword fell from its grasp, Choi Hyun kicked the sword away to push it far into the distance.

The panicked Wandering Knight immediately struck out with its opposite hand, attacking Choi Hyun with a punch.

But Choi Hyun had already moved away from his position and picked up the creature’s sword.

A heavy feeling.

Though it was larger compared to the tutorial sword, it was still quite a good sword.

The Wandering Knight got back up and rushed at Choi Hyun like a madman who had lost something precious.

Choi Hyun took his stance.

Then he swung the Wandering Knight’s sword that he had taken in a wide arc toward the charging Wandering Knight.

Kwaddeuddeuk!!

The swung sword dug diagonally into the creature, starting from its shoulder.

At the same time, starting with the damage pouring into the shoulder where it had dug in, the Wandering Knight’s body collapsed downward, and it ultimately had no choice but to meet its end while kneeling.

[ You have defeated the Wandering Knight. ]

[ You have cleared the 40th Floor. ]

[ The door to the 41st Floor has opened. ]

[ You have leveled up. ]

[ You have gained 1 bonus stat point. ]

[ Heavenly Martial Body is activated. ]

[ Strength, Stamina, Mana, and Sense stats increase by 1 each. ]

Notifications appeared.

He had gained one level and the door leading to the 41st Floor had opened.

At the same time, the creature’s corpse disappeared along with black smoke.

But there was one thing that didn’t disappear.

It was the sword the creature had been using.

‘So it was true that you could obtain it as loot if you took away the sword.’

It was one of the things he had been curious about, and now his curiosity was satisfied.

Choi Hyun checked the information of the creature’s sword that he had obtained as loot.

[ Wandering Knight’s Sword ]

– Type: Item

– Restriction: Level 40 or higher. *However, all usage restrictions are removed within the Growth Tower.

– Durability: 878/900

– Attack Power: 130

– Option: When using sword-related skills, additional power increases by 10%.

# The sword used by the Wandering Knight, the Gatekeeper of the 40th Floor of the Growth Tower.

Choi Hyun smiled after seeing the Item Information.

The sword’s specs were exactly what a level 40 monster could have.

‘The average specs for ordinary weapons, based on additional specs per level, are around 10 for durability, 2 for attack power, and 2 for defense.’

Of course, by that logic, the Wandering Knight’s sword should have 400 durability and 80 attack power, and the tutorial sword, being supplied at level 1, should have 10 durability and 2 attack power.

But the tutorial sword’s basic specs were 100 durability and 10 attack power.

That’s because there was another formula besides the proportional specs per level.

It represented the basic specs by level range – for example, level 1 range had basic attack power of 10 and durability of 100 as the item’s base specs, level 10 range had basic attack power of 20 and durability of 200, and level 20 range had basic attack power of 30 and durability of 300 as base specs.

‘So if you calculate the base specs plus additional specs per level, the level 40 Wandering Knight’s sword would have base specs of 50 attack power and 500 durability, and adding the additional specs of 80 attack power and 400 durability gives a total of 130 attack power and 900 durability.’

Of course, if you went into more detail, the composition would be somewhat different, but for swords, they were based on medium swords, commonly called longswords.

So the sword used by the level 40 Wandering Knight was essentially average specs that were very faithful to the basics among level 40 range medium swords.

Therefore, Choi Hyun naturally prepared to part ways with the Perfect Sword.

‘Perfect Sword, it’s been fun.’

Normally, he wouldn’t be able to use the Wandering Knight’s sword due to the level 40 usage restriction, but within the Growth Tower, usage restrictions were lifted so he could use it.

Choi Hyun put the Perfect Sword into his inventory and took out the Repair Hammer.

No matter how close to perfect the sword had become through Fusion Repair, it was still just a tutorial sword at that level.

It was obvious that a level 40 sword would naturally be better than a level 1 weapon, even with just basic specs.

Having finished his preparations, Choi Hyun immediately began hammering the Wandering Knight’s sword.

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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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