The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 2

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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 2
Episode 2.
“From what I’ve seen, during Eternal Sunshine you guys were really strict about cash transactions, right? But New Generation doesn’t do that. You can do whatever you want. People say you can buy and sell equipment and make money off it too? That’s why everyone says it’s like a whole other world has been created.”
Dong-woo spoke from outside the Capsule.
Freedom taken to the extreme.
That was precisely why New Generation could become a global game.
“I heard there are people who’ve even made New Generation their full-time job.”
“So it’s all about effort and choice.”
Dong-woo nodded.
“Huh.”
When had he grown up so much?
His younger brother, six years his junior, was now thinking of him.
Jin-woo felt something stir in his chest as he looked at the installed Capsule.
‘Already a year, huh.’
It had been a year since New Generation’s launch.
Which meant it had also been a year since Eternal Sunshine shut down. A year without playing any game.
He’d merely been grinding through an unforgiving reality.
For that whole year, he’d done nothing but work—jobs that had nothing to do with crafting.
‘Plenty of people must have gotten ahead. Catching up might be difficult.’
Jin-woo’s fists tightened.
But it didn’t matter.
Even in Eternal Sunshine, he’d started late, but by the end, no blacksmith crafted better items than he did.
‘All I need is the ability to create.’
That alone was enough.
“I’ll help you out. These days, if you want to talk with the kids who do tutoring, New Generation is basically mandatory. They all play it.”
“Have you tried it?”
“I’ve played at the Capsule café. And I’ve even done tutoring remotely from there. Of course, I don’t know everything—just the basics.”
Dong-woo chuckled.
“There’s one really important thing, though. When you start New Generation, it’s set right away—it’s called your Synchronization Rate.”
“Synchronization Rate?”
“It’s what connects reality to New Generation.”
Eternal Sunshine had been a virtual reality game, but it had clear limitations.
There were many aspects where precise, truly realistic control was difficult.
New Generation was different.
“So your movements in reality are replicated exactly in the game. There’s a number that shows how well you can immerse yourself in the game, and that’s your Synchronization Rate.”
“The higher the Synchronization Rate, the better, right?”
“Right. You’ll be able to control things more like reality. It’s like a natural talent. The higher your talent, the higher your Synchronization Rate will be. That’s why—”
Dong-woo explained how athletes, experts, and craftsmen supposedly had very high Synchronization Rates.
“I bet you’ll get a high one!”
He was certain that his brother, who had soared through Eternal Sunshine, would definitely get a high number.
“Just log in, hyung.”
Once the installation was complete, Dong-woo helped Jin-woo connect.
“First, lie down.”
He fiddled with this and that, finishing the setup in no time.
“Go ahead and log in now, hyung.”
Following Dong-woo’s instructions, Jin-woo logged in immediately.
It felt strange, but the login process wasn’t difficult.
“I don’t have much time—my tutoring session is ending soon. Those parents are pretty picky, so if I’m even a little late they dock my pay. I can’t be late.”
Dong-woo had loads of bags. He really did seem to be doing tutoring full-time.
“I’ll just watch you log in properly, then head out.”
He planned to leave once he saw his brother successfully enter New Generation.
-Capsule activated.
-Scanning body.
-Body scan complete.
-Generating unique ID.
-User information [Yu Jin-woo] entered.
-Generating New Generation ID!
-Appearance and body modifications are available.
-Only modifications up to a certain level are permitted.
-[Measuring Synchronization Rate!]
If anything was most important in New Generation, it was naturally this Synchronization Rate.
Whirrrrrr—
-Synchronization Rate measurement complete.
-User [Yu Jin-woo]’s Synchronization Rate is 80%.
“Synchronization Rate of eighty percent?”
Jin-woo’s eyes widened at the notification floating before him.
A Synchronization Rate of eighty percent.
His first thought was: it’s not one hundred percent.
“It’s not one hundred?”
He’d gathered quite a bit of information on New Generation, but he hadn’t collected details about the game mechanics so thoroughly.
Since Eternal Sunshine had never had a Synchronization Rate, this was unfamiliar territory for Jin-woo.
“Well, it’s not bad.”
Just then, the alert sound chimed again.
Ding!
-Synchronization Rate exceeded 50%.
-Recalibrating body once more.
-Synchronization Rate: 80%.
-Synchronization Rate confirmed.
-Resetting ID based on Synchronization Rate.
“Resetting?”
Even after a second recalibration, his Synchronization Rate came back at eighty percent, and Jin-woo could now say with certainty—
“This doesn’t seem like it’s falling short.”
The message about exceeding fifty percent suggested that his eighty percent was actually quite high.
“Not bad at all.”
But that wasn’t the most important thing.
He wanted to start the game and try his hand at crafting as soon as possible.
“Even the rankers from Eternal Sunshine probably came in around eighty percent. If so, catching up with the vanguard will be tough.”
Jin-woo knew this well—he’d been a dedicated Eternal Sunshine player himself.
Once those early movers established themselves, closing the gap they’d opened up became nearly impossible.
“Still, it doesn’t matter. What’s important isn’t ranking first or anything like that. That’s just something to chase.”
Jin-woo smiled slightly.
The process of creating an ID was far too enjoyable.
What he’d do once the game started.
What he could do—that was more important.
“It feels like going back to the old days. I remember when I first started Eternal Sunshine.”
From what he’d researched about New Generation—
unlike semi-virtual reality games like Eternal Sunshine, full virtual reality games had improved technology that allowed for complete immersion.
“I won’t know for sure until I start, but this first impression is good. Doesn’t feel like I’ve entered a game at all.”
Complete immersion.
He understood that phrase perfectly now.
“If it feels this real, I should be able to craft equipment pretty easily with just my natural skill.”
His skill was one thing, but game mechanics did a lot of the heavy lifting.
So even if it was hard, once you got the hang of crafting, you could do it well.
“Actually, this is better. It’ll be more fun this way.”
Back in Eternal Sunshine, Jin-woo had disabled skill assistance entirely.
Disabling it made the difficulty skyrocket, but it let him create far more dramatic equipment.
‘The speed was slower for sure, but without skill assistance, I never turned out mediocre items.’
Other top-tier blacksmiths compensated for insufficient quality with speed and volume, but Jin-woo focused solely on quality.
‘Thanks to that, I became number one.’
Nobody came close to that position.
In New Generation, unlike Eternal Sunshine, manual skill was even more crucial. For Jin-woo, that was an advantage.
“Crafting will be way more satisfying.”
As a full virtual reality game, New Generation let you customize not just body and appearance, but countless other things.
Of course, there were definite limits.
“No need to change much.”
Rather than modify appearance or body, Jin-woo wanted to test other things quickly.
-Please choose a nickname!
“A nickname.”
This was the most important part.
In Eternal Sunshine, Jin-woo had used the nickname Jin.
Being a rare single-character name, he’d received offers to sell it multiple times, but he’d never accepted.
‘Since I’m starting fresh, there’s no need to stick to Jin. Let me start with a new mindset.’
“Jin-woo.”
Jin-woo decided to use his real name instead.
-Nickname has been set!
-Jin-woo#65747. May you write your own new era and new history in New Generation.
Since Jin-woo hadn’t done any special customization, he could start New Generation immediately after setting his nickname.
Whoooosh—!
As his eyes naturally closed against the bright light and then opened again, Jin-woo found himself in a medieval village.
“Wow.”
And he gasped involuntarily.
Having only played semi-virtual reality games until now, Jin-woo couldn’t help but be amazed by this full virtual reality’s sense of realism.
The smell, the sensation—and most of all, he could move his entire body freely.
It was definitely different.
If asked whether his form had improved like before, he couldn’t be sure, but the sensation itself was undeniably different.
And most importantly, there was one thing—
“My hands……”
He was amazed.
“These really feel like my own hands?”
Jin-woo moved his hands around experimentally.
In Eternal Sunshine, there were limits to hand movement. Because of that, he couldn’t fully demonstrate his manual dexterity as if they were truly his own hands.
But here was different.
They really felt like his own hands.
‘I think I could make even better equipment here.’
With this level of sensation, he felt certain he could craft superior items compared to before.
Who could possibly think this was a game?
“Heh.”
Jin-woo smiled in amazement.
-Hyung, you done? You logged in?
His brother’s voice came through.
Jin-woo pressed a button to connect to the external speaker.
“Yeah, I’m in. But this feels completely real. Can’t even compare it to Eternal Sunshine.”
-Right? Insane, huh? From here on, you can do whatever you want. But hyung, what’d your Synchronization Rate come out to?
Dong-woo was dying to know his brother’s Synchronization Rate.
His brother was a legend in Eternal Sunshine. He was unparalleled among its players, and his crafting method was unique.
Surely his Synchronization Rate would be quite high.
The current rankers in New Generation all had Synchronization Rates over forty percent.
Jin-woo would naturally be higher than that.
-Forty-five percent or higher, right? From what I found, the other rankers who played Eternal Sunshine with you had around forty percent. You were way better than them, so you probably got around forty-five percent! If you’re over forty-five percent, even though you started a year late, you should be able to catch up pretty fast!
“Eighty percent.”
-Huh?
Dong-woo fell silent for a moment.
-H-how……?
“It just came out that way.”
Jin-woo said it matter-of-factly.
“That’s not low, is it?”
-Low? It’s not low at all……!
It was abnormally high.
The Synchronization Rate number.
Abnormally so.

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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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