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Chapter 13 ..
The Genius Blacksmith Obsessed Over by Hunters
“I’ll gather all the team leaders first.”
Not long afterward, five more people entered the room, including Park Youngjun, whom Kang Cheol was already familiar with.
“Here, sir! Team Leader Park, is today the day you’re getting disciplined?”
“Took your sweet… time… but you made it….”
Some of them looked like people who lived for nothing but working out…
“Oh, Boss Kang, you’re here?”
“Secretary Choi Sangwon, I keep telling you at home to do your job properly so we don’t have to keep gathering all the team leaders, huh?”
There were also familiar faces and people whose identities he could easily guess.
“……”
“Whoa! You scared me!”
And finally, there was the strange man who silently appeared beside Kang Cheol and simply stared at him.
Once everyone had taken their seats, Kwon Semi began speaking.
“Sorry for calling everyone while you’re busy. Now that all five team leaders are here, along with Secretary Choi Sangwon, I’d like to hold a brief meeting. We have two agenda items, and I’d like to finish within five minutes.”
She raised one finger.
“First, Team Leader Park Youngjun’s disciplinary case. As a team leader, you arrived late without notice for yesterday’s scheduled dungeon raid. Before I continue, I’d like to inform our guest that Team Leader Park Youngjun is currently suspended from his duties as a team leader, and his disciplinary action has also been put on hold.”
Kang Cheol stared at Park Youngjun in shock.
He had thought the man was just careless, but to neglect even his actual job while running around like that…
—Wait… then what about the compensation he promised me?
“What…? Wait… Huh? Seriously?”
Noticing Kang Cheol’s bewilderment, Kwon Semi continued.
“According to Team Leader Park Youngjun, he damaged a civilian’s property while subduing an Awakened criminal. Therefore, I intend to deduct the compensation entirely from Team Leader Park Youngjun’s salary. Does anyone object?”
“Nope, sir!”
“No objections….”
“No! Don’t do that!”
“Ha… Park, I knew this was gonna happen.”
“……”
After confirming four verbal responses and one silent gesture, Kwon Semi raised another finger.
“Good. Next is the matter of our sponsorship.”
Her gaze landed on the four swords.
“I believe everyone already knows that the swords supplied to us are of poor quality. Yesterday, Team Leader Park Youngjun brought up the blacksmith who made these swords, and today Secretary Choi personally found and brought that blacksmith here.”
“I’ve personally confirmed his skill. In my opinion, there’s no room for disagreement.”
Kwon Semi pushed the two swords made by Kang Cheol forward for everyone to inspect.
Choi Sangwon added firmly.
“Ooh… they’re seriously sharp. Ow.”
“These… definitely seem different… from what we’ve been using…. They’re… certainly… better….”
The leader of Team 1 repeatedly poked the tip of the blade with his finger until it pierced the center of his fingertip, then hurriedly set the sword down.
The Team 2 leader picked up the sword Team 1 had put down, examined it from every angle, and then placed it back.
Not everyone was immediately convinced.
The Team 4 leader glanced casually at the sword in Team 5’s hand before asking Kwon Semi,
“Master, the craftsmanship is obviously excellent, but is this really something that can be solved by craftsmanship alone?”
“That’s exactly what this meeting is for. And that’s my sword, so don’t get greedy, Team Leader Five.”
“……”
Apparently, even among them there was someone quietly coveting the sword.
“For now, I think everyone agrees that he’s not just an all-talk fraud. Even during actual cutting tests, the blade proved incredibly sharp and durable…”
“Master.”
“…Ah. My apologies.”
Kwon Semi regained her composure after Choi Sangwon’s reminder.
“I want to terminate our current sponsorship. To do that, I’d like to entrust Mr. Kang Cheol, owner of Kang Cheol Forge, with inspecting our equipment and negotiating with our sponsor.”
Receiving her cue, Choi Sangwon looked around the room.
“If anyone has objections, speak now.”
The first to raise his hand was Team Leader Four.
He looked like the kind of person who would try to haggle even over items with fixed price tags at the supermarket.
“So you’re saying you’re willing to accept penalties or other losses from breaking the contract, Master?”
“I intend to reduce them as much as possible.”
“I think better swords sound great!”
The oblivious Team Leader One suddenly interrupted.
After shooting him an irritated glare, Team Leader Four continued.
“This is a legally binding contract between companies, after all. I think there’s considerable risk. The contract still has a long time remaining, and it’d be difficult to prove that their products are poor simply because they’re badly made.”
The slow-speaking Team Leader Two picked up the discussion.
“The… benefits… and… the risks… must… be balanced….”
Although he spoke in fragments, everyone understood his point.
“So you’re saying it’ll be acceptable as long as Mr. Kang Cheol’s abilities are enough to offset those risks?”
“……”
Team Leader Five silently nodded.
The other team leaders also appeared to agree.
“So that’s settled, Mr. Kang Cheol. As the final decision-maker of the Yeonhwa Guild, I’d like to officially request that Kang Cheol Forge handle this assignment. However…”
At Kwon Semi’s gesture, Choi Sangwon immediately gathered paper, pens, and an ink pad.
“If you wish, we can also conduct whatever verification procedures the team leaders deem appropriate.”
“Of course.”
“As I mentioned earlier, your responsibilities will be to inspect the quality of all supplied bladed weapons—including both swords and other edged weapons—and negotiate with the sponsor. Can you do it?”
“Yes. I can.”
Pleased by Kang Cheol’s confident reply, Kwon Semi smiled broadly.
“Excellent. Next is the contract fee… Do you have an amount in mind?”
Kang Cheol shook his head.
“I didn’t really come here thinking about money. I was just dumbfounded after seeing how shamelessly those people were doing business.”
He hadn’t come with some grand plan when he first offered to help.
He had simply been angry that someone could treat a craft he loved so carelessly.
Besides…
“If you work hard enough, you naturally make enough money to live comfortably. So just pay me whatever you think is fair.”
Kang Cheol had been thinking about coins and various profession quests when he said that, but everyone else seemed to interpret it differently.
“Damn… that’s cool!”
“Hey, hey. If you say it like that, it sounds sarcastic. Boss, don’t take it the wrong way, alright?”
“Huh? No! I wasn’t being sarcastic! Sorry!”
“This… is… the spirit… of a true craftsman….”
And Team Leader Five silently gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up over and over like a machine gun.
“……”
“Uh… thank you?”
Chuckling softly, Kwon Semi said,
“That was an impressive answer. But this isn’t the kind of job we can simply brush off, so please tell us an amount you’re genuinely comfortable with.”
“No, I… I was serious.”
Judging from everyone’s reactions, they seemed convinced he had intentionally tried to sound cool.
I really wasn’t…
So Kang Cheol decided to explain it differently.
Come to think of it, how many opportunities would a person ever have to legally criticize a competitor from the same industry right in front of everyone?
This was the ultimate endgame content.
Just look at those famous celebrity chefs who appear on cooking shows tearing other people’s dishes apart.
People loved watching that.
And then those shows kept making more seasons.
Even something entertaining normally gets repetitive.
If it keeps coming back anyway…
That absolutely means the chef himself keeps begging to do another season.
—Damn, kid, your logic is frighteningly convincing. Just don’t go starting a cult.
So Kang Cheol finally said,
“No, it’s just… I get to criticize someone else’s work and get paid for it. That sounds way too fun.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’d honestly pay my own money just to do this. Let’s finish the inspection quickly and then go rip that scumbag apart.”
Then, like a scene straight out of a sitcom, Kang Cheol gave everyone a big thumbs-up.
Amid the room’s bewildered reactions, only Kwon Semi spoke.
“Team Leader Park Youngjun.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve decided to cancel your disciplinary action.”
Without taking her eyes off Kang Cheol, Kwon Semi continued,
“Each team leader will prepare their own method of verification and gather here again.”
An hour later…
“So everyone came empty-handed.”
Kwon Semi let out a long sigh.
Well, that’s hardly surprising.
If these people had truly known swords, they never would have accepted blades of such poor quality in the first place.
Someone as skilled as Choi Sangwon wouldn’t have spent so long doubting his own judgment either.
“Um… Master…”
“Could you at least exempt the two of us?”
Choi Sangwon and Park Youngjun timidly raised their hands.
Kwon Semi nodded readily.
Regardless of his original intentions, Park Youngjun had introduced Kang Cheol to the guild while everyone else was criticizing Kang Cheol Forge.
And Choi Sangwon had personally gone all the way to the flea market, watched Kang Cheol working, and brought him here.
Both had already earned enough credit.
Kwon Semi turned toward Team Leader One.
“Then, Team Leader One. Would you tell us what you’ve come up with?”
“I got nothing! Sorry!”
The answer came out without even passing through his brain first.
“…Team Leader Two?”
“The… big… three… lifts….”
“Does a blacksmith really need to work out?”
“…The sword… broke… while doing them.”
“……”
“We need… a solution….”
Where exactly would a sword be used in squats, bench presses, or deadlifts?
Kang Cheol suddenly felt dizzy.
“Well… first of all, your muscles are incredible. Haha. You must be unbelievably strong.”
Ignoring Team Leader Two, who enthusiastically flexed through various bodybuilding poses in response to the compliment, Kang Cheol continued.
“When making swords, it often feels like playing a game. The overall design is important, but once you reach the heat-treatment stage, it becomes a balancing game of material properties. You can make a sword harder to break, or you can make it keep its edge longer.”
“So you’re saying the performance can be improved?”
“That’s right. It’s impossible to create a perfect weapon, but it’s absolutely possible to remake one so that it better suits its intended purpose.”
Kwon Semi nodded with satisfaction.
“Team Leader Two, are you satisfied with that answer?”
“Yes. Especially….”
Team Leader Two continued striking bodybuilding poses with all his might, but nobody paid him any attention.
“Since Team Leader Three is Park Youngjun, we’ll skip him. Team Leader Four?”
Everyone’s attention shifted to Team Leader Four.
With a mischievous smile, he spoke.
“Only Master has actually used the sword Mr. Kang Cheol made, so I thought Master would probably be the best judge.”
“Hm. That makes sense.”
“So I thought of a way for Master to evaluate him properly. Mr. Kang Cheol?”
The conversation suddenly turned to Kang Cheol.
“Yes?”
“If we asked you to improve a sword that’s already been delivered, could you do it?”
“Right here?”
Team Leader Four nodded.
“Can you?” Kwon Semi asked.
From the moment she had first received the sword, she had been unable to hide her admiration.
More than simply asking him to improve his own work, she genuinely wondered whether an even better sword than this could possibly exist.
Kang Cheol extended his hand.
But it wasn’t a gesture asking for anything.
“What do you mean?”
“Would you shake my hand once?”
“A handshake?”
Though puzzled, Kwon Semi took the hand Kang Cheol offered.
Holding her hand, Kang Cheol quietly fell into thought for a moment…
Then he answered.
“Yes. I’ll do it.”
