The Return of the Transcendent Blacksmith - Chapter 6

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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 Grade Blacksmith’s Return — Episode 6
Shin Tae-ho was troubled.
Clang!
No matter how many times he tried, attacks without any infusion of Qi dealt absolutely no damage to the Knight Armor.
Crash! Bang-bang-crash!
What moved the Undead was the soul and the magical Qi clinging to matter.
Without directly affecting that Qi, he couldn’t bring down the Knight Armor.
Did that mean there was truly no way to defeat the Knight Armor at all?
Was he meant to give up here?
Clang-clang-clang-clang-crash!
“Ugh, that’s enough noise.”
Shin Tae-ho, sprawled flat on his back in thought, furrowed his brow.
He’d been pondering for quite some time.
Yet the Knight Armor hadn’t stopped for a moment, still drumming away at his armor.
Being Undead, it didn’t tire.
Even though its Longsword had already shattered, the Knight Armor continued its ineffectual assault like a machine that would not quit.
Irritation gave way, and Shin Tae-ho sank back into thought.
‘No. Keep thinking. There has to be something.’
Shin Tae-ho steadied his resolve and traced back through his past.
What options were left to him?
He recalled everything he’d experienced since his return.
After opening his eyes in that chamber.
He’d understood the situation and entered the Tutorial Tower.
After a long time of effort, he’d forged armor and a Hammer.
And he’d climbed without pause all the way to this 30th Floor.
Wait.
Something felt like it was slipping his mind.
“…Oh.”
As Shin Tae-ho searched his memory, the forgotten recollection struck him like lightning.
It was the memory of meeting Arimyr, who’d introduced himself as the manager of the Tutorial Tower.
Arimyr had seized his Core and examined it freely.
Then he’d suddenly floated in midair before crashing to the ground face-first.
The cause was the theft of Qi that even the manager Arimyr couldn’t withstand.
And this Knight Armor moving before him — that too must be a soul bound by Qi.
Which meant…?
‘Found it.’
Shin Tae-ho’s eyes snapped open.
He pushed himself upright, enduring the pointless barrage from the Knight Armor.
The suddenly shifted mood caused the Knight Armor to pause its assault and retreat.
“Come on. Come at me.”
Shin Tae-ho raised his Hammer.
The moment he placed it on his right shoulder and took a striking stance, the Knight Armor mirrored him defensively.
Spotting an opening, the Knight Armor lunged at him with a deafening clatter.
Thrust!
The broken Longsword drove at his abdomen.
Sparks still flew uselessly — the armor remained impenetrable.
But something had changed.
Rather than swing the Hammer he’d been preparing, Shin Tae-ho grabbed the Knight Armor’s arm with both hands.
Crack!
Caught in the Joint Lock, the Knight Armor toppled to the ground.
In that instant, Shin Tae-ho drew something from within his chest and pressed it against the Knight Armor’s helm.
It was the Core he’d seized from Arimyr in one swift motion.
“Even the manager couldn’t withstand this Core. Can you, a mere tutorial boss, hold out?”
Whirrrr—!
Before Shin Tae-ho’s words had finished, the Core began draining the Knight Armor’s Qi.
The movements that had been unmoved by the Hammer now stuttered and creaked.
It thrashed, throwing wild punches, headbutting with its helm.
Yet armored Shin Tae-ho didn’t even defend himself, suffering no impact whatsoever.
Screech—!!
Crash!
The Knight Armor’s jerky, convulsive movements stopped abruptly.
Shin Tae-ho drove the Core into the helmet without relaxing his vigilance for an instant.
A message window materialized before his eyes.
[You have successfully cleared the 30th Floor.]
[The clearance grade cannot be measured.]
[You have cleared the floor by overcoming the limitation of being unable to use Qi.]
[You have obtained the achievement “One Who Transcended Limits”!]
[Your fame has increased greatly!]
[You are the first to clear all Tutorial floors!]
[You have obtained the achievement “First Tutorial Conqueror”!]
[Your fame has increased greatly!]
“…Ah.”
Shin Tae-ho’s body, which had been pressing down on the Knight Armor with all his strength, crumpled like paper.
Having exhausted his strength to the limit, he could barely move a single finger.
Yet a look of satisfaction played across his face.
“My victory. Finally over, you damnable Tutorial.”
Two achievements in a single sweep.
The first one—One Who Transcended Limits—transformed his suspicion into certainty.
This 30th Floor had been designed specifically for Awakened Ones with natural talent for wielding Qi.
But he had shattered that absurd limitation and succeeded in clearing the Tutorial Tower despite the impossible constraint.
Using a Core he had created himself.
It felt like a reward proving that his former life had not been meaningless.
As Shin Tae-ho savored the deep sense of fulfillment, another message window appeared.
[Having cleared all Tutorial floors, you may now enter the Reward Chamber.]
[Will you move there now?]
A reward from the Tutorial Tower that no one had ever received before.
There was no reason to refuse.
“Yes.”
As Shin Tae-ho spoke, his body rose lightly into the air.
Just as when he had entered the Tutorial, his form vanished in an instant.
* * *
Shin Tae-ho rose and surveyed his surroundings.
Above him stretched a black sky, and through it countless stars traced the arc of the Milky Way.
A landscape impossible to witness from within the Tower’s interior.
Only then did Shin Tae-ho understand where he stood.
‘The peak of the Tutorial Tower… is it?’
His eyes widened.
Humanity had never cleared the Towers outside, nor the Tutorial Tower itself.
And so the Tower did have an end—and Shin Tae-ho was the first among all mankind to witness this view.
While he stood transfixed by the serene and beautiful vista before him,
he heard the soft sound of footsteps landing gently behind him.
“Congratulations, child. You truly… have succeeded in reaching this place.”
He turned to see Arimyr—the administrator he had met at the Tower’s entrance—standing there.
Arimyr’s eyes as she looked at Shin Tae-ho trembled lightly, echoing her voice.
“It is truly remarkable. I never imagined you could pass the final floor without being able to use Qi. It was beyond my expectations.”
Arimyr was the administrator of the Tower.
Of course, she knew that using Qi was the minimum condition for clearing the 30th Floor.
When she learned that Shin Tae-ho could not use Qi, she had held no hope that he would clear the floor.
Yet he had struggled long and hard, seeking a way forward with all his determination.
And in the end, he had surpassed an obstacle that should have been utterly insurmountable and ascended to this place.
As administrator, Arimyr had witnessed it all.
But Shin Tae-ho’s reply was blunt.
“Yes. It was designed with malicious intent.”
“…Are you still holding a grudge?”
Arimyr sighed.
Shin Tae-ho’s casual tone stemmed from her wordless theft of the Core at their first meeting.
But that was half a year ago now.
She had thought he would have forgotten all about it while crafting items in the Tutorial.
“Did you expect forgiveness without apology? How naïve. It’s the opposite. Not a single day has passed that I’ve forgotten that moment.”
Shin Tae-ho’s eyes flashed as he spoke.
That was the truth.
During the six months of crafting Armor and a Hammer, Shin Tae-ho had battled hunger and loneliness.
And after regressing, he suffered through the ache of his body reverting to its past state — bruised knuckles, burned skin.
What sustained him through those long months was Shin Tae-ho’s resolve to correct his past failures.
And the fury of having surrendered his Core to Arimyr without any resistance.
At the sincerity of that anger, Arimyr flinched.
‘He really is furious. This isn’t good.’
The reason Arimyr had waited so long for Shin Tae-ho’s success.
It was to make a request that only Shin Tae-ho could grant him.
Yet feelings toward himself still remained.
Arimyr, who had been lost in thought, now fixed Shin Tae-ho with a resolved expression.
“I apologize. As a manager, I only fulfilled my duty. But if it has wounded your feelings, I ask your forgiveness.”
“Forget it. What’s the point now?”
Shin Tae-ho scoffed.
At that response, Arimyr’s fists trembled.
He’d barely managed an apology — something he’d done only a handful of times in his entire existence — and this was the cold response he received?
Arimyr drew in a deep breath, mastering his anger, and composed his expression.
“Right. Since you’ve conquered the entire Tutorial, you should receive your reward. Let’s see what you’ve earned.”
At the word reward, Shin Tae-ho’s eyes gleamed.
No one had ever claimed the Tutorial Tower’s rewards before, and Shin Tae-ho found himself eager to learn what awaited him.
Arimyr gestured, and three items wreathed in brilliant light materialized before Shin Tae-ho.
As Shin Tae-ho laid eyes on this hidden reward, astonishment swept across his face.
‘This… is the reward for being the first to conquer the Tutorial Tower?’
Three items appeared before Shin Tae-ho’s eyes in total.
Moreover, since these were items granted as rewards, he could view their information even without a Class.
All three items were of the highest rank — Legendary Grade.
To receive Legendary Grade items before even ascending the Tower.
It was such an outrageous reward that anyone who heard of it would spit blood crying foul.
Yet in Shin Tae-ho’s eyes, disappointment bloomed.
‘Not bad, but that’s all. With enough materials, I could craft things like that myself later.’
Shin Tae-ho was a Blacksmith who had forged items his entire life.
Not just any Blacksmith, but one who had been called a Transcendent Grade Blacksmith.
For such a person, the grading standards he applied were on an entirely different level from those of other Awakened Ones.
As Shin Tae-ho was swallowing down his disappointment.
A nervous Arimyr glanced at Shin Tae-ho and asked.
“What do you think? Aren’t they magnificent arms?”
For a moment, Shin Tae-ho nearly blurted out, ‘Did you really put me through all that suffering just to give me this?’ but he barely held his tongue.
Though he still harbored feelings toward Arimyr, he had no intention of overstepping.
Yet without hearing an answer, Arimyr knew Shin Tae-ho’s true thoughts well.
“But they won’t satisfy you.”
Arimyr stared intently at the Armor and Hammer that Shin Tae-ho had made.
Unlike Shin Tae-ho, who couldn’t see item information without a Class.
Arimyr, as the manager, could see through to the very essence of the items Shin Tae-ho had crafted.
And what he saw was….
‘This can’t be right. And yet what I’m looking at is undeniably real.’
Once, Arimyr had thought Shin Tae-ho could only forge Advanced Grade items at best, a foolish delusion.
But now, Arimyr was feeling the full weight of how foolish that assumption had been.
Standing before them like this, Arimyr could finally acknowledge it.
That Shin Tae-ho’s six months had achieved a value equal to, and greater than, what was asked of him.
Having confirmed Shin Tae-ho’s disappointment, what came next was the most crucial part.
“If you’re willing, I’d like to propose an alternative reward as atonement. How does that sound?”
“…An alternative reward?”
Shin Tae-ho, who had been listening quietly, showed interest at the mention of another reward.
After all, Arimyr was the manager of the Tutorial whose existence Shin Tae-ho hadn’t even known about until now.
An offer from Arimyr was likely to be far more precious and valuable than these items.
“…What kind of reward?”
At Shin Tae-ho’s show of interest, Arimyr exulted silently within.
The shift from informal to formal speech indicated that Shin Tae-ho was clearly tempted by the proposal.
With the look of having waited for this very moment, Arimyr withdrew something from his garments.
“This.”
“…an egg?”
Shin Tae-ho stared in bewilderment at the egg that Arimyr held aloft in both hands with such care.
Continued in the next episode ▶
Transcendent Grade Blacksmith’s Return
Author
Bong Unsealhae
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Published by
Gerae Publishing
Inquiries
[email protected]
Publication Date
May 26, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260227067
※ This e-book is protected under copyright law, and unauthorized reproduction and distribution are prohibited. Violations may result in criminal and civil liability.
※ Pentagram welcomes precious manuscripts from writers.

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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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