The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 13

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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 13
13.
“Hello, Haram. Still here, I see.”
“Well, about that…”
Haram’s face flushed with embarrassment.
Normally, no one lingered in the Beginner Village as long as Haram had.
Level 10 was something you could reach incredibly fast, and if you made the rounds at the training halls or ran a few beginner quests, you’d sometimes find yourself outleveled and forced to leave.
Yet the reason Haram remained in the Beginner Village of Leuton was entirely because of Jin Woo.
“I felt like there were still too many gaps in my skills. Honestly, I could have gone to another blacksmith to learn the Smithing Technique, but I decided I had to earn recognition from Rodrum before leaving.”
After being inspired by Jin Woo, he’d made the decision to earn Rodrum’s recognition properly, learn the Smithing Technique, and then move on.
“You’ve seen me traveling around, so you probably noticed—there are plenty of blacksmiths besides Rodrum, plenty of smithies too. But what I can learn from Rodrum is more certain. Most of the current Rankers started by learning the Smithing Technique from Rodrum, after all. It might not make a huge difference, but I’m aiming to become a Ranker myself.”
Because of that ambitious dream, Haram wanted to walk the same path that the existing Rankers had walked.
That’s why he’d sought out Rodrum.
He understood that even if it took a little longer, laying a solid foundation would ultimately get him there faster.
In fact, it was Haram who was surprised.
“I thought you’d leave the Beginner Village any day now, Jin Woo.”
“There’s still more I want to learn. And I’m planning to clear one quest.”
The reason Jin Woo had been gathering materials was to clear the Leuton’s Monster quest.
The Shining Sword was decent enough as a weapon, but it was only his first creation.
‘There are still too many shortcomings.’
Of course, he couldn’t fill in all those gaps, but if he spent just a little more time, he felt he could easily craft even better equipment than this.
“A quest? Could it be…!”
“Yes, that’s right. It’s the quest called Leuton’s Monster. Have you heard of it?”
“Have I heard of it!”
Haram launched into an explanation of Leuton’s Monster with an animated expression.
“So you’re planning to clear that Leuton’s Monster quest?”
“Ha-ha-ha!”
Haram laughed brightly at Jin Woo’s words.
“It doesn’t sound like you know what kind of quest it is!”
“No, I have no idea at all.”
“That quest is virtually impossible to clear. When you received it, you saw the word ‘First,’ right? It means there’s no strategy yet. No one has figured it out. And with good reason—this Leuton’s Monster is a famous Challenge Monster in the Beginner Zone.”
“A Challenge Monster?”
Haram mentioned the Wyvern he’d seen in the tutorial.
“You saw the Wyvern in the tutorial, right? That monster that came out with the Self-Defense Captain. That Wyvern wasn’t made for you to hunt, either. But players started catching it. Players with combat classes and natural talent hunted the Wyvern solo. Not with the Self-Defense Captain’s help, but completely alone.”
So the tutorial’s Wyvern was downgraded from an impossible monster to a challenging but killable one.
But Leuton’s Steel Monster was different.
“This Beginner Village can only be entered while you’re a beginner. There’s a level cap of 10. Once you leave, you can never come back.”
The village itself was designed solely for beginner users.
In other words, no matter how much you stand out in this Beginner Village, your stats are capped at level 10.
“The Steel Monster is something you can’t defeat even if you max out level 10. That’s why everyone calls it a ‘taste test’—a way of showing beginners that there are terrifyingly strong monsters out there.”
Once you leave the Beginner Zone, monsters at this level are incredibly common.
So don’t rashly approach it; grow stronger, form a party, and defeat them with better gear!
That’s the kind of message it conveyed.
‘They’re dangling a carrot in front of them for interest.’
At the same time, it was lighting a fire.
It was meant to plant the goal: leave, grow stronger, and come back to hunt powerful monsters like the Steel Monster.
Which is why it was designed to be unbeatable.
“But interestingly, there are achievements related to it.”
“Achievements?”
“And there’s a Hall of Fame, too.”
The achievement system was essentially trophy collecting.
And of course, there were proper rewards for them.
“It’s not that the monster can’t be defeated. You can clear it, but the difficulty is insane.”
“So it’s a play on words?”
Haram nodded at Jin Woo’s comment.
“So quite a few people have challenged it over the past year, but not a single person has succeeded. To be honest, I’d like to try it once myself.”
In fact, there were still many people creating and raising alternate characters, optimizing them endlessly, and challenging the Steel Monster.
“So what do you get for defeating the Steel Monster?”
“It’s all rumors. Since no one’s cleared it, everyone’s guessing the rewards are incredible. The difficulty alone is insane, after all. Oh! And it’s not just about hunting.”
Haram continued.
“Not about hunting?”
This Leuton’s Monster couldn’t be cleared just by killing it.
“You have to endure exactly three hits from the Steel Monster. If you survive three attacks, you clear it. But no one’s managed to survive. How could they? A single hit deals over 1,000 damage.”
The maximum health you could get by reaching level 10 falls short of 1,000.
Even if you repeated hidden quests or growth, you could never reach 1,000.
“They say you can defend with armor, but there’s no such defensive gear at this stage. Basically, this quest is impossible.”
“I see.”
Suddenly, Jin Woo’s eyes gleamed. For some reason, Haram felt a chill run down his spine.
* * *
Rodrum’s Blacksmith.
“Get out of here!”
“Bah! You’ll be back!”
Just today, dozens of users had already been turned away by Rodrum, spitting as they left.
It happened so often that Rodrum didn’t even pay attention anymore.
“Should I clean up?”
“Do it right now.”
“I’m here.”
When Jin Woo entered as if it were his own place, Rodrum’s cold expression suddenly broke into a wide smile.
“Young Jin Woo! Welcome, haha!”
“Yes, Rodrum. I’ve arrived.”
Cold to other users, yet endlessly warm to Jin Woo, the one he’d acknowledged.
“Come in, come in. Ah, I see you’ve made the rounds at a few other smithies. I can guess their reactions.”
“I’m grateful they all appreciated it.”
“What blacksmith wouldn’t? Especially here. Outside, there are plenty of arrogant smiths—newcomers’ potential only goes up, after all. But this place is special, isn’t it? People like you are rare. So they can’t help but admire you.”
Rodrum gestured for him to come inside quickly.
The users who’d just been turned away stared in shock at the scene.
“What?”
“What is this?”
“Rodrum is smiling?”
“I’ve never seen Rodrum smile before.”
“Is he treating someone with such warmth? What in the world did that guy do?”
Was this really the same Rodrum who’d been cursing at beginners and kicking them out moments ago?
This wasn’t the Rodrum they knew.
Who was this user that could make Rodrum wear such an expression?
The players stared at Jin Woo’s retreating figure for a long time.
“Did he find good materials or something?”
It was completely incomprehensible.
* * *
“So you’re going to take on Leuton’s Monster? The chances of success are probably slim, but don’t worry. You’ll do what you can, at least!”
Rodrum’s Blacksmith.
Jin Woo, who’d brought various materials, checked what was missing.
“The furnace fire, the anvil, and since this isn’t my workshop, there’s a lot lacking.”
Of everything he had, only the hammer truly met his standards.
Though even the hammer didn’t fully satisfy him.
‘It’s decent by beginner standards.’
It was S-rank equipment, but even S-rank felt inadequate for it.
‘Looks like this isn’t a finished piece.’
It was the hammer he’d received along with the Legendary Class quest.
Perhaps it could be upgraded, or maybe he could draw out the latent power within the hammer itself—either way, it was clearly meant to be strengthened.
‘With the materials first.’
As Jin Woo toured each smithy, he understood even more about craftsmanship.
‘The parts others struggle with are difficult for me too.’
For instance, stats and level.
‘But my Dexterity stat and synchronization rate cover it.’
“You said exactly three hits, right? Then I just need to block with a shield.”
“Yes, three attacks. But wait…”
Haram, who’d entered Rodrum’s Blacksmith with Jin Woo, shook his head vigorously.
“It absolutely won’t work. Seriously, it won’t. There are limits to what you can make here. Honestly, you’d be better off doing something else in that time. I can suggest a few alternatives.”
“No, it’s fine. Even if I fail…”
Though his eyes and tone clearly suggested he had no intention of failing.
“What if you acquired the Immersion stat? It’s a stat you gain from concentration, and that concentration is incredibly helpful for crafting. It provides substantial bonuses.”
“Ah, I already have that.”
“Excuse me?”
Haram’s expression hardened instantly.
“You already have it?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
After Dexterity, now Immersion too.
“Some people don’t acquire it even at level 50.”
Now only the Leuton’s Monster quest remained, it seemed.
“Let me first earn recognition from Rodrum.”
With only the Steel Monster left, there was no point in suggesting anything else.
You can’t truly understand without experiencing it yourself.
Haram had only heard stories; he’d never actually faced it.
“Who knows, though.”
History might actually change right before their eyes.
But Haram shook his head to himself.
“Nah, it won’t work. If you could do it just with momentum, that’d be something.”
How many exceptional users had NewJene had?
Especially among the Rankers who’d started early, there were hordes of monsters.
The crafting scene was no different.
Among top blacksmith Rankers, many had surpassed human limits, yet even they couldn’t defeat this Beginner Village’s monster.
“But you never know, really.”
Watching Jin Woo, confidence bloomed in him.
Haram too had joined NewJene with great determination.
“If Jin Woo can succeed, maybe I can reach the ranks of top crafters too.”
His heart had nearly broken seeing Jin Woo’s craftsmanship, but he’d steadied himself.
“There’s nothing I can’t do.”
* * *
“As expected. I had a feeling.”
Monitoring Team.
Kim Na Yoon had wondered why Jin Woo hadn’t left the Beginner Village, but quickly understood.
“Leuton’s Monster.”
Each Beginner Village had monsters living in it.
These creatures were extremely powerful, utterly impossible to defeat at their level.
“The condition isn’t overly complex, though.”
You don’t even have to hunt.
Of course, you could if you wanted, but the condition to clear Leuton’s Monster was simply to endure three attacks.
“Evasion isn’t an option.”
The only method was Parrying, though that had its difficulties too.
Parrying was a technique where you deflected the incoming attack at the precise moment it connected, but there were limits.
“Parrying doesn’t negate the damage.”
The damage.
The damage taken when Parrying was still considerable.
Normally, Parrying completely negated damage, but the monsters had a trait called the Eye of Truth.
With this Eye of Truth trait, attacks had a high success rate.
“So the only method is really just enduring it. Or you’d have to Parry so perfectly that you surpass the Eye of Truth’s effect.”
To do that required perfect understanding of your equipment.
And you’d need defensive gear capable of withstanding the Steel Monster’s attack power.
Heavily armored pieces or shields.
“But that’s impossible in the Beginner Zone. Even with several times the level 10 cap, it’d be a struggle.”
Impossible tasks had impossible reasons.
“But…”
Jin Woo was a type of user that hadn’t existed before.

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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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