The Cursed Blacksmith Who Regressed - Chapter 43

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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 43

 

First, disassembly.

 

He disassembled the Daesan Medium Armor 30 almost to the point of complete dismantling.

 

Then all the materials except the core component were cleanly disassembled and neatly stacked.

 

“What the hell is this…?”

 

Lee Yeong-han was shocked.

 

But he soon closed his mouth.

 

He was overwhelmed by Choi Hyun’s focused appearance.

 

Choi Hyun then reached for the materials he had brought on the cart.

 

Next, he switched to a material hammer.

 

He placed pieces of the Daesan Medium Armor 30 below.

 

And placed the ordered materials on top.

 

Clang!

 

[ Enhanced Processing is activated. ]

 

Processing was activated.

 

Choi Hyun silently began combining the materials.

 

If he had a crafting skill, he wouldn’t have had to go through this troublesome process and could have used materials directly.

 

But Choi Hyun had no crafting skill and could only improve items by utilizing repair and processing skills.

 

The core replacement work continued for quite a while.

 

Lee Yeong-han and Park Hyeon-mu watched the scene in silence.

 

Park Hyeon-mu watched with wonder, while Lee Yeong-han stared blankly with his mouth half open.

 

What is that?

 

He could tell the first thing was disassembly repair, but what was he doing after that?

 

It was mysterious.

 

Since he knew better than anyone that what the guy was doing wasn’t crafting, it was all the more fascinating.

 

After the replacement work continued for a while, all the work was finally finished.

 

“Phew.”

 

He raised his lowered head and loosened his neck muscles.

 

Then he checked the medium armor’s information again.

 

[ Daesan Medium Armor 30 ]

 

– Type: Item

 

– Restriction: Level 30 or higher

 

– Durability: 1,470/1,470(1,050+420)

 

– Defense: 210/210(150+60)

 

– Options: None

 

# Medium armor upper body piece made by Daesan Guild.

 

# Reborn by an excellent blacksmith, all performance has been greatly improved.

 

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

 

“Mm.”

 

A satisfied smile.

 

Yes, this is exactly the standard for mass-produced medium armor suitable for level 30.

 

Average specs: 700 durability and 100 defense.

 

Daesan Medium Armor: 850 durability and 120 defense.

 

So compared to anything, tremendous changes had been made.

 

Moreover, with the enhancement effect providing a 40% temporary spec boost and the weight reduced by half, there probably wasn’t any level 30 medium armor circulating in the market that could beat this.

 

Choi Hyun reverse-summoned his hammer and gestured.

 

“Please check it once.”

 

Lee Yeong-han hurriedly examined the new medium armor, which had a mysteriously different appearance from the start.

 

Then he blinked his eyes, rubbed them, and checked once more.

 

A dream?

 

An illusion?

 

Did he see wrong?

 

None of the above.

 

It wasn’t a dream, not an illusion, and he hadn’t seen wrong.

 

Everything was perfectly fine.

 

Therefore.

 

“Wh-wh-wh-what?!”

 

An exclamation mixed with admiration burst out only after several seconds.

 

“H-how is this? N-no, how exactly? No, wow…”

 

The man had broken down.

 

From too much shock.

 

Park Hyeon-mu was also surprised by Lee Yeong-han’s uncharacteristic reaction.

 

“Executive Director, what’s wrong?”

 

“No, this is… wow… no…”

 

Lee Yeong-han was still broken.

 

Choi Hyun said with a smile.

 

“How is it? Do you like it?”

 

“Wh-what exactly are you?”

 

Formal speech popped out.

 

Right.

 

That was the normal reaction.

 

Among the Players who had seen Choi Hyun’s skills, there wasn’t a single person who didn’t respect him.

 

Choi Hyun said.

 

“Didn’t I introduce myself?”

 

“N-no, that’s not what I’m asking right now. Seeing you summon a hammer, I can tell for sure you’re a blacksmith, but… didn’t you say you haven’t been a Hunter for long? But how can you use skills of this level…?”

 

“You’re asking how I can use them? I raised my level a bit through attributes. For reference, though I haven’t announced it to the world yet, my current repair skill is level 7.”

 

“L-level 7?!”

 

“Yes, it’s called Extended Repair. As far as I know, the current official highest repair skill level is 6. And I’m at 7.”

 

“Good heavens…”

 

“For reference, my Player level is 30, gathering skill is level 5, and processing skill is level 4.”

 

“?!”

 

Adults like to speak in numbers.

 

Of course, this might be limited to Koreans, but anyway, since nothing was as certain as speaking in numbers, he deliberately told him in figures.

 

Thanks to that, Lee Yeong-han’s expression changed moment by moment.

 

Choi Hyun crossed his arms and watched him for a while, then slowly spoke.

 

“You’ve worked hard all this time.”

 

“…Pardon?”

 

“Daesan Medium Armor 30. Not just that, but I’ve seen all the other items you designed too. I could see traces of earnest consideration in all of them. How to make them higher than average specs, how to reduce unit costs. You must have had a very difficult time. After all, the path we blacksmiths walk is somewhat different from the blacksmiths before the Great Upheaval era.”

 

It was exactly as he said.

 

The blacksmiths of that time and current blacksmiths had fundamentally different natures.

 

If the blacksmiths of that time were those who refined iron and technique in fire, current blacksmiths were closer to game characters.

 

Rather than special techniques, they had to hammer with mana, receive System corrections, and prioritize material combinations over paying attention to fine details.

 

But that didn’t mean current blacksmiths didn’t have it hard.

 

Current blacksmiths also needed effort and intuition, and since there were no reference materials anywhere, they had to go through the trouble of bringing all materials and combining them one by one like headbutting bare ground.

 

Therefore, Lee Yeong-han must have been sensitive.

 

He was handling almost all of these processes alone, plus managing the site and training employees.

 

He empathized.

 

No, he couldn’t help but know.

 

Because Choi Hyun had also gone through these processes in the past.

 

“From the first time I heard about you, Executive Director, I thought you were an amazing person. This field is overwhelming enough just focusing on research alone, yet how you’re managing employees and overseeing product inspection all by yourself – I truly think it’s amazing.”

 

“….”

 

“I think you must have been under a lot of stress. You probably wanted to share the burden, but in this field, you need a certain level of skill to delegate work, and since there was no one suitable, you couldn’t divide the work and it must have been really difficult. But now I want to help. I’d like to take charge of at least the research side and share your burden. So please, would you give me the opportunity to help carry your load?”

 

“….”

 

Lee Yeong-han remains silent.

 

He stares at Choi Hyun quietly.

 

Then he slowly tilted his head upward.

 

His eyes grew moist.

 

He never expected someone who would understand his struggles so precisely to appear.

 

“Ha, this is really….”

 

He suddenly came recommended by the president, so he wondered what kind of person he was.

 

But the moment he saw the results, Lee Yeong-han knew.

 

The man before him was a genius incomparable to himself… no, a monster-like existence beyond genius.

 

But what was even more surprising was that this man wasn’t arrogant at all.

 

He wasn’t conceited and didn’t look down on him.

 

Rather, he acknowledged his hard work and even comforted him.

 

He maintained courtesy to the end.

 

Then suddenly, while feeling grateful to him, shame also washed over him.

 

As Choi Hyun said, he had been carrying too much burden alone all this time.

 

It wasn’t that there were no people in the Production Department.

 

There were quite a few people in the Research Department too.

 

But he had never thought any of them were useful.

 

They all only knew how to do what they were told, and he hadn’t seen anyone with as much passion as himself who would pioneer on their own.

 

Safety-first mentality, self-preservation, let’s take it slow and steady, etc….

 

So he often requested staff increases.

 

Asking them to hire some talent.

 

Of course, he knew it was hard to find.

 

Smart guys were all busy setting up their own workshops, and when someone somewhat useful did join, they’d receive some proficiency training, absorb the guild formulas, and quit immediately.

 

So he was always on edge.

 

He was dissatisfied, overflowing with irritation, and everything looked annoying.

 

He knew he shouldn’t, but sometimes even the president looked annoying.

 

But he didn’t want to quit.

 

Not because he was reluctant about the salary or position, but because he didn’t want to run away as if pushed out in this situation.

 

He wanted to fight to the end and prove himself.

 

He wanted to somehow create excellent products and be helpful to hunters.

 

But that wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

 

There were many nights he fell asleep with alcohol, unable to bear the pressure, and stress kept accumulating with his growing belly and bloodshot eyes.

 

It was then that Choi Hyun appeared.

 

He wiped away tears with his palm and said.

 

“Ah, I’m really tearing up all of a sudden… I’m not usually like this….”

 

“I understand. How much you must have suffered all this time.”

 

“Suffered… Ha, yes, to be honest, I suffered a lot. But meeting someone who recognizes my hard work is really….”

 

“Then are you giving me permission?”

 

“What permission is there to give or not give, you’re a genius incomparable to me anyway.”

 

“I don’t think that way. And you were the original guardian of this place, weren’t you?”

 

“Haha, guardian….”

 

Lee Yeong-han bursts into hearty laughter.

 

Then he extended his hand.

 

“I kept desperately asking for staff increases every day, and the president finally granted my wish. Thank you for coming. Let me introduce myself properly. I’m Lee Yeong-han.”

 

At his formal greeting, Choi Hyun also smiled and clasped his hand.

 

“I’m Choi Hyun. Please take care of me from now on.”

 

“I should be the one asking that. Wow… Then I can finally escape from research hell.”

 

“I’ll also handle the upcoming new product planning. And if you permit, I’ll improve all the existing products too.”

 

“Hahaha! Then I’d be grateful! Ah, then where should we start with the handover? No, instead of that, let’s go to my room first!”

 

“Shall we?”

 

The two men head to Lee Yeong-han’s room with smiles.

 

And.

 

“Good heavens….”

 

Park Hyeon-mu, who had been watching all of this, could only blink his eyes at the unbelievable scene.

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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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