The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 175

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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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Chapter 175
175.
European Union Auction House.
—This is insane.
—Essel’s entered the competition!
—Essel’s here!
The top ranker of the European Union Auction House, Essel, had registered an item.
The grade of the registered item was nothing short of USSR Rank.
—Wow. This is the first time I’ve seen USSR Rank in the Auction House.
—At that grade level, it’s really…….
—I can’t even see that grade.
—Neither can I.
—If your level is too low, you can’t see it.
—I bet a lot of people are seeing “???” instead.
The item Essel posted was an axe.
—Essel means axe.
—He brought his signature weapon.
—Look at those materials. This is crazy.
—Is that Lightning Strike? Wow.
Lightning Strike.
This brilliant yellow mineral was exceptionally difficult to obtain, and equally challenging to work with.
—Without lightning resistance, you absolutely can’t handle it.
—But this is Essel.
—He’s the peak of the craft here.
Essel was quite a free-spirited blacksmith.
Typically, items of UR Rank and above rarely came through the Auction House since people preferred private transactions, but Essel simply posted his work.
Not just once or twice, but repeatedly.
He’d been doing it since the days when no one else was.
Essel was the one who created this trend in the European Union Auction House.
—In the Asian Auction House, isn’t Jin-woo the pioneer?
—That’s right. Asia was really closed off back then.
—So overall, Essel came first, then Jin-woo followed.
Because of this, Essel’s reputation was exceptionally high.
—The prices have shot up.
—Is this the first time USSR has appeared on the Auction House?
—There have been a few, but it’s been almost nonexistent lately. People just do private deals or sell to Guilds instead.
—The Auction House fees must seem wasteful.
The Auction House did charge fees.
Because of this, private trading had become even more prevalent.
—This game’s over.
—UR+ and USSR are in a different league. Once you reach USSR, aren’t you called a Craftmaster?
—USSR is where the system officially recognizes you as a Craftmaster.
—Jin-woo certainly showed overwhelming performance, but it’s still hard to call him a Craftmaster yet.
Jin-woo’s UR+ Tentacle Whip.
And Essel’s USSR Lightning Strike Axe collided head-on.
Ding-! Ding-! Ding-!
The moment it was posted, the USSR Lightning Strike Axe’s bid updated in an instant, and its popularity ranking immediately hit second place.
—Oh man.
—Fifty-two million Gold right off the bat.
—Popularity ranking 2.
—This is it, then.
Everyone marveled that Essel was indeed Essel.
Ding-!
And true to form.
—It’s been reversed!
—Essel! Essel! Essel!
—So the European Union Auction House’s confidence is all thanks to Essel.
—Lightning Strike Axe [USSR] Popularity Ranking [1]
Bid Amount: 52 Million Gold
Essel, watching, clenched his fists.
“That’s right. Jin. The situation is different now!”
But that didn’t last.
The popularity ranking updated once more.
—Hm.
—What the hell.
—Jin-woo’s equipment took first place again??
—The competition is insane.
Jin-woo’s equipment had reclaimed first place.
—The Lightning Strike Axe that came up later has to keep first place, but somehow it’s not.
Essel now had his core supporters along with a surge of new interest.
Countless people were clicking on the Lightning Strike Axe.
—This reversal doesn’t even make sense. How is this happening?
Jin-woo had pulled off a reversal that should have been impossible.
“I never thought this would be easy to win.”
Essel smiled faintly.
“I had one more prepared.”
* * *
Jin-woo had obtained countless souls up until now.
But never one with such overwhelming power.
“I’ve never seen a soul like this before.”
Hisssss—
An enormous chill emanated from it, and despite being clearly dead, it displayed its power with serene dignity.
When Jin-woo brought his hand near, the chill rushed to envelope his entire body in an instant. Jin-woo released a burst of flame to push the cold back.
“Intense.”
—Soul of Boros [USSR]
The soul of Boros that Jin-woo obtained was nothing less than a USSR Rank soul.
“A Tyrant remains a Tyrant, even in death.”
The grade seemed to have been assigned quite accurately.
Only now did Jin-woo truly feel the reality of having hunted Boros.
“Pure white.”
It was the highest grade soul he’d ever obtained, and it was extraordinarily beautiful.
The pure white soul rose from Jin-woo’s palm into the air.
—You have obtained a powerful soul!
—Your Necromaster level increases.
—You have reached the job level cap. Your level will not increase.
—Unclaimed level has been accumulated.
Normally his level should have risen, but it didn’t.
It was blocked by the job level cap.
“I’ll need to finish my Awakening before the level goes up. Still, it’s good that it’s being accumulated.”
—The number of subordinates you can command has increased!
—Current number of subordinates you can command: 15
‘Fifteen.’
The number of subordinates Jin-woo could currently command was now fifteen.
‘Plenty of room.’
Boros scattered numerous byproducts, just as Jin-woo expected.
—Bone of Boros [USSR]
—Fur Hide of Boros [USSR]
—Tooth of Boros [USSR]
Starting with the soul, then bone, fur hide, and tooth.
And the source of power lodged in Boros’s chest—his core of cold—radiated overwhelming force.
“Nothing about this is easy.”
The reward was substantial, befitting the grueling hunt.
—Blizzard [USSR]
The cold core’s name was Blizzard.
Hisssss—
Bitter cold rose from it.
“Just looking at it, it seems troublesome. It’s outright rejecting my touch.”
It was similar to the Extreme Ice Crystal that had formed Ice Elze’s skeletal structure, but the cold was far more intense.
‘This cold is incomparable to anything I’ve handled before.’
Jin-woo smiled slightly.
‘Since it’s the source of that difficult Boros’s power. This much is only fitting.’
Along with it, Jin-woo discovered a pure white core.
Previously, Jin-woo had obtained a core of flame, which he had given to First.
—Core of Cold [USSR]
‘This will be useful.’
Jin-woo smiled and gathered all the byproducts.
“You were magnificent. Truly magnificent.”
“I can’t believe you managed to pull this off!”
The two blacksmiths rushed over in excitement.
It had been a battle that left them sweating with tension the entire time.
“Thank you both. I saw your every move to help. All of it.”
“Successor…….”
“You noticed.”
The two blacksmiths’ faces filled with emotion.
Jin-woo first checked the achievements he’d obtained.
—Achievement [Tyrant Slayer]
Effect: Grants a certain probability of inflicting Status Effect [Fear] on monsters of Tyrant-Grade and below.
“Tyrant-Grade and below means I can basically inflict the status effect on everything except boss monsters.”
It was quite a solid achievement.
—Registered in the Hall of Fame!
This was an achievement obtainable by hunting a Tyrant-Grade monster, and it too had a Hall of Fame.
—7. Jin-woo [92 Points]
The rank Jin-woo reached upon defeating Boros was seventh place.
This was the lowest rank Jin-woo had ever achieved in the Hall of Fame.
But Jin-woo was a Craftmaster.
It was absurd that he’d even reached the Hall of Fame after achieving an accomplishment that only the most select of hunters could attain.
‘The ranks above.’
Were all filled with named hunters.
“Tehent is in second place.”
Tehent, who had purchased a net from Jin-woo, held second place in this achievement.
“Who beat out Tehent and took first?”
[Tyrant Slayer Hall of Fame]
1. Comet [142 Points]
First place belonged to a user named Comet.
“There’s quite a gap between my score and theirs. And Tehent in second is ten points behind.”
Jin-woo was very curious about this Comet user.
‘Boros was ridiculously strong after all.’
Among all the monsters he’d encountered, there was none like Boros. Classified as a Tyrant-Grade, Boros was a powerhouse among powerhouses.
‘Though my level is still low, of course.’
Jin-woo’s level was still in the 300s.
‘Not even in the ranker tier yet.’
So there were challenges to hunting, but fundamentally, Tyrant-Grade monsters existed in a different league.
‘Comet. I should remember that.’
And this hunt had been invaluable.
“Tehent will love this.”
This experience seemed like it would be a huge help in crafting Tehent’s full custom gear.
Jin-woo immediately summoned his subordinates one by one.
As Jin-woo hunted Boros, his level rose, and thanks to that, his subordinates who had fallen into unconsciousness recovered.
Pur hung his head.
A cracked war hammer that could no longer be used rested in his hands.
He had lost.
Not only had his equipment been shattered, but he’d fallen unconscious as well.
“I’m sorry.”
Bon and Moltus couldn’t lift their heads either.
“You all did your part well enough. Boros was extraordinarily strong.”
“I’m…sorry.”
First showed Jin-woo his shattered war hammer.
“If…I…had…been…stronger…I…would…have…kept…the…equipment…intact.”
“He was a worthy opponent.”
Just as the two blacksmiths of the Underworld had warned, Boros was incredibly formidable.
“You all did what you could. More than that, you did wonderfully.”
Jin-woo reassured them.
“We won’t fall again.”
Under Pur’s lead, the other subordinates too burned with the desire to be more helpful to Jin-woo.
—Your subordinates’ loyalty increases!
‘Actually, this is good. We’d won too much until now.’
Thanks to Jin-woo’s gear and the souls he’d consistently fed them to help them grow, his subordinates had never known defeat.
‘It gave them confidence, but.’
The ferocity was likely gone.
But this defeat imprinted a sense of humiliation from losing onto them.
‘Thanks to that, hunger has been born.’
A hunger for victory.
A hunger for strength.
That hunger would become the fastest path to growth.
‘Especially Pur.’
While First hadn’t fallen, Pur had.
For Pur, that must have been a profound shock.
‘He’ll grow stronger soon.’
After reassuring his subordinates, Jin-woo thought about Boros.
‘He was stronger than I expected. Boros was.’
The main scenario’s tower bosses were nowhere near as powerful as Boros had been.
‘Could it be.’
Jin-woo looked at the two blacksmiths.
“Tell me. Has something strange happened in the Underworld?”
“Something strange…… is what you mean?”
“Something strange…….”
“For instance, a tower appearing.”
“!”
The two blacksmiths looked at Jin-woo.
“Yes. It has appeared.”
“We heard that something massive has arisen near Central City.”
‘As I thought.’
The source of Boros’s tremendous power wasn’t simply because he was a Tyrant-Grade monster.
‘He was receiving power from the tower.’
That’s why he was so strong.
‘There’s a tower here too.’
Jin-woo was actually pleased.
‘Two birds with one stone.’
Then Jin-woo asked further.
“The Successor of the New God is stronger than this Boros, correct?”
At Jin-woo’s words, Ghost King and Ice Elze both nodded.
“Yes. That’s correct.”
The expressions of the two blacksmiths darkened once more.
They had succeeded in hunting Boros, but the cost had been enormous.
The UR+ Rank equipment that First and Pur had been holding was completely destroyed, and Bon’s tail scythe was shattered too.
Moreover, the Dragon Stone Chain Scythe that Jin-woo had been wielding was also in ruins.
Of course, he had the USSR Rank Phantom Blade, but First alone couldn’t face the Successor of the New God.
“We will all contribute our strength.”
“We can mobilize the souls from Fragment City.”
But those were hollow words.
The souls of Fragment City had no bodies.
Though they showed no hostility toward Jin-woo, they had no reason to help him either.
Jin-woo shook his head at the two blacksmiths.
“It’s fine.”
Jin-woo said.
In fact, it was good. That everything was gone.
“I can make it again.”
It meant he could craft anew.
Jin-woo placed the byproducts of Boros on the workbench.
While crafting the Phantom Blade, Jin-woo had learned an immense amount.
“There’s plenty of material.”
Starting with Boros’s byproducts, he also laid out materials from before whose grades hadn’t been visible and he hadn’t used.
Two materials obtained from hunting Balam, the boss of Furnace Tower.
“Scale Stone.”
And Bone of Balam.
They’d appeared as question marks before, but now their grades were unmistakably clear.
—Bone of Balam [USSR]
—Scale Stone [USSR]
“They were USSR Rank.”
Materials that had been gathering dust for so long could finally be used.
Hisssss—
Fire ignited in Jin-woo’s furnace.
“New armor for First. New weapon and armor for Pur.”
And.
Jin-woo made Boros’s soul float before him.
“A new subordinate.”

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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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