The Return of the Transcendent Blacksmith - Chapter 7

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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 7
Shin Tae-ho stared at the egg.
He’d expected some special reward, but receiving an egg wasn’t what he’d anticipated.
At the same time, it fell far short of his hopes.
“You’re telling me to use it as a pet?”
Shin Tae-ho’s tone had shifted back to casual speech.
He knew about pets well enough.
Among Awakener Classes were Tamers, Spirit Mages, and Druids.
These classes carried beasts or spirits like pets, so pets themselves weren’t foreign to him.
But no matter how good a pet was, it couldn’t compare to a Hero Grade item.
Yet for some reason, at the word “pet,” Arimire’s hair stood on end and indignation flashed across her face.
“What? A pet?! How dare you—!”
Arimire, who had raised her voice, flinched.
Only Shin Tae-ho could take the egg outside the Tutorial Tower.
Of course, there was an extremely low chance that another Awakener might succeed in clearing it later.
But no matter how strong they were, they could never match Shin Tae-ho’s power.
Beyond that—
‘Breathe. Calm yourself. He’s a child with that much resolve and patience. He merely spoke without understanding.’
Having watched Shin Tae-ho’s actions, Arimire could sense the kind of person he was.
A boy who achieved the impossible through methods that defied all reason.
A boy who trusted his own choices, endured for six months, and could walk that path.
His only flaw was the arrogance that came with it.
Seeing how he’d fumbled before her as an administrator until now, even that confidence didn’t seem entirely without merit.
‘If I could, I’d tell him everything….’
This egg was a secret Arimire had carried, deceiving even the Tower’s system itself.
The moment the egg’s true identity was revealed—
Not only would she lose the egg, but both she and it would pay a terrible price.
Arimire cleared her throat and let her anger fade.
Striving to speak as gently as possible, Arimire set about convincing Shin Tae-ho.
“An egg doesn’t necessarily produce only a pet, does it? I tell you truly—this egg will be of great help to you in the days ahead.”
“Nonsense. If a weapon came out of an egg, that’d be something.”
“You insolent brat—!!”
At Shin Tae-ho’s scornful reply, the fury Arimire had been suppressing erupted.
Her control shattered, and unruly energy surged upward, lifting her hair toward the sky.
“You arrogant fool! Do you have any idea what a precious egg this is? This egg is—”
Arimire’s voice cut off mid-sentence.
Blood trickled from her nose as her eyes widened.
Her gaze drifted through empty air as though reading something unseen, and a deep sigh escaped her.
‘How can I convince this boy? How can I…?’
As Arimire worried with a mix of frustration and urgency—
Shin Tae-ho, who had been watching her quietly, opened his mouth.
“I don’t know what it is, but it seems important to you. That’s why you want me to take the egg so badly, isn’t it?”
“…!”
The mark struck true, and Arimire’s expression faltered.
Seeing her reaction, Shin Tae-ho nodded.
“That’s what I thought. Very well. I’ll take the egg as my reward.”
“Truly?”
Color rushed back into Arimire’s face.
But Shin Tae-ho wasn’t making this choice out of kindness toward Arimire.
Just as Arimire had her purpose, Shin Tae-ho had his own.
“However, there is a condition.”
“A condition?”
Arimire’s expression darkened.
She disliked that he dared to impose conditions on her, an administrator.
But since she was the one who needed something, Arimire nodded in acceptance.
“I understand. Though it must be something I can actually do.”
“Of course. I’ve already confirmed you can do this, so don’t worry.”
“You’ve tested it?”
Arimire looked puzzled.
Until now, she had merely observed Shin Tae-ho as an administrator.
He had never granted Shin Tae-ho special privileges or compromised fairness in doing so.
Instead of answering, Shin Tae-ho produced an object and held it out to Arimire.
Her eyes widened with recognition, her jaw falling open.
“You, you, you…!”
“You know what I’m asking.”
As if to hurry things along, Shin Tae-ho thrust the Core in his hand closer to her.
Arimire’s eyes, swollen like a king’s orb, trembled with shock.
* * *
[You have selected your Tutorial clear reward.]
[Once confirmed, your selection cannot be reversed.]
[Are you certain you wish to claim the Egg of Unknown Identity as your reward?]
“I am.”
Shin Tae-ho answered without hesitation.
[The Egg of Unknown Identity has been granted as your Tutorial reward.]
Shin Tae-ho turned back to Arimire upon confirming the reward message.
“It’s done.”
“Very well. Take it.”
Arimire, her face hollowed from having her energy drained into the Core, nodded wearily.
Shin Tae-ho watched the Core she offered him with barely concealed intent.
“There’s no possibility you could do it once more before I leave?”
At that blatant pressure, the gaunt Arimire trembled visibly.
‘This relentless, tiresome wretch!’
“There’s nothing left to squeeze out—stop this at once!”
“It’s fine. I can wait until there’s something to squeeze out again.”
“Your starvation will come faster than my recovery, at this rate!”
Arimire’s voice rose as she pointed at Shin Tae-ho, whose frame had become as gaunt as her own.
He’d asked out of greed, but she was right—Shin Tae-ho was approaching his limit too.
‘True enough. Since I started the Tutorial, I haven’t even drunk the coolant from a Core. I could be in real danger if I push further.’
Faced with that reasonable argument, Shin Tae-ho swallowed his greed.
He’d already cleared the Tutorial and obtained this extraordinary opportunity.
To starve to death inside the Tutorial out of sheer avarice would be the height of pathetic.
Beyond that, what he’d already obtained was an immense haul.
The energy he’d received from Arimire was worth far more than a hundred million Hero Grade items.
Shin Tae-ho tucked the Core into his robe.
Arimire, who had been holding her breath with her eyes sharp and hair bristling in case he said something else, finally relaxed.
“Such a relentless creature… Here. Your Tutorial reward. Guard it carefully.”
Arimire handed over the egg.
Shin Tae-ho cradled it and bowed respectfully.
“Thank you for your labor. I’ll take my leave now.”
With everything received, Shin Tae-ho offered formal thanks to Arimire and turned to go.
Then Arimire called him back through the system as he was about to leave.
“Child. What will you do with the power you’ve gained?”
“Isn’t that obvious? I’ll use it to climb the Tower.”
Shin Tae-ho regarded her with the look of someone being asked a pointless question.
At his answer, Arimire’s expression turned peculiar, and she raised her index finger.
“Then I’ll offer you a piece of advice about climbing the Tower.”
“What sort of advice?”
Shin Tae-ho showed interest.
For all her strange behavior, Arimire was the administrator of the Tutorial Tower.
Her counsel might prove unexpectedly valuable.
Arimire’s expression softened at his docile response.
“As you climb, you’ll face many perilous moments, and your heart will grow desperate. But don’t let that urgency drive you to climb faster. Listen and observe those you meet along the way, and you may find yourself walking a different path.”
“Others within the Tower? You mean the different races I’ll encounter there?”
Surprised by the unexpected counsel, Shin Tae-ho’s brow furrowed.
Every nation had a time limit for clearing the Tower.
Those who climbed quickly and earned renown could amass great wealth.
Moreover, the other races encountered inside the Tower were treated by climbers as little more than NPCs in a game.
Yet she was telling him to walk a contrary path, to sacrifice clearing time for their sake?
Sensing his doubt, Arimire smiled bitterly.
“You won’t understand now. But….”
Arimire fixed Shin Tae-ho with an expression more grave than ever before, bringing her words to a close.
“Remember this: merely rushing upward accomplishes nothing but spinning your wheels. One day, you will strike a wall.”
“…A wall, you say.”
Shin Tae-ho turned her counsel over in his mind.
It ran counter to everything he’d known to be common sense.
Yet he understood.
There was no malice or deception in anything Arimire told him.
“I understand. I will remember your advice.”
“Good. Then go carefully. And… take good care of that child.”
Arimire gazed upon the Egg of Unknown Identity with a distant look.
Shin Tae-ho caught the bittersweet sorrow and tenderness that gathered thickly in her eyes, and felt puzzled.
‘Was it a beloved pet? Then she didn’t need to give it to me.’
Shin Tae-ho had been about to tell her she could keep it if she was so attached, that he could return the egg—but he stopped himself.
Every scrap of power mattered now.
Whatever emerged from this egg, a pet would provide at least some assistance if he had one.
Shin Tae-ho’s body began to rise.
As it ascended, his form blinked out of existence as suddenly as it had when he first arrived at the Tutorial Tower.
Arimire stood alone at the peak of the vast Tutorial Tower.
She closed her eyes.
The memories of time spent with the egg she had long kept hidden in her heart washed over her.
That egg had finally left her embrace completely.
Relief and loss, sorrow and joy swirled together in a storm of complicated feeling.
“Forgive a mother who had no other choice. I pray that your path forward is blessed with only good fortune, my child.”
Arimire’s parting words, unheard by anyone, lingered in the empty air before scattering away.
* * *
Growwwwl—!!
“Ugh.”
The moment Shin Tae-ho arrived back in his room after leaving the Tutorial Tower, his stomach let out an enormous sound.
His empty stomach and intestines seemed to be screaming for food immediately.
He hurried to open the refrigerator, selecting only the gentlest foods and eating until his belly was satisfied.
Eating anything greasy on an empty stomach was risky—it could make him sick.
Once he’d quieted his hunger, tension released from Shin Tae-ho’s shoulders and he sprawled flat on the floor.
Contentment and pride glowed vividly across his face.
Tutorial Tower conquered.
An achievement no one before him had ever managed was the perfect first step since his return.
‘Now comes the matter of which Class I receive.’
As if reading his thoughts the moment they formed, countless message windows materialized before his eyes.
Shin Tae-ho scanned the contents with eager anticipation.
[Your potential as an Awakener is being evaluated based on your progress through the Tutorial.]
[You created new possibility through an extraordinary idea: crafting items with your own hands.]
[Despite lacking a Class, you demonstrated remarkable manufacturing ability.]
[You completed a masterwork of such excellence that it seems impossible it was created in such harsh conditions.]
[You overwhelmed all enemies with dominant power.]
[You overcame the limitation of being unable to use Qi and achieved Tutorial conquest.]
[Your Class has been determined by synthesizing your achievements in the Tutorial Tower with your potential as an Awakener.]
As all evaluations concluded, the message finally appeared: your Class was determined.
The dizzying flood of message windows vanished.
A single message window materialized before Shin Tae-ho’s wide eyes.
[Congratulations. Your Class is War-smith.]
“…What? A smith? A blacksmith?”
Confronted with this unexpected result, Shin Tae-ho’s eyes flew wide open.
To be continued ▶
The Transcendent Blacksmith’s Return
Author
Sealed Release
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Published by
Grae Publishing
Contact
[email protected]
Date of Publication
May 26, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260227067
※ This e-book is protected under copyright law. Unauthorized reproduction and duplication are prohibited, and violators may face criminal and civil liability.
※ 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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