WeTried Translations

Translator: [IncomeElastic]

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Became a Blacksmith the Rankers Are Obsessed With ◈

Chapter 000

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Prologue

* * *

Gear matters.

You know it. So does that guy over there. So does the hopeless youngest son of Baron Ferguson next door.

Gloves, pants, accessories, clothing. Here, even underwear is called "gear."

Maybe that's only natural. It's the garment that stays closest to the body the longest.

So then.

When choosing gear, what matters most?

The gear's grade?

The materials?

The shop owner next door insists it's all about "feel," but you should be wary of any craftsman who says that.

As far as I'm concerned, there's only one thing that matters.

Compatibility with the wearer.

The wavelength and rhythm of their mana.

No matter how top-tier a piece of gear is, it means nothing if it doesn't suit the user.

But the moment the compatibility clicks into place, that synergy lifts the user's standing by several tiers at once.

And that's true even if only a single slot matches.

Some people call this superstition.

I get it.

There's no way, anywhere in the world, to actually check compatibility.

So only a tiny handful of lucky people ever end up with gear that's a perfect match for them.

This is a post from a community forum.

[✪] [Turns out we might all be wearing gear with fuck-all compatibility ㅋㅋ]

* * *

Honestly, we only ever look at a piece of gear's stats

So we just push the grade as high as it'll go

Makes you wonder if gear might actually be poisoning us

Yeah, compatibility theory is superstition, but you can't deny it's a little fishy

Remember last time on floor 201, when Sword Empress and Laevateinn had their gear swapped and didn't even notice ㅋㅋ

* * *

anon: Guess they just have similar builds ㅋㅋ pfft ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

> anon1: fr ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

> > anon2: But seriously, I'm a floor 7 newbie, is there really no way to check compatibility? I'm damn suspicious of my gear right now

> > > anon1: If you're a newbie, just focus on raising your grade. The whole compatibility thing is superstition anyway

Not a single word of that is wrong, really.

But what if.

What if there really was a way to see that compatibility?

No need to buy a hundred pieces of good gear, no need to cycle through all hundred of them relying on some half-baked gut feeling.

"Now, behold. This is a top-tier chestpiece I personally received from the royal family's vault."

A surface like molten lava, cooled and solidified while still glowing red.

Mana spills off it, visible even to the naked eye.

The problem is.

[Compatibility Rating: 3.1/100][★★★★★]

[Slot: Top / Lava Full Plate Armor]

[The user's innate fire mana and the lava material's properties are diametrically opposed. Continued wear will trigger mana backflow. Long-term wear guarantees an internal-injury debuff. You're seriously going to keep wearing this?]

"I hear rabble have been running their mouths lately, questioning my gear. Ridiculous."

So, to sum it up in one line.

'Take it off already, for f*ck's sake.'

My job was to break the news of this hopeless compatibility as gently as possible.

Or just make something new instead.

There was one thing that surprised me.

"Take it off."

"What did you say?"

"It stings your skin when you wear it, doesn't it?"

"How could you possibly know that?!"

Turns out top Tower Rankers' gear compatibility is a hopeless mess, way worse than I expected.

"Aren't you going home?"

"Not until you've made me gloves and a necklace! No way am I leaving!"

That people would pitch a tent and stage a sit-in just to get a single piece of gear, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Kill me if you want. You think I'm moving from this spot?"

"If you don't leave, I'm going on strike."

"...You'd better sleep with one eye open. Wake up and you'll find yourself in my bed."

"A craftsman is not public property."

"Hmph. Ridiculous."

And that big shots with nothing to fear... don't hesitate to threaten you either.

I became the one and only gear-maker.

No, to be precise.

Blacksmith-cum-tuner-cum-enchanter-cum...

Anyway, thanks to all that, there's never been a quiet day since.

I didn't know.

That it would be this bad.

[Custom Order]

[Don't put too much faith in the gear you're currently using. I'll check your compatibility for you.]

[Fee: 1kg of special ore]

I really shouldn't have advertised.

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