The Returned Genius Blacksmith has Awakened as an all-Master - Chapter 75

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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 75
075. I Just Wanted to See Your Face
Mo Yi-ran’s voice.
In it lay no fear of death, but rather a desperate resolve to protect something.
Geumson had witnessed the final moments of countless heroes.
Their voices always carried that same steeliness.
“……What’s the success rate?”
“0.1%? Or maybe even lower than that.”
“And you’re going anyway?”
“Yes.”
A brief exchange.
But Geumson asked nothing more.
He rose from his seat and began withdrawing materials that had been sealed in the deepest recesses of his workshop.
“How much time?”
“Ten hours at most. I’ll need time to infiltrate as well.”
“……That’s cutting it close. But let’s give it a try.”
That night, the sound of hammers rang out ceaselessly from Geumson’s forge, located in the deepest reaches of Bastion.
It was the hammer-song of Bastion’s hope.
Geumson poured every technique, every scrap of knowledge he possessed, and his very soul into the work.
The Final Thread of the Night Spider Queen—light-absorbing, darkness-laden.
The Shadow of the Wandering Specter of the Abyss—warping the flow of mana to render one undetectable.
The Wing Leather of the Silent Bat, a soundless creature that devoured all noise from the wearer.
Every premium material Geumson possessed went into the work.
They intertwined slowly, taking shape together.
At last, just before dawn broke, in the deepest darkness, the work was complete.
A single garment rested in Geumson’s hands.
It looked less like clothing and more like a living shadow.
The Shroud of the Shadow Weaver.
The moment it was finished, it was transmitted to Mo Yi-ran.
And then the radio crackled once more.
Static—
Crackle—
“A shroud…… what an apt name. It’s befitting of a final garment.”
She changed into it without hesitation.
The moment the fabric touched her skin, her form grew faint, dissolving into the surrounding darkness.
“Geumson.”
“……Yes.”
“I wanted to see your face…… but it seems I won’t. If I come back, I’ll show you then, and I’ll tell you what I’m grateful for…… and my real name too. No one else knows it.”
Her voice, at peace now that she had accepted her end.
It was not the smile of the notorious Spider—it was simply the smile of one person, Mo Yi-ran.
With those words, she vanished into the darkness without hesitation.
Silence alone filled Geumson’s workshop.
Hours passed.
ROOOOOAAAAAAAAR—!
The entire fortress shook as though struck by an earthquake.
It was not under siege.
A colossal mushroom cloud rose from the summit of the Obsidian Spire, engulfing all of Bastion in its tremor.
And Geumson—the Spider Mo Yi-ran.
No, hero Mo Yi-ran—he never heard her thanks.
Static—
Crackle—
Only the silence of the unanswered radio filled his workshop.
A hero who had saved hundreds of thousands of lives.
Yet no one remembered her name.
Her sacrifice was sealed in absolute secrecy, and the people knew only that the Abyss Legion had destroyed itself in an explosion of unknown cause.
Only Geumson and a handful of leadership remembered the truth of that day.
And now.
Only Geumson remained who could recall her last words—the voice of Mo Yi-ran, clad in the shroud he had made, walking with a smile into death.
‘Compared to then…… it’s bright.’
Geumson, keeper of Mo Yi-ran’s memory from the age of ruin.
But the Mo Yi-ran he encountered in Lepiun seemed somehow different.
It was a brightness that came from not yet having experienced the age of ruin.
‘But… is it right to interfere with Mo Yi-ran?’
The doubt suddenly seized him.
For Mo Yi-ran to thrive in the future, whatever quest she was undertaking now must not be obstructed.
To do so would hinder her growth.
And yet.
‘She must have failed. Since I don’t remember it happening.’
She did indeed destroy several cities in Lepiun and sow chaos.
But that was Lepiun’s later story.
Not now.
He had never heard tell of Aerthos falling, much less.
Aerthos remained a city of renown as a magical center until the very end.
Whatever her intentions, it seemed she would not achieve them in Aerthos.
‘Then… I must prevent any disturbance.’
The phantom Grand Mage Jung Ha-rin.
Her master, Astrid.
That was all that was known.
Geumson did not know where or how Jung Ha-rin had met Astrid.
From the beginning, Jung Ha-rin’s only conversational partner was one person.
The phantom she had created—her younger brother, Jung Ha-jun, and no one else.
Moreover, nothing was known of Astrid except that she had taken Jung Ha-rin as a disciple.
No Player had been reported to have taken Astrid as a master besides Jung Ha-rin.
That is, Astrid existed somewhere in this city.
If he missed this opportunity, he might never find her again.
Therefore, Aerthos must remain at peace.
At least until he met Astrid.
“Walker, Tia. I need you to patrol the perimeter.”
“Walker! Walker!”
—Squeak!
Geumson crouched down and extended his hands toward the damaged Mana Circuit.
His gaze burned with a clarity and sharpness unlike any before.
He was sorry, but he had to stop Mo Yi-ran’s plan.
“Right Hand of the Sun.”
Pure heat bloomed from Geumson’s palm, gently melting and rejoining the severed lines of mana.
His hands moved so quickly and precisely that the effect of his Possessed Craftsmanship skill seemed invisible.
Sizzzzle—
With a faint spark, the circuit that had darkened to a rust-red hue regained its clear, azure glow.
[‘Mana Circuit Restoration’ succeeded.]
[Your ‘Possessed Craftsmanship’ skill proficiency increases.]
[Your ‘Insight of Veins’ skill proficiency increases.]
“Good, let’s move to the next location!”
Geumson discovered damaged Mana Relay Towers scattered throughout the city.
Using Resolute Intuition, Geumson grasped the original form of each scraped mana circuit.
And in an instant, he restored each one to its original state without a single error.
Geumson’s concentration reached its peak.
[‘Mana Circuit Restoration’ succeeded.]
[Your ‘Resolute Intuition’ skill proficiency increases.]
[Due to your ‘Focus’ stat, work success rate increases by 10%.]
After the first relay tower, the second took only ten minutes to repair.
Without pause to wipe the sweat from his brow, Geumson headed toward the next destruction point indicated by his Insight of Veins.
The third was a backup power device hidden beneath the Central Library.
The fourth was a mana purification apparatus connected to the Mages’ Guild’s water supply system.
Like a surgeon operating on a patient named Aerthos, Geumson systematically erased the traces of destruction hidden throughout the city.
Moreover, he identified the existing inefficient structures and redesigned the circuits into more stable and efficient configurations, augmented by his own knowledge.
[This repair method defies conventional wisdom! The system records your actions.]
[The circuits restored through ‘Right Hand of the Sun’ are imbued with Holy Power.]
[Achievement: Hidden Physician of the City]
[You have been the first to restore ten or more of the city’s critical infrastructure.]
[The system offers its reverence for your unseen and noble dedication.]
[Effect 1: Holy Power stat permanently increases by 50.]
[Effect 2: Once per day, you gain the ability ‘City Return’—instantly teleport to a designated location within the city.]
[Reputation increases by 500.]
‘City Return!’
Geumson’s eyes lit up at the unexpected achievement’s benefits.
City Return was a form of escape skill.
When encountering a dungeon or a monster too difficult to face, it allowed safe evacuation to a designated city.
Normally, one had to use items like a Return Stone or Return Scroll.
Just as that shadow brat had done the last time Geumson missed it.
But such items commanded an exorbitant price, and they weren’t easy to come by in the first place.
Major guilds and high-tier Players in Lepiun monopolized them.
Now, though, there was no need to hunt for such things anymore.
‘Return, huh…… I’ve acquired quite a useful skill.’
Geumson set his current location as the designated coordinate with satisfaction.
And the restoration work continued.
As time passed, the unstable mana currents swirling around the city gradually began to subside.
The fountain in the city square spouted with renewed vigor, and the mana streetlamps along the avenues shone with greater brilliance.
“That’s strange, isn’t it? The mana supply’s been unstable lately…… but why’s it suddenly so stable?”
“Tell me about it. The mana flowing so smoothly…… wait, wasn’t it always like this?”
The residents of Aerthos had no inkling of the invisible hand that was saving their city.
* * *
Meanwhile, in a shabby inn on the outskirts of the city.
Mo Yi-ran couldn’t shake off an unsettling feeling.
‘Something’s wrong…… I definitely sabotaged everything perfectly, so why is it so quiet?’
According to Mo Yi-ran’s plan, by now various mana accidents—large and small—should be erupting across the city, triggering chaos.
Yet the city remained eerily peaceful.
She rose from her seat and gazed out the window.
Still, the same serene cityscape.
It made no sense.
“Could it be…… someone noticed my plan? No, that’s impossible.”
Mo Yi-ran shook her head.
Her sabotage had been so meticulous and concealed that even Aerthos’s greatest mage couldn’t have detected it easily.
And restoring it would be even more impossible.
Then a single figure flickered through her mind.
Geumson.
‘……Geumson? Could it be that man?’
A lone possibility traced through her thoughts.
But she soon let out a soft laugh and brushed the idea away.
“Ha, what would a blacksmith know? A brainless hammer-wielder who doesn’t even understand the basic structure of mana circuits—as if he’d dare lay hands on my perfect work. Ridiculous.”

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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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