The Return of the Transcendent Blacksmith - Chapter 43

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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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Return of the Transcendent Blacksmith, Episode 43
Park Je-hyuk entered the reception room following Kim Jong-su’s guidance.
“So I heard you challenged the Tower and got seriously injured, had surgery and all. You’re already well enough to move around?”
“I’m managing. As you know, Awakeners do recover rather quickly.”
Park Je-hyuk answered with a small smile.
But even Kim Jong-su, unaccustomed to combat, could immediately tell the words were a lie.
“Nonsense. Awakeners may be strong, but that’s only true when they’re using Qi to reinforce themselves, isn’t it?”
The greatest difference between an Awakener and an ordinary person was the ability to use Qi.
Without Qi, even an Awakener was only slightly stronger than a regular human.
“In your current condition, you couldn’t stop a bullet if someone fired one. What good are you wandering around like this?”
“I appreciate your concern. But a matter of considerable importance compels me to seek you out.”
“I see. So what is this important matter?”
“I need a weapon.”
Kim Jong-su sighed as if he’d expected exactly this.
“You nearly lost your life and you want to climb the Tower again? With a body that hasn’t even healed?”
“It’s something I must do.”
Park Je-hyuk regarded Kim Jong-su with steady eyes.
But Kim Jong-su simply shook his head quietly.
“I’m sorry, but that’s impossible.”
“Why… not? If it’s a matter of price, I can find a way to—”
“Do I look like someone who’d starve for lack of money?”
Kim Jong-su was the blacksmith known throughout Korea as a master craftsman.
Commissions poured in with such frequency that even working all day, he couldn’t keep up with the demands.
When Park Je-hyuk fell silent, Kim Jong-su continued his explanation.
“As you know, I’m an exclusive blacksmith contracted to the Management Bureau. If I were to make a weapon specially for you alone in circumstances like this, it would violate our contract.”
Kim Jong-su took a sip of tea, moistening his lips before continuing.
“Beyond that, I lack the time. The weapon you currently use is Rare Grade as far as I know. You’re seeking something of a higher grade than that, aren’t you?”
“…Yes.”
“As you know, crafting that Rare Grade item alone required a full two months without taking other work.”
Park Je-hyuk nodded slowly.
With Kim Jong-su bound by contract, it was already impossible to ask for his help.
And hearing that even the time required was extensive only made any request futile.
“I understand your sense of responsibility and justice well. But there’s nothing I can do for you now. You should go.”
“…I understand. But if circumstances should ever permit, if you find it possible to help, I’d be grateful for your contact.”
Park Je-hyuk offered his business card with both hands.
Kim Jong-su took the card.
Despite his body not yet recovered from surgery, Park Je-hyuk bowed deeply before stepping outside.
Watching his slumped shoulders, Kim Jong-su let out a quiet sigh.
“I’m sorry. If I could help, I would. But circumstances just don’t permit it right now….”
Kim Jong-su pocketed the business card and returned from the reception room to his workshop.
Yong-yong-i, who had been finding comfort in Shin Tae-ho’s petting, immediately entered stealth mode at the sound of Kim Jong-su’s arrival.
“You’re back.”
“Yes. I apologize for making you wait, Master.”
“Not at all. But may I ask what the matter was?”
“Well….”
Kim Jong-su recounted his conversation with Park Je-hyuk without embellishment or omission.
Having worked as both a blacksmith and a government-affiliated one, Shin Tae-ho could immediately understand both their positions.
“So that’s what happened.”
“Park Je-hyuk is a Challenger who has always been earnest about climbing the Tower. I couldn’t ignore the matter with such a person in mind.”
At Kim Jong-su’s words, Shin Tae-ho’s memories stirred.
Back when the Tower had collapsed and a dragon devastated the world.
Park Je-hyuk had been one of the most renowned Challengers of that era.
‘He was the one always voicing loudly that the Tower must be climbed faster for the sake of the world.’
With strength to match his convictions, he held a top-ranked position among Challengers most of the time, though not always.
And now that same Park Je-hyuk, having barely survived a near-fatal crisis, had come seeking a weapon to challenge the Tower again.
‘…It is troubling, I must admit.’
Since returning to the past, Shin Tae-ho had stopped crafting items for others.
Instead, he would grow stronger himself and climb the Tower with his own items.
And so he had resolved never to witness the faces of the foolish using his items a second time.
Yet hearing Park Je-hyuk’s story and remembering the past, that once-firm resolve began to waver.
Why was his resolve, which had never wavered before, now being shaken?
As Shin Tae-ho traced back the reason in his mind, Epiel’s words surfaced in his memory.
‘It started then.’
The day he had fought to carry out the World Tree’s quest with Epiel and Yong-yong-i at his side.
When Epiel was asked if he despised the Guardians, he had said he did not.
The reason was not that all the Guardians disliked him.
Rather, most of the Guardians were genuinely devoted to the World Tree’s cause.
If he applied Epiel’s meaning of “Guardian” to the current situation—
‘Park Je-hyuk is a Challenger who genuinely seeks to climb the Tower and protect humanity.’
Not a traitor to mankind, not someone who would abandon people at the last moment and cling to the Tower—the very kind of betrayer Shin Tae-ho despised.
Rather, someone who climbed the Tower for his people, not for his own gain.
Could ignoring such a Park Je-hyuk, as he attempted to ascend the Tower again despite his injuries, truly be the right thing to do?
“Master?”
As Shin Tae-ho fell deep into thought with a hardened expression, Kim Jong-su called out cautiously.
Shin Tae-ho, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, finally opened them.
“No, I can’t let this pass. If I do, my conscience won’t rest easy.”
“I beg your pardon? What do you mean—surely you’re not thinking of crafting the weapon yourself?”
Though Shin Tae-ho had said nothing, Kim Jong-su sensed his reluctance to reveal his identity and was startled.
“If you do that, it would certainly help greatly, but your identity would surely be exposed.”
“Then I simply won’t let it be exposed.”
“How could you possibly manage that?”
“I have a plan.”
Shin Tae-ho, who had been tapping on his smartphone, turned the screen toward him.
On the display was Tower.com, the world’s largest Tower community forum.
Kim Jong-su, momentarily bewildered, soon grasped Shin Tae-ho’s intent and his eyes widened in recognition.
* * *
A week later.
Park Je-hyuk woke in the housing provided by the Management Bureau for Challengers and checked his smartphone.
He had naturally expected contact from Kim Jong-su, but there was neither a call nor a message.
“So it isn’t going to happen after all.”
Park Je-hyuk pressed gently at his abdomen.
From having moved carelessly while still not fully healed, the surgical site throbbed as though deeply bruised.
‘A Lowest-Grade Recovery Potion should arrive from overseas soon. Just hold out a little longer.’
Potions crafted by a Special Class alchemist.
Among them, recovery-type potions were extraordinarily rare.
Even the Lowest-Grade Recovery Potion bore that name only in title.
It was the only recovery potion currently available on the market, and Challengers who didn’t worry about running out simply couldn’t obtain one.
‘At this point, I have no choice but to grow stronger through training. The moment my body recovers, I begin.’
Park Je-hyuk lay back on the bed.
Though he had resolved to rest, sleep eluded him.
Lying still, his mind churned with countless thoughts.
‘Who in the world is Mystery?’
‘What is their Class, and what abilities do they possess?’
‘Climbing the highest floors alone—doesn’t it frighten them? Doesn’t it exhaust them?’
Park Je-hyuk’s hands clenched into fists.
No one understood the terror of climbing the Tower better than Park Je-hyuk.
For this very reason, even now he could not rest easy or at peace.
‘It doesn’t matter who Mystery is.’
What mattered was that Mystery was risking their life climbing the Tower for people,
and he had to walk beside them, ensuring that Mystery’s solitary steps did not falter.
That was why he—the Park Je-hyuk of this world—was determined to reach the 66th floor once more.
Ding-ding!
At the smartphone notification, Park Je-hyuk jolted upright from the bed.
“Ugh!”
The sudden movement brought a searing pain from the goblin’s spear piercing through his surgical site.
Breaking into a cold sweat and breathing carefully, Park Je-hyuk managed to sit up and checked his trembling smartphone with shaking hands.
“Huh?”
The message was indeed from Kim Jong-su.
But the contents were not about weapon crafting as Park Je-hyuk had hoped.
[Tell me your Tower.com username right now and log in to the site. Delete this message the moment you’ve read it.]
“Tower.com?”
Park Je-hyuk stiffened.
Why was he suddenly being told to log into a community site?
But the number that sent the message was definitely Kim Jong-su.
‘Let me just do what he says. He wouldn’t order it without reason.’
Park Je-hyuk sent his ID as instructed and logged into Tower.com.
Before long, a popup appeared on the monitor indicating a message had arrived.
[Are you Park Je-hyuk?]
[Yes? Is this my father-in-law?]
[No. Just answer the question. Are you Park Je-hyuk?]
[Yes, I am Park Je-hyuk.]
[Come alone to this address by 8 PM tonight. If you bring anyone with you, I will cancel this meeting.]
Park Je-hyuk went rigid when he saw the address in the message.
He wanted to ask what this was about, but the sender had already logged off.
‘What is this? Is this even safe?’
Park Je-hyuk checked the time and location written in the message.
Whether by design or not, he’d have to leave immediately to barely make it in time.
After a moment’s deliberation, Park Je-hyuk shook his head.
‘I’ll go. Kim Jong-su must have a reason for this.’
Having decided, Park Je-hyuk dragged his injured body into preparation for departure.
* * *
Near the Seoul Outskirts National Park Parking Lot, empty of any vehicles and shrouded in darkness.
The lot—its spaces marked off by lines rather than proper lanes—had no CCTV cameras at all.
Park Je-hyuk, who had driven here, looked around.
His current state made it impossible to channel his energy properly.
If this was a trap, a few bullets would be enough to end him.
“Hah.”
Park Je-hyuk took a deep breath, killed the engine and headlights, then stepped out.
The very fact that he was summoned to such a remote place felt like a deliberate intent to conceal their identity.
“You’re sharp. I don’t even have to spell things out—makes my job easier.”
The moment he stepped out, a voice from behind froze Park Je-hyuk solid.
He tried instinctively to turn toward the sound.
But the figure had already moved behind him, gripping the back of his neck.
‘What kind of strength is this?!’
As Park Je-hyuk reeled from his complete helplessness.
The voice came again—cold and mechanical, like that of a machine.
“You’d turn around right after I praise you for being smart? I’m a little disappointed.”
“A-are you the person my father-in-law summoned?”
“I am, but you sure do have a loose tongue. You’d spread word all over town that you met me, wouldn’t you?”
“N-no, I wouldn’t.”
Only then did Park Je-hyuk lower his head and raise both hands in surrender.
“Good. We don’t need to waste time, so let’s finish this quickly. First, let me show you the goods. Check the information.”
A spear shaft slid forward from behind Park Je-hyuk.
The moment Park Je-hyuk’s eyes fell on the spearhead, the item information appeared.
[Spiral-Bladed Long Spear]
-Grade: Elite
‘E-Elite Grade?!’
Park Je-hyuk barely managed to stifle a gasp that nearly escaped his lips.
To be continued ▶
The Transcendent Master Blacksmith’s Return
Author
Sealing Release
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 under copyright law. Unauthorized reproduction and distribution are prohibited, and violation of these restrictions may result in criminal and civil liability.
※ Pentagram awaits 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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