The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 14

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Chapter 14
Episode 14.
Clang—.
Jin-woo laid out the materials he’d obtained from the blacksmiths.
This time, he’d be working with the Black Steel Stone.
“Centered on the Black Steel Stone.”
It wasn’t as fine a material as the Shining Stone, but it would suffice.
“My skill’s improved since I made the Shining Stone. My specs are higher at this point too.”
Jin-woo spread out additional materials he’d gathered from other forges.
“This should be enough to craft one shield. The question is whether this shield can withstand the Steel Monster’s overwhelming attacks.”
Jin-woo smiled.
“There’s only one way to find out.”
He’d need to use an unconventional method—not the standard shield-crafting technique.
“There’s a method I used in Eternal Sunshine too. It’s a workaround, a shortcut of sorts, but it can maximize defensive capability.”
First, he needed certain conditions to raise the shield’s raw specs.
‘The Dexterity Stat is what matters most.’
He could compensate for his Strength through control.
By striking uniformly or timing his blows perfectly, he could briefly amplify his strength.
‘And the skill—Smelting.’
Smelting was quite important as well.
‘But more than anything, what’s truly crucial is this.’
The more Jin-woo crafted, the more he realized that the intuition he possessed was paramount.
‘Though it’s quantified as a Dexterity Stat,’
when examined more closely, it was a matter of control.
It was similar to what combat-class players called control.
Where combat players made perfect movements against monsters, crafting-class workers like blacksmiths had to master perfect movements when handling materials.
‘Precise hammer strikes.’
Clang—!
By striking the hammer with precision alone, he could reshape materials as he desired.
And he could increase their hardness as well.
“And the flame.”
Many elements came together to create one finished piece.
Clang—! Clang—!
What he needed to make was a shield.
“A monster that no one has cleared, they said.”
The Steel Monster bore the [Uncleared] label—a monstrously powerful creature.
“They said I had to block three attacks. Beyond that, there were no other conditions.”
He could probably just kill it anyway. Quests were flexible.
But the addition of that three-defense condition meant the difficulty was genuinely high.
‘They were being flexible. Making the difficulty easier.’
Yet the supposedly easier difficulty turned out to be anything but easy in practice.
“They gave me easy difficulty, so I’ll just clear it at that level.”
Clang—! Clang—!
Jin-woo continued hammering.
“Now for the workaround.”
Normally, a shield’s defense needed to be uniform.
But Jin-woo intended to deliberately break that uniformity.
Done wrong, the shield would shatter completely.
“The defense is weaker elsewhere.”
But in exchange, one side’s defense rose dramatically.
“If you block the attacks on the reinforced section, you can hold.”
But there was a problem.
“You have to block perfectly.”
Absolutely perfectly.
Without a single error.
But for Jin-woo, that was an easy thing to do.
“I can use what I make perfectly.”
Half a day.
Jin-woo remained in the workshop, absorbed in his work without pause.
-Dexterity Stat increases!
-Focus Stat increases!
-Immersion state activated. Crafting equipment quality rises.
Clang—!
Sweat poured down his entire body.
-Stamina decreases.
-Stamina decreases.
What he was doing now exceeded his limits.
“Damn.”
His focus remained intact.
But his stamina had hit its ceiling.
“My level’s low, so there’s nothing I can do about that.”
As his stamina plummeted, his vision blurred.
Hiss—.
Normally he should have stopped, but Jin-woo didn’t.
“Since I can’t see, I can use my imagination even more!”
If anything, he was pleased.
Clang—! Clang—!
“Huh.”
As the sound of hammering continued endlessly, the eyes of the Apprentice who had entered kept trembling.
Jin-woo had clearly reached his limit.
His stamina was exhausted—surely he’d stop now.
But Jin-woo didn’t stop.
He had no intention of stopping until he finished.
Clang—!
Many had tried before.
Many had attempted to clear the Luton Steel Monster Quest by crafting shields or armor like Jin-woo.
‘There were quite a few rankers among those who made the transition.’
He’d heard that nearly every ranker enjoying semi-realistic games back then had crossed over to NewGen.
‘Except me.’
That told him how high the difficulty truly was.
Yet Jin-woo found that gratifying.
‘That’s their situation.’
“But I haven’t tried it.”
The Quest hadn’t experienced Jin-woo yet.
Clang—!
With a brisk hammer strike, Jin-woo collapsed flat on his back.
He’d expended all his strength.
One more movement and he truly would have died crafting.
-Equipment completed!
-Level increased!
-Dexterity Stat increases significantly!
-B-rank equipment crafted!
-Achievement obtained.
-[B-rank Craftsman] achievement obtained.
[Black Steel Shield]
-Defense: 55
-Grade: B
-Durability: 5000 / 5000
<>
Special Option: Black Steel Shield—Due to the Black Steel Stone’s properties, defense is additionally increased.
“That was close.”
Jin-woo exhaled, looking at the completed shield.
Because of the Black Steel, the overall color was deep black, and the incorporated Shining Stone emitted a subtle glow.
And it was a full B-rank.
For a craftsman below level 10 to make B-rank equipment was nearly impossible.
But because of that, he’d nearly come to ruin.
“I’m exactly level 9. If I’d leveled up just one more level, I’d have been kicked out of town instead of clearing the Quest.”
Yet the completed shield carried exactly the properties Jin-woo had envisioned. He was quite satisfied.
“Let me rest for a bit.”
He was already at his stamina’s limit.
* * *
Luton Outskirts Forest.
“Damn. Failed again.”
“Is this thing even clearable?”
“What if it’s impossible to clear and they just made the Hall of Fame for fun? Along with achievements?”
The area was crowded with players attempting to clear the Steel Monster Quest.
That vast cavern was where the Steel Monster dwelt, and once you entered, the Steel Monster would be waiting inside.
“If only it were an open monster, we could all gang up and kill it.”
The Steel Monster was an Instanced Monster spawned upon entering the cavern, and since it wasn’t a Raid Boss, you couldn’t fight it together.
“If it were a Raid Boss, it would’ve been cleared long ago.”
“It would’ve been. With a hundred, or even a thousand people, each attacking once would’ve killed it.”
“It’s already been a year. Who’s going to clear this thing?”
The gathered players each grumbled their piece and descended the mountain.
You couldn’t invest endless time in a beginner town.
Try a few times, and if it doesn’t work, give up and move on—that was the only choice.
Of course, not everyone was like that.
“The angle was a bit off this time.”
“We did get a reaction, though.”
“That three-attack defense thing is probably a red herring. How are you supposed to block three attacks like that? From what I can tell, the answer is to parry and attack back.”
“And not just regular Parrying—you need Advanced Parrying.”
“Advanced Parrying?”
“Can you learn that in Luton?”
“Of course not. You learn basic Parrying and raise your sense of it as high as you can.”
“Is 20% Synchronization Rate possible?”
“Just forget it. At 20%, you can’t kill it even if you beat it to death.”
“Sigh.”
There were those who remained in the beginner town, desperate for this first clear.
They attempted countless times, sharing information they’d gathered with each other.
And what they’d discovered was that the surface-level solution—blocking three attacks to clear—was impossible.
The Steel Monster’s attack power defied imagination.
It was too overwhelming for a beginner without exceeding level 10 to endure.
Even proper defensive equipment couldn’t block it.
Actually, the only proper equipment available at this stage was self-crafted.
“What if we brought ranker craftsmen and had them try again?”
“It won’t work. Just because they’re ranker craftsmen doesn’t mean they can make anything in any situation. They also need level, stats, and Smelting. And materials are crucial—what you can get here is limited anyway.”
Making anything would max out at C-rank.
“That’ll never work. It’s meaningless.”
“So that strategy was fake after all.”
“The answer is just to kill it.”
As everyone muttered among themselves,
someone emerged from below.
Since someone came up every day, people glanced at him casually and looked away.
“Huh?”
But someone recognized him.
“That person—isn’t that them?”
“Holy crap, it is. I saw him too. He came to the Sword Training Hall with a really well-made sword.”
“I saw him in front of Lodrum Forge. And Lodrum was actually smiling and greeting him.”
“Lodrum smiled? He’s not that kind of NPC.”
And there was something that instantly seized everyone’s attention.
A shield.
Not the kind of shield you’d expect to find in a beginner area.
It looked far superior to shields made by NPCs.
“Did he make that himself?”
And it had a subtle, luminous sheen.
‘Quite a crowd here.’
He’d thought the town was quiet, but they were all gathered here.
Jin-woo gave the gathering a quick glance and then hurried into the cavern.
The cavern was damp.
“I hear something roaring.”
Growl—.
A sound echoed from deeper within the cavern.
“Another one. A human has come. A foolish stranger seeking death of their own will.”
A lion-shaped monster entirely silvered like steel stood there.
It lay listlessly, watching Jin-woo with the gaze of one observing prey.
‘It has presence.’
“I see you haven’t brought even a small sword. Good. If you can endure the trials, then let us begin. You need only withstand three of my attacks. Do that, and you may leave Luton forever.”
The Steel Monster slowly rose to its feet.
“Then you will become a hero.”
Roar—!
It cried out loud.
Boom—!
The movement was so fast the word “instantaneous” barely covered it.
The Steel Monster reached Jin-woo and raised its massive forelimb.
Shrieeek—!
‘Here it comes!’
Jin-woo raised his shoulder.
More precisely, he had to block with the shield while redirecting the attack. It was slightly different from a standard parry.
‘I need to use a redirecting parry. Perfectly timed. Not a hair’s breadth of error.’
If he did that, he could block it.
‘The equipment is still lacking.’
But he couldn’t dwell on those shortcomings.
He had to draw out every ounce of power from the equipment he could make now, and use it at 120%.
He knew his own equipment best; making full use of it at 120% was hardly difficult.
Crash—!
“!”
The attack struck precisely at the upper center of the shield—the spot Jin-woo had heavily reinforced.
Or more accurately, the spot Jin-woo had engineered it to strike.
“Grrrr. Ehehehe. Splendid.”
Quite a few humans had blocked this first attack before.
But none had done so without taking any damage.
And none had laughed while doing it.
“Two left.”
The Steel Monster struck again in apparent fury.
“This time will be different.”
Shrieeek—!
Faster than before,
and a more powerful forelimb strike.
But Jin-woo was equally ready.
Clang—!
He’d already gotten the feel of blocking and redirecting from the first attack.
Only the first is difficult.
The second came easily. With renewed confidence, Jin-woo angled the shield with even better timing than before.
Thud—!
Perfect timing.
The first parry had taken minor damage, but this one took none at all.
“Now there’s one left.”
Growl—!
“Human, magnificent. Truly magnificent! Which is why this is a shame! This is my final blow!”
The Steel Monster’s ultimate strike came down.
Clang—!
The cavern filled with thunderous sound as the ground shattered, smoke scattering in all directions.
As the smoke cleared,
the Steel Monster stood tall.
Jin-woo knelt on one knee.
Yet their expressions were opposite. Jin-woo was laughing; the Steel Monster scowled. But soon, the Steel Monster’s face had become solemn again.
“Your victory, human. Depart from Luton, forever and always.”
-Quest cleared!
-You have cleared the Steel Monster of Luton for the first time!
-Registered to the Hall of Fame!
-First Hall of Fame registration!
-Reward received!
-Achievement obtained!
-[Legend of the Tutorial] achievement obtained!
-Level increased!
-The gods take notice of you!
-Tutorial cleared!
-You can no longer remain in Luton. Transferring to a random city!