The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 157

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

Chapter 157
Episode 157.
“That’s different.”
It was distinctly unlike the gems Jin-woo had seen on the Surface World.
-Judgment Crystal [UR]
Description: A crystal containing the power of the Judge’s Eye. Optimized for gathering force.
It was an UR Grade material, no less.
Judgment Crystal.
A beautiful mineral with a gray luster.
“Optimized for gathering force—does that mean I can fire a ray like before?”
Gather mana and fire a ray.
“That’s pretty good. There’s something romantic about it.”
Jin-woo smiled to himself.
Then he checked the byproducts.
-Judgment Soul [SSR Grade]
-Bone of Judge’s Eye [UR]
-Judgment Tentacle [SSR Grade]
Soul and bone.
Between those two familiar materials sat one unusual substance.
Tentacle.
The Judge’s Eye certainly had squid-like, elongated tentacles attached to it.
“Tentacle, then.”
An SSR Grade tentacle, at that.
“This one…”
Jin-woo ran his fingers over the tentacle. It was a material he’d never worked with before.
“I’ve used tentacles before, actually.”
During his time with Eternal Sunshine. He’d worked with tentacles then.
But they’d been extremely difficult to handle, and the things he could craft with them were limited, so he hadn’t used them many times.
“This one might divide opinions, though.”
Jin-woo smiled slightly.
“In an interesting way.”
It had been troublesome back then, but not anymore.
“What to make is already decided, anyway.”
He had a clear idea of what could be forged.
It was a weapon perfectly suited to this tentacle.
“Summon.”
Jin-woo placed the tentacle into the fire first.
Shhhhiiiisss—
The dragon’s flame and Balam’s blue fire instantly began scorching the tentacle.
‘Not smelting it like a mineral.’
That would just burn it away completely.
‘Sear it so I can just shape it.’
Jin-woo stretched the tentacle out fully and fixed it in place.
Harmonia Smelting Technique.
Shhhhiiiisss—
The Harmonia Smelting Technique was truly versatile.
‘Since it’s the technique of balance and harmony…’
Especially with difficult materials like this, its potential was remarkable.
Though of course, that didn’t change the difficulty itself.
‘At least it gets easier for me.’
It only got easier for Jin-woo specifically.
Crack—
Crackle-crack!
The tentacle writhed and began warping under Jin-woo’s hands.
‘It can’t be too soft. But it can’t be too brittle either.’
He needed to preserve the tentacle’s intrinsic properties.
‘The image in my head…’
There was only one image he kept picturing.
‘Maximized writhing.’
Jin-woo decided to leverage the tentacle’s material characteristics fully.
‘Strip everything else away.’
To preserve the tentacle’s essence, Jin-woo excluded all unnecessary techniques.
Nothing but the tentacle itself.
Scritch—
Jin-woo carved the tip with his Engraving Knife. Sharp. But not too sharp.
‘It needs balance.’
And that balance was the hardest part. Jin-woo remembered his old days. It was the same then. He recalled why the tentacle, which seemed so easy at first, had been so difficult.
‘But thinking about it differently…’
It was a way to measure how much his craftsmanship had evolved.
“Next.”
Jin-woo retrieved the Judgment Crystal.
“I’ll carve this and set it into the tip of the tentacle.”
Click—
The moment he brought the Judgment Crystal near, an intense cold emanated from it.
“Good.”
The chill tried to freeze his hand instantly. Jin-woo gave it a sharp flick, shaking it off.
And then.
“Come on, try harder.”
Pop—
Click—click—
The Judgment Crystal kept trying to freeze him, but was casually suppressed with each flick.
‘This is easy.’
He’d handled far more demanding materials before.
This was nothing he couldn’t manage.
Lek and the spirits approached cautiously from a distance.
“I’ve never seen the Judge’s Eye hunted so one-sidedly.”
It was utterly overwhelming.
He’d erased the Judge’s Eye’s advantages entirely and attacked it unilaterally.
Lek and the spirits couldn’t figure out what class Jin-woo actually belonged to.
The fact that he could touch spirits suggested he was a Necromancer, yet his crafting ability was exceptional.
And then there was his combat prowess just now.
It wasn’t extraordinary, but with those simple movements, he’d completely overwhelmed the Judge’s Eye.
Because of the simple hammering they’d just witnessed, they couldn’t help but rate these simple movements very highly.
A master.
He could only be called a master proficient in every field.
Of course, Jin-woo’s combat skills weren’t as refined as his other two talents.
He simply handled his equipment well.
Lek and the spirits watched the crafting quietly.
Even to those unfamiliar with crafting, the materials from the Judge’s Eye were clearly extremely difficult to handle.
“They’re just in a completely different league from spirits and… Underworld steel.”
“Shouldn’t we keep them until we’ve learned how to work with them?”
“Quiet. Unless you want to be kept yourself.”
“Yelp.”
The spirits withdrew carefully to one side so as not to interfere with Jin-woo’s work.
Scritch-scratch!
His Engraving skill sparked more questions in their minds.
“That wasn’t… hammering…?”
This time it was carving.
“Can all the living people on the Surface World do this these days…?”
“Boss, have we been dead too long to understand…?”
“No. The Master must simply be exceptionally versatile.”
Lek frowned slightly.
“Perhaps.”
Just then, Jin-woo finished crafting.
Shhhhiiiisss—!
Light began emanating from the finished equipment.
“Aaah!”
The spirits cried out and dropped to the ground. That light was the same radiance they’d seen from the Judge’s Eye’s ray.
-Equipment crafted!
-UR Grade equipment crafted!
-Judgment Tentacle Whip crafted!
[Judgment Tentacle Whip]
-Attack Power: 7,700
-Grade: UR
-Durability: 333,500 / 333,500
[A sword forged by Jin-woo, Master Blacksmith of unparalleled skill. A formidable whip crafted from the crystal and tentacles of the Judge’s Eye, the arbiter of the Underworld. It can ensnare and tear anything.]
* Special Option [Tentacle Power: Agility Stat increases by 300!]
* Special Option [Life Drain: Absorbs 11% of damage dealt as your own health!]
* Special Option [Shadow Slash: Increases Attack Power by 7%.]
* Special Option [Ambush: The power of the Necro Meister dwells within. Your first attack is guaranteed to be a Fatal Blow!]
* Special Option [Soul Forging: Draws out the spirit’s power. Critical hit chance increases by 15%!]
* Special Skill [Judgment Ray: Power dwells in the crystal. Gather your strength and unleash a powerful ray!]
What emerged was a whip.
A simple whip with the Judge’s Eye’s crystal at the end, containing all the latent potential of the tentacle.
“UR.”
In the Underworld, Jin-woo’s baseline was gradually being established.
Jin-woo gripped the finished Judgment Tentacle Whip in his hand.
Then he swung it using a wrist snap.
Whip-crack—!
With a clean sound, the whip tore across the ground.
“Hmm.”
The feel was definitely excellent, thanks to the tentacle’s unique material properties.
“If I put this on the Auction House, there’ll definitely be demand.”
Perhaps even more demand than any other equipment he’d ever listed.
“Hunters will love it.”
Jin-woo smiled to himself.
Then he activated the most crucial skill.
Shhhhiiiisss—
He put strong force into his wrist.
Skill: Judgment Ray
Skraaaaaaack—!
As he swung the whip, a ray shot forth from its tip. It was the same ray the Judge’s Eye had wielded.
“Goodness…”
“The Judge’s Eye… it’s come back to life!”
The spirits scattered in panic.
“This is…”
Jin-woo, having just fired the ray, found himself smiling without thinking.
“There’s romance in it.”
A ray. Or a beam.
It was a special skill with undeniable charm.
“This will definitely sell well.”
Next, Jin-woo placed the Bone of Judge’s Eye on the Work Table.
“I want to work with the soul properly this time.”
The Bone of Judge’s Eye was quite elongated.
“Then…”
Jin-woo began carving the bone right there.
He wrapped the bone around the Engraving Knife and applied force.
Click—
“!”
The moment he carved into the bone, Jin-woo instinctively yanked his hand back.
‘The bone’s different too.’
The materials here differed from everything Jin-woo had ever known.
‘They just have the same names.’
All the experience he’d accumulated was becoming useless.
Or rather, it was getting in the way.
‘If I’d moved my hands the way I normally do…’
This bone would have shattered.
Jin-woo’s hands trembled at the difficult situation.
“!”
Lek, watching, noticed him.
These Underworld materials were special.
He didn’t know the details, but Jin-woo seemed to have hit an impasse.
“If you find that Master Blacksmith, Master, you should be able to learn properly…”
Lek suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
It wasn’t an impasse he’d hit.
“He’s… smiling.”
The impasse had hit Jin-woo.
“He’s enjoying this…”
In Jin-woo’s mind, countless rapid simulations ran through how to carve this bone.
Force adjustment.
Angle.
And timing.
Scritch—
Jin-woo brought the Engraving Knife back to the bone.
The Whetstone Engraving Knife inherently vibrated.
And the intensity of that vibration changed depending on how much mana he poured in.
‘A bit stronger.’
Instead of loosening his grip, he increased the vibration frequency.
Click—click-click—!
Crackle—!
The bone, which had seemed on the verge of shattering, began to grind properly.
Jin-woo carved the upper portion with perfect timing.
-Equipment crafted!
-UR Grade equipment crafted!
A UR Grade Bone Sword was born in Jin-woo’s hands.
Sharp beyond measure.
“With this, I can at least make an introduction.”
It should be more than capable of landing solid blows on Underworld monsters.
“Where is this blacksmith, anyway?”
“He’s in Section 9.5 City. It’s quite a distance.”
Since this was Section 3 City, it was quite far indeed.
“Then for the route…”
“We’ll escort you safely!”
“Take the unsafe route like before.”
“…Yes, sir!”

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