The Cursed Blacksmith Who Regressed - Chapter 51

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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 51

 

[ Entering Gate, ‘Invaders’ Playground’. ]

 

My vision changes.

 

What I saw simultaneously were prison bars.

 

They were bars that seemed to be woven from tree branches, with only a faint light filtering through both inside and outside the bars, creating a subtle darkness rather than complete darkness.

 

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

 

A kind notification from the System.

 

It meant they would give me time to prepare.

 

Since this was a survival battle, it meant to cast any buffs I had here in advance.

 

While it seemed considerate, I knew it was really just a pretty but worthless gesture.

 

No, in reality it was closer to mockery.

 

Because Gates and Dungeons don’t impose entry restrictions like items do in the first place.

 

This was truly a petty and cowardly structure.

 

To place restrictions on items while not placing restrictions on dungeons and gates.

 

In other words, if you want to conquer them, figure out the level requirements yourself.

 

That’s why scouting parties exist, and why advance teams exist.

 

‘It was also the reason countless people died over the years.’

 

Like the poison of a pufferfish.

 

Safety rules written in blood.

 

And this mockery continued through the Third Great Catastrophe until the day the world ended.

 

Choi Hyun finished his reminiscence and opened his status window.

 

[ Choi Hyun ]

 

– Lv : 31

 

– Class : Blacksmith

 

– Traits : ＜Demon’s Eye＞＜Repair＞＜Curse of Memory＞＜Nameless Artisan＞＜Heavenly Martial Body＞＜Materials＞�【Noble Spirit＞＜Qualification from Beyond＞</p】

– Strength : 36

 

– Stamina : 36

 

– Mana : 36

 

– Sense : 36

 

– Dexterity : 111

 

– Unallocated Stat Points : 5

 

I had invested all the bonus stats I acquired into dexterity.

 

To reach my next goal of level 8 Universal Repair, I needed 200 dexterity stats.

 

So until then, whether I liked it or not, I was forced to invest in dexterity.

 

Now that I had finished allocating stats, my preparations were complete.

 

I shouted “Start”.

 

Then.

 

Rumble rumble rumble- Crash!

 

The underground prison moved upward and the bars opened.

 

Sunlight poured in.

 

I slowly walked outside.

 

As I walked out, I could see the interior of a small circular arena, and the invaders who had invaded the island were sitting in the spectator seats, cheering enthusiastically.

 

Around that time, a system notification appeared.

 

[ You are a native of an island whose home was taken away by invaders, and you are currently captured as a toy for the invaders’ entertainment. ]

 

[ If you succeed in surviving until the time limit, the mission will be cleared and the gate will be conquered. ]

 

[ Starting the mission. ]

 

A brief notification.

 

At the same time, a time limit notification appeared in the corner of Choi Hyun’s vision.

 

[ 11 : 59 : 59 ]

 

The time limit was 12 hours.

 

The mission had begun.

 

At the same time.

 

“Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo!”

 

The invaders began howling like monkeys.

 

They were wearing strangely designed hats and leather armor, but what stood out even more were the colorful war paints on their faces.

 

These creatures, who stuck out their tongues to show off their might, pulled out the bows they had been carrying on their backs as soon as a new toy appeared.

 

‘It’s begun.’

 

The reason this place was called the Invaders’ Playground and a survival battle.

 

Here, I had to survive for 12 hours as a toy in a circular arena created by the invaders.

 

Of course, not all invaders shoot arrows from the beginning.

 

From what Choi Hyun remembered, the number of people shooting arrows increased every hour here, and most died before reaching 6 hours.

 

There were two reasons.

 

Not only the volume of arrows raining down, but also because extreme stamina consumption occurred while trying to dodge them.

 

At that moment, Choi Hyun saw the shield of a nameless toy who had died first.

 

It wasn’t just the shield.

 

The corpses of natives who had entered earlier and struggled desperately before dying were scattered throughout the arena like porcupines.

 

‘If I fail, I’ll end up like that too.’

 

But that wouldn’t happen.

 

At most, they were human archers.

 

Later on, monsters with better ranged attacks than humans – no, superior ranged attack monsters – would pour out terrifyingly.

 

Besides, Choi Hyun had a different reason for coming here.

 

Simply to conquer the Black Area to gain fame and secure priority conquest rights for future gates and dungeons?

 

That was also true, but his real purpose was different.

 

Choi Hyun opened his palm.

 

Then the Repair Hammer was grasped in it.

 

But its shape was somewhat different.

 

The hammer that was summoned starting from the handle looked like a hammer with a short handle at first glance.

 

However, after the commonly known hammer was fully formed, a blade began to emerge from the center of the hammer head, the part called the ‘eye’.

 

It wasn’t a mistake or error.

 

It was intentional.

 

Using the hammer’s handle as a sword hilt, and using the nail-driving head and nail-pulling claw parts as a guard to prevent hands from slipping.

 

And by adding imagination to extract a blade from the center, the ‘sword-hammer’ that Choi Hyun frequently used in his previous life would be completed.

 

‘Since the hammer summoned by the skill transforms according to my imagination.’

 

Of course, Choi Hyun didn’t usually call this a sword-hammer.

 

When introducing it to someone, he called it a sword-hammer, but normally he just called it a sword.

 

There was also no need to worry about durability.

 

As long as he had mana, it could be repaired infinitely.

 

Of course, since it was affected by stats, its attack power was somewhat lower compared to other high-quality swords.

 

But that was fine.

 

Attack power wasn’t what mattered for the sword-hammer in the first place.

 

Soon, the first arrow flew toward Choi Hyun.

 

Swoosh!

 

The sound of cutting through air.

 

Choi Hyun stood in place, looked straight at it, then.

 

[ Dexterity activates. ]

 

[ Hyper Focus activates. ]

 

Crack!

 

He shattered it as if to show off.

 

“Hmm.”

 

His brow furrowed.

 

This isn’t right.

 

This isn’t what I was aiming for.

 

However, whether they knew Choi Hyun’s feelings or not, the Invaders began to get excited.

 

“Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!”

 

“Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo!”

 

What’s wrong with them?

 

Why do they keep going “woo woo” and “oh oh”?

 

The creatures nock arrows to their bowstrings again.

 

And they shoot.

 

Thwang!

 

The heavy sound of the arrow being fired.

 

Choi Hyun swung his sword again.

 

Crack!

 

Once again the arrow broke.

 

Tsk.

 

He clicked his tongue.

 

This isn’t it.

 

I need to use less force it seems.

 

Another arrow flew at him and his sword was swung.

 

Swish- Thunk!

 

“Oh!”

 

A different sound.

 

Choi Hyun’s eyes widened and his mouth formed an ‘o’.

 

This time instead of breaking the arrow, he deflected the flying arrow with his sword and stuck it into the ground beside him.

 

[ Parrying is activated. ]

 

At the same time, a System notification appeared.

 

The skill that activated was Parrying.

 

Yes, this is exactly it.

 

This was exactly the sensation I wanted.

 

The Invaders got excited once again at Choi Hyun’s parrying.

 

It was because of their anticipation that this new toy seemed somewhat different.

 

Choi Hyun raised his sword again.

 

Then he gestured toward the Invaders, provoking them.

 

“Come at me.”

 

And.

 

Thud thud thud!

 

The Invaders’ arrow barrage began.

 

* * *

 

Quite some time had passed.

 

A full 6 hours had passed.

 

He had broken through the cursed 6-hour mark that everyone said couldn’t be overcome.

 

But during all that time, Choi Hyun hadn’t been hit by a single arrow.

 

Was the secret parrying?

 

It wasn’t.

 

He didn’t deflect every single flying arrow.

 

When too many came flying at once, he dodged.

 

For example.

 

[ Phantom Step is activated. ]

 

He used Phantom Step like a ghost to escape from the bombardment zone.

 

And he only used parrying against arrows that came at a manageable rate.

 

After swinging for quite a while longer like that, the notification he wanted finally appeared.

 

[ Miraculous attack deflection. ]

 

[ Your parrying skill has now reached a level where you can easily deflect even ranged attacks. ]

 

[ Conditions have been met. ]

 

[ The skill grows to the next level. ]

 

[ The skill ‘Parrying’ has grown and some information has changed. ]

 

[ You have acquired the skill ‘Parrying2’. ]

 

Choi Hyun’s eyes curved as he saw the notification.

 

Parrying2.

 

This was exactly why he had come to the Black Area, ‘Invaders’ Playground’.

 

He immediately checked the information.

 

[ Parrying2 ]

 

– Type : Skill

 

# A technique that deflects an opponent’s attack in a different direction.

 

# Through long practice it has grown to the next level, now reaching a realm where you can easily parry not only close-range attacks but also long-range attacks.

 

# Each time you use parrying, effects of reduced damage taken, reduced stamina consumption, and accelerated experience gain occur.

 

Parrying2 was a level 2 skill of Parrying, which could also be classified as a 2-star skill.

 

And certain skills like Parrying undergo this kind of growth evolution, and when their level reaches its peak, they become as good as any other skill.

 

‘That said, not all skills go up to 9 stars.’

 

Parrying was the same.

 

But Choi Hyun planned to raise Parrying to max level.

 

Because there weren’t many skills with as good versatility as Parrying.

 

Then once again arrows poured down on Choi Hyun.

 

“Well then, now…”

 

He had obtained Parrying2, which was his goal.

 

Then there was no need to waste any more time here.

 

Choi Hyun immediately used Phantom Step to charge toward the spectator seats.

 

[ Ultra Focus is activated. ]

 

[ Fleet-Footed is activated. ]

 

[ Phantom Step is activated. ]

 

Then he naturally climbed up the wall and launched his body toward the Invaders.

 

[ Dexterity is activated. ]

 

[ Nameless Swordsmanship is activated. ]

 

[ First Strike is activated. ]

 

[ Critical is activated. ]

 

[ Back Attack is activated. ]

 

Without a moment’s hesitation, he swung his sword at them.

 

[ You have defeated a vile Invader. ]

 

An Invader dying in one strike.

 

Blood splattering on his face.

 

And a smile forming on his lips.

 

This place, the Invaders’ Playground, was definitely a survival-themed area where you just had to endure for 12 hours.

 

However.

 

“If I just kill all of you from the start, I won’t have to suffer for the remaining 6 hours, right?”

 

“Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo!”

 

Choi Hyun charged toward the Invaders.

—————
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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