WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Occult World’s Coveted Blacksmith ◈

Chapter 12: First Request

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[Day One]

...The first day.

It had definitely been a blank white page.

'Wait.'

When I turned my head, I saw the Suppression Talisman hanging beside the entrance.

Had I been unable to see it at the used bookstore because I was wearing the Suppression Talisman? Now that my Spiritual Power was reaching it, the writing had reacted.

I turned to the next page. There was writing there too.

It was densely written in Chinese characters, yet somehow, the meaning flowed into my head as smoothly as if I were reading Korean.

[Day One.

As of today, I became Master's apprentice. I had only been working the bellows beside the furnace when Master happened to pass by, took one look at my wrist, and accepted me on the spot. Where else could I find such an honor?]

"...It really is a diary."

It was an Apprentice’s Diary in the most literal sense.

It was about someone from long ago entering a forge and beginning to learn under a master.

The first several days were mostly about forge work.

[Day Two.

Today, Master taught me how to see the grain of an anvil. Master said the anvil's surface was not simply flat. One face received the iron, while another repelled it. I could not understand the difference at all.]

I kept turning pages and reading.

The early entries contained basic forging tips and instructions on handling minerals.

I might have learned it in a game, but I'd still spent ten years in front of a furnace.

Honestly, I prided myself on knowing the basics inside and out.

Yet I had barely read any of it before I could tell that the master mentioned in these entries possessed remarkable depth.

The teachings they tossed out so casually carried unusual insight and weight.

'...This.'

My hands turned the pages faster, as if possessed.

I quickly flipped past over twenty pages filled with basic forging techniques.

Much of it matched the instincts I'd developed in the game, so I had no trouble understanding it.

The knowledge I already knew was written down through roughly Day Twenty.

Then I kept turning pages.

[Day Twenty.

Today, Master told me that sorcery existed in this world...]

"This is it."

My eyes widened.

It described the basics of sorcery.

It seemed the master had explained sorcery to an ignorant apprentice from the ground up.

The author who had written it down had also recorded their own understanding and realizations as they listened to the teachings.

"Ah... So that's what it meant."

The master's teachings and the apprentice's fumbling realizations upon hearing them for the first time sat side by side on each page.

Just following along made it feel as if the two of them were personally explaining it beside me. Everything stuck in my head with ease.

...Well, well.

The corner of my mouth lifted.

The basic theories of sorcery that I hadn't been able to grasp, no matter how much I dug through those theory books worth millions of won, were written on this page with unbelievable clarity.

I quickly turned the page.

[Day Twenty-One.

Starting today, Master began teaching me how to handle and contain sorcery.]

After that, it began explaining how to combine sorcery with forge work.

Just then,

Sliiide.

The inked letters on the page I had just opened began to ripple slowly.

"...Huh?"

I rubbed my eyes.

I hadn't imagined it. The words on the paper blurred apart, then reappeared clearly.

As different words.

[Day Thirty-Two.]

What? The page changed on its own?

I had clearly been reading Day Twenty-One, but it had turned into Day Thirty-Two.

I tried to turn the page back with my finger.

It wouldn't move.

The paper was soft, but it felt as if someone on the other side was pressing down on it.

"..."

'Read.'

It felt as if someone had said that.

I lowered my gaze to the page again.

[...And today, Master spoke for the first time about how to breathe that energy into iron, in other words, the foundation of sorcery.

No matter how beautifully you shaped a vessel, if you could not fill it with intent, it was nothing but an empty vessel.

-Writing and patterns are no more than shells that hold Spiritual Power. Only when they meet the powerful Imprinted Intent of the person who creates and uses them do they gain a true effect.]

An empty vessel without intent.

My hand froze.

An empty vessel.

...That was exactly what my Talisman had been a moment ago.

[There is an order to imbuing something with Imprinted Intent. First, set a clear purpose in your heart. Only once that purpose no longer wavers should you let your Spiritual Power flow. If Spiritual Power goes out first, the vessel loses its purpose and disperses.]

If Spiritual Power went out first, it dispersed.

...So that was why.

I had only copied the diagram, then poured Spiritual Power into it without thinking.

I had never once impressed upon my heart what I wanted to accomplish with this Talisman.

What I was making now was an Exam-Pass Talisman.

A face came to mind.

Lee Ji-yeon.

My only younger sister, whose exam was coming up soon.

I picked up the fine brush again.

I laid out a fresh sheet of Yellow Talisman Paper. This time, before touching the brush to it, I closed my eyes.

This was an Exam-Pass Talisman.

Ji-yeon's exam. I knew how hard she'd worked, pulling all-nighters in that cramped study room.

Please don't let her fail over a careless mistake. Let her answer every question she knows, guess the rest without regret, and walk out.

I firmly planted that earnest wish at the center of my chest.

Then I slowly carried that feeling on my Spiritual Power and let it flow into the tip of the brush.

Swish.

I drew a circle.

Filled in the patterns.

Then placed a Chinese character in the center.

The moment I lifted the brush.

Hummmm!

It was nothing like that faint tremor from before.

My Spiritual Power was drawn into the center of the Talisman, settling neatly inside the circle as it flowed along the red lines and began to swirl gently.

No energy leaked out.

It was perfectly contained, giving off its own light.

"...Hah."

A laugh slipped out.

I looked down at the diary still in my hands.

Barely over thirty pages.

That was all I had read.

Yet the basic principles of sorcery, which had remained vague and jumbled no matter how much I searched through those expensive theory books, had entered my head all at once.

Even the practical principle I had been stuck on was cleared up in an instant by those few short lines.

And above all.

That had definitely been the book turning its own page.

The book had recognized where I was stuck and opened to the part I needed first.

But this couldn't be the end.

There were still plenty of pages left in the diary.

What other secrets could be written after this?

...And what page would it open to next time?

I couldn't even begin to imagine.

I set down my brush and gently ran a hand over the diary on the desk again.

[Apprentice’s Diary.]

I couldn't stop smiling.

A cursed item? Nothing good ever came of one?

Well.

"...I think."

I think I got an insanely awesome book.

* * *

Clang...! Clang...! Clang...!

The cheerful sound of iron filled the underground workshop.

Red flames already flickered in the furnace.

I set heated iron on the anvil and continued striking it in a steady rhythm.

I was getting used to the real-world equipment.

You could call it a kind of calibration process, perfectly syncing my real body with the senses I had developed in the game.

Clang! Clang! Claaang!

The recoil running through my wrist.

The way the iron stretched.

Even the angle at which the sparks flew.

Everything matched the movements in my mind without the slightest deviation.

This was the first time I had properly held a hammer since the day I first visited the old man's forge.

How long had it been since I had felt this?

At last, it felt as if everything had returned to where it belonged.

I felt alive.

A quiet thrill flowed through my veins.

Ssssss!

When I plunged the heated lump of iron into the quenching tank, white steam rose with a satisfying hiss.

"Whew."

I took off my gloves, dropped heavily into the chair in front of the workbench, and wiped the sweat from my forehead.

Just then,

"I'm back~!"

Creeeak, clunk.

The heavy iron door opened, and Seo Ji-an came in, calling out brightly.

She wore a pleased smile.

"I'm back~"

She even hummed to herself, apparently in a good mood.

After glancing at the cooling piece of iron on the workbench, she asked, "Oh my, what have you been doing? The workshop's nice and toasty."

"Ah, I was getting used to the equipment, so..."

I answered while wiping the back of my neck with a towel.

"I was trying out a few things. Did everything go well?"

"Hehe~"

Ji-an gave me a playful smile at my question.

Then she pulled an elegant jade plaque from her bag and placed it on the table with a thud.

"Ta-da! Take a look."

The surface of the jade plaque bore a cloud pattern and two engraved characters.

[Tianshan]

"As of today, Mr. Do-hyeon is a major player in China's Occult World, a mysterious artisan affiliated with Tianshan Sect! What do you think? Convincing, right?"

She had already sorted out my identity?

She hadn't even been away from the workshop for more than a few days.

"You really are fast at handling things."

"I told you, I'm a veteran in this field. Ahem."

Ji-an proudly placed both hands on her waist and squared her shoulders.

"And that's not all~!"

This time, she took out a latest-model tablet. After tapping the screen a few times, she slid it toward me.

"Now that your new identity is ready, it's time to get to the real work. I've sorted through nothing but profitable requests for you, Mr. Do-hyeon!"

A neatly organized document, like a proposal, was displayed on the screen.

[Request Proposal Summary]

I scrolled through the tablet screen.

- [B Construction Company] Request to make iron stakes for suppressing a Water Vein Ghost at the site of its new headquarters.

(Expected fee: At least 80 million won)

- [Leading Ruling Party Assembly Member] Request to make Protective Talismans and accessories against nightmares and murderous energy.

(Expected fee: At least 50 million won)

A construction company... a politician...

'...Every single fee is insane.'

I had seen news stories saying that chaebol families and politicians were crazy about superstition, but the scale of this world was beyond anything I had imagined.

No matter how far I scrolled, more requests kept appearing.

"Have this many requests piled up already?"

"Ah... There were already a lot waiting."

Seo Ji-an explained with sparkling eyes.

"All the real artisans who know how to inscribe Spell Formulas are controlled by the Four Great Houses, you know? They only take work for their own houses or incredibly expensive, easy requests. It's basically collusion. Collusion."

To sum up her explanation, the Four Great Houses controlled all the artisans capable of inscribing Spell Formulas, so they only picked high-paying, easy jobs.

What's more, their fees were high, but in most cases, their skills didn't live up to them.

In other words, the market had money overflowing everywhere, but no one to make the items, so requests kept piling up.

'...The supply is bottlenecked.'

I was scrolling through the various requests when I saw the categories.

[Politics]

...

[Construction]

[Advertising]

My eyes stopped on one section.

[Food Service]

...

[Custom Orders]

"Hold on."

"Yes? Did you find something you like?"

I pointed to one line on the screen.

"Do requests like this come in too?"

- [Laviang O-Star Restaurant] Request for a custom chef's knife for the head chef.

"Ah, that one..."

Ji-an looked a little awkward.

"One of our VIP clients is a major figure in the hotel industry. They want to give it as a gift to their head chef, so it does pay fairly well for a regular request. But it's not an Occult World request, so the fee is lower. That's why I tucked it near the back."

Even if the fee was lower.

[Request fee: Starting at 5 million won, negotiable.]

Five million won for a single knife.

No matter how I looked at it, that was already plenty.

iron stakes to suppress a Water Vein Ghost, or Protective Talismans.

I probably could do them if I had to.

But since this was my first request, I wasn't confident I could perfectly handle something so grand right away. My understanding of sorcery was still shallow.

For a first request, it was best to start with something simple.

Besides, there was something I wanted to test.

"You can look around a little more before deciding..."

"I've decided. This will be my first request."

Ji-an blinked, looking briefly surprised.

Then she seemed to be thinking something over by herself.

'...Does she wish I'd pick one of the higher-paying jobs, from a broker's standpoint?'

She probably found it disappointing that I had passed up all those requests worth tens of millions of won to choose a five-million-won knife.

As I was thinking that, Ji-an's lips curled into a meaningful smile.

"...Aha. So that's how it is."

What was that supposed to mean?

"I think I understand, Mr. Do-hyeon. You don't even need to tell me. I know enough about this business too."

Her eyes began to sparkle.

"I knew someone like you wouldn't be motivated by money! The spirit of an artisan who pours their soul into a single knife..."

She gently closed her eyes, then kept nodding as though she had reached an understanding all by herself.

"Of course, your debut work has to be a knife. Before you make your proper debut in the Occult World, you want to make a name for yourself first with a knife, a blacksmith's basic craft!"

She seemed to be seriously misunderstanding something.

Still, there was no need to explain in detail that I was nervous about taking on sorcery-related work when I was still new to it.

I lightly cleared my throat and gave a vague answer.

"Ahem. Well, the basics are the most important thing."

"That's so cool! I'll contact La Vian right away and set up a meeting!"

Seo Ji-an took out her phone, humming to herself.

I could make a knife with my eyes closed.

That wasn't the problem.

-Writing and patterns are no more than shells that hold Spiritual Power. Only when they meet the powerful Imprinted Intent of the person who creates and uses them do they gain a true effect.

That one line from Apprentice’s Diary hadn't left my mind since I read it.

If there was no fixed form for imbuing Imprinted Intent.

Then...

The corner of my mouth slowly lifted.

There was something I wanted to test with this request.

Footnotes:

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