The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 30

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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 30
Episode 30.
After purchasing the Bronze Steel Pickaxe, Yur
could confirm it by using it himself.
This was only the beginning.
“Because it felt like a prototype.”
Yur sensed tremendous latent potential in Jin-woo’s pickaxe.
Beyond the best pickaxe he’d ever used before, there was a distinctly different sensation when he wielded it.
But at the same time, he felt strongly that it was unfinished.
“Rather than incomplete, it felt like you were going to make an even better pickaxe.”
In other words, it felt like a prototype—so he was confident Jin-woo would craft something superior very soon.
And right on schedule.
“It’s up. And this time in a different material and style!”
Yur gripped the Bone Pickaxe.
“Oooh.”
A chill radiated from it so vividly he gasped.
“I can’t sit still.”
Yur packed his things.
“I need to seek out Jin-woo.”
He felt he could have a worthwhile conversation with Jin-woo.
“A good conversation, and a good deal.”
* * *
After clearing the quest.
Jin-woo began advancing rapidly.
Slice!
As he carved through various monsters, dark aura began seeping from the air ahead.
The place the parchment was pointing to.
“This is it.”
This was the very center.
Whoooosh—
“This doesn’t feel right.”
Black aura rippled along the wall, and the sensation was distinctly different just from looking at it.
“Just seeing it feels dangerous.”
That black aura looked like something one should never approach. It felt like touching it would curse him on the spot.
“But places like that are the best.”
Dangerous places spawn dangerous monsters.
And dangerous monsters?
“Usually drop good materials.”
Jin-woo gripped his pickaxe.
“A pickaxe is what you use to break walls.”
Then he swung with all his might.
Crack! Crack! Craaaash!
Thanks to his elevated Craftsmanship Stat and Strength Stat, Jin-woo could exert power well beyond his level.
As cracks spread across the wall, black aura poured from the fractures.
“The master…… forbade anyone from entering…….”
The cracked wall crumbled, and a mass of pure black aura emerged.
The mass belched aura directly at Jin-woo.
“!”
Black aura engulfed him in an instant—he had no time to dodge.
“Atone…… with death…….”
-You have been cursed!
-Rune effect: Bone Heart activated.
-Strength Stat increased!
What should have returned as a curse—a debuff—instead became a buff.
“……?”
He was caught squarely in the black aura’s grip. By all rights, he should have died or suffered fatal damage.
But when Jin-woo showed no ill effects, the black mass seemed confused.
‘Oh.’
He hadn’t expected to use the newly acquired rune so soon.
‘This is better than I thought?’
Jin-woo laughed sharply.
“What……?”
“What, you ask?”
Jin-woo drew his sword.
Whoooosh—
The Azurite Claw Sword scattered its brilliant blue light.
“Just a blacksmith.”
“How……!”
Jin-woo’s blade cleaved straight through the black mass.
Slice!
After a few cuts, the black mass drooped limply before falling to the ground.
-Guardian hunted!
-Black Mud [Grade B]
Description: Black mud infused with demonic power. Appears to have uses.
The black mass had been a Guardian.
Normally it wasn’t a creature one could defeat so easily, but thanks to the rune’s effect, he managed it without difficulty.
“Clearing the quest was worthwhile.”
Jin-woo examined the item the Guardian had dropped.
“Black Mud?”
The Guardian’s drop was muddy, black sludge. Though he’d never seen this material before, Jin-woo picked it up quite naturally.
“Let’s hold onto it for now.”
Jin-woo disposed of the black mass and stepped deeper into the broken wall.
-Craftsman’s Path Quest in progress!
With the notification, a boom erupted ahead.
Krrraaaaaash—!
Then the floor began to move.
-Entering Hephaestus’s Forge!
* * *
Hephaestus’s Forge was exceedingly dark.
“So this is a legendary blacksmith’s forge, they said.”
Jin-woo looked around.
The forge was quite dark and hard to see, but thanks to Luminous Stones embedded in the walls, his vision wasn’t completely blocked.
“This doesn’t look like a forge—it looks like some kind of tomb.”
The smell of decay.
And dampness.
“A forge, really?”
No matter how he thought about it, such a place couldn’t be called a craftsman’s forge.
A true forge should be filled with heat.
“At the very least, it should smell like fire.”
Instead of fire, only strange odors drifted through.
“A legendary-tier job quest, they said. Did I get scammed?”
Jin-woo frowned.
“Or perhaps the quest is only now beginning.”
Jin-woo searched the area carefully.
Then he discovered a single glowing book.
-Found Hephaestus’s Diary.
Hephaestus’s Diary.
Jin-woo opened the book immediately.
-A life full of regret. On that day, in that war, I should not have lost her. No matter what, I should have protected her. My equipment was insufficient. Far too insufficient.
“Hmm.”
The writing carried such profound regret that it was almost palpable.
And it was clear at once.
“The legendary blacksmith gave you a parchment and said he’d teach you crafting whenever you came, right? But it seems he died before you could return. When did he give the parchment to the clan leader’s family?”
The legendary blacksmith Hephaestus was dead.
He also appeared to have never trained a successor.
“It makes sense why his forge became like a tomb.”
Jin-woo continued reading the diary.
-Why did only I survive? Wondering if there might be a reason I alone was spared, I devoted myself to crafting equipment. But I could only make one thing. Armor. That wretched armor. The very armor that ruthlessly stole the lives of my comrades.
“Trapped in that day.”
The great war the diary spoke of—the one where she was lost.
Hephaestus never escaped that war.
He remained trapped in its midst.
-My comrades who trusted me died because of my insufficient equipment. What legendary blacksmith am I? I couldn’t protect even a single comrade. I couldn’t protect the person I loved. I locked myself in my forge. I devoted myself to crafting. I needed perfect armor. If that were the case, I would train my metallurgy anew from the very foundations. The greatest defense. Armor that would protect everyone from injury—flawless armor—I would forge it.
Hephaestus attempted to rise again.
He tried to grasp his regret.
-Perfect armor. Ultimate defense. If only I could maximize defense to its fullest extent.
The subsequent work logs contained the continuing attempts of a blacksmith.
“Defense Maximization?”
It seemed the armor had failed to function properly and shattered. The work logs continued with obsessive armor-crafting attempts.
-Obtained Hephaestus’s Recipe!
-You can now apply Defense Maximization options!
“Hephaestus’s Recipe.”
Jin-woo opened Hephaestus’s Recipe.
-Conditions not met. Cannot open.
“Right. It wouldn’t be that easy.”
Jin-woo clicked his tongue.
-A problem has arisen. To make my equipment into something better, someone must test it. But I have no one to test it on. I must find a way. A better way.
-I have found a new method. Since I have crafted everything myself until now, I need only craft someone to wear my equipment in my stead. I can make anything, after all.
“What?”
Suddenly the entries took an unexpected turn.
-I have decided to become a Necromancer.
“Huh?”
Jin-woo’s eyes widened.
-I traveled the realm to become a Necromancer.
“Interesting.”
His curiosity was piqued.
“So that’s when? While traveling the realm to become a Necromancer, he must have given the parchment to the clan leader’s family. But a Necromancer? That’s bold.”
Hephaestus traveled the realm to become a Necromancer.
-I found it. I became a Necromancer. I raised skeleton soldiers and clothed them in my equipment. The skeletons became my hands and feet. With them, I could test my equipment. I continued testing. For better armor, for more perfect armor.
And the work logs continued again.
-Success. The armor did not yield even to the blade of one called a Sword Master. Rather, his blade broke.
And after that, his name rose once more.
-I have forged perfect armor. This supreme defense cannot be broken by anyone. But…… I wish it had come sooner.
Despite creating defense so formidable, Hephaestus’s regret did not fade.
-Yet it does not disappear. This regret, this profound regret.
-Then with these hands, I shall erase the regret myself. I shall go to meet them. Those who have died. And I shall clothe them in my flawless armor. Then all things will return to their place.
Suddenly the book began to glow.
Something shimmering lay atop the workbench.
As he reached for it—
-Hephaestus’s Diary fully read!
-Quest begins!
Whoooosh—!
Jin-woo’s body was drawn into the glowing gem.
-Survive.
-Survive and correct Hephaestus’s regret!
* * *
“!”
He awoke in a very loud place.
“Move, damn you! Every second counts!”
“What?”
“What?! You bastard! Get your head in the game!”
Jin-woo saw the person shouting at him.
A knight in splendid armor.
He wore plate armor with a sword at his belt and a cloak across his shoulders.
And the sound of hammers rang out madly.
‘Heat.’
This was a Blacksmith’s Workshop.
A hammer was in his own hands.
“Equipment shortage. We’re critically short on equipment!”
“Hellhounds keep breathing Decay Breath! When it hits, the equipment melts away—the knights are dying!”
“We need equipment that can withstand that breath!”
“But we can’t! We can’t go any faster! We’re already making equipment at maximum capacity! Every blacksmith is working like mad!”
“We need at least three days to process that volume!”
Jin-woo quickly assessed the situation.
‘The quest has begun.’
He was executing a quest right now.
‘Looks like a war is happening. The blacksmiths are exhausted and can’t make more equipment.’
If that was the case, there was only one connection.
‘The great war Hephaestus participated in, perhaps?’
Jin-woo looked around the workshop.
But there was no sign of anyone who looked like Hephaestus.
‘Not in this blacksmith’s workshop, then.’
Jin-woo recalled the notification from before he was summoned.
‘He said to correct Hephaestus’s regret.’
Hephaestus had lost comrades in the great war.
Afterward, broken as he was, he made flawless armor, regretting that day.
But unfortunately, the regret never faded.
‘Perhaps becoming a Necromancer was meant to resurrect his comrades from the very start.’
The diary’s final entry mentioned bringing the dead back to life.
‘It seems he may have failed. Even if he resurrected them, they would have been corpses, not the living.’
So his fundamental regret would never have been erased.
‘Is this a world created from his memory?’
If so, the way to complete the quest was simple: erase Hephaestus’s regret in this memory world.
‘His regret is losing his comrades in this war. Not dressing them in his perfect armor.’
Save them.
How?
‘Hephaestus’s way.’
“Uuuugh.”
“No more. We need rest.”
“Several blacksmiths have already collapsed!”
While Jin-woo analyzed the situation, the workshop grew increasingly urgent.
“Rest? While you lot rest in this cozy workshop, knights are dying! Soldiers are falling! In the end, you and all your families will die too! The Demonic Races from the Northern Region have even brought Demonic Beasts!”
But the blacksmiths had already reached their limit.
They had hammered without sleeping for days.
On top of that, they were burning through mana to use every ability they had just to produce equipment.
And now they were being demanded to make even more.
At this rate, the blacksmiths would collapse from exhaustion.
“But we cannot continue. And we cannot forge this fast!”
Then Jin-woo raised his hand.
“How many do you need?”
“Ten swords, ten sets of armor.”
“Understood.”
Materials were already laid out nearby.
Whoooosh—
‘The furnace is fine. The anvil is fine.’
The workshop’s quality was quite good.
“I will begin.”
Clang—!
Jin-woo began striking the hammer.
“That volume would take at least three days……!”
“That’s not something a junior blacksmith can handle!”
The other blacksmiths gasped and tried to stop him.
“It’s fine.”
Jin-woo gestured to them.
“I can do it.”

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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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