WeTried Translations

Translator: [IncomeElastic]

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Became a Blacksmith the Rankers Are Obsessed With ◈

Chapter 018

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The Auction House

* * *

Dolores was a wise woman.

She never, ever showed her full hand.

So it was the same with verifying this glove.

Confirming whether an enchant had actually landed, and if so at what level, was simple enough to check using one of the Tower’s simplified appraisal tools.

Among the artifacts found in the Tower, there existed items made for exactly this kind of quick verification.

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[Charon’s Magnifying Glass]

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Measures the enhancement level and grade of the targeted piece of gear.

Consumes mana per use. A single charge allows up to 100 uses.

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Visiting the verification office again would let her get a precise appraisal.

But that left a record. She’d already exposed too much information.

In truth, Dolores already regretted her last visit to the verification office.

Her carelessness back then had probably let information leak.

That hadn’t been what she wanted.

She’d simply been too flustered at the time, and, setting everything else aside, she’d just needed to confirm whether he really was an Heir of Flame.

So she’d gone into the Tower, bought just the one item, and come straight back to the estate.

And then.

At her desk in the study, she peered at the glove through Charon’s Magnifying Glass.

Wondering what she should do if the enchant had gone through safely, what praise, what reward she ought to give him.

As she looked at the glove through the magnifying glass,

“…?”

she rubbed her eyes.

Rubbed them maybe ten times, she thought.

- Blink, blink.

She looked again at the numbers displayed.

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[Chore Gloves]

[☆☆☆☆☆]

[Enhancement Level: +20]

─────────────────

+20?

Dolores’s hand went still.

A chore glove without even a single star, enhanced to +20.

Dolores’s expression went blank. When a person receives a shock too great to comprehend, their thoughts simply stop.

She slowly rose from her seat.

Quietly circled the study some fifteen times.

Then, once she’d more or less come back to herself, she reached into the air and opened a pocket space.

- Hmmm.

A storehouse where she kept the gear she’d once worn, from her climbing days.

She reached in and pulled out a book.

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[the Ancient Grimoire]

[★★★☆☆]

[Enhancement Level: +18]

─────────────────

A supplementary weapon she’d treasured during her climbing days.

Gear she no longer used now that she’d switched to unique equipment that couldn’t be enhanced further.

But she’d used it well up until then. She’d kept it in storage to hand down to Ruby someday.

There was no counting how many resources, how much money, how much time had gone into it.

Counting it would itself have been a waste of effort.

And that piece of gear was at +18.

She carefully took off the glove Lionel had made for her,

and put the chore glove on her hand. Frost formed over its surface at once from Dolores’s own chill, but,

“…”

she felt it the instant she put it on.

A pure, uncontrollable force.

Something too vast to be held in a starless vessel like this, locked away inside it.

Dolores had never much cared for enchanting, but she knew the basic principle.

Low-grade gear couldn’t withstand a high-level enchant.

Why?

Because it couldn’t fully absorb that power, and the gear would end up destroyed.

The way a cup shatters if you force an ocean’s worth of water into it, low-star gear couldn’t bear the pressure of a high-level enchant.

That was exactly why Dwarf Company blocked it.

For starless gear, the enchant ceiling was +5.

For one-star gear, the ceiling was +10.

Beyond that, an enchant attempt wasn’t even possible to begin with.

It wasn’t a matter of the enhancement failing and the gear being destroyed. The attempt itself was refused outright.

A company as money-hungry as Dwarf Company had to have a reason for turning down business like that.

At minimum, it had to start at two stars.

Which meant this glove

was, by rights, a thing that shouldn’t have been able to exist in this world.

- Knock knock.

“Yes.”

- Oh, Duchess. You’re back. Actually, Young Master Lionel just woke…

“Mm.”

The conclusion had been reached.

She calmly steadied her breath…

- Bang!

and sprinted at full speed toward Lionel.

* * *

Right now.

I was being carried off somewhere, held tight in Dolores’s arms.

Seemed like she’d meant to just hold my hand and lead me off, like always,

but she must have noticed my hand was swollen, because she just scooped me straight into her arms instead.

So it really had been Dolores who’d put the medicine on it.

She held me tight, her expression fairly serious.

- Thud.

Pressed together like this, I could hear her heartbeat.

A little fast. Her stride was quick too.

Dolores carried me into a room I’d never seen before.

When the door opened, a fairly old-fashioned, ornate interior came into view.

A plush-looking sofa.

A bed.

A chessboard.

A bookshelf.

Exercise equipment…? Loaded with an absurd amount of weight, though.

Plus a ton of other things I couldn’t even identify.

A chaotic room, like every possible taste had been crammed into one space.

“…”

What is this room?

I couldn’t tell at a glance what the owner even liked.

Still holding me, Dolores headed for the sofa.

She sat down and carefully set me down on her lap.

Facing each other.

Our eyes leveled out, and Dolores’s blue eyes settled on me.

Her hand kept slowly stroking my back.

“Can you tell me how you did it?”

She asked calmly,

and after taking a moment to organize my thoughts, I opened my mouth.

I couldn’t tell her everything.

So I walked her slowly through what had happened the night before. Just the objective parts.

The first time I’d tried enchanting, I hadn’t known what I was doing.

From the second attempt on, a particular circle showed up, and I struck it.

Do it well, and the success rate climbs accordingly. That much I could see.

What was surprising was that even the dwarves’ Enchant Rooms provided probability information through their own interface.

So the explanation itself wasn’t hard to give.

“The success rate changes depending on skill…”

“Yes.”

Dolores gave a small nod, for now.

The higher the level climbed, the harder it got,

and a mistake raised the chance of destruction.

“I’ve just got good eyes.”

The same thing I’d always said.

There’d been a time Dolores would have stared right at me at a line like that,

but now she didn’t even try to tell whether it was true.

She just gave a small laugh and nodded,

then reached out and squished both my cheeks between her fingers.

“…?”

Is this a compliment?

[Um… probably? I think so…?]

Guess so.

“Enchanting comes down to skill…”

Dolores drew her hand back from my cheeks and slowly stroked my hair instead.

“Dwarf Company has always called this luck.”

“…”

“Anyone who sets foot in one of their shops sees the exact same screen.”

Honestly, that part had been bugging me too.

Enchanting wasn’t the sort of thing a machine could possibly stand in for.

And yet the community had always said all you had to do was let the machine do the striking up front and just pray.

If the mechanism behind enchanting gear worked the same way,

then Dwarf Company was essentially having a machine hammer away carelessly at spots that needed delicate handling.

No wonder the odds were garbage.

“Lionel?”

“Yes.”

- Fwump…

Dolores pulled my face into her chest and whispered,

“Congratulations on becoming the Outer Tower’s very first enchanter.”

“…”

The Outer Tower’s first…

Those were pretty weighty words. Didn’t feel real yet, though.

Hearing her put it that way, it started to sink in a little.

Dolores’s chest was warm. She smelled nice.

Honestly, if I’m being a little selfish about it, I wouldn’t have minded staying like this.

“And,”

Dolores paused for a moment, then,

“From now on, only enchant somewhere safe.”

“…”

“The world might not leave you alone otherwise.”

She said it with a soft smile,

but I could roughly tell what she meant.

She was probably choosing the gentlest phrasing she could, given I was supposedly a kid. But I’m thirty. I got it.

“Okay.”

My answer must have satisfied her, because she stroked my hair once more,

then carefully set me down off her lap.

She went to fetch something and came right back.

In her hands was a prettily wrapped box.

Complete with a ribbon.

“…?”

What’s this?

Dolores set the box down in front of me and untied the ribbon herself.

Inside the box was,

“…”

the +20 grind-fest chore glove.

It really was a shabby-looking thing, but sitting on top of red velvet silk like that,

it somehow looked like a completely different class of object.

“Why did you wrap it up like…”

Dolores smiled.

“We’re going to put it up for auction.”

“…An auction?”

She was the one who’d just told me the world might not leave me alone.

And now she wanted to auction it off?

Dolores must have read my expression, because she added gently,

“Oh, whether you actually sell it or not is entirely up to you.”

“I see.”

Dolores’s mouth curved up, and she went on, slowly.

“Once you start climbing the Tower, there’s a place where people connect with each other. We call it the community. There’s an auction house there too.”

“An auction house.”

“How outstanding, and how absurd, what you just pulled off really is,”

“…”

“I want my Lionel to see it for himself.”

Ah, so this was a kind of lesson.

No matter how much Dolores praised me out loud, telling me over and over how well I’d done, it might not really land.

She seemed to want to show me directly how the world itself would judge it.

I’d been curious about it myself, as it happened.

Just how would a +20 grind-fest chore glove actually be received?

Dolores really was an excellent teacher.

She scratched exactly where it itched.

“You’re curious, aren’t you?”

“Yeah…”

“I’ll pass along the good news to you whenever there is any, from now on. It’s a shame, but you can only see the Inner Tower auction house once you’ve actually entered the Tower yourself, even once.”

I see.

…Yuna?

[You mean the auction house?]

Can I get in too?

[Yeah~ big sis has got you~]

Nice.

Guess I don’t even have to wait, then.

I gave a small nod, and Dolores smiled just slightly.

“Good. Then let’s watch the results together as they come in.”

She tidied the box back up, then smoothed my hair once more.

“Your hand’s all swollen today too, so get a good rest.”

“Okay.”

“Lionel…”

“Yes?”

I looked up at her call, and Dolores was staring straight into my eyes.

Wait. No way.

Dolores, like the sky was about to fall in, no, wait.

That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but she made a fairly upset face and grabbed me by the waist right away.

and planted me firmly back on her lap.

“Liar…”

Shit, busted.

I’d let a lie slip out without meaning to.

Truth is, I’d been planning to sneak back out tonight.

“No lying. You’re resting today. Understood?”

“…Okay.”

- Hmmmm…

“Good.”

Her words were gentle, but her eyes were absolutely demanding I rest today.

Ugh, this is nuts.

Ten years unemployed, and just when I was finally trying to hustle a little, here I was getting slapped with a forced work-life balance I never asked for.

[Hustle…?]

I’m a pro.

This is work.

Anyway, Dolores seemed to relax a little at that, and let go of me.

“If you’re really that bored, Ruby has a study on the third floor.”

“I see.”

“Mm. Ruby should be sorting through the books she bought yesterday and practicing. Go take a look, and read with her a little, why don’t you.”

Honestly a hassle, but I’d probably have to go.

Oh, I had a good idea.

I’d go, browse the community, while Ruby reads her books.

Perfect.

“Yes, got it.”

This part wasn’t a lie.

I really was going to go, after all.

Dolores nodded, looking satisfied,

then suddenly pressed her forehead to mine.

“Lionel?”

“Y, yes?”

“If it turns out… you snuck off to the workshop tonight…”

“…”

“You’ll be sleeping with me every night until you’re an adult, understand?”

Dolores said it with a soft smile,

and it was, frankly, a terrifying thing to hear.

* * *

Dolores left for the Tower to put my glove up on the auction house.

From what I gathered, listing a piece of gear at the auction house first required getting it authenticated.

Whether the enhancement level and any granted enchantments matched what was listed, whether it was forged or fraudulent, that sort of thing.

Fair enough, they’d need to prevent fraud.

And one more thing.

Something I’d just found out, there were two ways to list an item for auction.

Basically, online or offline.

There was an offline storefront on every fiftieth floor of the Tower, apparently,

but most trading happened online.

And yet another thing.

Anonymous, or verified real-name.

Most people seemed to go anonymous.

Real-name listings were basically only used by storefronts, or High Rankers above a certain rank.

Apparently there was a risk of getting robbed while climbing the Tower.

But I was never, ever going to climb the Tower. Never, ever.

Not information I actually needed.

“Anonymous, right?”

Dolores was a High Ranker, sure, but listing a +20 grind-fest chore glove under her own name felt like it’d be a little embarrassing.

It was a nonsensical piece of gear to begin with,

and people were bound to wonder who on earth had made it.

I knocked on the door of Ruby’s magic study.

- Knock knock.

No answer.

Guess I’ll just let myself in~

I opened the door and stepped in.

Ruby was buried under books, sound asleep.

“Asleep again, huh.”

Well, mages are supposedly efficient enough that they can even practice while asleep.

Not really something I needed to worry about, I figured.

I plopped down in a spot that looked open enough,

“Show me the auction house.”

[Uh, actually, before that, there’s something I want to say.]

“What is it?”

Why so ominous all of a sudden.

“We need to talk”, that’s basically what it sounded like to me.

[So, you’ve never actually been in the Tower, which technically means you shouldn’t even have an account, right?]

“Right.”

[But this account is one I just made up on my own. So it’s basically a ghost account.]

“…Is it?”

[So, just in case, please don’t go doing anything too reckless with it.]

“Where’s this coming from all of a sudden? What reckless thing am I supposed to be doing?”

[…]

─────────────────

[Rhythm Game Minor Gallery, Gallery Log]

[Posts (125,561) Comments (356,469)]

─────────────────

Yuna pulled up a suspicious-looking interface.

Come on, seriously…

“…”

The past suddenly came rushing back.

Fine.

I won’t.

“I quit the gallery too. You believe me, right?”

I’m confident about this one.

I definitely quit.

Setting aside Yuna’s not-quite-a-warning, I opened up the auction house.

A translucent screen floated up in the air above the study.

[Inner Tower] - [Auction House]

“…”

The screen was packed edge to edge with rows of gear.

Swords, armor… all the way to tools I couldn’t even name.

Looked like there’d be even more if I scrolled down.

Every listed item seemed to have already gone through authentication,

since each one showed its star count along with a short flavor text.

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[Shadow Dagger] [★☆☆☆☆]

[Enhancement Level: +4]

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『A blade tip steeped in darkness.』

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[Current Bid: 4,200 gold]

[Time Remaining: 1:19:46]

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Okay, 4,200 gold…

Right, forty-two million won.

The price range was pretty wide.

Anywhere from a few dozen gold at the low end to tens of thousands of gold at the high end.

Just seeing that was pretty entertaining on its own.

What was even more entertaining,

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[the Mirage’s Mirror]

[Unique Equipment] [★★★★★]

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『If it was seen, it was a lie. And if it wasn’t seen, that too was a lie.』

- Jongeon, Heir of Stars -

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[Current Bid: 10 gold]

[Time Remaining: 3:01:14]

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A piece of gear that looked plenty impressive even at a glance.

Why was this only 10 gold?

Right as I was wondering about that,

[💬]

a speech-bubble-shaped icon caught my eye.

I tapped it.

[💬 Comments (47)]

The screen unfolded.

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[Anonymous1]: why’s nobody bidding on this? looks good, doesn’t it? i just put in a 10-gold bid

```

└[Anonymous2]: u a newbie? ㅋㅋ

└[Anonymous3]: this person just posts stuff, never actually sells, they're just showing off

└[Anonymous4]: fr, they post constantly and ignore every bid

└[Anonymous1]: huh.. then why post it at all?

└[Anonymous2]: because of people like you ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└[Anonymous1]: fuck

```

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Wow…

Seemed like you could leave comments on every single auction listing.

Good for haggling, good for sharing info, and,

apparently good for flexing like this too.

This is wild.

Well, guess it’s about time…

Should I search for my own gear?

I went back to the main page and typed “Chore Gloves” into the search bar.

The screen flickered once, and a result came up.

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[Chore Gloves] [☆☆☆☆☆]

[Enhancement Level: +20]

─────────────────

[Current Bid: 3,000 gold]

[Time Remaining: 6:23:55]

─────────────────

Oh, three thousand gold?

Not bad. Not bad at all. Selling for more than I expected.

Now I got why Dolores had said she’d list it.

Looked like it’d gone up five minutes ago.

“…Can’t skip the comments.”

I hit the button to check the comment reactions,

[💬 Comments (211)]

“What?”

It’d only gone up five minutes ago.

And already had 211 comments.

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[Anonymous1]: ??? what is this?

[Anonymous2]: isn’t this a bug? doesn’t make sense

[Anonymous3]: wow ㅋㅋ who broke the odds

```

└[Anonymous2]: stop acting like you've actually enchanted before, forget odds, 0-star gear doesn't even let you go past +6 in the first place

```

```

└[Anonymous5]: big fan of yours, Sakpung~ when are you fixing that busted-to-hell +20 mankitea? should be rocking a 10-star by now~

└[Sakpung]: not enhancing anymore

```

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The reaction was pretty heated.

[The comments, hold on, it’s lagging so bad.]

[They just keep piling up?]

[💬 Comments (217)]

[💬 Comments (224)]

[💬 Comments (231)]

The number was climbing in real time.

- Click.

“…”

- Click.

“…”

- Scroll, click.

- Scroll, click.

- Scroll, click.

I started refreshing the comment section.

[Brother.]

[Brother?]

That’s how I started enjoying watching the comments roll in.

Th-this is the taste of it…

Posting an All Perfect screenshot and watching the comments come in.

[Here he goes again…]

Not sure how long I watched like that.

With Yuna’s sighing as background music, the comments had already broken past a thousand before I knew it.

But. Right then.

- Ding.

- Ding.

[Current Bid: 10,000 gold]

[Current Bid: 13,000 gold]

[Current Bid: 17,500 gold]

The price had started climbing.

“It was only 3,000 gold a second ago…?”

Someone kept driving the price up.

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[Anonymous165]: why’s the price climbing like this? it’s just a chore glove

```

└[Anonymous1770]: (link)

└[Anonymous1770]: check this out

```

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Curious, I clicked the link,

and the screen unfolded.

The Inner Tower community’s enchanting gallery.

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[✪][Requesting Recommend) Estimated Specs for a +20 Chore Glove]

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(graph image)

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Ugh, what is this.

The post itself was insanely long.

Packed dense with formulas and graphs, enough that I had to scroll forever just to get through it.

“Don’t wanna read this…”

[Sighs]

Thankfully, there was a helpful three-line summary right at the bottom of the post.

─────────────────

1. No actual data exists for chore gloves above +6, so this is estimated via simulation.

2. The utility of every enchant level increases at an accelerating rate as the level climbs (roughly an exponential function).

3. Based on this, the result is that, for the same equipment slot, a +20 Chore Glove is roughly equivalent to a +10.5 Mana-Imbued Vambrace.

─────────────────

“…”

A +10.5 mankitea?

Not entirely sure what that actually meant, right as I turned back to the auction house,

and then.

- Ding.

[Current Bid: 60,500 gold]

Without my even noticing, the grind-fest chore glove’s value had climbed to.

605 million won.

TL Note: Mana-Imbued Vambrace in short is referred as Mankitea.

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