The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 11

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 11
Chapter 11.
* Quest: Monster of Beginner Village [FIRST]
Rank: ?
Description: A monster dwells in Beginner Village, in Ryu-Tun. The Village Chief of Ryu-Tun hopes that outstanding Outsiders will deal with this creature.
Constraint: Automatic failure if Level exceeds 10.
Reward: ???
“A monster?”
It was an unexpected quest.
‘It doesn’t seem to be related to crafting.’
It appeared to be a quest that players could naturally receive upon reaching a certain level in Beginner Village.
‘The rank is a question mark. And the reward isn’t properly displayed either.’
Moreover, there was an unfamiliar word written beside the quest name.
‘FIRST.’
FIRST.
“Is it possible that no one has cleared it yet?”
An uncleared quest.
It seemed fair to say that this was a quest that all players could attempt, yet no one had managed to clear.
“It seems like just a simple monster hunt. Why hasn’t anyone cleared it?”
NewGene had been open for a year already.
There must have been countless events in that time.
Every player who had been playing semi-immersive VR games migrated to NewGene.
All the renowned gamers had flooded into NewGene, and most quests must have been cleared.
‘Just from what I’ve seen on TV, there are several.’
Especially when Jin-woo saw what veteran players had accomplished in NewGene, he was often taken aback.
“But there’s still something that hasn’t been cleared?”
If that were true, the difficulty would be substantial.
“NewGene really prepared a lot.”
Anyone would have anticipated that renowned rankers from other games would come when NewGene opened.
No matter how much content is prepared, it can be cleared quite easily once it reaches the hands of a veteran player.
So it seemed they had made deliberate preparations for this.
“They seem to have prepared quite a lot of content that isn’t completely unclearable but has the possibility of being cleared.”
And perhaps the monster of Ryu-Tun was one such piece of content.
“The constraints also seem to be troublesome.”
It said that exceeding Level 10 would result in automatic failure.
“So it’s content that absolutely cannot be cleared by those who have reached Level 10.”
Jin-woo set aside the quest he had received for now.
He needed to check the equipment he had crafted first.
[Shining Greatsword]
-Attack Power: 45
-Rank: C+
-Durability 2000 / 2000
<>
The Shining Greatsword.
‘I didn’t fully draw out the inherent properties of the material. Though I did rather well in bringing out its sharpness.’
Though it appeared to be quite well-crafted, Jin-woo saw far more shortcomings in it.
But that was merely his perspective.
The Shining Greatsword boasted an Attack Power of 45.
‘It’s higher than the Attack Power of the S-rank Crafting Hammer. Though that hammer is made purely for crafting.’
Of course, the Crafting Hammer, being made solely for crafting purposes, could only have low Attack Power.
‘It’s difficult to compare with that. But still.’
The Attack Power could be considered quite respectable.
“Remarkable, truly remarkable!”
Lodrum, who had been watching the entire process beside him, marveled and clapped his hands.
“I didn’t expect it! Who knew you’d master the Sparkling Stone in just one day! I thought it would take several days!”
The Sparkling Stone had been given as a way to ask him to demonstrate his skills during his stay and to show impressive craftsmanship.
But Jin-woo’s rate of growth was far faster than Lodrum had imagined.
“It was excellent material. The feel of it was remarkable.”
“Might I take a look for a moment?”
Lodrum examined the equipment Jin-woo had made.
“!”
He was already astonished that equipment had been crafted using the Sparkling Stone.
But the quality of the equipment itself was also considerable.
“With this blade, one might even withstand the attacks of Ryu-Tun’s monster! Look at this! The sword you’ve made has higher Attack Power than any blade in Ryu-Tun! Absurd! Attack Power of 45!”
The swords displayed in the blacksmith averaged Attack Power between 5 and 10.
Yet Jin-woo’s equipment had a whopping 45.
Moreover, it was far lighter than other swords and had higher Durability as well.
“What sort of creature is this monster of Ryu-Tun?”
Jin-woo asked as Lodrum began speaking of the protagonist of the quest he had just received.
“A monster that lives in the mountains. A creature with superior intellect. Because of that, no Outsiders have managed to capture it. We still cannot even enter that mountain.”
Lodrum let out a sigh.
“There’s a Silver Mine there, and we haven’t even been able to mine the ore. It’s a headache in many ways.”
“How many have attempted to eliminate the creature so far?”
“Many—countless. But not a single one has succeeded. So here we are, coexisting with it. Though if the chance arose, I’d dearly love to eliminate it.”
So FIRST truly did mean the first clear.
‘But something feels odd.’
If it were simply a hunt, someone should have succeeded by now.
After all, people had hunted the Wyvern in the tutorial.
‘Is there another condition?’
There seemed to be a definite reason why it couldn’t be cleared.
‘Silver is tempting, though.’
The Sparkling Stone had already been used.
Lodrum probably had no better materials.
“Are you thinking of attempting to slay the monster of Ryu-Tun?”
“I’d like to challenge it at least once before leaving the village.”
“Hmm. But the Sparkling Stone is already spent. I suppose that can’t be helped.”
Lodrum pulled something from within his garments.
“Use this melted down.”
What he produced was quite an ornate-looking blade.
“In my youth, I too was an adventurer. I wished to learn Swordsmanship. This blade was made back then. The material is quite decent. But now it’s merely an old memory.”
-You have received Lodrum’s Old Memory!
The weapon Lodrum had handed over was quite a weathered blade.
Its sharpness had completely faded, and it was now blunt.
‘It should be good to melt down and use.’
“Since you’ve already helped so much, I have one more request, if I may.”
“Oh!”
Lodrum smiled with an expression that suggested he knew what Jin-woo was about to say.
Even though the situation had completely reversed, Lodrum could not help but delight and be pleased.
It was always a joy to help those of talent bloom to their full potential.
“I would like to learn your Smelting technique.”
“I’ll teach you right away!”
* * *
-You have learned Basic Smelting!
-Through Basic Smelting, you can now melt materials!
-You can decompose equipment to obtain materials.
He had acquired a decomposition skill that could be considered a basic technique.
After obtaining the decomposition skill, Jin-woo
immediately began melting down various materials and understanding the mechanism behind them.
“Converting useless things into materials through melting isn’t a bad idea at all, is it?”
Clang! Clang!
Jin-woo diligently gathered the melted materials.
“Next, I’ll try making a shield.”
Having made a sword, a shield seemed perfect next.
“I’ll craft a matched set of sword and shield before heading out.”
Among the melted materials, there were quite a few decent metals.
“Not the best materials, though.”
Even with what he had, it would suffice.
“My Craftsmanship Stat has risen as well. I think I can make something even better.”
Jin-woo checked his status window.
[Jin-woo][LV 5]
[Occupation: None]
[HP: 135/135]
[MP: 100/100]
[Strength: 5+10]
[Stamina: 5+10]
[Agility: 5+10]
[Intelligence: 5+10]
<>
[SP: 8]
Two Stat Points were granted with each Level up.
Jin-woo’s current level was 5.
Since he had never used Stat Points, he had 8 points to allocate freely.
“But this Craftsmanship Stat is rising pretty fast.”
All of Jin-woo’s Stats were low, befitting his low level.
Yet his Craftsmanship Stat alone stood out magnificently.
A whopping 75.
Far higher than the Attack Power of the sword he had crafted.
‘The effect of the high Synchronization Rate was significant.’
“Because it feels like crafting in reality, I can’t stop.”
Of course, a high Synchronization Rate alone wouldn’t have made this possible.
It was Jin-woo’s innate talent combined with the high Synchronization Rate that was producing tremendous synergy.
“Let me try investing Stat Points for now.”
-You cannot use Stat Points on generated Stats.
“As expected.”
As expected, Stat Points earned through leveling could not raise generated Stats.
“Then it’s Strength Stat.”
In crafting, the most important things were Craftsmanship Stat and Strength Stat.
-Strength Stat increases by 8 points!
“No need to spread the investment.”
The other Stats weren’t important anyway.
“Hmm. But this.”
Looking at the status window, Jin-woo felt that levels rose too easily.
“There’s still so much I haven’t done in Ryu-Tun. If I’m not careful, I might exceed Level 10.”
Jin-woo had no intention of leaving Beginner Village yet.
This Beginner Village was quite large in scale.
“There are still quests remaining, and there’s surely much to learn from other NPCs.”
More precisely, he felt certain there were various materials he could obtain from them.
“I’ll do everything before I leave.”
The fact that this was a place he wouldn’t be able to return to spurred Jin-woo on.
“I can’t leave it like this.”
He decided to stop crafting for now.
Though not to stop his hands—merely to halt leveling up through crafting.
“Since levels are rising too quickly, there’s no helping it. I need to enjoy it more.”
Stopping crafting just to avoid leveling up.
Anyone overhearing this might think he was truly mad.
Of course.
He was mad about crafting.
* * *
There were several training halls throughout Ryu-Tun.
“Ah, get in line properly!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I came first!”
“Stop spouting nonsense and step to the back!”
The most popular was especially the Swordsmanship training hall.
Jin-woo hadn’t seen it while he was at Lodrum’s blacksmith, but there were truly many Users in this Ryu-Tun.
“I guess I was in the least popular place.”
The User Haram had even been driven out of the blacksmith and still hadn’t learned Smelting.
Which meant he wasn’t hunting either, just wasting time continuously.
There was no way people would seek out such a place.
“As long as you can swing a sword! We’ll build your Swordsmanship fundamentals!”
Unlike the blacksmith, the instructors at the Swordsmanship training hall all had bright expressions.
Also, unlike Lodrum’s blacksmith, which wouldn’t even admit you to the workshop without basic skill, the Swordsmanship training hall accepted anyone who could swing a sword, developed them into swordsmen, and sent them out.
In short, it meant the difficulty was low and the service was friendly.
“So the line had to be long.”
But for Jin-woo, it held little appeal.
“To hunt, you need at least basic Swordsmanship.”
He understood the necessity of Swordsmanship well enough.
Even with the same sword, those with Swordsmanship could achieve greater damage, accuracy, and perform a wider variety of actions.
So the Swordsmanship training hall had to be popular.
“The Magic training hall is also popular. Learning offensive magic like Fireball is useful too.”
And there were training halls with relatively fewer people.
“Leading with the blacksmith, craftsmanship-focused training halls all seem unpopular.”
That was inevitable.
“If other training halls don’t significantly help growth, there’s no need to learn them if you focus on hunting. Craftsmanship-based training halls like that.”
The crafting training halls were subdivided into several fields—a tailor shop, a jeweler’s workshop, and many others alongside the blacksmith.
“Hmm. But these crafting training halls.”
Jin-woo’s eye caught other blacksmiths.
The smoke-filled spaces were naturally easy to spot.
“There’s more than just Lodrum’s blacksmith?”
Ryu-Tun was one of the Beginner Villages where novices passed through.
Because of this, it was quite large in scale, and there were multiple blacksmiths.
“With so many Users, it’s natural. I’m curious about the other blacksmiths.”
Before leaving Beginner Village, he planned to visit other blacksmiths as well.
“First, let me visit the Swordsmanship training hall.”
Jin-woo wanted to test the Shining Greatsword he had made.
He felt that visiting sword experts and swordsmen would be best for that.
They would surely know whether this was a good sword or not, and he could get their feedback as well.
Among the dozen or so Swordsmanship training halls, Jin-woo chose the one with the fewest people.
As soon as he entered, he heard complaints.
“Really unfriendly.”
“I mean, he doesn’t teach properly, so why is his personality so bad?”
NewGene was home to NPCs of various temperaments.
Lodrum, for that matter, wasn’t exactly a friendly NPC either.
‘The Swordsmanship training hall might have NPCs like that too.’
There were surely NPCs with their own convictions.
“Do you expect me to spoon-feed you!?”
Indeed, there was loud noise coming from inside.
Jin-woo chuckled.
“That’s better—you need some backbone.”
Inside, he saw Users sprawled on the ground and a stubborn-looking NPC standing before them.
‘The ones still here have good eyes.’
They all seemed to be the type who enjoyed being pushed hard.
The world truly had all kinds of people.
“A newcomer? Hmm. Come here and try wielding this wooden sword.”
As soon as Jin-woo approached, the white-haired Swordmaster beckoned him over.
At his words, the Users simultaneously turned to look at Jin-woo.
“I haven’t come to learn Swordsmanship. I’ve come to test a sword I made myself.”
“Oh ho, a would-be blacksmith? And you made the sword yourself?”
The Swordmaster smirked.
There were indeed a few such Outsiders.
But the things they brought were truly of poor quality.
“I’ve had a few Outsiders like you before. But they all brought garbage-tier stuff. Really, indescribably poor.”
The Swordmaster sighed. Of course, there were a few who brought decent items. But most were garbage. Really, most of them.
“I absolutely refuse to touch such blades.”
The Swordmaster spoke with deliberate emphasis.
It meant: don’t bother showing me anything subpar, and get out. And if you were to show me garbage, I’d humiliate you greatly.
“Is that so?”
Yet Jin-woo merely laughed.
“Then you’ll be taking it in your hands today.”
With overflowing confidence, he pulled the sword from his inventory.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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