The Occult World’s Coveted Blacksmith - Chapter 19

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Occult World’s Coveted Blacksmith ◈

Chapter 19: He’s Handsome.

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Creeeak, clunk.

The heavy iron door shut behind us, and I finally stepped into my familiar workshop.

“Wow... I’m exhausted.”

Seo Ji-an sighed and set the handbag slung over her shoulder on the table.

She stretched, then smiled.

“Phew. A five-star hotel suite is nice and all, but home is still the best! Right, Do-hyeon?”

“...”

“Do-hyeon? Should we eat first?”

I didn’t answer Ji-an. I trudged over to the chair by the workbench and dropped into it.

My mind was still filled with the posts I’d read in the car on the way here.

I went over them again in my head.

[HOT] Hey, did they still not catch the Goblin Market bomber?

I’ve been too scared to go to Goblin Market lately.

I need to buy Yellow Talisman Paper, damn it.

OMB, do your job.

It had been the first post I clicked.

↳ You can buy Yellow Talisman Paper online too. Quit overreacting.

↳ Heard it was the Fire-Worship Sect’s doing.

↳ Why would they come all the way here?

↳ Beats me.

A bombing, seriously?

The Occult World really was a scary place.

Still, why Goblin Market of all places?

I’d have to be careful from now on.

‘No, wait...’

Goblin Market? A bombing?

Something suddenly came to mind.

The day Seo Ji-an first brought me here.

The day we stopped by Cheonhwa Hall.

Could this be...

‘They’re talking about that obnoxious jerk at Cheonhwa Hall.’

I remembered the problem customer who’d come in demanding a refund, covered in Karmafire Talismans.

But what was the Fire-Worship Sect?

‘Hmm... That guy got hauled off right then and there by people called Enforcement Officers or something.’

Rumors seemed to grow more elaborate the more they spread.

The Cheonhwa Hall incident must have reached the community, gotten distorted, and mixed with exaggerations.

Hmph. Idiots.

I hit the back button.

[Daily Life] Urgent) Can I print Talismans with a printer?

Can’t I put Mirror Cinnabar into an inkjet printer, cut Yellow Talisman Paper into A4 sheets, and print them out?

Drawing them by hand every time is a huge pain in the ass.

If anyone’s tried it, tell me.

↳ Whoa, you’re a genius. I’m buying a printer tomorrow.

↳ Speaking as someone who tried it, don’t. An evil spirit possessed my printer, and it prints maiden ghosts every night.

↳ Gasp...

↳ Even better.

“Pfft.”

A laugh escaped me before I could stop it.

Whether it was an Occult World community or a gaming community, pointless posts were all the same.

They really said, “Even better.”

I hit the back button again.

As I kept scrolling, a title caught my eye.

[HOT] So who ended up resolving the TK Group hotel incident??

[News] [Exclusive/Gimun Daily] Who Is the Tianshan Sect Artisan Who Saved TK Group?

└ 311 comments

“...Huh?”

Right. There were definitely posts about me among the popular ones.

A Tianshan Sect sorcerer who had appeared and resolved in one fell swoop an assignment no one had dared touch because they were wary of the Four Great Houses.

Anyone could tell it was about me.

All I’d done was use one Talisman and make a single kitchen knife.

‘It seems like I got famous already...’

Was this really right?

It felt too fast.

To begin with, the only people who knew I’d stepped in were Executive Director Yun, her aide, the chef, and that punk sorcerer, Jin Mu-yeong.

So how had the story spread here in such detail, and so quickly?

Hmm. If things were already like this...

‘...It feels like things will get annoying from here on out.’

Come to think of it, there was no way Seo Ji-an, a veteran broker, didn’t know about this.

“Hmm... After completing our first assignment so perfectly, we can’t just let the occasion pass without celebrating!”

Ji-an walked over to the refrigerator and began chatting excitedly.

“Should we grill some meat today? Or get chicken? On a memorable day like this, when we perfectly completed our first assignment, we should celebrate with chicken and beer!”

Clatter, hiss.

She took out two cans of beer and came toward me.

“Here, Do-hyeon! To celebrate our successful debut...”

“Ji-an, wait. Just a moment.”

Seo Ji-an froze at my serious tone as she held out the beer.

“Ah, haha...”

She gave an awkward laugh and carefully set the can on the table.

“Ah, you don’t drink...? Or... was I getting too excited without reading the room? I’m sorry. I was just so happy that...”

“It’s not that.”

I took out the tablet she’d given me earlier and placed it on the table.

The tablet still displayed the real-time top posts on the Goblin Fire community.

[HOT] Heard the Tianshan Sect ended up handling the TK Group hotel case?

Man! I was sick of watching those Four Great Houses bastards collude among themselves.

Serves them right, lol.

They acted all high and mighty, then got their livelihood snatched away by an outside artisan, didn’t they?

And they can’t do anything about it, lol.

This is so satisfying~

Serves them fucking right, seriously, lol.

└ For real, I’m guaranteed a good night’s sleep today lol.

└ Ah, that feels so good lol.

└ The Four Great Houses are probably in a meeting right now with their faces all red.

Ji-an’s reaction was nothing like I expected.

“Oh my. I was wondering what had you so serious. Did this surprise you?”

Far from looking flustered at the tablet, she burst into laughter as if relieved.

“...You knew all about this, Ji-an? I just didn’t understand why I got famous so quickly.”

Honestly, having all this attention focused on me from the start felt like a burden.

Ji-an picked up the tablet and nodded.

“I can understand why this would catch you off guard, Do-hyeon. But listen.”

Ji-an looked at me with the serious expression of a professional broker.

“When you work as a sorcerer or artisan in this field, getting famous is a natural part of it. You need to become known and have rumors spread so the big names come to you with bags of money and assignments, right?”

According to her, that was how it worked.

In the small Occult World, monopolized by the Four Great Houses, an unaffiliated freelancer had no way to survive except by making their overwhelming skill known.

“Even so, isn’t it strange for every detail of who did what to spread like this?”

“Oh, that? Of course people would find out.”

Ji-an tapped the tablet screen, opened another tab in the community, and showed it to me.

“Here.”

Instead of the market listings or message boards I’d seen before, the screen showed something like an assignment-matching system.

And right in the center of it...

[Assignment Ratings and Reviews]

[Author: seah_y]

[Assigned broker: Seo Ji-an / Assigned artisan: Master Do (Tianshan Sect)]

NEW ★★★★★

└The work was handled quickly, and the result was perfect. I’d definitely like to hire you again next time♡

“...?”

“It’s an assignment rating system. Once a job is complete, the client can personally leave a star rating and review.”

“...What? There was something like this too?”

What was this, a delivery app review?

There were five stars and even a thoughtful review.

Judging by the username, it had clearly been posted by Executive Director Yun’s side at TK Group.

Was that okay?

I didn’t know much about this line of work, but surely there were cases people would want to keep secret.

Ji-an spoke as though she’d read my thoughts.

“You don’t have to leave one.”

She shrugged as she explained.

“But it serves as a portfolio. For newcomers like us, who started without a House... it’s hard to work quietly. Hehe.”

According to Ji-an, House Hyeonmu would have found out soon anyway, given the nature of the incident. So they had agreed that if word was going to spread, they might as well use it for noise marketing.

“Hehe...”

After finishing her explanation, Seo Ji-an suddenly squirmed and made a strange sound.

“...?”

“The truth is...”

She forced out a cute, awkward laugh and confessed.

“Some of those posts that made it to the top... were written by me...”

“...”

So she’d written some of the top posts too!

Well, for a broker, a major accomplishment like this would be an enormous asset.

From TK Group’s perspective as the client, they probably wanted everyone to know they had connections to such a capable Tianshan Sect artisan. Their interests aligned, so the story had spread at a rapid pace.

With that, it was only natural that rumors would spread.

‘Hmm...’

“I-I’m sorry! I did think you probably weren’t the type who liked being famous, Do-hyeon, but this is something we couldn’t avoid for business reasons... I should have discussed it with you beforehand!”

Ji-an bowed in a panic, as if she’d committed some great sin.

She wasn’t entirely wrong.

Promotion was important in business, after all.

And if I kept working, becoming known was inevitable anyway.

Still, there was one thing bothering me.

‘...Will this be okay?’

My face, hidden behind a black mask, was reflected in the corner of the tablet’s dark screen.

Would wearing this one mask really be enough?

What if someone recognized me on the street and followed me?

That would be a headache in its own way.

“...Do-hyeon, does that make you uncomfortable?”

Perhaps she noticed my expression. Ji-an carefully asked while covering her mouth with one hand.

“Yes... It does, a little.”

I answered while fidgeting with the edge of my mask.

“It’s uncomfortable, too. I can’t spend my whole life walking around like this.”

“Hmm~”

Ji-an rested her chin on her hand and fell into thought for a moment.

Snap.

She lightly flicked her fingers.

“There is one way, then.”

“...A way?”

A meaningful smile rose on Ji-an’s lips.

* * *

The next day.

Guided by Seo Ji-an, I arrived at an old, shabby alley on the outskirts of Goblin Market.

“Hello, mister!”

At the end of the alley stood a herbal medicine shop.

The moment we walked in, Ji-an greeted someone warmly.

“Oh, Ji-an, you’re here?”

A pleasant-looking middle-aged man in reading glasses welcomed her from inside.

I carefully looked around the shop.

Dozens of old drawers for medicinal ingredients covered one wall.

Chinese characters were neatly written on every drawer.

Several large medicine pots bubbled in the center of the room, and the air was thick with the bitter yet sweet scent of medicinal herbs.

It looked exactly like an ordinary herbal medicine shop.

That was right. The reason I had come here was...

“This is the one! The person who wants to change his face.”

To change my face.

The man stared at me through his reading glasses.

“Hmm...”

This man was making me uncomfortable.

He clicked his tongue.

“You’re handsome... What a waste to change it. Don’t you think so, Ji-an?”

Ji-an’s face reddened at that, and she waved her hands.

“Oh, honestly. He has to change it because of the risk of his identity being exposed.”

“I know, I know. Right, I brewed the medicine in advance after Ji-an contacted me!”

The man walked over to one of the medicine pots and poured a black liquid into a bowl.

Steam rose from the black concoction as he set it down in front of me.

“...I have to drink this?”

I carefully lifted the bowl and smelled it.

“Ugh.”

I nearly threw up.

It smelled like rotten medicinal herbs boiled in a filthy gutter.

My stomach churned.

‘What the hell did he put in this?’

“Changing your appearance takes the kind of effort that shaves down bone and flesh! Drink it all! Come on!”

What else could I do?

I couldn’t wear a mask for the rest of my life.

Holding my breath and squeezing my eyes shut, I downed the black medicine in one gulp.

“Ghk...!”

An astringent, bitter taste clung from the root of my tongue all the way down to my esophagus.

I barely managed to swallow it instead of spitting it out immediately.

When I put down the bowl, the herbalist was grinning with a strangely satisfied expression.

“All right, then.”

He called loudly toward the back.

“A-yeong! A customer’s here!”

* * *

“A-yeong! A customer’s here!”

Her father’s voice came from outside.

“Okay, okay! I’m coming.”

Baek A-yeong undid her loosely tied hair and stood up.

It seemed another customer had come to change their face today.

She let out a quiet sigh.

At this herbal medicine shop, she was in charge of appearance design.

Once customers drank the medicine her father brewed and their bone structure and muscles became pliable, she used Spiritual Power to shape their faces however they wanted.

To be honest, it was an incredibly annoying job.

Nine times out of ten, the sorcerers who came to change their faces ignored what they actually looked like and insisted that she make them handsome or pretty like idols.

Changing someone’s face with sorcery wasn’t plastic surgery.

It required a base, their own bone structure and skin. More importantly, to maintain the changed face, the customer’s own Spiritual Power had to act as the adhesive.

No matter how hard she worked to sculpt someone into a perfectly handsome man, if their Spiritual Power was lacking, their face would start to sag within a few days or revert to its original ugly form.

Then they would storm back into the shop and cause a scene.

“Give me back my face!” they would yell.

‘What kind of hopeless old man will today’s customer be?’

A-yeong headed toward the main room with lazy steps.

At the table sat a broker she recognized, Seo Ji-an, and a man whose face was half-wrapped in black cloth.

A-yeong flopped into the chair across from him.

“Take off the mask first, will you? Let me see what we’re working with.”

The man nodded and slowly unwound the black cloth covering his face.

At that moment.

‘...Huh?’

A-yeong’s eyes widened slightly.

Clear, striking eyes beneath black hair.

A sharp nose bridge and lips pressed together as if he couldn’t be bothered.

A small mole under one eye gave him a strange air.

‘What? He’s handsome?’

Why would he come all this way to change a face like that? Was he wanted or something?

‘Damn, I should’ve fixed my bangs before coming out.’

Countless thoughts flashed through her mind, but A-yeong propped up her chin and pretended not to care.

“Ahem. Well, your base isn’t bad. I’m not sure you even need to spend money changing your face.”

The tsundere-like assessment slipped out before she realized it.

The man, though, looked calm, as if he had no particular interest in her opinion.

‘...Damn. I can’t look him in the eye.’

Right. Work. Focus on work.

A-yeong collected herself and slightly rose from her seat.

“Excuse me for a moment. I need to check the flow of your Spiritual Power.”

To estimate a customer’s total Spiritual Power and its flow, she had to briefly place a hand on their chest and feel it directly.

Normally, she would have done it without a second thought.

‘...Why am I so nervous?’

The man’s calm eyes watched her without any particular expression.

Feeling inexplicably awkward, A-yeong hesitated for a beat before stretching out her hand and lightly placing her palm on his chest.

But then...

‘...?’

She couldn’t feel anything at all.

...

Hmm.

Then A-yeong noticed a small black pouch hanging around the man’s neck.

‘Ah. That’s why.’

“Excuse me, sir.”

“Yes?”

A-yeong gestured lightly toward her own neck.

“Could you undo your Suppression Talisman?”

“...Suppression Talisman?”

When the man tilted his head, A-yeong added an explanation.

“Even if I design your face, it’s ultimately your own Spiritual Power that holds that shape firmly in place. I need to check your maximum Spiritual Power and how it flows before I can estimate how much I can change it and how.”

The man nodded as if he understood.

He glanced once at Ji-an beside him, then slowly began untying the black pouch around his neck.

While he did, A-yeong quietly thought it over.

‘Well, he already looks decent, so a few small adjustments should do.’

It didn’t need any major changes, so even if he didn’t have much Spiritual Power, he should be able to maintain it.

Thinking that, A-yeong reached out again.

At that moment.

Sliiide...

The black knot around the man’s neck came undone.

Her palm landed squarely against his chest.

And then...

“...!!”