Chapter 5
“His side?”
What does this guy know?
A mere blacksmith giving advice while hunters are fighting?
Normally, Park Young-jun would have ignored those words.
He looked down on anyone weaker than himself.
Even among Hunters, if he didn’t think someone was worthy, he wouldn’t listen to a single word they said.
Park Young-jun was the type of person who was barely civilized, more beast than man.
But something strange happened.
Bang!
Almost instinctively, his fist struck the scammer’s side exactly where Kang-cheol had told him.
His battle instincts screamed that listening to Kang-cheol was the only way to end this fight.
The result…
“Urgh!”
It landed perfectly.
“Huh?”
Why did that work?
Confused, he punched the exact same spot again.
Bang!
“AAAAAGH!”
“Oh! Take this! And this! And this!”
He had no idea why it worked, but it definitely did.
The iron armor that hadn’t been scratched until now was caving in exactly where his punches landed.
Certain now, Park Young-jun kept hammering the scammer’s side.
“Ugh!”
“Where are you running? What, is this old fool suddenly scary?”
The scammer hurriedly tried to create some distance, but Park Young-jun moved even faster and cut him off.
Bang!
He punched again.
“Huh?”
Park Young-jun frowned.
He hit the same place several more times, but it no longer worked.
The scammer hadn’t simply dodged. He had done something.
He moved the weak part of the iron!
Even Kang-cheol could no longer see the red glow on the scammer’s side.
“Boss! Boss! I need after-sales service! My punches suddenly stopped working!”
The two resumed their fierce fight.
Meanwhile, Kang-cheol searched for another weak point.
Soon, he spotted another faint red glow.
“I think… I found another weak spot!”
“Where?!”
“Lower back! Just above the waist!”
The two reacted very differently.
Park Young-jun grumbled.
“Seriously? How am I supposed to hit someone’s back?”
The scammer, however, froze for a moment before glaring fiercely at Kang-cheol.
“This little bastard keeps getting on my nerves.”
A look of determination appeared in his eyes.
Instead of defending himself, he suddenly leaned aside, slipped past Park Young-jun, and charged straight at Kang-cheol.
“Huh?”
“You die first!”
His fist was about to reach Kang-cheol—
Grab.
“…Didn’t anyone teach you to listen when adults are talking?”
The massive man, covered in layers of iron and charging at full speed, suddenly stopped.
Holding him around the waist was an arm so muscular that its veins looked almost unreal.
“N-No way?!”
It’s difficult to attack someone while hugging them.
Sure, it can be done.
But usually, from this position…
“Hyaaah!”
“Wow, he actually lifted him, student.”
The combination of man and iron had to weigh several hundred kilograms.
Yet Park Young-jun lifted him off the ground with a single shout.
“If you’re going to punch civilians… then you deserve this!”
He hoisted the scammer onto his shoulder.
Then—
Leap!
His feet kicked off the floor and instantly stuck to the ceiling.
Like someone doing an upside-down squat, he crouched tightly.
“W-What are you doing?! Mister! No, sir!!”
“Too late.”
Cracks spread across the ceiling like a giant spider web.
A powerful jump.
Terrifying speed.
Using the ceiling to gain momentum, he crashed downward.
BOOOOM!!
It looked as if a meteor had struck.
A huge crater appeared in the factory floor.
Dust filled the air.
Park Young-jun stood up through the cloud.
Kang-cheol peeked into the center of the crater.
“He’s dead this time, isn’t he? Shouldn’t we report a murder?”
“Come on. He won’t die. His job was getting hit by monsters. This is just a German suplex.”
“Whether that’s really a German Suplex or not… I think you’re stronger than the monsters.”
“Well… that’s… huh?”
Could he actually be dead?
After staring for a while with a puzzled expression, Park Young-jun patted Kang-cheol on the shoulder.
Since there was no hostility behind it, Kang-cheol took the hit without dodging.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“You’re pretty good.”
“At what?”
“You blocked my hand earlier. You dodged his first attack too.”
Uh-oh.
Kang-cheol inhaled sharply.
He hadn’t meant to.
But after awakening, his physical abilities had improved, and he had reacted naturally.
Knocking away the hand reaching for his collar had been pure instinct.
“Oh? Why is he suddenly so sharp? Student, you can’t let him find out.”
Can’t you do something if it gets dangerous?
“Nope!”
Normally, anyone who awakened would immediately register with the Hunter Association.
There was no reason to hide it.
But could Kang-cheol really explain that he had awakened as a mythical profession called “metallurgist”?
“Even though you didn’t dodge the last punch, you watched it until the end. And you pointed out his weak spots too. Could it be…”
Gulp.
Kang-cheol tensed.
Then Park Young-jun asked,
“Did you learn martial arts?”
“…Huh?”
“If someone is stupid enough, they can reach the dumbest conclusion despite having all the right clues. First time I’ve seen that.”
Even the system window sounded speechless.
“So what did you learn? There’s no way you’re an awakened Hunter.”
“Uh… just… Taekwondo. Like everyone else. I learned it when I was little.”
Even Kang-cheol looked unconvinced by his own answer.
Yet Park Young-jun seemed even happier.
“I knew it! I always tell my subordinates that proper Taekwondo teaches good body movement, but they never believe me! Hahaha!”
“Ow! Stop hitting me! Are we really close enough for this?”
“What? We fought together. That makes us comrades.”
Kang-cheol sighed.
“A few minutes ago, you were betting against me. I bet my workshop and even my life on it. You looked down on me the whole time. Now you’ve changed your attitude because you found out he was a scammer?”
Park Young-jun stared at him silently.
Then he opened his mouth.
“…Woof.”
“…What?”
That wasn’t even a proper sentence.
It was just—
“Woof?”
Like a dog barking?
Before Kang-cheol could process it, Park Young-jun started barking.
“Woof! Woof woof woof! Grrrr… Bark! Bark bark!”
“…A human is barking?”
Before the system window could recover from its shock, Park Young-jun crouched onto all fours.
“What… what are you doing? Are you crazy? Sir! Did you hit your head?”
“I said if you were right, I’d become your dog! Crawl on all fours, act cute, and bark! Grrr! Pant! Pant!”
Without caring how ridiculous he looked, he spun around on all fours like a puppy chasing its tail.
For someone so simple-minded, his performance was surprisingly convincing.
“Student… this is bad. At this rate, he’s going to start acting cute too.”
“No! I don’t want that! Stop! Please stop!”
“Oh, thank you. I can stop now, right?”
As soon as Kang-cheol desperately stopped him, Park Young-jun calmly stood back up.
“…Was that all acting?”
“Haha. When you’re older, you’ll understand. A family man can survive anything in society.”
Then he straightened himself and bowed deeply.
“I spoke far too harshly. I wanted to impress my superior with that sword, but because of my own greed and personal circumstances, I treated you unfairly.”
His attitude was completely different from the man who had been barking moments ago.
It was the most sincere Kang-cheol had seen him.
“I apologize for everything I said, not only for threatening your workshop and damaging your equipment but also for hurting your pride as a blacksmith. I promise to make proper compensation however you see fit.”
Kang-cheol felt strangely conflicted.
Just minutes ago they had been insulting each other.
Yet somehow…
He’s a family man…
Kang-cheol finally spoke.
“Raise your head first.”
“So… you accept my apology?”
Kang-cheol frowned several times before answering.
“Honestly, I’m still annoyed after everything I heard. But getting angry won’t change anything. Still… I do have conditions.”
“You have conditions? Let’s hear them.”
“Wait a second.”
Kang-cheol went into his office and returned with a box.
When Park Young-jun opened it, his eyes widened.
“A knife? But you said you hadn’t touched the order.”
“I didn’t touch your steel. I worked on my own steel.”
Inside the box were two beautifully finished knives.
They looked almost identical.
Unless someone closely examined the wood grain on the handles, they would think they were the same knife.
“It isn’t CPM steel, but it’s AEB-L, a tough stainless steel that’s excellent for smaller blades like razors.”
“What if I rejected it because it wasn’t the steel I ordered?”
“I didn’t make it because of your order.”
He had actually made several knives over the past three days simply because he enjoyed it.
“There was no point mentioning that.”
“If you knew enough about steel, you wouldn’t have bought it from a second-hand marketplace in the first place.”
Then Kang-cheol smiled.
“A blacksmith knows knives best. If a customer places the wrong order, shouldn’t the blacksmith make the right knife?”
Park Young-jun was silent for a long time.
“…I think this is the first time in my life that I’ve met a real blacksmith.”
“Whatever. Just take the knife. You said it was a gift for your superior.”
“That’s right.”
“I did my best, but since the steel changed, I couldn’t follow every detail of the original order. Give it to your superior, hear what they think, and then decide the price based on how satisfied they are. That’s my first condition.”
“So you’re trusting me to decide the price?”
“If you’re going to test me like that, you’re banned. You’ll never use one of my knives again.”
“Haha. Understood. I’ll value it fairly… maybe even a little higher than my conscience says.”
To Park Young-jun, Kang-cheol’s confidence sounded like this:
A little money isn’t worth losing the chance to order from me again.
It reminded him of the confidence carried by veteran Hunters.
The kind of confidence that says the following:
With this, I’ll survive no matter what.
“And the second condition.”
“Go on.”
“You promised to pay for everything you damaged.”
“Of course.”
“Then that’s enough.”
“Fine. I’ll keep my dignity as a team leader this time.”
Even though the repair bill would clearly be enormous, Park Young-jun agreed without hesitation.
“I’ll contact you soon. Oh, and I’ll take this scammer with me.”
“You’d better. And next time you call, don’t yell.”
“Hahaha! Deal! No more shouting!”
Park Young-jun even wrote and stamped a signed confirmation before leaving.
As he walked away carrying the unconscious scammer over his shoulder, he somehow looked much lighter than when he had arrived.
“Whew. That was noisy.”
“Tell me about it. I’m exhausted.”
Who would have thought catching a scammer would turn into such chaos?
Kang-cheol grumbled that it was completely unfair for the scammer to start throwing punches too.
“If you’ve worked hard, you should get something in return.”
The system window displayed a mysterious message.
Then—
Flash!
Job Quest: Improve the opinion of a (potential) customer who had a negative impression. (1/1) Complete!
Job Quest: Use the Eye of Insight skill. (3/3) Complete!
Job Quest: Use the Eye of Insight skill. (10/10) Complete!
Job Quest: Blacksmith Shop Remodeling – Demolition. (1/1) Complete!
Job Quest: Create a product using the Eye of Insight skill. (1/1) Complete!
Several quest completion messages appeared one after another.
Completing all five quests rewarded him with 50 Coins.
Then another message appeared.
Level Up! Reward: 200 Coins.
Kang-cheol’s eyes widened.
Just moments after the system said hard work should be rewarded, he had earned 250 coins.
Thinking back to buying chicken earlier, it felt like he had suddenly made 5 million won just from a few words.
“What? Where did that come from?”
“I get rewards too whenever you level up quickly, student.”
“You do?”
“Which means whenever I get the chance, I’ll spoil you properly. Like a grandma feeding her favorite grandchild.”
Then another large system window appeared.
It was decorated with flashy symbols like a cheap advertisement.
♨♬♨ Limited-Time Sale! ♨♬♨ First Skill Upgrade 50% OFF! Crazy Discount!
The system eagerly asked,
“So then… which skill are you going to upgrade first?”
