The Returned Genius Blacksmith has Awakened as an all-Master - Chapter 101

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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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Chapter 101
101. What Was Meant to Be
Geumson watched as Astrid—no, the Archmage—wove a miracle into being.
A calamity of overwhelming force.
Not a calamity that humanity had ever faced, but one that monsters would face.
Surely, this was the calamity the age of destruction desperately needed.
Yet precisely because of that, Geumson could not hand over the Brooch.
Geumson was not a true mage.
Though the System called him one, in his own mind, he knew the truth was otherwise.
And certainly not an Archmage—nor did he believe he could ever become one, even if Astrid herself were to teach him magic.
But there was someone who could become one.
Someone who could definitely become an Archmage.
‘Jung Ha-rin!’
The prodigious Archmage, Jung Ha-rin.
Though her approach differed from Astrid’s, she was undoubtedly an Archmage in her own right.
She, too, could become a calamity.
She possessed the qualities to become one with far greater certainty than Geumson—a true calamity.
She should be Astrid’s disciple.
But as long as Geumson remained her student, perhaps Jung Ha-rin could never take that place.
So he had to step back.
In this state, with his memories gone.
Only then would she accept Jung Ha-rin as her disciple.
“The Brooch, then…”
Geumson felt the loss keenly.
He wanted to continue learning magic from Astrid.
But he could not grow strong alone.
He could not bear this weight by himself and hope to win.
He hesitated, but Astrid seemed to read the conflict in his eyes. She smiled gently and spoke.
“It’s all right. But someday, I hope to remember. The memory of my first disciple.”
She ruffled his hair in silence.
At her words, he clenched his teeth.
Then, with genuine reverence, he bowed his head and spoke.
“Yes, Master. Someday… I swear I will!”
At that moment, a message appeared.
The dizzy cascade of notifications slowly obscured Astrid’s departing figure.
[City Defense Alliance Quest: Defense of Aerthos Quest completed successfully.]
[Achievement: Savior of Aerthos]
[You are recorded as the first hero to have saved Aerthos from crisis through overwhelming Contribution.]
[The System itself expresses wonder at your extraordinary Contribution.]
[Effect 1. All Stats permanently increase by 10!]
[Effect 2. In combat against multiple enemies, all Attack increases by 20%.]
[Effect 3. When crafting magic-class items, ‘Critical Success’ probability additionally increases by 10%.]
[You have achieved 1st place Contribution and receive the reward.]
[1st Place Reward: You have acquired 5,000,000 Gold.]
[1st Place Reward: You have acquired Honorary Citizenship of Aerthos.]
[Geumson is inaugurated as ‘Honorary Advisor’ to the Aerthos Mages’ Tower.]
[From now on, you may assign quests to mages of Aerthos origin.]
[1st Place Reward: You have acquired Divine Whistle Scroll (Ancient).]
[Reputation increases by 10,000.]
.
.
.
A dizzying array of rewards flooded his vision.
And among them, the one thing he had truly desired.
The Divine Whistle Scroll.
It had come into Geumson’s hands.
* * *
Whoosh—
With his conversation with Astrid concluded, Geumson returned to reality.
After days of continuous play without rest, exhaustion should have weighed heavily upon him.
But what he felt instead was a peculiar lightness.
‘What’s this? Why does my body feel so refreshed?’
Geumson stretched out his stiff limbs with a long, satisfying yawn.
After days of unbroken combat and crafting work, he should have been utterly exhausted.
Yet instead, he felt vitality coursing through him—as if he’d simply woken from a good night’s rest.
As if leveling up in Lepion was somehow affecting his real body.
“Could this be… the real Synchronization starting already?”
A dark premonition flickered through Geumson’s mind.
But he dismissed it almost at once.
‘No. Five years left. There’s no way it could happen this fast.’
Even recalling his past life, Synchronization in earnest had only begun after the Gates opened.
For now, it was probably just his imagination, or perhaps the benefit of living more regularly these days.
Playing Lepion had become routine, so that counted as a regular life too.
‘Still… just in case?’
To shake off the unease, Geumson tried using what Astrid had taught him in Lepion.
He attempted to sense the magical energy within his body and gather it at his fingertips.
But nothing happened.
His fingertips didn’t even twitch. The air around him remained still.
He felt nothing—not even a hint of magical energy.
On a whim, he even whispered a skill name aloud.
“Solar Strike.”
Naturally, no light erupted from his right hand.
He felt no warmth, no heat at all.
Only then did Geumson release a breath of relief.
“Right. That would be a problem if it were happening already.”
The time hadn’t come yet.
For the chaos that would follow when reality became like a game, his preparations were still woefully insufficient.
Real Synchronization had not yet begun.
The moment he relaxed into that reassurance—
Ding-dong—
The doorbell rang loudly.
Geumson headed to the entrance with a puzzled expression.
There was only one person who would visit at this hour.
“Wow, that’s insane! Did Future Group really give you this place? For free, no less?”
It was his friend Chang-su.
Chang-su swung shopping bags filled with premium Korean beef as his wide eyes swept across the gleaming penthouse interior.
“Can I look around? Man, eating meat while watching the Seoul skyline from here would be something else, right?”
He rushed toward the floor-to-ceiling windows, gasping in wonder.
Geumson smiled faintly as he watched his friend’s back.
Yet Chang-su clearly had something he wanted to say to him.
“Hey, thanks, man. Business at the Nud-Raggy Exchange has been crazy thanks to you!”
Chang-su turned around, giving a thumbs-up.
It was thanks to Geumson mentioning his exchange a few times during broadcasts.
– If I get paid out? Well, I’d exchange it at the Nud-Raggy Exchange.
– Gold? Wouldn’t it be the Nud-Raggy Exchange? The conversion speed is incredible.
– What if they run off with it? I trust the Nud-Raggy Exchange. You can use other exchanges if you want, but I use Nud-Raggy.
Chang-su’s Nud-Raggy Exchange, mentioned in passing just a few times.
It had given wings to his newly launched exchange business.
With a grin stretching ear to ear, Chang-su spread out the beef he’d brought across the dining table.
“Today’s on me! It’s practically a housewarming, so the least you deserve is some meat!”
Sizzle—
Sizzle-sizzle—
Crackle—
Premium Korean beef, boasting beautiful marbling, made delicious crackling sounds as it cooked on the hot griddle.
The savory aroma filled the apartment.
“Mm, now that’s the taste! But seriously, you’re amazing. How did you manage to get a place like this for free?”
“They provided it for personal security reasons. But honestly, it feels a bit awkward.”
“Personal security… Well, it’s better than that studio, I’ll say. I watched your stream—you went over 300,000 viewers. I get it at that level.”
Chang-su, who’d been skeptical at first, nodded after watching the recent broadcasts.
He’d seen firsthand how Geumson’s influence within Lepion was steadily growing.
But this Aerthos Gate Defense was far more than a simple quest.
Unofficially, it was a forced quest entangled with the massive capital of China.
And Geumson had disrupted it.
So the response from Future Group didn’t feel excessive at all.
Still, from Chang-su’s perspective as the operator of the exchange, there seemed to be something he was curious about.
“But why’d you do that strengthening event for free? From what I could see, you could’ve charged at least a hundred thousand Gold per person?”
A hundred thousand Gold was ten million Won.
Depending on the rank, for Unique or Legendary grade enhancements, it was a price worth considering.
The currency exchanger who ran the Nud-Raggy Exchange certainly had keen instincts.
But for Geumson, it was hardly a compelling concern.
Leading the Aerthos defense to success mattered far more.
Five years from now, the world changes.
People accumulate money to buy luxuries, cars, houses, and waste it all on indulgence.
There would be no time for such things, no meaning in them.
Geumson had taken on the expression of an ascetic monk.
Watching Geumson’s face, Chang-su felt a twinge of worry.
“Hey, why do you look like you’ve already bought everything in the world? Are you depressed from playing games all day? Get some exercise, move that body! All the time stuck in a capsule and your belly’s gonna…… huh? Your belly’s! Your belly’s…… nothing?”
Chang-su’s hand, which had reached to pinch Geumson’s stomach, grasped at empty air.
Beneath the loose T-shirt, what he felt was not soft flesh, but the firm outline of well-defined abdominal muscles.
“What? You’ve been working out? Since when?”
“Just, happened to get like this while playing the game. Why don’t you stop running around and play Lepion, Lepion.”
“What kind of nonsense is that…… really.”
“Soon enough, you should give up every other game and focus only on Lepion. I’m serious about this, so prepare yourself.”
At Geumson’s serious expression, Chang-su nodded along.
In truth, Chang-su had felt it too this time.
The revenues from other games and Lepion were simply incomparable.
Watching Chang-su, Geumson suddenly posed a question in a grave tone.
“Hey, but what will you do once you make money?”
“What do you mean? First, I’ll buy a place like this! It’s nice, isn’t it, a place like this?”
“A house? And then what?”
“Then I’ll buy an even bigger and nicer one?”
“No, have you gone mad over houses or something? I mean beyond that.”
“I don’t know—can’t I think about it after I actually earn it? There are too many things to spend money on anyway.”
At Chang-su’s answer, Geumson also nodded.
If Geumson had no memory of the future, he would have answered the same way.
But Geumson posed one more question before the end.
“Then what if, say five years from now, suddenly monsters appeared and the world started going mad?”
“Hey, Geumson! Stop spouting nonsense and eat your meat!”
“No, just try imagining it.”
At Geumson’s persistent question, Chang-su pondered for a moment, then let out a long sigh.
He seemed to be thinking seriously about it.
“Well, if that happened…… I’d have to earn money even more desperately.”
“What? Earn more money? That’d be meaningless anyway?”
“Meaningless? It’d mean even more.”
It was an unexpected answer.
Geumson asked why.
“Why?”
“Haven’t you seen the movies? You’d need to build a bunker, wouldn’t you? A bunker that could withstand even a nuclear strike. Who’s going to build that kind of bunker for free?”
“A…… bunker?”
In that moment, Geumson’s mind went blank as if struck by something.
He had forgotten something far too obvious.

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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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