The All-Master Who Returned to Bronze – Episode 010

“First, let’s wash up and go buy clothes.”

“Clothes? But I don’t have any money…”

“I have a card for times like this, so it’s fine. Also, since Sejin is a few years older than me, would it be okay if I call you ‘hyung’ (older brother)?”

“Yes, well… it doesn’t matter.”

” Sejin, please speak comfortably too. Where in the world is there a hyung who uses formal speech to his younger brother?”

“R-really?”

As soon as Choi Cheol-ho’s permission came through, Shinhyuk succeeded in establishing a brotherly relationship with Sejin.

Looking at Sejin, who was watching him with an awkward expression, Shinhyuk recalled the past.

‘Mr. Bang. This settles our connection from my past life.’

During the time he was a Challenger player in the past.

Sejin—no, Bang of Cheonggyecheon—who was responsible for his weapons and armor.

Burying the past connection, Shinhyuk headed to a public bathhouse with Sejin.

“…Even a third-generation chaebol heir comes to places like bathhouses?”

“I told you, I wasn’t even treated as a third-generation chaebol to begin with.”

“Ah, right, you did.”

“Let’s bathe refreshingly and scrub all the grime off too. It’s like giving a big ‘screw you’ right in the faces of my former bosses.”

“That sounds good.”

Seeing Sejin’s unblemished appearance, smiling happily just at the thought, Shinhyuk parted ways with Suah in front of the bathhouse.

“See you in an hour?”

“An hour is too short! Girls need at least two hours!”

“…Isn’t that too long?”

“Absolutely~ not! So, let’s meet here in two hours.”

“…Alright.”

But Shinhyuk couldn’t understand at all what women did in bathhouses that took a minimum of two hours.

“Are they having a war inside or something, Brother?”

“W-well? I don’t know much about women either…”

Of course, that didn’t mean Sejin knew either.

Ultimately, the two men, who knew nothing about women, couldn’t leave the bathhouse until they had bathed, scrubbed off all their grime, and devoured a tray of eggs and a bottle of sports drink.

“Haa, it’s nice to come to a bathhouse after so long.”

“…It seems like there’s some kind of magic in the women’s bath.”

“I think so too.”

Clearly, they visited the same bathhouse, but Suah’s skin was smooth and glowing, while the men were just clean, and that was all.

The two men shaking their heads at what seemed like magic was only for a moment.

“Now let’s go shopping, Brother.”

Getting into the luxury sedan that had come to pick up the three of them on time, Shinhyuk gestured.

Soon, as Suah and Sejin got into the sedan one after another, the driver turned his head to confirm the destination.

“Will you be going to the Myth Department Store, young master?”

A natural question, one might say.

Now that Shinhyuk could clearly be called a child of the Myth Group, it was only natural to go to the Myth Department Store to buy Sejin’s clothes.

But Shinhyuk had no intention of taking the obvious path.

“Please take us to the Oseong Department Store’s Gangnam branch.”

“…Oseong, sir?”

“Yes, Oseong.”

“…Understood.”

Oseong Department Store.

A place that, along with the Myth Department Store, dominates the department store market.

Above all, at the words that they would go to that rival location, the driver couldn’t hide his bewilderment as he stepped on the accelerator.

“Shinhyuk-ah, what are you thinking? Shouldn’t we go to the Myth Department Store?”

“Normally, we should. But I’m sorry to say.”

“What are you sorry about?”

Towards Shinhyuk, who chose the Oseong Department Store over Myth, Suah, who was stomping her feet saying they should go to the Myth Department Store even now, tilted her head at his words.

Going to the Oseong Department Store because he’s sorry?

It was a statement that sounded strange even if she washed her ears and listened again.

But Shinhyuk crooked the corner of his mouth upward and added the reason.

“I feel sorry for Joo-ho. Because of me, he got placed in Bronze, not even Silver.”

“Ah… Shinhyuk, you really are wicked, aren’t you?”

Lee Joo-ho.

The eldest son of the Oseong Guild Master and a player who took the placement exam with Shinhyuk and got beaten badly.

Right now, Shinhyuk was saying he was going to the Oseong Department Store because he felt sorry for that Joo-ho.

At that fact, Suah looked at Shinhyuk with a disgusted expression.

“While we’re at it, shall we buy some equipment for you too, Suah?”

“But Joo-ho did things to you for three years, so this much is self-defense. Hmm!”

Of course, such Suah fell for Shinhyuk’s temptation to buy her equipment and became corrupted by capital.

The luxury sedan carrying Shinhyuk, who let out a stifled laugh watching Suah nod her head quickly, smoothly headed towards Gangnam.

Oseong Department Store, Gangnam Branch.

That place was always packed to the brim with people.

Naturally, when a celebrity appeared in such a place, a huge commotion was bound to occur.

“It’s Choi Shinhyuk!”

“Choi Shinhyuk, who got placed in Silver 1 in the placement exam?”

“The Choi Shinhyuk who wrecked Lee Joo-ho?”

“But why did he come here?”

Shinhyuk’s appearance was exactly that.

But while surprised by Shinhyuk’s appearance, people couldn’t hide their curiosity.

It was because of the question: Shinhyuk’s main house is the Myth Group, so he should naturally go to the Myth Department Store—why did he come to the Oseong Department Store?

And from within the crowd, a question to solve that curiosity erupted.

“Mr. Choi Shinhyuk! May I ask why you came to the Oseong Department Store?”

“That’s right! Is it because the Oseong Department Store is better than the Myth Department Store?”

“Please answer!”

The sight of ordinary people, not reporters, pouring out questions as if possessed by reporters was quite marvelous.

To that, Shinhyuk placed the trembling Sejin next to Suah and lightly answered the question.

“I came because I feel sorry for a friend.”

“A friend?”

“You came because you feel sorry?”

Naturally, like Suah, the others couldn’t understand Shinhyuk’s words at once either.

But at the following explanation, people couldn’t hold back their bursting laughter.

“Yes, I felt like I was too harsh on my friend Joo-ho during the placement exam, so I came to help boost the Oseong Department Store’s sales a bit.”

“Juho then…”

“Lee Joo-ho?!”

“Sigh, he’s saying he feels sorry after trampling him like that, so he came to boost department store sales.”

“Is this giving medicine after giving poison?”

“Ah, I have to post this on Inbyeol (a social media platform).”

“Wouldn’t Lee Joo-ho be pissed if he knew about this?”

He came to boost department store sales for the very Joo-ho he personally crushed.

Because that statement was laughable no matter who heard it.

Sounds of stifled laughter came from here and there, and among them were even those who burst into loud laughter.

“Well then, I must go fill Joo-ho’s wallet.”

Having thus provided a fun time for the people, Shinhyuk swiftly disappeared with his party, accompanied by his driver and bodyguard.

• Choi Shinhyuk just showed up at the Oseong Department Store!

• Choi Shinhyuk says: Lee Joo-ho is my friend. That’s why I came to boost sales.

• But the girl next to Choi Shinhyuk is really pretty…

• Choi Shinhyuk should pay double taxes and be investigated by a special prosecutor. Seriously.

• Can’t we do an autopsy?

• You madman, why do an autopsy on a living person?

At the spot where Shinhyuk disappeared, the words he had just spoken were quickly spreading across various social media  platforms, including Inbyeol.

Naturally, it was exactly as Shinhyuk intended.

“I’ll take everything from here to here. Please give me all the shirts in the right size. I’d like to get them tailored, but I don’t have time now, so I’ll buy ready-made clothes for now.”

“Th-thank you!”

The store manager bowed with a bright face to Shinhyuk, who had entered a store dealing in luxury suits and performed the ‘everything from here to here’ move that only real rich people can do.

A natural reaction, since he receives incentives based on store sales.

Of course, the payment was made with a Myth card.

“Sh-Shinhyuk-ah. I don’t need this many. To begin with, once I pick up a hammer again, I’ll just wear work clothes, so why do I need suits like these?”

“Is that so? Well then, you can just do hammering in a suit.”

“It’s uncomfortable and a waste, why…”

“Wouldn’t that make the bosses who tormented you angry? The kid they picked on using a suit, which they can barely afford to buy, as work clothes?”

“…Ah. So you thought that far ahead, Shinhyuk.”

“Yes, so you don’t need to worry too much. Considering the value of the equipment you’ll be making for me in the future, it’s a profitable deal anyway.”

“Ha… Haha, is that so?”

Sejin, who was dazed by the overly large gift, was properly convinced by Shinhyuk’s persuasion.

There was no revenge more perfect and satisfying than showing those who tormented him his own self, doing better than them.

Moreover, as Shinhyuk threw in a joke telling him not to worry, the atmosphere became even smoother.

“Go change your clothes. I’ll be waiting.”

“Alright. I’ll change and be right back.”

Watching Sejin head to the dressing room with the selected suit and shirts, Shinhyuk showed a warm smile.

“Next, let’s go look at equipment for you, Suah. If it’s the Oseong Department Store, there should be decent usable stuff. It will take some time for brother Sejin to seriously start making equipment, so it should be enough to use until then, right?”

“…Wow, I never imagined I’d be using Oseong Department Store equipment as temporary gear. I really did pick my friends well, huh?”

“Right. When else would you use a rich chaebol friend if not for times like this?”

Watching Suah beaming with joy at his words, Shin-hyuk threw out a joke with a laugh.

Even though he said that, Suah was a genuine friend who had been his friend since Shinhyuk had nothing.

Because she was such a friend, Shinhyuk was doing things for her, from recruiting Sejin—which should involve as few people as possible—to buying expensive equipment.

While Sejin was changing, passing the time chattering with Suah a thought suddenly occurred to Shinhyuk.

‘But can’t I hold a hammer too?’

The thought that he, not just Sejin, could hold a hammer.

‘In the past, I was only focused on surviving and raising my tier, honing only combat skills. The term ‘All-Master’ was ultimately only in terms of combat. But… if it’s truly ‘All-Master,’ shouldn’t I master production professions as well, not just combat?’

And that imagination quickly began to take concrete shape.

Unlike the past when he was only an All-Master in combat, the thought that this time he could become a ‘true’ All-Master was forming around the time Sejin emerged from the dressing room.

Seeing that, Shinhyuk immediately confided his thoughts to Sejin.

After Shinhyuk finished explaining the concept of Class: All-Master, appropriately mixing it with his Characteristic: Versatile, and was waiting only for Sejin’s choice.

“…An apprenticeship might be possible, I think?”

Apprenticeship.

A term referring to a trainee who learns the work under a master craftsman.

At those words, this time it was Shinhyuk who knelt before Se-jin.

“Brother… I want… to hold a hammer…”

Both the older brother and the younger brother were at an age where they really wanted to hold a hammer.

Thus, Shinhyuk succeeded in becoming the apprentice of the man who would be called the Hand of God.

‘In this life, I will master not only combat but also the production and crafting fields.’

It was a bonus that he had taken a big step closer to his dream as a true All-Master.