The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 324

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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 324
324.
“Chirp-!”
“Screee–!”
The power was so intense that even the two spirits startled momentarily.
The Runestone flared with brilliant light and was strengthened in an instant.
It felt as though the Runestone had drawn out the spirits’ power.
“Chirp. Chirp.”
“Screee-! Screee!”
For that reason, the two spirits seemed more talkative than usual. Jin-woo gently stroked both their heads.
‘Fascinating material.’
“Are Spirits and Runestones connected somehow?”
Jin-woo felt the strengthened Runestone in his palm. Beyond having Dust and Coco’s power seep directly into it, the Runestone felt unmistakably stronger than before—far more substantial.
It had definitely been reinforced. The power of the two spirits now dwelt within it far more robustly than before.
‘It’s become much harder. This way, it can withstand the power of Circulation better.’
Of course, it hadn’t changed dramatically.
But this difference was quite significant to Jin-woo.
‘This should be enough.’
“I didn’t know this before.”
While he didn’t understand exactly why Spirits and Runestones were connected, as someone who had contracted with two supreme-tier Spirits, this was incredibly fortunate for Jin-woo.
“Dust, Coco. From now on, you’ll need to keep working for me.”
“Chirp!”
“Screee!”
The two spirits wore resolute expressions, as if to say they were ready for anything he asked.
“It’s strange—you’ve both become supreme-tier Spirits and grown larger, yet your expressions are just as adorable as before.”
Jin-woo chuckled.
Then he immediately returned to carving the Runestone.
Crack. Crunch. Crunch.
Thanks to the spirits’ power, the strengthened Runestone could now channel far more Circulation energy through it.
‘Increase the output.’
Make it so the durability can keep pace with the heightened output.
Bang!
Crack. Crunch. The Wave Stone Carving Knife danced across the surface.
-You have created a Magic Core!
The Magic Core made from the strengthened Runestone had noticeably more stability than before.
“Hmm.”
Jin-woo studied the completed Magic Core, stroking his chin.
‘Still lacking.’
Instability.
This instability was, in a sense, both the Magic Core’s greatest potential and its greatest weakness.
He had tried to reinforce the Runestone to compensate for that flaw, but he could see clear limitations now.
‘In this state, it won’t work. It needs supplementing.’
Whether through a Skill or through other materials—he needed another approach. In its current form, there was no way to remedy this instability.
‘But I can’t keep pushing forward with this as-is. The constraints are clear.’
Jin-woo frowned. Multiple possibilities ran through his mind.
‘If I don’t address this, no matter how much I reinforce it, I won’t be able to improve the Runestone’s inherent limits and quality.’
In this state, capturing both durability and output seemed difficult.
Even if he managed it, the instability would remain as a constant burden.
‘If I controlled it myself, I could ignore that instability and move forward.’
But this equipment wasn’t meant for Jin-woo alone—that was the problem. If others used it and got caught in that instability, it would be entirely the maker’s fault.
‘And that’s what makes a true craftsman.’
“For now, let me keep trying.”
If it wasn’t a problem he could solve immediately, there was nothing for it but to keep attempting.
‘When I go to Sacra, there might be other approaches.’
He would need to visit Sacra.
‘But first I need to find out why Baekster is here.’
Jin-woo glanced briefly at Baekster.
‘He’ll tell me when the time comes.’
Bang! Bang!
Jin-woo swung the Hammer.
-You have created equipment!
Shaaaa-!
Steam burst forth, and the equipment was complete.
It was a Mechanical Engineering Pickaxe—a tool of pure technical mastery crafted by Jin-woo with all the essence of Mechanical Engineering he possessed.
-Mechanical Engineering Rotating Pickaxe [MR]
With Mechanical Engineering combined with existing techniques, the Grade shot up to MR Grade once more.
Shaaaa-.
Steam continued to pour forth, making clear that this was no ordinary Pickaxe.
‘This is it.’
Jin-woo smiled and gripped the Pickaxe.
“The feel is there.”
Equipment infused with a strong fusion-punk aesthetic had been born.
It had that satisfying bite of something that fit perfectly, with an almost futuristic edge to it.
‘Not that it’s actually futuristic. The feel just came through properly.’
By grafting the Mechanical Engineering Skill onto it, he had captured the feel perfectly in this Pickaxe.
Along with enhanced Attributes, it maximized efficiency when harvesting minerals, bringing the aesthetic to life.
“Since it’s equipment that never existed before.”
Jin-woo had, in essence, created an entirely new future.
Jin-woo first stepped out of the Workshop. The wall of the cliff face outside the Workshop was quite thick.
“With a massive wall like this, there’s no way to enter except through that narrow passage over there.”
The wall was so thick that it seemed impossible to breach with ordinary force.
“I never would’ve even attempted it with an ordinary Pickaxe.”
Crunch.
In Jin-woo’s hand was the newly crafted Pickaxe.
“Perfect for a test.”
Shaaaaaaa-!
As he infused Mana, tremendous steam suddenly burst forth. Simultaneously, both the blade and the head began to rotate.
Screee.
Screeeeeeeee-!
The massive rotating blade spun with a deafening roar, and Jin-woo was momentarily startled.
The powerful vibration required considerable strength just to hold it. If his grip wavered even slightly or lost its proper angle, he’d drop it outright—the rotation was that intense.
‘This is it.’
This tremendous power was the Magic Core’s greatest advantage.
‘And likely its greatest challenge as well.’
Jin-woo gripped the Pickaxe firmly and swung it against the wall.
Crunch. Crunchcrunchcrunchcrunch-!
Screeeee-!
A thunderous boom erupted as the thick wall began to rupture. But the recoil from that tremendous power was formidable.
The moment the Pickaxe struck the wall, a hole opened, and the rotating motion enlarged its diameter.
Crunch! Crack!
Jin-woo brought the Pickaxe down again.
Crunchcrunch-!
“!”
The rotation intensified even further.
Exactly ten times.
In ten precise strikes, Jin-woo confirmed the potential of this Mechanical Engineering Pickaxe.
“Not bad?”
The quality was genuinely impressive.
Especially the steam that dispersed with each strike and the destructive force behind it were quite good.
“One impact on the direct hit. And another surge from the rotation.”
Jin-woo rested the Pickaxe on his shoulder.
“Plus the visual flair from the steam.”
At MR Grade, it was the highest-tier Mechanical Engineering equipment Jin-woo had ever crafted.
Baekster emerged outside at the tremendous boom and saw Jin-woo.
“How did you—how did you breach that wall?”
Shuuuu-.
Baekster saw the steam rising from Jin-woo’s Pickaxe and let out a sigh.
“At this rate, my entire Workshop will collapse!”
The overwhelmingly powerful Pickaxe Jin-woo had created captured Baekster’s gaze.
He complained, yet he couldn’t take his eyes off it.
“Could I try that for a moment?”
Then he asked carefully.
“Feel free.”
The moment Baekster took the Pickaxe, he tensed his entire body in alarm.
“The recoil on this…”
The tremendous power emanating from the Mechanical Engineering Rotating Pickaxe left Baekster immobilized. He swung with all his might.
Crack.
Crunchcrunchcrunchcrunch-!
The wall ruptured instantly, and Baekster’s muscles rippled with the strain.
“The feel is exceptional!”
“Didn’t you say the wall mustn’t be broken?”
“I had to try it, didn’t I?”
Baekster grinned.
Then he still wouldn’t let go of the Pickaxe. The recoil was so substantial that holding it required continuous muscular engagement—and that sensation felt remarkably good.
“I’ll need that back.”
“…You won’t let me keep it?”
“No.”
Reluctantly, he returned the Pickaxe to Jin-woo.
After Baekster went back into the Workshop, Jin-woo immediately prepared to list the Pickaxe at the Auction House.
“There’s no way this won’t fetch a good price.”
It was crafted well enough that even Baekster had wanted it.
Jin-woo opened the American Auction House right away.
“All the equipment I listed before should have sold by now.”
All twenty-two pieces of equipment he’d put up were approaching the end of their Auctions.
The moment he thought it, an alert appeared.
Ding-!
-Achievement unlocked!
-Auction House King [America] registered to Hall of Honor!
Jin-woo, about to open the Auction House, noticed the new alert.
Achievement: Auction House King.
It was a Hall of Honor entry earned by reaching a certain sales threshold on the Auction House. Jin-woo was already dominating the rankings on both the Asian and European Union Auction Houses.
“The equipment sold well.”
Jin-woo immediately checked the rankings.
-[American Auction House]

1. McCarthy
2. Stranger
3. Mister Horn
4. Jin-woo [NEW!]
…….
Jin-woo had been recorded in fourth place.
“I sold over a billion Gold.”
The twenty-two pieces of equipment had received overwhelming acclaim.
With the Circulation Attribute—something that didn’t exist before—and breaking the impossible notion that you couldn’t install two primary Attributes, they were historic equipment.
Because of that, the most expensive of the twenty-two pieces had reached a price of 150 million Gold.
The rest also sold well, so the amount Jin-woo had received just from this batch easily exceeded a billion Gold.
Yet he was still in fourth place.
“I would’ve taken first on any other Auction House.”
It was money that would’ve been first place elsewhere, but the American Auction House was indeed impressive and formidable.
“So fourth place means those three above me earned an unimaginable amount?”
Mister Horn, Stranger, and McCarthy.
“This is turning out to be more fun than I expected.”
Jin-woo smiled.
There were still three users he could surpass.
“If I list this one, I think I can beat third place.”
Though it was possible he wouldn’t.
In that case, he’d just list another Mechanical Engineering piece.
“But this one first.”
The USSR+ Grade Pickaxe that had sold before went for a whopping 250 million Gold.
“Unfortunately, whoever bought it wasn’t a miner.”
By now, miner users had likely accumulated quite a bit of Gold since that day.
If they really set their minds to earning, they could easily rake in hundreds of millions of Gold—that was the nature of miner users.
“Yur and Artemus are out there.”
And he’d heard there were miner users receiving sponsorship from major corporations as well.
“At minimum, 200 million Gold.”
Even if all the inflated hype deflated, 200 million Gold should come through.
“More hype wouldn’t hurt either.”
Jin-woo registered the item immediately.
-Equipment registered!
-Mechanical Engineering Rotating Pickaxe registered!
The MR Grade Mechanical Engineering Rotating Pickaxe had been listed on the American Auction House.
“No rest now.”
Jin-woo immediately had J-001 gather all the Workshop materials.
“Looks like I’ll be pulling an all-nighter. Unfortunately.”
Though his expression showed no regret whatsoever.

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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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