The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 33

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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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Episode 33
Episode 33.
Jin-woo examined the Black Stone Steel Shield he’d created.
It was his first S-rank item since beginning the New Gene.
“At least I’ve made my mark.”
He’d crafted A-rank items quite late, but S-rank production had become faster than expected.
And that immersion he’d felt just now.
‘It’s so much better than before.’
Whether thanks to his elevated Synchronization Rate.
Or the thirst of a year-long drought.
‘This is fun.’
Jin-woo felt his skill had improved beyond what it once was.
[Black Stone Steel Shield]
-Defense: 200
-Rank: S
-Durability: 1000 / 1000
[A shield forged by Jin-woo, a blacksmith of overwhelming skill. Made from intractable black stone steel. It inspires complete confidence—as if it could block anything.]

The S-rank Black Stone Steel Shield was extraordinarily heavy.
A consequence of black stone steel’s inherent properties.
“This is my first time working with it, but it’s a fiendishly difficult material.”
Black stone steel was remarkably cumbersome to handle.
The reason was simple: it was exceedingly hard.
For that very reason, refining it in a short timeframe proved exponentially harder.
“First time working with it?”
“You succeeded in crafting on your first attempt with black stone steel?”
It was unbelievable.
Black stone steel was a material notorious for frequent failures due to its nature.
“And yet…….”
And yet he’d refined it quickly, fashioning it into a shield, all in one go.
“No.”
“This—this can’t be real. It can’t possibly be real.”
The senior blacksmiths’ jaws fell slack.
“S-rank…….”
One shock after another.
Jin-woo flashed a smile at the astonished senior blacksmiths.
Then he lifted the shield to show them.
-Insufficient Strength stat!
The shield Jin-woo had forged had Strength requirements.
‘I can’t even lift this thing properly?’
So he showed them only what his Strength would allow.
“Observe.”
And he grinned broadly.
“Does it not work?”
His tone was insufferably smug, yet no one dared call him out on it.
Naturally. Jin-woo had backed up every word with action.
The senior blacksmiths had griped; Jin-woo had delivered.
Who could object?
The moment they did, their criticism would cease to be valid and become mere petty stubbornness.
“Hmm.”
Hephaestus gave Jin-woo an approving nod.
-You have corrected Hephaestus’s regret!
-Quest Progress: 10%.
‘Interesting.’
Jin-woo checked the notification window.
Quest progress: 10%.
‘So there are nine more regrets like this?’
Or does the percentage scale with the magnitude of the regret?
-Bonus rewards added!
‘I could probably clear the quest just by correcting the critical regrets.’
But Jin-woo had no intention of settling for that.
‘Rewards increase with the percentage, it seems.’
It made sense to correct as many as possible.
-Achievement [Legend Without Calling]
Description: You have achieved greatness without an assigned profession. We bestow upon you the title of legend.
Effect: Highest stat +5%
“That’s an interesting achievement.”
Creating an S-rank item without a class had earned him another Achievement.
“My Craftsmanship stat will go up by five percent.”
These percentage-based stat Achievements were genuinely valuable.
And what came next was important.
-Achievement [Special]
Description: You have crafted something truly special. From this moment forward, you are a special craftsman!
Effect: All stats +100
S-rank. Special.
An Achievement that granted 100 to all stats. Earning it required S-rank crafting success on any item.
‘That’s excellent.’
Moreover, [Special] also maintained a Hall of Fame, just like [Legend Without Calling].
[Special]
Achievement Hall of Fame
-1. Jin-woo
-2. Starlight
-3. Inclassic
-4. Kaiser
“Huh!”
Seeing his own name at the top, Jin-woo smiled with satisfaction. He was confident he’d stay at first place this time.
‘I crafted S-rank items at quite a good pace, after all.’
-You have received the first-place Hall of Fame reward!
“Oh.”
Jin-woo received the reward immediately.
Whoooosh—!
“Hm?”
Jin-woo felt a sudden jolt of confusion.
-Golden Breath Aura [First-Place Hall of Fame Aura]
“This is the reward……?”
He’d expected S-rank materials or additional stats, something like that.
But what he’d received was an aura.
A kind of special effect with no other tangible benefits attached.
Just a golden radiance rippling across his entire body.
“This is… insane.”
A soft golden luminescence emanating from his whole frame.
Particularly vivid where it gathered in his hands.
Thanks to this aura, Jin-woo’s hands had become a golden craftsman’s touch.
“It looks incredible, but what exactly is it?”
-[Special] Achievement Hall of Fame first-place aura. Available for use while you maintain first place.
-It activates during crafting!
So every time Jin-woo crafted from now on, golden aura would burst forth from his entire body.
‘Crafting just became even more satisfying.’
An aura granted exclusively to the Hall of Fame champion.
“That means Starlight lost it.”
The first-place Hall of Fame aura that Starlight had originally possessed now belonged to Jin-woo.
“Starlight. I’m seeing that name pretty often.”
Starlight and Inclassic.
These two had appeared in the [Legend Without Calling] Achievement rankings before as well.
‘They must be famous rankers.’
Jin-woo committed their names to memory.
‘This could be fun.’
Having rivals was genuinely rewarding.
‘It drives motivation.’
Jin-woo set the shield aside.
Hephaestus approached him.
“Jin-woo, that’s you, yes? I’ve heard about your work at the Lower-tier Smithy. They say you eased their burden considerably.”
“I’m grateful. I merely did what was necessary.”
“That in itself is admirable. But now you’ve not only crafted equipment in a short timeframe, you’ve gone and proven you can forge S-rank equipment from A-rank materials. And you’ve shown the others how it’s done.”
Hephaestus glanced obliquely at the senior blacksmiths.
Their expressions had grown even more complex.
“They seem to have come to their senses.”
“Once you reach a certain threshold, materials matter less than skill.”
“……That’s right!”
Hephaestus appeared genuinely moved by those words.
But his face hardened almost at once.
The current situation was dire. Equipment had to be produced rapidly.
“The situation grows worse. We need far more equipment. The Demon Beasts continue to destroy armor faster than we can supply it. Knights and soldiers need constant resupply. Mediocre gear is useless—only proper equipment will suffice.”
Hephaestus spoke gravely.
“I’ll stay here and work alongside you. Will you lead the way? Show them what’s possible.”
“Yes, understood.”
Jin-woo was genuinely intrigued.
‘I want to see how Hephaestus crafts.’
He was deeply curious about the legendary smith’s forging technique.
* * *
Clang—! Clang—!
Hephaestus’s hammer blows lived up to his legend.
The force you could feel with each strike.
‘Completely different from when he was warming up. Much more powerful than I expected.’
The hammer blows used for equipment forging were beautiful enough to be called art. And despite their measured pace, they radiated pressure.
Clang—! Clang—!
The strikes were powerful enough to send shockwaves through the surroundings.
‘But that’s not all.’
The quenching was particularly impressive.
While the heating and cooling process was theoretically identical for any smith, Hephaestus’s pace was extraordinarily fast.
Simply watching the entire forging process was enjoyable.
‘Of course.’
A legendary blacksmith was demonstrably different in countless ways.
‘No wonder he earned that title. Yet what troubles me…’
Observing him directly, Jin-woo could see that Hephaestus’s current skill was sufficient to produce equipment robust enough that his allies wouldn’t perish.
‘Good equipment emerged from his hands, yet it all proved meaningless? Just how strong are these Demon Beasts?’
What manner of Demon Race and Demon Beast could dissolve even Hephaestus’s creations?
Of course, at that time Hephaestus hadn’t yet attained his perfect armor.
‘Even so, considerable skill.’
Jin-woo’s curiosity deepened.
‘If they’re that formidable…’
They were certainly wielding materials of S-rank or higher.
Clang—!
“The Demon Beasts and Demon Races target equipment ruthlessly! So you must focus on durability and defense!”
“Yes!”
“Yes, understood!”
The senior blacksmiths stole glances at Jin-woo.
Their expressions all seemed conflicted.
They themselves had said it was difficult to make S-rank equipment from A-rank materials.
And Jin-woo had directly shattered that claim.
He’d shown it was possible. The act itself had utterly demolished their pride.
And so they seethed with frustration.
Yet simultaneously, admiration welled up—his skill was so remarkable that they couldn’t help but respect him.
Those contradictory emotions created that conflicted expression.
And that very conflict had kindled new determination.
‘That makes sense.’
For now, Jin-woo crafted nothing. He simply observed the senior blacksmiths at work.
Clang—! Clang—!
Once the blacksmiths entered their concentration, they paid no mind to Jin-woo standing idle. During forging, they focused solely on their own work.
“Hmm.”
Jin-woo set down his hammer entirely and folded his arms.
‘There might be some other issue.’
Perhaps there was a hidden flaw in the equipment Hephaestus had been producing.
‘Or else…’
There was only one other possibility left.
“The opponent…….”
BOOM—!!!!!!!!
A tremendous crash erupted.
In that same instant, the ground shook, and the furnace shattered completely.
Crash—clatter!
“Grrrrrowwwl.”
A Demon Beast plummeted from the sky.
Something rose from its mouth as it landed.
Shhhhhhh—.
Smoke emanating from its jaws began to dissolve everything around it.
Hellhound’s Weakening Breath.
A Demon Beast’s terrible power.
“!”
“Run—flee!”
‘So it’s this one. This isn’t ordinary combat.’
The Hellhound’s gaze suddenly locked on Jin-woo.
Shhhhhhh—.
The Weakening Breath gathered in its maw engulfed Jin-woo.
‘If I take that hit…….’
The quest would fail outright.
“That won’t do.”
Jin-woo rolled urgently to the side. And then.
“Let’s see how effective it really is.”
Against the Weakening Breath bearing down on him, he hurled the S-rank shield he’d just forged.
Crash—bang—bang—bang—!
The breath began dissolving the shield.
But only for a moment.
“That’ll do nicely.”
The Hellhound’s Weakening Breath hadn’t penetrated Jin-woo’s shield.
Jin-woo seized the opening and sprinted forward.
In his hand, the Azure Gold Claw Sword glinted.
“Those teeth of yours look promising.”

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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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