The Returned Genius Blacksmith has Awakened as an all-Master - Chapter 117

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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 117
117. The Cold
Geumson’s sudden arrival.
He came alone yet called himself a rescue team.
At first, she’d thought it was just the careless whimsy of a Player.
Players always treated NPCs—indeed, everything in Lepiun—far too lightly.
But Geumson was different.
The potions he offered as though they were nothing special.
These were no ordinary ‘goods’.
They bore no resemblance to the common potions that Players drained like water during hunts.
These were items worthy of an auction house, certainly not undervalued.
Yet he produced not merely one bottle, but dozens.
And distributed them without hesitation for the sake of NPCs.
Moreover, the power he wielded was far more than simple mana.
A strange force interwoven with Purification Force and Holy Power.
This was a purity of power that even she, a Holy Knight, could not easily command.
That was why she had questioned his identity.
But his answer was not what Baek Jin-ju sought.
“Does that matter? Aren’t you going to save these people?”
“Ah, yes?”
“You know the situation outside. This is no time to waste on idle questions.”
His words struck Baek Jin-ju like a thunderclap, clearing her mind.
Geumson was right.
Whatever his identity, what mattered now was the people.
Saving them.
“Everyone, listen to this stranger—no, to Geumson! He’s going to save us!”
The NPCs who had been wary of Geumson shifted their attitude at Baek Jin-ju’s word.
The trust she had built in this place seemed formidable indeed.
The NPCs hurried to feed the wounded the potions.
The effect was immediate.
Wounds that had been festering sealed themselves in an instant, and color returned to faces that had burned with fever.
Those who had been groaning opened their eyes one by one and struggled to their feet.
“It’s a miracle……”
“My body…… doesn’t hurt.”
“Brother, thank you…… Mom, our mom is conscious! Wahhhhh!”
Some called out to the heavens at Geumson’s ministrations; children burst into tears.
The Shelter erupted into chaos.
Even the broadcast’s chat window, which witnessed all of this, began to spiral into frenzy.
└ [HumanityDestroyer]: Wow…… I’m seriously swearing. Look at these kids. Skin and bones left. Is this what people do?
└ [WitchHunter]: There’s a reason witches are burned at the stake! If they’re caught, don’t let them die easy. There’s no devil worse than this.
└ [Overinvested]: Oh I’m losing it…… I cried without realizing it watching the baby call for mom. You psycho Lepiun creators!!! This is too real I think I’m gonna get PTSD ㅠㅠ
└ [ㅇㅇ]: No, game or not, this crosses the line. They turned a perfectly good city into a living hell. Look at those people’s eyes…… this is too much.
└ [WeakHearted]: I can’t watch this…… Should I cross over to Prelia? I wonder if I could help……
– [JusticeRescueTeam] donated 3,000,000 won: Use it for medicine. I can’t go because I’m too far away.
– [HolyKnightSoldier] donated 5,000,000 won: Tell the Holy Knight lady! This is what a Holy Knight is! You got it?
.
.
.
Donations poured in frantically alongside the chat.
Moreover, the leading figures of the donations differed from the usual.
The viewers seemed far more emotionally shaken than Geumson himself.
Yet Geumson, experiencing it directly before his eyes, remained somewhat detached.
Having lived through the Age of Destruction, Geumson had developed a habit of deliberately blocking emotional turbulence.
“That should do for now. Move out. Follow closely. Fall behind, and you die.”
His words seemed rather cold.
Yet no one questioned or disputed what Geumson said.
He was proving it through action.
The people simply trusted and followed him.
Baek Jin-ju was no exception.
“I’ll help too. I’ll cover the rear. I’m counting on you.”
Geumson took the lead, with Baek Jin-ju bringing up the rear.
The group began moving cautiously through the ruins.
Yet oddly, they encountered no undead.
As if someone had consulted a map and deliberately chosen routes where none existed.
The few they did meet, Geumson dispatched in an instant with his hammer.
Crack!
Thud!
The undead shattered without even a sound.
Baek Jin-ju watched in renewed amazement.
Geumson was unmistakably a blacksmith.
Yet he wielded an overwhelming force against the undead that surpassed even a Holy Paladin like himself.
And the techniques he employed.
‘How in the world is he avoiding them? And what is that—magic? Or Holy Power?’
Light and heat radiating from the hammer.
Cold emanating from his left hand.
The way he commanded these opposing forces with such ease was nothing short of miraculous.
More than that—as they moved, Geumson would detour to hidden shelters and pull people to safety with practiced efficiency.
His movements were so natural, so assured, that it was clearly no novice’s work.
‘What’s his real job back in reality? Some kind of special forces soldier?’
The way he rescued people so deftly stirred strange suspicions in Baek Jin-ju’s mind.
It was beginning to feel as though Geumson might actually be a professional soldier with advanced military training.
In truth, it was simply the ingrained muscle memory Geumson had developed surviving the Age of Destruction—nothing more.
Ignorant of this, Baek Jin-ju’s questions about Geumson only deepened.
But beneath appearances, Geumson’s situation was far from comfortable.
‘Ugh, it’s so cold. This is… dangerous.’
Moon’s Left Hand.
Every time he used that ability, a bone-deep chill pierced through him.
With each undead he faced, and each time he activated the Moon’s Land skill, the cold radiating from his left hand grew stronger and stronger.
The problem was that this cold was affecting not just his enemies, but Geumson himself.
‘My hand… it’s freezing over.’
Geumson clenched and unclenched his left fist.
The sensation was dulling.
Like after holding his hand in ice water for hours, his fingers were stiffening, growing rigid and unresponsive.
‘My Cold Resistance is insufficient.’
Geumson realized this with a sinking heart.
Flame Resistance he had covered well enough—thanks to the Dragon Scale Breastplate and 100-Year-Old Firewater.
But Cold Resistance?
Only the 20% from his Desert Solver achievement.
That was nowhere near enough to withstand the absolute cold pouring from Moon’s Left Hand.
‘I can manage with Right Hand of the Sun for a while… but it’s going to be tight.’
The only thing letting him endure at all was the heat from Right Hand of the Sun.
He was circulating that warmth through his body, fighting the cold with it.
But even that wouldn’t last long.
‘If this keeps up, my hand could seize during combat and I’ll drop the hammer.’
It was a critical problem.
Losing control of your primary weapon in the middle of battle was fatal.
And this cold wasn’t merely freezing his hands.
It was lowering his core temperature and slowing his physical reactions—that was the real danger.
The true enemy wasn’t the undead.
It was the one controlling them.
The witch Elmarie.
For Geumson, who would have to face her, this was a problem that needed solving first.
‘I need to raise my Cold Resistance. Otherwise I’ll freeze to death before we even reach her.’
Geumson gritted his teeth.
First, he had to get these people to safety, then figure out a solution.
“Just a little further, everyone!”
Geumson urged the group onward, quickening his pace.
At last, in the distance ahead, the massive silhouette of the Ice Barrier Fortress came into view.
The impregnable stronghold that Ma Jin-chul had built.
“Jin-chul! Open the gate! We’re bringing people in!”
Rumble-rumble-rumble—
The Ice Barrier Fortress responded to Geumson’s voice as if it had been waiting for his call.
A section of the ice wall opened like an automatic door.
“You’re here? Why so late…… Wait, wait—what’s this? Why are there so many people!”
Ma Jin-chul, who had been waiting inside, stared in disbelief.
He’d meant to complain about Geumson’s tardiness, but the words died in his throat.
Countless refugees filed in behind Geumson.
The moment Ma Jin-chul laid eyes on them, his face went rigid.
“Good heavens…… There really were people alive?”
Ma Jin-chul whistled low at the sight of nearly a thousand survivors.
When Geumson had spoken of saving people, he hadn’t harbored much hope.
He’d believed no one could survive in such a hellish nest of Undead.
But seeing these people Geumson had brought back, he couldn’t help but admit he’d been wrong.
“Ah…… it’s warm.”
“Will it be safe here?”
“The witch…… will she come here? This is still Prelia, after all…… I’m worried.”
“Everyone, rest for now! Make the injured lie down separately!”
Though the refugees had multiplied, there was space enough.
That’s why he’d asked for the interior of the Ice Barrier Fortress to be built spaciously.
Besides, the heat radiating from Iron Walker kept the place warm and inviting.
The people embraced one another and wept tears of relief.
“We lived…… we survived.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“Thank the heavens!”
Geumson turned his gaze from them and approached Iron Walker.
The construct blazed without pause, its entire frame glowing red-hot from the effort.
Ssssshhh—
Steam hissed from the joints.
The glowing metal looked so fragile it might melt away at any moment.
‘Walker, you stubborn fool…….’
Even the finest golem has its limits.
Sustained flame projection was putting enormous strain on the construct’s frame.
At this rate, Iron Walker might be destroyed by its own heat, unable to withstand it.
And yet.
Following only Geumson’s command, Walker poured forth flame without fear.
That burning resolve to hold back the passage reached even Geumson’s heart.
“Tia…….”
As Geumson returned, Tia settled onto his shoulder.
Tia, too, seemed exhausted—her head bobbed against his shoulder before she drifted into sleep.
Both Iron Walker and Tia had given their all during the rescue.
Geumson gazed at them with eyes full of pity.
He gathered his thoughts.
‘First…… I need to solve my Cold Resistance problem, and Walker’s overheating issue too.’
Geumson’s eyes gleamed with sudden clarity.
A way to solve both problems at once.
Without hesitation, Geumson summoned the Giant’s Smithy.
Rumble-rumble-rumble—!
The refugees gasped and murmured at the sudden appearance of the smithy.
Baek Jin-ju’s eyes went wide as well.
Startled by Geumson’s phantom smithy manifesting so abruptly.
Ma Jin-chul was no different in his surprise.
“Hey, Geumson! What are you doing now?”
Ma Jin-chul asked with concern.
Geumson was plainly exhausted, anyone could see that.
But as he removed his equipment, Geumson spoke.
Just a single word.
“Upgrade.”

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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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