WHIRRR!
“Gate detected! It is near Guak Mountain!”
“Guak Mountain? That is fairly far away. What is its stability?”
“Stability…… 31%. It is quite low! On top of that, the fluctuations are rather strong! The monster level is estimated to be at least 50!”
Gate Response Headquarters.
As a subordinate agency of the Awakened Association, it was an organization responsible for detecting and responding to every Gate that appeared in Korea.
There were various methods.
They used Gate Detection Devices made with Mana Stones, received reports from the public, and more.
With that alone, they could discover most Gates.
Once they discovered a Gate.
“This is serious. Raise its priority and report it to the Awakened Association.”
“Yes, sir!”
They reported the Gate’s condition to the Association.
After receiving the report, the Association analyzed the Gate’s level, distance, and other factors, then dispatched suitable Awakened or guilds to the scene.
This was Korea’s most basic Gate response protocol.
“In any case, this is concerning. The Gate occurrence rate has increased significantly.”
“It appears to be a global phenomenon.”
“We are somehow managing to deal with them for now, but it is reaching the point where we are starting to feel a shortage of Awakened.”
“Still, thanks to the recent Standard series, new Awakened are growing stronger quickly. The mortality rate has also gone down.”
“The Standard series?”
“Have you not heard of it? It was made by an Awakened presumed to be Korea’s first. No, the world’s first Blacksmith Awakened…….”
WHIRRR!
“Damn it.”
As the rate of Gate appearances had recently increased.
The staff of Gate Response Headquarters moved even more busily.
That meant the Awakened belonging to the Awakened Association or guilds were surely moving just as busily.
In the middle of that.
“Gate detected! A report has come in that a Gate has formed at a children’s park in Sosol-dong! The monster level is estimated to be at least 10!”
Another new Gate had appeared.
A Gate that had appeared on the outskirts of the city.
Given its location, they thought it would not be too difficult to clear and contacted the Awakened Association.
“There are no Awakened available?”
A problem arose.
Was it because too many Gates had appeared at once?
There were not enough Awakened.
There were new Awakened, but the Gate’s level was awkward.
It was too difficult to send new Awakened, but too wasteful to send skilled Awakened.
Moreover, all the skilled Awakened had already moved out to clear other Gates.
Yet waiting was not an option. The Gate’s stability was low, so the ‘Gate Break’ phenomenon, in which monsters poured out as soon as the Gate opened, might occur.
“There is no helping it.”
With no other choice, they gathered new Awakened.
It was somewhat dangerous, but because of that, they increased the number of Awakened sent.
Still, they had heard that the combat power of new Awakened had recently improved thanks to something called the ‘Standard series.’
They could only hope the Gate would be cleared without incident.
“……Director?”
“Do not tell me there is already a problem.”
“If it is a problem, then it is a problem, but…… well, they say the Gate has already been cleared.”
“Already? Even if we increased their numbers, new Awakened should not have been able to clear the Gate this quickly.”
“That is not it. They say that when the Awakened arrived, the Gate had already been cleared and was in the process of disappearing.”
“……What does that mean?”
An anomaly had occurred.
The Gate had already been cleared.
“What does the Association say?”
“They say the Association does not know anything either. There were no reports from the scene that an Awakened had entered. Most people either ran away or hid, so we have not been able to secure proper testimony…….”
“How strange. Even if someone cleared it, is it possible to clear it this quickly?”
If it had been a lowest-level Gate, he could have understood.
Even so, this was a Gate whose monster level was expected to exceed level 10.
To clear a level 10 Gate, one normally needed a party of Awakened at level 10 or higher.
To clear it alone, one would need to be at least level 15 to 20.
No, even then, it would still be difficult.
To clear it this quickly, one would need to be an agility-type Awakened above level 30.
Could such an Awakened really be roaming around without being registered with the Association or any guild?
There were many points of doubt, but.
“……Well, the Association will handle the details. We will check the next Gate.”
“Yes, sir!”
They had to deal with the Gates appearing everywhere right now.
The director pushed aside his unease and began handling the next matter.
Good news was best accepted as good news.
He could only hope that some kind-hearted Awakened had swiftly cleared the Gate for them.
***
After finishing my outing for the first time in a while.
I arrived home with Serin.
“Serin, please.”
“I will place them on the floor.”
It was sudden, but.
I began checking the spoils Serin had obtained from clearing the Gate.
The first things I saw were ordinary drop items from monsters.
[ Crude Boar Bow ][ Tusk Necklace ]…….
Just by looking at those items, I could tell what kind of monsters had appeared in the Gate Serin had cleared.
“It was a Boar Gate?”
“It was a place with a wide forest terrain where boars appeared. Since I moved through the trees, I was able to move quickly with minimal combat.”
Boars, was it?
I did not know what kind of boars they were, but no matter what kind, they looked like they could crush things like the Slimes or Horned Rabbits that appeared in my hunting ground with one blow.
In other words, the Gate Serin had cleared had been more difficult than my hunting ground.
To clear a place like that so quickly.
“That is amazing.”
“It was thanks to the equipment you made for me, Master.”
The high attack power of my proud SS-grade creation, ‘Ikaya, the Snowbound Tracker,’ must have played a part.
But the truly impressive thing was surely Serin’s own skill.
‘Still, material-type items really do not drop.’
The monsters defeated in my hunting ground all dropped material-type items.
So I had wondered if it might be the same here.
But not a single material-type item had dropped.
On top of that, since Serin had ignored ordinary monsters as much as possible while moving, the number of items obtained was not very high either.
Perhaps she read my thoughts.
“I apologize. I ignored the ordinary boars as much as possible in order to clear it quickly for your safety, Master…….”
Serin apologized, but.
“No, you did well. Seeing this makes it clear. Hunting in my dedicated hunting ground is much better than hunting in a Gate.”
I could tell by looking at the state of the items.
The best item was C-grade.
Its grade was low, and its performance did not look good either.
Even if I listed it on the Exchange, the price would be terrible.
It would be better to disassemble it and extract even a little material, but honestly, even then, I did not think any good material would come out.
No matter how I thought about it, it could not compare to the hunting ground inside my ‘Forge of Time.’
After I newly reevaluated the ‘Blacksmith’s Hunting Ground’ in that way.
I checked the next item.
[ Frenzied Boar’s Tusk ]
“A material?”
I saw an item I had not expected.
A material.
Were material-type items not something that came only from my hunting ground?
When I looked at Serin with that question in mind.
“It is a material I obtained by defeating and butchering the strongest individual. I was in a hurry, so I could only remove the tusk. I apologize.”
This seemed to be the effect of her skill.
‘Butchering.’
This Butchering skill allowed her to obtain more materials than usual even when hunting in my hunting ground.
In addition to that, it seemed to include the ability to obtain monster materials even outside the hunting ground.
“I told you that there is nothing to apologize for. And this is a good material that does not exist even in my hunting ground.”
That was right.
My hunting ground was currently adjusted to the level of monsters suited to my level.
As my level rose, the monster level was rising little by little as well.
Even so, a material of this caliber had not been discovered until now.
Especially since this was not a material from an ordinary monster, but from a boss monster.
No boss monster had appeared in my hunting ground since the ‘Twin-headed Wolf (雙頭狼).’
That made this material feel extremely precious to me.
And the long-awaited final spoils were.
[ Lowest-grade Mana Stone ][ Lowest-grade Mana Stone ]…….
These.
Something I could not obtain from my hunting ground.
The most essential element for raising the level of my ‘Forge of Time.’
Mana Stones.
In truth, since she had cleared a Gate, it was only natural that Mana Stones had appeared.
But since I had only acted inside the ‘Forge of Time’ until now and had never experienced a Gate even once.
It was only natural for me to be surprised, since this was the first time I had obtained Mana Stones directly.
Well, in truth, I had only watched from outside while Serin had cleared it alone, so it was ambiguous to say that I had obtained them directly.
In any case, what mattered right now was.
“A Low-grade Mana Stone!”
What Serin had brought was not only Lowest-grade Mana Stones.
[ Low-grade Mana Stone ]
A Mana Stone far more valuable than a Lowest-grade Mana Stone.
A Low-grade Mana Stone had appeared.
Even when I searched the Exchange right away, the market price of a Low-grade Mana Stone was roughly ten million won.
That was a price ten times greater than a Lowest-grade Mana Stone.
The profit she had earned by clearing a single Gate in an instant was tremendous.
Well, when I thought about it, the amount made sense.
Originally, Awakened would form a party, risk their lives to clear a Gate, and then divide all these profits among the party members.
But thanks to Serin, I had monopolized all those rewards.
After briefly wondering what to do with them.
“Ember, the materials needed for the next enhancement of the ‘Forge of Time’ are sixteen Lowest-grade Mana Stones, right?”
That is correct.
Sixteen Lowest-grade Mana Stones.
Or it is also possible to use one Low-grade Mana Stone and six Lowest-grade Mana Stones.
“Good.”
I decided to use them to enhance my ability.
The ‘Forge of Time.’
Even if I sold them, I would need them again later anyway.
Since I had obtained Mana Stones, I planned to use them immediately.
“Does the order matter?”
At present, it does not matter.
You may freely choose whichever tool or area you want.
The important thing was what I would enhance.
Until now, I had enhanced three things in total.
By raising the ‘Forge of Time’ to level 3, I had obtained various unlocked areas.
By raising the ‘Blacksmith’s Hammer’ to level 2, I had obtained ‘Special Crafting.’
By raising the ‘Blacksmith’s Anvil’ to level 2, I had obtained additional Codex entries.
That was not all.
There were also elements like my ‘Blacksmith’s Bag,’ which were still level 1 and had not yet been enhanced.
As I wondered which of these elements I should enhance.
“Forge of Time.”
The moment I finished deciding.
RUMBLE—.
I entered the forge.
After that, the place I moved to with Serin was.
[ Blacksmith’s Assistant Waiting Room ]
The assistant waiting room.
And at the center of this empty space, there was only one thing.
[ Blacksmith’s Summoning Pedestal Lv 1 ]
The Summoning Pedestal.
“Ember, if I raise the level of the Summoning Pedestal, I can summon an additional assistant, right?”
That is correct.
That was right.
What I had chosen was this Summoning Pedestal.
Enhancing other elements would have been good too, but the thing I had felt most strongly while enhancing things so far was still the assistant summoning.
In other words, Serin’s power.
Thanks to her, I could gain experience and materials while sitting still. On top of that, she even handled my protection outside.
If a new assistant was summoned through assistant summoning.
No matter what kind of assistant was summoned, I felt they would be a great help.
That was why.
[ Would you like to raise the level of ‘Blacksmith’s Summoning Pedestal Lv 1’? ][ Y / N ]
“Yes!”
I decided to raise the Summoning Pedestal’s level.
The moment I pressed the confirmation button, the Low-grade Mana Stone and Lowest-grade Mana Stones Serin had obtained.
As well as the Mana Stones I had purchased additionally because I was short, all disappeared.
[ Blacksmith’s Summoning Pedestal has become Lv 2. ][ You can summon an additional new assistant. ]
The Summoning Pedestal’s level rose.
Its appearance changed as well. The magic-circle-like pattern originally drawn on the Summoning Pedestal had become larger and more geometric.
Well, I did not really understand that part.
The moment the Summoning Pedestal’s level rose.
In order to summon a new assistant.
[ Configuring the Summoning Circle to call forth a ‘Blacksmith’s Assistant’. ][ The assistant’s grade will be determined according to the evaluation grade. ]
CLANG!
I swung the hammer I had brought in advance toward the Summoning Pedestal with all my strength.