The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 398

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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 398
Episode 398.
Everyone congratulated Jin-woo on his first entry into the rankings.
-Krrrrgh. Just like Jin-woo.
-Jin really does know how to bring out the best in those Eternal Sunshine people.
-Our captain’s here, like we said!
-Looks like some people still don’t know. Jin hasn’t even really started yet.
-He’s 5th now, but those above him better be on guard.
-Wait, does this even make sense?
-I honestly can’t believe it. This isn’t some hidden camera show, is it?
With his absurd performance vaulting him to 5th place in an instant, the community erupted into chaos over Jin-woo.
It was a result no one had predicted.
It was an impossible ranking, one that should never have come to pass.
-Whoa.
-He’s literally making history.
-Legend Jin from Eternal Sunshine has come to New Gene on purpose, and it’s genuinely terrifying.
-Those Eternal Sunshine people must’ve been so frustrated. They told the truth, and everyone just ignored them.
They had all said the same thing.
That the real deal hadn’t arrived yet.
That when Jin came, everything would change.
-Now they can’t laugh at us anymore.
-Rank 5;; This basically crushes Starlight, Inclassic, and Pendant’s first rankings all at once.
-Slayer and Kalantiir get crushed too.
-Bolt gets crushed.
-Grand Cross should probably step back.
The names of the top users from every class category came pouring out.
That’s how shocking Jin-woo’s performance was.
-How is he 5th, though…….
-Logical couldn’t possibly be wrong about this.
-Logical doesn’t make mistakes. They’re really good at ranking assignments.
-So that means Jin-woo really is 5th, then.
The atmosphere was one of celebration for Jin-woo’s overwhelming achievement.
-Isn’t this rigged?
-It’s obviously rigged no matter how you look at it.
-How exactly would that be rigged?
-5th place at Level 500? That doesn’t make sense.
Of course, there were also plenty of opinions saying his achievement was unreasonable.
It was only natural. What Jin-woo had accomplished was unprecedented in New Gene.
But this opinion was quickly refuted.
-Then what he’s accomplished so far makes sense?
-He cleared Underworld and Elementia solo, cleared the Main Quest solo, broke through the Hall of Fame challenges all by himself, and that makes sense?
-He’s running the Mansan Workshop and he’s made Avalon hot right now all on his own, and that makes sense?
Since Jin-woo had already done so many unreasonable things, this 5th place incident had no choice but to be accepted in the same light.
-Look, if Suomi was trying to push Jin-woo and it was rigged, would Logical just sit quietly?
-Logical absolutely doesn’t let that kind of thing slide.
-Logical’s strict. They normalize practically everything.
The AI Logical served as a guardian deity protecting New Gene.
Logical’s objective was very simple.
For every user playing New Gene to have fun.
Supporting smooth New Gene gameplay without anyone feeling wronged.
-As long as Logical exists, even the executives can’t just push people up like that.
-Though of course they can give benefits from the operations side.
And so the rigging theory had no choice but to collapse.
-So now everyone has to accept it.
There had been people saying that since Jin-woo wasn’t a Ranker, all his equipment was just hype.
They said that once he actually entered the rankings, the story would change, and that if existing Rankers were as impressive as everyone thought, Jin-woo absolutely couldn’t start above 50th place.
-They must’ve been shocked seeing this. Did you really think he’d start at 5th?
Jin-woo already possessed top-tier Ranker strength.
Now no one could refute it.
-I’ve been criticizing Jin-woo up till now, but I have to admit it now.
That night.
A single post went up on SharkNet. It was a confession post.
-I can’t bash him anymore. He’s refuting literally everything—so what are the bashers supposed to live on? I’m just going to become a fan. If someone does this much, how can I not support him?
It was an extremely honest post.
* * *
There was one person whose heart ached from Jin-woo’s first ranking entry.
The original 5th-ranked Crafting user, Rapit.
That Rapit, whom Jin-woo had been looking for, had his ranking pushed down by Jin-woo and was no longer visible in the Hall of Fame for Crafting rankings from 1st to 5th place.
To be precise, he’d been pushed down to the [View More] section.
“I worked so hard just to climb out of that section.”
The original 5th-ranked spot had belonged to Craftwell just six months ago. But he’d soon lost it, and a new user took his place.
But that user had also lost the spot recently.
It was Rapit who’d taken it from him.
Rapit was a famous Crafting user who’d made it into the [Master] Achievement Hall of Fame rankings.
Like Jin-woo, he was versatile—and his equipment stood out not just in options but in design as well.
His specialty was 1:1 personalized commissions.
He would understand everything about the commissioner and craft special equipment for that person alone, even creating gear that could be used for a lifetime. That was his pride.
Because of that, Rapit had been able to grow rapidly and reach this position.
So he’d arrived at 5th place.
“That spot. Huh.”
But just a month after he’d claimed it, it was taken from him again.
“There’s 6th and 7th…”
Why did he have to start at 5th?
Rapit frowned.
He wasn’t from Bridge or Eternal Sunshine.
Semi-realistic VR game, Arc Storm.
He came from a far more major game than those two.
Rankers like Slayer and Kalantiir all came from Arc Storm, and New Gene was now filled with Arc Storm Rankers who’d transferred over, populating the rankings.
“In New Gene, I’d only heard the name.”
Jin.
The legend of Eternal Sunshine.
He’d come to New Gene as Jin-woo and was making history.
“This is real history.”
No one had ever started at 5th place.
Unique.
An unprecedented achievement only Jin-woo had accomplished.
“As expected.”
Sure enough, he was the overwhelming 1st place in the Star Owner Achievement Hall of Fame.
“The point gap is…… insane.”
This Star Owner Hall of Fame was essentially an unofficial all-class ranking tournament.
It was a ranking that measured, centered on Level 500, how strong that user was.
In particular, the Hall of Fame ranking at Level 500 across all classes was uncommon, so people often used this Star Owner Achievement to compare classes against each other.
After that came the overall rankings, making comparison between classes easier.
It was all thanks to Logical’s power.
“When measured by Level 500…”
It meant Jin-woo was 1st among all players by Level 500 standard.
“Slayer’s been pushed down.”
Because of Jin-woo’s achievement, Slayer—who’d been 1st in Combat Rankings and also 1st by Level 500 standard—had dropped to 2nd.
“Even Slayer must have a bitter taste in his mouth.”
But this wasn’t the time to worry about that.
Rapit himself had things to worry about first.
“Why worry about others?”
Rapit had dropped to 6th in Crafting rankings.
“Sigh.”
He remembered the cigarette he’d quit.
“This isn’t the time for this.”
If the spot had been taken, he’d just take it back.
“Main Quest. Let me really try it.”
He was getting love calls from quite a few places right now.
“Leap. I’ll go with Leap.”
Among those, Rapit decided to go with Leap.
While Rapit was deciding to go to Leap.
In another direction, there was someone deeply anxious.
“Sigh.”
4th-ranked Crafting user Umoresque.
He was placed 4th, pushed down by shining stars of Crafting like Starlight, Inclassic, and Pendant, yet he quietly proved his skills.
He’d once served as the Master Craftsperson for the Dragon’s Lair, was the Master Craftsperson for the Leap Guild, and currently worked as the Master Craftsperson of the royal palace for the Malen Duchy.
On top of that, he was also the Guild Master of a Guild composed of Crafting specialists.
“I wanted to recruit Jin-woo into Walnut Guild someday.”
But Jin-woo had grown far too much. Now inviting Jin-woo to Walnut Guild was no longer possible.
In terms of weight class, he’d reached a level where he could create and operate his own Crafting Guild like Walnut.
Not only that, but now he was at a level threatening Umoresque’s own position.
“If I let my guard down even slightly, my 4th place spot could be stolen.”
Jin-woo was right behind him.
The moment he showed any carelessness, the 4th place would be taken.
“If things go on like this and he really catches up…”
Umoresque frowned.
There was no point thinking like this right now.
“5th place right after hitting Level 500—isn’t that too much?”
At this point, he was too curious.
“What’s he doing? How?”
What path had he walked to reach 5th with Crafting and Necromancer abilities?
“Wait, can Necromancer and Blacksmith classes even be classified under Crafting?”
A slightly bitter feeling arose in him.
“I should… send him an invitation.”
Walnut Guild had many Crafting users.
Starting with Blacksmithing, there were lapidaries, enhancers, alchemists, weavers, leather experts, and even specialized crafters dealing exclusively in rare materials.
“He was famous for being versatile, wasn’t he?”
Many crafters were eyeing the man who’d reached 5th place.
“Our Guild’s got a lot of curious people too.”
Jin-woo had currently uploaded two collaboration videos to JinTube.
It looked like he was doing a series, and he’d probably need more content.
“It wouldn’t be a bad proposal.”
Coming to Walnut would let him collaborate with many Crafting users. Since he could generate content that way, it wouldn’t be a bad offer for Jin-woo.
* * *
“Please visit us again!”
“Safe travels!”
Receiving farewells from the Sacra citizens, Jin-woo returned to Positano.
The port city, Positano.
“Hmm.”
Returning, Jin-woo was in quite a good mood.
“There are a lot more Avalak users now.”
Users belonging to Avalak had become so numerous they were underfoot.
It made sense. This city was no longer neutral territory but belonged to the Avalak Kingdom.
‘The protection period is pretty long.’
Of course, only during that protection period did it belong to Avalak, and the land’s ownership could change again through dispute anytime.
‘When that time comes, the users here will fight over it.’
What happened after was hardly Jin-woo’s concern.
Jin-woo immediately summoned his familiar, Bone.
“Bone.”
“You have called upon this magnificent being. My Lord!”
Riding Bone, he headed straight to Avalak.
On the way, he contacted Pendant.
-Let’s collaborate soon.
He was ready now.
“This should be fun.”
L-rank and 5th place.
He was in the right condition to collaborate with Pendant.
A quick reply came back from Pendant.
-Yes.
A very brief and clear message.
“Good materials too.”
Jin-woo pulled out the Eternal Gem Stone.
“And a good opponent.”
It couldn’t have been better than this.
“Let’s have some real fun.”

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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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