The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 196

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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 196
196.
The Tower of Trials suddenly began to shake.
Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble-!
There was no point in letting Jin-woo wander any further. This was the Tower of Trials—literally a tower built for trials—so it had been designed to connect to the Boss Room once a trial was cleared.
Jin-woo saw a steep staircase stretching upward in a straight line before him.
“Opening a path for me? How considerate of you.”
Jin-woo let out a soft laugh.
“So you can reach the top floor either by carrying the trial with you and climbing by sheer force, or by clearing the trial first. Two paths, it seems.”
Slayer had climbed the tower carrying the trial, relying on raw power.
Jin-woo, on the other hand, had cleared it.
“This way is far easier.”
Still, Jin-woo felt a twinge of regret.
“I would’ve liked to hunt more monsters.”
He had only thirty Titanium left now.
“They go so quickly—wish I had more.”
Jin-woo pushed the regret aside and climbed the stairs swiftly.
* * *
The top floor. The Boss Room.
Since Slayer had already cleared this Tower of Trials, a Dummy Boss now occupied the top floor.
“What in blazes are you, stranger?”
The trials of the tower were born from the boss’s power.
All the tower’s trials stemmed from the authority that the tower’s original boss had possessed.
Of course, Slayer had hunted that demon, but even so, the Dummy Boss had inherited that same authority.
Because the Dummy Boss could be revived even after death, it was actually more troublesome than the original demon.
The difficulty of the trial increased steadily as players were analyzed and the tower learned.
“It was a perfect trial. Stranger! You should have had to climb this tower bearing that burden!”
“That so?”
Jin-woo showed little interest in the Dummy Boss.
He had come to the Tower of Trials specifically for what lay in this Boss Room.
‘It’s around here somewhere.’
“Mad stranger! Don’t you understand how absurd this is?!”
“There it is.”
The wall that had seemed suspicious in the video footage.
-Eagle Eye activates!
Jin-woo moved toward it.
“You—you!”
The Dummy Boss, suddenly panicked, rushed at Jin-woo.
“Found it.”
Crash-!
As Jin-woo approached the wall, empty space revealed itself.
-Hidden space discovered.
-A true trial awaits you!
Jin-woo clenched his fist tightly.
“Just as I thought.”
The towers spread across the entire Flam Continent are all different.
Not a single tower resembles another.
‘Because it’s a Main Quest.’
The tower’s structure couldn’t have been thrown together carelessly.
‘I’ve experienced it before.’
“Yes, a Tower of Trials should be like this.”
The Dummy Boss stared at Jin-woo in shock.
“How…?”
This was the first time a player had reached the top floor by having stairs open mid-tower.
And simultaneously, it was the first time anyone had found the hidden space.
The Dummy Boss trembled as it looked at Jin-woo.
“That is not for you to enter!”
Then it spread both arms wide.
-The tower’s master unleashes a Fatal Blow!
A crescent wave shot toward Jin-woo. He smirked and raised his shield.
Bang-bang-bang-bang-!
“All my equipment disappeared, yet somehow I still have gear. You’re wondering how that’s possible, aren’t you?”
He knew because he’d been watching the Crafting happen.
“I made it.”
“How is that even possible? You didn’t have a Hammer or anything.”
Jin-woo didn’t answer. Instead, he stamped his foot hard and charged forward.
“Let me show you.”
Then he swung not a hammer, but Power Gauntlets, striking the Dummy Boss.
Crack-!
“Kughhhh-!”
“Understand now?”
“Wh-what are you talking about?!”
“Made it with my fists.”
“Th-that’s impossible!”
“Want to see me prove it again?”
-Fatal Blow!
The Dummy Boss flew backward with the impact.
Thanks to the Power Gauntlets’ special effect, Jin-woo’s attack speed had increased dramatically.
Crack-! Crack-! Crack-!
He unleashed a barrage of punches, overwhelming the Dummy Boss.
“Stop! I understand! I understand, so stop!”
‘Just in case. If I defeat the Dummy Boss, this hidden space might close again.’
It might count as a clear, ejecting him back outside.
So he had to keep it alive.
“Thanks to you, I’ve learned how precious my Subordinates truly are.”
Jin-woo gestured to the Titanium Golems.
After witnessing Jin-woo’s brutal display of raw power, the Titanium Golems had lined up obediently behind him.
“Time is running short.”
Jin-woo handed the Dummy Boss over to the Titanium Golems.
“Don’t kill it.”
The Titanium Golems moved swiftly. Originally sluggish in their movements, they accelerated dramatically after witnessing Jin-woo’s performance.
Moving at speeds they’d never shown before, they pinned the Dummy Boss in place.
“You—you! I am your master!”
“Grrrrr.”
“Grrrrrgh.”
But the Titanium Golems paid no attention.
“You—you’re a Necromancer, yet how can you use Crafting?!”
The Dummy Boss cried out in desperation.
A strange, ominous darkness Aura radiated from Jin-woo.
Nothing—not a single thing—made sense from start to finish.
The Dummy Boss shook uncontrollably.
-Phase 2 begins!
“You think I’ll let you enter?!”
But the Titanium Golems’ relentless assault was more than the Dummy Boss could withstand.
“No—how is this—”
The Dummy Boss knew well how powerful the Titanium Golems were.
In Phase 2, it could’ve crushed them easily.
“They shouldn’t be this strong!”
The Dummy Boss channeled all its power.
“Roaaaarrr-!”
Boom-!
Crash-!
But a single strike from a Titanium Golem sent it reeling backward, crumpling under the blow.
“Stranger! Is this your power?!”
Jin-woo had already stepped inside.
The moment he crossed the threshold, silence greeted him.
It was an utterly quiet place.
No sound reached his ears, and his vision gradually darkened.
-The tower’s true master awaits you.
The true master of the tower—the one Slayer had never defeated—now faced Jin-woo.
“Since the Tower of Trials was filled with Titanium, the true master should drop something even better. I’m certain of it.”
The tower’s real boss would surely drop materials beyond imagination.
Jin-woo pressed forward.
The space began to split open.
Crack-crack—crack-crack-crack-!
And from the rift, a new space appeared.
It was a brilliantly lit space.
Splash—splash—.
And water pooled on the ground.
“A lake?”
The moment Jin-woo spoke, something began to churn in the water below.
Glub-glub-glub-glub-.
Bubbles rose and burst, and from the water emerged a massive fish-shaped monster.
-You face the true master of this trial!
-Gamigyn, the water demon, regards you!
“Well, well. You found me.”
The demon—Gamigyn.
The demon of water gazed at Jin-woo with genuine amazement in its expression.
“I thought I could deceive you all forever. You see, I’ve been using those who entered this tower as nourishment. Converting that nourishment into energy to send to my great master—that was my purpose!”
Gamigyn spoke as though boasting.
Gamigyn’s face resembled a horse’s. Its body was clearly that of a fish, but its head was equine—a stark and unsettling mismatch.
Gamigyn began to approach Jin-woo.
Suddenly, something gleamed on Gamigyn’s body.
‘Not Titanium.’
They were scales.
Scales that shimmered with a silvery light.
“Yes, just as I expected.”
They weren’t an ore like Titanium, but those scales were quite attractive.
‘Water is clinging to them.’
And the water moved like thorns.
“Water Flora.”
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-!
As Jin-woo had predicted, the water held in the scales became spines and shot toward him.
Patter-patter-patter-patter-patter-patter-!
Jin-woo raised his Shield, blocking the thorns.
“Impressive.”
Gamigyn’s attack was formidable.
The Titanium Shield Jin-woo had created dented slightly from the impact.
“Yet it’s made from a Hammer.”
Jin-woo observed Gamigyn carefully.
Gamigyn spread both arms and then clapped them together.
“Drowned Spirits, arise!”
Trembling summons began to emerge from the water.
Drowned Spirits.
And with them, the water began to rise steadily.
-Time Limit!
-00:25:00
-If time runs out, you will drown!
Twenty-five minutes. That was the time limit.
If he couldn’t escape this place or kill Gamigyn within twenty-five minutes, it would be a failure.
“Since you were the first to find this place, you shall become my first drowned corpse.”
Gamigyn laughed and recharged the water.
-Gamigyn’s power strengthens!
Whoooosh-!
The water at his feet began to swirl. Small whirlpools grew into massive vortexes.
At this moment, Jin-woo was standing in the palm of Gamigyn’s hand.
And Gamigyn knew this well, so it pressed Jin-woo with a leisurely demeanor. It could have attacked far more quickly, but it held back.
“Welcome to my Domain.”
It wanted only to cultivate fear.
One step.
As Gamigyn advanced, Jin-woo naturally had to retreat. He needed to find a way to deal with this situation.
But.
Splash-.
Jin-woo stepped forward instead.
“Your Domain? This is your Domain?”
Gamigyn’s eyes widened as Jin-woo moved toward him.
That audacity. He found it captivating.
Gamigyn loved the expression on a confident being’s face when their pride was shattered in an instant.
But then, power erupted from Jin-woo, and Gamigyn faltered.
“Proclamation of Heavenly Fate.”
Whoooosh-!
As Gamigyn proclaimed its Domain, Jin-woo countered with his own.
Whoosh—whoooosh-!
The Proclamation of Heavenly Fate filled the entire space.
-Where the darkness Aura reaches, the lord’s Proclamation of Heavenly Fate is declared.
“…?”
Gamigyn froze in confusion.
The rising water had stopped.
“I’ve acquired a great power, you see.”
The power he’d obtained had surpassed Gamigyn’s Domain.
“Soul Harvest.”
And Jin-woo activated the newly learned skill—Soul Harvest.
-Power strengthens according to the Stack of absorbed souls!
Jin-woo absorbed five souls.
According to the Soul Harvest skill’s enhancement, five souls became ten Stacks.
-Using 10 Stack!
-10 Stack effect activates!
-All Debuffs are removed.
“Ah.”
All Debuffs removed.
The moment those words appeared, Jin-woo’s eyes widened.
Whoosh-.
The Scythe of Judgment had suddenly appeared in his hand.
And simultaneously.
Whoooosh-.
His Subordinates returned.
“Even remove constraints?”
First, Pur, and Moltus returned, along with Ben and Beom.
Five Subordinates surged toward Gamigyn in an instant.
But Gamigyn showed no fear.
“Splendid human! Your journey here deserves praise! But you’ve opened what should have remained sealed…! Kekch!”
That was before the combined strikes of First and Pur found their mark.

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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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