Chapter 35: 35

Su-hyeun followed Kim Dae-ho through the hall of the hot smithy .

At first, he wondered how Dae-ho could endure such heat, but now he was no longer worried . Kim Dae-ho had developed a tolerance to the heat since he was a child .

More importantly, Su-hyeun wanted to see the sword that Kim Dae-ho had forged .

As they descended the staircase leading to the basement of the smithy, he could see equipment hanging on the wall .

It was the true masterpiece that Kim Dae-ho had created .

These weren’t items that could be found in this generation .

This was equipment that could only be found in the future, after a long period of countless research, advancement in crafting techniques, and smelting of the ether stones .

Kim Dae-ho was already creating this kind of equipment at this time . He was indeed both a master and a genius .

“Here, this is it . ”

Kim Dae-ho picked a sword off the wall and handed it to Su-hyeun .

It was a sword of the highest quality made with ether stone, and he had it hanging on the wall .

An ordinary silver long sword . One couldn’t really tell it was anything special by its appearance alone .

Su-Hyeun held the sword handed to him by Kim Dae-ho . It was heavy .

It was definitely more massive than a regular sword, but it didn’t feel that bad to Su-hyeun .

“How is it? The weight is perfect, right?”

“Indeed, it is . ”

It wasn’t the weight of an ordinary sword . However, it wasn’t a weight that would be considered heavy to the average awakener .

Instead, an appropriate weight was added to the power of the sword . It was a weight that held the proper balance .

“The weight can be adjusted according to the melted ether stone on the sword . You can make it weigh as heavy as a ton or as light as a feather . It’s not really a good function, but I made it so that you can adjust it to your preference so use it to your liking . ”

“What else?”

“Per your request, I forged it so that it stays true to a sword’s function and magic conductivity, rather than the sword’s overall use effect . The more powerful the user of the sword, the higher the efficiency of the sword will be . ”

“Well, it’s not that special . ”

“Yes, it’s not special . However, it’s perfect . ”

Shing—

Su-hyeun pulled the sword out from its sheath . The shining silver long sword showed off its sleek blade and reflected Su-hyeun’s face .

Slash—

Su-hyeun took the sword and slashed at the tip of his clothes . The blade just swished through the fabric as if it were a blunt stick .

This time, he took another sword that he was carrying and threw it up in the air .

Swish— Slash—

Thud— Thud—

The sword that Su-hyeun swung lightly cut through the sword that he threw in the air neatly in half .

As the halved sword fell to the ground, Su-hyeun commented, “Interesting . ”

It was as if the sword was alive .

Even without using magic, it was able to differentiate between what he was trying to cut and what he wasn’t . Furthermore, its sharpness and its degree of strength were unbelievable as well . The level of sharpness could not be simply made from any substance .

“A magical device…”

“Oh, can you tell?”

As Su-hyeun realized the true worth of the sword, Dae-ho Kim smiled brightly .

“Correct . No technique can form that degree of sharpness . So, as you requested, I used the ether stone, which contains magical properties to form that extremely sharp and firm blade . ”

“Did you base it off the principle of an electric saw?”

“You’ve got good eyes . Indeed . Rather than just being sharp, if you add the friction of rotation, that power will be amplified . Of course, it can’t be seen with the naked eye . ”

Su-hyeun was quite surprised .

His request was just for the shape and function of the sword to be accurate and perfect to its basic form . It was because he thought that suited him better than a sword needlessly plastered with skills . However, he never could imagine that the sword’s power and sharpness could be increased like this .

As expected, it was the right choice to ask Kim Dae-ho to create this . It had taken a whole year, but the creation of a weapon of this degree was worth the wait .

“What is its name?”

Kim Dae-ho engraved a name on all his equipment . Of course, it was only for the equipment that he deemed well made .

This sword was well worthy to receive a name . It definitely should have a name .

“It doesn’t have one, twerp . ”

“It doesn’t?”

What a surprising answer . Kim Dae-ho roughly scratched his head and spoke .

“It’s your sword, so you name it . You’re not a kid, so why are you expecting me to name it, too?”

“…Is that okay?”

“What is?”

“You’re not greedy for it? You made such a wonderful sword like this . ”

“What greed is there to speak of? Forget it . I’m satisfied that I could even have the chance to forge a sword like this . ”

His chance to name the sword was now passed on to someone else . It might be something troublesome and meaningless, but for Kim Dae-ho, it was a huge concession .

Su-hyeun thought about the sword’s name for a while . Instead of coming up with a name by himself, he wanted to share it with Kim Dae-ho, who had spent one year to painstakingly forge this sword .

Su-hyeun spoke after a while of thought .

“I’ll name it Dragon Slaying Sword, Gram . ”

“Gram? Dragon Slaying Sword? What kind of rustic name is that?”

The name Balmung was also named by Su-hyeun in the past .

Gram was another name of Balmung, used in North Europe’s mythology . They were practically the same name .

But to Su-hyeun, above anything else, he did not want to give up on the title of a dragon-slaying sword .

However, he did not want to reuse the name Balmung either . He thought that he might fail again if he used the same name .

“Well, I was wondering if I might be able to slay a dragon with this sword someday . ”

At Su-hyeun’s vague answer, Kim Dae-ho looked at him, speechless .

“Ha, what a cheesy kid . ”

No matter Dragon Slaying Sword or Gram, it was all the same embarrassing name to Kim Dae-ho . Even so, Su-hyeun quite liked the name he had come up with . Su-hyeun was not aware that his wits of coming up with names were decreasing .

“I have deposited the fees before coming here . Please confirm it . ”

Su-hyeun spoke while putting Gram back into its scabbard . Kim Dae-ho blinked in surprise at the news which he had heard for the first time .

“Fees? What fees?”

“I had also sent a down payment . Didn’t you see it?”

“What? Did you take me for a beggar, kid!” Kim Dae-ho jumped and shouted as if the smithy was going away . To Kim Dae-ho, money was nothing but funds to make materials to forge equipment .

“What else can I do when I have nothing else to give you? I don’t want to hear from others that I’m making use of you at this age . ”

“Nonsense! If you wanted to fund me, you should have given me some materials instead of money . Aren’t you an awakener, too?”

“Even so, wouldn’t I be too shameless if I did that?”

“Forget it . I need the right materials instead of money . If you really want to thank me, you should have gotten me those . ”

What he said was right .

A real reward should be what the other party needs most . To Kim Dae-ho, who regards money similar to a stone, it might not be considered a bonus .

But…

Kim Dae-ho only bought the ether stones and used them on forging equipment, but did not sell them anywhere else .

He might have been quite wealthy thanks to his reputation as a craftsman now, but his wealth would run out someday .

In fact, Kim Dae-ho had been struggling with cash since 2021 . Knowing the truth, Su-hyeun had deliberately deposited the money to him .

Buzz—

That moment, the smartphone in Su-hyeun’s pocket rang . Kim Dae-ho, who was hurling abusive language at Su-hyeun, stopped and waved his hand at him .

“Why should I be wasting my energy on you? Forget it . If there’s nothing else, get lost . ”

“Yes, Uncle . I’ll be back again . ”

“If you have nothing else, don’t you come to me!”

Kim Dae-ho still came out to send Su-hyeun off despite having said that . Indeed, he was someone who acted differently from his words on a good note .

The vibrations which had continued for some time stopped . Su-hyeun quickly took out the smartphone from his pocket and checked the missed calls list .

It was from Lee Ju-ho . As Su-hyeun returned the call, Lee Ju-ho picked it up immediately .

“Hello?”

“What have you been doing recently?”

“I just got a weapon made . I’m about to head up to the 20th floor . ”

“I’ve heard about it . There is a huge commotion about it on Abyss Online now . ”

Did news travel this fast?

Somehow, there was no other faster source than online for people who loved writing . Su-hyeun scratched his head and walked towards his car .

“But why are you looking for me? Is there another dungeon this time?”

“Yes . There’s that, too, and I thought of having a meal with you sometime . I had just cleared the 34th floor a while back . ”

“I could probably meet you for a meal but… I think it might be tough for another dungeon attack . ”

“Is there anything wrong?”

“I think I’ll enter the 20th-floor trial immediately . ”

Vroom—

Su-hyeun started the engine as soon as he got in the car .

“Let’s meet up for a chat first . ”

Act 7

Su-hyeun drove his car towards a city near Yeongdeungpo in Seoul .

Su-hyeun and Lee Jun-ho met amidst the crowd . As it was dinner time, they went to a restaurant with a private room and ordered food . The dinner table was soon filled with Korean cuisine . As the door closed and their surroundings became quiet, Lee Ju-ho spoke .

“Are you very busy?”

“I didn’t want to push back any of my challenges . ”

The 20th floor was a special section .

As much as it was the most challenging trial, its rewards were the best . Su-hyeun wanted to clear this section to the best of his potential .

“You seem to be in quite the hurry…”

Lee Ju-ho seemed to know Su-hyeun well . He felt that Su-hyeun was anxious .

“Is there anything wrong?”

“I have a favor to ask of you . ”

The reply that Lee Ju-ho got was different from his question, but Lee Ju-ho thought that his reply had nothing to do with his question .

“What is it?”

“You have appeared a lot on the media recently, and even gotten more famous…”

“Recently, yes . ”

Since a year back, Lee Ju-ho had been ascending the tower taking on trials that were more difficult than he usually handled . After it was found out by the public, Lee Ju-ho was the center of attention for news related to awakeners . He was so-called the ‘level-fluctuating’ awakener .

Lee Ju-ho was already a B-rank awakener before the commotion . When taking into consideration his level and the method he used to ascend the tower, it wasn’t something special for the media to pay attention to him .

“Can you possibly get in personal contact with the authorities?”

“If you mean authorities… Do you mean the higher-ups?”

Su-hyeun was referring to not purely the awakeners authority, but the higher-ups that managed and operated the organization .

“It’s not impossible, but…”

“Please convey a message to them . ”

“Just what is it about?”

“In the coming month or so…”

Su-hyeun started sharing his story .

When the story ended, Lee Ju-ho’s expression was frozen in astonishment .

“Is that… true?”

“In all likelihood . ”

“How did you get to know about this?”

“From the gatekeeper on the 20th floor . Although I’m not exactly sure if the gatekeeper is also in the know about the issues going around here but… it’s worth doubting . ”

Gatekeepers .

The residents who only resided on every 10th floor, who were known to have all the information in the world .

They seemed to be all unrecognizable by their appearances, but at the very least, their information had never been wrong .

Not even once .

Of course, even if the results were accurate, the process was false . This information was not from the gatekeeper, but rather from Su-hyeun’s personal experience .

“So that’s why the number of dungeons appearing lately had been alarming…”