TRLGHB13🔐

Chapter 13

“Hello, Haram. You’re still here?”

“Well…”

Haram looked embarrassed.

Normally, no one stayed long in the beginner village like Haram.

Level 10 was a level that could be reached very quickly, and often players were kicked out mid-way because of the level limit after running through training centers or doing beginner quests.

Still, Haram stayed in the beginner village Ryuten entirely because of Jinwoo.

“I feel like I still have a lot to improve. Honestly, I could go learn forging at another smithy, but I want to be recognized by Rodram first before moving on.”

After being motivated by Jinwoo, Haram decided to be officially acknowledged by Rodram and to learn forging from him.

“As you’ve probably seen wandering around, there are many smiths and many smithies besides Rodram. But what you learn from Rodram is more definite. Most of the current top-ranked players started by learning forging from Rodram. It might not be that different, but since I also aim to become a ranker…”

Because of that grand dream, Haram wanted to follow the exact path walked by the top-ranked players.

That’s why he sought out Rodram.

He knew that even if it took some time, solidifying his foundation would ultimately lead to faster progress.

Surprisingly, it was Haram who was caught off guard.

“I thought Jinwoo would have left the beginner village quickly.”

“I still want to learn more. Also, I plan to clear a quest.”

Jinwoo had gathered materials to clear the Ryuten Beast quest.

The shining sword was a pretty good weapon, but it was just his first-made weapon.

‘There’s still too much I lack.’

Of course, he couldn’t fill all those gaps immediately, but if he tried a bit more, he could easily craft better equipment than this.

“A quest? Which one?”

“Ah, yes. The Ryuten Beast quest — do you know about it?”

“Of course!”

Haram’s expression changed as he brought up the Ryuten Beast.

“I’m planning to clear the Ryuten Beast quest.”

“Hahaha!”

Haram laughed cheerfully at Jinwoo’s words.

“You don’t know what kind of quest that is, do you?”

“No, I don’t know at all.”

“It’s actually nearly impossible to clear. You saw the word ‘First’ when you accepted it, right? That means no one has conquered it yet. Not a single person. And understandably so. The Ryuten Beast is a famous challenge monster in the beginner zone.”

“A challenge monster?”

Haram mentioned the wyvern from the tutorial.

“You saw the wyvern during the tutorial, right? The monster that appeared with the militia captain. Even that wyvern wasn’t meant to be caught. But some players did manage to kill it—mostly those with combat classes and natural talent. They killed it solo, not even with the militia captain.”

Thus, the tutorial wyvern was downgraded from an impossible monster to a very tough but killable one.

But the Ryuten Steel Beast was different.

“This beginner village is only accessible at the beginner stage. The level cap is 10. Once you leave, you can never come back.”

The village was made exclusively for beginner players.

In other words, even if you shine in this beginner village, your specs are limited to level 10.

“The Steel Beast is a monster no one can kill even at full level 10. So everyone just treats it as a teaser. They say stronger monsters like that are everywhere outside.”

Outside the beginner zone, there are many such powerful monsters.

So the message was: Don’t rush in; grow, gather a party, and defeat them with better equipment!

‘It’s to pique interest by giving a preview.’

At the same time, it fired the spark in players—to grow outside, then return to hunt monsters like the Steel Beast.

So naturally, it was impossible to kill it.

“But funnily enough, there is an achievement related to it.”

“Achievement?”

“There’s even a Hall of Fame.”

The achievement system was like collecting trophies.

Of course, there were suitable rewards as well.

“They didn’t create an impossible monster. You can clear it, but the difficulty is insane.”

“So it’s just a word trick?”

Haram nodded at Jinwoo’s comment.

“So quite a few people challenged it over the past year, but none succeeded. I want to try at least once myself.”

Many still leveled secondary characters and optimized them to challenge the Steel Beast.

“What do they give if you kill the Steel Beast?”

“There are lots of rumors. Since no one cleared it, everyone expects huge rewards. Considering the difficulty, that makes sense. Oh! And it’s not just hunting.”

“If not hunting, then what?”

The Ryuten Beast quest isn’t completed simply by killing it.

“You have to survive exactly three hits from the Steel Beast. If you survive three hits, you clear it. But no one’s survived. Can you? Each hit deals over 1000 damage.”

Even max health at level 10 is under 1000.

Hidden quests or repeated growth won’t get you to 1000 HP.

“You could defend with armor, but there’s no such armor available here. It’s basically an impossible quest.”

“I see.”

Suddenly, Jinwoo’s eyes shone. Haram felt a chill run down his spine.

Rodram’s Smithy

“Get lost!”

“Spit! Come back if you want!”

Today alone, dozens of players had been turned away and spat on by Rodram.

Rodram didn’t care, as this was nothing new.

“Shall I clean up?”

“Do it now.”

“I’m here.”

At that moment, Rodram’s face, cold as ice toward others, brightened with a wide smile at Jinwoo as if Jinwoo was his own.

“Jinwoo, you’re here! Ha ha ha.”

“Yes, Rodram. I’m here.”

Rodram was cold to other players but warm and welcoming to Jinwoo.

“Come in quickly. Looks like you visited other smithies. I can tell by their reactions even if I don’t hear it.”

“Thankfully, they all liked it.”

“Who wouldn’t like it? Especially here. Outside, there are lots of haughty smiths. Outsiders’ skills keep rising. But here’s a special place. People like you are rare. So of course, they like you.”

Rodram gestured for Jinwoo to come inside.

Players recently turned away watched in disbelief.

“What’s that?”

“What is that?”

“Rodram’s smiling?”

“I’ve never seen Rodram smile.”

“To be treated so kindly, what did he do?”

Was this really the same Rodram who had just cursed and chased away outsiders?

They watched Jinwoo’s back for a long time.

“Did he bring good materials or something?”

They couldn’t understand it at all.

“Ah, you’re planning to tackle the Ryuten Beast? Probably won’t succeed, but don’t worry. You’ll still do what you can!”

Inside Rodram’s smithy, Jinwoo checked the materials he brought and what was lacking.

“The furnace fire, the anvil, and since this isn’t my own workshop, there are many missing things.”

Among what he had, only the hammer fit Jinwoo’s standards.

Though even the hammer wasn’t perfect.

‘This is good enough for a beginner, though.’

It was an S-rank item, but still had many shortcomings for an S-rank.

‘Looks like this isn’t the finished item.’

It was a hammer given with a legendary class quest.

He was sure it could be upgraded or its power could be unlocked.

‘First, with the materials.’

Jinwoo gained a deeper understanding of crafting by visiting various smithies.

‘The parts others struggle with are difficult for me as well.’

For example, stats and levels.

‘But dexterity stats and synchronization rates cover that.’

“Three hits, right? Then I just block with a shield.”

“Yes, three attacks. But…”

Haram, who came in with Jinwoo, shook his head.

“That’s impossible. Really impossible. There are limits to what can be made here. Honestly, you’d be better off doing something else. I can teach you some things.”

“No, it’s okay. Even if I fail.”

But Jinwoo’s tone and eyes showed no intention of failing.

“How about trying to get the Immersion stat? It’s a stat gained by focusing, and it greatly helps crafting. It provides significant crafting bonuses.”

“I already have that.”

“Huh?”

Haram’s expression stiffened.

“You already have it?”

“Yes.”

“Huh.”

After dexterity stats came immersion stats.

“Some can’t get that even by level 50.”

Now, only the Ryuten Beast quest remained.

“No matter what, I’ll get recognized by Rodram first.”

With only the Ryuten Beast quest left, doing anything else was meaningless.

You don’t know until you experience it.

Haram had only heard about it, never experienced it.

“Well, you never know.”

Maybe history would change before their eyes.

But Haram shook his head.

“Ah, it’s impossible anyway. It’d be great if you could do it with just willpower.”

Many outstanding players existed in NewGen.

Especially early rankers were monsters.

Same in crafting.

Among blacksmith rankers, many surpassed human limits.

Yet none killed the beginner village’s beast.

“But you never know, really.”

Haram looked at Jinwoo and gained confidence.

“If Jinwoo can succeed, maybe I can reach the top of crafting rankers too.”

Watching Jinwoo’s crafting almost discouraged him, but he pulled himself together.

“Why couldn’t I do it?”

Monitoring Team

“I thought so.”

Kim Nayoon was puzzled why Jinwoo hadn’t left the beginner village, but she quickly understood.

“The Ryuten Beast.”

Each beginner village had a beast.

These beasts were powerful monsters impossible to defeat at their level range.

“The conditions aren’t easy.”

You didn’t have to hunt it.

Of course, hunting was possible, but the quest’s condition was simply to survive three hits.

“No dodging allowed.”

The only way was parrying, but even that was very difficult.

Parrying required precisely timed deflections, but it had limits.

“Parry damage isn’t nullified.”

Damage.

Parrying reduced damage but didn’t nullify it.

The beasts had a trait called ‘Piercing Strike’ that ignored defense.

“It’s a passive skill that ignores all damage reduction.”

No defense could help.

“Then how did Jinwoo want to do it?”

The monitoring team was very curious.

“How did he plan to survive three hits with such a powerful monster?”

“Dodge?”

“No, you can’t dodge.”

“Shield?”

“No shields allowed in the beginner village.”

Then how?

“Maybe… he’s planning something else.”

They decided to monitor his status closely.