Chapter 10
“Jinwoo, did you start without really knowing much about NewGene?”
Haram was quite taken aback by Jinwoo’s words.
“Yes. Do I have to study the game before playing it?”
NewGene had only been open for a year, but countless strategy guides had already been published.
Koreans, who love efficiency, read those guides almost as a must-have.
Everyone wanted to play close to the orthodox method.
So basically, everyone knew the rough information—
What’s difficult and what’s easy.
“You do know that the blacksmithing is hard, right?”
“I’ve heard that, which is why I chose it.”
“Huh.”
So he chose blacksmithing despite it being difficult.
Haram shook his head.
“The reason it’s so hard is because crafting is nearly impossible without skills. Plus, the most important stat for crafting is Dexterity, and that stat is hard to raise just by leveling up.”
What’s needed for crafting is Dexterity.
This Dexterity stat can only be raised by crafting, not leveling up. Of course, if the stat was generated differently, it might be raised by certain actions.
But the fundamental way is crafting itself.
Because of this irony, crafting becomes even more difficult.
But Jinwoo compressed that difficult process into a blink of an eye and pulled it off.
As soon as he started, his Dexterity stat was created, and it quickly rose in value.
That was unbelievable.
“Uh, then what about the crafting skills?”
“I don’t plan on learning them yet.”
“You don’t plan on learning them at all? Wait, then those… um…”
Haram couldn’t believe it and asked again.
“How did you make things without skills?”
Jinwoo smiled and raised his hand.
“With my hands.”
“……”
After a moment of silence, Haram urgently spoke.
“Uh, sorry, can I see some of the equipment you made?”
“Please, feel free. Sharing good information isn’t hard.”
He hadn’t learned any skills.
His level was only 3.
So what was this even about?
“Wow…”
The equipment Jinwoo made was astonishing.
The quality was unimaginable for a beginner, and making a dozen or more pieces in a day completely shattered Haram’s common sense.
“I’ll be back later.”
Haram’s eyes darkened, obviously deeply motivated by Jinwoo.
‘Looks like he got some motivation.’
Jinwoo watched Haram leave.
He was familiar with this reaction.
‘Still, if they’re motivated, there’s potential.’
After seeing Jinwoo’s crafting, people with the same blacksmith profession had two reactions.
Some got inspired like Haram, but others despaired, saying it’s all about talent.
Most in the latter group switched professions.
They said only those born to succeed would succeed.
“There’s no such thing as only those born to succeed.”
Of course, talent is important.
But what field isn’t?
“Despairing because you think only the talented succeed is basically denying effort.”
Thinking it won’t work anyway.
It’s the same as saying effort won’t work on those with talent.
That feeling is terrible.
“There were many who thought I got this far solely because of talent.”
But Jinwoo wanted to ask them back:
“Have you ever spent an entire day just crafting?”
Jinwoo had.
Every day, in fact.
“You keep going until you make it.”
Jinwoo grinned.
“Practice should be done thoroughly.”
Flash—
Jinwoo pulled out a shining stone, a good material from Rodrum.
“I wanted to use it right away.”
Because it’s a good material, he wanted to practice a bit more.
The practice results were quite satisfying.
“I think my feel is improving.”
Haram said skills were essential in crafting.
“Of course, it’s better if you have them.”
Jinwoo wasn’t planning to exclude skills entirely.
“When skills become the main thing, the types of items you can make become limited.”
The main thing should be basic dexterity.
If you focus on dexterity, with skills as support, you can make much better equipment.
But first, he needed to fully grasp
“The feeling of crafting without skills.”
And above all—
“I want to feel the touch.”
He planned to master the feel first, then learn the skills.
Squeak—
The door opened.
“Jinwoo.”
It was Rodrum. Seeing Jinwoo holding the shining stone, he smiled broadly.
“Good timing.”
“Rodrum.”
“Planning to use the shining stone?”
“Yes.”
“What will you make?”
“I’m trying to make a sword.”
“That shining stone is quite hard. It will be difficult to work with. Hmm, with your strength, you’ll need to hammer it for a few days to change its shape.”
“It’ll be tough, but I want to try it once.”
“I see. Any blacksmith should get a feel by hammering. So do that.”
Rodrum sat nearby, wanting to watch Jinwoo’s hammering.
“If you get curious about anything, just ask. I’ll tell you as much as you want.”
“Yes, understood.”
Jinwoo first examined the shining stone.
Checking it here and there, he quickly identified what kind of mineral it was.
‘Because my senses are alive, it’s much easier to appraise than in Eternal Sunshine.’
In Eternal Sunshine, he had to rely on skills.
Since it was a semi-virtual reality game, his senses were weak.
But even then, Jinwoo tried not to rely much on skills.
He concentrated and did what he could himself.
That was how he kept his senses sharp and could make proper equipment.
Since he had appraised even with low senses, it was naturally easier in NewGene.
“They really gave me something they were hiding well.”
The shining stone was not a material found in the beginner town, Ryuton.
Like the apprentice lamented, it was definitely a material everyone wanted to handle.
“Daggers and longswords are similar yet different.”
And according to Rodrum, it was quite hard.
“Light and hard. Just need to keep its traits.”
Jinwoo immediately started forging.
‘Normally, smelting skill covers this area.’
He learned this during dagger making.
Jinwoo was familiar with the process because he had done it in real life.
But how many NewGene players knew this process?
So the smelting skill drastically shortened that process.
‘Even though it shortens it, it’s still hard because—’
Jinwoo gripped the hammer.
It was in hammering to shape and reshape the material.
The tempering.
‘Tempering is the hard part.’
“Phew…”
Taking a deep breath, Jinwoo struck with the hammer.
The heated shining stone responded.
Clang!
Consistent force control.
It’s not just hitting the hammer down.
– Dexterity stat increased!
Jinwoo began to focus endlessly.
Clang! Clang!
With each hammer strike, the hits and misses repeated.
‘Hit.’
The unity of the hammer blow and the body.
For a moment, when he felt that unity, Jinwoo felt satisfaction.
At the same time, his Dexterity stat rose.
‘Missed.’
But even Jinwoo couldn’t hit the perfect spot every time.
‘There are limits. Like Rodrum said, ordinary players would find it hard to reshape this.’
Stopping mid-way and leveling up stats and level first might be better.
In NewGene, level was an important factor, as were stats.
‘But so what?’
Jinwoo was just grateful and happy.
‘Being able to craft again is a joy. And this is a limit set by the game.’
It wasn’t a limit he thought of himself.
“I’ll do it my way.”
So far, the challenges were about other players.
They failed.
But just because they failed doesn’t mean Jinwoo will.
Clang!
That was enough.
“!”
Rodrum looked surprised.
He probably thought Jinwoo would spend the whole day hammering the shining stone.
Since it’s better to figure things out directly, Rodrum didn’t tell him to level up outside or craft more with other materials.
But the situation took a strange turn.
After several hammer strikes,
The shining stone’s shape changed.
“Your strength… it should be lacking.”
Clang!
Jinwoo struck once more.
“Your movement is bigger than yesterday.”
Rodrum frowned.
Body and hammer.
For a moment, it felt like they were one.
“It’s changing.”
The shining stone started changing shape.
Clang—
Each hammer strike moved the hard shining stone as if it were soft.
Clang!
In an instant, the shape formed, and a long blade was completed.
“Phew.”
Jinwoo’s arm felt pain, and his mind went a bit blank.
He was pushing all his limits.
But at the same time, he was too focused to stop hammering.
If he stopped even a little, his stamina would drop too low to hold the hammer anymore.
– Movement beyond the limit!
– Stamina decreases!
Gritting his teeth, Jinwoo hammered on.
Crafting was a battle alone.
No one could help.
If anyone could, it was only himself.
Jinwoo shut out all distracting thoughts with each hammer strike.
At this moment, he didn’t think of this as reality or even as a game.
Only one thing was in his mind.
Strike the hammer.
Complete the equipment.
Clang!
– Sword completed!
– Created equipment beyond level range!
– Level up!
– Level up!
His level instantly rose twice.
From 3, Jinwoo reached level 5.
Along with it,
– Immersion stat generated!
– Immersion greatly increased!
– Additional skill obtained!
“Immersion.”
Amid the many notifications, Jinwoo focused on the new stat created.
Immersion.
“Not bad.”
Jinwoo smiled naturally at the sword he just made.
– Condition fulfilled!
“Condition?”
With the level-up, a new quest appeared for Jinwoo.
