The Cursed Blacksmith Who Regressed - Chapter 26

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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 26

Choi Hyun also didn’t avoid the Gray Color Swordsman’s challenge and responded head-on.

[ Ultra Focus is activated. ]

[ Quick Footwork is activated. ]

[ Nameless Movement Technique is activated. ]

Skills are activated.

At the same time, Choi Hyun summoned and threw the Hammer of Repair just like he had done against the Wandering Knight.

Clang!

The Gray Color Swordsman calmly deflected the hammer.

Then he showed remarkable skill by blocking even Choi Hyun’s attack that came in with exquisite timing.

The guy’s sword was quite heavy.

No, it was heavier than imaginable.

It felt like being struck by a lump of metal shaped like a sword?

The heaviness beyond what he had heard made Choi Hyun unconsciously narrow his eyes.

‘When Yang Hui challenged this place, he had higher strength stats than me, more skills, and more equipment and various support items.’

He had even been carried to the 49th floor, so his condition was at its peak.

But even so, he couldn’t defeat the Gray Color Swordsman.

Yang Hui said the reason was that the Gray Color Swordsman’s swordsmanship was superior to his own.

But experiencing it firsthand, it seemed like not only was his skill high, but his physical capabilities themselves were also remarkable.

‘Of course, since Yang Hui acknowledged his skill, his swordsmanship must be quite good too.’

Still, the guy’s basic physical abilities were at a level that couldn’t be ignored.

That’s why Choi Hyun’s eyes gleamed with interest.

‘But even so, I will win!’

The reason he thought this was simple.

No matter how excellent his physical abilities were, after crossing swords directly, it wasn’t at an unmanageable level.

Also, while Yang Hui said he lost due to lack of skill, that was based on past Yang Hui’s standards, not pre-apocalypse Yang Hui’s standards.

From Choi Hyun’s perspective, having experienced everything at the end of the apocalypse, the Gray Color Swordsman and Wandering Knight were about the same level.

So Choi Hyun began to press the guy without much difficulty.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Every time both swords clashed, sparks flew through the air.

But as time passed, the one accumulating scratches on his body was, as expected, the Gray Color Swordsman, not Choi Hyun.

[ Parrying is activated. ]

Swish- Clang!!

Choi Hyun used parrying to change the guy’s sword trajectory, then immediately followed up with consecutive strikes, successfully landing effective hits.

And now he could be certain.

That he would definitely win this fight.

He had been confident not just now, but from earlier.

They say masters can gauge the difference in skill with their opponent after just a few exchanges.

In that sense, the Gray Color Swordsman was a novice by Choi Hyun’s standards.

After scratches accumulated on the Gray Color Swordsman’s body for quite a while.

[ The Gray Color Swordsman uses ‘Ultra Heavy Strike’. ]

The Gray Color Swordsman, who had never used a skill before, used one for the first time.

There was no time to dodge.

He had activated it just before their swords clashed.

And the moment Ultra Heavy Strike activated and both swords collided.

Claaaang!!

A high-pitched clashing sound. And then.

Crack!

“…!”

Choi Hyun’s eyes widened.

Because his Defense Sword had clearly cracked.

‘Damn.’

Anyone could see the crack was obvious.

Choi Hyun immediately stepped back.

He never thought his sword would crack from a single strike.

‘The Defense Sword’s specs aren’t low at all, but you’re ridiculously strong, aren’t you?’

No wonder Yang Hui lost even at full condition and fully armed.

But it’s fine.

If Choi Hyun had been an ordinary player, he would have panicked at this point, but who was Choi Hyun?

He was a blacksmith, no less.

And one who specialized in repair traits at that.

Choi Hyun immediately took out the Hammer of Repair and hammered the sword.

[ Enhanced Repair is activated. ]

[ Dexterity is activated. ]

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Choi Hyun hurriedly hammered the sword.

Given the situation, Ultra Focus didn’t activate.

Moreover, the Gray Color Swordsman wasn’t one to just stand by, so he immediately closed in on Choi Hyun and unleashed a fierce assault.

But he calmly continued to maintain distance while continuing repairs, and with his high dexterity stat, he was able to complete the repair perfectly in no time.

[ Repair is complete. ]

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

Just as he got the Defense Sword back to full condition, the guy’s sword came flying heavily once again.

Choi Hyun didn’t parry it but dodged like an out-boxer and thrust his sword into the guy’s body.

Clang!!

The sound of metal friction.

There was no sensation of piercing flesh.

It felt like carving a giant stone with a sculpting knife.

Having successfully landed an effective hit, Choi Hyun immediately checked the Defense Sword’s information.

[ Wandering Knight’s Sword ]

– Type : Item

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

– Durability : 1,704/1,755(1,350+405)

– Attack Power : 253.5(195+58.5)

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

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

# Unnecessary parts were removed by an excellent blacksmith, reducing size but improving performance.

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

What he focused on in the option information was the durability.

Choi Hyun let out a hollow laugh.

‘One hit to the body takes away 51 durability?’

He thought it was truly an absurd body.

Then, considering that roughly 50 durability is lost per strike, it means the Defense Sword would reach the end of its lifespan and break after about 35 successful attacks.

‘Then what about when swords clash?’

The guy’s sword came flying again.

Choi Hyun didn’t dodge and clashed his sword against the guy’s.

Clang!!

Metal sparks flew and Choi Hyun immediately stepped back again to check the Defense Sword’s durability.

This time 100 was lost.

‘This is insane.’

How could this make sense?

That means theoretically, if he clashed about 17 times, the lifespan of his defensive sword would be finished.

‘What’s with this?’

Soon the guy’s sword came flying at him again.

The fortunate thing was that the guy’s swordsmanship skills were far inferior to his own, so there was no chance of getting hit by a blind strike.

‘Then what about parrying?’

Choi Hyun used parrying against the incoming sword.

Whiriririk- Clang!!

After successfully parrying, he created distance again.

And when he checked the durability, he could see that about 50 durability had been shaved off.

‘Parrying is also 50?’

This was maddening.

But thanks to that, he was able to figure it out.

The best strategy against the Gray Color Swordsman was to land attacks without clashing swords as much as possible.

When even parrying drastically reduced durability, how could he dare to clash swords?

‘But it’s fine. At least for me.’

If it had been someone else, they would have definitely failed the challenge.

Since durability dropped in chunks with each sword clash, and after experiencing the super strong strike, there would be almost no weapons that could withstand it.

But Choi Hyun was fine.

Because self-repair was possible.

And if mana was provided, repairs close to infinite were possible.

And wasn’t one of Choi Hyun’s goals to set a no-hit record?

‘From now on, it’ll really be a battle of time.’

Choi Hyun charged at the guy again.

The Gray Color Swordsman’s sword came at Choi Hyun again too.

But this time, instead of dodging, he countered with a parry.

Whiriririk- Clang!!

A brief delay.

In that momentary gap, Choi Hyun thrust his sword into the desired spot.

Clang!!

The attack succeeded.

At the same time, Choi Hyun’s eyes flashed sharply and he charged at the guy once more.

And swung his sword.

The guy’s sword struck at Choi Hyun once again.

Whiriririk- Clang!!

[ Parrying is activated. ]

Another parry.

And.

Clang!!

[ Dexterity is activated. ]

[ Nameless Swordsmanship is activated. ]

[ Critical is activated. ]

The moment he succeeded in the follow-up attack, three skills activated.

At the same time, Choi Hyun’s eyes gleamed with interest.

‘As expected!’

Until now, it had felt like carving Mount Tai with a carving knife.

But as he continued attacking the same spot, a change finally occurred.

Something that might be blood or something else began to flow.

‘Whatever that is, seeing that even a critical hit appeared, it’s definitely flesh and not just shell.’

Thanks to that, he had figured out the strategy.

It seemed he needed to attack the same spot at least twice to expose the flesh, so he planned to continue with the same approach.

Soon the guy’s attack came in once more.

Choi Hyun raised his sword, pretending to parry the guy’s attack, then immediately stepped back. At that moment.

[ Gray Color Swordsman uses ‘Super Strong Strike’. ]

The guy used the super strong strike again at an exquisite timing.

‘I knew it.’

The corners of Choi Hyun’s mouth rose.

At the same time, he felt it from the previous attack.

That the guy who had started bleeding was feeling impatient.

The guy was taciturn like the Wandering Knight, but being taciturn didn’t mean he could hide his impatient heart.

Choi Hyun immediately created distance and took out his repair hammer to tap the defensive sword.

[ Enhanced Repair is activated. ]

[ Dexterity is activated. ]

As soon as the repair skill activated, the guy immediately followed up.

This time too, he couldn’t use Super Focus.

Probably using Super Focus would be out of the question until the guy died.

That was fine.

What mattered was the repair itself, not the Super Focus.

So he didn’t finish the repair perfectly and just roughly tapped before stopping.

Perfect repair wasn’t necessary.

The point was that the sword shouldn’t break.

So he could just tap it little by little whenever needed.

‘This is why skills are convenient.’

If he had to examine the sword meticulously and hammer it like real blacksmiths, it would have been a real headache.

But he was a Player.

Skills and mana corrected everything.

Choi Hyun raised his sword again and charged at the guy.

Then, as expected, the guy’s sword came flying and Choi Hyun boldly parried the guy’s attack.

There was no super strong strike.

It seemed the guy couldn’t use it consecutively either.

‘That would be too overpowered!’

Whiriririk- Clang!!

[ Dexterity is activated. ]

[ Nameless Swordsmanship is activated. ]

[ Critical is activated. ]

Three skill notifications appeared once again.

This happened when he attacked the same spot he had attacked before.

Choi Hyun, sensing victory, had his lips curl up smugly.

‘Alright, let’s go one more time!’

Choi Hyun’s body charged toward the Gray Color Swordsman again.

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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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