The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 35

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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 35
Episode 35.
Clang!
Jin-woo used Hephaestus’s recipe to upgrade his equipment.
-Ultimate Defense option added!
-Equipment defense significantly increased!
-Equipment upgraded!
Clang! Clang!
“Ugh.”
Jin-woo winced at the sharp pain shooting through his wrists.
‘Layer the materials to raise overall defense.’
Channel mana to increase defense.
The power of Ultimate Defense that Hephaestus had cultivated his entire life was not something to be wielded lightly.
Clang!
The hammer moved of its own accord.
He couldn’t control it, and his grip felt weak.
‘This isn’t easy.’
Clang! Clang!
……
Hephaestus watched Jin-woo with a puzzled expression.
Before the monster attack, he’d already seen Jin-woo’s skill firsthand.
His hammer strikes had been textbook perfect. But something felt off about them now.
The movements were far too exaggerated, and above all, his power balance seemed fractured.
Just as he was about to say something—
Clang!
In an instant, Jin-woo’s hammer strike came down with precision.
The gap that had yawned wide—
was suddenly closed.
…!
Hephaestus caught his breath.
“Are you… trying this for the first time?”
“Yes.”
Clang!
Another strike. This time, it went awry again.
Clang!
Oneness.
Hephaestus’s shoulders trembled.
For just a moment, it hadn’t felt like Jin-woo was holding the hammer.
It felt only like he was crafting.
Like a Sword Master becoming one with his blade.
Just now, the hammer had become one body with Jin-woo.
Clang! Clang!
Despite saying he was doing this for the first time, he grew steadily more adept. Only then could it be seen.
The meaning of the upgrade Jin-woo was performing.
“You’re… maximizing defense. In that manner.”
Hephaestus stared at Jin-woo as if enchanted.
He couldn’t help it.
This Ultimate Defense was something Hephaestus had achieved after devoting his entire life. It could only resemble Hephaestus himself.
Which is why Hephaestus was all the more captivated by Jin-woo’s skill.
Clang!
-Ultimate Defense option added to armor!
“Phew.”
Jin-woo exhaled deeply.
‘I almost failed.’
It was a high-difficulty technique. One careless mistake and the armor could have shattered completely.
‘But I did it.’
Beyond that, Jin-woo had grasped the essence.
“Let’s move on to the next piece right away.”
* * *
“We don’t have much time.”
“What exactly is this new blacksmith Jin-woo? Hephaestus agreed to him just like that.”
“It was the kind of thing that would upset Hephaestus. But to think he’d agree so quickly.”
Marsil smiled watching the three knights.
“Either way, isn’t it good news? It means Hephaestus wants to give us better equipment.”
“That’s true.”
“I heard he didn’t sleep all week.”
“He was doing it so he could give us equipment.”
From childhood to now in their age—
these men had spent a long time together.
“This war will end in our victory.”
“Once everything is finished, let’s travel together. To the Southern Resort!”
“That’s great!”
Not long after, Hephaestus came out with Jin-woo, carrying the equipment.
!
Oh…
This…
The knights gasped. The equipment in Hephaestus and Jin-woo’s hands looked far superior to the original gear just at first glance.
The improvement in defense especially was astonishing.
“Now you can be at ease. Hephaestus and Jin-woo have put our absolute best into this. So—”
Hephaestus spoke.
“Come back alive. No matter what! Return victorious!”
The four knights put on the armor that Hephaestus had given them right there.
-Hephaestus’s Regret corrected!
-Quest Progress Rate: 80%.
The four knights wearing Hephaestus’s equipment departed.
“Evacuate to safety right away!”
“We’ll finish this and be back!”
Marsil looked at Hephaestus.
“See you soon, Hephaestus.”
After they left, Hephaestus let out a long breath and relaxed.
“My heart feels light. I’ve been worried all this time. Thank you. Because of you, I could send them off without regret. Now, this is my gift to you.”
Hephaestus handed Jin-woo a piece of Red Ore.
“I saw you staring at this intently earlier. I can spare it easily—I have several.”
Jin-woo received the ore from Hephaestus.
But Jin-woo’s mind was elsewhere.
‘What? Eighty percent?’
He’d thought that fixed Hephaestus’s Regret completely. But the Quest Progress Rate was eighty percent.
‘I gave him proper equipment. Sent him off safely.’
And yet it was still eighty percent.
He’d been certain this would fill it to one hundred percent.
He’d thought the quest was essentially complete.
‘What did I miss?’
Then.
Bzzt.
Suddenly, Hephaestus’s form began to fade.
No—this world itself was shaking.
Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble!
“Thank you, thank you, thank—”
Hephaestus vanished.
All that remained was a trembling world.
-Quest terminated.
-Quest terminated.
-Hephaestus’s Quest terminated.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
‘What? What is this?’
Something was wrong.
‘I haven’t reached twenty percent yet.’
Was this not the way?
A shock struck Jin-woo like a thunderbolt.
“Could it be—”
Jin-woo stared at the place where Hephaestus had vanished.
“That wasn’t the real Hephaestus, was it?”
Had the Hephaestus he’d been searching for not been that Hephaestus?
The Necromancer Hephaestus manifested this Mental World.
Which meant—
“This Hephaestus too might have been a manifested version.”
Not the real one.
The real one is the Hephaestus who became a Necromancer.
“Damn it.”
Jin-woo ran forward. No wonder it was eighty percent.
He hadn’t shown it to the real Hephaestus—he’d eased the Regret of the Hephaestus that the Necromancer had manifested.
“Curse it all!”
He had to find the real one.
Otherwise, it would end just like this.
“No, no, no.”
Jin-woo clicked his tongue.
“But how do I find him?”
Shiiing!
Then the Red Ore he was holding began to glow.
The ore Hephaestus had given him as a gift.
!
It melted and seeped directly into the ground.
Shiiing!
The ore that seeped down stretched out as if showing him the way.
Jin-woo instinctively followed the path the ore was revealing.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
-Quest terminated.
-5 minutes remain until Quest termination.
*** [04:59] ***
Jin-woo ran with all his might. Five minutes until the quest ended.
If he didn’t find it within these five minutes, the quest would complete half-finished.
‘I might not get proper rewards.’
If he was being pessimistic—
‘The job change might be incomplete too.’
He couldn’t end it like this. Jin-woo kept running.
And then—
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
He found a cave.
Jin-woo entered the cave.
The moment he stepped inside, a musty stench assaulted him.
……
There was a skeleton there.
The skeleton was holding a hammer.
Though the flesh had already become bone, the Necromancer’s power kept him animated, sustaining this place.
He was repeating endlessly.
This moment of Regret.
‘Found him.’
“Hephaestus.”
That skeleton was the real Hephaestus.
The Hephaestus Jin-woo had met until now was a person born from this Hephaestus’s memories.
The legendary blacksmith.
No—the Necromancer Hephaestus stood before him.
Beside Hephaestus were skeletal soldiers.
All the skeletal soldiers wore equipment that Hephaestus had crafted.
Armor of Ultimate Defense.
“I wanted to resurrect my comrades. I wanted to bring Marsil back.”
Hephaestus spoke as if mocking himself.
“So I created this world.”
But a problem arose.
“I cannot leave this cave. I saw nothing, found nothing.”
Hephaestus gripped the hammer.
A forge blazed before him.
The anvil and workbench still held equipment in the middle of being forged.
“And because of that, I cannot end this world either. If I do, it would mean I’m killing my comrades again with my own hands.”
Hephaestus had become a Necromancer.
To resurrect Marsil.
And to resurrect his comrades.
How could he possibly undo this world?
It would mean destroying them by his own hand.
‘So that was it.’
What bitter irony this was.
Jin-woo could finally understand everything.
‘That’s why the Quest Progress Rate was only eighty percent.’
Because he hadn’t addressed the fundamental issue.
-Quest terminated!
It was unfortunate, but he had no time to spend on emotion.
Jin-woo approached Hephaestus and lifted him without hesitation.
“…! What are you doing?!”
“I will resolve your Regret for you, Hephaestus.”
At Jin-woo’s words, Hephaestus spoke in a bewildered voice.
“I cannot leave this cave!”
“I will make you leave.”
“That was impossible no matter what method I tried… But who are you…?”
Hephaestus belatedly asked about Jin-woo’s identity.
“I am—”
Jin-woo pulled out a Parchment from his pocket.
“I came here after receiving this Parchment, searching for you.”
…!
Seeing the Parchment, Hephaestus’s face showed shock.
“That must have been from a very long time ago.”
“It has been passed down until it reached me.”
Jin-woo looked toward the exit.
‘Time is running out.’
-3 minutes remain.
Three minutes left.
‘I need to make it one hundred percent. To do that—’
The way to raise the Quest Progress Rate to one hundred percent was simple.
‘I just need to do what the real Hephaestus wants to do!’
“Hephaestus, if I may ask—why did you create this place?”
“Because I wanted to give them my perfect armor… my comrades. But it’s all over now. I’ve ruined everything. Now it’s too late for anything.”
Hephaestus had given up.
But Jin-woo had not.
“I understand.”
Jin-woo nodded.
“I comprehend now.”
He understood everything.
Only the solution remained.
Jin-woo charged toward the exit while carrying Hephaestus.
A hammer was in his hand.
“We’re breaking through.”

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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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