The Return of the Transcendent Blacksmith - Chapter 33

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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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Transcendent Blacksmith’s Return – Episode 33
Shin Tae-ho approached the Bone Graveyard and examined the skeletal remains.
As he studied the bones to determine how the ogres had died, Shin Tae-ho’s eyes narrowed.
These ogres were the same ones he and Yepiel had defeated together as a quest, and yet they were not.
‘The circumstances are identical, but the cause of death is different. This one didn’t die from an arrow through the neck.’
Back when Shin Tae-ho and Yepiel had killed the Stone Skin Ogre.
Shin Tae-ho had struck the arrow that Yepiel fired with his hammer like a nail, driving the Stone Skin Ogre to its death.
But the skeleton before him now bore no hole from an arrow.
In its place remained only the jagged marks of a sharp blade.
Bewildered, Shin Tae-ho opened his Inventory.
Inside lay the World Tree Leaf he had carefully stored until now.
‘Confusing. Just because the form is identical… does that mean this is a separate space from the one I encountered in the tower?’
Shin Tae-ho took out the World Tree Leaf.
At that moment, the leaf in his hand began to glow, releasing a gentle Ki.
Though the amount of Ki was modest, the World Tree’s distinctive refreshing energy spread through the air like fragrance.
“What…?”
As Shin Tae-ho stared in confusion at the leaf’s unprecedented reaction.
A loud rumble shook the quiet earth into violent tremors.
Shin Tae-ho instantly seized his hammer and dropped into a combat stance.
The vibrations spread across the ground, drawing steadily closer to him, as if encircling his position.
And moments later.
Shin Tae-ho’s eyes grew grave as he spotted a torrent of monsters rushing toward him from all directions.
* * *
—Crunch!
“Die cleanly, you bastard!”
Cha I-hyun drove his Short Sword into the vital point of the fallen Bagheest.
The Bagheest, already incapacitated by the combined assault of the Rankers, went limp, its neck slack.
Cha I-hyun wiped his blood-smeared face roughly and surveyed the battlefield.
“Haaaaa! Charging!”
“—Burn them to ash. Fireball!”
Two ogres fell to Lee Ye-seul’s Charging skill, executed while wielding a Lance.
And above them, Han Ji-hyun’s flames descended upon their bodies.
Some monsters continued to thrash desperately.
But each time, Park Su-hyuk’s blade cut in with perfect timing, denying them any purchase.
“The perimeter’s clear now! Fall back and regroup!”
“There’s a Dead Tree over there!”
At Park Su-hyuk’s shout, Cha I-hyun pointed to the tree he’d spotted earlier.
The four hunters pressed forward at full strength into the Dead Tree.
Only then did Park Su-hyuk catch his breath and survey the others.
“Lee Ye-seul. Your arm—is it all right?”
“Not good. I think it cracked when the ogre struck the Lance.”
Lee Ye-seul set down the Lance and removed the equipment covering her arm.
Her exposed arm was mottled with bruises from shoulder to forearm.
Park Su-hyuk turned to Han Ji-hyun, who shook her head.
“I’m low on Mana. I could recover it here by cultivating Ki and then processing it, but that will take time.”
“So we’re in no condition to continue fighting immediately.”
“Yes… I can manage Paralyze if necessary, but even that’s limited to three uses. Against ogres, it’s not feasible.”
Paralyze and similar target magic required varying amounts of Mana depending on the target’s Magic Resistance and size.
Ogres didn’t have exceptionally high Magic Resistance, but they were so massive that paralyzing them demanded significant Mana expenditure.
Cha I-hyun scratched his head roughly.
“We’ve done enough reconnaissance to meet our operational objective. Let’s head out.”
“We can’t. We still haven’t found the Tutorial Conqueror.”
“If the situation were better, I’d agree with you. But in our current state, if we encounter even three Bagheest Riders out there, someone’s not coming back alive.”
Cha I-hyun held up his Short Sword for them to see.
Cha I-hyun’s combat style, befitting an assassin class, relied on ambushing enemies to strike their vital points for instant kills.
But from constant fighting within the Gate, his Short Sword now bore numerous chips and wounds along its blade.
Park Su-hyuk’s brow furrowed.
He was right—they’d already achieved their primary objective, and pursuing a reckless Tutorial Conqueror under these circumstances was folly.
More than that, this was a Gate, not the tower.
There was no forfeit option to escape if things grew dangerous, nor could they rely on an elf’s aid.
But even if they held out until the time limit expired, they wouldn’t automatically be considered to have failed and allowed to leave.
The only ways out of a Gate were to exit through the same Gate they’d entered,
or to eliminate every monster inside and cause the Gate to collapse.
But there was no way to gauge how many monsters remained.
And the deeper they ventured into the Gate seeking the Tutorial Conqueror, the danger multiplied exponentially.
“…All right. Let’s fall back for now. We can prepare more thoroughly and come back next time.”
“Ranker Park, what do you mean by that?”
Han Ji-hyun asked with wide eyes, and Park Su-hyuk nodded.
“We should leave first.”
“B-but there’s still that Tutorial Conqueror in there.”
“Why are you so fixated on that bastard? Did you fall for him? If you did, go alone. Don’t drag innocent people into danger with you.”
“Lee Ye-seul.”
Park Su-hyuk called her name to cut off her sharp remark.
Her lips pressed shut, but irritation flooded her face.
“If we’d prepared properly, we could’ve fought better than that guy. Today was supposed to be reconnaissance, so that’s why we came like this.”
“What? Ye-seul, you’re feeling competitive with that person?”
Cha I-hyun, who was close to Lee Ye-seul, asked in a teasing tone.
But Lee Ye-seul’s usual sharp retort didn’t come this time.
Only then did Cha I-hyun realize she was genuinely upset, and he cleared his throat awkwardly.
“Of course not. Honestly, we all came with a light heart, didn’t we? If we do this properly, we Rankers should be far stronger.”
“We can talk about the rest later. Let’s head back to the Gate for now.”
Park Su-hyuk urged the other Rankers forward.
Han Ji-hyun, who had been chewing her lip until then, suddenly tilted her head.
She felt along the ground as if searching for something, then opened her eyes wide and pressed her ear to the earth.
“Um, Han Ji-hyun? What are you doing?”
Cha I-hyun asked, bewildered.
Han Ji-hyun, eyes still closed, jerked her ear away from the ground as if struck by lightning.
“You can’t leave now! The monsters are moving!”
“What?”
Park Su-hyuk, who had been about to step outside, stopped in his tracks.
But as he spread his energy to sense the surroundings, his eyes widened, and he quickly moved back inside the tree.
Not long after, the ground shook, and a massive army of monsters flooded past the tree.
“Hah…!”
Lee Ye-seul caught her breath.
The sight of the countless monsters that had been hiding who knows where was spectacular in itself.
Once all the monsters had passed the tree, Han Ji-hyun bolted out from beneath it.
“W-wait, Ranker Han Ji-hyun!”
“I’ll get out on my own! Go ahead first!”
Han Ji-hyun, shouting loudly, chased after the monsters at high speed.
With her Mana recovered, Han Ji-hyun’s movements powered by magic were as swift as a Bagheest Rider’s.
The three remaining Rankers exchanged glances.
No words were necessary.
The three Rankers pushed off the ground and followed Han Ji-hyun.
A primal instinct arose—something told them they couldn’t afford to miss this moment.
Han Ji-hyun, who had been running ahead, suddenly slowed and came to a stop.
The three who had caught up to her turned their eyes toward what she was looking at.
Though they were breathless from running at maximum speed just moments before,
the three Rankers found their breath stolen by the sight before them.
“This… this can’t be…!”
Lee Ye-seul murmured.
Her voice was as if she might lose her breath from shock at any moment.
Though the other Rankers didn’t open their mouths like Lee Ye-seul, their hearts were all aligned.
Crack-boom—!!
Screeeech!
Two hammers flew through the air, hurling monsters down like ants swarming in all directions.
And from the Thrown Hammers that occasionally struck the enemies, frost and fire erupted explosively.
And there, in the middle of the battlefield where flames and ice danced and scattered,
Shin Tae-ho, wielding a Battle Hammer the size of a notebook, was relentlessly crushing his enemies.
Thwack—!
The fist of a Stone Skin Ogre and the Battle Hammer collided head-on.
The fist of an ogre that even the Ranker Lee Ye-seul couldn’t overcome.
If it was the fist of a Stone Skin Ogre, more powerful than that ogre, such a hammer should have been crushed without issue.
But in this abnormal battlefield, what shattered was not the battle hammer—it was the fist of the Stone Skin Ogre, hard as rock.
-Groooaaaah!
The creature shrieked, clutching its shattered fist.
But Shin Tae-ho granted it no time to cry out in pain.
Leaping upward as though his legs were springs, Shin Tae-ho’s battle hammer came crashing down on the back of the Stone Skin Ogre’s neck.
Its rocky skin shattered, its neck broke, and the Stone Skin Ogre’s massive frame collapsed.
“That’s… that’s impossible…! Moving like that without depleting his Ki? No, more than that—his body can withstand such output…?!”
The Rankers silently agreed with Lee Ye-seul’s words.
Ki Cultivation strengthens the body, but a human frame is weaker than a monster’s.
That’s why they wrap themselves in Ki, but doing so drastically increases Ki consumption.
Moreover, even when wreathed in Ki, a human body doesn’t become iron.
Just as a gun that can’t withstand powerful output shatters, a human body collapses under such force if not properly tempered through training.
Had Shin Tae-ho not achieved Bone Replacement and Flesh Transformation through Ki Cultivation earlier,
his body would have collapsed long ago, just as they said.
Boom-crack—!!
With a sound like thunder, the last monster fell to the ground.
At that moment, a message window appeared before the stunned eyes of the Rankers who had been watching the battle.
[All monsters sustaining the Gate have been defeated.]
[The Gate is beginning to dissipate.]
[Gate Clearing rewards will be delivered to your Inventory according to Contribution.]
[As the Gate dissipates, you will automatically be moved outside.]
The Rankers, their expressions shock-struck, read the message and stared at Shin Tae-ho.
Hidden behind his helmet, Shin Tae-ho stood alone above the bodies of monsters, meeting their gaze.
Like a television screen switching off, the Rankers vanished from the Gate.
But for some reason, even as time passed, Shin Tae-ho remained in the Gate, unmoved.
“What is this?”
“Ryong! Ryong~ ryong!”
Once the Rankers departed, Yong Ryong-yi, releasing its concealment, pointed at something.
A leaf tucked in Shin Tae-ho’s pocket during the battle was glowing brightly.
Shin Tae-ho moved to pull out the leaf, startled.
But the leaf, which had been shriveling while emitting light, couldn’t withstand that small impact and crumbled to pieces.
Just as Shin Tae-ho gasped in surprise,
a message window appeared before his eyes the moment the leaf tore apart.
[Using the World Tree Leaf.]
‘Using it?’
Before he could even respond,
Shin Tae-ho’s body was enveloped in that peculiar weightlessness he felt when entering and leaving the Tower.
In a single blink, he found himself transported to a different space.
It was a place he’d seen before, yet it felt strangely unfamiliar because of that.
“What’s happening…?”
The World Tree, towering like a high-rise building and brimming with vitality, and all of its roots.
Faced with the hellish sight of it all lying dead, blackened and rotting, Shin Tae-ho murmured in horror.
To be continued ▶
The Return of a Transcendent Master Blacksmith
Author
Seal Breaker
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Published by
Grae Publishing
Inquiries
[email protected]
Date of Publication
May 26, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260227067
※ This e-book is protected under copyright law, and unauthorized reproduction or duplication is prohibited. Violation may result in criminal and civil liability.
※ Pentagram is waiting for your precious manuscript.

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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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