The Return of the Transcendent Blacksmith - Chapter 49

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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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The Return of the Transcendent Blacksmith — Episode 49
ITRO: the global organization established to respond to Towers after one appeared in the world.
Inside ITRO’s headquarters in the United States sat six World Rankers gathered from various nations, along with the director of the Korea Branch.
Marcus Langford, ITRO’s Secretary-General and a World Ranker from the United Kingdom, turned to Oh Jin-hyeok with a question.
“Let me ask again, Director Oh Jin-hyeok of Korea. You’re not concealing information about the Mystery, are you?”
“I swear by my honor, absolutely not. We’re making every effort to find him, but since he only engages in climbing the Tower, we’re facing difficulties.”
“What? You can’t even identify the challenger who climbed to the 67th floor? In that cramped nation of yours? You expect me to believe that?”
Victor Bennett, a World Ranker from the United States, laughed as if the very notion were absurd.
Until now, Rankers had always sought to make themselves shine; none had ever operated so secretively.
It seemed certain that the management bureau and the Mystery had coordinated their story to hide his identity.
Oh Jin-hyeok pressed his lips firmly shut.
Responding to such an obvious provocation would only make matters worse, certainly not better.
Secretary-General Marcus frowned and cautioned Victor.
“Victor. Restrain yourself. Since nothing has been confirmed yet, it’s not right to censure Director Oh Jin-hyeok.”
“But isn’t it the truth?”
Bianca Laurent, a World Ranker from Switzerland, interjected.
With her eyebrows plucked high like a peacock’s, she smiled with her eyes and fixed her gaze directly on Oh Jin-hyeok.
“The Mystery climbed the 67th floor and became the seventh World Ranker. Yet you don’t even know his name, much less his identity in his own country. Should I really believe that?”
“Hmph. A country without mandatory ID cards can’t even manage its own citizens’ information properly, yet has plenty to say.”
“What was that?”
Bianca’s eyes sharpened as she turned her head.
Wang Xiaomei, the World Hunter from China who was called Bianca’s rival, fanned her face with her hand and shrugged her shoulders.
“Oh my. Hit a nerve, did I? Then spare us the pointless chatter.”
“Since when did you become such a champion of Korea?”
“Fellow Eastern powers understand each other.”
“Clearly you understand each other so well that neither of you can even seal your Gates. I hear monsters still cohabitate with you—sounds like a pleasant place to live.”
“What?! How dare you run your mouth like that!”
“That’s enough! All of you, stop right there!”
Marcus slammed the table and shouted.
Awakened Ones could communicate beyond language barriers without conscious effort.
Yet instead of maintaining smooth dialogue through that gift, they were squabbling like children—it was maddening.
Mikhail Ivanov, who had remained silent until then, fixed Marcus with a cold stare.
“Pathetic. Did you gather us here just to engage in this drivel? If we’re proceeding, make it clear, Marcus.”
“…Understood. I’ll keep it simple.”
Marcus sighed and turned his gaze to Oh Jin-hyeok.
“Director Oh Jin-hyeok of Korea. The Mystery climbed to the 67th floor and became a World Ranker without any national support. Not knowing his identity under these circumstances is, I believe, dangerous.”
Oh Jin-hyeok listened quietly to Marcus’s words.
He had much he wanted to argue, but this place had been created to condemn him.
Adding to the conversation now would only complicate matters.
“Therefore, you are responsible for finding the Mystery’s personal information and submitting it to ITRO. This is a duty binding on all ITRO Rankers, for global peace and security.”
“…Understood.”
Oh Jin-hyeok answered while hiding his clenched fist below the table.
ITRO sounded impressive, but in truth, Korea was gaining almost no benefit from it.
They rejected requests to borrow items, claiming them national treasures. They refused to allow Rankers to be treated as temporary residents so the Tower could be updated.
Now, the moment the Mystery appeared, they’d created this meeting to pressure him. It was impossible to feel good about it.
‘There must be hidden World Rankers in Japan too. Yet they overlook that.’
Publicly, the Mystery was known as the seventh Ranker.
But Oh Jin-hyeok, who quietly gathered intelligence from other nations, knew the truth.
Japan was currently concealing another World Ranker besides Tsukuyomi, who sat here in this very room.
Even as Oh Jin-hyeok stared directly at her, Tsukuyomi kept her eyelids half-lowered as if drowsy, refusing to meet his gaze.
Yet Oh Jin-hyeok could not voice this frustration.
‘How exasperating.’
Oh Jin-hyeok sighed, pressured unilaterally to find the Mystery.
* * *
Epyphiel moved swiftly, rushing toward the Workshop where Shin Tae-ho was.
After eating the food the elves had brought and drinking the Potion Shin Tae-ho had given her, she’d slept deeply and was in good condition.
Still, the gazes of her fellow kin as they passed by, looking at her with curiosity, remained burdensome.
“An elf from the World Tree. Each time I see her, it’s still amazing.”
“Look at the angle of those ears. How does she even manage that angle?”
“What would you call that skin tone? Not as pale as ours, not dark either.”
‘This is overwhelming.’
Epyphiel quickened her pace upon hearing the elves’ whispers.
Entering the Workshop, she found Shin Tae-ho hunched over his anvil, hammering away at the goblin weapons he’d disassembled, stacked beside him.
“Shin Tae-ho. I brought what you asked for.”
“Leave it there. I’ll check it in a moment.”
“All right. Do you need anything else?”
“From now on, whenever you have time, make Potions for me. Quantity over quality. Enough for every elf here to use.”
“E-every elf?”
Epyphiel’s eyes widened in alarm.
There were just under a thousand elves here at present.
He was asking her to produce Potions for a thousand people without stopping?
Noticing Epyphiel’s shock, Shin Tae-ho shook his head.
“Of course I’m not asking you to make them alone. Find the elves you think have talent for alchemy and put them to work.”
“Me? You want me to select elves and command them?”
“Naturally. Even you couldn’t possibly produce enough Potions for a thousand elves in any reasonable time.”
“But… will they listen to me?”
At Epyphiel’s words, Shin Tae-ho rose from his seat.
Opening the Workshop door, he called out in a ringing voice to the two lords.
“Eldeain! Kider! Come to the Workshop at once!”
“Yes, Hero!”
“Huh?”
Epyphiel started as Eldeain and Kider came sprinting over the moment he called.
Shin Tae-ho, however, issued his command to the two lords without hesitation.
“Gather any free elves immediately and have them assist with Epyphiel’s work. She’ll tell you what needs to be done.”
“Did you say… all of them, Hero?”
“Yes. I’d help myself if I could, but as you can see, my hands are full crafting weapons for you.”
Shin Tae-ho held up both his hands, blackened and streaked with soot and metal dust.
Seeing his hands in such stark contrast to their own clean ones, the two lords bowed their heads in shame.
“We apologize for our foolish words, Hero. We’ll move at once.”
“But Hero—the weapons you’re making now… are they for us? Yet they’re forged from minerals…”
“Yes. Weapons you don’t particularly favor. But mark my words—without these, you will never defend the World Tree.”
“W-what do you mean…?”
Kider lifted his gaze sharply, startled by the edge in Shin Tae-ho’s voice.
His eyes held a chill the elves had never seen before.
Yet to force them to use the iron weapons, Shin Tae-ho spoke with brutal candor.
“The enemy has vanished from sight and you’ve caught your breath—so you think it’s over? Don’t deceive yourselves. They will return, and we have been driven to this place.”
At his cutting words, which struck at their deepest wounds, not only the two lords but Epyphiel herself clenched her teeth.
‘Good. It’s working.’
Shin Tae-ho watched their reactions carefully and continued.
“I don’t have much time left either. I will return to help you again, but I don’t know when that will be. And yet you’d rather not use iron weapons because they displease you? Then what am I doing all this for?”
“We are truly sorry, Hero! My thoughts were shallow and foolish!”
Struck by Shin Tae-ho’s words, Kider fell to his knees in apology.
What Shin Tae-ho said was no mere talk.
The moment he arrived, he had fought countless monsters to rescue them.
He had led them to the vicinity of the World Tree, a place they had thought they would never reach in their lifetimes, and secured their refuge.
And all the while, forging weapons without proper sleep.
Yet they had dared to say they were reluctant to use iron weapons.
If time could be reversed, Kider would strike his own cheek a dozen times over.
Seeing the sincerity in Kider’s apology, Shin Tae-ho nodded.
“Now that you understand, act on it. You are lords. You must set an example for all.”
“We shall obey your words, Hero.”
“We will move immediately!”
As soon as Eldeain and Kider answered, they bolted from the Workshop.
Shin Tae-ho turned his gaze to Epyphiel, who stood uncertainly before him.
“One more thing, Epyphiel. Can you work with spirits?”
“Spirits? Yes. Why?”
“Good. Then take this.”
Shin Tae-ho retrieved an item from his inventory and handed it to her.
Epyphiel accepted it hesitantly and examined it, her eyes widening.
“A High-Grade Spirit Stone? No, wait—is it really? But the natural essence is so intense that…”
“Spirit stones, that’s right. High-Grade Spirit Stones will come in handy when we’re fighting while protecting the elves.”
Shin Tae-ho explained calmly.
A High-Grade Spirit Stone was an item worth hundreds of billions if sold later.
Yet Shin Tae-ho handed it over without a second thought.
‘By then, I’ll make hundreds of billions just from selling a single proper item. Better to use something like this to save even one more elf than let it rot away.’
Epyphiel was so shocked she couldn’t speak, her mouth opening and closing silently.
Shin Tae-ho patted the elf’s shoulder and turned back toward the workshop.
“Call me if you need anything. Until then, brew as many potions as you can.”
“…Understood. Really… thank you so much.”
Epyphiel answered in a trembling voice before hurrying away.
After setting the elves to their tasks, Shin Tae-ho checked his remaining stay duration and frowned.
‘Five hours left. I need to make as much as possible in that time.’
Shin Tae-ho returned to his workstation and began reverse-engineering the goblin’s weapon.
An explosive, disposable weapon—something that, until now, was thought impossible to craft in the tower without a specific skill.
But now, as he disassembled and analyzed the goblin’s weapon, Shin Tae-ho was awakening to a new method.
‘The answer was in the fragments.’
What emerged from the goblin’s weapon were the Qi Fragments he’d accumulated by passing through trials.
He formed circuits using the Qi Fragments as cores, injecting a precisely calculated amount of Qi that he’d already calibrated to trigger detonation.
This was less blacksmithing and more mechanics.
‘To think I’d acquire a technique even the future couldn’t reveal. The goblins were more formidable than I expected.’
When Shin Tae-ho finally completed the reverse-engineering.
A message window appeared before his eyes as he examined the finished product.
[You have acquired the Qi Explosion Technique.]
[The knowledge to trigger explosions using Qi was a unique technique developed over generations by the goblin race.]
[You have grasped the principle, but the Qi Explosion Technique can only be used by the one who analyzed the original technique.]
“Limited to me alone?”
Shin Tae-ho was taken aback.
Of course, he’d never broadcast this technique to every corner—even human traitors were capable of using it.
At the very least, those who helped him needed to be able to use this technique, but it seemed now that only he could wield it.
‘I’ll have to make sure no one sees me using this.’
It was an ability he couldn’t teach anyway.
The moment he displayed it, countless agencies and organizations would swarm him, demanding he hand over the technique.
‘But acquiring the ability itself is an excellent development.’
The next floor Shin Tae-ho had to climb was the 68th.
But at the same time, the 68th floor was one where humanity had never updated its highest record in the past.
‘If I craft weapons using this technique and stockpile them, combat will become at least a little easier.’
Shin Tae-ho picked up his hammer again.
Crafting his own weapon would have to wait until after he left the tower.
For now, he needed to make one more weapon so at least one more elf could be equipped.
To be continued ▶
Transcendent Blacksmith’s Return
Author
Seal Release
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Publisher
Grae Publishing
Inquiry Email
[email protected]
Publication Date
May 26, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260227067
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※ Pentagram welcomes 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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