CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!
Today as well, I swung my hammer forcefully.
When I ran out of iron ingots, I went into the mine and swung my pickaxe.
When I ran out of wood, I went into the forest and swung my axe.
When I ran out of fiber, I pulled up grass from the forest.
Because I was listing the items made in that manner on the Exchange.
[ The 'Standard Iron Armor' has been sold. ] [ The 'Standard Longsword' has been sold. ] [ The 'Lowest-grade Wooden Helmet' has been sold. ] …….
“Hehehe.”
Money naturally piled up in my account.
Even excluding the money spent on buying Lowest-grade Mana Stones, the money already in my bank account was well over ten million won.
To earn this much money in just a few days.
If things continue like this, would it not be easy to surpass one hundred million in a month?
Estimating conservatively at one hundred million a month, that would be at least one billion or more in a year.
To become an Awakened with an annual income exceeding a whopping one billion won!
“Hehehehehe.”
Thinking that way, hammering was not exhausting at all.
As I was swinging the hammer like that, perhaps it was already mealtime.
GRUMBLE.
My biological clock rang loudly.
I could go out and buy a proper meal, but right now every second was precious.
How much money could I make by swinging my hammer in the time it takes to walk around outside?
Well, even if that were not the case, the act of hammering itself was inherently fun.
“Ember, is there anything you want to eat?”
-I have been eating gratefully, but I am an entity that does not require meals.
-You do not need to concern yourself. “Are you sure you do not need it?”
-……If so, what you gave me last time. “You mean toast, right? Okay.”
Does generosity come from the storehouse?
As the number of digits in my account grew, I was now even taking care of Ember's meals.
It would have been a dream for the me of the past.
While ordering and eating my meal like that, I looked at the Exchange.
“Wow, everything sold out already.”
I could see that the items I listed were sold out.
That was not all.
The Standard series listed on the Exchange by others.
Second-hand goods, which I assumed were people buying my equipment, using it, and then reselling it when they leveled up, were also selling out as soon as they were listed on the Exchange.
Seeing this, I naturally entered the Awakened Community.
Sure enough.
[ What is up with the Standard series? ] Seriously crazy lol. The weapons are strong enough to one-shot a Goblin, and the armor is solid enough to ignore a Goblin. The price is a bit high, but it is better to buy this than to buy a cheap weapon, have it break after a few uses, and buy it again while risking your life. Plus, it is so durable that even if you max out your level and resell it on the Exchange, you can guarantee the cost price ㅇㅇ
-Level 1s these days are having it way too easy
-Back in my day, I leveled up by risking my life with a Goblin Edge at level 1, I tell you
-This is why low levels these days are weak. Growing while having it easy with good items
-Old men, just say you are jealous if you are jealous
-I am jealous ㅠㅠ If there was something like that back in my day, I would have bought it too ㅠㅠㅠ
[ Breaking News! ] The Awakened Association is purchasing all of the 'Standard series'. I heard it is to lend them out to level 1 Awakened who received Awakened certification to increase their survival rate.
-Wow, they even lend that out?
-Level 1s these days really have it easy lol
-Yay
-But what even is that? Where did something like that suddenly come from?
-Exactly, that is what is fascinating. Just what monster drops the Standard series? It feels like someone monopolized an exclusive Gate and is farming items
-In the first place, is that really dropped by monsters?
-What do you mean by that? It is obvious that monsters drop equipment.
-Even if a monster drops it, does it make sense for this many to be released?
As expected, the Awakened Community was also full of talk related to my equipment.
However, as I read those posts.
I started to see a problem.
“Making it too sturdy is also a problem.”
The number of level 1 Awakened is limited.
Although Awakened continue to emerge, the better the equipment I make, the faster their levels will rise.
No matter how good my equipment is, once they level up, it is inevitably more advantageous to wear higher-level equipment.
Are those who leveled up like that not even reselling the equipment they bought from me?
Moreover.
“Renting them out?”
The Awakened Association was also a problem.
To think they were buying my equipment and renting it out to level 1 Awakened.
Then what was I supposed to eat and live on?
It was troublesome.
This was really troublesome.
And, there was only one way to solve this problem.
“Level 2.”
Level 2 equipment. No, to go beyond that and make even higher-level equipment.
The problem was.
“No, even so, I hate going out and hunting monsters…….”
In order to level up, I had to hunt monsters.
Of course, I was confident.
Especially holding a well-made S-rank weapon.
If I equipped myself entirely with S-rank armor, ordinary monsters would not be a match for me.
No matter how many poison darts a Goblin shot, it would not be able to pierce my armor.
If I swung an S-rank weapon, I would be able to cut down something like a Goblin in a single strike.
Even without abilities helpful in combat, I could hunt safely enough.
However.
“Do I have to continue facing monsters in the future?”
This was a bit troublesome.
Because one of the reasons I chose Blacksmith in Final Gate, and wanted to become a Blacksmith in reality as well, was because I was reluctant to engage in combat.
As I was agonizing over this.
Today as well, my personal troubleshooter gave me the answer.
-If you are worried about leveling up, you can use the exclusive hunting ground provided in the forge. “An exclusive hunting ground? There is such a thing?”
-It is a newly unlocked area that opens when you raise the level of the forge.
A newly unlocked area.
As soon as I heard those words, I placed my hand on the wall of the forge and checked.
[ Newly Unlocked Areas of 'Forge of Time Lv 3' ] [ 1. Blacksmith's Hunting Ground ] [ 2. Blacksmith's Assistant Waiting Room ]
It was really there.
The unlocked area I wanted.
“It is really there? A hunting ground.”
The Blacksmith's Hunting Ground.
I did not know much about it, but according to Ember, it seemed that even a Blacksmith like me could comfortably level up there.
The next item, the Assistant Waiting Room, was…… honestly, I had no idea.
What kind of space that was.
An Assistant Waiting Room when I did not even have an assistant.
Was it perhaps a function where I could hire an assistant from outside and bring them inside?
Whatever it was, it did not matter.
The function I needed right now was the hunting ground, not the Assistant Waiting Room.
If there was a problem.
“Ember, then the number of Mana Stones needed is…….”
-It is eight Lowest-grade Mana Stones. “I thought so.”
It was Mana Stones.
As I expected, the number of Mana Stones required doubled every time the level of an object in the forge was raised.
So, the number of Lowest-grade Mana Stones needed this time was eight.
In terms of money, it was a whopping eight million won.
It was a huge sum of money, but…….
[ You have purchased a Lowest-grade Mana Stone. ]
Eight million won was less than half of the money I had right now.
If I was thinking of growing anyway, investing quickly and advancing quickly was the right answer.
Thinking that way.
[ You have purchased a Lowest-grade Mana Stone. ]
I immediately purchased eight Lowest-grade Mana Stones from the Exchange.
Eight million won.
It was an amount the me from a few days ago could not have even dreamed of.
Well, the real problem was what came after this.
I could somehow handle eight million won, but the next sixteen million won.
I wondered how I would handle the thirty-two million won after that.
I only hoped that the weapons I produced would sell for even more through the upgrades.
Thinking that way.
[ Would you like to raise the level of 'Forge of Time Lv 2'? ] [ Y / N ]
“Yes!”
I raised the level of the forge.
The eight Lowest-grade Mana Stones scattered instantly.
RUMBLE-.
At the same time, a tremor occurred, just like when the forge reached level 2.
Still, since it was the second time, I was not as surprised this time.
Calmly looking around, changes had occurred in two places.
The first change was the entrance leading to the mine.
Seeing the light leaking from inside.
“That is it.”
I could easily guess.
That the 'Blacksmith's Hunting Ground' had been created inside there.
And one more thing.
The wall on the opposite side collapsed, and another door appeared.
A rather ordinary-looking wooden door.
Perhaps that was the 'Blacksmith's Assistant Waiting Room'.
Not long after that.
[ The Forge of Time has become Lv 3. ] [ New spaces have been unlocked. ] [ 1. Blacksmith's Hunting Ground ] [ 2. Blacksmith's Assistant Waiting Room ]
The leveling up of the forge was completed.
I immediately moved, seeking out the hunting ground first.
Sure enough, just as I expected.
When I entered the left passageway, besides the two paths leading to the mine and the forest, one more path had opened up.
This was exactly the Blacksmith's Hunting Ground!
I wanted to go in quickly, but.
“You never know. I should be careful.”
There was also a saying, 'More haste, less speed'.
Returning to the forge, I crafted and put on the 'Standard Iron Armor Set', which I had become quite accustomed to.
Even then, I handed over everything that received an A-rank evaluation to the Exchange and chose to wear only those that received an S-rank evaluation.
My footsteps slowed down because the weight was quite heavy, but it did not matter.
Because what was important right now was not movement speed, but defense.
Even if I were to enter the hunting ground and get ambushed, I would be able to withstand it quite well with this.
“Phew.”
I also picked up a weapon just in case.
I thought about safely holding a Standard Longsword.
But when I held and swung it, it did not fit my hand well, so I newly made a weapon that fit my hand the best.
Its identity was, naturally.
[ Standard One-handed Hammer ] Form: Hammer Rank: S Restriction: Level 1 or higher Description: A one-handed hammer for combat made using suitable wood and iron ingots. Attack Power: 27 Abilities: Smite Lv 1, Stun Lv 1
A hammer.
Not only this, but I even held a shield to block potential enemy attacks.
Fully armed with level 1 S-rank weapons.
With this much, it was doable.
Since they called it a hunting ground, some kind of monster would pop out, but with this equipment, I was confident.
After all, had I not seen it on the Awakened Community?
The reviews saying my armor perfectly blocked a Goblin's attack.
And my weapon sent a Goblin away in one hit.
Believing in this.
STEP.
I stepped into the hunting ground.
And what I saw.
“Oh?”
Was a rather wide plain.
Also.
“A Slime?”
I immediately saw a monster.
The first thing I saw was a Slime.
It was a monster known to be the weakest even among monsters.
Besides that, I saw quite a variety of monsters, but.
“A Horned Rabbit, a Giant Field Mouse…… They are all lowest-grade monsters, are they not?”
They were all monsters universally known to be weak.
Those were monsters even weaker than the Goblin, which was known to be weak, so that said it all.
“If it is at this level……!”
Looking at such monsters, I inexplicably gained confidence.
I had said I disliked combat, but it was a confidence that I could probably handle this much.
At that, I cautiously approached.
“Hiyah!”
And swung my hammer at the Slime.
Then.
Making my worries seem pointless.
SPLAT.
The Slime struck by the hammer.
“Kuuu-.”
Let out a pathetic sound.
“……Finished?”
And shriveled up like a deflated balloon.