Regression of the Transcendent Blacksmith - Chapter 20

========== REGRESSION OF THE TRANSCENDENT BLACKSMITH CHAPTER 20 ==========

After finishing Yong-ryong-i’s registration.

Shin Tae-ho immediately went to the Awakened shop and sold his items.

He had excluded important items like runes and key fragments, but the sheer volume still amounted to quite a large sum of money.

“T-total of 357 million won has been deposited into your account.”

“Thank you.”

Shin Tae-ho checked his account.

In addition to the money from selling items previously, there was now over 400 million won in his account.

To think this was the amount he received after all taxes were deducted.

Of course, the danger of dying at any moment always lurked, but being able to handle such a large sum of money was also the charm of being a Challenger.

However, Shin Tae-ho wasn’t quite satisfied.

‘Still not enough.’

The reason Shin Tae-ho was heading to the Management Bureau’s public forge.

It was, obviously, to use the forge to craft items.

And to do that, he needed to purchase usable metal from the shop at the forge.

However, as is the case with most items from the Tower, the metal from the Tower was very expensive.

‘I’ll just have to buy as much as I can.’

Anyway, he couldn’t enter the Tower while the hammer head was recovering.

Furthermore, while climbing to the 15th floor, Shin Tae-ho had felt his fatal weakness.

That was the absence of a way to attack enemies from a distance.

The hammer is a weapon used to fight right in front of the enemy’s nose.

It’s powerful, but the danger is high, and the disadvantage of having to chase after enemies if they run away was clear.

‘A throwing weapon, huh. What would be good?’

Shin Tae-ho felt happy while contemplating the weapon he would use.

In the past, he had always only made weapons that others requested or used.

Making items to use while climbing the Tower himself felt completely different from that.

While looking for the shuttle bus stop to the forge, Shin Tae-ho called Choi Yu-hwa.

Choi Yu-hwa’s heavy breathing could be heard over the smartphone.

-Huff, Sh-Shin Tae-ho-nim! Have you, haa, finished the registration?

“Yes, I finished everything and am now heading to Daecheong Lake.”

-Daecheong Lake? Why are you going there?

“I’m going to use the shared forge there.”

-A forge? Wow! I want to go too, but I can’t today because of Ppi-ppi.

Choi Yu-hwa sounded disappointed.

Just as she said, she had only just managed to calm Ppi-ppi down, and she didn’t know what would happen if she let her meet Yong-ryong-i again right now.

-Then I’ll just head back like this. Let’s meet again next time!

“Understood. And I apologize for what happened today.”

-It’s fine! It’s not like Yong-ryong-i did it on purpose. And Ppi-ppi is a bit of a scaredy-cat, too. Huh? No, wait! Ppi-ppi, wait!

-Ppi-eek!

Ppi-ppi’s angry sound could be heard over the receiver.

It was furious at being called a coward.

-Ouch! Ppi-ppi, don’t peck me! Shin Tae-ho-nim! I’ll contact you again next time. Have a safe trip!

“Yes. It was a pleasure meeting you today. See you next time.”

-It was nice meeting you too! Make sure to meet up with Yong-ryong-i again next time!

As the call ended, the shuttle bus arrived right on time.

Stroking Yong-ryong-i, who was invisible due to its Stealth skill, Shin Tae-ho said quietly.

“You heard that, right? Apologize properly when you meet Ppi-ppi next time, Yong-ryong-i.”

“Ryong….”

Yong-ryong-i answered dejectedly at Shin Tae-ho’s words.

Shin Tae-ho got off the bus and looked around the public forge complex.

Inside the large, factory-like building, the sound of hammers constantly striking metal could be heard.

Shin Tae-ho, who had worked here in the past, felt a wave of nostalgia.

‘I was so tired back then.’

Shin Tae-ho recalled the past.

The time when he received the Blacksmith class and lived off making items in the forge, focusing solely on that.

As a result of that focus, Shin Tae-ho created numerous items and became the first to craft a Transcendental-grade core, earning him the title of Transcendental Blacksmith, but…

Rather, from then on, he had to be escorted wherever he went.

It was a given that everyone he met would ask him to make items.

There were even many people who begged, or conversely, cursed at him, asking if it was really that hard to make a simple item.

Guilds and foreign Management Bureaus were constantly looking for opportunities to kidnap him.

Days spent being pressured by the domestic Management Bureau and guilds to make items.

‘And yet, the items I poured my heart and soul into were used by the traitors hiding among us. Not for humanity, but for the Tower.’

Shin Tae-ho’s expression twisted viciously.

The memories, which had neither healed nor been forgotten, made the anger from that time boil over whenever he recalled them.

“What is it, customer? How did you- Huk!”

The shop owner spoke bluntly, then was startled.

Shin Tae-ho’s expression was so fierce it looked like he was about to eat someone alive.

‘Wh-what? Is this an Awakened who came to file a complaint?!’

It wasn’t a common occurrence, but there were always Awakened who filed complaints because they weren’t satisfied with expensive items they bought.

However, it was rare for someone to look as murderous as that.

As the shop employee looked on in fear, Shin Tae-ho realized his mistake and relaxed his expression.

“Hello. I came to look at some goods.”

“O-oh, welcome.”

The employee, who usually greeted people with the rough language typical of blacksmiths, bowed politely.

Shin Tae-ho went to the counter and familiarly scanned the sales list.

‘Expensive.’

For a Challenger, an item is like their lifeline.

On top of that, since Awakened earn a lot of money, even Normal-grade items easily cost over 10 million won.

After checking the item market prices, Shin Tae-ho moved to the metal list page.

Fortunately, since metal is a raw material, the price was relatively cheaper than finished items.

But even so, it was still expensive, so Shin Tae-ho carefully scanned the list from top to bottom.

When the list was almost at the end.

Shin Tae-ho’s eyes, which had been scanning the materials quickly, stopped at one spot.

‘Isn’t this Returnium? But why is the price so cheap?’

Among the metals of the Tower with various abilities, Returnium is a metal with the property of returning to its user.

In the future, Returnium was a metal that easily cost over 10 billion won per kg.

But what was on the list right now was only 100 million won per kg.

Seeing the name attached next to the image, Shin Tae-ho was soon able to understand the situation.

A completely wrong name was written there, not Returnium.

‘They don’t know that this is Returnium yet!’

Shin Tae-ho’s eyes lit up.

He had to buy this no matter what.

“I want to buy this.”

“Huh? That? It just came from the Tower, but it’s a material with no special abilities.”

“It’s fine. I don’t have much money, so there’s nothing else I can buy anyway.”

‘Aha. So that’s it.’

The employee’s eyes flashed at Shin Tae-ho’s words.

It was an item that was a nuisance because nobody bought it anyway.

He thought he could make a big profit if he sold it well this time.

“There’s exactly 5kg left of this. Why don’t you spend just 100 million more?”

“I don’t have that much money.”

“How much do you have?”

“A little over 400 million won.”

The employee pretended to deliberate at Shin Tae-ho’s words.

Of course, it was just acting; his mind was already made up.

“Then don’t just buy 1 or 2kg and tease yourself; buy it all. If you buy it all, I’ll give you a big discount.”

“Really?”

Shin Tae-ho was delighted.

He was happy that Returnium had fallen into his lap, but to have such luck follow?

‘I’m really glad I came today.’

Shin Tae-ho paid happily.

His account was emptied in an instant, but his heart was warm.

Perhaps feeling a pang of conscience at that sight, the employee cleared his throat.

“I like your decisiveness. I’ll give you 20kg of iron as a service.”

‘If I only use Returnium, the strength will be too weak. I feel bad about receiving iron on top of buying it so cheaply, but… now is not the time to refuse.’

“You’re even giving me iron. Thank you. I’ll make good use of it.”

‘Thank you, my foot. You got rid of bad stock and boosted my performance. I’m the one who’s grateful. It’s metal anyway, so if you make items and sell them, you won’t starve to death.’

The employee and Shin Tae-ho, unaware of each other’s inner thoughts, smiled, genuinely happy with the deal.

Whoosh!

Clang-clang-clang! Clang!

Ssssss!

The inside of the public forge was filled with intense heat and the sound of hammering.

Blacksmith is a class not suitable for climbing the Tower.

Therefore, blacksmiths were making a living by creating items from materials and selling them to make a profit.

However, today, a strange atmosphere was flowing through the forge, unlike usual.

“Did you hear? One of the Tamer Awakened reserved the forge.”

“What is a Tamer doing coming to the forge? Just coming to watch?”

“Even if there’s space, we shouldn’t be lending it to someone who won’t even use it.”

Even though they were all Awakened, as long as they were people, comparing each other was the same.

The most common comparison among Awakened was whether they were Challengers climbing the Tower or not.

Naturally, people viewed Challengers who risked their lives climbing the Tower favorably.

Conversely, Awakened who didn’t climb the Tower were subtly looked down upon by both non-Awakened and Challengers.

But for a Challenger who was a Tamer, something completely unrelated to blacksmithing, to reserve the forge and come in…

From a blacksmith’s perspective, that action was equivalent to breaking an unspoken rule.

“I’m curious to see what kind of guy he is. Don’t you agree, Master Kim Jong-su?”

Someone asked, seeking agreement, but Kim Jong-su did not answer.

Kim Jong-su had been active as a blacksmith even before the production complex was built.

He was a master craftsman currently called the best blacksmith in the country for his achievement of creating a Rare-grade item.

Such a Kim Jong-su knew the weight of his own words.

“Don’t act rashly. It’s just an Awakened using the forge.”

“It’s called using it, but isn’t he just coming to watch?”

“That’s right. What is a Tamer going to do at a forge?”

“If he came to spy on our techniques, I’ll break his limbs.”

In the past, before the unspoken rule that only blacksmiths come to the forge was established.

Some rude Challengers urged blacksmiths to make items quickly.

Or there were times when they watched them work like they were looking at animals in a zoo.

If the Tamer coming now did such a thing, they absolutely couldn’t let it slide.

“Hello.”

While the blacksmiths were growling, steeling their resolve.

A voice they had never heard before came from behind them.

Those who realized at once that it was the Tamer who had come to rent the forge twisted their faces viciously.

“What? Who is it that’s greeting- Huk?”

The blacksmith who was trying to intimidate him from the start was flustered.

Broad shoulders and defined muscles.

He was tall, and anyone could see he was an Awakened of a Warrior class who moved his body.

“Hey, didn’t you say he was a Tamer?!”

“I-I definitely heard he was a Tamer?”

“Does that look like a Tamer to your eyes? I’d sooner believe he’s a Hunter.”

While the blacksmiths were whispering, Shin Tae-ho naturally found his spot.

Although it was his first time officially coming to the public forge, Shin Tae-ho knew more about the forge than anyone here.

The blacksmiths were dumbfounded at the sight of him instantly raising the furnace temperature and checking the quenching tank.

“Has that guy been here before?”

“What are you talking about? No one but us has come here in the last few years.”

“Then how on earth do you explain that situation…?”

No answer came back.

There was no way the blacksmiths, who were seeing Shin Tae-ho for the first time, could know the reason.

‘Shall I begin?’

Taking out the Returnium from his inventory, Shin Tae-ho smiled faintly at the thought of crafting after such a long time.

To be continued in the next chapter ▶