Chapter 06
Kangcheol recalled what the notification window had told him back in the tutorial.
Viewing any kind of information once cost 1 coin.
It said most people checked about five times a day on average, so they set the daily viewing cost at 5 coins.
Apparently, after around five uses, you’d break even.
A month had roughly twenty working days, so that came to 100 coins.
A year would technically be 500 coins, but since using it for a year basically meant using it forever, they priced it as the cost of unlocking the skill itself.
“That discount is insane, isn’t it?”
Kangcheol asked.
His tone sounded casual, but there was a strange trace of suspicion mixed into it.
— I told you already. I get benefits too if my student levels up quickly.
“This makes you sound super shady. The discount rate is practically at sketchy gym membership levels.”
— Isn’t cheap a good thing? Gyms are better with yearly memberships too, aren’t they?
“No. Some gyms take a bunch of membership payments and then disappear.”
— What would I even gain from scamming you? It’s not like I can run away anywhere. Right?
“Ah, true enough. Then thanks for the meal.”
Once he became certain it was a genuine profit, Kangcheol grinned happily.
And then it offered an additional 50% discount.
That meant 250 coins.
Exactly the amount he had just earned would let him permanently access one category of information whenever he wanted.
In that case, the very first thing he should choose was…
“Shaping.”
— Oh? That’s unexpected. I thought you’d learned something this time.
“There’s nothing that isn’t important.”
Until recently, Kangcheol had believed there were absolutely critical stages in the crafting process.
For example, rather than simply choosing good steel, implementing a design suited to the steel’s characteristics and heat-treating it according to the design’s purpose mattered more.
Until now, that way of thinking hadn’t really caused any problems.
There were plenty of users and craftsmen who argued exactly the same thing.
— Yet you chose awfully fast for someone saying that.
The notification window’s criticism was valid.
Something like this probably wouldn’t happen again—but there was also no guarantee it wouldn’t.
If someone had told Kangcheol a week ago that his forge would soon be destroyed because hunters started fighting each other inside it, he would’ve kicked them out for talking nonsense.
But once you experienced one absurd event, you started worrying even about things that seemed impossible.
Gathering materials through harvesting.
Smelting iron ore and adding various elements to create steel with uniform distribution.
Designing something fit for its intended purpose.
Cutting, grinding, drilling, and bending steel plates according to the blueprint to create a blank—shaping.
And finally, heat treatment, heating and cooling the shaped blank so it could perform as intended.
The problem this time had occurred at the material stage—in other words, gathering and smelting.
And it wasn’t even a process Kangcheol had failed to recognize beforehand.
So it wouldn’t be wrong to say he was deciding unusually fast right now.
“I already made one mistake. What can I do about it now? The job’s over, and I don’t have the luxury of being hung up on it. Besides, it’s not like I’m perfect at shaping either. And…”
Kangcheol looked around the forge.
Everything was a complete mess.
The grinder and electric saw used to cut metal, the power hammer for forging, the versatile anvil and wooden stump—
All of them were crushed beyond proper use, and some parts had even vanished after getting caught up in the swindler’s skill.
“A family man still has to make money even after going through something like this.”
— So you picked shaping because there’s money to be made there?
Kangcheol nodded.
— Fine. If your resolve is firm, then I’ll permanently open the Eye of Shaping for 250 coins.
A warm heat settled into Kangcheol’s body.
And then…
— You have permanently unlocked the Eye of Shaping using 250 coins.
— You may now access information related to shaping at any time without additional coin consumption.
With that, Kangcheol left the forge.
Because the wall had cracked, even after shutting the door, the lock wouldn’t catch.
Normally he would’ve tried something, but Kangcheol merely pushed the door into place and headed home.
“I’m back.”
“Kangcheol, you’re home? Oh my, what happened to all that dust…?”
His mother’s eyes widened. She clearly wanted an explanation she could accept, but Kangcheol weakly waved his hand as though he lacked the energy to answer.
“A little dirty, huh?”
“For a second I thought you were some homeless person I saw during dispatch duty. Goodness, at least shake yourself off first. Come outside for a moment.”
Dragged obediently outside while his mother dusted him off, Kangcheol asked,
“Is the bathroom free?”
“No, Ayeon just got back from the academy and went in. Are you seriously going into your room without washing? Looking like that?”
His mother’s voice called after him, saying she wouldn’t clean his room for him, but Kangcheol had no energy left to care.
Thud.
The moment he threw himself onto the bed, metal shavings and bits of concrete scattered all over the blanket.
‘First… I’ll sleep. Then… I’ll think about everything…’
It had been an exhausting and confusing day.
He had overcome the immediate crisis, but now countless new problems awaited him.
He had to repair the forge, demand compensation for the damages, and somehow continue earning money starting tomorrow.
In many ways, it was one of the most troubling days Kangcheol had faced in recent years.
Yet strangely enough, he didn’t feel anxious at all.
As he drifted toward sleep, the words he’d heard earlier echoed in his ears.
‘They said it felt like they’d finally met a real blacksmith.’
A real blacksmith.
It was the first genuinely favorable evaluation he had heard since becoming the owner of Kangcheol Workshop.
‘Honestly… they weren’t wrong.’
Even as consciousness faded, the corners of Kangcheol’s lips twitched upward pleasantly.
Park Youngjun hummed while driving.
“I’m getting off work~ I’m getting off work~”
Sure, if you looked closely at the lyrics, it was basically a resignation song, and yes, he still had hours left in his shift—but who cared?
Today, Park Youngjun had delivered results.
“Man, my luck’s amazing! Hahahaha!”
He’d prevented complaints from civilians and even captured an awakened criminal.
Results earned without entering a gate.
Gates paid better, but stacking up stories like this was excellent for public image management.
“Seriously, was I possessed or something today? How did I know I’d fight an awakened one and wear my armor too?”
Normally, armor was something he only wore when entering gates.
…Huh?
As if suddenly realizing something, Park Youngjun’s face turned pale.
Right. Wearing armor meant it was a gate-entry day.
Only then did the phone lying abandoned on the holder enter his field of view.
Its light blinked endlessly, as though messages had piled up while he ignored it.
He reached out and turned the screen on.
Messages from his subordinates.
00 missed calls.
CoconutTalk +300.
86 unread messages.
The flood of notifications told him one thing clearly.
He was screwed.
[Team Leader, entry is in 30 minutes. We’ll control personnel until then.]
[Team Leader, where are you? Please answer your phone.]
[You didn’t forget today’s gate raid, right? Just in case, I attached the schedule and address.]
[Please answer. The Master wants to speak with you.]
The moment he saw the word “Master,” Park Youngjun’s breath stopped.
Screeeech!
The car slammed to a stop before violently changing direction and accelerating at full speed.
The swindler in the passenger seat stirred awake groggily.
“Whuh… wha’s goin’ on…? Huh? Hey, hey—!”
“Shut up! Go coco-sleep!”
WHAM!
Along with the warm words of a loving father raising a daughter came a heavy punch.
The swindler’s jaw twisted neatly to the side before he slumped unconscious once more.
If Kangcheol had seen it, he probably would’ve thought, You definitely killed him this time.
But Park Youngjun had no spare attention for careful restraint.
After driving for some time, he finally arrived at the gate.
A temporary camp marked with Yeonhwa Guild emblems had been set up nearby.
Unfortunately, aside from a few guards standing watch, the camp was completely empty.
Park Youngjun stepped out carrying both the swindler and the box he’d received from Kangcheol.
‘A lifeline. This is my lifeline.’
A gift and achievements.
No boss disliked those two things.
And getting both at once? Even better.
One of the guards spotted him and hurried over.
“Team Leader! Where the hell have you been on such an important day?!”
“I was dealing with an awakened criminal for a moment! Whew… what about entry?”
“They went in ages ago. They even waited thirty extra minutes past the scheduled time.”
Then came the thunderbolt.
“You’re in huge trouble. The Master entered in your place.”
The word “Master” instantly drained the color from Park Youngjun’s face.
For anyone, really, the Master was the kind of person you absolutely did not mess with.
The simplest reason was that she was the founder and owner of the guild.
But when that owner directly involved herself in all guild affairs—especially personnel management—the reason became even clearer.
And when the person handling personnel was also overwhelmingly stronger than every other guild member…
They became an absolute ruler capable of intimidating even someone as hot-blooded as Park Youngjun.
That was the Yeonhwa Guild Master—
The warrior-type S-rank Hunter ranked second in all of Korea by the Korean Hunter Association.
Kwon Semi.
“Think this guy can save me?”
Park Youngjun dropped the swindler from his shoulder with a thud as he asked.
His expression practically begged for someone to say yes.
“…No clue. Since you brought back results, it’s hard to say. But hurry and get in there.”
“Right! See you later!”
At least it wasn’t an outright No chance.
If there was even a sliver of hope for forgiveness, he had to hurry.
Park Youngjun rushed into the gate.
Saaaa—
A brief sense of distortion passed over him as he entered the dungeon and immediately started running.
The markers were the dead monsters.
Following the trail where humanoid monsters had been slaughtered in particular would lead him to Kwon Semi.
“This way.”
Gradually, the corpses grew larger and more vicious.
Even monsters that would’ve taken Park Youngjun some effort to defeat were lying neatly dead with precise holes through their heads and hearts.
No other injuries.
Which meant they’d been killed before they could even resist.
“So she’s not in a terrible mood. Better hurry!”
After running for a long while, the boss room finally came into view.
“I’m sorry. I brought gifts and achievements. Sorry. Gift. Achievement. Sorry. Gift. Achievement. Hup…”
He rapidly rehearsed what he would say upon seeing Kwon Semi, then took a deep breath.
“Hup!”
The moment Park Youngjun opened the door—
“Huh? What?! Why did it open?!”
“Gah!”
Startled cries erupted.
And something shadowy came flying rapidly toward him.
“Huh? Hah!”
His hunter instincts screamed at him to attack it.
And after attacking that shadow—
—Dungeon: “Beast’s Den” boss has been defeated for the first time.
—Final Blow: Park Youngjun.
—Contribution Rank 1: Kwon Semi.
—…
A notification window appeared.
Along with the utterly horrifying statement that he had stolen the last hit from a guild master obsessed with combat during a first-clear raid.
The instincts honed through a lifetime of fighting blared warning sirens in his head.
“Uh, wait? No, I didn’t mean to—”
Park Youngjun hurriedly tried to explain, but even timing seemed determined to betray him.
Thud.
The monster corpse slipped from his fist to the floor.
And the first thing he saw—
was Kwon Semi’s face.
Her expression, loosened from the thrill of battle, slowly transformed into that of a demonic wrathful spirit capable of destroying the world.
Park Youngjun immediately saw his life flashing before his eyes.
Click. Click.
Kwon Semi began walking toward him.
Just as Park Youngjun awkwardly started to kneel—
“Are you planning to bark like a dog again, like the first time you made a mistake? Do you not possess even the slightest sense of shame? Please don’t. Looking back on it, it was unbearably pathetic.”
“I-I’m sorry.”
As he wondered whether she was stopping him from kneeling, another cutting remark followed.
“So now you don’t even have enough sincerity to apologize properly. I suppose I’ve let Team Leader Park Youngjun off too easily. Forget stealing my achievement—seeing you neglect your actual duties this badly gives me a lot to think about.”
“No! I’m truly sorry. The reason I was late was—”
“Obviously you thought you needed some excuse. Both for being late and for recklessly attacking the boss I was trying to kill.”
She didn’t even give him a chance to answer.
Still, perhaps this was preferable.
If she decided the punishment should be a sparring match because she hadn’t properly vented herself by killing the boss… he might literally die in an “accident.”
After enduring a terrifying stream of scolding for quite some time, Kwon Semi finally reacted to the bait Park Youngjun had prepared.
“You even dragged such useless baggage into a gate. I suppose I’ll need to think very carefully about how to punish Team Leader Park Youngjun—”
At that moment, Park Youngjun abruptly opened the box.
Inside were two modestly sized swords.
“…Hm.”
The elegant curves, carrying a touch both casual and meticulous, stopped Kwon Semi from finishing her sentence.
The kind of craftsmanship that stirred desire the instant one saw it.
Kwon Semi’s face softened once again, just like when she had been intoxicated by the heat of battle moments earlier.
