Kei walked down the stairs with Sora, and the moment he saw the person standing in front of the counter, he was taken aback.
"This is... Ular, is that you?"
The tall man turned around. After a brief moment of surprise, he gave Kei and Sora, who were standing behind the counter, an open smile.
"Long time no see, Kei."
It turned out that the owner of the broken space ring was none other than Ular. That made sense, if he were a new customer, Ms. Kim certainly wouldn’t have accepted an order beyond buying and selling items.
Ular belonged to the Black Rose Guild, a rank D hunter Kei had run into a few times before. He had a sturdy build and a straightforward personality, and every time he spoke, it felt like there was nothing in the world that could trouble him for too long.
Ular rested both hands on the counter and recounted with a chuckle:
"It was an unlucky day. We were training in the Dungeon when a group of monsters ambushed us. I managed to dodge most of the attacks, but the last one hit me right where the ring was."
He pointed at his finger.
"The ring shattered on the spot. I even thought everything inside had vanished along with it."
"You didn’t know it was broken?"
Sora asked curiously.
"I did. But there was no way to fix it. Every Craftsman I could find said the space stone had shattered completely and couldn’t be restored, and they didn’t have the skill to do it either."
Ular shrugged.
"So when I heard the shop owner say someone had taken the job, I didn’t dare get my hopes up too high. As long as I didn’t have to throw the ring away entirely, that was enough."
He was just a newcomer hunter, and no matter what he tried, he couldn’t find a Craftsman willing to repair a ring for a rank D hunter like him.
Kei said nothing, simply picking up the box on the counter and opening the lid.
The space ring lay still inside, its silver frame newly polished and gleaming, with neatly interwoven magic patterns across the surface. The space stone at the center also gave off a faint glow, no longer bearing the terrifying cracks it once had.
Kei held the ring out toward Ular.
"Here’s yours. Go ahead and check it."
Ular took the ring, his expression still fairly calm at first. But the moment he put it on his finger, his face changed instantly.
A stream of energy entered the storage space, and Ular hurriedly checked each item one by one.
Recovery potions, materials gathered from the Dungeon, spare weapons, a few valuable items, and even the personal belongings he usually carried.
Everything was still there.
After a moment, Ular let out a relieved sigh, his smile growing brighter.
"Thank goodness. Didn’t lose too much."
Sora blinked.
"Didn’t lose too much? So that means some things were still lost, right?"
"Ah, a few small items probably got destroyed when the ring collapsed. But the important stuff is all intact, so that’s more than good enough."
Ular looked at the ring on his hand, his eyes full of astonishment.
"Unbelievable. Not only did you fix the ring’s frame, even the space inside has been restored."
"It wasn’t restored."
Kei said calmly.
"I replaced the old space with a new one, then moved the remaining items inside."
Ular was silent for a few seconds.
"You... did that? Didn’t Ms. Kim say when she took the order that the ring would be sent to a skilled Craftsman?"
"Yeah. We were originally going to send it to Thunder’s shop, but he turned down the job because he was too busy, and the other Craftsmen there weren’t confident they could fix the ring, so..."
Kei nodded.
"I fixed this ring."
Ular looked at Kei, then at the ring, then back at Kei with an utterly incredulous expression. His face shifted constantly, as if he still couldn’t believe what he had just heard.
"You fixed it?"
Sora, standing nearby, quickly chimed in:
"Don’t look at him like that. Kei really did fix it himself, I witnessed all of it with my own eyes."
"But..."
Ular pointed at the ring.
"This is a rank F space ring. Even though it’s not a particularly high-tier item,""Replacing the interior space is still not something an ordinary Craftsman can do."
Kei lowered his head slightly.
"I was just lucky, I nearly failed, Ular-nim."
Ular burst out laughing.
"You fixed a ring that everyone thought was beyond saving, and you call that luck? If so, I’ll have to pray to the goddess of fortune every time I step into a dungeon."
Kei didn’t know how to respond, so he could only silently look down at the counter. Kei wasn’t very good at communicating in a way that convinced others to trust him.
After a moment, he finally spoke.
"Actually... I’m a Craftsman who just awakened."
Ular immediately stopped laughing and looked at Kei with a puzzled expression.
"You already told me this, didn’t you? I have no problem at all with your awakening."
"No, what I mean is..."
Kei hesitated for a moment.
"That ring of yours is the first item I used to test my skills. So, I won’t charge you for the repair. I feel really embarrassed for using your item as an experiment."
Ular stared at him in astonishment.
"Your first item?"
"Yeah."
"Are you being serious?"
Kei nodded.
Ular suddenly threw his head back and laughed loudly. The laughter echoed throughout the first floor, making Sora unable to hold back a goofy chuckle as well.
"Ha ha ha! Then your future is definitely worth looking forward to! I’m glad to be the first test subject of Kei-nim!"
Ular slapped Kei hard on the shoulder, causing him to stagger a step from the force, but he didn’t get angry.
"Once you craft your first item, I’ll definitely come and support you. If it’s something useful, I’ll buy that first item!"
"You don’t have to do that."
Kei said softly.
"Don’t be so modest."
Ular crossed his arms over his chest, wearing a serious expression like he was declaring something extremely important.
"This is my promise. A new Craftsman needs the first person to believe in them, right?"
Kei looked up.
Ular wasn’t speaking in a pitying tone. He wasn’t trying to comfort Kei either. It was simply a straightforward and sincere promise. This was a stranger choosing to believe that Kei’s future would turn out well, even though Kei himself still didn’t dare believe it.
"Thank you."
Kei said.
Then, he smiled.
The smile was very faint, but this time it didn’t disappear right away. Perhaps because the joy came so suddenly, Kei forgot to hide it.
Sora stood beside him, quietly watching Kei.
It had been a long time since she’d seen him smile so freely. Not the forced smile used to respond to others’ words, nor the calm expression he struggled to maintain.
This time, Kei was genuinely happy.
Sora slowly took out her phone, raised it to chest level, and secretly took a photo.
Click.
The sound was very soft, but Kei still turned his head.
"Sora?"
"It’s nothing."
Sora quickly lowered her phone, looking innocent in a way that was almost suspicious. Kei looked at her for a moment but ultimately didn’t ask further.
Sora lowered her head, opened her Album, and looked at the photo she’d just taken.
In the photo, Kei was standing behind the counter, the twilight from the window casting light on his slightly gaunt face. His eyes still held traces of fatigue, but the corners of his lips were clearly curved upward.
Sora smiled and saved the photo to her Album.
She was certain that Kei’s future would be far better than the present, because he had started smiling again.
And someone who could smile after going through so much would surely never be held back by the past forever.