Regression of the Transcendent Blacksmith - Chapter 19

========== REGRESSION OF THE TRANSCENDENT BLACKSMITH CHAPTER 19 ==========

Lately, the employees at the Management Bureau rarely had a day where they could relax their faces.

The reason, as always, was the abnormal behavior of an Awakened individual who appeared to be the Tutorial Conqueror.

Up until now, it had been at a level where they could just think, “Wow, that’s amazing,” and move on.

But what happened this time had crossed the line—and by quite a lot.

‘So, the prediction was right after all.’

Section Chief Im A-young let out a deep sigh as she checked Tower.com.

Tower.com was a community where all the world’s information regarding the Tower gathered, and where the world’s Awakened congregated.

Monitoring Tower.com was a mandatory duty not just for Korea, but for the Management Bureaus of every nation.

And Tower.com was still in chaos due to an announcement that had popped up for the Awakened a few days ago.

[Notice. The 15th floor of the Tower of South Korea has been cleared with an S-rank for the first time.]

An S-rank clear of the 15th floor, something no one had ever achieved.

The fact that it happened in Korea, of all places, turned the world upside down.

An S-rank on a floor so difficult to pass that it was called the Floor of Wailing?

This fact, while shocking, also gave certainty to a hypothesis the Management Bureau hadn’t been able to easily judge.

‘The Awakened is affiliated with a guild.’

Im A-young sighed again.

She knew the possibility was low, but the Management Bureau had secretly hoped the challenger had climbed the Tower alone.

That would have made it much easier for them to recruit the challenger.

‘Though that’s a lost cause now.’

Thanks to this, the atmosphere in the Management Bureau had become heavy in a different sense than before.

To think that all the work they’d done, even pulling all-nighters, had been in vain.

To exaggerate a little, everyone looked like zombies whose souls had been stolen.

‘Healing. I need healing. Please.’

While Im A-young was screaming internally in the gloomy atmosphere, she noticed Kim Han-seok, a Tamer class supervisor from the Education Support Department, rushing out of the office.

Kim Han-seok, who usually only showed a calm demeanor.

Seeing such a person flustered, which was rare, piqued Im A-young’s curiosity.

“Supervisor Kim Han-seok? Is something the matter?”

“Ah! Hello, Section Chief Im A-young. A guest has arrived, so I was heading out.”

“Is that so? But you seem quite flustered…”

As Im A-young asked cautiously, Kim Han-seok looked sheepish.

“Ah, well. The Tamer I met at the registration desk the other day said they’d hatched the egg and came by.”

“Oh my, really?!”

At Kim Han-seok’s words, Im A-young’s eyes, which had been filled only with darkness, sparkled.

She had been praying for healing, and now an opportunity to see a newborn summon had appeared!

This was surely a lifeline sent from heaven for her miserable self.

“What kind of summon is it?!”

“I’m on my way to check that now. Haha.”

“Would it be possible for me to come along?!”

“Yes? You want to come, Section Chief Im?”

Kim Han-seok was flustered that Im A-young, who was from a different department, wanted to tag along.

However, seeing Im A-young’s desperate gaze and the gloomy atmosphere hanging over her like a dark curtain, Kim Han-seok immediately understood the situation.

“Of course. It’s reassuring to have you with me, Section Chief Im. Right, Heukpung?”

“Woof.”

The wolf-type summon, the size of a human and called Heukpung, answered.

Contrary to the answer, Heukpung’s expression was sulky.

Actually, that was because it didn’t like the name Heukpung, but Kim Han-seok was oblivious to that.

“Thanks, Heukpung!”

“Grrr.”

“Hey! Heukpung, you shouldn’t do that!”

As Heukpung growled as if displeased, Kim Han-seok restrained it.

Im A-young, who had flinched and stepped back, gave an awkward smile.

“Ahaha. It’s okay, Supervisor.”

In truth, she was secretly hurt by being rejected, but Im A-young didn’t mind.

Because she would soon be able to see a cute summon that had just hatched from its egg!

With color returning to her face for the first time in a while, Im A-young followed Kim Han-seok.

Perhaps they were having a conversation, as noisy sounds could be heard from inside the door.

“Yong-ryong-i. Calm down.”

“Ryo-ryong! Ryo-ryo-ryong-ryong!”

“Pipi, come down here! Why are you so excited?!”

“Pii-ek!”

‘Yong-ryong-i and Pipi. The names are all so cute!’

Im A-young made a face as if she were tickled.

Just then, Heukpung, who had followed Kim Han-seok, flinched, jumped backward, and bristled its fur.

“Heukpung. What’s wrong?”

“Grrr, grrrr-!”

Even at Kim Han-seok’s question, Heukpung didn’t relax its tension.

Seeing Heukpung’s state, Kim Han-seok was startled.

‘Heukpung is… afraid?’

Heukpung, who had worked in sync with Kim Han-seok for a long time and climbed up to the 40th floor of the Tower.

While climbing to the 40th floor, Heukpung had never shown fear no matter what monster it encountered.

But now, that Heukpung was afraid of some existence on the other side of this door.

‘Just what kind of summon could it be…?’

Kim Han-seok swallowed hard with tension.

Kim Han-seok opened the door slightly without even knocking to check inside first.

And the moment he opened the door just a crack.

As if it had been waiting for that very moment, something popped out of the door.

“Pii-ak!”

“Eek! Pipi!! You can’t go out! Pipi-!”

“Huk?!”

As Pipi and Choi Yu-hwa suddenly dashed out, a startled Kim Han-seok fell over.

Looking inside, Yong-ryong-i was being held by Shin Tae-ho, flapping its body to try and chase after Pipi.

Shin Tae-ho, who was holding Yong-ryong-i, which was flapping like a large fish, shouted at Kim Han-seok.

“Close the door.”

“Yes? Ah, yes!”

Kim Han-seok hurriedly closed the door.

Even though Pipi had gone outside, Yong-ryong-i couldn’t easily calm its excitement.

Shin Tae-ho let out a small sigh and drew Qi from his circuit.

“Yong-ryong-i. Calm down.”

“Yong! Yo-ong! Yong?! Yong-ack!”

Yong-ryong-i, which hadn’t been listening, screamed at the Qi-enhanced hug.

It wasn’t a technique per se, but a Qi-enhanced hug was like being put in a wrestling hold.

Only when Yong-ryong-i went limp did Shin Tae-ho greet Kim Han-seok and Im A-young.

“Hello, Supervisor. And I see someone I met at the registration desk as well.”

“Ah?! You’re the person who brought the egg in a bag back then!”

Im A-young recognized Shin Tae-ho.

It was because Shin Tae-ho had left a deep impression as the only Awakened who had genuinely come to register, amidst the hell of people insisting they were the Tutorial Conqueror.

Im A-young, who had greeted him happily, looked at Yong-ryong-i with sparkling eyes.

“Oh my god! Is this child the summon that hatched from that egg?!”

“That’s correct.”

When Shin Tae-ho released the hug, Yong-ryong-i came to its senses.

With its excitement subsided, Yong-ryong-i looked awkward and checked Shin Tae-ho’s expression.

“Ryo, ryo-ong…”

“It’s fine if you know you did wrong. Let’s apologize to Pipi properly later.”

At Shin Tae-ho’s words, Yong-ryong-i nodded.

Kim Han-seok, who had been watching the situation silently, was shocked.

‘It understands speech? A summon?’

The intelligence of summons varied wildly by species.

Most couldn’t communicate at all, so they had to be subdued by force like beasts to make them listen.

If they had higher intelligence, they could be trained through communion.

And even that was usually limited to simple commands like “attack” or “wait.”

But Yong-ryong-i was…

“Yong, yong-yong.”

“Now? Hmm. Understood.”

When Shin Tae-ho lifted his head and exposed his neck, Yong-ryong-i wrapped itself around his neck.

Kim Han-seok was astonished.

‘It’s at the level where it can even request what it wants while reading the mood? No, more than that, why give it your neck in case it bites?!’

Even though it was a summon, a Tamer had to be careful around their summon until deep trust was built.

But Shin Tae-ho was nonchalantly offering his neck, a vital point, to Yong-ryong-i.

That was an action that would shock even Im A-young, who wasn’t a Tamer.

“Aw, Awakened-nim! Is, is it okay to offer your neck like that?!”

“It’s fine. Yong-ryong-i is warm, so it doesn’t bother me to wrap it around my neck.”

“Yong~.”

Yong-ryong-i nodded as if in agreement.

Kim Han-seok and Im A-young also stood there with their mouths agape in stunned expressions.

‘That’s not what she meant by that…’

As Kim Han-seok just stood there with his mouth open, Shin Tae-ho asked.

“Supervisor. Is the registration finished with this?”

“Yes? Ah, yes… Normally, we would have to check the summon’s aggression or the trust level with the Tamer, but there’s no need for that with Shin Tae-ho-nim.”

The reason a Tamer had to register their summon.

It was partly to record the Tamer’s summon information, but also because there was a possibility the summon could kill the Tamer.

In fact, before the Tamer class was properly known and a curriculum was established, it was quite common for summons to kill the Tamers trying to tame them.

That alone was a big problem, but the bigger problem was that a summon that had killed its Tamer could not be tamed by any other Tamer.

A summon that had killed its Tamer would start hunting and attacking people in a half-crazed state.

However, the trust between Shin Tae-ho and Yong-ryong-i was deep enough to be ranked among the best Tamers he knew.

Furthermore, considering that Yong-ryong-i was still young, it was clear that the trust between the two would become much deeper in the future.

‘I’m envious.’

Kim Han-seok was genuinely envious.

Although they had built trust after being together for several years now, Kim Han-seok had also faced near-death experiences several times at first, just like other Tamers.

Being attacked for resisting training was an everyday occurrence.

There were even days when he barely managed to stop it from genuinely trying to kill him.

And yet, to form that level of trust relationship from such a young age.

‘The fact that the summon’s intelligence is high enough to communicate is a big factor, but above all, it’s only possible because Shin Tae-ho-nim genuinely adores Yong-ryong-i.’

With a warm smile, Kim Han-seok entered the data into his laptop.

The summon’s name was updated to Yong-ryong-i in Shin Tae-ho’s Awakened information section.

Below that, 100 out of 100 points were recorded for trust and safety.

“I’m sorry it ended so quickly when you had to come from so far away.”

“It’s fine. I have things to do.”

“Things to do?”

“I’m going to sell items I obtained from the Tower shop, and I intend to use the Management Bureau’s public forge I mentioned before.”

“Ah, you did mention that. Then please wait a moment.”

Kim Han-seok nodded and touched his laptop again.

Since the forge was usually used by Blacksmith class Awakened, other class Awakened needed a reservation to use it.

“Fortunately, there’s a spot. Are you going right away?”

“I plan to go right after I sell the items.”

“Then I’ll make a reservation for 2 hours from now, including travel time.”

“That’s sufficient. Thank you.”

Shin Tae-ho was grateful that the reservation was finished just by talking.

Just then, Im A-young, who had been staring intently at Yong-ryong-i, swallowed hard and raised her hand.

“Um, Shin Tae-ho-nim! By any chance, could I touch Yong-ryong-i a little?!”

“Yong?”

Yong-ryong-i was startled.

It was the first time anyone other than Shin Tae-ho had tried to touch it.

“Yong-ryong-i. What do you think?”

Because he respected Yong-ryong-i’s will, Shin Tae-ho didn’t answer himself but asked Yong-ryong-i for its opinion.

After pondering for a moment, Yong-ryong-i nodded.

“Yong.”

“It says it’s okay. Go ahead.”

“Wa, wow! Thank you! Thanks, Yong-ryong-i!”

Im A-young jumped with excitement, moved.

As her cautiously extended hand touched Yong-ryong-i’s scales, the still-soft scales and warm heat were transmitted.

‘It’s, it’s warm!’

Im A-young giggled at the touch and temperature felt by her hand.

It felt like the stress and tension that had built up until now were melting away in an instant.

Kim Han-seok, watching that scene, was amazed.

To think it could interact with others besides its Tamer.

With that level of intelligence, it belonged to the highest grade among existing summons.

‘As it grows in the future, its intelligence will rise even more, and it will become stronger. If that happens…’

Just what kind of abilities would it use, and how strong would it become?

Since Kim Han-seok was also a Tamer, his heart raced at the thought of those possibilities.

While Im A-young was busy healing herself, stroking Yong-ryong-i as if bewitched.

Yong-ryong-i’s tail slapped away Im A-young’s hand, which was busy stroking it.

“Yong!”

“Huh? Uh-uh? Why? Why?!”

“It means stop now. I think you’ll have to stop touching it here.”

“Ca, can’t I do just a little more?!”

“Yong-yong!”

Yong-ryong-i shook its head firmly and raised its tail.

Returning to the cold reality, Im A-young made a crumbling expression.

“I’ll be going now. Both of you, thank you for your hard work.”

“Yes, thank you for your hard work too, Shin Tae-ho-nim. Here is my direct number, so please contact me if anything comes up.”

“No! Yong-ryong-i! Don’t go!”

Shin Tae-ho, who had received the business card from Kim Han-seok, quickly left the spot.

It was too burdensome to have Im A-young calling out for Yong-ryong-i right in front of him.

Besides, Shin Tae-ho had things to do.

‘Since I’m stopping by the forge, I need to make a weapon to use in the Tower.’

Recalling the need for a secondary weapon he had felt while climbing the Tower, Shin Tae-ho walked quickly.

Watching Shin Tae-ho’s retreating figure wistfully, Kim Han-seok smacked his lips.

‘I should have asked if I could touch it too.’

“No! Yong-ryong-i! Yong-ryong-i-!!”

Unable to let go of her lingering attachment, Im A-young wailed Yong-ryong-i’s name while holding the hand she had been using to stroke Yong-ryong-i.

To be continued in the next chapter ▶