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Chapter 03 ….
The Genius Blacksmith Obsessed Over by Hunters
“Uhehehe. Bringing fried chicken home was a great decision, but don’t you think this amount is way too little for me? Isn’t this basically provoking me?”
The person who came in through the door was Geum Ayeon.
She was his younger sister, six years younger than him, and an awakened individual attending the Hunter Academy.
People said she was talented enough to head straight into a Gate and pull her own weight even now…
But none of that mattered when it came to sharing delicious food.
“What are you talking about, pig?”
“Oh? You think I’d give up chicken over that? Oink oink. Hand over the chicken, oink.”
“If you’re eating more than a whole chicken by yourself, maybe show a little restraint.”
“Nope. I need to stockpile energy for fangirling.”
As the siblings bickered, a notification window cautiously appeared before Kangcheol.
—Um… Student. I feel a little awkward saying this about someone else’s family, but… isn’t your sister a bit too noisy to call over before work…?
‘Yeah. She’s just a gluttonous otaku.’
—No, I didn’t put it that harshly! That’s mean, Student!
Kangcheol picked up the box of fried chicken and gave it a shake.
The savory aroma drifted out, instantly locking Ayeon’s eyes onto the box.
“I was going to share some with you, but once I start eating, I figured I’d lose all self-control.”
“Hurry. If you’re giving it to me, then hurry.”
“I will. But I wanted to ask you something about Hunters first. You don’t mind talking about Hunters, do you?”
The moment Kangcheol said that, Ayeon’s attitude completely changed.
“My respected big brother, you should’ve said so from the beginning.”
“Good. Catch!”
Kangcheol tossed her a hot piece of fried chicken.
Ayeon snatched it out of the air with the precision of a Border Collie catching a flying disc and immediately took a bite.
—Your sister’s fangirling is…
‘Well, she says it’s job preparation since she’s an awakened person…’
Ever since childhood, Hunters had constantly visited their family’s blacksmith shop.
Naturally, she’d had plenty of opportunities to see them.
The only difference was what caught their attention.
While Kangcheol admired the weapons their father forged…
Ayeon had her eyes on the Hunters who came to meet him.
Bulging muscles!
Expensive-looking equipment that practically screamed wealth!
What started as innocent admiration eventually grew into an obsession so intense that she knew practically every Hunter who had ever appeared in the media.
“From now on, I ask the questions, and you answer them.”
Nod.
Ayeon nodded immediately, as if even taking the time to answer verbally would waste precious seconds.
“Okay. Let’s start with the Yeonhwa Guild.”
“A guild established two years ago by Hunters specializing in martial arts-type skills. The core members are Guild Master Kwon Semi and the five team leaders—”
The information poured out effortlessly.
Not only that, it matched the information found online word for word.
“…You memorized all of that?”
“No. I wrote it.”
“Here.”
Kangcheol tossed her another piece of chicken.
She stopped talking long enough to catch it and devour it.
“Then do you know someone named Park Youngjun, one of the Yeonhwa Guild’s team leaders?”
“Leader of Team Three. His combat ability ranks among the best in Yeonhwa Guild, and people say he’ll probably attempt to promote to S-Rank soon. Personally, I think his thinking is way too simple for that.”
Apparently pleased with the answer, Kangcheol threw her an especially large piece of chicken.
“This one might be harder. Kim Doyoon.”
“Kim Doyoon?”
Her questioning tone instantly drained the expectation from Kangcheol’s face.
As of 2020, over 3,300 newborn boys had been registered with that exact name.
Even narrowing it down to awakened individuals, it was still an incredibly common name.
And that wasn’t the only problem.
Even fangirling required source material.
Someone might be an awakened Hunter, but without information, there was nothing to become obsessed with.
The way Kangcheol had learned the name wasn’t official either.
‘I never thought even this would work.’
Using the Eye of Insight, he’d examined the creator of the steel.
The name written there was Kim Doyoon.
Setting aside the fact that the skill’s completion was so poor it practically looked hollow…
Someone pulling petty scams like this wasn’t exactly the type to become famous for doing good deeds.
At least, that’s what he had thought.
“Which Kim Doyoon?”
“You know him?”
“I know all three. There’s the Pathfinder, the Tanker, and the Dealer. Well… the Dealer died a few weeks ago, so I guess now it’s just the other two.”
After saying that, Ayeon proudly opened her mouth wide.
Kangcheol rewarded her by throwing over two pieces of chicken.
“The one with the Metal Manipulation skill.”
“A C-Rank Tanker. His skills are decent enough, but he’s way more famous for being ridiculously handsome. Wait… Bro, are you gay?”
Should he tell her what had happened?
If he did, where should he even begin?
How he came to know Kim Doyoon?
Why he was investigating him in the first place?
Unable to think of a way to explain everything without revealing that he had awakened, Kangcheol ultimately stayed silent and simply handed her the entire box of chicken.
“Oh, and if you’re ever struggling with your identity, just know that—”
“Get lost!”
“Gah!”
Only after the sound of her noisy footsteps faded away did the notification window quietly appear again.
—Your sister certainly seems to know a lot. Student… are you okay?
“Hm? About what?”
—You said you were going to deal with that troublesome customer. But… didn’t you fail to find anything conclusive?
Kangcheol chuckled.
“Well… maybe.”
Despite his answer, confidence filled his face.
* * *
Three days later.
Screeeech—!
A large luxury car, completely out of place against the shabby exterior of the blacksmith shop, came to a noisy stop in front of the building.
The person who stepped out was Park Youngjun.
For some reason, he was fully equipped with armor today, making his already intimidating presence even more overwhelming.
‘It’d better be finished.’
He had threatened Kangcheol before, but over the past three days, the blacksmith’s wronged expression had kept lingering in his mind.
If the steel really had been the problem…
“Hmph!”
Park Youngjun shook his head, driving away the thought.
The important thing now was making a good impression on his superior.
No matter what, the finished weapon had to satisfy him.
“Anyone here?”
He pushed open the door to Kangcheol’s workshop.
The blacksmith shop was dimly lit.
As his eyes adjusted, the first thing he noticed was…
Canned drinks.
“Huh?”
No matter how many times he looked, they were definitely canned beverages.
Not just one or two either—there were all kinds lined up across the workbench.
The strange part was that this was the very first thing someone saw upon entering a blacksmith shop.
Even stranger, they were sitting on the same workbench where the unfinished sword had been inspected three days earlier.
“You’re here?”
While Park Youngjun stood there in confusion, Kangcheol emerged.
“Oh? You’re in a good mood.”
“Of course.”
That’s more like it. Looks like threatening him actually worked.
“Today’s delivery day, so I was surprised to see nothing but drinks sitting here. Go on, show me the finished sword first. Then we can talk.”
“Oh, there won’t be any of that.”
The reply was completely unexpected.
His confidence bordered on shamelessness.
“What?”
“I haven’t touched it once since the inspection. And of course, I won’t be paying any penalty fee either.”
Park Youngjun frowned.
“You don’t have the sword… and you’re refusing to pay the penalty?”
“Yes. Because this isn’t my fault.”
“Hah… Looks like you’ve decided I’m easy to push around.”
Park Youngjun strode toward him.
With his enormous build and fierce expression, anyone could tell he intended to intimidate him.
‘I was told not to rough up ordinary civilians…’
He didn’t even need to use real violence.
Even most Hunters shrank back after Park Youngjun grabbed them by the collar and gave them a few hard shakes.
He only intended to shake Kangcheol until the man apologized.
At least, that had been the plan.
“Huh?”
Thud.
His hand stopped in midair.
Park Youngjun was one of the three strongest fighters in the Yeonhwa Guild.
Even if he wasn’t serious, an ordinary person shouldn’t have even been able to see his hand moving.
Yet this mere blacksmith had blocked it.
“I understand why you’re upset, but please hear my explanation before getting angry. Once you’ve heard it, you’ll have no choice but to admit this isn’t my fault.”
A steady gaze.
An unexpected situation.
The shock of realizing his intimidation had failed against a mere blacksmith made Park Youngjun unconsciously take a step back.
“Your explanation had better make sense. If it sounds even a little suspicious, I won’t let this slide. Got it?”
“I’d expect nothing less. For now, have a drink.”
“You poison it? Too bad. Team leaders in the Yeonhwa Guild all have poison resistance skills.”
“I needed some empty cans for the explanation. It seemed wasteful to throw them away. Poison? Seriously?”
Only then did Park Youngjun pick up a can.
“Drink while you listen. Feel free to interrupt if you have questions.”
What Kangcheol intended to prove…
…was that the steel was hollow.
“And the reason I didn’t even touch the other piece is because it’ll be hollow too.”
“How do you know that?”
“That’s exactly why I prepared all these drinks.”
Thunk.
Kangcheol knocked over a can of cola.
Then—
Thunk.
A coffee can.
Finally—
Thunk.
A sports drink.
“You heard that, right? When they’re full, they make a heavy sound. Now…”
Clank.
He poured water into an empty can, then knocked it over.
“When a can is emptier, it makes a lighter sound. If it were completely empty, it’d sound even sharper.”
“You can tell just from the sound?”
“Exactly. That’s why I prepared some other steel as well.”
Kangcheol hurried to the corner of the workshop and returned pushing a cart.
One basket held a steel blank and another piece of steel.
The rest were steel bars from his own workshop.
“I’ll tap these other ones first.”
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Some were darker.
Some had rust.
But they all produced roughly the same sound.
“And now, this is the sound your steel makes.”
Starting from the dull red section and moving toward the brighter one, Kangcheol struck the steel with a hammer.
Ting! Ting! Ting!
“…!”
With every strike, he marked an X on the steel using a marker.
“Now that you’ve heard the difference, let me explain something else.”
“Something else?”
“All steel marked CPM is extremely expensive. Do you know why?”
Kangcheol explained as simply as possible.
Powder metallurgy required numerous specialized processes and facilities.
Metal first had to be turned into fine powder.
Then the powder had to be mixed evenly.
After that came pressing, sintering, heat treatment, dimensional adjustments, various special processes, surface treatments, and strict quality control.
Only after all of those steps could powder metallurgy steel finally be produced.
Naturally, adding all those manufacturing processes made it far more expensive.
Some even said the initial equipment investment cost was three times higher than conventional steelmaking.
The reason manufacturers went through all that trouble was simple.
To produce higher-quality steel.
Which meant that after undergoing such an extensive process, defects like hollow interiors simply should not exist.
“So… I… I got scammed…”
“That’s the only conclusion. Either you got scammed, or the person who sold it to you got scammed first.”
In other words, the only question was who the original victim had been.
There was no denying that Park Youngjun had been scammed.
His expression twisted strangely before he suddenly shouted,
“How do you know this isn’t because you screwed up the heat treatment?! Huh?”
“I figured you’d say that, so I prepared a way to convince you.”
Kangcheol took out his phone and showed the screen.
“You bought the steel from this guy, didn’t you? Kim Doyoon. On Gaji Market. In ○○-dong.”
“H-How…?”
“Someone who knows you very well told me. Knowing people really does come in handy. I hear your Gaji Market reputation score is over eighty degrees? Funny—you were pretty cold to me.”
This was the final piece of information Kangcheol had obtained in exchange for sacrificing an entire chicken.
At first he’d doubted it.
But judging from Park Youngjun’s reaction, it appeared to be true.
Gaji Market was a secondhand trading platform notorious for scams.
It was so infamous that people joked its name came from, “If you’re prepared for it to be fake, then keep your mouth shut.”
“Who in the world buys steel from a place like that?”
“……”
“I already arranged to meet him today at the factory for a direct transaction. We’ll split the steel open the moment he hands it over—in front of your eyes. Since that’ll be before I perform any heat treatment, you’ll finally believe me.”
“Th-That’s true… But going this far?”
“Hah.”
Scratching the back of his head, Kangcheol spoke coldly.
“You doubted me from the very beginning. At first you told me to sell my workshop if I had to just to pay the penalty. After hearing that, I figured even if I proved the steel was hollow, you’d still blame me.”
Park Youngjun opened and closed his mouth.
After all, everything he’d said up until now had indeed blamed Kangcheol.
“So I prepared a way to prove my words to you. Not only to avoid paying the penalty… but also to protect my pride as a blacksmith.”
Kangcheol continued without hesitation.
“If I’m wrong, I’ll stake not only this workshop, but my own neck as well. If I’m right… what will you put on the line?”
“You’re asking what I’ll stake?”
“You casually talked about selling someone else’s workshop. Threatening another man’s livelihood is fine, but now you’re scared to risk something of your own?”
“Hah… Scared, you say?”
Had he apologized even now, things might have turned out differently.
But his pride as a Hunter wouldn’t allow it.
He belonged to an elite group with real social status.
And among them, he was one of the strongest.
A mere blacksmith calling him scared?
“Fine! If you’re right, I’ll be your dog! I’ll bark like a dog! Crawl on all fours, wag my tail, bark—Woof! Happy now?!”
“Sure. Compared to staking my life, the wager feels a bit small, but that’ll do.”
“Hah. You’re getting way too—”
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Violent knocking echoed through the blacksmith shop.
“Perfect timing.”
Kangcheol headed toward the door.
I’ll deal with both of them at once.
“Please wait somewhere out of sight and watch.”
