The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 248

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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 248
248.
Gulp.
Princess Estella felt a glimmer of hope at his confident demeanor.
Even a little.
Yes, if she could sleep for even ten minutes, she thought she’d be happy.
But too much hope brings disappointment. Princess Estella did not lower her skeptical gaze.
“I see. You certainly sound confident. But I have something I need to do.”
“Is that so?”
Overwhelming confidence.
Jin-woo had not simply made this pillow.
‘This isn’t just a pillow.’
Jin-woo had poured everything into it.
‘I put all my techniques into this pillow.’
From Grade SSR to Grade M.
And then once more to Grade M+.
‘I’ve put everything I realized into it.’
In truth, this could be called a Grade M+ pillow.
‘And I made it with proper Ergonomics.’
Of course, Jin-woo couldn’t possibly know how to construct a pillow with Ergonomics on his own.
That’s why he had asked Mirae.
He thought that a member of the race of nature and harmony would have knowledge about sleep.
‘That was the right call.’
Mirae possessed considerable knowledge about sleep.
‘As expected of the clan of harmony.’
Along with the ergonomically designed shape, Mirae had also taught him techniques specialized for sleep.
This deceptively simple pillow was an aggregate of countless techniques.
Jin-woo actually enjoyed the skepticism in Princess Estella’s eyes.
“If you don’t need it, I’ll take my leave.”
As Jin-woo turned to go without hesitation, Princess Estella stepped forward of her own accord.
“No, wait. I’ll try lying down. Since you went to the trouble of making it.”
Jin-woo smiled slightly.
“Please, feel it freely and lie down.”
Princess Estella touched the pillow this way and that.
“The feel of it is…… excellent.”
It was a sensation she had never felt before.
Then she placed the pillow on the bed.
After adjusting the bedding, she lay down naturally with a soft rustle.
‘A pillow is soft anyway.’
Her neck was cradled gently.
The pillow settled perfectly into the shape of the back of her head.
It was as though it embraced her.
Princess Estella slowly released the tension from her body.
Her exhausted body sank deeper and deeper into the bed.
The bed, which normally should have had some bounce to it, began to give way slowly, slowly, as if recording the shape of her body.
And then.
Estella slowly closed her eyes.
She wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway.
Her mind would only grow more alert.
It always did…….
Whoosh—
“!”
Yuran nearly cried out, but caught herself, pressing a hand over her mouth.
Her chest rose and fell in steady rhythm.
She was asleep.
She, who had not slept properly in more than a decade.
Was asleep right now.
Yuran, who served as the princess’s attendant, trembled.
She couldn’t believe it. Asleep.
Princess Estella was asleep!
That terrible insomnia had been a dreadful curse.
And that curse had just been broken!
Yuran looked at Jin-woo.
What the finest potions and legendary elixirs could not achieve.
He had done it with nothing but a simple pillow and bed.
Yuran clenched her fists and trembled silently in place, careful not to wake the princess.
Then she made all manner of gestures toward Jin-woo.
‘You’ve been here long enough to see.’
Princess Estella, who had never been able to sleep by any means, had fallen asleep—so Yuran, who had served her all these years, could not help but be overjoyed.
Jin-woo smiled slightly as he watched the sleeping Princess Estella.
‘I tested it a few times before coming here.’
It was then that he’d been certain.
This would inevitably put you to sleep. He himself had actually fallen asleep that way. He’d meant to test it briefly but had ended up deep in slumber.
‘You have no choice but to sleep. This pillow and bed are packed with sleep-related attributes.’
How could anyone resist sleep?
And so Princess Estella drifted off with a blissful smile, descending from shallow to deep sleep.
At that same moment, notifications began to sound.
Ding—!
-You have cleared a Quest!
-Your Level has increased!
-You have achieved a Great Achievement!
-You have brought rest to Princess Estella of the Avalak Kingdom, she who could not sleep!
-The Guardian of the Kingdom takes notice of you!
-The God of Nature and Harmony also says that you, short-eared elf, are truly splendid!
-The Goddess of Fire and Furnace expresses her gratitude to you!
Until now, no one had ever succeeded in clearing this Quest.
One year since its opening.
Ding—! Ding—! Ding—!
Amid a flood of notifications, Jin-woo cleared the FIRST Quest.
-You have cleared the FIRST Quest!
-You have achieved an Achievement!
-You have achieved the Achievement [Perfect Lullaby]!
-You have been registered in the Hall of Honor!
-You have received a Special Reward!
‘A special reward?’
The clear rewards for this Quest were the King’s infinite trust and an Ancient Fantasy Mineral.
‘Is there something additional beyond that?’
-A special reward for clearing the FIRST Quest is being granted!
A special reward.
Jin-woo received not only the Quest’s rewards but also a special reward for clearing the FIRST Quest.
-The Guardian of the Avalak Kingdom grants you a Rune!
“Oh.”
The Guardian of the Avalak Kingdom had directly bestowed a Rune upon Jin-woo.
Jin-woo quietly examined the Rune.
-Rune: [Rune of Guarding Indomitability]
Description: You have become a Guardian of the Kingdom. Indomitable power dwells within you. When you reach your limit, the Rune activates, allowing you to break through your boundaries!
Constraint: [A random Stat will decrease!]
The Rune of Guarding Indomitability was unlike any Rune Jin-woo had ever obtained.
‘A Rune with a constraint? A random Stat will decrease?’
All the Runes he’d had so far provided only beneficial abilities.
But this Rune of Guarding Indomitability, when used, caused a Stat to decrease.
It was a special Rune that allowed him to break through his limits while simultaneously lowering a Stat.
‘I’m not sure exactly what “limit” means here.’
Jin-woo quite liked this Rune.
If he was now the Guardian of the Kingdom, he had to overcome any limit he faced. This Rune perfectly matched that concept.
‘I’ve gained insurance.’
Jin-woo smiled slightly as he looked at the sleeping Princess Estella.
Then he glanced toward Yuran.
It seemed he would need to discuss the details of the reward with Yuran.
* * *
Suomi Company.
There were departments like the one Kim Na-yun managed, overseeing specific users, and there were also GMs who specialized in managing Quests.
Kim Chae-seok was currently working in the department that managed the FIRST Quests that had never been cleared.
One year since opening.
Quests that remained uncleared for so long had one clear reason.
“It’s hard to meet the conditions.”
New Gene’s Quests have various strategies for clearing them.
Because of this, most Quests could be solved through multiple methods, not just one.
But the Quests that remained as FIRST had substantially difficult conditions.
And among those, there were some that were particularly vague and ambiguous.
“This one’s tough. In my assessment, this has the lowest chance of success. The sleepless princess in the deep night Quest. No matter what you do, you can’t clear it. You’re supposed to make her sleep. It doesn’t work with potions, doesn’t work with sleep magic. This is way too hard.”
So Kim Chae-seok GM, who had only recently joined this department, was handling his duties with considerable leisure.
Click-. Click-click-.
Of course, he was currently sharing other duties as well.
“Hmm.”
As main Quests and tower-related Quests progressed, information about special users had accumulated, and while processing that information, various other tasks had increased.
“There’s no way a FIRST Quest suddenly gets cleared…….”
Ding—! Ding—!
Kim Chae-seok GM, who managed the FIRST Quests, was startled by the rare notification sound and checked his screen.
“What? Which one got cleared?”
-User Jin-woo has completed a FIRST Quest.
-Quest Name: [In the Deep Night, the Princess Cannot Sleep]
“Eh……?”
Kim Chae-seok GM was now seeing a screen that Kim Na-yun GM had often viewed.
“How, how did…… Wait, Jin-woo? User Jin-woo?”
Kim Na-yun GM had developed some tolerance for surprises, but Kim Chae-seok GM was entirely unprepared.
“This, this doesn’t make sense. How did he do it? He put Princess Estella to sleep? How?”
To Kim Chae-seok GM, this was a Quest that should be absolutely impossible to clear.
And yet Jin-woo had cleared it.
“But Jin-woo is a Blacksmith!”
He had assumed that if the impossible Quest were ever cleared, it would naturally be by a user with a mage class.
“Logical message. Get me the Logical message, quick!”
Kim Chae-seok GM urgently checked the Logical message.
-Logical Message: Pillow and bed. An overwhelming clear through orthodox methods.
-Mankind’s great leap forward.
The Logical message contained praise for Jin-woo.
No, praise for humanity itself.
* * *
Community, SharkNet.
A post quickly appeared on the information board.
-Anyone currently in Avalon?
-I’m in Avalon, why?
-Are you talking about the Workshop?
-No, not the Workshop. I heard some strange rumors.
-Strange rumors?
-That Princess Estella…….
-Wait, what is this?
-Have you all heard the rumors?
-I was just talking about that.
In New Gene, there were quite a few Quests that were widely known but impossible to clear.
The most famous was the Steel Colossus of Reuton, which no one had cleared in the tutorial.
-The FIRST Quest in Avalon has been cleared!
-Avalon’s FIRST Quest?
Avalon’s FIRST Quest.
Avalon’s only FIRST Quest was currently related to Princess Estella.
-That Quest with Princess Estella?
-The one called In the Deep Night, the Princess Cannot Sleep?
-Yes! That one was cleared!
-Insane.
-Really?
-That one?
The community erupted at the news of the clear for Avalak Kingdom’s notorious impossible Quest, [In the Deep Night, the Princess Cannot Sleep].
This Quest had loose progression conditions, so anyone who had stayed in Avalon had attempted it at least once.
That’s why everyone knew just how difficult this Quest was.
-That’s basically an impossible Quest.
-I heard even famous Rankers tried and just came away with curses.
-Isn’t the best record only a few hours of sleep?
-That was done by the #1 alchemist Ranker. Proud, that person.
-Aren’t they in Realize right now?
-Yeah.
-But he actually cleared it? I really couldn’t fall asleep. I tried like 15 times, and it just made me more awake?
Princess Estella was quite famous among users.
Beautiful appearance. And those vacant eyes. She looked so tired that it was pitiful. And yet despite that, she was kind in many ways.
-If I were her, I’d have gone crazy from irritability.
-She’s a saint.
-But who actually cleared it?
People were very curious about who had brought sleep to this Princess Estella.
-And the reward is supposed to be incredible.
-Ughhh. So it finally got cleared.
Then a post appeared.
-Looking for the user who put Princess Estella to sleep.
People quickly clicked on that post.
-Who was it?
-Who cleared it?
And the answer was in the post.
-Jin-woo…… apparently cleared it. It’s that Jin-woo you all know.
-???
-Jin-woo…… cleared it?
-Isn’t Jin-woo a Blacksmith?
People had assumed that the only way to put Princess Estella to sleep was through a potion.
So they were shocked that a Blacksmith like Jin-woo had cleared the Princess’s Quest.
-????
-?????????
-That FIRST Quest???
-By Jin-woo??
-How the hell did he do it?
Users simply could not believe it. How had the Blacksmith Jin-woo cleared the Quest?
-Apparently he cleared it with a pillow and bed.
-He supposedly had the best sleep ever.
-I heard from someone with connections to the princess and her exclusive mage Yuran. Apparently the princess has been sleeping 16 hours a day now. They say her dark circles fade significantly when she wakes up.
-Wow…….
-That’s crazy.
-Didn’t Jin-woo also clear Reuton’s Steel Colossus?
-That’s the second FIRST Quest now.
-Crazy. Seriously.
-Clearing it with a pillow and bed though.
The most striking aspect was that he had put Princess Estella to sleep using the most classical method.
-A true craftsman really is different.
-But now I’m super curious.
-I heard the reward was enormous, but what could it be!
Royal Palace, the Princess’s Audience Chamber.
The dark circles that had filled the area beneath the princess’s eyes had faded, and her vacant gaze had recovered its luster.
“Jin-woo.”
Princess Estella, who had slept properly for the first time in many years, was in excellent condition. That vitality could even be heard in her voice.
“I truly cannot thank you enough. How long has it been since I slept so soundly? I just passed out completely. Goodness.”
She was amazed at how deeply she had slept, and amazed at how much her condition had improved.
“With just a pillow and bed…… I never thought I could fall asleep.”
The princess smiled warmly.
“Thank you so much.”
Jin-woo received a box from Princess Estella.
“This is the reward I promised you.”
Creak—
He opened the box.
“!”
Jin-woo’s eyes widened.
Princess Estella smiled as she watched his reaction.

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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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