WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Occult World’s Coveted Blacksmith ◈

Chapter 15: You Won’t Abandon Me Later, Right…?

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While waiting for the forge to reach the right temperature, Do-hyeon headed to the storage room.

To make a knife, he first had to choose the steel.

Carbon steel, stainless steel, alloy steel. Metal sheets filled one entire wall.

Out of habit from the game, he ran a bare hand over their surfaces, then tapped them with his knuckles and listened to their ring.

‘...This one’s better.’

He chose a piece of high-carbon steel with a particularly clear ring, along with a sheet of wrought iron beside it.

High-carbon steel at the core for strength, wrapped in wrought iron to absorb impact. A laminated steel construction.

For a Western-style chef’s knife that needed to be both light in the hand and sharp, this was the ideal combination.

He’d made enough kitchen equipment in the game to get sick of it.

He’d taken hundreds of requests from chef NPCs alone.

For meat-heavy cooking, use this much carbon steel. If fine vegetable work was involved too, make the blade this thick.

Familiar patterns flooded his mind.

The blade should be about 0.5 millimeters thinner than the chef’s usual knife. Set the balance point slightly closer to the blade.

Make the handle one size smaller, and carve a shallow groove into the grip where the index finger rested so it would naturally catch.

Then mix in a suitable amount of metal with a strong affinity for Spiritual Power, and that was it.

Clang, clang, clang.

In the heat of the forge, the lump of metal slowly found its shape.

By the time a chef’s knife began taking form beneath Do-hyeon’s hands...

‘...Wow.’

Seo Ji-an, watching from the side, had unconsciously held her breath.

She’d insisted on following him from the hotel and was now crouched in a corner of the workshop, watching him work.

‘...A true artisan really is different.’

Not a single hammer blow was wasted. No hesitation, no pauses.

The moment she heard there was an unaffiliated artisan, she’d rushed to secure an exclusive broker contract with him.

Of course, she’d known from the start that he was no ordinary person. She knew he could inscribe Spell Formulas, and that his Spiritual Power was far from ordinary.

That was why she’d never hesitated over the contract.

Yet she had never seen with her own eyes what those hands could actually create.

Until now.

Seo Ji-an couldn’t take her eyes off his hands.

After hammering, grinding, and refining the blade for some time, the knife finally took on a proper shape.

‘...Wow, already?’

It didn’t even feel like an hour had passed.

Yet the knife had already taken the form of a proper chef’s knife.

‘Does he just need to finish the handle now?’

That was what Seo Ji-an thought.

Do-hyeon had other ideas.

Do-hyeon grinned.

If he stopped here, he’d just be a blacksmith.

‘...But I’m not an ordinary blacksmith.’

The most fun part started now.

‘Let’s see... What should I inscribe first?’

Right. He’d do it as usual. As usual.

Come to think of it, there had been quite a few chef players.

For some reason, other noncombat classes had gradually lost popularity, but chefs alone remained crowded.

Well, there were definitely foods you could only taste in another world.

There was a certain romance in wandering unfamiliar lands and cooking with ingredients you’d never seen before.

More than a few players had fallen for it.

Thanks to that, Do-hyeon had made an exhausting number of knives for chef players.

Right. He should start with the standard setup for a kitchen knife.

First, the [Lightweight Circuit].

Chefs used their wrists to chop thousands of times a day. If the knife was heavy, their wrists would give out first.

Of course, making the blade thinner would make it lighter.

But that reduced its rigidity and made the blade bend.

Weight and strength were proportional to a degree.

Gain one thing, lose another.

That was why he inscribed circuits.

A circuit path formed in Do-hyeon’s mind.

He would run a main line along the spine of the blade, then densely branch it toward the cutting edge like leaf veins, spreading it evenly across the whole knife.

When Spiritual Power flowed through this path, it would circulate through every part of the knife and evenly bear the weight within the steel.

Like steel becoming lighter when submerged in water.

Up to this point, it was simply a light knife.

The real part came next.

‘...I need to open a path for the energy to flow through.’

The energy circulating through the circuit would sway and shift in the direction the knife moved.

That meant it would feel as light as a feather when lifted. When brought down, that shifted energy would add force to the blade.

Easy on the wrist, yet able to cut deeper and harder with less effort.

In other words, the knife would assist its user’s cutting.

‘...One-third the perceived weight, about twice the cutting power.’

Of course, too much would make the knife jump around on its own. It had to stay within a range the user could grow accustomed to.

Do-hyeon’s fingertips slid from the spine of the blade toward its edge.

Swoosh, swoosh.

Faint trails of light spread wherever his fingers passed, branching like leaf veins.

‘Done. Hmm. I need to inscribe these before the knife cools. Hurry. Next. Next.’

Do-hyeon’s fingertips slid along the blade again.

Normally, circuit inscription required specialized tools. But just as he had in the game, Do-hyeon didn’t use them.

Mana at his fingertips...

‘...Right, it’s Spiritual Power, not mana.’

Anyway, he compressed that Spiritual Power to an extremely high density at his fingertips and inscribed it directly into the steel.

It was much faster and more precise than using an engraving tool.

The circuit he had just inscribed was the [Self-Sharpening Circuit].

The edge would remain as sharp as if it had just been honed.

Next... Ah, the [Anti-Stick Circuit].

It would keep ingredients from sticking to the blade.

No more having to shake the knife clean after every cut.

He added another circuit to the handle.

[Auto-Balance Circuit]

Now, the balance point would automatically adjust slightly to suit the user’s hand.

As Do-hyeon steadily inscribed each circuit...

Seo Ji-an’s expression gradually stiffened.

‘...Wait a second.’

Seo Ji-an was an Occult World broker, after all.

She might not have any combat ability, but she could judge the value of most items at a glance.

That was how she made her living.

But what she was seeing now...

‘No, he’s inscribing Spell Formulas... with his bare hands?’

Normally, specialized engraving tools were used to inscribe Spell Formulas into ritual instruments.

Spell Formulas were so minuscule they could barely be seen with the naked eye, meaning human hands could never achieve the required precision.

Even inscribing a single line was a delicate, difficult task that took a long time.

That was why Spell Formula inscription was a specialized field in the Occult World that not just anyone could learn. Anyone who mastered the craft was called an artisan, regardless of what or where they inscribed.

Today’s request had only been for a custom chef’s knife worth five million won. It wasn’t a request to make a ritual instrument.

And she had never once considered turning a kitchen knife, not even a weapon, into a ritual instrument.

Yet Do-hyeon...

All he did was brush his fingertips over it, and complex Spell Formulas appeared across the chef’s knife.

Not one or two lines, either.

There were enough to cover the entire knife.

‘How... How is that possible?’

In theory, bare-handed inscription was more precise than using tools.

There was no medium between the hand and the Spell Formula.

But that was only in theory.

Concentrate Spiritual Power at the fingertips until it was as thin as a needle.

Then keep that line thinner than a strand of hair, without the slightest tremor, for the entire length of a Spell Formula?

There was a reason engraving tools existed.

People borrowed the power of tools because the required precision was impossible for human hands to achieve.

Yet Do-hyeon was demonstrating a level of delicacy and speed that no one would dare imitate even with tools.

With his bare hands.

As naturally as breathing.

Divine control over Spiritual Power.

It was unfolding before her eyes.

‘Can a person really control Spiritual Power like that?’

A cold sweat ran down Seo Ji-an’s back.

Then, suddenly...

One unanswered question that had been nagging at her crossed her mind.

It was what had happened at the Goblin Market.

Without Mirror Cinnabar or a brush, Do-hyeon had made a Talisman by simply drawing a line across a blank sheet of Yellow Talisman Paper with his finger.

One vicious enough to blow an entire clearing apart.

The same thing had happened in the hotel kitchen yesterday. All he had done was touch a blank piece of paper with his finger, yet a group of spirits that even a Grade-2 sorcerer couldn’t confidently handle had turned to ash from a single Talisman.

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t even begin to guess how he had done it.

Making a Talisman was supposed to involve grinding Mirror Cinnabar, then carefully drawing the Spell Formula with a brush while focusing Spiritual Power into the work. How could a few swipes of a finger across blank paper make a Talisman?

But after seeing this...

‘No way...’

She thought she finally understood, at least a little.

Could that monster...

Really have...

Inscribed Spell Formulas into disposable Talismans meant to be used once and thrown away...?

* * *

“W-Wait a moment, Mr. Do-hyeon!”

Seo Ji-an suddenly interrupted just as he was nearing completion.

‘What? What’s wrong with her?’

Do-hyeon set down the chef’s knife he was working on and turned toward Seo Ji-an.

“Am I misunderstanding something...? This is the knife for the chef, right? But the chef is an ordinary person...!”

‘Ah, that.’

Most ritual instruments drew on their user’s Spiritual Power as their power source.

Unless they were exceptionally high-grade relics, that was.

Seo Ji-an held her breath, waiting to hear what Do-hyeon would say.

‘What is he planning to do...?’

“Ah, there’s a way around that.”

Do-hyeon replied as though it were nothing and headed toward the materials room.

All of these circuits required Spiritual Power to function. For an ordinary person who couldn’t control Spiritual Power, inscribing them would be pointless.

But there was a way around that too.

Not everyone in the game could use mana.

There were NPCs born without mana, as well as players who weren’t used to controlling it.

In those cases, no matter how well-made their equipment was, it was useless.

That was why Do-hyeon had come up with something.

Tap.

What he took from the materials room was a transparent pebble no bigger than a finger joint.

A small crystal with a soft blue light rippling within it.

This was...

[Spirit Stone].

He had briefly seen it while skimming through the book yesterday.

A natural mineral mined deep underground with Spiritual Power already contained within it. It was basically the oil of this world.

It held a certain amount of Spiritual Power, so even people without innate Spiritual Power could briefly experience the effects of sorcery by breaking or activating one.

For example, what if your Spiritual Power was temporarily exhausted while you were out on a request?

Normally, you died!

But if you carried a Spirit Stone?

You could use the Spiritual Power trapped inside it to escape the crisis!

In other words, it was finished after one use.

Once it released all the Spiritual Power inside, it became nothing more than an ordinary stone. A completely disposable consumable.

He recalled the [Spirit Stone] currency denomination he’d seen at the Goblin ATM.

It was easy to assign a value to, and it contained a sip of Spiritual Power itself, so it seemed to be used as a substitute for currency in this world.

Put simply...

To people around here, Spirit Stones were just disposable batteries you used once and threw away.

“...Oh my, a Spirit Stone?”

Seo Ji-an, who had followed him over, tilted her head in confusion.

“You’re putting that in the chef’s knife?”

“Yes.”

“Well... Spirit Stones aren’t usually used like that. You burn them together with a Talisman to activate it, or break one in an emergency... I’ve almost never seen one set into a weapon. You’d have to reinstall it every time you used it...”

‘...Just as I thought.’

It was exactly as Do-hyeon had guessed.

Well, it made sense.

People in this world would know Spirit Stones only as objects that came already filled.

Without replying, Do-hyeon placed the Spirit Stone on the workbench.

He condensed Spiritual Power at his fingertips and carefully shaped the Spirit Stone’s edges.

Swoosh.

He smoothed its corners, cutting it down to a size that would fit into the end of the handle.

Too large would ruin the grip, while too small would not provide enough storage capacity.

‘...This should be about right.’

“W-Wait, Mr. Do-hyeon. Are you shaping a Spirit Stone right now...?”

Seo Ji-an stepped closer to the workbench, her eyes going wide.

“Yes.”

“Spirit Stones aren’t meant to be processed... If one breaks, all the Spiritual Power inside leaks out...”

“Then you just shape it without breaking it.”

At Do-hyeon’s calm answer, Seo Ji-an looked as though she had more questions to ask, but soon closed her mouth.

A fine circuit was already being inscribed across the Spirit Stone’s surface beneath his fingertips.

Swoosh.

‘...This is the key.’

Mana stones in the game had originally been single-use items too.

They were exactly like the Spirit Stones of this world. Once the mana inside was used up, they became empty shells.

The reason was simple.

The natural Mana Circuits inscribed in a mana stone had a structure like the entrance of a fish trap turned backward.

Mana could flow out easily, but nothing could enter from the outside.

The pressure of the mana condensed inside a mana stone was so high that its circuits naturally formed only in the direction of pushing outward.

Like air escaping from a balloon.

So once a mana stone was empty, no amount of mana could be poured into it.

The circuit was built as a one-way route. There was simply no path in.

‘...But.’

If the circuit itself was the problem...

It was no problem for Do-hyeon, who knew how to inscribe circuits.

There was no need to touch the original circuit.

He only had to carve a separate injection route that led directly to the Spirit Stone’s core.

All he had to do was create a new way in.

This one idea had driven players plagued by mana shortages wild during his time in the game.

Whether it was someone else’s mana or their own, once they filled it up, they could keep using it for a long time.

‘...It should work here too.’

The principles behind Spirit Stones looked nearly identical to mana stones.

Do-hyeon condensed Spiritual Power at his fingertips until it was thinner than a strand of hair.

Then he lightly pressed one point on the Spirit Stone’s surface and drew a path directly toward its core.

Swoooosh.

He pierced the surface and reached the small point of light at the very center of the crystal.

A slender channel was drawn in a single line, extending straight to the heart of that core.

That was all.

He added just one more thing.

A supply-control circuit that kept the stored Spiritual Power from pouring out all at once, releasing only as much as needed whenever it detected the movement of the blade.

If it all came rushing out, it would be drained in no time.

‘...Done.’

Do-hyeon set the finished Spirit Stone into the groove he had carved in advance at the end of the handle.

Click.

It looked as though a small jewel had been set into the end of the handle.

Then he drew the final connecting line between the main circuit inscribed inside the handle and the Spirit Stone’s circuit.

Swoosh.

The moment the Spirit Stone’s circuit connected with the knife’s circuit...

Hummm.

The chef’s knife in his hand woke with a faint vibration.

‘Good, connection complete.’

Only the finishing touches remained.

He smoothed the handle once more and applied a final coat of oil to the blade.

‘...Last step. Fill it with Spiritual Power.’

Do-hyeon closed his eyes and gently enclosed the Spirit Stone at the end of the handle with his palm.

“...”

After steadying his breathing for a moment, he lightly focused on a single thought.

He felt the energy within him flow through his palm and trickle along the channel he had just created into the Spirit Stone’s core.

Like water filling an empty vessel, the Spirit Stone slowly began to absorb Spiritual Power.

The hazy blue light that had rippled within it when he first carved it grew deeper and clearer.

“...M-Mr. Do-hyeon.”

Seo Ji-an’s voice came from behind him, strangely subdued.

“Yes.”

“You’re... putting Spiritual Power... into the Spirit Stone...?”

“Yes. It needs to be charged.”

“...”

Seo Ji-an’s face gradually stiffened.

Spirit Stones were supposed to be used by drawing out the Spiritual Power they contained.

You bought them already full, used them once, and threw them away after they became empty shells.

The idea of putting Spiritual Power back into an empty Spirit Stone.

No one had ever done that.

Because it was impossible in the first place.

Yet Do-hyeon...

He held a Spirit Stone in his hand, seemed to do something for a moment, and casually did the impossible.

He had turned a Spirit Stone into a rechargeable battery.

“...”

Seo Ji-an couldn’t say another word.

Her mind could no longer keep up.

Do-hyeon removed his hand from the handle and lifted the knife.

Beneath the lights, the smoothly polished blade gleamed silver.

The small Spirit Stone set into the end of the handle rippled blue in the reflected light.

‘...This should easily last three months.’

Well, he could just refill it when it ran low.

He would provide after-sales service, so he could tell them to come back once the blade began to dull.

He had no intention of doing it for free, of course.

Do-hyeon grinned.

Do-hyeon gave his wrist a light swing.

Whoosh.

It felt less like a piece of steel and more like a feather. Yet enough weight rested toward the blade that each downward motion carried a deep, satisfying heft.

It was exactly as he had envisioned.

“...Finished.”

Do-hyeon gently set the knife down on the workbench.

“...”

It was quiet.

When he glanced behind him at the lack of any response, Seo Ji-an was still frozen with her mouth half-open.

She looked as though she hadn’t even realized the work was over.

“...Ms. Ji-an?”

At Do-hyeon’s call, she finally jolted back to her senses.

“Are you okay?”

“...Ah!”

She hurriedly straightened herself, but she still couldn’t take her eyes off the knife.

Then she suddenly sprang to her feet.

“Is there anything else you need?!”

“...Pardon?”

“No, um... You’ve been standing for a long time while working. You must be thirsty, right? I’ll go buy you a drink right away! What would you like? Coffee? Tea? Or maybe a vitamin drink...”

‘...What’s gotten into her?’

Until moments ago, she’d been quietly crouching in a corner and watching. Now, there was a completely different look in her eyes.

“Ah, I’m fine.”

“Oh, don’t say that! You haven’t had a proper meal yet. You barely ate lunch at the hotel. I know a really good Korean set-meal restaurant nearby. Should I reserve a private room for you? Or if delivery is more convenient, I can arrange that right away...”

“I’m really fine.”

“Then, um, would you like me to massage your shoulders? I may not look it, but I’m pretty strong. Or a cup of warm tea... Ah, forget tea, a massage chair! I have one in my room on the second floor. How about trying it? It’s really amazing. I picked it out myself...”

“Ms. Ji-an.”

“Yes!”

‘...She finally stopped.’

At Do-hyeon’s single call, Seo Ji-an’s mouth snapped shut.

‘...Why is she suddenly acting like this?’

She was now standing close in front of him with the expression of someone who had made up her mind.

Seo Ji-an fell silent for a moment.

Then she neatly clasped her hands together and looked straight up at Do-hyeon.

“...Mr. Do-hyeon.”

“...Yes.”

Her eyes shimmered as she took one more step closer.

“You won’t abandon me later, right...?”

‘...?’

What on earth...

Was that supposed to mean?

Footnotes:

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