The first weapon crafted since awakening as a Blacksmith.
The crafting process was more fun than I thought, so I did not even realize how much time had passed.
It also felt like I actually finished quite quickly.
With a tense expression, I carefully checked the item information of the Standard Dagger.
[ Standard Dagger ]
Type: Dagger
Rank: A
Restrictions: Level 1 or higher
Description: A standard dagger created by smelting lowest-grade iron ingots.
Attack Power: 21
Abilities: Sharpness Lv 1, Penetration Lv 1
An A-rank dagger.
Honestly, I was not satisfied.
If it was A-rank, one could say it was quite a high rank, but did I not used to be the greatest Blacksmith of Final Gate?
To receive an A-rank evaluation for crafting a dagger, which could be considered the most basic of the basics.
It could not be helped that I felt regretful.
Well, since this was not a game right now.
Even if it felt natural, considering my still inexperienced first hammering and low stats, it was probably inevitable.
However.
-...You are amazing.
That did not seem to be Ember's thought.
"Was it okay?"
-It is not just at the level of being okay.
-No matter if it is the Forge of Time, the level of crafted goods is ultimately determined by the Blacksmith's skills.
-Jang Gang-cheol, you have just become the master of the forge, and this must have definitely been your first time crafting.
-Yet you have created an A-rank weapon.
"Still, there are three more ranks above it, right?"
-For ordinary people, it would be F to E rank on their first try. Even if they had talent, D to C rank would have been their limit.
-Considering that, Jang Gang-cheol, who created an A-rank weapon... I judge that you possess a truly exceptional talent.
Honestly, it did not really hit home.
At best, it was a standard dagger, so was it not natural to get at least an A-rank?
Because even when I first crafted an item in Final Gate, it surpassed A-rank.
Anyway, that was that.
"Around how much will this sell for?"
This was the core.
The core of a Blacksmith was crafting and selling equipment.
To do that, I needed to know how much this weapon was worth.
But I had no way of knowing that.
I asked Ember just in case, but...
-I apologize.
-The prices of crafted goods are so fluid that it is difficult for me to judge.
Even Ember could not answer this one thing.
Instead.
-However, if you are planning to sell your crafted goods, I recommend the 'Awakened Exchange'.
"Right. The Awakened Exchange!"
She told me a method.
The Awakened Exchange.
I had heard of it.
It was a function exclusively for the Awakened, a function that the Awakened could use when buying and selling goods.
Sure enough, when I called out the name of the exchange.
[ Welcome to the Exchange. ]
A system window popped up before my eyes.
Before the exchange fully appeared in earnest.
First.
[ Please set a nickname to use in the Exchange. ]
It was time to create a nickname.
Well, since I already knew this much beforehand.
Without much deliberation.
"Steel Hammer."
[ Entering the Exchange with the nickname 'Steel Hammer'. ]
I used the nickname I used in Final Gate just as it was.
Along with it, items popped up.
[ Lich's Staff ]
[ Demon's Trident ]
[ Giant's Club ]
[ Manticore Tail Belt ]
.......
"Wow..."
For me, it could not help but feel mystical.
When I tapped an entry with my finger, the information and price of the respective item popped up.
However, those prices were on a level that exceeded my imagination.
Just taking the Lich's Staff that appeared at the very top right away.
"Crazy, 1 billion won?"
1 billion.
With that much, I thought it was money I could use to buy not just the studio apartment I lived in... but this entire building.
To think just a single weapon would be priced like that.
The problem was that it was not the most expensive item.
Because just by searching a little bit right now, I could immediately see items exceeding 10 billion won.
"Is this my future!"
I briefly had such a delusion, but...
The items I needed to check right now were not those kinds of items.
When I reduced the entries to daggers that could be used at level 1 by using the exchange's filter function, the price range dropped drastically.
Even though they were level 1 daggers, there were quite a lot of daggers, and among them, the most commonly seen standard dagger was...
[ Goblin Edge ]
Type: Dagger
Rank: C
Restrictions: Level 1 or higher
Description: An edge used by goblins. It is unknown how it was made, but its original quality was not good, and it has been handled so roughly that it seems it can no longer even be called a dagger.
Attack Power: 12
Abilities: Paralysis Lv 1
It was this.
A C-rank dagger.
To begin with, it was extremely difficult to find good items on the market among level 1 weapons.
If limited to daggers among those, this Goblin Edge was the best weapon for now.
Looking at such a Goblin Edge...
"The attack power is almost twice as different."
It was at the level of half the attack power of the weapon I crafted.
A value that naturally brought the word 'cheap' to mind.
The problem was.
"Something like this costs 100,000 won?"
Goblin Edge.
This kind of weapon, which looked like it would snap off with a thud if stabbed hard, was a whopping 100,000 won.
In contrast, my weapon was A-rank.
Even if it was standard, the weapon I made looked much better.
It was not just that it looked that way on the surface, but the attack power was at double the level.
"Then it should be fine to put mine up for 200,000 won, right?"
Since the attack power was double, the price should be double.
No, thinking about it, this was not right.
While the Goblin Edge only had one weak ability called 'Paralysis' attached to it.
Did my dagger not have high-quality abilities like 'Sharpness' and 'Penetration' attached to it?
Therefore.
"I do not know. Let us just put it up for now!"
[ You have registered the Standard Dagger (A) on the Exchange. ]
Three times the price of the Goblin Edge.
I put it up for 300,000 won.
Honestly, this seemed cheap too, but it was my first work.
Also, partly to get used to the market prices of the Awakened Exchange, I put it up like this for now.
"How long did it take to make this? Not even an hour should have passed at most. If this sells, it is seriously a sweet deal, no?"
If it did not sell, I could just lower it to 200,000 won.
Even 200,000 won was a sufficiently large sum of money.
If it sold well, I could just raise the price more accordingly.
Thinking so, I was smiling broadly and about to start the next task when...
[ The 'Standard Dagger (A)' has been sold. ]
"...Huh?"
A system message popped up before my eyes stating that the Standard Dagger, which had not even been on the exchange for a minute, had been sold.
"No, it broke again?"
Kim Min-su, a novice Awakened whose awakening was just approaching its first week.
He despaired as he looked at the miserably broken 'Goblin Edge'.
"They say the most troublesome thing when you become an Awakened is equipment, and those words are spot on."
It was enjoyable only up until he awakened.
However, what came after was the problem.
Since he had awakened, he had to hunt monsters and gather mana stones.
To catch monsters, he needed equipment.
Even looking around the exchange, there was too little equipment worth using.
"And the good ones are too expensive."
He absolutely could not afford those kinds of equipment that exceeded millions of won despite being level 1 equipment.
Yet, using the Goblin Edge again, neither its attack power nor its durability was to his liking.
Still, what else could he do?
Since he needed a weapon to hunt monsters.
"Haa..."
[ Welcome to the Exchange. ]
With a sigh, he entered the exchange.
Subsequently, when he set the filter to level 1 daggers.
A weapon he had never seen before entered his line of sight.
"Standard Dagger?"
An incredibly plain-sounding name.
However, the name of the item he checked by tapping on it himself was definitely not to be taken lightly.
"The attack power is 21?"
Double that of the Goblin Edge.
That was not all.
Rather than something like 'Paralysis', which was of no help in hunting since the probability of paralyzing was not even 10%, it was an A-rank weapon with proper abilities like 'Sharpness' and 'Penetration' attached to it.
But the price?
"300,000!"
It was only three times that of the Goblin Edge.
"I cannot hold back on this!"
[ You have purchased the 'Standard Dagger (A)'. ]
He bought the Standard Dagger immediately.
The money was paid right away through the system, and the weapon was transferred in front of him.
"Uwoooh!"
Standard Dagger.
Honestly, its appearance looked incredibly ordinary.
Just like its name 'Standard Dagger', superficially, it looked like an ordinary dagger with nothing particularly special about it.
However, even just that was something to be immensely grateful for.
Because the weapons he had used so far were...
No, because it was actually the Goblin Edge that had snapped off with a thud just a little while ago.
"Should I try using it right away!"
Excited, he set off on a hunt.
The destination was the 'Goblin's Forest'.
It had already been cleared, but it was a gate that the government left intact without destroying for the sake of novice Awakened.
Upon entering there, it was not long before he could encounter a goblin.
Even though goblins were enemies he normally had to land direct hits on at least two or three times...
STAB!
"Kiek."
That kind of goblin...
"It got taken down in one hit!?"
At Kim Min-su's attack.
At the Standard Dagger, it fell in a single strike.
"Crazy, this is it! Goblins, just you wait! I will slaughter you all today! From today onwards, I am the Goblin Slayer! Kuahahahat!"
With that, Kim Min-su praised the Standard Dagger held in his hand, and...
[ Your level has risen. ]
He literally began to slaughter the goblins.
"This already sold?"
How long had it been since I put the Standard Dagger up?
There was no need to ponder.
Because let alone an hour, not even a minute had passed.
"Did I perhaps put it up too cheaply?"
Thinking about the attack power, it did not seem like that was the case either.
I wondered what was going on.
"Then should I try putting it up for more this time?"
To verify, there was no other way but to try putting up items.
Immediately, I picked up a few pieces of iron ore from the corner of the forge, placed them on the anvil, and...
[ You have successfully disassembled the iron ore. ]
[ A lowest-grade iron ingot has been created. ]
This time, I produced multiple iron ingots.
Partly to get a feel for the hammering.
Partly to revive memories of Final Gate.
I decided to try making a variety of items I could craft.
Well, even if I said a variety, since I could only make normal index items, only the weapon types changed behind the name 'Standard'.
Like that.
[ Crafting complete. ]
[ Crafting Evaluation: A ]
[ You have acquired a 'Standard Longsword'. ]
I made a longsword.
[ Crafting complete. ]
[ Crafting Evaluation: A ]
[ You have acquired a 'Standard Short Spear'. ]
I made a short spear.
In that manner, I began to make the weapons on the list one by one.
I unfailingly put the crafted weapons up on the exchange.
While raising the prices little by little as well.
Since I put them up without much worry, figuring I could just lower the prices and put them back up if they did not sell...
[ The 'Standard Longsword (A)' has been sold. ]
It was strange.
I definitely raised the price more.
[ The 'Standard Short Spear (A)' has been sold. ]
Even if I raised the price.
[ The 'Standard Bow (A)' has been sold. ]
Even if I raised the price more.
[ The 'Standard Dagger (A)' has been sold. ]
Items continued to sell.