The Return of the Transcendent Blacksmith - Chapter 129

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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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Master Blacksmith’s Return – Chapter 129
Shin Tae-ho first learned of Mystery’s signal through the news.
It was plastered everywhere—from broadcast networks to personal streams to Tower.com—making it harder not to know than to know.
Shin Tae-ho had things he wanted to discuss with the Management Bureau anyway, so he resolved to meet without hesitation.
The problem came only after he arrived near the Management Bureau.
‘Why are there so many security cameras? And there are Awakeners hiding among them too?’
Shin Tae-ho sensed something was amiss.
Oh Jin-hyuk and Lim Ah-young knew that Mystery disliked revealing his identity.
The two that Shin Tae-ho knew would never set such a trap, ignoring Mystery’s preferences for their own gain.
‘Either someone above ordered this, or they’re proceeding on their own.’
Having assessed the situation, Shin Tae-ho abandoned his plan to dash through.
Breaking through wouldn’t be difficult, but doing so risked being caught on camera.
In the worst case, he might have to fight off Awakeners who rushed at him trying to capture him.
‘I can’t just walk on the ground—that leaves underground or the sky. Wait.’
A single thought struck Shin Tae-ho as he deliberated.
When he opened his Inventory, he saw the cloak he’d made long ago.
‘The Elf’s Wind Trajectory Cloak.’
Woven from threads of Aerosteel and Literium, it was an item that allowed gliding through the sky rather than plummeting.
Shin Tae-ho’s eyes lit up at the sight of it.
‘This will work. Oh Jin-hyuk is a Ranker—even if I’m hard to see, he’ll be able to sense me.’
The cloak inscribed with the Intermediate Concealment Pattern, and the hammer imbued with the Low-Grade Wind Rune.
After pulling out both items, Shin Tae-ho retrieved a chest plate from his Inventory.
The chest plate, which protected only the torso, allowed for much faster donning than a full suit of armor.
As he channeled energy into the equipped chest plate, the functions embedded within began to activate.
Clank-clank-clank—
The Expansion Attachment function activated, and the material from the chest plate spread across Shin Tae-ho’s body.
The same form of Expansion Attachment he’d worn once before to show Orum.
But what he wore now wasn’t a suit made of Abyssteel.
This was a suit recently crafted in the Dwarf workshop—made solely to conceal Mystery’s identity while protecting his body.
Clank.
Shin Tae-ho moved his body in the fully deployed suit.
As he poured energy into the grip in his hand, the Low-Grade Wind Rune lifted Shin Tae-ho’s body.
His body soared high into the night sky in an instant.
He could have flown straight that way, but doing so risked revealing the energy being released and making a racket.
Whoosh—
After rising high enough to see the Management Bureau at a glance, Shin Tae-ho cut off the energy he’d been channeling into the hammer.
At this height, anyone without flight ability would plummet to their death.
But instead of falling catastrophically, Shin Tae-ho’s body began descending smoothly, as though riding an escalator.
‘I rose too high for a first attempt. I need to increase the speed.’
The moment Shin Tae-ho thought this, the cloak responded.
Connected to him as if directly linked, the cloak reflected his will the moment he conceived it, increasing his gliding speed.
As he approached the building housing the director’s office, Shin Tae-ho lowered his gliding speed to minimum and peered inside.
Just then, Oh Jin-hyuk, who happened to be looking up at the sky, locked eyes with him in surprise.
‘Good. He noticed.’
Shin Tae-ho approached the building more closely.
Oh Jin-hyuk and Lim Ah-young, understanding his intent, threw open a large window.
Adjusting his gliding path to enter through the window, Oh Jin-hyuk and Lim Ah-young immediately shut it closed behind him.
“It’s been a long time. Mystery.”
“Ah, hello.”
Oh Jin-hyuk and Lim Ah-young greeted him, but Mystery returned a question instead of a greeting.
“There are many eyes watching. Many people about. Did you two arrange this?”
“I’m sorry? What do you mean?”
“Absolutely not.”
Oh Jin-hyuk stepped forward and answered firmly.
Lim Ah-young, unable to understand what he meant, simply stared at Oh Jin-hyuk in bewilderment.
Oh Jin-hyuk tried to explain the situation, but Mystery shook his head at the answer.
“No need to explain. I understand what’s going on.”
“…Thank you, Mystery.”
“Uh, Director? What are you talking about?”
“I’ll explain later.”
Oh Jin-hyuk cut off Lim Ah-young’s bewildered question.
Explaining everything that had happened would take a minimum of thirty minutes.
Since time was short, Oh Jin-hyuk moved straight to the point.
“Mystery. I know it’s presumptuous, but I’ve called you because we need your help dealing with the Gate again.”
“ITRO, or the government?”
“Both.”
ITRO was dispatching affiliated Awakeners to handle Gates across the world.
But unlike before, now they had to climb the Tower as well.
With nations intervening and applying pressure, they lacked the resources to move key personnel like Rankers.
But the government situation was more urgent and dangerous.
“The United States, Russia, China, Germany, and numerous other nations are requesting your dispatch.”
South Korea relied heavily on exports.
When other countries’ governments applied direct pressure, it was no longer just a Management Bureau problem.
“It started with tariff hikes and export restrictions, and it’s reached the point where supply cutoffs for raw materials are being discussed. We had no choice.”
“Petty.”
“Yes. But simultaneously fatal.”
Oh Jin-hyuk nodded in agreement, adding a comment.
Mystery, who had been lost in thought, spoke again.
“But the urgent one probably isn’t those countries. Which nation is suffering the most severe Gate damage?”
“Gate damage? Well… Tuvalu and Kiribati in Oceania have already fallen. The next would be….”
“A fallen nation is too late. I’m asking which country is in immediate danger right now.”
Irritation tinged Mystery’s voice.
Oh Jin-hyuk, consulting the tablet, named several countries.
“Currently, it’s Colombia, Myanmar, and Egypt—three locations.”
“I’ll send support to those areas.”
“Pardon?”
Oh Jin-hyuk and Lim Ah-young were startled by Mystery’s words.
“Wait, Mystery! As I mentioned earlier, the major nations are currently demanding your assistance very strongly!”
It would be one thing if Mystery simply refused to go anywhere and didn’t respond.
But if Mystery bypassed the powerful nations and went to others instead, it could be misinterpreted as dismissing their words.
Despite Lim Ah-young’s urgent explanation, Mystery remained unmoved.
“I’m aware of that. And I’ve already given you my answer.”
“You’ve already given an answer?”
“After dealing with the Nested Gate in Japan. I’m sure I said it then.”
“Ah…!”
Lim Ah-young gasped, covering her mouth.
Mystery, catching that reaction, nodded.
“Going forward, I’ll move after receiving compensation. If you want to call me, prepare what I want and then call.”
“M-Mystery. That’s…!”
“Or should I just keep digging ditches like I did in Japan?”
Anger was thick in Mystery’s voice.
That voice seemed to carry the rage from that time, still smoldering like an unhealed wound.
This was more ITRO’s fault than the Management Bureau’s, but Oh Jin-hyuk couldn’t argue the point.
‘If I say that, he’ll just tell me to take it up with ITRO.’
Since he genuinely couldn’t confront ITRO about it, there was no point in stirring up trouble.
When Oh Jin-hyuk said nothing, Mystery spoke again.
“More importantly, I’ll need to change how you contact me. If this keeps happening, I won’t come again.”
“Of course. But we haven’t found a suitable method yet.”
“What’s there to think about? Just change the meeting place.”
Mystery offered a solution as easily as breathing.
Though uncertain of what he meant, Lim Ah-young raised her hand at the mention of changing locations.
“I sense you’re suggesting we change our contact location going forward… If we do, where would be best?”
“A place you can visit regularly without arousing suspicion. Or better yet, somewhere no one would suspect you were going.”
“A place where no one would suspect you were going…? Hmm.”
Lim Ah-young fell into thought.
Whatever it was, watching Mystery and Oh Jin-hyuk converse so seriously made it clear this was important.
After a long moment of deliberation, Lim Ah-young’s eyes suddenly widened.
“What about our home?”
“I-Lim, Chief?”
Oh Jin-hyuk was taken aback by this unexpected answer.
But Lim Ah-young was undaunted.
“From what I can see, I still live in a penthouse! Mystery can fly, so it should be easy enough for you to visit!”
“Ah-young, as much as I appreciate the thought—”
Oh Jin-hyuk faltered mid-protest.
It was true: her place sat reasonably distant from the Management Bureau, and as she’d said, it was accessible.
More than that, since it was her own personal residence rather than official quarters, there was no risk of wiretapping or similar concerns.
Had it been a shared space or belonged to someone else, it would have been ideal enough to offer without hesitation.
‘No, Jin-hyuk! Get your head on straight! You can’t actually be thinking of lending your place to Ah-young when she’s already working herself to death on overtime!’
Beyond that, this was a proposal Mystery didn’t seem likely to accept in the first place.
Mystery, who had been quietly stroking the chin of his suit, finally spoke.
“Understood. Let it be so.”
“Yes! I’ll write down the address for you.”
“Wait, hold on! Mystery, you’re really agreeable to this?!”
Oh Jin-hyuk recoiled in shock.
Mystery and Lim Ah-young exchanged glances as if bewildered by his reaction.
“What’s the problem? Did you think we should continue meeting in situations like this?”
“You need somewhere safe to meet, don’t you? A private home would be the best option. Why are you making such a fuss?”
‘It’s because of you, Ah-young!’
Oh Jin-hyuk swallowed the words that had risen to his throat.
In the meantime, Mystery accepted a sticky note with the address from Lim Ah-young.
“Suitable enough. This will do.”
“Yes! Then from now on, I’ll see you at my place!”
‘…It’s done.’
Now that Mystery had seen the address, there was no taking it back.
With no other option available, Oh Jin-hyuk clenched his fists.
‘If anything looks like it’s about to go wrong, I can step in.’
From what he’d observed so far, Mystery didn’t seem the type to harbor strange ideas or act impulsively on a whim.
Besides, it wasn’t as though the place was impossibly far away—if anything remotely unfortunate looked like it might happen, he could rush there.
Mystery, having pocketed the sticky note, returned to the conversation.
“Tell the countries seeking my aid to send me a clear list of what compensation they can offer. Only then will I decide whether to go or not.”
“Understood. So are we ending here for today?”
“What are you saying? I haven’t yet received payment for coming here.”
At Mystery’s words, Oh Jin-hyuk’s face went pale.
Even Lim Ah-young, who had seemed relatively composed, darkened at the mention of payment.
“Ah, well… the Management Bureau’s Accumulator hasn’t filled up yet, so we don’t have much in terms of Essence—”
“I don’t need Essence. Stop wasting time and bring me the list.”
“Yes, I understand. Though I should warn you, the list will likely have a lot of empty slots right now.”
“Empty slots?”
Mystery asked, puzzled, and Lim Ah-young nodded with a bitter smile.
“Yes. Most of our items are currently on loan to Rankers.”
‘Rankers don’t use their own weapons—they’re borrowing items? From South Korea?’
At this unprecedented situation he’d never heard of before, Shin Tae-ho’s brow furrowed behind Mystery’s suit.
To be continued ▶
The Transcendent Blacksmith’s Return
Author
Seal Breaker
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Published by
Grae Publishing
Inquiries
[email protected]
Publication Date
May 26, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260227067
※ This e-book is protected by copyright law. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution is prohibited, and violators may be subject to criminal and civil penalties.
※ Pentagram awaits your precious manuscripts.

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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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