The Return of the Transcendent Blacksmith - Chapter 70

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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 Transcendent-Grade Blacksmith’s Return — Episode 70
Hamilton had guided them to a five-star hotel nearby.
He’d reserved three suite rooms, assigning one each to Mystery, Marcus, and Victor.
But Hamilton himself had booked a standard room instead of a suite.
“I’ll come to pick you up tomorrow. While you’re staying at the hotel, all room service charges will be covered by the Management Bureau, so please feel free to use it and rest comfortably.”
“Thank you.”
Marcus and Victor expressed their gratitude.
But Mystery said nothing, simply took his key and left.
“That rude little—!”
Marcus frowned at Mystery’s discourteous behavior.
Victor, a Ranker from the United States, even tried to catch Mystery as he walked away and say something to him.
But Hamilton stopped both of them with a good-natured smile.
“He must be exhausted. I’m fine, so please get some rest now.”
“Even if you are the Director of the Management Bureau, do you have to be so soft toward someone who isn’t even a Challenger from the United States?”
“Ha. Thank you for your concern. But I really am fine.”
‘He’s putting on a show. He should act like this more often.’
Every time they’d met, Victor had done nothing but complain—”What does the Management Bureau even do?” “Support Challengers more aggressively”—never a kind word.
Hamilton swallowed his real thoughts, remembering Victor’s usual behavior.
Watching the two move toward the elevator, Hamilton smiled ruefully.
‘And really, I’m the one who should apologize.’
Hamilton was the Director of the American Management Bureau.
Someone in such a position would never simply let three people who had once occupied the seat of world-class Ranker rest undisturbed.
‘Especially Mystery. Your information will be useful for a long time to come—both internally and externally.’
Hamilton’s expression turned sinister, a look he’d never shown the three, as he walked toward his own room.
* * *
Shin Tae-ho entered the suite, deployed his Energy Sensing to thoroughly sweep the room, and let out a weary sigh.
‘I knew it. They’ve bugged this place too.’
The bedroom, the hallway, the television, even the bathroom.
Just as on the transport, surveillance bugs and miniature cameras had been installed throughout the suite.
‘Installing these in a five-star hotel… it’s not the Management Bureau acting alone. Someone higher up is involved, no doubt about it.’
Would a five-star hotel really risk damaging its reputation and customer trust for this?
That was impossible, no matter how directly the Bureau Director had come.
Even the FBI, when going after the most dangerous criminals, would need a court warrant and the hotel’s cooperation to do something like this.
‘So that’s why they let me go so easily.’
The American President was famous for clinging to whatever he wanted, relentless as a bulldog.
He’d seemed oddly quick to let him leave.
If the plan had been to extract information here, his earlier compliance suddenly made sense.
‘Well, not that it matters now that I’ve noticed.’
Shin Tae-ho moved the chair and desk around.
Carefully blocking the camera’s line of sight, he locked the door firmly and lay down on the bed.
Stacking pillows beside him to create a human shape, he immediately rubbed the World Tree Leaf.
Click.
Shin Tae-ho rose to his feet as he appeared instantly in the Hall of Heroes.
The elves stared at him with wide, startled eyes; he waved at them before walking out of the hall.
“Phew.”
He stored his Armor in his Inventory, and in an instant only his clothes remained as Shin Tae-ho took a deep breath.
“If I didn’t have that leaf, this would’ve been really difficult.”
As Shin Tae-ho was stretching to loosen his body,
Eldein came rushing over after hearing the elf’s report and greeted him.
“Hero. You’ve returned.”
“So I have. I’ll be coming often from now on, so don’t rush out every time.”
“That I cannot do. You are no ordinary guest—how could I not come to greet you?”
“You and Kyder are both kings now. I mean it—spend that time handling another task or resting instead of coming to pay respects to me.”
“To me, seeing you is both rest and honor.”
“Fine. Do as you wish.”
Seeing Eldein persist, Shin Tae-ho conceded first.
As Kyder came rushing up shortly after, the three of them shared tea together.
“How’s Yong-ryong-i? Is she doing well?”
“Yes. She’s sleeping right now. It hasn’t been long, so she’ll sleep for some time yet.”
“Has she looked for me at all?”
“Every time he woke, he would search for you. But with Epiel looking after him so well… the frequency has dropped quite a bit lately.”
‘Seems he’s doing well.’
Shin Tae-ho was satisfied to hear that Yong-ryong-i was sleeping soundly and searching for him less often.
“I’d like to see Yong-ryong-i. But I don’t want to wake him—just tell me where he is.”
“He always sleeps beside the World Tree, so you should find him there.”
Hearing Kyder’s answer, Shin Tae-ho set out toward the World Tree.
Worried that his Energy Sensing might still be active even in sleep, he refrained from using his power for now.
Moving his body purely without channeling power for the first time in ages, Shin Tae-ho was startled by how much his physical abilities had improved.
Climbing the high roots was like rock climbing.
Yet even as he ascended and leapt from root to root, Shin Tae-ho found himself breathing easily, feeling no strain whatsoever.
Each time he jumped, he could soar several meters with laughable ease—his explosive power had grown tremendously.
‘I knew the body strengthened in proportion to climbing the tower, but experiencing it firsthand is something else.’
As he repeated the motions of climbing and walking along the high roots, the newly sprouted World Tree began to come into view.
When he’d left, the World Tree had only just begun to grow; now it had become as large as a ginkgo tree.
As Shin Tae-ho drew near, Epiel sensed his presence and emerged from hiding.
“Who—ah. Shin Tae-ho?”
“Yes. How have you been, Epiel?”
“I’ve been well. You came to see Yong-ryong-i? But he….”
“I heard he only fell asleep recently. I just came to check in on him.”
“That’s a relief. I’ll show you the way. Follow me.”
Epiel led the way, guiding Shin Tae-ho forward.
The place Epiel led him to was not the base of the World Tree, but rather higher up.
As they climbed the World Tree, Shin Tae-ho spotted Yong-ryong-i lying asleep on a flat place where the roots branched off.
However, when they’d crossed via the World Tree Leaf from the transport ship and met, he’d been in human form.
The sleeping Yong-ryong-i had since returned to his true dragon form.
“He’s taken his original form? Has his Shape-shifting worn off?”
“Not worn off—he chose to release it. Now Yong-ryong-i can freely change between his forms.”
“Freely? Into shapes other than my human form as well?”
“I’m not certain of that. At least his true form and human form are possible.”
Epiel’s pronunciation of “human” came out awkward and imitative.
Shin Tae-ho examined Yong-ryong-i closely.
The passage of Time Flow had left Yong-ryong-i noticeably larger.
The small horns that had barely protruded now had grown considerably, unmistakably recognizable as horns to any eye.
Watching Yong-ryong-i’s growth with a warm gaze, Shin Tae-ho glanced to the side.
Epiel, now near Yong-ryong-i, was using a large leaf from somewhere to fan him with a gentle breeze.
“What are you doing?”
“This way, Yong-ryong-i will rest more comfortably.”
“…He seems to be sleeping just fine as it is?”
“But he can sleep even more peacefully.”
“You—don’t tell me you’ve been doing this the whole time before I arrived?”
“Yes. I was fanning him when I felt an aura without natural essence approaching, so I came to check.”
Regardless of Shin Tae-ho’s words, Epiel continued slowly and steadily, fanning with devoted attention as he answered.
Watching such loyalty and affection, Shin Tae-ho had been about to say something, but he closed his mouth instead.
“All right. If you’re happy doing it, that’s what matters. Yong-ryong-i should sleep for a while yet, so I’ll be on my way.”
“You’re leaving already? Without even talking to Yong-ryong-i?”
“No. I’ll be staying here for a while. I have quite a bit of time left.”
Shin Tae-ho had checked the time before lying down on the hotel bed: 10 p.m.
Since they were to meet again at 10 a.m., a generous twelve hours lay ahead.
‘Even if I spend a year here by this world’s time, I’d still be fine. So let me get some work done while I’m here.’
The World Tree Leaf—that extraordinary advantage of having different Time Flow.
Naturally, Shin Tae-ho had no intention of wasting this advantage.
‘First, I need to set up a Blacksmith Workshop. The Hall of Heroes would be the best location.’
Elves cherished nature dearly and despised burning wood.
Of course, given all Shin Tae-ho had done for them, they wouldn’t openly object.
But Shin Tae-ho had no desire to do something the elves disliked just to use the workshop.
‘I can ask Yong-ryong-i for fire when he wakes.’
Of course, there was the question of whether he’d have enough power.
But the Core Shin Tae-ho possessed was already filled with an enormous amount of power that the Management Bureau had replenished.
And beyond that, given time, Yong-ryong-i could even replenish power through the World Tree.
‘Once the Blacksmith Workshop is complete… I’ll be able to craft things properly.’
Shin Tae-ho opened his Inventory and his eyes gleamed as he gazed at the item he’d been treasuring.
There, among the materials he’d exchanged in payment for crafting weapons for Park Je-hyuk, lay
a High-Grade Lightning Rune, its light shimmering with ethereal radiance.
* * *
In a room at the 5-Star Hotel.
Hamilton woke in the morning and furrowed his brow as he read over the sparse report that his staff had compiled through an entire night of surveillance.
“You’re telling me you didn’t lose focus?”
“No, sir. Even when we took bathroom breaks or got water, we rotated shifts — we didn’t take our eyes off for a single moment.”
The American Management Bureau employee, haggard from hours of unbroken concentration without a moment of sleep, insisted they hadn’t lied.
His sincerity was plain enough that Hamilton could see he was telling the truth.
Hamilton dragged a hand roughly through his hair.
‘I can’t figure out who this person is. How does someone sleep like the dead the moment they enter a room? And without making a single sound?’
The Mystery, along with Marcus and Victor — all three had been watched by the Management Bureau through the night.
Marcus and Victor showed nothing unusual.
Neither of them even noticed the cameras and surveillance bugs.
Marcus, true to his role as ITRO’s Secretary-General, had yielded valuable intelligence that only insiders of ITRO would know.
But the real Mystery — the crucial one — hadn’t made a single sound, and hadn’t even removed their armor.
There was only one way to interpret this.
‘They know they’re being watched.’
No matter how coincidental it seemed, avoiding every single camera didn’t add up.
The fact that they’d remained uncomfortably armored even inside the room could only mean one thing: they knew their movements had been discovered.
‘Could they have slipped out somewhere without us seeing?’
Hamilton was straining to make sense of this incomprehensible situation when
one of the staff members who’d been listening through the surveillance device suddenly yanked off their headphones in alarm.
“Director! I heard the sound of armor clanking. The Mystery is moving!”
“They came from outside?”
“No, sir! The sound definitely came from the bed!”
‘So they really did just sleep without making a single snore the whole time?!’
Hamilton’s shock was palpable.
The staff member, still intently listening through the headphones, suddenly jerked back in surprise.
“D-Director! The Mystery is making a phone call!”
“What? They were in contact with someone? Where did they call? What for?”
“They called the hotel front desk!”
At odds with the gravity of the situation, the staff member’s report was so mundane that Hamilton’s bewilderment only deepened.
Yet the employees, exhausted from an entire night with no results, reported each of the Mystery’s actions with genuine delight.
“The purpose was room service! They ordered a meal! The menu was—”
“That’s enough. Stop reporting and wrap it up.”
Understanding the desperate hope in his staff’s hearts, Hamilton couldn’t bring himself to rebuke them harshly, and he let out a deep sigh.
Continued in the next chapter ▶
Return of the Transcendent-Rank Blacksmith
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 copying are prohibited, and violations may result in 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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