The Returned Genius Blacksmith has Awakened as an all-Master - Chapter 55

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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 55
055. The War of Money
Seo Ju-won was spouting absolute nonsense with complete sincerity.
An extreme survival-first philosophy: the weak must be sacrificed for the strong.
His eyes gleamed among the crowd.
“Oh! A new bid! ‘Iron Rod of the Forgotten Ancient Ruin’ — 55,000 Gold!”
Seo Ju-won placed a new bid on the Iron Rod of the Forgotten Ancient Ruin.
An auction running parallel to the main event.
But Geumson found himself in a quandary.
‘Can I really call him a complete villain?’
A man in the gray area.
Not entirely evil.
After all, Seo Ju-won’s fists had always been aimed at monsters in the end.
But Geumson had made his decision.
‘Gray area or not, that skill would be wasted on someone who kills their own allies.’
Geumson operated the panel provided by the auction house and threw his hat in the ring.
“Oh! We have a competing bidder for the Iron Rod of the Forgotten Ancient Ruin! New bid — 60,000 Gold!”
A crack formed across Seo Ju-won’s cold expression.
The Infinite Chain Strike.
Thinking of the destructive power of that skill, Geumson felt cold sweat trickling down his spine.
‘I’d rather use it myself than let that bastard get his hands on it.’
Mad Fist Seo Ju-won’s abilities certainly had their limits.
But Geumson’s situation was different.
This was a force that could perfectly bridge his own shortcomings.
‘My combat technique isn’t superior compared to other rankers. But with that skill…?’
Right now, it was something that could be offset by items and other abilities.
But his fundamental combat sense—or what might be called absolute combat talent—he was undeniably lacking in.
Geumson, who had lived a previous life, knew this better than anyone.
Rather, his talent specialized in creating things.
But the Infinite Chain Strike.
An ability whose destructive power amplified the more you attacked an opponent’s weak points consecutively.
This could achieve perfect synergy with Geumson’s Resolve Intuition and Meridian Insight.
Only Geumson could target those weak points marked in red and blue—with more precision and consistency than anyone else.
‘If I keep striking every weak point I see, once, twice, ten times… how far could my offensive power rise?’
Geumson’s eyes burned with resolve.
The other players seemed to have picked up on his determined atmosphere.
“Hey, isn’t that Geumson bidding? What’s that thing?”
“Who knows? It’s just an iron rod… even with my appraisal skill it just shows as an iron rod!”
“But there must be something to it, right? Why else would Geumson be so desperate? Maybe I should throw in a bid too?”
Other players were watching Geumson’s every move.
They caught the scent of opportunity.
One by one, they started bidding out of pure curiosity.
“Oh! Turns out this item is quite popular! Could our auction house be harboring some secret unknown to us? New bid — 85,000 Gold!”
The price continued climbing as new bidders kept jumping in.
In just a few rounds, it had already skyrocketed to 300,000 Gold without Geumson bidding that many times.
“My goodness! I should have put this in the main auction if I’d known! But this is the beauty of auctions, isn’t it? Let’s continue… 400,000 Gold! 400,000 Gold! 410,000 Gold! From now on, the minimum increment is 10,000 Gold! Going once…!”
The auctioneer seemed delighted.
An item with prices climbing ever higher.
Geumson still had room in his budget.
But anxiety was beginning to creep in.
He wasn’t far from his financial limit of 500,000 Gold.
‘Is he really following me?’
What he couldn’t quite understand—
Seo Ju-won was still bidding against him.
The players who’d probed the waters with casual bids, along with the NPCs, had all dropped out by the 300,000 Gold mark.
300,000 Gold was thirty million won in real currency.
Even for the wealthy, burning thirty million won just for fun was pushing it.
So most bidders had given up, leaving only two in the arena: Geumson and Seo Ju-won.
But Geumson couldn’t help his astonishment.
The current bid stood at 410,000 Gold.
It was because Seo Ju-won kept bidding, chasing the price up to nearly forty million won.
‘That bastard…… does he actually know what this is?’
Geumson’s brow furrowed.
Something didn’t add up.
When they’d fought together on the battlefield years ago, Seo Ju-won had said this:
“I happened to pick up this iron rod—didn’t know it was a key myself. For something I got on a whim, it turned out to be worth something, didn’t it?”
He’d said it boastfully, dismissively.
But this wasn’t just picking something up by chance.
He was pursuing it deliberately, openly.
There was no way he’d keep bidding like this unless he knew exactly what the Iron Rod of the Forgotten Ancient Ruin was used for.
‘How in the world does he know?’
Geumson could only feel bewildered.
No information about the Forgotten Giants’ City had ever been released on Lepion.
Ideally, no one should even know of its existence.
Yet somehow, Seo Ju-won seemed to know.
‘That’s strange…….’
But Geumson couldn’t solve the riddle.
“480,000!”
“490,000.”
When Geumson called out his final bid of 490,000 Gold,
Seo Ju-won clenched his teeth and left the auction hall.
“490,000! Going once, going twice…… sold! To the gentleman in the back!”
[You have successfully acquired the Iron Rod of the Forgotten Ancient Ruin for 490,000 Gold.]
Crack!
The auctioneer’s gavel came down with a crisp ring.
Geumson checked the system message and exhaled in relief, though he couldn’t help smiling wryly at his now-empty wallet.
The moment the gavel fell, Seo Ju-won vanished from sight.
Geumson tried to find him in the crowd, but the surge of bodies made it impossible.
The main event of the evening had begun, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Ladies and gentlemen! And to all who cherish the steel of Krathum! The moment has finally arrived—the star of tonight’s auction! A Legendary-grade greatsword forged by a foreigner! The masterwork of blacksmith Geumson—behold, the Moonlight Viper Sword!”
With auctioneer Garin’s booming voice, the center of the platform split open, and a massive greatsword pulsed with an iridescent violet radiance as it rose into view.
[Moonlight Viper Sword]
Everyone in the hall held their breath.
But Geumson felt little emotion at the sight.
His mind was already occupied with other thoughts.
‘Seo Ju-won…… where in the world did he get information about the Giants’ City?’
That man had followed him shamelessly at the auction.
To bid nearly fifty million won meant he had solid information.
Something felt off.
But Geumson pushed the thought of Seo Ju-won aside.
After all, he already had the foundation in place to claim the core skill.
‘I have the key. What’s he going to do?’
Dismissing his lingering unease about Seo Ju-won, Geumson turned his mind instead to the title he’d just obtained—’He Who Hones the Void.’
‘The Void’s Imprint…… so that’s it.’
The effect of his new title was opening an additional Magical Enchantment slot on items.
But to truly utilize that power, he would need a genuine understanding of the ‘magic’ that filled those slots.
‘In the end, I’ll have to learn magic? A blacksmith studying magic…… ‘.
There was another way to fill an Enchantment slot.
The way he’d done it before with the Moonlight Viper Sword—by directly embedding a Snake Venom Crystal into it.
But every time he did, expensive materials were required.
It wasn’t efficient.
If he could learn magic, he’d be able to craft high-grade items far more easily.
‘Magic is useful for strengthening existing items too, I suppose.’
One way or another, it seemed he had no choice but to learn magic.
Truth be told, in Lepion, a blacksmith and magic were inseparable—he’d simply been putting it off.
But he couldn’t put it off anymore.
As Geumson sank into deep thought, the auction for the Moonlight Viper Sword descended into absolute frenzy.
“Opening bid: 100,000 Gold!”
“1.5 million! The pride of Korea! The Yeokcheon Guild takes it!”
“You’re not permitted to announce your affiliation. Consider this a warning. Any further violations will result in immediate removal from the premises…….”
“1.51 million! Since when does anyone speak for the pride of Korea? We have Asura!”
Yeokcheon and Asura ignored opening bids and drove the price higher.
As Yeokcheon and Asura slugged it out with incremental raises, a third bidder entered the fray.
“Enough noise. Settle your disputes with money. The Moonlight Viper Sword is ours. 2.50 million.”
Cha Yu-gyeong of Mirae Group had joined the bidding.
At her entrance, the auctioneer Garin’s lips spread in a grin wide enough to touch his ears.
“Oh! We have 2.50 million! 2.50 million! Any higher bids? Going once…!”
“3 million!”
A signal seemed to come from beyond the VIP suite’s glass window.
It looked like Kalis had made the bid, but a new offer appeared moments later.
“3.50 million!”
The price skyrocketed.
Geumson listened to the auctioneer’s cries that drifted in at intervals, acutely aware of the storm his own creation was unleashing.
Bang!
“5.10 million Gold! Going to Yeokcheon Guild! Congratulations!”
The final hammer price: 5.10 million Gold. Converted to cash, it came to roughly 500 million won.
Geumson let out a hollow laugh despite himself.
‘500 million…’
In his past life, that was hundreds of times what he’d earned slinging rice for an entire month.
He still couldn’t shake the feeling that none of this was real.
– [BREAKING] Moonlight Viper Sword sells to Yeokcheon Guild for 500 million won! New record for single item!
– [ANALYSIS] Master Blacksmith ‘Geumson’—who is he really? The world watches his next move!
– [HOT CLIP] Yeokcheon Guild Master Kang Mu-jin promises interview after acquiring Moonlight Viper Sword!
Lepion Net, gaming media outlets, and even public broadcast news erupted with coverage of the Moonlight Viper Sword’s sale.
The staggering price—500 million won for a single item—was enough to capture the attention of ordinary people who’d never touched the game.

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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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