The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 43

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Episode 43
Chapter 43.
“I appreciate your help, Jin-woo! I really need to get back to those pickaxes right away!”
Yul’s expression was bright and cheerful.
Truth be told, he’d come partly to meet Jin-woo out of fandom.
And partly he’d wanted to strike a deal.
He’d hoped to open up a personal channel of trade with Jin-woo.
But since things had gone better than expected, his mood was naturally soaring.
Of course.
‘Things went even better than I thought they would.’
Jin-woo was feeling even more pleased.
“The problem was securing a steady material supply.”
Now he could resolve that, at least partially.
‘And I’ve just thought of something even better.’
“There’s no reason to just leave things to someone else.”
What Jin-woo had hated most as a craftsperson was being forced into a passive role.
Sourcing materials—passive.
Getting feedback—passive.
“So many things were passive.”
But now Jin-woo had changed classes to Necromancer.
“I’ve grown extra hands and feet, haven’t I?”
He could just do it himself.
“I can use my minions however I want.”
Jin-woo decided to start expanding his minion roster quickly.
“The more minions I have, the more I can accomplish.”
No need to move passively anymore.
“I can use them in all kinds of ways.”
Not just for combat.
“It’s something I can do as I gradually grow my minion force.”
Jin-woo was satisfied with his collaboration with Yul.
Actually, it wasn’t just the collaboration itself that satisfied him.
“He turned out to be an even more impressive player than I thought.”
Yul had offered him a mineral as a bribe for a good future relationship.
Why would he refuse materials being handed to him?
He’d accepted it without hesitation, and the mineral was quite substantial.
“He’d give me something like this.”
Jin-woo knew this mineral very well.
“Mithril.”
Could it really be Mithril?
Back when he played Eternal Sunshine, he’d spent a fortune trying to get his hands on Mithril. Since he couldn’t obtain materials directly, all he could do was spend money. But even with money, there was a time when he couldn’t buy Mithril.
This Mithril was something he’d once been unable to afford even with gold.
-[Mithril]
Grade: S
Description: A rare mineral. Called the mineral of dreams, it is lighter than any mineral known to exist.
“They say it’s one of the high-grade minerals.”
Minerals were ranked in tiers—Legendary, Supreme, High-Grade, and below, or so he’d been told.
Thanks to Yul, Jin-woo had learned quite a bit of information about minerals.
“Until now, everything I’ve used has been below high-grade. I never imagined the classification would be so detailed.”
Among them, only Red Stone had been a high-grade mineral.
“This Dwarf Silver and White Bronze are supposed to be upper-mid-grade minerals.”
Both had an S grade, but in terms of fundamental rarity, they were below Mithril, or so he’d been told.
“But that’s what the existing craftspeople have said.”
Interestingly, this mineral classification system had apparently been created by craftspeople themselves.
Since crafting was so difficult, they’d had no choice but to rely on craftspeople for these grade classifications.
Moreover, Suomisa provided only minimal information for the freedom of New Gene users.
“Once I try it, I’ll know whether the classification itself is accurate.”
And even if it was, it didn’t matter to him.
“I’ll just walk my own path.”
When had he ever followed a path someone else laid out?
Jin-woo smiled to himself as he looked at the Mithril.
“Looks like I’ve found a really good supplier.”
Jin-woo summoned his workshop.
Whoosh—
“I’ve brought Hephaestus’s Furnace with me.”
Jin-woo’s Workshop [LV1]
[Hephaestus’s Furnace] [Anvil] [Workbench] [Flask]

His workshop now had Hephaestus’s Furnace in place of the basic furnace it had come with.
“With Mithril and the upgraded furnace, I have to try this now.”
Jin-woo began crafting immediately.
“I’ll set the Dwarf Silver aside for now.”
Jin-woo was planning to work with White Bronze and Mithril simultaneously.
Whoosh—
Jin-woo placed the White Bronze into the furnace.
The moment the White Bronze entered, there was a powerful reaction.
“Hmm.”
Blazing heat.
The heat was far superior to the basic furnace. Thanks to that, the White Bronze began to succumb to the heat rapidly.
The snowy white color of the White Bronze transformed in the furnace’s flames.
Jin-woo pulled out the White Bronze at precisely the right moment.
Having absorbed the heat fully, the White Bronze had turned orange.
“This lets me compress the time even more.”
Also, before, the heat had been insufficient, so he’d needed to strike multiple times to shape certain sections. Now he could do it in a single strike.
Hissss—
“I think I can do things I couldn’t do before.”
The basic furnace had weak firepower.
Which meant he could now use techniques he’d been unable to employ.
Whoosh—!
Jin-woo placed the White Bronze back into the furnace.
And instead of pulling it out at the precise moment like before, he waited for it to absorb even more heat.
Hissss—
The White Bronze blazed with an orange light as if it would melt away.
At this rate, it would melt.
But Jin-woo waited.
“Just a bit longer.”
What Jin-woo was waiting for was the timing.
“Right before it melts.”
The moment just before melting.
At that precise instant, Jin-woo pulled out the White Bronze.
“Good firepower.”
The most essential part of smelting was removing impurities.
“Every mineral contains impurities.”
Removing the impurities to leave only pure crystals was the core process of smelting.
Thanks to the increased firepower, Jin-woo could push the mineral to the brink of melting.
If he pulled it out even slightly late, the mineral would melt away entirely.
Perfect timing.
And striking.
Clang—!
“And at the exact angle.”
Jin-woo employed the Hephaestus Smelting Technique.
Hephaestus had a unique smelting method.
‘Inject energy in an instant.’
In this case, the energy was mana.
‘Any other force works too.’
What mattered was injecting a powerful force into the mineral. Then you struck until the injected energy spread evenly.
Clang—! Clang—! Clang—!
Hissss—!
-Dark energy is being infused.
Dark energy, unique to a Necromancer, flowed into the mineral.
-Your Dexterity Stat increases!
The increased Dexterity Stat created a synergy effect with Jin-woo’s work.
“!”
Even Jin-woo himself was surprised at how much more detailed his hand movements had become.
“This is good.”
Jin-woo felt a moment of admiration.
“I raised that stat myself.”
The benefit from the stat was ultimately a result of his own achievement.
In that case, there was no reason to reject it or exclude it.
‘My only goal is.’
To create good equipment with his own hands. If that’s the case, he could use anything.
Clang—! Clang—!
Under Jin-woo’s hands, the White Bronze changed form dramatically.
Heating and striking again, the White Bronze’s impurities vanished in an instant.
“Now.”
Jin-woo shaped the White Bronze and immediately placed the Mithril into the furnace.
It was time to combine Mithril and White Bronze.
“Hmm.”
But the Mithril wouldn’t melt.
“A good mineral lives up to its reputation, after all.”
Seeing the Mithril resist melting, Jin-woo clicked his tongue.
“I need stronger firepower.”
The furnace temperature wasn’t high enough to smelt Mithril.
Jin-woo immediately worked the bellows, trying to raise the temperature further.
“It’s not coming easily.”
He kept trying to raise the furnace’s heat, but it had its limits.
“This won’t work.”
It seemed impossible to push it to the extreme like he had with White Bronze, removing all impurities.
“But I can still blend them.”
Whoosh—!
Using White Bronze, he could meld with the Mithril.
Clang—! Clang—!
Jin-woo struck the Mithril.
“!”
And without thinking, he looked at the Mithril once, then at his own hands once more.
The feeling in his hands.
The resilience.
“Wow.”
It was wonderful enough to make him gasp.
The sensation was unique and addictive. Jin-woo continued striking.
He wanted to strike forever—the sensation of the Mithril was that exquisite.
Clang—! Clang—!
Jin-woo fell into a state of flow.
Mithril and White Bronze.
In the current situation, White Bronze had to be the primary component, but if he raised the firepower, he could use much more Mithril.
It was frustrating not to use Mithril at its full hundred percent capacity now, but it didn’t matter.
Hissss—
As Jin-woo’s hammer struck, the sparks drew out the latent potential of both minerals.
Clang—!
Before long, the two minerals had taken form and become one.
A moment of flow.
He thought and moved instantly, and the hammer fell as he wished.
In that intense state of flow, Jin-woo instinctively hoped this creation would continue just a moment longer.
Clang—!
-Equipment created!
-A magnificent achievement!
-You have created SS-grade equipment!
-Your level increases!
-Your Dexterity Stat increases!
-Lava Smelting Technique proficiency increases!
-Hephaestus Smelting Technique proficiency increases!
-Your workshop level has increased!
[Mithril White Bronze Armor]
-Defense: 550
-Grade: SS
-Durability: 22000 / 22000
<>
* Special Option [Ultimate Defense: Defense increases by an additional 300!]
* Special Option [Radiant Mithril: Equipment weight is reduced. Evasion chance increases.]
* Special Option [Power of Darkness: Dark attribute damage resistance increases by 30%.]
* Special Option [Power of Weakness: When taking damage, dark power weakens the attacker.]
* Special Skill [Toxic Purification: Removes poison status using the power of White Bronze.]
Four special options.
And one special skill.
What had been completed was armor.
It was white armor that supplemented every shortcoming of the Red Stone armor, and it could be said that it contained every technique Jin-woo could currently employ.
“Hmph!”
He’d thought it might come out as S-grade.
“I used a high-grade mineral, but I didn’t handle it perfectly.”
But it came out as SS-grade, and moreover, it filled in all the gaps from his previous Red Stone armor.
“Light.”
Jin-woo lifted the Mithril armor to test it.
“I can actually wear this.”
“And it’s light.”
The lightness unique to Mithril was infused, so the armor’s equip restriction had been removed.
-The Guardian of Flame and Craft admires your crafting level!
-The deity reconsiders their view of your rapid growth!
-The deity has issued you a quest!
The Guardian of Flame and Craft, who had sponsored and blessed Jin-woo up until now, issued a new quest.
“This is…….”