We live in the age of Hunters.
Villas worth tens of billions and gleaming supercars.
Incomprehensible powers that mock the laws of physics.
Everyone looked up to Hunters, and feared them too. Some hated them, or felt inferior to them.
And for us unawakened people living in the age of Hunters—
making a living was a real fucking nightmare.
“It’s freezing, but I’m dying of heat, seriously….”
The 20th floor of the Black Tower.
A dungeon themed after a winter tundra, with a vicious blade-like wind blowing through it.
You could tell just by looking at me, running a mobile forge in a place like this.
Clang, clang—!
Tudududududu—!!
The sound of machine-gun fire cut in between the rhythm of hammer blows.
Over the past few days, the noise from the machine guns had grown noticeably louder.
“Deputy Commander! With gunfire this loud, hasn’t the front line been pushed right up to us?!”
“We’re still fine, so just keep hammering!”
The blacksmith who spoke beside me was an unawakened person, just like me.
The guy next to him was unawakened too, and so was the guy beside that guy, and the guy shooting in the distance.
In fact, among the humans gathered on this floor, there wasn’t a single Hunter.
The reason a bunch of ignorant fools who couldn’t even enhance their bodies had climbed all the way to the 20th floor of the Tower was simple.
It had once been a byproduct that came from the Tower.
Now, it was an incredible energy source and a future strategic resource. It had also become a catalyst that helped Hunters grow.
Magic stones. It was because of magic stones.
And because of those Hunter bastards who wanted to use magic stones.
Long ago, when the chaos caused by the Black Tower had subsided and society began to stabilize,
Hunters whose bellies were full and backs were warm naturally started using their heads in other ways.
They began thinking about what would happen if the tiny minority of awakened individuals capable of mining magic stones controlled their distribution.
They tamed the market by releasing enormous quantities or, conversely, cutting off supply altogether.
They used magic-stone distribution as a weapon to seize all kinds of interests.
Naturally, the market economy was wrecked in the process.
In response, the government prepared special measures.
They would hire unawakened mercenaries and send them up the Tower.
They would secure sovereignty over magic stones by maintaining a stable stockpile, even if it was only a speck’s worth.
“Those lunatics…. Once we clear the 20th floor, I’m retiring for real.”
“You know you’ve been saying that since the 1st floor, right?”
“This time is different…!”
Stoking my desire to quit, I pulled the blade from the furnace.
It was something I’d been hammering and heating for ages in order to make a bayonet to attach to a rifle.
Now, once I quenched it, the work would be more or less finished.
The process of rapidly cooling a heated lump of metal to make it even harder.
I stood in front of the oil barrel and caught my breath for a moment.
The moment of quenching was always tense.
It couldn’t be helped, since it was when all the heat treatment and forging work up to that point was judged.
If the thickness of the blade was uneven, it would warp or crack.
If the heat treatment wasn’t uniform, the blade would twist.
If the temperature was too low, the edge would dull quickly.
If it was overheated too much, it would break easily.
Even if every step was perfect, you could still get screwed over by factors beyond your control, like differences in the carbon concentration of the steel.
It was a maddening process in all sorts of ways.
“Whew, let’s do this.”
I held my breath and focused.
I pulled the blade from the furnace and plunged it straight into the oil barrel.
Clink! Crack! Split! Snap! Tick! If I heard any of that crap, it meant I was screwed.
Chiiiiik—
I heard nothing but the sound of heat fading away.
When I pulled it out, there didn’t seem to be any signs of warping.
I ran a file along the blade.
The file slid along with just the right smoothness.
Both the sound and the feel were satisfying. No metal powder flew off either.
It meant the hardness had been set just right.
“Perfect.”
Now all that was left was to sharpen it and attach the hilt—
[You have awakened as a “Blacksmith.”]
[Enhancement has reached F-rank.]
[You can accumulate proficiency through enhancement activities.]
[You have acquired the hidden passive “Guaranteed Enhancement.”]
[Enhancement succeeds with 100% probability.]
[You have acquired the skill “How to Sell Things at a High Price.”]
[Enhance a weapon once.]
[You have acquired the skill “Not This, That.”]
[You can change one effect imbued in a weapon.]
[Crafting has reached F-rank.]
[You can accumulate proficiency through crafting activities.]
[You have acquired the passive “Quality Assurance.”]
[All crafted items are guaranteed to be of Rare rank or higher.]
[You have acquired the passive “First Ability.”]
[Grants one additional effect to a completed crafted item.]
[Combat has reached F-rank.]
[You can accumulate proficiency through combat activities.]
[You have acquired the passive “Warhammer Mastery.”]
[Warhammer proficiency increases.]
[You have acquired the passive “Tough Body.”]
[Physical abilities are enhanced.]
[You have acquired the passive “Steadfast Mind.”]
[You gain resistance to mental anomalies.]
[You have been granted access to the “Artisan Gallery.”]
“Uaaagh, fuck, what the hell!”
A bunch of strange things suddenly filled my vision.
What the hell was this, seriously?
Were those troll shaman bastards pulling something again?
They looked like letters, but they had flashed past so suddenly that I couldn’t even read them.
“What is it! Are you okay? Deputy Commander! Iseon hyung! What’s wrong!”
When I finally came to my senses, someone was supporting me from the side.
Since the guy doing the quenching had suddenly had a fit, they must have thought a spark covered in oil had flown at me or something.
“Huh? Oh, no, I’m fine.”
I calmed the junior blacksmith down and sent him back.
Whew….
The truth was, I was not fine.
My right hand.
Letters appeared over the spot where the bayonet was held.
[Will you finish crafting?]
The same font as the letters that had blocked my vision a moment ago was floating above my right hand.
What on earth was this….
Was it asking if I wanted to finish crafting?
No, more important than that was the fact that I could see something resembling a system.
Did that mean I’d become a Hunter…?
That was when it happened.
Kwaaang—!!!
A huge explosion occurred near the temporary forge.
The sudden commotion threw the repairmen and blacksmiths into agitation.
Before I had any time to calm them down, one of the mercenary corps officers came running.
“Deputy Commander! The trolls launched a surprise attack on the rear too! We have to withdraw immediately! Pack up right now! No, abandon the gear and just run!”
“Run where! This is the rearmost line!”
“We’re heading to the trenches at the summoning point! The return portal opens in thirty minutes, so the plan is to hold out until then! The front-line units are already gathering at another point!”
Fuck, they wanted to fight trench warfare in the middle of this?
No. That was impossible. Absolutely out of the question.
Why else would we be leisurely making blades while shells and machine guns were being fired everywhere?
The ice trolls here—bullets didn’t work on them.
Whether there was some gimmick we didn’t know about or not, bullets couldn’t inflict enough damage to take their lives.
In the end, only cold weapons could cut off their breath.
Which meant that while they bought time, we had to make even one more blade.
We had to light the fires. We had to sharpen the edges. As sharp as possible.
“Hey! Ha Iseon! I’m telling you, if we stay here, we’ll all die like dogs! We have to retreat!”
“We’ll all die even if we retreat. How are we supposed to hold out without proper weapons? Go gather all the blacksmiths.”
The bayonets we had stockpiled were only enough for about one platoon.
And even those hadn’t been sharpened yet.
Just like the blade I had finished quenching a moment ago, they were nothing but blunt lumps of iron.
“We just have to sharpen them as fast as possible. Let’s handle this box and then pull out, got it?”
The blacksmiths under me nodded.
They didn’t look particularly happy about it.
But what could they do? They knew too that there was no chance of winning if our people fought with weapons like that.
I connected a generator to the belt grinder.
And just as I was about to start it up—
Shoooong—
Boom—!!!
A small fireball that flew in from far away smashed the grinder beside me.
“…….”
“…Let’s retreat.”
“Fall back! Everyone, fall back!”
There was no helping it.
***
The moment I set out, I began missing the front of the hot furnace.
Pushing through a winter forest while relying on a single sword without even a handle was quite an ordeal.
“Are we even going the right way?”
“We are. If we go a little farther, we’ll link up with the Commander at the trenches. Assuming they retreated according to plan.”
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before I heard familiar sounds.
Shouts and groans.
The signal of battle.
“Damn it…! Let’s hurry!”
“Pick up the pace! We’ll join them and provide support!”
Soon, the unit led by the mercenary commander came into view, locked in a fierce battle.
Some of them were firing warning shots to hold back the trolls’ approach,
but a small number of enemies had already dug into their flank.
The one facing them was the mercenary commander, Pyo Yeojeong, wielding a massive claymore.
“We’re properly fucked.”
It was a greatsword she’d only ever carried around to take the initiative and intimidate others in the first place.
She had practiced marksmanship, but had never trained in swordsmanship.
As expected, Pyo Yeojeong couldn’t properly control either the sword or her own body.
Even when she managed to land a hit, there was no power behind it, leaving only scratches.
In the end, Pyo Yeojeong was sent flying far away by an arm the troll swung as if swatting away a bug.
“Urgh….”
“Commander!”
She didn’t look good.
At this rate, it was obvious she would be brutally killed by the troll.
“I’ll grab her and drag her to the safe zone. Just draw its attention with the unit.”
“Are you insane? Will you be okay? That’s too dangerous.”
“When has it ever not been dangerous? We need to get out of here with even one more person alive.”
I immediately ran toward Pyo Yeojeong.
She was leaning her back against a tree, breathing roughly.
Her insides were probably a mess, but she was barely still breathing.
“Ugh, u-urgh…!”
“Hold on, even if it hurts. First, we have to get out of here.”
Just as I was about to drag the commander’s body and pull back to the rear,
a massive shadow fell over my back this time.
“Krooooooar!!!”
I could tell just by the shadow.
It seemed one troll had chased us down after all.
An axe came chopping down over my head.
So this is the end.
The moment I was about to accept my fate,
a strong light flashed from my right hand.
[Will you finish crafting?]
Ah, that was right. There was this.
Instinctively, I willed my agreement into the system.
At the same time, time slowed as though it had been set to 0.1 speed.
[Blunt Dagger (Rare) +0 has been completed.]
[Using “First Ability.”]
Three cards of different colors appeared before my eyes.
One was a dull gray, and another was a muddy blue. There was also one glossy purple card.
[Normal] If it’s a sword, then of course
- The attack power of slashing attacks increases by 10.
[Rare] Path of the Magic Swordsman
- Attribute infusion efficiency increases by 5%.
[Unique] Pshk-Pshk!
- Armor penetration increases by 25%.
It wanted me to choose one out of the three?
What I needed right now was penetration.
There was no need to look at the others.
I chose the Unique option.
As the other two cards vanished, a purple energy identical to the card was absorbed into the blade.
The slowed time gradually began to regain its normal speed.
The axe was still falling over my head.
Even so, the situation was better than before.
Because while the flow of time recovered, I had been able to prepare my next move.
Gripping the tang firmly in a reverse grip, I rotated my body with all my strength.
Puk—!
The blunt tip of the blade dug between the troll’s ribs.
I’d heard their hide was incredibly tough and thick,
but the blade slid in with surprising smoothness.
“Kuo-o-o-orgh—!!!”
The ice troll let out a monstrous scream.
The axe fell beside us.
The only chance was now.
I had to finish it off before it recovered.
I put strength into my arm and pulled out the blade.
The troll’s hot blood splattered everywhere.
This time as well, system text appeared above the blade.
[Enhancement is possible. Would you like to enhance?]
I had never done it before, but I felt like I knew how.
From the moment I awakened, I had been able to feel a sensation as if a third arm had sprouted from me.
This must be what they called mana.
I gripped the sword with that third arm and let mana flow into it.
Once again, time slowed and three cards appeared.
The card colors were the same gray and blue as before.
The difference was that there was a card glowing with golden light.
“Blunt Dagger (Rare) +0”
[Normal] Sturdy Blade (Success Rate 100%)
-Weapon durability loss is reduced by 5%.
[Legendary] As If Cutting Through Air (Success Rate 100%)
-Ignores 90% of the opponent’s physical defense.
[Rare] Lightly with Both Hands (Success Rate 100%)
-The weapon’s perceived weight is reduced by 10%.
There was nothing to agonize over this time, either.
It should synergize with the Unique option that increased armor penetration.
I chose the Legendary option.
The same process as before.
The card blocking my vision disappeared.
A golden energy was absorbed into the blade.
Tick, tock—
Time began to flow again.
Calmly, I reconfirmed the target point.
Slowly, then faster and faster, I drove the sword into the troll’s heart.
It felt like stabbing pudding with a chopstick.
Thud—!!!
The troll collapsed like a great tree falling.
I could feel the gazes fixed on me.
Humans and trolls alike were staring at me with blank eyes.
And then.
[All climbers will be expelled from the Tower.]
We were able to return alive.
***
After leaving the Tower, we were all transported to the hospital.
The seriously injured, including Pyo Yeojeong, had finished surgery and were now resting.
Despite how forced the retreat operation had been, there had been no casualties. It was a miracle.
I lay there with an IV in my arm, staring only at an unfamiliar ceiling.
All kinds of thoughts came and went.
My injured comrades.
The mobile forge we had lost in its entirety.
Our situation.
My awakening.
Had I become a Hunter too?
It didn’t feel real.
No, I felt like I was in big trouble.
A few years ago, people who were sick of Hunters acting all high and mighty had gathered together.
It had started as a social group that just drank and snickered together.
‘I had no idea back then.’
The gathering that had roughly started through a used-goods trading app kept growing and eventually became the Claymore Mercenary Corps.
It also grew into the core of the Non-Awakened Grand Alliance and the anti-Hunter forces.
Pyo Yeojeong and I, who had been founding members, became the leader and vice leader respectively.
And now I had fallen and become a Hunter?
Fuck… I’m about to get stoned to death.
Feeling stifled, I tried to sit up.
—only to feel the muscle pain in my abdomen and flop right back down.
I just stared blankly at the ceiling. At least, that was probably how it looked to others.
But what my eyes were following wasn’t the pattern on the ceiling.
「Artisan Gallery」
I manipulated the screen floating in the air with mana.
[If you hold a wooden mallet at a rice cake shop and go yoi-yoi-yoi once, your popularity shoots way up-yoi]
Author: Yoiyoi
Just running rice-cake pounding experiences brings in money-yoi.
Why not do it-yoi.
Why the fuck are you holding an iron hammer and beating pieces of metal-yoi.
Are you stupid-yoi.
└BeastkinSupremacist: If you do that, do lots of customers come to the shop?
└└Yoiyoi: Lots come-yoi. Families come and pound rice cakes, friends come and pound rice cakes too-yoi.
└└BeastkinSupremacist: If there are lots of beastkin too, I’ll watch from the front row.
└└Yoiyoi: There are lots of beastkin too-yoi. Come visit-yoi.
└└DressedCold: I am very interested in your sexual preferences, sir.
└└Yoiyoi: I don’t know what you mean-yoi.
└DaggerLord: Master! Stop screwing around and return to the forge!
└└Yoiyoi: The forge is a relic of the old age-yoi. You do it-yoi. The rice cake shop boom is coming-yoi.
└└DaggerLord: (angry frog emoticon)
[From now on, this is the Swordmaster Gallery]
Author: SwordsmenUnited
(A photo of dozens of swordsmen gathered together)
[I entrusted my upper-body armor for enhancement, but they only left the chest part…. Is this right….]
Author: NorthernStationExit3
Uh;;
└DressedCold: That shop knows what they’re doing.
└└NorthernStationExit3: No, all the metal plates are gone……. I think I got scammed;;
└└DressedCold: It’s “common sense” that the less area it covers, the higher the defense, isn’t it?
└└NorthernStationExit3: I’ll seriously freeze to death like this;;
└DefendSpeling: entrusted → intrusted
└└NorthernStationExit3: ???
[Why are there so many customers asking me to make Damascus swords these days?]
Author: ImperialHammer
What the hell is Damascus, you nerd?
└IntangibleCulturalAsset: If you just mix two kinds of cheap iron together and make it for them, they clap and love it. They pay a lot too.
└└ImperialHammer: So they were big spenders.
Most of it was content I only sort of understood.
From context, I could tell most of it was talk about metallurgy, but the details were completely unfamiliar.
The popular posts were the same.
[The higher the grade, the more the enhancement rate drops. Does 10% for Unique even make sense? (24)]
[Honestly, in both theory and experience, aren’t elves better at metallurgy than dwarves? (96)]
[StaffCarvingOldMan, you bastard, you’re here, aren’t you? This fucker hammered rebar into my staff (52)]
They were all far too fantasy-like.
It hadn’t been long since I awakened, but I had never heard of Hunters interacting with beings from novels or games.
It felt as if I had been possessed into another world.
Captivated by that mystery, I lurked for quite a while.
I roughly grasped the atmosphere of the place.
Then, cautiously, I asked what I had been curious about all this time.
[I got a hidden trait. Is this good?]
Author: Python
It says my enhancement success rate is fixed at 100%, but I don’t know if that’s good.
I did happen to succeed at a Legendary enhancement, but I’m not sure it’s really that amazing. I thought if it was Legendary, it would shoot lasers or something….
And I have personal circumstances that mean I shouldn’t awaken, so can this be canceled?
That day, I received 300 comments.