[ Preparation Complete (3) ]
I headed straight home. There were too many people just a door away in the crafting room to have a detailed conversation.
-Chirp-!
Chirp, perched on the table, stared intently at Myungwoo. For some reason, it seemed deeply impressed. I wondered what could be going through that tiny head of his.
“It’s getting late. What do you want for dinner?”
Myungwoo asked casually, as if he hadn’t just acquired an SS-rank skill. But it wasn’t as if nothing had changed.
The anxiety that used to flash across his face at the drop of a hat had completely vanished. Not only was his expression brighter, but there was a noticeable ease in his demeanor and voice.
It was like he was a completely different person, even though he looked exactly the same. Given the circumstances, it made sense, but still.
“Is dinner really the issue right now?”
I grumbled as I sat on the sofa, holding Peace in my arms. Why wasn’t he explaining the skill? All I got to see was the skill’s name, and now I was dying of curiosity. I thought he’d be eager to talk about it as soon as we got home, but he was way too calm about it.
“Sit down and give me the details.”
At my urging, Myungwoo gave a satisfied smile. Surely, he wasn’t delaying on purpose to make me anxious.
“Sorry. You must’ve been really curious,”
He apologized, though it didn’t feel the least bit sincere. He sat down next to me on the sofa.
“The skill is called ‘Master of the Golden Forge.’ Like I said, it’s an SS-rank skill.”
“Forge? From the name, it sounds like a special skill related to crafting. Is that right?”
“Yeah.”
Myungwoo nodded proudly. So, it was a crafting skill. The name made it pretty obvious, but I had worried that something odd might come out.
“It’s a skill that lets me create items. Not just weapons and armor, but anything that has metal in it, including accessories.”
As long as it contains metal, he can make anything. As expected, it was even more impressive than I had imagined.
Myungwoo’s eyes moved as if he was reading the skill description in the air.
“There’s no limit to the grade of items I can create.”
“No limit?!”
Isn’t that too overpowered? I thought SS-rank skills might cap at SS-rank items at best.
“There’s no limit, but at my current level, I probably won’t be able to make anything above a low grade. There’s something called proficiency.”
“Proficiency?”
“Yeah. The higher the proficiency level, the better the chances of creating high-grade items. And the quality of the materials is important too. There’s something called ‘The Beginner’s Compendium for Blacksmiths,’ but it only covers up to A-rank items. It says to use it as a reference and to unleash my own power when creating serious items.”
So, instead of limiting the item grade, the skill relied heavily on the user’s skill and proficiency. Even after making him grind to unlock the skill, they were still making him grind.
But…
“…The skill description seems pretty detailed, huh?”
Even with just a rough explanation, it sounded long. And what was with this compendium? Isn’t it a bit too kind?
“Right? It’s much more detailed than the Sharpen Blades skill. Maybe because it’s an SS-rank skill?”
…I suddenly wanted to show him the single-line descriptions of my L-rank skills. Hey, System folks? Isn’t this a bit too much of a disparity? I can understand the short descriptions for resistance skills, but isn’t the ‘My Kid Is The Best’ skill a bit too lacking in detail?
“From what I’ve heard, skill grade and description length aren’t really related.”
Look at Yuhyun’s skill. The description for ‘Blue Willow Leaves’ was just one line: “Creates countless willow leaves to confuse the enemy.” That was it.
“Then is it because it’s a special skill? Just the basic explanation is five pages long. The compendium has over three hundred pages.”
Wow, that’s really something. They nearly drove me mad with the lack of skill descriptions, but they give Myungwoo a whole book? Weren’t they the ones who kept acting like they were interested in me? Was Myungwoo the real target all along, and I was just needed to help him get this SS-rank crafting skill? They sure acted friendly for no reason. I feel betrayed.
“Well, I guess detailed explanations are a good thing.”
“And there’s a bundle of materials in my inventory too.”
Hey, System folks! Isn’t this blatant favoritism? You’re really just giving him everything. Myungwoo pulled out a small pouch from his inventory. It was about the size of a small shoulder bag. At least they didn’t give him too much.
“It’s a subspace pouch.”
“…Subspace?”
“They say it can hold up to a ton. Isn’t that amazing?”
Myungwoo marveled. A ton in that small thing… Is it like a backup inventory? There are space-related items out there, but I’ve never heard of anything like this.
“Look at this. It’s a unicorn horn—S-rank material. And this here is a piece of a hidden star, an SS-rank ore. I’m too scared to use them right now. I think they’re all S-rank or higher.”
“That’s… really incredible…”
It’s nice that he got high-grade materials for free, but, well… It’s better than not getting them, right? With a ton of S-rank or higher materials, he can quickly build up proficiency and churn out S-rank items in no time. It’s a good thing.
-Chirp chirp!
Chirp, who was on the table, started running toward Myungwoo but rolled off the edge. No, it seemed more like it was aiming for the pouch than for Myungwoo.
“Did they include mana stones in there too?”
“Mana stones? Let’s see…”
Myungwoo rummaged through the pouch and pulled out a transparent crystal. It was slightly larger than a child’s head.
-Peep peep! Chirp chirp! Peep peep!
“Put it back! Quickly!”
“Oh, okay.”
As soon as the crystal disappeared, Chirp, who had been throwing a fit, slumped to the floor, utterly deflated. It looked like he had lost an entire kingdom, not just a gem. It’s astonishing how much emotion can be conveyed through such tiny eyes.
-Peep…peep…
“Come here, Chirp.”
-Peep…peep…
Poor thing. When I picked him up, he went limp like a wet stuffed toy.
“What was that anyway?”
“Just an SS-rank mana stone.”
SS-rank mana stones were supposed to be white. Did they call it white because it was clear? I’ve never actually seen one before.
“Chirp, you need to let go of your greed. I gave you a D-rank mana stone today, didn’t I?”
-Peep…
“I’ll give you higher-grade mana stones when you get bigger.”
If he ever does grow properly, that is.
Due to a bug, taming Chirp failed. I could apply the keyword, but his status window still showed as □□. Of course, I couldn’t see his growth conditions, and I couldn’t use my ‘My Kid Is The Best’ skill on him like a taming skill.
Well, it’s not really a problem if he stays F-rank. It’s not like he’s a burden to feed. But if he tries to eat an SS-rank mana stone like earlier, even the world’s richest person would go bankrupt.
“By the way, my stats went up too.”
Myungwoo mentioned casually as he put the pouch back in his inventory.
“Your stats? But your level didn’t go up, right? There’s no stat boost effect in the skill or title?”
“Yeah. They just went up when I got the skill, without anything like that.”
Stat grades are determined by comparing the stat values to the level. If the level hasn’t increased, but the stats have, that means the grade has gone up.
“…Let’s calculate that. What’s your average stat, excluding magic?”
“Around 21, I think?”
21… That’s…
“You’re E-rank. And a high E-rank at that.”
It’s almost close enough to be considered D-rank. With more growth, he might even reach D-rank. I’ve never heard of a skill increasing someone’s stat grade before.
“So, am I E-rank now?”
Myungwoo asked with a beaming smile. This guy really does have an exceptional number of anomalies.
“Your stats might be E-rank, but as a Hunter, you’ll be ranked at least B. With more proficiency, you could easily be recognized as A-rank. S-rank, though, requires the ability to clear S-rank dungeons, so that might be tough.”
It’s an unreasonable requirement. Only combat-related abilities can make you S-rank.
Anyway, now it’s time to think about what comes next.
“What do you want to do, Myungwoo?”
It was time to consider the future.
“You’re currently the only one with an item creation skill. And it’s an SS-rank skill with no limit on item grade. You’re an unrivaled presence in the Hunter world.”
“It’s kind of embarrassing when you put it that way.”
Myungwoo responded with an awkward expression.
“It’s just a fact. S-rank items are rare. Even when you clear S-rank dungeons, you mostly get S-rank byproducts, including mana stones, but items are hard to come by. Especially weapons and armor—they’re so scarce that it’s hard to even see one unless you get a first-clear bonus.”
“You only get them the first time a dungeon is cleared?”
“They do appear in regular clears, but that’s generally the case. So far, only fifteen S-rank weapons have been found in the country, and there are no SS-rank weapons at all.”
There were more in five years, as the number and difficulty of S-rank dungeons increased. But even then, there were still fewer than thirty known SS-rank weapons. The last I heard was the announcement of the twenty-eighth SS-rank weapon. There were more armor pieces and small equipment, numbering in the hundreds.
“Even just making S-rank weapons consistently would make it easy to establish yourself. While not irreplaceable, their rarity is high enough. If you can make SS-rank weapons, you’ll get more attention than I do. Mounts are just support, but weapons directly enhance a Hunter’s abilities.”
Unless you’re an outlier like Kang Soyeong, if you had to choose between a mount and a weapon, you’d pick the latter a hundred times out of a hundred. A weapon means faster dungeon clears and a safer, stronger Hunter. There’s no need to overthink that choice.
“And if you somehow manage to create a weapon above SS-rank, then you, Yu Myungwoo, will be the only person who can elevate an S-rank Hunter’s abilities.”
On average, having a full set of equipment two grades above your own would increase your practical Hunter rank by one. But there are limits—an F-rank with S-rank gear would only reach the upper D-rank range. The same goes for other ranks.
A B-rank with a full set of S-rank gear could potentially reach A-rank. An A-rank with a full set of SS-rank gear could, theoretically, achieve S-rank capabilities.
But that’s as far as it goes. SSS-rank gear has never existed before.
“No one in the world would be able to challenge your status. All the S-rank Hunters would be desperate to win your favor. Being chosen by Yu Myungwoo would mean becoming the world’s strongest Hunter. The first-ever SS-rank stat Hunter! Isn’t that amazing? It’s the absolute best.”
Talking about it made me realize it was no wonder they showered him with perks. Without a limit on the grade of items, he could even create L-rank items. And then there were wish stones and mythical-grade items.
Mythical-grade gear. Forget SSS-rank; he might make L-rank Hunters. Since the correlation between equipment grade and Hunter rank is only theoretical from S-rank onward…
“Aren’t you hyping me up a bit too much?”
“I’m just stating the objective facts. But I think it’s impossible for you to go independent right away. The top priority is your safety, and the next issue is sourcing materials. You’ll need a lot of practice to build proficiency.”
You could buy materials and sell the items you make. But it would be a waste of time. Initially, only low-grade items would be produced, and lower-grade items don’t sell as well as you’d think. That’s because low-rank Hunters have relatively lower purchasing power. Plus, there aren’t that many Hunters yet since the Awakening Center hasn’t been established.
So, it would be much more efficient to receive support, get tons of materials, and churn out practice items.
“The easiest path would be to join a large guild. Once they verify your skill, they won’t spare any support, and you’ll be able to grow quickly. They’ll handle all the other stuff for you. You’d just have to focus on item creation.”
That might be the better option for Myungwoo. He’d be more comfortable, both physically and mentally.
“But if you’re not keen on joining a guild and want to set up an independent item workshop or something where you won’t be interfered with, I could help you with that. No, I’d like to invest in it.”
This wasn’t like before when I was just helping him out. Yu Myungwoo could go anywhere and be welcomed.
“Invest?”
“Yeah. You know I’m planning to leave Haeyeon soon, right? So… I’m inviting you to come with me. It’s just an offer, no pressure. Being in a guild is definitely more convenient.”
I’d prefer it if Myungwoo didn’t join a specific guild. If he did, that guild would undoubtedly try to monopolize the items he creates, especially anything S-rank or higher. It might be okay if the dungeon difficulty and number increased gradually over five years as before, but monopolization isn’t good in the current situation. Most concerning, they might try to control the quantity of items produced to maintain their premium status.
“If you do join a guild, I’d prefer it to be Haeyeon. For my sake.”
At least if he joined Haeyeon, I might be able to interfere somehow. I could include terms in the contract to prevent excessive monopolization or restrictions on item quantity.
“If I go independent, even with your help, I’d still have a lot to handle on my own, right?”
Myungwoo said calmly.
“That’s likely. All I could provide is a safe place, materials, funding, and connections to the Hunters who’ll come to me. But if you make a few high-grade items, word will spread quickly. Once you produce something S-rank or higher, you’ll be in control and can operate as you like… though that might be exhausting in itself.”
You’d need the temperament for dealing with famous Hunters lining up and trying to leverage items. If you’re timid, that kind of situation could be incredibly stressful. And if you seem even slightly vulnerable, there are bound to be arrogant, brainless types who’ll try to take advantage.
Maybe I should just tell him to join Haeyeon.
“Just do whatever makes you comfortable.”
He’s been through enough already. I can’t ask him to go through more.
“I honestly didn’t expect to get such a great skill.”
Myungwoo scratched the back of his head.
“But if what you’re saying is true, I could become bigger than a large guild if I just put in the effort, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then there’s nothing to think about. One time of sitting idly at home was enough.”
As he stood up, I felt a pang of guilt. Was he blaming me for not letting him out much? Or was he talking about the time he got kidnapped?
“If something like that happens again. Next time…”
He trailed off and then smiled.
“Want to check out my forge?”
“…What?”
I could check it out?
–TL Notes–
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