Several days after the Placement Exam ended,
Shin-hyeok’s name appeared in the media every single day.
[Shinhwa’s Rising Star Writes a New Myth!]
[The Story of How I, Called a Useless Jack-of-All-Trades, Was Actually a Hidden Powerhouse Capable of Taking First in the Placement Exam]
[Choi Shin-hyeok: Let’s Look Back at His Three Years of High School!]
They went further and took an interest in Shin-hyeok’s past.
There had to be a process behind everything.
If they could learn even a little about the process that had created someone like Shin-hyeok, a second Shin-hyeok might be born.
It was only natural that they would be interested.
‘It is pointless.’
But to Shin-hyeok, who knew all of it was futile, it looked like nothing more than wasted effort.
“Shin-hyeok, what are you thinking about?”
“Nothing. I was just spacing out for a moment. We are almost at Cheonggyecheon. Shall we get off?”
“Yeah!”
Su-a’s voice, dressed in casual clothes beside him, brought Shin-hyeok out of his thoughts.
The two of them had come to Cheonggyecheon.
With its gently flowing water, Cheonggyecheon had once been famous as a date spot for countless couples.
But that was only before the Dimension Arena opened.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
“Come on in!”
“Our Workshop’s weapons are the best!”
“No? Our Workshop’s weapons are the best!”
“Take a look at these shields! They were made by Artisan Hwang Chil-deuk!”
Cheonggyecheon was incredibly lively.
Workshops set up everywhere.
The sounds of hammering coming from those Workshops.
And finally, the fierce battle to sell the items made in the Workshops.
“It is an interesting place, right?”
“Yeah, it is.”
“So, you said we came here today to find an Artisan?”
“Yeah, well...... Not an Artisan, exactly.”
“......?”
Su-a had been watching the fierce competition with interest.
But at Shin-hyeok’s incomprehensible words, she tilted her head.
Shin-hyeok did not bother to explain.
Left knowing nothing, Su-a followed Shin-hyeok and began feeling increasingly strange.
“Why are we going somewhere so secluded?”
It was because Shin-hyeok was heading not toward the outer area, where many Artisans were gathered, but toward the dark and damp central area.
Shin-hyeok shrugged as he walked ahead.
“Because the aspiring Artisan I am looking for is here.”
“An aspiring Artisan? They are not an Artisan?”
“They will become an Artisan later, so is that not the same thing?”
“......Shin-hyeok, did you not make a promise to the Chairman? You said you would show results! How are you planning to keep that promise if you bring in an aspiring Artisan?”
Now that Su-a understood what Shin-hyeok intended, she flapped about like a penguin while scolding him.
‘It feels unfamiliar. Having someone worry about me.’
Su-a’s concern.
Shin-hyeok knew it was sincere, so he smiled warmly and reassured her.
“Do not worry. The person we are going to meet is only an aspiring Artisan for now, but they will become a Master Artisan who surpasses Artisans.”
“A Master Artisan? What is that?”
“Ah, it has not become known yet. Just think of it as an item grade. If an ordinary Artisan is Normal Grade, a Master Artisan is Rare Grade.”
“Ah, I see. But how do you know something like—”
“Here we are. Shall we go meet today’s main character now?”
Shin-hyeok had no intention of going out of his way to hide that he was a regressor.
But he did not think now was the time to reveal it.
So he quickly changed the subject.
Su-a puffed out her cheeks and protested at Shin-hyeok’s refusal to explain.
But only briefly.
“It is here.”
“......There is really someone here who will become the Master Artisan you mentioned?”
The sight before her made Su-a unable to hide her shock.
“This is not even a Workshop. It is practically a shack!”
The Workshop in front of them was as shabby as a shack.
Holes were scattered across its roof, and its half-broken door had lost any recognizable shape.
To Su-a, who came from an ordinary household, the very fact that someone lived in a place like this was astonishing.
But Shin-hyeok did not care.
He entered the shabby Workshop.
“Light.”
FWOOOSH!
[Skill: Light acquired.]
[The number of Skills needed to acquire Basic Magic is insufficient.]
A sphere of light from Shin-hyeok brightly illuminated the Workshop, which had been pitch-black because there was not even a lamp.
As Su-a opened her mouth in admiration at the sight, like a ray of light in a filthy world—
“......Who are you? This is my home.”
“Ah, ah! I-I am sorry! I should have introduced myself sooner. I am Han Su-a, and this boy here is Choi Shin-hyeok.”
A shabby man with streaks of grime running down his face appeared.
Startled, Su-a immediately began rambling off introductions for herself and Shin-hyeok.
The man gave a bitter smile.
“You are a fine-looking young man and woman. You do not seem like people who belong in a place like this, so please return home.”
Unlike the man’s shabby appearance, Su-a and Shin-hyeok looked as though they belonged outside, spreading light wherever they went.
The man acted like a vampire exposed to the light.
Shin-hyeok walked toward him.
“No. I came here to take you with me, Mr. Bang Se-jin.”
“......You know me?”
The disheveled man, Bang Se-jin, could not hide his confusion at Shin-hyeok, who seemed to know him.
Then his expression hardened.
“I know you very well. You joined the Workshop affiliated with our Shinhwa Guild, then lost its internal power struggle and were expelled. As if that was not enough, their connections made it difficult for you to even hold a hammer properly.”
“......Our? Ah, come to think of it, you do look familiar. Are you not Choi Shin-hyeok, the third-generation chaebol of the great Shinhwa Group?”
Se-jin had been thrown out of the Workshop affiliated with the Shinhwa Guild, which belonged to Shin-hyeok’s own family.
And once he was expelled, he could no longer gain a foothold in the blacksmithing world.
Shinhwa Guild—and, by extension, Shinhwa Group—had been behind all of it.
It was only natural that Se-jin displayed such a sharp reaction toward Shin-hyeok.
Shin-hyeok calmly looked at Se-jin’s sarcasm.
“Mr. Bang Se-jin.”
“......What? Do you think I will surrender if you stare at me like that?”
“No. I think you are misunderstanding something.”
“......?”
At the words that he was misunderstanding something, Se-jin tilted his head.
Shin-hyeok slowly began to explain.
“Had you ever heard my name before the Placement Exam? Had you ever seen my face in the media?”
“Uh......”
“You would not have. Because I am the eldest son of the child Shinhwa Group cast aside.”
“The cast-aside child......?”
After hearing Shin-hyeok’s explanation, Se-jin became as courteous as he had been when they first met.
As Shin-hyeok had said, Se-jin had never heard of him before the Placement Exam ended.
Knowing Se-jin was ready to talk again, Shin-hyeok began persuading him in earnest.
“Yes. For three years at Player High School, my expected Tier was Bronze. I was called the Useless Jack-of-All-Trades and ignored by every student. Su-a, my friend here, will vouch for that.”
“Yes! Shin-hyeok is kind and diligent, but he was a useless jack-of-all-trades, so he was called the Useless Jack-of-All-Trades.”
“......In any case, that is correct. I have lived a life largely unrelated to Shinhwa Group. So your anger should not be directed at me.”
At Su-a’s innocent confirmation of his pathetic past, Shin-hyeok cleared his throat.
But he did not forget his purpose.
He had lived a life connected to Shinhwa Group, yet separate from it.
So Se-jin should not be angry at him, but somewhere else.
At the words filled with that meaning, Se-jin finally came to his senses and bowed his head to Shin-hyeok.
“......I am sorry. I have suffered so much that I lose my temper whenever I hear the name Shinhwa.”
“I understand. It can happen. So, Mr. Bang Se-jin.”
“Yes?”
“Would you not like to join hands with me?”
“......?”
It was a sudden offer.
Se-jin tilted his head, and Shin-hyeok took Consecrated Steel from his Inventory.
“This is Consecrated Steel. It is Unique Grade. It would be nice to make a weapon with this...... But there is no outstanding Blacksmith......”
“R-right! Superior materials only shine in the hands of superior Blacksmiths!”
Consecrated Steel.
Seeing a Unique-grade material item before him, Se-jin drooled and nodded madly.
Both the anger he had shown Shin-hyeok moments ago and the courtesy he had shown afterward had vanished without a trace.
“The finest Blacksmith I know is Mr. Bang Se-jin. Would you be interested?”
“......O-of course! B-but the Artisans in Shinhwa Guild’s Workshop have blacklisted me. I cannot even grip a hammer properly. If I hold one, retaliation will come.”
But Se-jin was frightened before he could even begin.
That showed just how much he had suffered at the hands of the Artisans in Shinhwa Guild’s Workshop.
Of course, that did not apply to Shin-hyeok.
“Do the Artisans in Shinhwa Guild’s Workshop receive support from Shinhwa Group’s former chairman?”
“What? Of course not. Has he not been dead for a long time?”
“Then that is fine. I will make one phone call.”
“Yes......”
Se-jin was flustered when Shin-hyeok suddenly brought up the former chairman of Shinhwa Group—his great-grandfather.
“Yes, Grandfather. I found the Artisan I will bring with me. May I go straight to the Workshop? Ah, you want to speak with him? That is not difficult. I will put him on. Mr. Se-jin, please take the call. It is my grandfather.”
“Y-your grandfather is the chairman of Shinhwa Group, is he not?”
“Yes, that is right. So take the call quickly. Grandfather seems very interested in you.”
“......Gulp!”
But Se-jin’s confusion became shock at the one-on-one call with Choi Cheol-ho.
Even Se-jin, who ground his teeth at the name Shinhwa Group, respectfully answered the phone.
-I am Choi Cheol-ho, chairman of Shinhwa Group. Who are you?
“......M-my name is Bang Se-jin. I used to work at Shinhwa Workshop, but I was forced out, and now I live in Cheonggyecheon.”
Se-jin introduced himself to Choi Cheol-ho with a trembling voice.
Then hearty laughter reached Se-jin’s ears.
-So you were a Shinhwa person! I see. You were forced out? An Artisan skilled enough for my grandson to bring in was dismissed? Could you tell this old man what happened?
“Ah, well......”
Choi Cheol-ho’s question reminded Se-jin of his own grandfather.
Overcome by emotion, Se-jin reported every detail of what he had experienced without leaving anything out.
-......What are these scoundrels doing? They dared to meddle with what is mine? You said your name was Bang Se-jin?
“Y-yes!”
-I have already made a promise to Shin-hyeok, but you are still a Shinhwa person. And I, Choi Cheol-ho, never abandon my people! So return to the Workshop with Shin-hyeok.
“R-really?”
Choi Cheol-ho was enraged after hearing everything.
He urged Se-jin to return to the Workshop.
Se-jin’s eyes widened as though they would pop out, never having imagined the chairman would recognize him personally.
After Choi Cheol-ho offered a few more appropriate words of encouragement,
he ended the call.
Se-jin stared at Shin-hyeok with a dazed expression.
Feeling Se-jin’s gaze on him, Shin-hyeok smiled pleasantly.
“Do you not want to hold a hammer?”
“Shin-hyeok...... I want to hold a hammer......”
THUD—
Despite the filthy floor covered in grime, Se-jin dropped to his knees and lowered his head before Shin-hyeok.
‘SSS-grade Blacksmith acquired.’
It was the moment that Se-jin, who would one day be called an SSS-grade Blacksmith, a Master Artisan, the Hand of God, and more, entered Shin-hyeok’s service.