“Now then, what should I make to get people saying I made something good?”
Having returned to the subspace warehouse, Suho shivered with overflowing enthusiasm.
He had always liked making this and that, but now it was on a different level.
His body felt so fired up he could hardly stand it, as if he had been born for the sole purpose of crafting something.
There were so many things he wanted to make, but there was one obstacle.
It was none other than the thousand yang-won.
The problem was not the amount, but the fact that it was limited to 1,000 items.
For the original Suho, receiving one yang-won’s worth of goods for each of 1,000 different items had been unimaginable. In fact, it had been such an enormous number that he had wondered whether he could even choose all those items if he spent the rest of his life picking them.
But that was back when Suho was an ordinary human. Now things were different.
The variety had become more important than the enormous quantity of one yang-won’s worth.
One thousand items were far too few. There were too many materials needed to make all the items filling his head.
Thinking that he would have to meet the Administrator of the Universe, his original contractor, in order to lift that limit, he asked Ravi.
“The Administrator? Suho, you are free to meet the Administrator whenever you wish, and I can arrange such a meeting at any time, but... may I ask what this is about?”
“There’s something I want to adjust. How much of the goods I’m supposed to receive do I have left?”
“As of now, you have received exactly 130 item types, for a total of 130 yang-won, and you have 870 yang-won remaining.”
“So 870 yang-won means 870 item types.”
“If we go by the pattern you have received so far, yes.”
“That’s the problem. I want to reduce the amount but increase the number of item types.”
“Oh...”
“Instead of receiving the remaining 870 yang-won as 870 item types at one yang-won each, I’d like to receive it as 87,000 item types at 100 ja(秭, 10²⁶) won each. What do you think? Will the Administrator allow it?”
He asked while inwardly feeling nervous, but Ravi actually brightened.
“If that is all, there is no need to ask the Administrator. When you first requested a thousand yang-won, was it not the Administrator who suggested dividing it into a thousand different items in the first place?”
Thinking back, that really had been the case.
“That’s right. The Administrator said that would be better.”
“That is because, from the Administrator’s perspective as well, providing a single item type in such a massive quantity was a burden. In truth, though I did not tell you everything, there were certain varieties and item types for which even preparing one yang-won’s worth gave the Administrator a headache.”
“Whoa... really?”
“Of course. Depending on the item, some things are difficult to find in that quantity even if one searches the entire universe.”
“Then I should’ve done this from the start... Well, 870 yang-won is still a huge amount, but. Then, Ravi, let’s do this. When I request an item, expand my options so I can choose anywhere from 100 ja-won to one yang-won.”
“Understood. That is not difficult, so I will apply it immediately.”
“From now on, I’ll use 100 ja-won as the basic unit and only ask for one yang-won’s worth when I really need a lot of something.”
“I understand.”
Having solved the issue of the thousand yang-won’s item limit, Suho headed to Dream Village.
When he entered the woodworking shop and leather workshop where he had been tinkering around making things as a hobby, the space looked unbelievably crude.
It had definitely been a workroom where he had enjoyed making whatever he wanted, but looking at it now, it seemed like a playroom where children played house.
“What on earth was I even making here...”
“Still, you made quite a few things rather well. That is why I told you that you had talent.”
“Hmm...”
At present, the workrooms Suho had set up in the subspace warehouse amounted to a leather workshop and a woodworking shop.
They were woefully insufficient for freely making the things springing up in his head.
“I need to make a forge first.”
Suho chose an area beside Dream Village and raised the ground. For now, around five thousand pyeong.
Most of the things he would make in the future would be small, but since some might be enormous, he set aside plenty of space.
“All right, Ravi, generate the list I call out and deliver it to me.”
“Yes.”
“First, give me 100 ja-won’s worth of carbonium.”
“Carbonium?”
“Yeah, carbonium. Didn’t they say it’s a high-pressure carbon structure formed near a black hole’s event horizon, a metal that undergoes absolutely no deformation due to temperature or pressure? It maintains stability even at extremely high temperatures, so I think it’s perfect for making a furnace. As for the shape... Look, I’ll draw it for you, so configure it in this form.”
Watching Suho begin sketching the shape of a furnace on a tablet with an incredibly graceful hand, Ravi’s eyes widened.
“H-how do you know about carbonium?”
“What? Didn’t you teach me? Back when I was learning all sorts of things.”
“No... At the time, you only studied potions and elixirs, and you found the other materials too numerous and troublesome. You only listened a little about attribute fibers... Moreover, I never once mentioned something like carbonium.”
“Really? Hmm... So it wasn’t from you after all. I thought it was knowledge I’d learned and remembered from when you taught me about various substances in the universe before... It felt a little foreign, and it seems I was right.”
“Even if I had taught you, there is no way you, who barely listened and only half-heartedly paid attention, would remember the item so precisely.”
“Haha, you got me. Anyway, I think this knowledge seeped in along with my EX-rank ability.”
“...That is astonishing.”
“So, can you give me 100 ja-won’s worth of carbonium or not?”
“Of course I can. I will make it for you immediately.”
“And give me 100 ja-won’s worth of sunstone too.”
“...How do you know about sunstone as well...”
“It’s condensed fuel made from ultra-high-temperature plasma obtained from the remnants of a supernova explosion. Nothing beats it for producing intense heat.”
“...Understood. I will generate 100 ja-won’s worth of that as well.”
“And generate a neotium core and an Ionix coil so I can make a gravity-wave hammer. For these, just make them in this shape, and I’ll assemble them myself.”
“...Understood.”
“And carve magrite into this shape. Watch closely.”
What Suho drew with his elegant skill looked like a huge rectangular rack.
“What is this?”
“I’m going to use it as a multipurpose heavy-particle anvil.”
“......”
Ravi, of course, knew the materials Suho requested, but many of the things he was trying to make were items even Ravi could not get a grasp on.
The change in Suho, who had previously possessed the knowledge of a mere ignoramus and only played useless games, felt utterly unfamiliar.
Suho continued endlessly listing materials for making stellar tongs, a nano-polisher, a heliopress, a cryogenic cooling chamber, a multidimensional scanner, and so on, and Ravi grew busy.
* * *
After 24 days in the subspace warehouse’s time, Suho had equipped a forge that satisfied him to some extent.
The sunstone burning inside the carbonium furnace blazed at temperatures of hundreds of thousands of degrees Celsius, and the tools and large equipment Suho had made here and there proudly displayed their sturdy forms as they waited for work.
“Phew, I still need to make a large-scale leather workshop, a large woodworking shop, and an alchemy laboratory too. There’s a lot to do. Phew...”
Ravi, who had become just as busy as Suho, gaped upon hearing the new plan.
“Well, I’ll make those gradually. For now, let’s make something in the forge.”
Wearing fireproof work clothes and an apron, along with protective gloves and safety shoes, Suho stood before the workbench.
“I’ll first experiment with something I can make from materials I’ve already received.”
Suho took out a lump of the metal “indurant,” which excelled at absorbing and dispersing shock, and placed it on the workbench.
For anything to become a proper item, every element in terms of form and function had to be perfectly composed, and then the enchantment had to be successfully applied for it to be called a finished product.
To complete all these processes properly, one needed concentration and care in crafting in many ways, as well as good control of aether.
However, since he had yet to set up facilities for enchantment work, Suho decided to make only the equipment itself for now and quietly closed his eyes.
Then, countless possibilities derived from the characteristics of the metal called indurant came to mind, and he could predict what effects could be expected when it was made into certain equipment.
“...A shield. Let’s make a shield first.”
Hundreds and thousands of designs and forms once again surfaced in his head. Suho chose one among them and quickly sketched it.
He repeatedly heated the lump of indurant he had received from Ravi in the carbonium furnace, took it out, and placed it inside the cryogenic cooling chamber.
When it reached a satisfactory martensite structure, he heated it again to soften it for easy forging, then took it out.
Of course, there was no need to hammer every step just to create the basic shape.
“Ravi, cut this like this.”
Ravi instantly used spatial cutting to slice the heated indurant cleanly according to Suho’s design.
Ravi, who could not only take out whatever material he wanted at any time and in any amount, but could also perfectly cut it into any desired shape, was truly the best assistant.
“It’s really nice having you around.”
“It seems my role has deviated quite a bit from that of a warehouse keeper...”
“This is all part of a warehouse keeper’s duties too.”
Suho caught his breath, looked at the indurant cut into a rough shape, and picked up the gravity-wave hammer.
Wooooong—
The hammer emitted a low hum in response to Suho’s will.
The gravity-wave hammer was itself a masterpiece combining magic and science. Fine vibrations from the handle spread up Suho’s arm, and waves of gravity that distorted space rippled from the hammerhead.
Suho carefully glared at the metal and brought the hammer down.
Countless crafting techniques and related knowledge had taken root in Suho, but they were still far from skills engraved into his body.
It was a technique where body and knowledge moved separately.
He felt the need to spend time narrowing that gap as quickly as possible.
Kaaaang— Kaaang— Kang— Kang—
Each time the hammer struck, gravity waves were transmitted into the heated indurant, rearranging the metal’s internal structure. He could feel an invisible force tightly binding every atom together.
Even the fiercely burning carbonium furnace could not break this stubborn nature by heat alone. However, the blows of the gravity-wave hammer produced astonishing results that transcended physical laws.
If this had been a forge in an ordinary world, he would have been drenched in sweat from the high-temperature environment combined with the heavy labor.
But now, with a body that did not tire easily and the special environment of the subspace warehouse, Suho did not shed a single drop of sweat even amid the strenuous work.
After hammering the indurant with the gravity-wave hammer for one hour.
“Whew... Is that roughly enough?”
Once the circular shield’s shape was roughly set, he also made grooves on the inside where etherium could be embedded and enchantments could be applied.
“Tsk, it won’t be complete until I enchant it too, but this will have to do...”
The silver round shield gleamed brightly.
Returning to the workbench, Suho held up the shield and began staring at it.
Upon awakening as an EX-rank Immortal Crafter, he had gained one new skill, and that was the ability [Item Appraisal].
In truth, “Item Appraisal” was not particularly special.
Not only Suho, but many support-type Admiti commonly possessed the skill, and Admiti who worked at auction houses also had it as a basic ability.
Still, perhaps because this was his first work, he grew nervous as he tried to appraise it.
“Hah, I should’ve put more care into it. Did I make it too carelessly...? I’m nervous.”
Ravi also seemed curious and began watching from beside Suho.
According to the new knowledge that had entered Suho, the success rate of items made with the crafting ability of an EX-rank Crafter was set at fixed probabilities.
A 15% chance of complete crafting failure,
A 43% chance of crafting a low-grade item,
A 30% chance of crafting a normal-grade item,
A 0.9% chance of crafting a high-grade item,
And a 0.1% chance of crafting a top-grade item.
In any case, was this not his first work, begun haphazardly without even the basics? If even a normal grade came out, that would be a good result.
“Empty your mind. Empty your mind. There’s no need to be so nervous... Now... Item Appraisal!”
When he activated the appraisal skill, the result of the crafting appeared before his eyes like a system message.
Just before the appraisal, he remembered from somewhere in his memories that “an item name must be assigned,” but he ignored it because it was troublesome.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Appraising equipment.
Crafting has failed.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
“What? Whoa...”
“What does it say?”
“It says the crafting failed...”
“You cannot expect to be full from the first spoonful.”
Ravi snickered beside him, and Suho’s insides boiled.
Had he really made it too carelessly? In his eagerness to make anything quickly, he had simply followed unfamiliar knowledge and thrown it together...
Or was it because he had not embedded etherium and had skipped the enchantment? He could not know the exact reason.
But anger welled up inside him.
“No, is it enough to just say it failed? I still made a result, didn’t I? Isn’t this a shield, at least? Then what grade is it?”
As Suho held up the shield and shook it while asking again, the system message continued.
Fortunately, it seemed information appeared even for failed items.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Item Name: (Temporary) [Failed Beginner’s Indurant Shield]
Item Grade: A-rank
Creator: Jeong Suho
You failed to create even a minimal piece of equipment and obtained a crude result.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
“...W-what the hell is this...”
Even a failed item had a grade.
And an A-rank, at that.
In Earth’s Admiti environment, where S-rank items were exceedingly rare, A-rank items were treated as top-tier items in most fields.
Wasn’t Lee Danbi’s main sword, [Song of the Stars], also an A-rank item?
Something...
The standards were strange.