The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 297

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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 297
297.
Malen Duchy.
And the Workshop District of Grona Kingdom was noticeably emptier than before.
“Is this really right?”
“There are this few people?”
“Where did everyone go?”
“What are you folks doing here?”
“Huh? What do you mean what am I doing? I came to buy equipment.”
“Here?”
“Wait, what’s going on?”
“Haven’t you checked SharkNet? Or JinTube? Everyone’s gone to Chanran now.”
“Chanran? You don’t mean the Workshop District in Avalak Kingdom, do you?”
“Yes.”
“But why on earth?”
Chanran had been a dead workshop district.
The thought that foot traffic would suddenly gather in such a place was incomprehensible.
Another player answered the confused user’s question.
“It’s Jin-woo. He opened a workshop in Chanran.”
“!”
“That’s why everyone’s there now. I just went and came back to get some money. I need to hurry back.”
“But even so—”
Before he could finish, the player disappeared.
“Huh.”
Ever since it became known through JinTube that Jin-woo had opened a workshop in Avalon Kingdom.
Countless players had sought out Avalon, the capital of Avalak Kingdom.
Originally, there had been some foot traffic in Avalon.
But the Workshop District hadn’t seen particularly heavy crowds. Even when people came, they rarely bought from the shops there.
There was simply no need to.
Yet now, an almost frenzied throng had gathered in that very Chanran.
The sheer number of people was overwhelming.
Look one way and you saw people. Look another and you saw people.
All those visitors weren’t sightseers—they were genuine buyers actively making purchases.
And so momentum had begun to shift in Chanran’s favor.
An enormous influx of funds poured into Avalon, and Chanran began to awaken.
“Is it even possible for one person to solo-carry an entire district?”
“This Chanran we’re talking about?”
“How did Chanran end up this crowded?”
“I can’t believe it.”
SharkNet Community.
A post titled “Chanran’s Current Status.JPG” had been uploaded there.
The post contained just one photograph of Chanran, showing such a dense crush of people that they could barely move.
-Wow.
-Is this Chanran?
-Yes, it’s Chanran. I’m there right now.
-I think I’m in that photo too.
-Chanran’s insane right now.
-There are too many people. I can’t even buy equipment.
-Please let me buy something. I’ll pay extra!
The workshop district that had once lacked sufficient foot traffic to draw anyone’s attention had been completely transformed.
-Is this really happening?
-I can’t believe it. Going to check it out myself.
-I’m heading out now. This isn’t AI-generated or anything, right?
Blacksmiths who couldn’t believe the news that Chanran had come back to life began making their way there.
-Just a while ago, MiTube was calling it a declining workshop district.
-How is this even possible?
Chanran had only ever been used to check equipment and verify prices; MiTube had actually recommended buyers use the workshop districts in Malen or Grona instead for actual purchases.
“We’ve arrived.”
The arriving blacksmiths immediately headed for the Workshop District—Chanran itself.
“Is this the entrance?”
“What… here…!”
People were already packed in densely.
“Could you move aside, please?”
“This is a queue. You’ll need to step back.”
“Wait, this is a queue starting from here?”
The blacksmith who’d come to Chanran wore a dazed expression.
“This whole mass of people is the queue?”
Was this massive crowd really standing in line?
Even the Workshop Districts in Malen and Grona didn’t look like this from the entrance.
“Move! Why are you blocking the way!”
“S-sorry!”
The blacksmith quickly stepped aside.
“Is this really Chanran?”
“This is really Chanran…?”
Among the three kingdoms’ workshop districts, Chanran had the largest scale.
But back then, with so few people around, one never truly appreciated how vast the district actually was.
Now, that massive district was completely packed.
Countless players were all buying equipment throughout the workshop street.
Some purchased potions; others placed commissions.
“It’s not just Mansan Workshop that’s popular…?”
The blacksmiths were puzzled.
They’d expected crowds at Jin-woo’s shop, Mansan Workshop. So why were people buying from other workshops instead?
“Too bad I couldn’t buy today.”
“Apparently they give you a lottery ticket when you buy equipment from the workshop district?”
“If you win the lottery, you can place a commission!”
“And they said they give priority purchase rights too?”
“Haha. This must be Jin-woo’s grand plan to revitalize the workshop district, right? Crazy. You gotta buy from here.”
“With odds like that, the win rate should be pretty good.”
“Plus, the stuff in Chanran isn’t bad either, honestly.”
The blacksmiths overheard the players’ conversation and were taken aback.
“…?”
“They’re giving out lottery tickets?”
The workshops of Chanran were different from before.
The ones that used to churn out mediocre goods because no one was coming anymore—they were gone.
After their exchange with Jin-woo, reinvigorated with new drive, they’d thrown themselves into crafting with the same fervor they’d once possessed in their heyday.
And as a result, they’d begun producing goods of an entirely different quality than before.
In short, their competitiveness had strengthened dramatically.
And the lottery system drove it home.
While some players bought purely for the lottery chance, many discovered the equipment was good quality and kept buying even without the lottery draw.
A virtuous cycle of positivity that Jin-woo had set in motion was now sweeping through Chanran.
Jin-woo alone was elevating this entire workshop district.
He had succeeded at something no one else had dared even attempt.
“L-lottery tickets?”
“Hahahaha! Here’s your lottery ticket! Come on in and check out the equipment!”
The hearty laughter of an NPC echoed from somewhere distant.
The flagship workshop that once single-handedly carried this district.
“…”
Could one person alone transform a workshop district?
Yes.
Jin-woo was more than sufficient.
And right in the center of that district.
There was a hooded player.
Pendant.
The ranker ranked fourth among crafters, the very ranker who’d made history on NetFlick, was in Chanran.
“…”
He was watching Chanran.
No one knew Chanran’s true nature better than Pendant.
While others didn’t realize it, Pendant had trained here in Chanran during its early days.
At first, he’d been full of confidence. Since Malen and Grona each had representative blacksmiths, he’d decided to become the representative blacksmith of Avalak Kingdom.
But as time passed, he felt the limits.
There was only so much he could learn here, only so much feedback he could receive.
Eventually, Pendant concluded that Chanran was a dead-end district with no future, and he left.
Grind.
Pendant ground his teeth.
“I thought it was impossible.”
He’d left because he believed it impossible for a single player to elevate a workshop district to the peak.
He had left.
“…But Jin transformed Chanran by himself.”
Grind.
He felt a humiliation that went beyond his prediction being wrong—it was the gap in initiative, in thinking, in confidence itself.
“This is called arrogance. If the idea that a single blacksmith can shift an enormous current by themselves isn’t arrogance, then what is?”
It had been an arrogant choice.
Pendant’s own decision was the right one.
Yet the results defied arrogance. In fact, what Jin-woo had chosen had become the kind of accomplishment a top-tier ranker blacksmith should aspire to.
A top ranker should be capable of this much.
“Was I being small-minded?”
Pendant had never once thought of himself that way.
Yet in this moment, Pendant felt impossibly small.
“Jin.”
Ding!
Then Pendant’s external message inbox chimed.
-Hello, this is Jin-woo’s manager. Jin-woo would like to…
A response had come from Jin-woo.
To meet.
A message asking to exchange.
“The moment has come.”
Pendant took a deep breath.
The moment to measure him had arrived.
“Time to shatter your overestimation.”
* * *
The completed armor shimmered with an otherworldly hue.
-Spirit God’s Armor [MR]
Spirit God’s Armor.
It had higher defense than Pur’s Ether Wave Bone Armor.
“Three thousand higher.”
Moreover, its other attributes were also incrementally stronger.
Jin-woo clenched his fist.
And savored the sensation in his hand.
‘It vanished before I could even grasp it not long ago.’
That sensation, which had slipped away before he could seize it, now registered clearly in his hand.
‘Now I’m starting to understand.’
It wasn’t humility.
Even having reached MR Grade, Jin-woo couldn’t afford to be smug before the vast unknown of crafting.
The more he understood, the more apparent it became that crafting in NewGen was genuinely difficult.
‘The higher the grade climbs.’
Depending on the materials he worked with.
Depending on what crafting tools he used, what his stats were, and what skills he possessed, the resulting item’s character varied infinitely.
‘I owe an apology to Eternal Sunshine for this, but.’
NewGen was a fundamentally different game.
‘If I’d started here from the beginning, I would’ve wandered quite a lot.’
But his experience in Eternal Sunshine had been invaluable to his growth in NewGen.
“First.”
Jin-woo gave the Spirit God’s Armor to First.
-You have given Familiar First the Spirit God’s Armor!
First and Pur, the heroes of this battle and those destined to lead legions forward, now had complete equipment sets.
Whoosh.
Roaaaaaaaaaaaaar!
The two familiars radiated an even more intense presence.
The aura emanating from their equipment.
And the strengthened power that came with each familiar’s level increase filled the surrounding space.
‘They look as if they’ve both used the Proclamation of Thousand Names.’
“You should try them out right away, don’t you think?”
Jin-woo grinned.
“An opportunity will come soon enough.”
Jin-woo believed that opportunity would arrive before long.
‘More fun than hunting towers or monsters.’
The seeds Jin-woo had sown were about to ignite.
“I’ve tested them thoroughly against monsters. Now.”
A far more formidable opponent might well come seeking him out.
‘Leap definitely won’t come.’
But others would certainly appear, having heard that Leap had been defeated.
‘They all know where I am now anyway.’
Jin-woo spoke to his two familiars.
“Let’s test them out on a player.”

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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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