The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 339

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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 339
Episode 339.
‘Different.’
Each time Jin-woo pressed the Wave Carving Knife against the Runestone, he felt his fingers tingle with that distinctive sensation.
The Runestones from Sakura were far more intense than the ones he’d used in Positano.
‘So these are mainland Runestones.’
The Mechanical Engineers had said as much.
They’d brought poor-quality materials, they claimed.
‘Which means even these Runestones aren’t particularly high quality.’
Yet despite their inferior quality, they were producing this much power.
‘I wonder how much better a proper Runestone would be.’
Jin-woo found himself curious about the Runestones here in Sakura.
‘It looks like there are quite a few different types of Runestones.’
The minerals classified as Runestones seemed abundant. Despite all being Runestones, their shapes differed and the power they radiated varied.
Crack! Crack-crack!
Every time Jin-woo carved a Runestone and inscribed a Runeword, energy poured forth.
“Soul Forging.”
Jin-woo drew out the Runestone’s power using Soul Forging.
“Ultra Maximization Refining Art.”
Combined with the Ultra Maximization Refining Art, all the energy the Runestone contained rose to the surface.
“Just as I thought.”
‘This one’s far richer in energy than the Runestone Baxter used to work with.’
The Runestone Baxter had used in Positano must have been acquired through the help of Positano’s lord.
‘The Runestones he brought when banished from Sakura must have been used up long ago.’
Jin-woo handled the Runestones of entirely different quality, drawing forth their Rune Energy.
‘The blueprint says to layer two Runewords on this Magic Core.’
Jin-woo had no intention of following that.
‘I’ll layer three Magic Cores together.’
To create powerful Magic Core Synergy.
-Magic Core created!
Thunk. Thunk.
Jin-woo placed two additional Runestones on the workbench.
Clack! Crack-crack!
Hummmmmmm—!
The workbench activated, gripping the Runestones firmly.
‘This is no joke.’
Jin-woo continued to marvel as he worked with the bench.
Thanks to the vibrations the workbench provided, Jin-woo could inscribe Runewords on the Magic Core with ease.
‘At this level, I can do things I couldn’t manage before.’
Jin-woo inscribed the most difficult of all the Runewords.
‘A single Runeword made from two Runewords.’
He carved the Explosion Rune Word slowly.
“!”
“The Explosion Rune Word……!”
“Isn’t the Magic Core already sufficient according to the blueprint……?”
The Mechanical Engineers watching Jin-woo’s work were bewildered.
According to the blueprint Baxter provided, they were making a Combat Mechanic.
A Combat Mechanic typically only needed one Magic Core.
If you inserted multiple Magic Cores, the output became too powerful and the thing broke almost immediately.
Yet Jin-woo continued making Magic Cores and was now even inscribing the Explosion Rune Word.
What was the Explosion Rune Word?
It was a Runeword that enabled powerful output, but it was difficult to inscribe, and even once inscribed into a Magic Core, it was nearly disposable—power control was so difficult it was unreliable.
As they watched Jin-woo inscribe it perfectly, the Mechanical Engineers gazed in awe and trepidation.
“Baxter. How long has Jin-woo been studying Mechanical Engineering?”
“About five days now.”
“……?”
“Five days?”
“Yeah. That’s where he’s reached in just five days.”
Baxter wore a smug expression watching Mate and the Mechanical Engineers react in shock.
“Nothing to be too amazed about.”
Though truthfully, Baxter himself was astonished by Jin-woo every time.
-Magic Core created!
After creating the second Magic Core, Jin-woo hesitated briefly before attempting the third.
‘This vibration-dampening function.’
After using it several times, he was beginning to understand how it operated.
“……Hmm.”
Jin-woo pressed a button on the workbench, and the vibration-dampening effect stopped.
‘This is a technique of sorts.’
He felt he could recreate this high-level Mechanical Engineering technique using his own Craftsmanship.
‘Until now, I’ve been creating vibrations and waves myself during crafting.’
If he could generate them, he could certainly suppress them.
When Jin-woo suddenly disabled the workbench’s vibration feature, Baxter—who’d claimed there was nothing amazing about it—looked bewildered.
It wasn’t broken. Why had he turned it off?
“Fuuuu.”
Jin-woo took a deep breath.
“Surely not.”
Baxter blinked.
His reaction startled Mate and the Mechanical Engineers as well.
Surely not—was it really that?
“With just your hands……you’re trying to replicate that……?”
And then Jin-woo moved his hands.
Clack.
With that movement—
“……Gone.”
There was no vibration.
It was as if the workbench had been grafted directly onto his hands.
Of course, the vibration hadn’t disappeared completely.
Crack! Crack!
Vibrations resurfaced periodically, but Jin-woo kept adjusting the zero point.
Feel, sense, feel again, imprint the sensation into your hands.
-Craftsmanship [Precision] Stat increased.
-Synchronization Rate increased by 0.1%!
Under extreme concentration, his Synchronization Rate rose. But Jin-woo wasn’t looking at the notifications.
He focused solely on the sensation in his hands.
The Mechanical Engineering workbench, designed for extreme precision, was created to accomplish what humans cannot.
It combined Magic Cores with various techniques, so its movements were naturally beyond human imitation.
Or rather, even if you could imitate them, you couldn’t extract the true essence of their power.
And yet—
The vibration-suppression that shouldn’t have been possible was unfolding from Jin-woo’s hands.
Everyone held their breath.
Silently.
They watched the quiet crafting Jin-woo displayed.
Crack.
The Wave Carving Knife’s vibration suddenly intensified.
“…….”
Jin-woo’s expression shifted to surprise.
‘Can I control vibrations to this degree?’
This was power derived from the elegant movement he’d just used to eliminate vibration.
Jin-woo looked at his own hands.
‘Has it deepened?’
Though Jin-woo could sense delicate, minute details through his hands, this time it was difficult to perceive.
‘Has some deeper realm that I can’t quite feel developed?’
Jin-woo smiled.
The unknown realm.
He’d taken a step—or perhaps half a step, or merely extended a toe—into that territory.
But at least—
‘It’s progress.’
And that held profound meaning for Jin-woo.
Smiling, Jin-woo drew forth the vibration.
Where before there had been considerable noise, the vibration now grew quiet and fluid.
Hummmmmm—.
Jin-woo moved the Wave Carving Knife as he wished, to the degree he wished. And it carved deeper still.
The Runeword to inscribe was Explosion.
‘Mix wind into this.’
The Runeword transformed.
Tempest.
Jin-woo recalled Kraken.
‘Kraken was the ocean’s tyrant and catastrophe. As a natural phenomenon, that would be a tempest.’
A tempest that swept away everything and ruled through terror—that was the form befitting Kraken’s Soul Crystal. Jin-woo inscribed that essence into the Runestone.
-Magic Core created!
Three Magic Cores were completed in Jin-woo’s hands.
The Explosion Magic Core.
The Tempest Magic Core.
Combined with a standard Magic Core.
Chime. Chime-chime.
As Jin-woo finished assembly, the three Magic Cores began to resonate.
At such a bold combination, Mate’s hands trembled.
Sweat already soaked his back.
They might be witnessing history.
History that would elevate Baxter’s Magic Core theory to an entirely new level.
Crack-crack-crack—!
It sounded like lightning striking.
The Material Warehouse filled with the sound.
Shwoop.
Hum. Hum.
The Magic Cores resonated quietly.
“We’ve done it…….”
The Magic Cores, inscribed with powerful Runewords, complemented each other and resonated together.
The internal structure was now complete.
Whatever outer casing was used, this would function as elite Mechanical Engineering equipment.
But Jin-woo saw this as only the beginning.
‘The external frame is just as important as the interior.’
No matter how excellent the inside, without an exterior capable of supporting it, it’s meaningless.
‘Now let me attempt some classical crafting.’
Jin-woo immediately opened the Summoning Workshop.
“Summoning.”
Shaaaaaaack—.
As the workshop unfolded inside the warehouse, the Mechanical Engineers gasped.
A furnace, workbench, anvil.
The workshop, packed with a massive Soul Furnace and various tools, filled the Material Warehouse.
“A portable workshop of this scale……!”
Portable workshop technology.
Though Sakura had spent considerable time developing this technology, no one had ever carried this scale of it.
At most, one or two workbenches.
And a single miniature furnace.
By comparison, Jin-woo’s was truly worthy of the name portable workshop.
“How did you even…….”
“Don’t covet it.”
Baxter spoke. Mate quickly smoothed over his expression.
“I’ve never seen something this scale either. That’s not Mechanical Engineering. That’s divine blessing.”
“What god is favoring him so much…….”
Logical, the superhuman intelligence, had blessed him with this gift—calling it divine favor from the god of Mechanical Engineering was fair enough.
Jin-woo immediately activated the Soul Furnace.
Whoooosh.
-Soul Furnace activated!
Jin-woo started the furnace right away.
Then he placed Kraken’s soul inside.
-Refining soul!
-Kraken’s soul is being refined!
-Kraken Soul Crystal [MR Grade]
Jin-woo immediately crystallized Kraken’s soul.
Shaaaack—.
‘Since Kraken was such a massive boss monster, its soul was enormous.’
Thanks to that, a massive Soul Crystal had formed.
‘I’ll leave Shaking’s soul for now.’
Jin-woo placed the crystallized essence of Kraken into the furnace.
Whoooosh!
Then immediately withdrew it and began hammering.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Kraken’s Soul Crystal had excellent elasticity.
‘Kraken’s traits are reflected in it.’
He shaped the exoskeleton by hammering with his Hammer.
‘Size is crucial.’
One against a hundred.
Or perhaps even one against a thousand—he needed a Mechanic capable of that kind of power.
But it couldn’t be too large.
‘Otherwise it becomes a boss monster.’
A raid-friendly boss monster means many weak points.
In this Quest, the biggest enemy was the Guild’s Special Monsters.
‘Giant boss monsters are what generally ignite players’ fighting spirit.’
Clang! Clang! Clang!
‘I’ll make it from the terror of the Abyss.’
A Mechanic and yet not a Mechanic.
Shaaaack—.
Jin-woo produced Shaking Bone.
The massive Shaking had shed considerable bone.
‘I have plenty of material.’
Crack.
Vibration Technique honed to mastery carved through the bone in an instant.
“Bone Craft.”
Clack. Clack. Crack.
Shaking Bone and Kraken’s Soul Crystal fused seamlessly.
Shaaack—.
“Is there any material you can’t handle……? You’re working with that bone so easily and then combining it……!”
This classical crafting was familiar to the Mechanical Engineers.
They were called Mechanical Engineers because Mechanical Engineering was their primary skill, but fundamentally they could be considered blacksmiths.
So they found themselves mesmerized watching Jin-woo’s work.
And Baxter was no different.
“What I showed you in Gorae was just a taste…….”
What he’d shown in Gorae had been impressive too. But the craftsmanship Jin-woo displayed in full form was so excellent it could stand as the ideal every blacksmith aspired to.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Jin-woo carved Kraken as he’d seen it in the ocean—into human form.
To preserve that sense of massive tentacles, he emphasized the arms and legs.
Clang!
An Undead Mechanic—both Mechanic and Undead—was born from Jin-woo’s hands.
-Equipment created!
-Undead Mechanic created!
‘The Magic Core means I don’t need a soul.’
But it couldn’t become his proper Subordinate.
‘A soul is essential to become a Subordinate.’
The soul was what enabled the contract—without it, there was no Subordinate bond.
But he didn’t mind.
‘It’s my Mechanic.’
The first Mechanic Jin-woo had ever created.
“Your name is Abyss.”
Beep.
Due to the Magic Core, Mechanics possessed their distinctive mechanical hum.
Perhaps because of the materials used and the Magic Core’s traits, the sound from Abyss was heavily resonant.
“Ooooh…….”
“We’ve never seen anything like this……!”
The Mechanical Engineers drew closer to Abyss in amazement.
Then they hesitated.
“Feel free to examine it.”
“Thank you!”
They immediately approached and inspected Abyss from all angles.
“Wow…… the finish here…….”
“Three Magic Cores stabilized like this…….”
“It’s impossible. How did you preserve the bone texture like this? Good heavens. You didn’t just preserve it, you elevated it. What is this material anyway? What bone is this?”
“That’s Shaking Bone.”
Baxter answered.
“……Yes?”
“……Shaking? Do you mean that Shaking?”
These men had traveled the continent many times before Sakura became unstable. They naturally avoided it, steering clear of the horrors of the sea.
Even with powerful Mechanical Engineering equipment, they were difficult to hunt. So everyone avoided them.
“How did you…….”
“Don’t ask.”
Baxter spoke.
“You wouldn’t believe it anyway.”
The reason Baxter, who trusted no one, trusted only Jin-woo had been answered by that craftsmanship alone.
But as for how he’d captured Shaking itself—if he told them, they wouldn’t believe it.
Since it was something that couldn’t be demonstrated, Baxter simply cut off the conversation.
“Then I’ll pick up the pace.”
Jin-woo began his next work.
“You’re not resting?”
“You just made a Mechanic with three Magic Cores……?”
Mechanics were finicky among Mechanical Engineering equipment. Making a single Mechanic consumed all concentration and stamina, so rest was naturally necessary.
At minimum a day.
At maximum, rest for an entire month. That’s how much extreme focus it required.
So when Jin-woo said he’d pick up the pace, the Mechanical Engineers were flustered.
At that, Jin-woo asked instead:
“Why rest?”

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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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