The Cursed Blacksmith Who Regressed - Chapter 24

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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 24

[ Enhanced Repair is activated. ]

[ Dexterity is activated. ]

[ Ultra Focus is activated. ]

He strikes the sword.

Then, just like before, the sword glowed without fail, and various colors began to appear just as they had with the Tutorial Sword.

The reason he described them as various colors was that the Wandering Knight’s sword, unlike the Tutorial Sword, had one additional option.

Specifically, the option that increased additional power by 10% when using sword-related skills.

The world called this an additional option, or additional ability, shortened to “add-op” or “add-ability.”

‘Blocks classified as add-ops mostly shine in golden color.’

Of course, the colors were further distinguished depending on the type of additional option, but usually when there was only one add-op, it was typically displayed in golden color.

And naturally, if you had a material hammer, you could separate only those parts.

Blacksmiths called this add-op harvesting, and add-op harvesting naturally required much higher Magic and Dexterity stats than regular material harvesting.

‘Of course, I have no intention of harvesting that right now.’

Choi Hyun left the white and golden blocks behind and began focusing on striking the murky-colored areas.

Then the contour-like lines began changing into a grid pattern, and the additional skill he had been waiting for activated.

[ Breakdown Repair is activated. ]

As Breakdown Repair activated, Choi Hyun’s eyes sparkled.

This was the important part.

‘Shall we begin?’

Choi Hyun immediately changed the hammer’s form and began striking the murky blocks to start the impurity removal process.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The amount of impurities removed was similar to the Tutorial Sword.

After a while, having finished the impurity removal work, Choi Hyun immediately struck the solid line to signal the end of the process.

Then the grid pattern disappeared and the entire weapon began glowing pure white.

Now there was no reason to hesitate.

Choi Hyun struck the sword vigorously.

Then the intensifying light soon reached its peak and subsequently disappeared completely.

[ Repair has been completed. ]

[ You have succeeded in the repair. ]

[ Due to the effect of Enhanced Repair, the target has been completely repaired while some options have been improved. ]

[ Due to the effect of Breakdown Repair, unnecessary parts of the target have been removed and some options have been improved. ]

Success notifications streamed down.

Choi Hyun picked up the repaired Wandering Knight’s sword and admired its appearance.

‘It’s become perfect for use.’

While the basic type was a longsword, it had been crafted to match the Wandering Knight’s size, so it was a bit large for Choi Hyun to use.

However, as the impurities were removed, the size decreased by about 25%, which adjusted it to the perfect size for Choi Hyun to use.

Choi Hyun immediately checked the sword’s information.

[ Wandering Knight’s Sword ]

– Type : Item

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

– Durability : 1,755/1,755(1,350+405)

– Attack Power : 253.5(195+58.5)

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

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

# Unnecessary elements have been removed by a skilled blacksmith, reducing its size but improving its performance.

# The improved performance will disappear if durability falls below the original level.

“Wow.”

A quiet exclamation.

He couldn’t help but be amazed.

The original Wandering Knight’s sword had 900 durability and 130 attack power.

But through Breakdown Repair, while the size decreased by 25%, the base durability and attack power increased by 50% each.

And that wasn’t all? Enhanced Repair increased the total durability and attack power by 30% each, creating an absurd monster with total durability of 1755 and attack power of 253.5.

‘Plus, since I mainly use swordsmanship, if I add the add-op effect of 10% additional power increase…’

It could truly be said that an unprecedented item limited to the Growth Tower had been born.

‘With specs like this, what level would you need to be to handle a weapon with these specs?’

Whatever the case, among level 40 longswords, it would undoubtedly be the overwhelming strongest.

‘Considering that the Perfect Sword has 260 durability and 26 attack power, well.’

About 6 times the durability, nearly 10 times the attack power difference.

How could he not switch to it?

Choi Hyun said happily while holding the sword.

“From now on, your name is Bangeom.”

If there had been just one more Wandering Knight’s sword, he could have made a much more perfect Wandering Knight’s sword through Fusion Repair.

But once you cleared a floor, you couldn’t return to it, and he definitely didn’t want to climb the Growth Tower again just for one sword.

Choi Hyun walked with light steps toward the portal connected to the 41st Floor.

[ Moving to the 41st Floor. ]

* * *

Long after Choi Hyun had finished his press interview and entered the Growth Tower.

Han Yeong-min finally made his decision.

To kill Choi Hyun.

One hundred billion.

Not just a few pennies, but a full one hundred billion.

He knew that breaking the Growth Tower’s highest record was absolutely not an easy task, but Han Yeong-min didn’t want to gamble.

Additionally, he had a premonition that Choi Hyun would really break the highest record.

‘I need to kill him before he grows bigger.’

It would be a problem whether that guy broke the highest record or not.

If he succeeded in breaking it, he would become that much stronger when he came out and become very famous, making him harder to kill, and even if he failed to break the record, the fact remained that he would have to pay one hundred billion.

That’s why he decided to kill him.

Han Yeong-min called ‘Black Sword’, one of the largest overseas dark mercenary brokerage platforms.

– This is Black Sword.

The response came in English.

Naturally, Han Yeong-min also spoke in English.

No matter how much of a scoundrel-like personality he had, that was a matter of personality, separate from ability.

Han Yeong-min was an elite among elites, competing for the position of Taeseong’s successor.

He had informed Black Sword of his identity in advance.

That way the conversation would be faster.

Han Yeong-min said.

“I want to kill a Korean hunter. His level is below 50 and his name is Choi Hyun, who recently passed the hunter exam.”

– That level would be easy.

“He’s not simply someone to underestimate. That guy has the backing of a major corporation called Daesan, and today he held a press conference announcing his challenge of the Growth Tower. Saying he would break the world’s highest record.”

– Even so, he’s just a rookie hunter below level 50. However, since you seem very anxious, we’ll introduce you to various plans and options.

Strong confidence.

Thanks to this, Han Yeong-min’s anxiety was somewhat relieved.

“I found out that for handling hunters below level 50, 1 billion would get you the highest level premium plan. Is that correct?”

– Yes, that’s correct.

“Then I’ll give you 2 billion. I’ll pay 50% as advance payment and pay the remaining balance upon success. However, if the first attempt fails, I want the advance payment returned along with absolute prevention of my identity exposure, and unlimited after-service until the existing request succeeds. No matter how many attempts it takes, when it succeeds, I’ll pay both the returned advance payment and the full balance.”

The other end of the line went quiet for a while at the exceptional conditions.

– Please wait a moment.

The representative reported urgently to their superior about this bigger case than expected.

But soon the acceptance order came down.

No matter how much they say there’s no easy money, Black Sword thought that hunters below level 50 were all pretty much the same level anyway.

Once the acceptance was confirmed, Han Yeong-min spoke in a much more relaxed voice.

“I’ll send you his current location, so please handle it as quickly and quietly as possible.”

– Leave it to us. We’ll send you the related documents soon.

After the call ended, Han Yeong-min finally sank into his chair with a relieved expression.

‘Right, no matter how much you struggle, you’re just a low-level newbie bastard.’

Han Yeong-min got up from his seat again and called a shop in Cheongdam that he frequented. It seemed like he wouldn’t be able to focus on work today anyway.

* * *

Outside the Mt. Bukhan Growth Tower.

There were still quite a lot of reporters remaining there.

It was because of Choi Hyun.

Perhaps because of this, while the number of reporters had decreased compared to the initial press conference, there were actually more people overall.

There were various YouTubers and influencers, civilians, and guild officials.

“Do you think he’ll actually pull it off?”

“Who knows.”

“But honestly, it seems like it’ll be difficult.”

“It’s not just honestly, it’s definitely going to fail. Hey, think about it logically. Choi Hyun is level 1 with a Blacksmith Class. And being twenty years old, he couldn’t have been a soldier or police officer or anything. How could a kid like that break a world record?”

“What floor was the world record again?”

“China reached the 49th Floor. Even that was just reaching it, not clearing it.”

“But it’s really strange. How did a kid like that get first place in the practical exam?”

“Maybe something like this? Turns out he was a local tough guy. Or maybe he was a nationally known fighter in high school.”

“My friend was a delinquent, but he said he’d never heard the name Choi Hyun before.”

“Maybe he’s one of those hidden strong types?”

“Actually, he was a superhero-level human weapon that the country was developing.”

“Stop talking nonsense, seriously.”

While waiting, the conversation topic was naturally about Choi Hyun.

Especially Choi Hyun’s identity.

That made sense, since to them, Choi Hyun was like a supernova that had suddenly appeared.

“But what floor do you think he’s on by now?”

“How long has it been since he went in?”

“Hasn’t it been about 12 hours now?”

“I heard that up to the 20th Floor, each floor takes about thirty minutes or so to finish, so even generously allowing 30 minutes per floor, he should have cleared around the 22nd Floor by now.”

“But isn’t that based on party standards? Choi Hyun is alone.”

“Ah, then he might not have even reached the 20th Floor yet.”

These kinds of conversations estimating the challenge time were basic, and.

“But if he breaks the world record, how much would Choi Hyun be worth?”

“The guilds would be fighting each other to recruit him, right?”

“At least Master, Hyper, and Daesan from the Big Three would definitely make moves.”

“If he just succeeds, he’d easily get a salary in the hundreds of millions.”

Talk about his future moves after the challenge and his market value when scouted by guilds was also common, and.

“But no matter how high he goes, don’t you think he’ll get stuck at the 40th Floor?”

“The Wandering Knight is legit. That bastard is fucking strong.”

“There’s no way he’d make it to the mid-boss. Even the 30th Floor seems like it would be his limit. That place spawns tons of orcs.”

“Nah, you can clear the 30th Floor if you prepare well. Just blow the shit out of them with explosives.”

“But did Choi Hyun bring explosives?”

“Don’t know?”

Stories about the Wandering Knight also came up quite often.

It was around the time when they were in full swing discussing Choi Hyun in small groups.

[ The 48th Floor has been cleared. ]

[ Player ‘Choi Hyun’ is challenging the 49th Floor. ]

Suddenly, the Growth Tower delivered news about Choi Hyun.

—————
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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