The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 194

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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 194
Episode 194.
Ding—!
Dongwoo was working frantically.
“The response is insane.”
It was the rough cut of the third episode video that was about to go up. The rough cut was going to be handed over to JBS as is, and the video that would go up on JinTube was separate so it wouldn’t overlap with that one.
“Why is this happening? What on earth!”
When he first received the third episode video from his brother, it wasn’t like this.
But after running a massive advertisement campaign, the entire world was now heaping praise on Jin-woo like mad.
-Jin-woo! Jin-woo! Jin-woo!
-So excited for episode 3. This guy really has a different approach to movement.
-Among the rising users lately, there’s no one like Jin-woo. Really fresh.
“I’m scared now, honestly.”
The scale had grown too massive.
And the impact had rippled across to JinTube as well.
“We hit three million subscribers.”
The time it took to go from one million to three million subscribers was significantly shorter than the time it took to hit one million in the first place.
And that wasn’t all—the Shorts view count was strange.
“Two hundred million views?”
Even for short-form content, two hundred million views was staggering.
“Where did all of it come from?”
Of course, two hundred million views didn’t mean two hundred million unique viewers. There had to be plenty of duplicate counting involved.
Even so, it was an enormous number of views. At minimum, half of half of the world’s viewers had to be paying attention to Jin-woo’s MiTube right now.
Gulp.
“I always thought my brother would become a legend in New Gene.”
But that had been a thought limited to the domestic market. Who could have predicted that Jin-woo would become famous worldwide?
Dongwoo shook his head.
“Don’t get scared for nothing.”
All he had to do was show his brother as he truly was.
“I know that. I just have to express it faithfully.”
Show what his brother had built, exactly as it was.
Fourteen hours later.
Dongwoo completed the rough cut.
“I’ll send this to JBS.”
-Transfer complete.
Dongwoo stumbled to his feet and uploaded a new video.
“Let me just get some sleep now.”
But the moment he uploaded, alarms started blaring like crazy, and Dongwoo’s eyes flew open.
It was the first video since the massive Netflix advertisement campaign.
“Ah, no—let me sleep a bit!”
The response was explosively intense. There was no helping it.
“I have to make more Shorts.”
Just one more.
“Then, and I really mean it, I’m sleeping!”
Six hours later, Dongwoo was finally able to fall asleep.
Ding—! Ding—!
And even while he slept, the view counts climbed madly.
* * *
JBS editing suite.
Han Ingu’s team, having moved to a much larger editing suite than the one where they’d worked on episode 2, waited with pounding hearts for the rough cut to arrive.
“I’m so nervous.”
They’d already heard about the concept for episode 3.
“The Underworld? I’ve never even heard of that.”
Han Ingu’s editing team members were heavy New Gene users. To do the editing, they needed to know countless details about New Gene, so they played it passionately.
Yet even so, the Underworld was a location name they’d never heard of before.
“Is it like an underground world?”
“The Tower of Sulfur and Furnace was inside an underground city too, wasn’t it?”
The dwarves’ city was also located underground.
“This must be even deeper underground.”
“Since he has the Necromancer class! It might be connected to that.”
Ding—!
“The rough cut for episode 3 has arrived.”
“I’ve confirmed the title—Reclamation of the Underworld.”
Video about a brand new world that no other user had ever known existed.
Like episode 2 with the Tower of Sulfur and Furnace, Jin-woo was always a user who shattered expectations.
The video had to be tailored to match that.
PD Han Ingu started the video immediately.
The rough cut was roughly six hours long.
“Wow.”
“Wow…”
“The restrictions are no joke.”
“He couldn’t craft at all because of them.”
The Underworld was a harsh place.
The moment he entered, powerful restrictions descended upon Jin-woo.
Everyone held their breath.
The restrictions were so severe that no matter how much they thought about it, they couldn’t find any answer on how to resolve them.
“He’ll probably withdraw for now…”
With no viable method, the immediate priority was to step out of the Underworld and find a new solution.
But Jin-woo didn’t leave.
“!”
“Wow…!”
“To do it like this.”
He found his own way and began crafting anew within the Underworld.
“Hahahahaha.”
“Ah, I never expected he’d do it like this.”
Admiration mixed with laughter. The funny part was the crafting process—done by hand.
“We definitely need to bring out this section.”
Jin-woo’s conquest of the Underworld, despite being a six-hour rough cut, had remarkable pulling power.
A new familiar.
A newly achieved tier.
And a dramatic victory.
“…”
When the video ended, everyone fell silent.
They all felt enormous pressure about episode 3.
Episode 2 had been far too successful, and with Netflix’s one-billion-dollar investment, the entire world was watching obsessively for the third episode to drop.
But success with episode 2 offered no guarantee that episode 3 would be successful too.
There was also the matter of episode 2’s polish being so high.
The content itself was compelling enough that editing could bring out all its charm.
While other broadcasters focused on a single tower, Jin-woo had packed three pieces of content into one.
Precisely because they thought that content was the peak, they’d worried they couldn’t make anything better for episode 3.
But.
“We’re done now.”
The moment they watched the video Jin-woo had sent, that worry vanished in an instant.
There was nothing left to worry about.
This was a film.
Richer in content than episode 2, and fresher.
Anyone who knew New Gene would find it fascinating, and it was genuinely captivating. This couldn’t fail.
“If we just do our part well, I think we’ll be fine.”
“Yeah.”
PD Han Ingu swallowed hard.
“You all saw it, right? This content is insane. I never imagined he’d bring something even more entertaining than episode 2!”
It had not only narrative strength but genuine originality as well.
“Who here knows about the Underworld?”
No one knew about the Underworld.
“This is fundamentally a home run.”
And if we do it right.
“Number one worldwide… that’s not impossible, is it?”
If that happened, Han Ingu would become a world-class director.
He’d ridden on Jin-woo’s momentum, hitching a ride on his coattails—and now he was a world-class director. Han Ingu felt dizzy even thinking about it.
But it was too early to pop the champagne yet.
“You said you wanted to buy houses, right?”
PD Han Ingu cracked a grin.
“Let’s do it. If we nail episode 3, we’ll all have a house each!”
* * *
Crash—!
The first floor. The Tower of Trials shook.
Crash—! Crash—! Crash—!
Whoosh—.
Jin-woo hammered the titanium he’d obtained by hand and threw it into the furnace.
At the same time, he was crystallizing the soul of the Titanium Hedgehog in the forge of souls.
Crash—! Crash—!
‘I’m so much more used to this than during the Underworld.’
Using his hands as a hammer took technique.
‘I have to stop thinking of it as tapping my hands. I have to think of my hands as being the hammer itself.’
Crash—! Crash—!
The hard titanium deformed under Jin-woo’s hand-hammer.
‘No. No, that’s not right.’
Mid-swing, Jin-woo shook his head.
“It’s not the hand.”
My hand didn’t become a hammer.
‘I have.’
“I have to think of myself as the hammer.”
Crash—! Boom—!
Jin-woo struck the titanium with precision.
Rhythm.
Then he raised the tempo, striking again and again.
“Maximization Forging Technique.”
He maximized the lightness that titanium possessed. Then Jin-woo extracted the soul.
Whoosh—.
From the rising soul came a sharp, icy chill. The subtle coolness titanium naturally held.
‘I’ll draw it out.’
“Soul Forging.”
Jin-woo drew out all of titanium’s properties and purified them.
Whoosh—.
Titanium entered a momentarily unstable state.
Of course it did. He’d drawn out every latent potential and property, so instability was inevitable.
“Harmonia Forging Technique.”
Jin-woo stabilized the titanium with the Harmonia Forging Technique.
Crash—! Boom—!
Putting detail into a punch is difficult work.
Because of that, Jin-woo boldly abandoned detail. He focused entirely on bringing out titanium’s properties.
It could be rough.
‘I’ll make that roughness into an advantage.’
Crash—!
“Squeak—!”
The Titanium Hedgehog, now his familiar, stood guard like an iron wall over Jin-woo absorbed in his work. Though admittedly it was so small he had to look down to see it.
“Growl—.”
The titanium monsters were about to overwhelm Jin-woo when.
“It’s complete.”
-Equipment has been created!
-UR+ Grade equipment has been created!
[Titanium Shadow Gauntlets]
-Attack Power: 25,000
-Grade: UR+
-Durability: 300,000 / 300,000
<
* Special Skill [Titanium Crash: Unleash a devastating blow!]
* Special Option [Maximization Forging: Attack power is maximized. Attack power increases by 10,000.]
* Special Option [Harmonious Balance: Based on equipment completion, attack power and durability increase further.]
* Special Option [Titanium’s Lightness: Attack speed increases!]
* Special Option [Ultimate Attack Power: Attack power increases by 8,500.]
* Special Option [Curse Infusion – Arcshak LV3: Attack power increases by 6,500.]
* Special Option [Life Drain: Absorb 15% of damage dealt as health!]
* Special Option [Shadow Slash: Increases attack power by 11%.]
* Special Option [Ambush: Imbued with Necromaster power, the first attack is guaranteed to be a Fatal Blow.]
* Special Option [Soul Forging: Draws out the spirit-force of the material. Attack speed increases by 25%.]
* Special Option [Soul Penetration: Damage ignores defense!]
Jin-woo immediately equipped the completed gauntlets and swung them straight at the titanium monsters.
Crash—!
“This is a fun trial. A really fun trial.”
-You have overcome the trial!
-The Tower of Trials is beginning mid-stage settlement!
-You have earned bonus points!
* * *
Trials granted by the Tower of Trials are given differently to each individual.
Generally, trials descend tailored to the user’s difficulty level, so few users ever overcome a trial mid-tower and continue ascending.
But Jin-woo solved his trial the moment he received it.
From the tower’s perspective, this was bewildering.
-The Master of the Tower watches you.
The Master of the Tower began watching Jin-woo, who had crafted gauntlets and pierced straight through the trial.
Regardless, Jin-woo remained absorbed in hunting Titanium Hedgehogs.
-You have hunted a Titanium Hedgehog.
-You have hunted a Titanium Hedgehog.
Jin-woo easily dispatched a pack of Titanium Hedgehogs using the gauntlets.
“Good thing equipment crafted inside the tower doesn’t disappear.”
Jin-woo examined the completed gauntlets.
Equipped on the hands to maximize the impact of his fists, they were glove-type equipment that fit Jin-woo perfectly right now.
“From when I was dealing with the Titanium Hedgehogs, I realized something.”
These weren’t meant just for monster hunting.
“These will help with crafting far more.”
Crunch—.
Jin-woo clenched his fist hard.
“Perfect.”
They seemed usable both for combat and for crafting.
“This trial is fun.”
Jin-woo was quite fond of this Tower of Trials.
“Find your roots again. Is that what you’re saying? Thank you.”
Roots.
Having reached UR+ Grade, Jin-woo was reconsidering his own methodology.
In that process, the trial given by the Tower of Trials had neatly organized his thoughts.
To try again from the beginning.
What’s right.
What’s wrong.
‘Maybe there’s no such thing as right or wrong.’
“Squeak—!”
Jin-woo began advancing alongside the Titanium Hedgehog.
“Let’s go. Hedgehog. Let’s find our roots again.”
The first floor of the Tower of Trials was a place where titanium monsters erupted explosively.
Boom—! Boom—!
Deep within came a tremendous roar.
Jin-woo activated Eagle Eye and looked in that direction.
“Insane.”
And there he found it.
“Really insane.”
The massive monster was gleaming all over.
“A Titanium Golem.”
Jin-woo licked his lips.

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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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