The Returned Genius Blacksmith has Awakened as an all-Master - Chapter 21

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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 21
021. The Optimal Location
[The system finds itself bewildered by your unconventional actions…….]
[……The system grasps your intention.]
[You have achieved the Hidden Condition ‘Crafting for Destruction’.]
[Going beyond mere destruction, you have perfectly understood the essence of your target, recreated it, and then shattered it.]
[The system recognizes your deed as a form of destruction worthy of the highest reverence.]
[Achievement: Destructive Craftsperson]
[The system finds fascination in your unpredictable madness.]
[Effect: When destroying an item, you have a 50% chance to recover its core materials.]
[Recognized as a flawless quest completion.]
[You have completed the Sudden Chain Quest ‘Echo of the Cogwheel’ with perfect execution.]
Messages flooded his mind in dizzying succession.
Yet, rarely enough, Geumsun found himself bewildered by them.
‘I didn’t…… mean for it to go that way, did I?’
A system that renders homage on its own terms.
Geumsun could only clear his throat awkwardly.
In the meantime.
The dungeon’s collapse had begun, regardless of what Geumsun thought of the messages.
Once the Ancient Heart shattered, the dungeon lost its power and began to crumble, reverting to ruin.
But Geumsun did not panic.
Beneath his feet, a magical circle blazed in brilliant azure.
A torrent of blue light erupted from the circle, engulfing him completely.
Whoosh—!
“Is he finally here?”
Rabi burst through the Magitech Workshop door with the question, her voice sharp with anticipation.
Klark merely sighed, as though such behavior from Rabi had long since ceased to surprise him.
“He hasn’t arrived yet, not at all.”
“How long has it been since he entered the Cogwheel Dungeon? Still no word?”
“Well, that’s true. If he’d died in the dungeon, he would come back eventually.”
Klark didn’t so much as mention the success of the quest itself.
He seemed focused solely on the fact that Geumsun hadn’t died yet—that single detail.
Then, as if struck by sudden curiosity, he offered her a teacup while asking the question.
“But…… Branch Chief Rabi? Why didn’t you tell that friend Geumsun about it?”
“About what?”
“That it is indeed a testing ground, but it’s been sealed and is far too dangerous to use anymore. And that no one—not a single person—has ever passed this trial. Including you, Branch Chief?”
A sealed testing ground.
A dungeon once used for trials, now closed off.
Moreover, the trial itself seemed so impossible that no one appeared to have succeeded at it.
“The conditions you mentioned were the old ones, weren’t they? The golems inside now aren’t the kind you can avoid if you try, are they?”
“Exactly. Once they find out what’s damaged about them, they attack like madness until whatever’s broken is utterly destroyed.”
“That’s what I mean. So that friend Geumsun must be in terrible danger……. And since they’re ancient golems, their level is far too high as well.”
Klark looked at Geumsun with sympathy.
Though an Outsider, the skill Geumsun had displayed was genuine enough that Klark found himself invested in his wellbeing.
Now that Geumsun had even been recognized as a Magitech Engineer.
He was practically family by now, and Klark thought the trial far too harsh for him to face.
But Rabi responded to Klark with something like disdain.
“Then would Geumsun have even gone in there?”
“Pardon?”
“You know how Outsiders hate dying.”
“But…… doesn’t everyone hate dying?”
“That’s not what I’m saying! Those Outsiders—they come back to life even after they die, so what’s the…….”
Rabi possessed detailed knowledge of Player characteristics and death penalties.
She seemed to know far more about those called Outsiders—these Players—than one might expect.
“It’s a test of mettle, in a way. Grit and perseverance!”
“Grit and perseverance?”
“Anyone who whines and complains about dying a few times in a dungeon isn’t worth a damn, that’s all.”
Klark’s face twisted into a frown at Rabi’s words.
Rarely did Klark raise his voice, but he did so now.
“You said he only had to observe and come back!”
“So you’re really going in just to look around? Then what—I should wish you a good tour? That’s not a Magitech Engineer, that’s a tourist.”
“You’re demanding, aren’t you? Very demanding.”
Klark sighed as he watched the exacting Rabi.
But it seemed Rabi had her reasons for believing in Geumsun all the same.
Rabi glanced at the basement stairs and spoke, picturing the Main Hammer on Geumsun’s back.
“You see that hammer he’s carrying?”
“The hammer? Well… I’m not sure. It does look unusual, I suppose. A Player with a hammer—and that Heavy Armor too…”
“That doesn’t look like an ordinary thing at all. Neither the equipment he’s wearing. If he’s equipped like that, he must have some serious determination, don’t you think?”
Klark sighed again, watching Rabi ramble on about grit and perseverance in a way that didn’t quite fit.
Then he suddenly realized there was one possibility he hadn’t asked about.
“Actually… I was wondering. What if—just what if—Geumsun passes the trial?”
At Klark’s question, Rabi clicked her tongue.
“Ugh, Klark. That dungeon is beyond even me. You think an Outsider can clear it? And a blacksmith at that—not even a combat class?”
“But there’s always the possibility, isn’t there?”
“Well, it’s unlikely, but if by some chance…”
If Geumsun cleared the dungeon successfully and passed the trial.
The very thought brought an involuntary smile to Rabi’s face, as if she were imagining something rapturous.
But that smile was decidedly combative.
“Then the whole board gets flipped. We’d have a hidden card to play against those old fossils.”
“Those old fossils—you mean the Magitech Academy Council of Elders? How so?”
“Well, it’s an impossible thing anyway, so why worry about it? In any case, let’s see how long it takes for Geumsun to give up, shall we? Klark, keep track of the time. It’s already been three days…”
Rabi waited leisurely for Geumsun’s return.
But Klark watched her with an expression of quiet dissatisfaction.
If he had one wish right now, it was that Geumsun would clear the dungeon.
He wanted to see the shocked look on Rabi’s face.
Klark’s mind wandered into fantasies of Geumsun’s success.
Then he shook his head.
No matter how he thought about it, that didn’t seem likely.
But then.
Creak—
Creak—
Creak—
The stairs that Geumsun had descended.
From below, they heard the sound of footsteps climbing back up.
“Hm? Is Geumsun coming back already?”
“Now he’s… returning? Though I have to say, I’m disappointed.”
“The fact that he’s coming back up those stairs means he never died. So he really did just sightsee down there. Good grief…”
Klark felt a pang of sympathy for Geumsun.
If Geumsun had died studying the Ancient Golems in the Cogwheel Dungeon, he wouldn’t be able to climb back up these stairs.
Outsiders were resurrected at the Recovery Point, located at the heart of the village.
All Outsiders active in the village were destined to revive there.
But here was Geumsun, an Outsider, climbing back up the stairs?
That meant, just as Rabi had said, he’d come back in tourist mode—nothing but sightseeing.
Klark glanced at Rabi’s face and found hers equally uninterested.
Her expression was already thick with boredom.
But then.
“You’re all here.”
Geumsun reached the top of the stairs and faced them.
Unlike when he’d descended, his armor was covered in countless scratches and gouges.
And at that very moment.
Rumble—
Spewing dust, the stairs collapsed without mercy.
“The stairs… they’re collapsing?”
The moment Geumsun emerged from the Cogwheel Dungeon, the stairs gave way as if they’d been waiting for him.
The entrance to the Cogwheel Dungeon had completely caved in.
And that could mean only one thing.
The Cogwheel Dungeon had been cleared.
Completely and perfectly cleared.
Rabi understood the significance all too well, and so she simply stared at Geumsun in disbelief.
Klark and Rabi stood frozen, expressions blank with shock.
Geumsun spoke to the two of them.
“The Cogwheel Dungeon…… I had a good look around. There was much more to learn than I expected.”
A casual remark, tossed out without ceremony.
At those words, Rabi began to giggle, then quickly dissolved into hearty, unrestrained laughter.
“Kyahahaha! At this rate…… I could really flip the whole board, couldn’t I?”
Rabi wet her dry lips lightly with the tip of her tongue.
Klark looked back and forth between Rabi and Geumsun’s faces, anxiety etched across his features. “R-Rabi…… What’s happening here? Geumsun is an Outsider, but if he cleared the Cogwheel Dungeon perfectly alone…… doesn’t that mean he’s passed the trial?”
“A trial? Why are you asking something so obvious?”
“Ah, then…….”

Rabi and Klark seemed to be having a conversation, but their words barely registered.
The moment Rabi acknowledged the dungeon’s completion, system messages flooded in.
The reward for the Sudden Chain Quest that Rabi had proposed.
[Sudden Chain Quest: Echoes of the Cogwheel completed perfectly!]
[You have resolved a long-standing wish of the Magitech School.]
[You have obtained the Title: Heir of the Cogwheel.]
[A title bestowed upon the orthodox successor of the Magitech School.]
[Effect 1. When interacting with Magitech-related NPCs, you receive special treatment, and the probability of obtaining hidden quests or information increases significantly.]
[Effect 2. When crafting, the base stats of the crafted item increase by 15%.]
[Effect 3. When crafting Golems, there is a low probability that an Ego manifests within the Golem.]
[Effect 4: The Leadership stat is unlocked, and you receive a +30 bonus.]
Geumsun read through the messages calmly.
He couldn’t help but be astonished by the title’s effects.
‘An Ego…… manifesting in them?’
The description said that an Ego would manifest, though at a low probability.
His heart began to race at the thought.
The title’s other effects.
Special treatment from NPCs, or a 15% improvement in an item’s base performance when crafting.
Accounting for existing base performance improvements, that amounted to a cumulative 50%.
An impressive figure.
And on top of that, the unlocking of the Leadership stat itself.

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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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