Chapter 690

Su-ho entered the Subspace House and immediately went to find Pi Seong-yeol.

Pi Seong-yeol was still lying down.

One item hadn't been enough for him to recover, so he was still resting.

He was still sprawled there like a sick chicken, but the moment Su-ho appeared, he immediately sat up.

"You're back."

"Seong-yeol."

"Yes?"

"I've got good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

"Ah......."

Pi Seong-yeol's eyes darted around.

He was afraid.

Because somehow, he had a feeling both pieces of news would be bad.

"I'll hear the bad news first."

"The bad news is that you have to leave this place now."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me right. I'm letting you out of here."

"R-Really? Thank you! But why is that bad news?"

"Because I originally planned to keep you here until you died of old age. So for me, it's bad news."

"Ah...... Then what's the good news?"

"Actually, they're both the same news. You're being released from here."

"Ah......!"

In that instant, tears welled up in Pi Seong-yeol's eyes.

Released.

At last, that day had finally come.

Finally!

At long last!

"Thank you, thank you, thank you so much......!"

He collapsed forward and began sobbing.

At the same time, he kept chanting words of gratitude like a mantra.

Watching him look as though he might stop breathing from crying so hard, Su-ho furrowed his brow.

Why is he so unpleasant to look at?

It was only natural.

Even if Pi Seong-yeol were to save his life, there was no chance Su-ho would ever come to think favorably of him.

'How many people died because of this bastard?'

Unless those people came back to life, Pi Seong-yeol would never receive salvation from Su-ho.

No, from anyone.

'If that ever happens, it'll be after I win the indie game and turn back time again.'

At that point, he would rewind time to before the Great Cataclysm, so all of Pi Seong-yeol's victims would be alive again.

Leaving Pi Seong-yeol sobbing on the floor behind him, Su-ho looked around the place where he had been living.

It had been arranged like a studio apartment.

There was a bed and even a place to wash.

They were things Su-ho had provided as rewards at some point.

But among everything there, what stood out the most were the empty fried chicken boxes and beer cans.

Looking at them displayed almost like trophies, Su-ho suddenly remembered a movie about a man stranded on a deserted island who treated a volleyball like a friend.

"Let's go."

After opening the exit, Su-ho picked Pi Seong-yeol up like a piece of luggage and tossed him through.

Then he gathered the countless stat fragments piled up throughout the Subspace House.

When he finally followed Pi Seong-yeol through the portal, Jack was looking down at the terrified man as though he were a house cat watching a newly adopted cat being brought into its territory.

Naturally, Pi Seong-yeol was trembling in fear.

When Su-ho appeared, Jack asked,

- Who's this?

"Someone you're going to manage."

- Manage?

Leaving the trembling Pi Seong-yeol behind him, Su-ho explained to Jack who Pi Seong-yeol was, why he had been imprisoned, what he had been doing all this time, and what he would have to do from now on.

Jack nodded.

- So, to sum it up, he's a complete piece of shit.

"Right."

- And now he's become a stat shuttle.

"Right. You know what 'shuttle' means too?"

- Learned it from bread shuttle. It always shows up in Korean school-bully dramas.

"You learn fast. Anyway, while I'm training in the Blacksmith Style, your job is to supervise this guy. And this."

Su-ho tossed Jack a Mega Crusher's Colorless Stat Fragment.

- Colorless Stat Fragment?

"Normally I'd have to make these myself using a combination-type skill, but you can handle something at this level too, can't you? So do it for me. The only thing I need is Colorless Stat Fragments, so just make those."

- This option is ridiculous. It raises any stat you want by one? If it works like this, anyone could massively increase their stats.

"Except it's difficult to obtain, comes with pain, and requires both high proficiency and a huge number of items."

- So only you could actually get them.

"Exactly. All right, that's everything. Everyone work hard."

- So what do you want me to do with this Pi Seong-yeol guy? Just make him work, or torment him once in a while too?

"Do whatever you want. Just don't lower his work efficiency. What's important is awakening the Mega Crusher and securing stat fragments."

- Okay.

Jack clapped his hands.

At once, shadow hounds sprang out from the floor and began watching Pi Seong-yeol.

- Work hard. Unless you want to get bitten.

"Y-Yes......."

- Do your best. At least I give food and booze if you listen well, you know?

Jack shook a liquor bottle and looked at Su-ho.

Su-ho waved a hand as though telling him to do whatever he wanted.

Then he turned his head and looked up at the sky.

As though he had been waiting, the Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City opened a portal.

"I'll be back."

- See you.

FLASH!

Light flashed, and Su-ho's figure disappeared.

Those left behind each began doing their own work.

Jack went back to watching his drama.

And Pi Seong-yeol went back to dismantling.

***

Su-ho's vision changed completely, and the first thing he saw was the Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City.

Su-ho immediately cupped his fist and paid his respects.

"I'm back."

"Good. Did you take care of everything?"

"Yes. Thanks to you, I was able to save time."

"Then now all that's left is for you to suffer."

As he said that and stepped aside, Su-ho saw objects piled up like a mountain.

"What did I say were the four things you need to focus on learning?"

"Smith's Eye, the Art of Dismantling, the Art of Assembly, and the Art of Synthesis."

"For everything except Smith's Eye, just follow the instructions engraved into the hammer and necklace."

"Understood. Then what should I start with?"

"If you keep at it, you'll naturally learn all four. The Blacksmith Style is closely interconnected to begin with."

"Understood. Then I'll do my best."

"You certainly should. Ah, one more thing."

"Yes?"

"You don't necessarily have to take the orthodox approach."

"Excuse me?"

"Heh. Well then, work hard."

After throwing out that brief piece of advice, the Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City laughed heartily and left.

No need to take the orthodox approach?

What did that mean?

Su-ho narrowed his eyes for a moment, but first he checked the information on the hammer and necklace again.

[ Liberated Hammer of the Great Smith ]

Grade : S+# A brilliant legacy bestowed by the Great Smith only upon the successor he cherishes most.

# To release the hammer's third seal, one thousand strikes are required.

# The first seal has been released, activating the ability 'Square Extraction,' which harvests part of a target in a precise shape, and the 'Socket' function, which allows harvested fragments to be equipped.

# The second seal has been released, activating the ability 'Square Forge-Welding,' which creates materials by overlapping one material with another.

# Socket 1 - Fragment of Obsession from the Suppressing Chain Coffin(S).

# Socket 2 - Fragment of Obsession from the Suppressing Chain Coffin(S).

[ Liberated Necklace of the Great Smith ]

Grade : S+# A brilliant legacy bestowed by the Great Smith only upon the successor he cherishes most.

# To release the necklace's second seal, the furnace must be used one hundred times.

# The first seal has been released, activating Flame of the Golden Blacksmith(S) and Smith's Furnace(S).

Gulp.

Su-ho swallowed dryly.

The next release condition for the hammer was one thousand strikes.

The condition for the necklace's second release was one hundred uses of the furnace.

Su-ho had already confirmed before that the hammer's strike condition couldn't be fulfilled by simply hitting things.

'There has to be a specific purpose, whether I'm harvesting material or synthesizing it.'

Then, if he put the harvested materials into the furnace and performed a more refined extraction process, it would count toward the furnace-use condition.

For now, Su-ho summoned the hammer and the furnace.

It had been a while since he'd seen the furnace.

As he stroked it, he thought,

'No need to take the orthodox approach.'

The advice the Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City had given him at the end.

What exactly did that mean?

Was he saying Su-ho could use a shortcut?

But would the Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City really approve of that kind of method?

Su-ho felt conflicted.

'I'll think about it while I work.'

He decided to leave the deeper thinking for while he hammered away at the equipment.

Su-ho took out the hammer and walked toward the mountain of equipment.

***

How much time had passed?

The once-refreshing air had grown scorching hot.

It was because of the furnace Su-ho was using.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The sharp metallic sounds rang out loudly.

At first they had hurt his ears, but after hearing them continuously, at some point he had grown used to them and stopped noticing.

The same went for the furnace blazing hot beside him.

Perhaps because he had greatly increased his fire resistance, it no longer felt particularly hot.

His mind had gone blank as well.

The Lord of Ten Thousand Gold City had said he didn't necessarily need to take the orthodox approach, but for the time being, Su-ho stuck to the basics at least until he got a feel for things.

[ Smith's Eye is activated. ]

[ Square Extraction is activated. ]

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLAAANG!!

Using Smith's Eye, he struck at the target's weak points.

As he did so, equipment fragments were harvested from the gear.

The harvested equipment fragments piled up like a mountain.

He tried striking the harvested fragments themselves as well, but there was no particular response and the condition counter didn't increase, so he stopped.

Perhaps he still lacked understanding.

So he went back to harvesting only the materials from the equipment as before.

Of course, whenever he got bored along the way, he repeated other tasks too.

[ Square Forge-Welding is activated. ]

[ Material creation successful. ]

[ Iron Star Sword Fragment(A) acquired. ]

In this way, he also raised the grade of materials through Square Forge-Welding.

After a long time had passed—

[ Release conditions have been fulfilled. ]

[ The Liberated Hammer of the Great Smith responds to your efforts and releases its third seal. ]

At last, he had completed all one thousand required strikes.

[ Item information has changed. ]

[ Congratulations! You have acquired the Liberated Hammer of the Great Smith(S++). ]

[ Due to the influence of the Liberated Hammer of the Great Smith, the information for Smith's Eye has changed. ]

[ Skill information has changed. ]

[ For achieving a great accomplishment, the System grants you 10 bonus stats. ]

Ten bonus stats.

Sweet.

And around that time.

[ Flame of the Golden Blacksmith is activated. ]

[ Extraction complete. ]

[ Release conditions have been fulfilled. ]

[ The Liberated Necklace of the Great Smith responds to your efforts and releases its second seal. ]

After using the furnace one hundred times, he was finally able to release the necklace's second seal as well.