The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 152

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

Chapter 152
Episode 152.
“If we clear the tower, we’ll give you everything.”
Gold Guide accepted the terms. From the start, it was an offer he couldn’t refuse.
In fact, he felt that Jin-woo had been quite considerate.
Then footsteps echoed from far away.
It was Han Seom and around two hundred Guild members.
The Guild members arrived urgently at the tower.
The Guild Master and Jin-woo were there.
On the surface, it might have looked like something else, but the Guild Master understood immediately.
“You came to apologize, didn’t you?”
Gold Guide grasped exactly why Han Seom had brought two hundred people. Having dealt with Jin and experienced New Gene’s Jin-woo himself, it was an obvious chain of thought.
“Everything’s been resolved nicely! Don’t worry!”
“!”
Han Seom took a deep breath.
“That’s a relief.”
Then Han Seom bowed deeply to Jin-woo. Since they had a slight acquaintance from before, he observed proper courtesy.
“I apologize.”
“We apologize!”
Even though things had worked out well, Han Seom preferred to tie up the loose ends neatly, so he bowed low. At his signal, all two hundred Guild members apologized.
“It’s fine.”
Jin-woo waved his hand dismissively.
“Everything worked out.”
For Jin-woo, this entire conflict had been nothing but profitable.
* * *
The meeting place.
Yur and Artemus stood awkwardly, eyeing each other.
“Mm.”
“I didn’t accept willingly. It’s just…”
The Attendant appeared between the two uncomfortable miners.
The phantom-logged Attendant’s footsteps were silent.
“Greetings.”
“You came, friend!”
“Long time!”
The two miners welcomed the Attendant.
The Attendant immediately produced the equipment he’d received from Jin-woo.
“The Master says to rely on him for many things. And.”
The Attendant handed equipment to both of them.
“These are new Pickaxes the Master sent. They were crafted to suit both of your preferences.”
The Attendant handed a Pickaxe to each of Yur and Artemus.
“!”
Yur’s eyes gleamed.
“This is…”
UR Grade.
He rubbed his eyes and looked again — still UR Grade.
A body crafted with elegant simplicity.
And a Pickaxe blade through which Dark Energy flowed madly.
“I thought I had a perfect Pickaxe.”
In Yur’s hand was the Pickaxe Jin-woo had made for him before.
But the moment the new Pickaxe caught his eye, the one he’d been carrying suddenly looked pitifully shabby.
That’s how overwhelming Jin-woo’s new creation was.
“Ah…”
Yur accepted the new UR Grade Pickaxe.
His hands trembled.
“Graceful and refined.”
The Attendant’s eyes widened.
Yur was about to use a new technique.
He smiled broadly.
And tears formed in his eyes.
“My goodness.”
By elevating his emotional threshold through contrasting feelings, an Advanced Technique triggered.
The undead Attendant trembled at Yur’s Advanced Technique. So he still had that much left in him.
“Tell him I’m truly grateful.”
And it was the same for Artemus.
“You made it exactly as I wanted.”
Both Yur and Artemus had definite tastes in their custom Pickaxes.
Because of that, even when Jin-woo first crafted Pickaxes for them, there were many things he couldn’t fully implement.
But this new UR Grade Pickaxe had all the options they desired built into it.
“This is really just what you mentioned once before.”
Artemus’s Pickaxe had Flame Customization.
“It has Frost Customization too?”
Flame and Frost Customization.
When mining ore, there were times when intense flame was necessary. Until now, they’d learned and used skills for it, but they’d once mentioned wondering if it were possible to impart such properties directly to a Pickaxe.
They’d naturally assumed it would be difficult.
If imparting properties to equipment were that easy, Artemus would have loaded his Pickaxe with attribute enchantments long ago.
“It’s not mediocre flame.”
Mediocre flame could be imparted easily enough, but high-grade, properly executed flame was extraordinarily difficult to add.
Whoooosh—
“Wow.”
The Attendant’s eyes widened.
Artemus had a reaction every bit as delicious as Yur’s.
That gaze.
So many emotions contained in that single look.
The Attendant furrowed his brow.
This technique would be difficult to learn.
“The Master asks you to rely on him for everything.”
“Right. Now we can show what we’re made of!”
“Let’s go!”
Yur and Artemus looked at the Attendant. They hadn’t expected the three of them to end up together like this, but since it had come to that, they intended to properly mine some ore.
“We’re heading to the Absolute Darkness Mine.”
The Absolute Darkness Mine.
“I can’t go there alone, not ever.”
Yur said.
Artemus nodded in agreement. The Absolute Darkness Mine was a place neither of them could solo.
The mine supposedly produced ore of tremendous Grade, but it was too dangerous for soloing.
“You, me, and friend here…”
“We might pull it off.”
The Attendant nodded.
“Let’s go.”
* * *
Gold Guide selected members according to Jin-woo’s instructions.
The target was the ten best of the best elite members for the tower assault.
“Hmm.”
Jin-woo examined their equipment level.
‘Not bad, actually.’
Gremlin, the exclusive Blacksmith of the Agent Guild, was no mediocre craftsman.
‘That Armor I saw at first was terrible, though.’
Still, his other work was quite serviceable.
‘I’ve done plenty of this in the Elven City.’
Upgrading equipment was an easy task for Jin-woo.
‘I upgraded hundreds of Elf pieces. This will be simple.’
Jin-woo immediately went to work on their equipment.
Armor, swords, shields.
And axes too.
The axes in particular were equipment where even a brief touch could yield significant results.
“Done.”
“Already?”
As Jin-woo finished his work in an instant, Gold Guide’s expression registered surprise.
“Truly remarkable!”
Then he nodded as if it were only natural.
“Have them equip the upgraded gear. Let’s proceed immediately.”
At Jin-woo’s words, Gold Guide nodded.
“I’m truly sorry.”
Gold Guide had learned a painful lesson.
After Jin-woo left.
“My apologies. I arrived late.”
A sub-Guild Master had arrived.
The Agent Guild had two sub-Guild Masters.
One was Backer.
The other was a user who had been elsewhere on business.
He hadn’t participated in this conflict and was arriving only now.
When he arrived, the situation seemed very strange.
“An Evil Avatar Byproduct? Then we get nothing?”
“That’s right. And that’s actually a blessing.”
“Then we…”
“Can attempt the tower quite smoothly! And that’s not all.”
The Guild Master smiled and told him about Jin-woo upgrading their equipment.
“Really? We actually benefit?”
The sub-Guild Master looked puzzled.
They were handing over all the Evil Avatar Byproducts in exchange for equipment upgrades.
Of course, they’d agreed to do so to appease Jin-woo’s anger, but in the sub-Guild Master’s assessment, this was no benefit at all.
“Then it’s a benefit.”
“He didn’t make new equipment, just upgraded what we had. Will it really change much?”
The sub-Guild Master picked up one of the upgraded Armor pieces.
This was the Armor another elite member would wear. It didn’t look particularly different from when Gremlin made it.
“Will it change that much? With just an upgrade, it would only… mgh—”
“?”
Suddenly the sub-Guild Master made an odd sound.
“Sub-Guild Master?”
Gold Guide called to him. At that, the sub-Guild Master blinked hard.
“It’s… different…?”
Jin-woo hadn’t created brand new equipment.
He’d simply refined what they already had.
Jin-woo had already accumulated substantial upgrade experience in the Elven City, so he could draw out the maximum latent potential of a piece of equipment with just a brief touch.
When equipped with equipment that had achieved its maximum potential this way, the difference from before was impossible to ignore.
“This is new equipment…!”
The previously skeptical sub-Guild Master instantly changed his attitude.
“The tower. I think we can actually clear it. I’m confident we can do this.”
And he continued.
“It’s definitely a benefit! Well done, Guild Master!”
“That much of a difference?”
Gold Guide picked up one of the upgraded swords himself. He’d used this particular blade before.
“Huh.”
He involuntarily made a strange sound.
“Is this really the same sword…?”
Dark Energy was even emanating from it. And it was just an upgrade, nothing more.
“Insane.”
He swung it lightly, and Dark Energy spread outward — the sight was more magnificent than he could have imagined.
Beyond that, its functionality was undeniable. That snug, perfect fit. He wanted this.
“I want to use this…”
A sword wasn’t Gold Guide’s primary weapon. But he was deeply tempted by this one.
“It’s mine, Guild Master…”
An anxious elite member watching from behind unconsciously reached out his hand. Then he quickly pulled it back with his other hand.
“I’m joking. Just joking. You use it, Yu-seok.”
“Then why won’t you give it…?”
“I didn’t mean to.”
Gold Guide shut his eyes tight and handed over the sword.
“Phew.”
Gold Guide suddenly looked quite pleased, though with a slight frown.
“Our full-time Blacksmith’s pride is going to take quite a hit…”
But that wasn’t the case.
Gremlin too was marveling, tears streaming down his face.
“You’re just giving out these gems so freely.”
He had already received pointers from Jin-woo.
“I’ll work harder. Starting from scratch again!”
Win-win.
And then.
-User [Backer] of Agent Guild has been removed!
“I’ve endured all I can. You understand, right?”
Backer was expelled from the Guild.
* * *
JBS Editorial Office.
“PD, aren’t you sleeping?”
The Writer looked at PD Han In-gu with concern.
He’d already been awake for over fifty hours.
“Not tired.”
PD Han wasn’t tired.
Ever since that day he’d met with Jin-woo, he’d been editing videos with all his strength, again and again.
He’d screen the edited videos with his team and cut anything that wasn’t fully satisfactory.
“Strike while the iron is hot.”
Jin-woo was trusting him.
So shouldn’t he produce results worthy of that trust?
“KBC and OBC’s PDs are sharpening their knives right now.”
“Yes. I’ve heard they know they’ve essentially lost. Of course they would.”
And now Netflix had become the same stage.
If they lost now, it was truly a loss.
Securing a Slayer and High-Tech, then losing to a Blacksmith Jin-woo?
That would be a major disaster.
Han wanted to be the architect of this disaster.
“They say you took down an entire Guild? Wow. I was really shocked when I heard that.”
“You mean the Agent Guild news?”
“The Agent Guild is still top 100, and you just… swept through it alone. I was shocked. Really.”
“It’s nothing to be shocked about.”
PD Han In-gu shook his head.
“It happened like this in the old days too.”
Among Jin’s many legends, that was a relatively gentle one.
“Anyway, there are only a few days left now.”
Han pushed for the final sprint.
* * *
D-3.
Teasers began uploading to Netflix.
KBC uploaded first, posting their video of a Slayer’s four-star tower clear to amplify the hype.
-Wow, the teaser came out great.
-Insane.
-I heard Leap Guild was fully prepared?
OBC’s teaser came up too.
-Damn, High-Tech really sharpened their blades.
-They didn’t know JBS would jump ahead, right? KBC was their rival, but JBS came in third basically from episode one.
-Basically last place.
-Must’ve hurt their pride.
OBC had unwittingly ended up in last place.
High-Tech in particular was rumored to have caused an uproar.
And then JBS.
-Proving performance on Netflix is so cool.
-But then KBC and OBC are pumping in huge money, right?
-They’re on the same platform now, but judging by the teasers, it looks rough.
The previous two broadcasters’ teasers were dazzling and impressive enough to show how much money they’d spent.
-Let’s see JBS’s teaser when it drops.
-JBS isn’t a broke network either! They already proved it on MiTube!
Ping—!
Then JBS’s teaser registered.
Users checking it expected the same kind of high-impact teaser as KBC and OBC before.
But it wasn’t.
Jin-woo appeared in the teaser.
His back view.
Then his Familiars were shown.
And then.
A dragon appeared.
A dragon.
And Hammering.
The final shot was a massive tower.
Boom—!
Clean direction.
Unlike the previous two teasers, people were thrilled by the restrained production rather than bombast.
-Wow, insane.
-I’ve never been this hyped just from a teaser!
-Jin-woo! Jin-woo! Jin-woo!
-So this covers all three, right? Hunting the dragon and crafting and tower clear?
-The direction is insane.
-The crafting is insane! Is he making equipment from the dragon materials he hunted?
-Given the Orichalcon Greatsword and World Tree’s Judgment that hit the Auction House, it checks out. Making equipment from dragon materials and selling what he had before — it’s confirmed now.
-Kyaaaah—
Unlike the other teasers, this one differed in everything — comment count, view count, all of it.
And three days passed.
-5 minutes to premiere!
Saturday.
Exactly 11:00.
KBC, OBC, and JBS videos went live.
* * *
While everyone was tense.
Jin-woo was positioned above the location marked by his Quest Marker.
A quest given by the Master of Soul and Abyss. A place to fulfill that quest.
“Hmm.”
He’d sought out various quest locations thus far.
There had been forests, mines, and the Underground just recently.
“A black hole, huh.”
As Jin-woo drew closer, a tremendous force tried to pull him in.
-You have discovered the entrance to the Underworld!
-You have received a First Discovery Reward!
-All Stats have increased by 150!
Different from the Underground.
The true entrance to the Underworld, the realm of pure spirit.
“Let’s go.”

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