The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 379

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Chapter 379
Episode 379.
Ding-! Ding-!
Suomi Inc.
Kim Na-yun, the GM, was grinning from ear to ear.
“I’ve finished it all!”
The draft for the New Continent event, set to launch soon, was complete.
“The synergy should be solid.”
Jin-woo was currently planning to showcase a new work through Lizzuni, with a teaser already released and considerable buzz on SharkNet.
Beyond that, Jin-woo’s popularity showed no signs of waning, bolstered by his overwhelming performance in the Positano Conflict and his dominance at the Auction House.
“New Gene user numbers have climbed again. I hesitate to credit Jin-woo directly, but…”
As his assigned GM, Kim Na-yun was certain of one thing.
Jin-woo was setting the pace.
Not just domestically—he was shaping global trends.
“The Crafting Class profession has grown meaningfully for the first time.”
Until now, Crafting Class had been something only a select few pursued.
No matter how simplified it had become or how many tips flooded SharkNet forums, the ceiling was clear—without genuine manual dexterity or innate talent for crafting, success was nearly impossible.
But since Jin-woo emerged, the profession had begun to bloom.
“That’s enough to inspire people.”
Many users had abandoned Crafting out of frustration.
Those who loved the craft but couldn’t manage it now watched Jin-woo’s exploits with renewed hope.
“Crafting Class users can reach the very top.”
Jin-woo wasn’t the top—not yet—but he was accomplishing what even Starlight and Inclassic hadn’t managed.
“I remember when Starlight and Inclassic first hit MR Grade.”
Everyone marveled for a few days, but the buzz died quickly.
Yet when Jin-woo reached Grade M and MR Grade, the conversation never stopped—it continued to this day.
The Auction House fielded daily requests for Jin-woo’s gear, and MiTube was flooded with creators riding Jin-woo’s content to record-breaking view counts.
In short, Jin-woo had become a phenomenon.
“The number of people Jin-woo leads has grown enormous.”
He’d amassed allies almost without meaning to. Of course, those allies would likely turn hostile at the first misstep—such was the nature of fandom—but Jin-woo wouldn’t allow such things.
“With the New Continent event, I’ll deliver results too.”
Jin-woo’s success meant more traffic to JinTube, so Kim Na-yun was positively thrilled.
Ding-!
An alert chimed. Kim Na-yun’s eyes sharpened instantly.
“Don’t tell me… We just finished. Adding more will give the Marketing team an absolute fit.”
She’d already sent Marketing the file labeled [FINAL_FOR_REAL_NO_MORE_EDITS_PROMISE.JPG].
-User: Jin-woo.
-Achievement [LEGEND] unlocked
-Logical Message: Unprecedented. Unprecedented. Unprecedented.
The same message, repeated three times.
Unprecedented.
Unforeseeable.
So what was Logical supposed to do?
“Wow…”
Kim Na-yun’s pupils trembled.
“This is too fast. How did he achieve L-rank? Wait—what’s he crafting right now? What did he—”
Grade M, MR Grade, and now MR+ Grade.
“Am I the only one thinking he needs rest?”
No. Many had already voiced concern to Jin-woo.
His growth felt inhumanly rapid.
But such worry was misplaced.
“We didn’t understand.”
Jin-woo had failed countless times and succeeded countless times in succession.
Reaching each new grade was simply the natural result of that process.
“He wasn’t rushing wildly toward it…”
Otherwise, he couldn’t have reached L-rank without burning out.
“He’s already hit walls…”
And overcome them.
The cycle was just faster, not excessive.
……
Kim Na-yun pulled up the records quickly.
L-rank was unlike Grade M or MR Grade.
Different. That was the better word.
“Only the rarest of craftspeople reach it.”
Even among Crafting Class users blessed with abundant talent, L-rank was so exclusive you could count its practitioners on your fingers.
“There are roughly eight million Crafting Class users now.”
New Gene had surpassed one hundred million players. Ten percent of those one hundred million chose Crafting Class.
“Exactly eighty-one people.”
Only eighty-one had reached L-rank—a number that looked impressive until you did the math. The percentage was a mere 0.001%.
Jin-woo had just joined the 0.001% by reaching L-rank.
“And more than that…”
Crafting Class itself divided into specializations.
Within those divisions, Jin-woo was singular.
“There’s only one Necro Maister class. There’s no comparison.”
Jin-woo was unique.
His profession and his achievements were singular—which was precisely why people celebrated so ardently.
“Which Necromancer carves bone with their own hands to create familiars?”
It was easy to imagine but hard to execute.
“This isn’t the time to celebrate.”
Kim Na-yun now had to revise the draft again.
“He unlocked the LEGEND achievement—I can’t possibly leave this out.”
It absolutely had to be included.
As she reread Logical’s message, Kim Na-yun found herself smiling despite herself.
“Logical must feel hollow—embarrassed by his own inadequacy.”
Kim Na-yun caught herself laughing and quickly schooled her expression.
“I shouldn’t be laughing either.”
Marketing could literally knock her head in and turn her into an empty shell.
“I have no choice. There’s no way I can leave this out.”
* * *
Achievement [LEGEND].
This was the ultimate capstone achievement in Crafting Class.
The few who held it knew each other intimately.
They’d climbed together since New Gene’s early days and belonged to top-tier Guilds, competing against one another several times unofficially.
Crafting Class didn’t reward mere high levels or learned skills—superior gear required true craft—so these users knew each other well, and rankings seldom shifted.
Then a new name suddenly dropped into the Hall of Honor rankings.
-Achievement [LEGEND]
<<

>> Hall of Honor
-Ranking.
1. Jin-woo 500 [NEW!]
2. Starlight 458
3. Inclassic 457
4. Piet 454
5. Pendant 422
6. Noblesse 403
7. Rapit 401
……
……
The unshakeable number one was Starlight, a major figure in Crafting—a master blacksmith.
Inclassic chased behind him, and below that stood the renowned alchemist Piet.
Piet had devoted himself to crafting countless potions and alchemical oils for equipment enhancement.
Many believed that if Piet had chosen the blacksmith path instead of alchemy, the top three would’ve been a three-way race rather than Starlight and Inclassic competing alone.
Sixth place Noblesse uniquely represented a non-mainstream Crafting profession.
Spell Enchanter.
A Crafting user who inscribed magical formulas or ready-cast spells onto parchment.
Spells fundamentally required drawn sigils and engraving—without manual skill, the profession was essentially impossible to attempt seriously.
Mages sometimes chose it as a secondary class, but the difficulty far exceeded standard sigil-drawing, so most quit quickly.
Noblesse dominated that niche decisively.
He was called the Starlight of Spell Enchanters—highly regarded.
The Hall of Honor [LEGEND] gathered only the cream of each specialization—the first and second places.
Entering wasn’t easy, and reaching the top tier even less so.
Of course.
That only applied to everyone else.
“Hah.”
“……”
“……!”
“Jin.”
“You’re here already?”
“That was fast.”
The eighty-one users in the Hall of Honor each reacted in turn.
“He’s just casually claiming first place.”
“What did he even craft for L-rank?”
“Points are determined by what L-rank item you create, right?”
The LEGEND achievement score varied depending on what L-rank item you crafted first.
Since reaching L-rank generally required spending all your accumulated resources, everyone was desperately curious.
What gear had Jin-woo created to achieve L-rank?
“Did he forge a skeletal framework?”
“A bone weapon?”
“Or maybe…”
It had to be one of those.
“To hit 500 points…”
“He must have crafted something paradigm-shifting.”
“Equipment only he could make.”
“Or…”
“Gear he was the first to create.”
But achieving the latter essentially achieved the former as well.
“No way. It can’t be.”
“A Personal Signature?”
In Crafting, equipment that a crafter created first and alone could replicate was called a Personal Signature.
Known as PS gear, all L-rank crafters possessed such items.
Though all had them, the quality of each crafter’s PS work varied considerably.
“The game board is already shattered.”
Jin-woo stood alone at the summit, having left countless Rankers in his wake.
* * *
L-rank equipment.
“Wow…”
Mergari stared at Jin-woo.
At Jin-woo and the gear he’d crafted.
Mergari herself was an L-rank crafter.
“Is this really…the L-rank I know?”
Yet the gap between her L-rank gear and Jin-woo’s was vast.
Only the grade—L—was the same.
Jin-woo’s gear radiated an aura her own lacked.
[Mechanical Engineering Trinity] <Crafted by Jin-woo>
-Attack Power: 108,000
-Grade: <>
-Durability: 1,350,000 / 1,350,000
<>
* Special Skill [Weapon Conversion: Inject Mana to transform the weapon! Upon transformation, critical strike chance and damage increase by 200%!]
* Special Skill [Steam Super Amplification: Activate the Ether Amplified Magic Core. All stats spike momentarily.]
* Special Skill [Essence of Evil: Demonization channels overwhelming power into the equipment. Steadily erodes the opponent’s defense!]
* Special Option [Hyper Refinement: Critical damage from elemental attacks increases by an additional 500%!]
* Special Option [Ultimate Attack Power: Attack power increases by 20,500,000.]
* Special Option [Spell Enchantment Extreme – Akshak LV3: Attack power increases by 12,500,000.]
* Special Option [Spell Enchantment Extreme – Irelm LV1: Critical attack power increases by 250%.]
* Special Option [Life Drain: Absorb 17% of damage dealt as personal life force!]
* Special Option [Ambush: Infused with Necro Maister power—first attack becomes an automatic Fatal Blow.]
* Special Option [Soul Forging: Channel the power of the soul. Attack power increases by 15%.]
* Special Option [Soul Penetration: Ignore defense and inflict damage!]
* Special Option [Gaze of the Dead: Perceive enemy weak points. Gain 3% additional attack power.]
* Special Option [Shadow Scatter: Instill fear in the opponent! Their attack power decreases by 3%.]
* Resonance Attunement [Resonance Wave Power: Benefit from resonance wave force to gain additional stats. Attack power increases. Critical strike chance increases. Attack speed increases.]
* Resonance Attunement [Hand Tempering: Lightning attribute applied!]
* Special Option [Burning Dark Flame: Upon attacking, chance to inflict the abnormal status ‘Oblivion’ on the target!]
* Special Option [Ether Amplified Magic Core: Draw out the power of the transformed equipment. Gain 30,000,000 additional attack power.]
* Special Option [Mechanical Enhancement: Through the power of the mechanical spirit Sing, steam force is amplified! All stats increase by an additional 1%.]
The completed equipment bore the name Mechanical Engineering Trinity.
Three pieces of gear transforming around a Magical Core—the name suited it perfectly.
‘Three pieces of equipment. Three cores.’
These cores were crucial, serving not only the transformation but amplifying the weapon’s inherent power.
‘Flexibility brought me so much.’
Without it, the craftsmanship would’ve been incomplete.
‘It served as the perfect connector.’
And the newly contracted mechanical spirit amplified the machinery aspect even further.
‘The steam force reinforced itself once more.’
Jin-woo stroked Sing’s chassis.
Sing’s gears whirred softly.
Dust and Coco immediately clung together, eyeing this newcomer warily.
Sing merely regarded them with a cold gaze.
Though mechanical spirits were inherently cold, naturally.
‘There’s no need to force friendship.’
If they could motivate each other, healthy competition at a reasonable level was far superior.
‘Competing with Sing might actually sharpen Dust and Coco further.’
Sing’s gears spun vigorously.
“You’ve all worked hard. All three of you.”
With Jin-woo’s praise, the three spirits were summoned away.
“It’s absolutely gleaming.”
Having thoroughly reviewed the detailed options, Jin-woo examined the grade display.
“Even at MR+ Grade, this section was striking.”
L-rank shimmered far more brilliantly than MR+ Grade.
‘The grade display keeps glowing.’
And an strange aura emanated from the weapon itself.
‘This must be a special effect exclusive to L-rank equipment.’
Jin-woo then examined the weapon’s core option.
“I’ve crossed it.”
For the first time among all weapons he’d crafted.
“One hundred thousand attack power.”