The Returned Genius Blacksmith has Awakened as an all-Master - Chapter 19

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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 19
019. Are You Trying to Kill Them All?
Crash!
Boom—
Crackle—
Geum Son advanced with an eerie sound trailing behind him.
The deeper he ventured into the labyrinthine caves, the more grotesque the Dungeon’s atmosphere became.
Spider-form Golems clinging to walls and ceilings, striking without warning.
Drill Golems erupting from the floor, snapping at his ankles.
Bomb Golems even attempting self-destruction.
The ancient Golems emerging from this Dungeon were far more diverse than imagination could conjure.
Yet they seemed to have evolved with malice—specialized, as if designed specifically to slaughter players, or rather, humans themselves.
‘This place… was used as a Testing Ground? That’s madness. Only a lunatic would consider such a thing possible. Are they trying to kill all the disciples?’
Rabi’s claim that this had served as a Testing Ground was becoming less and less credible.
No matter how he looked at it, this was no place for a trial.
A place teeming with ancient Golems that harbored malice toward the living.
Far too perilous to be used for any examination.
Yet such malice proved ineffective against Geum Son.
No Golem could evade the gaze of Resolute Intuition, after all.
[Level increased! Lv. 12]
[You gain an additional 100% Experience Points.]
[Resolute Intuition skill has reached Lv. 5]
.
.
.
[Inspired Craftsmanship skill has reached Lv. 3]
[Level increased! Lv. 15]
Amid a torrent of level-ups, Geum Son meticulously collected every scrap of loot that scattered as the Golems crumbled.
He spent more time gathering spoils than he did fighting.
Most of it was merely miscellaneous components or low-grade mana stones.
Nothing remarkable surfaced.
But occasionally, special items appeared among the rubble.
[Gear Sentinel destroyed.]
[Obtained Old Power Gear.]
[Obtained Forgotten Ancient Blueprint Fragment. (1/10)]
“Hmm?”
Geum Son’s eyes gleamed at the unfamiliar message.
He lifted a tattered parchment fragment from the dust.
Faint lettering remained, alongside intricate circuitry diagrams.
Though merely a fragment, the technical sophistication embedded within was evident at a glance.
‘So this was the heart of the Dungeon.’
This wasn’t a simple Dungeon where you destroyed murderous ancient Golems, defeated the boss, and called it done.
The true objective was to complete the hidden blueprint.
Whether Rabi had intended it or not, that much was certain—this was the Dungeon’s genuine purpose.
Geum Son began exploring the Dungeon with far greater care.
He no longer destroyed Golems indiscriminately.
Using Resolute Intuition, he examined each Golem’s internal structure, understanding how it functioned.
He studied the principles governing their operation.
He also began selectively hunting those individuals most likely to carry blueprint fragments.
[Drill Golem destroyed.]
[Level increased! Lv. 16]
[Obtained Forgotten Ancient Blueprint Fragment. (2/10)]
.
.
.
[Spider-form Golem destroyed.]
[Basic Regeneration skill has reached Lv. 4]
[Level increased! Lv. 19]
[Obtained Forgotten Ancient Blueprint Fragment. (9/10)]
Whether the selectivity had worked or simply the sheer number of Golems destroyed was mounting, he couldn’t say.
But before long, Geum Son had gathered nine fragments.
‘The last piece… isn’t it appearing?’
However, no matter how much he hunted, the tenth and final fragment refused to drop.
It seemed likely that the last fragment was held by the Dungeon’s final boss.
Eventually, Geum Son ventured to the deepest part of the Dungeon, into a vast Circular Chamber.
In the center of the space lay a mountain of scrap metal, and atop it sat an enormous Golem with a blazing red eye, ruling like a king upon a throne.
[Gear Tyrant Lv.40]
The Dungeon’s final boss.
Incomparably massive and imposing compared to the other Golems nearby.
Its entire body was covered in thick plating, and both arms were fitted with massive rotating saws and a flamethrower.
And behind it.
Hidden away as if the Gear Tyrant were guarding it.
‘That’s… the Ancient Heart Rabi spoke of.’
Beyond the Gear Tyrant’s body, a massive crimson jewel pulsed like a heart.
The vital core that constituted the Dungeon and powered all the Golems.
It had to be the Ancient Heart Rabi had mentioned.
‘So I need to destroy that? But… something feels off about its condition.’
The core throbbed with crimson light.
But according to what Geum Son knew, a normal core should glow blue.
A stinging, brilliant blue was the hallmark of a proper core.
Yet the Ancient Heart at the Dungeon’s core.
It burned red.
As if overheated.
It looked as though it might rupture any moment, raging out of control.
Moreover, that red light flickered unstably, and fine Mana fractures seemed to flicker around it.
‘Something’s definitely gone wrong. So that’s why… the Golems couldn’t perform self-repair?’
Geum Son sensed it immediately.
The Golems’ hostility had been far too high to call this a Testing Ground.
And the fact that the Golems couldn’t self-repair.
All of it stemmed from that broken core, that damaged Ancient Heart.
Krrrooooaaar—!
But Geum Son’s thoughts about the core didn’t last long.
The Gear Tyrant began to roar, its cry mixed with mechanical grinding sounds.
It had spotted Geum Son targeting the Ancient Heart.
“A numbers game?”
The heaps of scrap metal scattered about the chamber suddenly stirred to life.
They recombined haphazardly, transforming into grotesquely shaped Golems.
Dozens of lesser Golems, manifested in an instant.
They hurled themselves toward Geum Son in a frenzy.
“Spawning them at will, is it?”
Geum Son clicked his tongue, but showed no alarm.
This was the same Geum Son who’d disintegrate Level-20 Golems in a single blow.
Low-level Golems in the late Level-10 range posed no real obstacle.
Instead, he grinned and readjusted his hammer grip.
“Invulnerability!”
[You become invincible for 15 seconds.]
Geum Son confirmed the message that appeared.
He charged straight into the mass of Golems, ignoring every attack cascading down upon him.
And then began the storm of his hammer strikes.
Wherever that hammer swept, Golems shredded like paper and exploded into fragments.
15 seconds later.
Every Golem save the Gear Tyrant had been reduced to piles of scrap metal.
Screeeee-ee-eee—!
Watching his subordinates annihilated in an instant, the Gear Tyrant blazed its red eye with what seemed like fury.
That single eye burned like it would burst.
At the moment its rage reached its peak.
Clank—
The flamethrower mounted on its right arm ignited.
Whoooosh—!
A tremendous surge of flame.
It descended upon Geum Son without mercy.
But Geum Son had already gained 30% fire resistance thanks to Geum Son’s Dragon Scale Breastplate.
Of course, he wasn’t completely immune.
Geum Son still took damage—he simply endured it.
The patience to withstand the heat of flame.
This was a blacksmith’s fundamental virtue and an essential skill.
Geum Son gritted his teeth, tore through the inferno, and charged straight at the Cog Tyrant.
Roooooar!
The Cog Tyrant panicked at the sight of Geum Son bursting through the flames, swinging its enormous mechanical arms in desperate resistance.
But Geum Son remained calm.
His eyes could see dozens of red points covering the entire body of the Tyrant—its weaknesses.
‘There are far too many of them.’
Proportional to its colossal size, countless weaknesses lay exposed.
Geum Son sidestepped the Tyrant’s attacks with ease, beginning by neutralizing its flamethrower.
Then came the relentless barrage of hammer strikes.
Starting from the Cog Tyrant’s leg joints, he methodically destroyed each weakness one by one.
Crash!
Crack!
Crunch!
With each sickening blow, the Tyrant’s movements grew sluggish, until at last its massive form lost balance and toppled.
Thud!
Geum Son leaped onto the fallen Tyrant’s head.
‘Solar Strike!’
A skill that delivered 300% damage in a single instant.
It struck the Cog Tyrant’s enormous skull dead center.
Boom!
Crack!
Shatter!
The Cog Tyrant’s head, unable to withstand the Solar Strike, burst apart completely.
Simultaneously, a message appeared.
[You have destroyed the Cog Tyrant.]
[You have gained 100% bonus Experience Points.]
[Level increased! Lv. 20]
[Resolute Intuition skill has reached Lv.6.]
[Inspired Craftsmanship skill has reached Lv.4.]
[Basic Regeneration skill has reached Lv.5.]
[You have obtained Flamethrower Structure.]
[You have obtained Forgotten Ancient Blueprint Fragment. (10/10)]
[You have collected all Forgotten Ancient Blueprint Fragments!]
[Ancient Heart Blueprint has been completed!]
[The blueprint has been saved to Blue Index.]
.
.
.
Messages streamed upward one after another.
Both his level and his skill levels had risen quite substantially.
And the Flamethrower Structure that had been mounted on the Cog Tyrant’s arm—
obtaining that too could be counted as a respectable haul.
‘Now, if I just destroy this… is it over?’
The Ancient Heart that the Cog Tyrant had been protecting.
The dungeon’s core, pulsing crimson even now.
He stood before it, hammer in hand.
Clack!
Geum Son adjusted his grip on the hammer once more.
One strike downward, and it would be finished.
The impossible quest stood on the threshold of completion.
Yet before the Ancient Heart, Geum Son froze as if paralyzed by ice.
He seemed to be deliberating something.
Then.
Click.
He slung the hammer across his back.
What he drew instead was the reward for completing Rabi’s first trial.
The Master Mage Engineering Tool Set.
Geum Son appeared motionless, but his mind was racing.
The blueprint spread before his eyes.
A newly acquired blueprint through the Blue Index.
He was studying the Ancient Heart Blueprint.

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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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