The Returned Genius Blacksmith has Awakened as an all-Master - Chapter 79

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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 79
079. A Little Too Fast
With this alone, all the burden he’d had to shoulder in obtaining his fourth Job Class evaporated like snow in spring.
No—his Skill Proficiency would accelerate even further.
‘The Narcissist Title gives 100%, the Achievement: One Who Astonished the Blacksmith adds 50% to crafting skills, the Achievement: One Who Revived the Ancient Core adds 50% to all skills…… and if the Successor of Stars stacks another 200% on top of that…….’
Even basic arithmetic made his head spin.
For crafting skills specifically, he could now level up proficiency five times faster than anyone else.
Other skills too—4.5 times the speed.
This transcended mere speed; it touched upon the realm once deemed impossible: the All-Master.
He felt one step closer to it.
Growl—
His stomach rumbled at that moment.
He decided to set aside his tangled thoughts and attend to his hunger first.
Opening the refrigerator revealed only a few wilting green onions and two eggs whose expiration date was cutting it dangerously close.
“Guess I’m making instant ramen.”
He filled a pot with water in practiced motions and turned on the gas stove.
Knock-knock—
A knock sounded at the front door.
It was early morning, the sun already up—the result of playing Lepion all night.
There was no reason for anyone to visit him at this hour.
When he opened the door, he found familiar faces.
“Cha Yugyeong…… Ms. Cha? And Kim Minjun as well? But what brings you here…….”
Cha Yugyeong and Kim Minjun the deputy manager.
And behind them stood sturdy men in uniform bearing the Mirae Moving logo, lined up in a row.
They appeared to be moving company employees.
“You didn’t forget, did you? Today is the moving day we arranged…….”
Geumson felt the realization hit him.
So absorbed in Lepion, he’d clean forgotten it was moving day.
Cha Yugyeong quickly picked up on his hesitation.
“It’s no problem at all. If you’re not ready, we can reschedule for another time.”
She offered her consideration without a trace of annoyance on her face.
But Geumson, after a brief moment of thought, made his decision.
“No, it’s fine. Let’s do it today. There’s not much to pack anyway.”
His one-room apartment paled in comparison to the presence of Lepion.
Even its furniture was merely optional.
The only things Geumson had to gather were his Lepion access device and a few changes of clothes.
And the collection of old game titles he’d accumulated over time—that was all.
“Kim Minjun.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Handle everything from packing the belongings to transport and organizing the new place. Not a speck of dust left behind—make it flawless. Ensure Geumson doesn’t experience the slightest inconvenience.”
“Understood!”
The moment Kim Minjun responded, the one-room apartment began to transform.
Watching it organize itself so rapidly, Geumson could only gape in astonishment.
He’d been about to make ramen. What was all this commotion?
Then Cha Yugyeong approached him and spoke quietly.
“By the way, Geumson?”
She seemed hesitant.
There was something almost apologetic in her manner.
“You have a visitor. Would you be willing to meet with them?”
“A visitor?”
“Yes. Someone named Meagan from the Panteria Guild. Have you perhaps heard of her?”
Meagan.
The moment he heard that name, his heart lurched.
Of course he knew.
Having lived through the Age of Apocalypse, Geumson couldn’t possibly be unfamiliar with the name Meagan.
She was a key player far more critical than any mediocre ranker.
‘Could it be…… that Meagan?’
If it was Meagan from Panteria, there was no doubt.
Though Geumson felt certain in his heart, for now he had to feign ignorance.
That would look more natural.
Geumson’s thoughts deepened.
Yet Cha Yugyeong seemed to misread his contemplation.
“Oh! I’m sorry. If it’s inconvenient for you, you don’t have to meet——”
“No.”
Geumson cut her off.
He needed to meet Meagan.
One way or another, forging a connection quickly and maintaining good relations was the smart move.
For him, and for humanity.
“I’ll meet her. Should we go now?”
Cha Yugyeong, who had expected a refusal, ventured the question cautiously.
Faced with his unexpectedly eager response, she could only tilt her head in surprise.
* * *
In Airthos, within Lepion, at that very moment.
Sitting in a shabby inn on the city’s outskirts, Moiran wore an expression of hollow defeat.
‘Really…… I failed? Me?’
Long enough had passed since the mana circuits she’d sabotaged should have triggered catastrophe.
Yet nothing happened.
Airthos remained peaceful still.
At this point, even Moiran had no choice but to admit failure.
“Could it be…… that Geumson actually did something?”
For some reason, Geumson kept surfacing in her thoughts.
There was no evidence he’d been involved.
Only her keen intuition kept pointing toward him, nothing more.
But Moiran deliberately pushed that instinct aside.
“No, that can’t be it. It’s probably just…… a city of mages has defensive systems more sophisticated than I thought.”
Moiran steeled herself.
As if she’d made some resolve, she picked up a bag and left the inn.
This was why she’d prepared a second stratagem.
She didn’t want to use it, but it seemed necessary now.
‘If this doesn’t work either…… then I might have to abandon the Hidden Quest altogether.’
Beast Lure Incense—a single drop could attract monsters within a ten-kilometer radius.
Moiran’s bag held dozens of vials of it.
She began scattering it throughout the city.
Beast Lure Incense that humans couldn’t detect, only monsters could sense.
It began spreading covertly through the city.
Yet, as if seeing through all her actions——
A pair of rainbow-hued eyes gazed down at her from the sky above.
— Tia!
* * *
Vroooom—!
A supercar tore down the road with a thunderous roar.
Geumson sank into the luxury leather seat, staring blankly at the landscape rushing past the window.
He wore a stretched-out t-shirt and training pants.
It was wholly at odds with the opulence of the supercar’s interior.
‘How much must a car like this cost……’
He caught a glimpse of the emblem on the steering wheel—a shield bearing a rearing horse about to charge.
As he let out an awkward cough, Cha Yugyeong, hands on the wheel, smiled faintly and spoke.
“It’s just an ordinary means of transportation.”
“Ordinary…… transportation?”
“Its only feature is that it’s a bit fast.”
Contrary to her claim of ordinariness, the way surrounding vehicles naturally yielded to them looked anything but ordinary.
Thanks to that, the car soon came to a halt before a supertall mixed-use building standing needle-like in the heart of Gangnam.
Security personnel in black suits guarded the entrance with stern vigilance.
“Just to be sure…… this isn’t the officetel you mentioned earlier, is it?”
“No? I mean, yes—it’s the Penthouse on the top floor. The kind of place where you can overlook Seoul’s night view in one glance. I hope you like it.”
Cha Yugyeong spoke casually, but Geumson couldn’t close his mouth.
It seemed the concept of “officetel” was somewhat different for her.
No—Mirae Group seemed to operate in an entirely different league.
While Geumson stood gazing up at the building, Cha Yugyeong led him to the private café on the first floor, their appointed meeting place.
In the café, a woman sat alone at the innermost seat by the window.
Platinum-blonde hair gleaming transparent in the sunlight, eyes an ice-blue so cold and fathomless you could lose yourself in them.
‘Meagan…… unchanged, just as she was then.’
Geumson’s footsteps slowed to a stop.
Meagan, forever the same.
The words she had spoken during the Age of Apocalypse echoed in Geumson’s ears.
『”Geumson, humanity…… we’ve lost. This is our destiny. No matter what we do, we can’t change it. So what are we fighting for? Why do we keep up this meaningless resistance?”』
The day the survivor camp was swept away by a tide of monsters.
Meagan sat crumpled before the hologram screen in the control room.
Her eyes wept blood from overusing her ability, and her bloodless lips trembled uncontrollably.
Meagan, bearer of the Direct Gaze Magic Eyes.
Her power to discern traits from an item’s name alone; as her ability grew, she could see through her opponent’s strategy, tactics, and even their thoughts. It was a gift that pierced through illusion itself.
That day, her power had pierced clear through to humanity’s future.
『”I saw it. No matter what we do, it’s useless! Whatever we attempt, whatever we struggle against…… the end is already decided. We all die. Everyone dies!”』
Meagan, on the edge of panic.
She sat hunched like a child before the status board of a crumbling defense line.
The pity was that Geumson at that time had no room left to comfort her.
He too was witnessing his comrades’ deaths day after day, crushed beneath his own helplessness, barely holding on.
So Geumson had no choice but to reach her with something rough, something harsh.
『”Then should we all die together? Right now, right here?”』
Meagan, still weeping blood.
Her bloodshot eyes met his in the empty air between them.
But Geumson pressed on.
『”Yeah, we’ll die. So what? Should we just sit here crying and wait? Wait for the monsters to come and tear your limbs off, to claw out your insides?”』
There was not a trace of pity in Geumson’s voice.
He gripped her shoulders roughly, shaking her.
『”We fight. One more day, even just one more day. With the thought that your future is wrong, that we’ll spit in the face of this godforsaken world and refuse to bow——we have to hold on!”』
Geumson’s urging, which was no comfort at all.
No——it was his own fury, long suppressed and finally unleashed.
Yet Meagan only looked at him in silence for a long moment.
Then slowly, very slowly, she rose to her feet.
Her eyes shed no more tears.
From that day forward, Meagan never spoke of the future again.
Instead, she fought as Geumson had said——she thrashed and clawed against the inevitable.
Like someone possessed.

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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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