Regression of the Transcendent Blacksmith - Chapter 06

========== REGRESSION OF THE TRANSCENDENT BLACKSMITH CHAPTER 6 ==========

Shin Tae-ho agonized.

Kakakang!

No matter how many times he tried, attacks without Qi could not deal any damage to the Knight Armor.

Pakwang! Kwakwakwang!

What moved the undead was the magical energy imbued in the soul and the object.

If he couldn’t directly affect that energy, he couldn’t defeat the Knight Armor.

Was there really no way to defeat the Knight Armor at all?

Should he give up here?

Kwakakukakakakang-!

“Ah, so noisy.”

Shin Tae-ho, who had been lying spread-eagle on the floor while agonizing, frowned.

He had been worrying for quite a long time.

The Knight Armor was pounding on Shin Tae-ho’s armor without a moment’s rest.

Being undead, it didn’t even get tired.

Even though its longsword was already broken, the Knight Armor didn’t stop its ineffective attacks like a machine.

Annoyed, Shin Tae-ho fell back into thought.

‘No. Let’s keep thinking. There must be a way.’

Regaining his composure, Shin Tae-ho retraced his past.

What was left that he could do?

Shin Tae-ho recalled everything he had experienced since regressing.

After waking up in his room.

Having grasped the situation, he had entered the Tutorial Tower.

After that, he had worked for a very long time to create his armor and hammer.

And he had climbed ceaselessly to this 30th floor without hesitation.

…Wait.

He felt like he was missing something.

“…Ah.”

As he retraced his memories, a forgotten memory flashed through Shin Tae-ho’s mind like lightning.

It was the memory of meeting Arimir, who introduced herself as the administrator of the Tutorial Tower.

Arimir had taken his core at will to examine it.

And suddenly, she had been floating in the sky before falling to the ground and face-planting.

The cause was the theft of Qi, which even Arimir, the administrator, couldn’t stop.

And what moved that Knight Armor was also, in the end, the soul bound by Qi.

…Does that mean?

‘Found it.’

Shin Tae-ho’s eyes snapped open.

While taking the Knight Armor’s attacks that dealt no damage, Shin Tae-ho stood up.

Sensing the sudden change in atmosphere, the Knight Armor stopped attacking for a moment and created some distance.

“What are you doing? Come here.”

Shin Tae-ho raised his hammer.

As he lifted the hammer to his right shoulder and took an attack stance, the Knight Armor also took a stance in response.

Spotting an opening, the Knight Armor rushed at Shin Tae-ho with a loud noise.

Tukwang-!

The broken longsword stabbed Shin Tae-ho’s abdomen.

As always, only loud sparks flew, and the armor wasn’t pierced.

But something had changed.

It was that Shin Tae-ho had dropped the hammer he was about to swing and grabbed the Knight Armor’s arm with both of his hands.

Taenggeureong!

Caught in a joint lock, the Knight Armor fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, Shin Tae-ho, who had put his left hand into his chest, pressed down on the Knight Armor’s helmet while holding something.

It was the core that had instantly drained even Arimir’s Qi.

“This is a core that even an administrator couldn’t withstand. Can a mere Tutorial boss like you endure it?”

Kwareureureuk-!

As soon as Shin Tae-ho finished speaking, the core began to absorb the Knight Armor’s Qi.

The movements of the Knight Armor, which hadn’t budged even when hit by the hammer, began to stutter and creak.

It threw punches and headbutted with its helmet as if struggling.

But Shin Tae-ho, wearing his armor, didn’t even defend and took no damage.

Kkigigigi-!!

Thud!

The movements of the Knight Armor, which had been creaking as if convulsing, stopped abruptly.

While Shin Tae-ho kept his guard up until the end and drove the core into the helmet, a message window popped up before his eyes.

[You have successfully cleared the 30th floor.]

[The clear grade is unmeasurable.]

[You have successfully cleared the floor by overcoming the limitation of being unable to use Qi.]

[You have acquired the achievement ‘Transcender of Limits’!]

[Reputation increases significantly!]

[You are the first to clear all tutorials!]

[You have acquired the achievement ‘First Tutorial Conqueror’!]

[Reputation increases significantly!]

“…Haa.”

Shin Tae-ho’s body, which had been pressing down on the Knight Armor with all his might, collapsed softly.

Because he had used his strength to the limit, he couldn’t even move a finger.

But Shin Tae-ho had a satisfied smile on his lips.

“My victory. You damn Tutorial.”

Two achievements obtained at once.

The content of the first one he obtained, ‘Transcender of Limits’, turned Shin Tae-ho’s suspicion into certainty.

Clearly, this 30th floor was designed to be passed only by Awakened individuals who could handle Qi with innate talent.

But he had broken that absurd limitation and finally succeeded in clearing the Tutorial Tower.

Using the core he had made himself.

It felt like a reward proving that the life he had lived in the past was not meaningless.

While enjoying the sense of fulfillment, a message window popped up in Shin Tae-ho’s eyes.

[You have passed all tutorials and can enter the Reward Room.]

[Would you like to move now?]

In addition to the achievements, the reward of the Tutorial Tower that no one had ever received.

There was no reason not to receive it now.

“Yes.”

As Shin Tae-ho answered, his lying body floated up lightly.

Just like when he entered the tutorial, Shin Tae-ho’s body disappeared in an instant.

Shin Tae-ho stood up and looked around.

Shin Tae-ho could see the black sky and the stars shining between them forming the Milky Way.

A landscape that would be impossible to see inside the tower.

Only then could Shin Tae-ho know where he was standing.

‘The top of the Tutorial Tower… is it?’

Shin Tae-ho’s eyes widened.

Humanity had never cleared the Tutorial Tower, let alone the tower outside.

Therefore, the tower had an end, and Shin Tae-ho was the first among humanity to see that scenery.

While Shin Tae-ho was staring blankly at the quiet and beautiful scenery for a moment.

He heard the sound of someone landing lightly on the ground behind him.

“Congratulations, child. You really… succeeded in reaching this place.”

Turning around, Arimir, the administrator he had met at the entrance of the tower, was standing there.

Arimir’s eyes looking at Shin Tae-ho were trembling lightly, just like her voice.

“It’s truly amazing. To think you passed the last floor even though you can’t use Qi. It’s something I couldn’t even imagine.”

Arimir was the administrator of the tower.

Naturally, she knew that the minimum condition for clearing the 30th floor was using Qi.

Therefore, when she learned that Shin Tae-ho couldn’t use Qi, she hadn’t expected him to pass the 30th floor.

But Shin Tae-ho had done his best to find a way while agonizing for a long time.

And in the end, he had overcome an obstacle that would have been absolutely impossible and climbed up to here.

Arimir had been watching all of that as the administrator.

But Shin Tae-ho’s reply was blunt.

“Yeah. It was a really maliciously designed floor.”

“…Are you still not over it?”

Arimir sighed.

Shin Tae-ho speaking informally was because she had taken his core without a word during their first meeting.

But that was already half a year ago.

She thought he would have forgotten everything while making items in the tutorial….

“Did you hope to be forgiven without any apology? Naive. It’s the opposite. I haven’t forgotten that day for a single day.”

Shin Tae-ho replied with his eyes flashing.

That was true.

During the 6 months of making armor and hammers, Shin Tae-ho had fought against hunger and loneliness.

And the pain of bruising and burning his hands because of his body that had returned to the past when he regressed.

What kept him going through that long time was Shin Tae-ho’s will to correct his past failures.

And the anger of having his core taken away without being able to resist Arimir at all.

Arimir flinched at the genuine anger.

‘He must be really angry. This shouldn’t be happening….’

The reason Arimir had waited so long, hoping for Shin Tae-ho’s success.

It was to ask for a favor that only Shin Tae-ho could grant.

But to think he still had feelings about her.

Arimir, who had been agonizing, looked at Shin Tae-ho with a determined expression.

“I’m sorry. I did my duty as an administrator, but if that hurt your feelings, I apologize.”

“Forget it. What’s the point now.”

Shin Tae-ho snorted.

At that reaction, Arimir’s fist trembled.

She had barely managed to give an apology, something she had done only a few times in her life, and he gave such a sullen reaction?!

Arimir, who controlled her anger by taking a deep breath, managed her expression.

“By the way. Since you’ve cleared all the tutorials, you should receive your reward. Take a look.”

At the mention of a reward, Shin Tae-ho’s eyes flashed.

Shin Tae-ho was also looking forward to the Tutorial Tower’s reward, which no one had ever received before.

As Arimir gestured, three items imbued with brilliant light floated in front of Shin Tae-ho.

Surprise spread across Shin Tae-ho’s face as he examined the secret reward with his own eyes.

‘Is this… the reward for being the first to clear the Tutorial Tower?’

There were a total of three items that appeared before Shin Tae-ho’s eyes.

Moreover, as they were reward items, he could see the item information even without a class.

All three items were of the Hero grade, which corresponds to the highest grade.

A chance to receive Hero-grade items before even climbing the tower.

It was such an unconventional reward that anyone who saw it would vomit blood, calling it a foul.

But only disappointment appeared in Shin Tae-ho’s eyes.

‘It’s not bad, but that’s it. I can make things like that later if I have the materials.’

Shin Tae-ho was a blacksmith who had made items his whole life.

And not just an ordinary blacksmith, but someone who was called a Transcendental Blacksmith.

The grade standards that such a Shin Tae-ho felt were on a completely different dimension from other Awakened.

When Shin Tae-ho was trying to swallow his disappointment.

A nervous Arimir glanced at Shin Tae-ho and asked.

“How is it? Aren’t they excellent armaments?”

Shin Tae-ho, who almost said, ‘You made me go through all that trouble just to give me this?’, barely swallowed his words.

He still had feelings about Arimir, but he didn’t intend to cross the line.

But even without hearing the answer, Arimir knew Shin Tae-ho’s inner thoughts well.

“But it won’t satisfy you.”

Arimir stared intently at Shin Tae-ho’s armor and hammer.

Unlike Shin Tae-ho, who couldn’t see item information because he hadn’t obtained a class, Arimir, the administrator, could see through the information of the items Shin Tae-ho had made.

And the items she saw like that were….

‘It doesn’t make sense. But what I’m seeing now is a realized fact.’

Arimir, who had thought he was foolish, thinking he could only make High-grade items at best.

But the current Arimir was feeling how foolish that thought was.

Facing him like this, Arimir could acknowledge it.

That Shin Tae-ho’s 6 months had achieved that much value, and even more.

Since she confirmed that Shin Tae-ho was disappointed, from now on was the most important part.

“If you’re okay with it, I’d like to propose a different reward as an apology. How about it?”

“…A different reward?”

Shin Tae-ho, who had been listening to Arimir silently, showed interest at the mention of a different reward.

Anyway, Arimir was the administrator of the tutorial whose existence no one knew about until now.

The reward Arimir was proposing was highly likely to be much more precious and valuable than this.

“…What kind of reward is it?”

As Shin Tae-ho showed interest, Arimir cheered inwardly.

Judging by the fact that his informal speech had changed to polite speech, it was clear that Shin Tae-ho was also hooked on her proposal.

Arimir, who heard the answer, took something out of her bosom as if she had been waiting.

“This is it.”

“…An egg?”

Shin Tae-ho was taken aback when he saw the egg that Arimir was holding up preciously with both hands.

To be continued in the next episode ▶