The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 220
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 220
Episode 220.
Jin-woo smiled faintly as he watched Casino’s expression.
‘That’s enough.’
There seemed no need for further words.
‘Then let’s move to the next one.’
Jin-woo left Casino behind and immediately began the next craft.
Casino was examining the Poleaxe he’d received like a madman.
It had taken Jin-woo only an hour and thirty minutes to forge the Poleaxe.
He’d said it would take ten hours, but at this pace, wouldn’t he finish faster than that?
Casino checked the grade first.
USSR+ Grade.
The conventional wisdom held that Pendant’s Equipment could never be beaten by equipment of the same grade. That made sense. Pendant’s Equipment had outrageous options.
Even at the same grade, its options were overwhelmingly superior, so same-grade equipment had no chance of winning.
But this Poleaxe was different.
“How is this USSR+?”
He realized he’d harbored foolish doubts.
Pendant’s Equipment couldn’t be beaten by same-grade equipment?
That was only because Pendant’s Equipment had never actually clashed with Jin-woo’s creations.
“Huh.”
Casino’s hands trembled. He gripped the Poleaxe slowly, stepped back several paces, and began to swing it deliberately just as Jin-woo had done.
Swoosh—
Scattered black Aura.
And that vivid sensation he could feel.
Once you held this Poleaxe, you didn’t want to let it go—its appeal was considerable.
“This is……”
His wide eyes blinked rapidly.
“This can’t be right.”
This wasn’t USSR+ Grade.
It was higher.
Not just one tier above. It was equipment specs that you’d only see from jumping several grades at once.
He’d wanted equipment capable of defeating Pendant.
But he’d never truly believed it would happen. He’d thought the best outcome would be equipment matching Pendant’s level, or just slightly below it.
Yet this was different.
“The quality……”
The quality is different.
Clang—!
Casino watched Jin-woo, still at work crafting.
“This could actually…… work?”
Five pieces of equipment in ten hours.
And.
“I can win……!”
He’ll make me capable of winning.
He could now understand where this confidence came from.
Unable to win with this equipment?
Of course, equipment wasn’t everything.
Even with this equipment, if he couldn’t properly understand and wield it, victory would be impossible.
“Maybe I should just keep this for myself.”
For a moment, greed stirred within him.
Casino shook his head vigorously.
“No, no—I wouldn’t be able to use a Poleaxe properly.”
Casino’s main weapon was a sword. His entire skill tree was built around the blade.
“But skills can be learned.”
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of the hammer brought Casino back to his senses.
“No, that’s right.”
While Casino wrestled alone with this pointless conflict,
Jin-woo had entered complete Immersion.
-Concentration Stat increases.
-Dexterity – Precision Stat increases.
His Concentration and Dexterity – Precision stats began to rise rapidly.
Clang.
Jin-woo was a warrior in the vision.
Before his eyes stood a Leap Guild member wearing Pendant’s Equipment.
Sword and armor.
Hammer and shield.
How could he break through them?
Jin-woo studied the joints.
The characteristics of the sword, the properties of the armor, the power the hammer possessed, and the shape of the shield.
Everything entered his vision.
It was seen and felt.
How to overcome it.
How to conquer it.
His body felt weightless.
It seemed like he could accomplish anything right now.
Clang—!
Whether Pendant, Inclassic, or Starlight.
Against any blacksmith in New Gene, he felt he wouldn’t lose.
A line.
Jin-woo tried to naturally cross an invisible yet felt line.
‘!’
But Jin-woo suddenly hit the brakes.
‘No.’
Now wasn’t the time to cross over.
‘Not because of a higher grade.’
Jin-woo held firm at his current position with a sharp sound.
‘I’ll cross the grade line when I choose to.’
Ding—!
-Synchronization Rate increases!
-Synchronization Rate has increased by 0.2%!
Jin-woo brought down his hammer.
-Equipment crafted!
-USSR+ Grade equipment crafted!
In Jin-woo’s hands, a second weapon was born—a Crystal Sword.
Shimmer—
Gleam.
This Crystal Sword, which fully showcased the advantages of Crystal Platinum, had been modeled after the Glass Dagger.
“Jin-woo……”
After finishing the equipment, Jin-woo handed the Crystal Sword to Casino.
“Aren’t you breaking your promise?”
Casino said.
“It won’t take ten hours……, will it?”
* * *
Exactly ten hours.
Jin-woo had completed all five pieces of equipment within his promised timeframe.
‘I almost created equipment beyond USSR+ Grade several times in between.’
Yet each time, Jin-woo had deliberately broken his Immersion.
‘Downgrading the grade isn’t easy either.’
One might think he could simply let the grade rise naturally, but Jin-woo knew well that once a grade increased, it was difficult to lower it again.
‘I need to do everything I can before the grade goes up.’
This wasn’t a fight won by going fast.
‘I need to walk the right path.’
Casino bowed his head deeply as he looked at the five pieces of equipment.
“Thank you for accepting the commission.”
With this equipment, it was possible.
He could land a proper blow against the Leap Guild, overflowing with confidence and arrogance.
“I’ll keep my promise.”
With that, Casino left the Workshop.
“This is frustrating.”
After Casino departed,
Jin-woo smiled as he looked at the materials he’d received from Casino.
“My mind is spinning.”
Thanks to one exchange after arriving in Chanran, diverse ideas were flowing through Jin-woo’s head.
The anti-Pendant equipment he’d created for Casino was also crafted by blending those ideas well.
“I still have plenty of focus left.”
That concentration remained.
In fact, it felt even more vivid now.
‘My Synchronization Rate has increased.’
In the process of reaching a higher level, Jin-woo had continuously broken his Immersion.
‘That’s why.’
Thanks to the heightened Synchronization Rate, when crafting the armor in the latter stages, Jin-woo had been astonished by the sensitivity of his fingertips.
‘I can become this sensitive.’
It felt as if his hands weren’t his own.
“I’ll have to use the commission payment right away.”
Jin-woo smiled and placed the materials he’d received as commission payment onto the workbench.
Andras’s Soul, Andras’s Bone, and the Twilight Stone were laid upon the workbench.
“New Gene really is different.”
New Gene certainly had many differences compared to his time in Eternal Sunshine.
“Everyone’s skill level has leveled up.”
When he’d asked Peran, she’d said she was a blacksmith ranked around eightieth.
“Since ranker positions keep fluctuating, she said she’d been hovering around eighty to one hundred.”
Of course, ranking didn’t purely represent ability.
Because several factors determined rankings, people could fail to meet those criteria even if their actual skill was higher or lower than their rank suggested.
Still, one couldn’t simply dismiss the rankings.
“If a craftsperson like Peran is ranked eightieth,
then there are over eighty craftspeople more skilled than her above her. Jin-woo quite liked that.
“Just exchanging with one person at a time—this could be endlessly interesting.”
Of course, whether the craftspeople who exchanged with Jin-woo would find it interesting was uncertain, but at least Jin-woo had found his exchange with Peran quite enjoyable.
“It became clear when I worked on the Realize commission equipment.”
Jin-woo had decided not to follow in their footsteps.
“I’m setting grades aside.”
Grade was important, but it shouldn’t be the top priority.
What really mattered was the options.
The specs that equipment possessed.
In fact, as the grade increased, certain options stopped growing.
“Even equipment of the same grade ultimately has its value determined by its options.”
Attack power, durability, special options.
Equipment had numerous elements.
“Let the grade follow.”
Now that the direction was set, he just needed to move in that direction.
“I set it grandly,
but it means emphasizing the abilities of Necromaster – Lord even more.”
“My special options come from the Necromaster job. I’m strengthening that.”
He needed to utilize it to its fullest.
“Thanks to this commission, I unexpectedly acquired equipment.”
The empty Workshop had become reasonably well-furnished with the Lava Giant’s equipment.
“Then,
Jin-woo intended to properly run the Workshop from now on.
Jin-woo placed materials on the workbench.
“An idea came to me as soon as I received the commission payment.”
Andras’s Bone.
There was something he wanted to create using Andras’s Soul.
“A new Familiar.”
* * *
Casino summoned five of the Guild’s elite members right away.
“You called for us!”
“Are we attempting the Tower of Seven Swords again?”
“I heard Slayer and Kalantiir have completely withdrawn.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to blame the equipment, but that insane Pendant’s Equipment……”
They didn’t know.
Who had made this equipment.
Tap—
Casino laid out the equipment he’d purchased from Jin-woo.
“USSR+ Grade equipment.”
“…… What?”
“It’s the same grade as Pendant’s Equipment…… doesn’t that mean we can’t win?”
Even higher-grade equipment made by Realize’s exclusive blacksmith had been crushed by Pendant’s Equipment.
So USSR+ Grade could never defeat Pendant.
“No, we can win.”
Casino stated it with conviction. The five elite members couldn’t understand where his confidence came from.
“Check it out.”
Casino gestured with a faint smile.
All five examined the equipment simultaneously.
And then.
“……”
“…… This is crazy……”
“Guild Master……!”
Only then did they learn who had made this equipment.
“How…… Ugh.”
One of the members had bitten his tongue unconsciously mid-sentence and was quite flustered.
The craftsperson’s name was Jin-woo.
Jin-woo—the rising star of the crafting world in recent days—his name was clearly engraved there.
“Is this a different craftsperson with the same name?”
“No time for jokes.”
Casino said.
“Equip them.”
The five elite members donned their respective weapons and armor.
“Wow……”
They gasped in admiration.
The detailed options. And the sensation when equipped.
“Jin-woo said something to me.”
Casino’s eyes gleamed with resolve before the elite members.
“He said he’d make us capable of winning.”
“……”
“……”
“Let’s go win.”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————