WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Occult World’s Coveted Blacksmith ◈
Chapter 22: I Heard Your Major Was Art
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Once the introductions were over, the tour of the repository began in earnest.
“Please take your time looking around, starting from this side. Just refrain from touching the items carelessly.”
I followed the butler.
The space rivaled a decent national museum.
It took quite a while just to make a full circuit around the display cases.
Swords with razor-sharp edges.
A suit of lamellar armor as tall as a person.
Celadon wares brimming with a cold spiritual aura.
Every single one was an extraordinary masterpiece at a glance.
Whenever I passed something made of metal, my steps slowed without me realizing it.
‘...The forge pattern on that sword is incredible. It must have taken tens of thousands of hammer strikes.’
My curiosity stirred.
The butler had told us not to touch anything, so I couldn't handle them myself.
I loosened the Suppression Talisman beneath my clothes by the slightest amount and gathered Spiritual Power at my fingertips.
Then I quietly brought my fingers to the corner of my eye.
Swoosh.
For an instant, my vision blurred, then cleared.
Blue circuit patterns, invisible to the naked eye, emerged clearly through the surfaces of the items.
The longer I worked in the forge, the more accustomed I became to handling Spiritual Power.
‘...Oh.’
The Spell Formulas engraved in each item were all different.
There was an elegant curved sword in a display case nearby.
Its structure made energy pour from the spine to the tip like a waterfall.
It was designed to concentrate killing intent at the edge, optimized for cutting.
The dagger beside it had a spiraling circuit beginning at the handle, gathering energy into a single point before driving it in.
It was unmistakably a circuit designed for assassination.
The pottery lined up on the floor was encircled by chain-like Barrier circuits, meant to stop whatever was inside from escaping.
Different circuits had been engraved to suit each item's purpose.
‘...This is pretty interesting.’
It was surprisingly satisfying to trace the intent behind the circuits and figure out why they had been engraved that way.
After all, there was always more than one way to achieve the same goal.
It had been the same in the game.
The styles of Mana Circuits engraved into weapons varied greatly depending on the region, climate, and racial traits of each part of the continent.
Warriors from scorching deserts favored structures that rapidly released heat and kept their circuits from melting.
The equipment of jungle tribes plagued by venomous insects and humidity came with spiral circuits as standard, preventing corrosion and drawing poisonous energy away.
Small differences could create gaps in performance or drastically change how a weapon was used.
‘This... looks like a design used in the desert.’
A structure that directed the pattern in one direction so sand wouldn't cling to the blade's spine.
‘...Is that a jungle machete?’
A thick, tenacious circuit pattern suited to cutting through damp grass in a single swing.
Traces of artisans from different eras and schools, each fiercely considering their craft in their own way.
As I read through them one by one, a pleasant thrill rose in my chest as an artisan.
I finally understood why people enjoyed visiting art galleries and museums.
‘...Come to think of it.’
After looking around for a while, something else caught my eye.
Pottery, hanging scrolls, even an ordinary inkstone.
Among the countless objects in the display cases, there wasn't a single normal antique.
Every one of them was a Spell Artifact infused with Spiritual Power or engraved with complex Spell Formulas.
‘Could that elder from the previous generation have been... a sorcerer?’
Otherwise, there was no way they would have collected only Spell Artifacts with circuits engraved into them.
‘Well, someone else’s family affairs aren’t my concern.’
I turned my attention back to the display cases.
There were many excellent works.
But at the same time...
‘Hm. I can see quite a few flaws, too.’
It was practically an incurable occupational disease.
Whenever I saw a finished object, I unconsciously calculated how it could be refined into something more perfect.
My steps stopped in front of an ornate silver dagger.
Its decorations were lavish, and the blade's finish was excellent. Yet the flow of the Spell Formula engraved within it was a complete mess.
“...What a shame. If they'd raised the circuit's starting point by half a segment...”
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
“Ha!”
Jin Mu-yeong, who had somehow started following me around, let out a mocking laugh.
“Listen to you, pretending you know something.”
‘...Why has this guy been trailing me around this whole time?’
Everyone else had spread out to inspect the display cases, but he alone wasn't looking at the Spell Artifacts we were supposed to inspect. He stayed glued to my side and kept picking fights.
Whatever.
He had probably been called here to perform an Exorcism, so he wouldn't be much help even if he looked around.
I ignored him and moved on.
“...Damn it. I’m talking to you.”
I heard him mutter indignantly behind me, but that was all.
The moment we entered the inner room, Yoo Seon-woo, who had been walking ahead, exclaimed.
“...Oh!”
It was a kind of gallery, with paintings filling every wall.
Yoo Seon-woo's gaze was fixed on one of them.
Sunflowers blooming wildly across the entire canvas.
Sunlight seemed to shatter across every bright yellow petal, making the painting strangely hard to look away from.
“Isn't this... a painting by Master Cheongram?”
Yoo Seon-woo pointed at the painting with a trembling hand.
“My heavens, to think I'd see such an authentic piece with my own eyes...!”
“Oh. As expected, Master Yoo recognized it at once.”
The butler standing beside him smiled faintly.
“Of course I recognized it! In the world of Spell Painters, anyone who doesn't know Master Cheongram might as well be a spy! And this is...!”
Excitement rising in him, Yoo Seon-woo stepped closer to the painting.
“One of the seven sunflower paintings said to have been painted after Master Cheongram reached a higher realm! The very work wealthy people of great renown are desperate to acquire because simply keeping it nearby is said to draw in wealth!”
Master Cheongram.
They said Cheongram was such a renowned artisan that anyone in the world of Spell Painters who didn't know the name was practically a spy.
Keep a sunflower painting nearby, and wealth would gather.
One painting brought luck.
Another brought love.
Another warded off misfortune.
From what I heard, paintings created by Spell Painters carried sorcery within them and produced certain effects on those who viewed them.
‘...So it's like a type of Talisman.’
It wasn't hard to understand.
There had been an artist class in the game too.
Paintings created by artists there raised the viewer's Luck stat or applied buffs that increased courage or mana for a set time.
‘...But what's with this guy's attitude?’
The man who had been acting haughty and smug until just now was making a huge fuss like a die-hard fan who had run into their favorite celebrity at a concert.
Then he suddenly spun toward me.
“Hey, blacksmith. What does this painting look like to you?”
‘...I don't know much about paintings.’
When I didn't immediately answer, Yoo Seon-woo raised his voice.
“Ha! When painting, one must decide what to use as symbols, which pigments to apply and where, and what Imprinted Intent to imbue into each brushstroke. Only after the painter weaves all of that together can a single work finally be completed.”
Yoo Seon-woo stood before the painting with his chin held high, showing off as much as he could.
“Though what would someone who only hammers metal know?”
With a snort, he turned away.
‘...What's wrong with him?’
He hadn't even painted it himself, yet he was puffed up with pride.
What a strange person.
Without replying, I quietly studied the sunflower painting that was supposedly capable of drawing in wealth.
It looked like nothing more than a painting to the naked eye, but when I infused my vision with Spiritual Power...
Fine engravings ran densely along the canvas's patterns.
Even the paper itself was extraordinary. Like Yellow Talisman Paper, it had been specially treated to hold Spiritual Power.
The pigments spread across it.
The circuits embedded in every image.
Even the grain shaped by each individual brushstroke.
All those elements had accumulated in layers and harmonized.
The entire canvas formed one massive circuit.
‘...I see. So this is how it works.’
It was quite different from engraving circuits into metal, but when I broke it down, there were similarities.
A circuit was still a circuit.
I was staring intently at the painting when it happened.
Swoooosh.
Suddenly.
The air in the room grew subtly heavier.
‘...Hm?’
The moment I sensed something was wrong, the sunflowers in the painting moved.
As if they were swaying in the wind.
“...Huh?”
Someone muttered blankly.
Then, in the next instant.
Kwoooosh!
The yellow field inside the painting overflowed beyond its frame.
My vision twisted, and the ground beneath my feet swayed.
In the blink of an eye.
We were standing in the middle of an endless field of sunflowers.
“W-What is this?!”
Yoo Seon-woo screamed, his face drained of color.
This had clearly been an art gallery moments ago.
Now, every direction held nothing but a bright blue sky and yellow sunflowers.
The scent of soil beneath our feet and the wind brushing against our cheeks. None of it felt fake.
“It, it's an illusion! We're trapped inside the painting!”
The woman with the sword urgently drew her blade.
There was nothing to cut. With an endless flower field all around us, swinging her sword would only slice through empty air.
Then everyone's gaze turned to one person.
Yoo Seon-woo.
“Hey, you! You said art was your specialty!”
Jin Mu-yeong shouted urgently.
“This is your field, isn't it?! Hurry up and do something!”
The woman with the sword also looked to him desperately.
He was a Spell Painter. When it came to sorcery involving paintings, he should know more than anyone else there.
That was why they all watched Yoo Seon-woo with expectant eyes.
But.
“M-Me...!”
The mouth that had just been smugly talking about Master Cheongram opened.
“How the hell am I supposed to know?!”
His face pale as death, he screamed.
“...What?”
A stunned sound escaped Jin Mu-yeong.
“D-Do you think painting pictures and escaping from paintings are the same thing?! This is my first time seeing something like this too!”
He had been making such a fuss just moments ago.
“G-Gah!”
Then Yoo Seon-woo screamed.
The sunflower stalks darkened to black and curled around his ankles like living snakes.
Rustle, rustle.
Blackened vines crept toward us from every direction.
The flower field that had been nothing but beautiful moments ago opened its vicious jaws in an instant.
“Let go! I said let go!”
Yoo Seon-woo frantically reached inside his clothes for brushes and scrolls, but it was already too late.
The black vines had tightly bound his arms and legs, leaving him unable to move.
The man whose specialty was painting could do nothing but struggle inside a painting.
The woman with the sword held out as she cut through the vines, but two new vines rose from every place she severed.
The situation turned into chaos in an instant.
‘...?’
Still, something was strange.
We were trapped inside a painting in a desperate situation.
Everyone else was panicking and flailing, yet I was strangely calm.
It was obviously my first time experiencing something like this, but it didn't feel all that threatening.
Just like when I had encountered that asshole covered in Karmafire Talismans at Cheonhwa Hall.
‘Why...? Ah.’
I soon understood why.
I could see the circuits behind all of this as clearly as day.
Just as I had when looking over the collection earlier.
When I infused my vision with Spiritual Power, the endless field and black vines alike...
All of it flowed along dense circuit patterns.
‘Right... In the end, this is a circuit too.’
That guy had said symbols, pigments, and Imprinted Intent were important.
But the foundation of it all was still the circuit beneath them.
The Spell Formula extending from the painting was only binding our minds.
No matter how convincing it looked, all we were doing was seeing and feeling Spiritual Power emitted from a constructed circuit.
Then the answer was simple.
I was confident in engraving circuits.
‘Let's see...’
Traps like this always had a structure that let you escape.
Besides, when I had traveled the continent in search of all sorts of secret manuals, I had passed through more than a few traps like this.
Seeing was one thing, but reading them was another.
The pattern was completely different from Spell Formulas engraved into equipment.
Where one strand began and ended. Where a branch linked with another branch.
The circuit itself was such a mess that it was impossible to make sense of.
‘...Well, I don't need to read all of it.’
A circuit was ultimately a path made for something to flow somewhere.
I lightly grabbed one black vine wrapped around my feet.
I loosened the Suppression Talisman inside my clothes by the slightest amount and sent a handful of Spiritual Power through my fingertips.
Swoosh.
A streak of blue light slowly spread through the vine.
It traced its way through the tangled branches, then soon flowed in one direction.
‘Oh?’
I grabbed another vine and sent Spiritual Power through it again.
The same direction.
Then another branch, and the one after that.
No matter how twisted or curved they were, every pattern was ultimately being drawn into one point.
‘...So.’
It was a structure that gathered life force into a single point.
This entire illusion was collecting nourishment there.
Which meant that point was the heart of the painting.
I slowly raised my gaze and followed the direction in which the Spiritual Power flowed.
Among the countless sunflowers thrashing wildly.
At their center stood one sunflower facing a different direction.
All the other flowers stretched their heads toward us, but that one had its back turned and faced the opposite way.
‘...That's it.’
The problem was the distance.
Even if I tried to approach it, blackened vines sprang up blindly from every direction and blocked my path.
‘Hm... Then engraving it directly by hand will be difficult.’
Let's see... I need something to engrave on.
Something I can throw would be nice.
Then I noticed.
The sword the woman was holding.
“Excuse me.”
I pushed through the vines and approached the woman with the sword.
“Could I borrow that sword for a moment?”
“...What?”
The woman flinched and hurriedly pulled the drawn sword to her chest.
“N-No! Absolutely not!”
It was nearly a reflex.
Even as vines were ensnaring her body, she looked as though she would sooner die than give up her sword.
The woman clutched the sword tightly in both arms and glared at me warily.
‘...What? That much?’
It must have been something she cherished deeply.
I didn't know the circumstances, but I couldn't exactly force her to lend it to me.
When I turned my gaze to find another piece of metal, I spotted a dagger at the waist of Jin Mu-yeong, who had collapsed in the distance.
I strode over and pulled it from its sheath.
“Hey?! What the hell are you doing?!”
Jin Mu-yeong reached out in alarm.
“I'm borrowing it for a second.”
I had already turned away with the dagger.
Swish.
I placed it on my palm and quietly inspected the blade.
It looked good enough to throw.
As I examined the sunflower's circuits, I gathered Spiritual Power in my index finger and began engraving a circuit on the blade.
Crackle! Snap!
Blue sparks flew off the blade, and the sharp smell of burning metal filled the air.
A vivid blue Spell Formula appeared wherever my fingertip passed, without the slightest error.
Before long.
It was complete.
That sunflower over there, the source of this entire illusion.
The densest point from which this illusion spread.
The exact place that was practically a keyhole.
“Get lost.”
I threw the dagger.
Whoosh!
It struck true.
At that moment, I sent mana along the thread of Spiritual Power.
Crack!
The circuit engraved on the blade locked into the illusion's Spell Formula and spewed sparks in every direction.
Crack, crack.
Cracks spread across the bright blue sky.
The endless field of sunflowers split apart like a windowpane.
Then.
Crash!
The illusion shattered into pieces and collapsed.
“...Huff!”
“Haah, haah...!”
When we came to.
We were standing in the middle of the gallery again.
The vines around our ankles and the endless flower field had vanished as if they had never existed.
Only the dagger I had thrown remained, embedded in the gallery's marble floor and trembling faintly.
The sunflower painting hung quietly on the wall, as if nothing had happened.
“...”
I pulled the dagger from the floor and lightly dusted off the blade.
‘...That should do it.’
It had been easier than I expected.
I should return the dagger to its owner.
When I raised my head with the dagger in hand, I froze.
“...?”
Everyone was staring at me with their mouths hanging open.
The woman hugging her sword had gone rigid in that exact position.
Yoo Seon-woo's eyes were so wide they looked ready to split, and his jaw trembled.
“H-How did you...?”
And Jin Mu-yeong, who had lent me the dagger.
Still sitting on the ground, he looked up at me like he had seen a ghost.
“T-That just now... Don't tell me...”
“You... just shattered the illusion...?”
‘...What's with those expressions?’
They looked strangely familiar.
Thinking back.
Ah.
At the hotel.
They were exactly the stunned expressions Jin Mu-yeong had made when he first saw me.
The only difference was that now.
It wasn't just Jin Mu-yeong.
Everyone here.
“...”
Had the exact same expression on their faces.
Footnotes:
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