The Occult World’s Coveted Blacksmith - Chapter 31

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Occult World’s Coveted Blacksmith ◈

Chapter 31: Noise Marketing? Just Make It for Real

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A name's value is a kind of illusion.

Just because an item bears a famous brand does not necessarily mean it is better.

Yet we gladly buy it anyway.

The reason is simple.

Other people have already recognized it.

If an item has been vetted by others, there is no need to agonize over it anymore.

Since it saves us the trouble of thinking, paying a little extra is not entirely a loss.

After all, sifting through cheap products to find something worthwhile is a tedious, exhausting process.

In other words.

Skill can build a name.

But conversely, a name can also prove one's skill.

There was no need for that in the game.

Its performance was laid out clearly in the status window.

When judging whether something was good, the value of its name was always secondary.

...But it seems things work differently in this field.

* * *

It was a few days ago.

I was sitting in front of the furnace as usual, hammering away, when the workshop door flew open.

Bang!

Seo Ji-an rushed in, her face full of excitement.

Before she could even catch her breath, she blurted out:

"Do-hyeon! What if we promoted you as an Eul-tier blacksmith?"

Clang.

I paused my hammer mid-swing.

"...What? An Eul-tier blacksmith?"

"Yes!"

"...I've never made an Eul-tier item before."

Yu-ha's sword had only been repaired.

It was not something I had made from scratch.

"Come on, does that really matter?"

Ji-an waved it off as if it were nothing.

"Strictly speaking, you didn't make it yourself, but the public won't pick apart details like that. Besides, the bureau and House associations just decide Eul-tier, Byeong-tier, and all those rankings however they want, don't they?"

Her eyes sparkled as she leaned over the workbench.

"On top of that, Yu-ha's ranking has been shooting up, and Yu-ha is incredibly hot in the Occult World right now! This is our chance. Everyone else threw up their hands because they couldn't fix that Eul-tier Ritual Implement, but you took one look at it and repaired it just like that? Then we create some vague viral buzz, like, 'Oh, Do-hyeon is an artisan who can handle Eul-tier items.'"

"..."

"I-I mean! It would be like noise marketing, haha..."

"...That feels a little wrong."

My voice trailed off uneasily.

I had not made it.

All I had done was adjust someone else's Spell Formula a little to suit its new owner.

Riding that to fame as though it were my own achievement did not sit right with me.

"..."

Seeing my reaction, Ji-an's shoulders gradually drooped.

"B-But, Master..."

She quickly put on a mournful expression and stared up at me, pretending to be pitiful.

"People like us from non-House backgrounds... We have to become famous first..."

According to Ji-an, the Houses had joined forces and quietly pressured people not to buy Ritual Implements made by non-House artisans.

Not openly, of course.

They came up with plausible excuses, then worked behind the scenes.

For starters, they would not commission them directly.

And if it came out that someone had done business with a non-House artisan, they would be marked.

From then on, the Houses would slowly edge them out by imposing one disadvantage after another in every matter connected to the Houses.

They cut off their ability to trade with anyone, leaving non-House artisans to wither away.

"That's why we have to make a name for ourselves first, with overwhelming skill!"

Once I reached that point, even the Houses would not be able to suppress me so easily.

If they tried to crush someone whose reputation and ability had already soared sky-high, it would only look like the Houses were throwing their weight around because they could not compete.

"..."

Well, she was not wrong.

I wanted to make a lot of money too.

No, it was not just about money.

For a blacksmith to reach greater heights, enormous capital was essential.

I had learned that painfully while playing the game.

I had spent every last cent buying better materials and gifts offered as tribute to demanding artisans. I lived broke every day.

'Become famous.'

If I became famous, money would come in.

With money, I could get rarer, better materials.

More difficult and demanding commissions would come flooding in too.

Then I would be able to make harder things.

Eventually, I might get my hands on the secret manuals of artisans hidden somewhere out there.

I could test every idea that came to mind without regretting failure.

And little by little, I could reach greater heights.

"O-Of course..."

When I remained silent, Ji-an added in a shrinking voice as she watched my expression.

"If you don't give permission, Master... then we can't do it, but..."

"..."

I set down my hammer.

"All right. Let's do it."

"...What?"

Ji-an's eyes widened.

"R-Really?! You mean it, right?! No taking it back!"

Her dejected expression instantly brightened.

She looked ready to start jumping for joy.

"Yes. But."

I slowly rose from my chair.

"If we're doing this, let's make a real splash."

"...What?"

* * *

Come to think of it, that was right.

Repairing an Eul-tier item someone else had made, then pretending to be an Eul-tier artisan, felt wrong.

Then the answer was simple.

I just had to make one for real.

"Ji-an."

"Y-Yes!"

"Let's sell an Eul-tier Ritual Implement."

"...Yes. What?!"

Ji-an's mouth fell open.

"S-Sell one? An Eul-tier item? Did you already make something like that?!"

Her eyes shone as she looked around every corner of the workshop.

As if an Eul-tier Ritual Implement might be hiding behind one of the shelves.

I could practically hear her heart pounding from here.

"No. I haven't."

"...What?"

"I'm making it now."

"......What?"

Ji-an's expression slowly shifted from anticipation to confusion.

It was understandable.

An Eul-tier Ritual Implement wasn't something you could just whip up.

Even people called Eul-tier artisans could only barely forge one after spending years researching and gathering every scrap of their skill.

But.

I had already made them before.

Not once or twice, either. I had made them until I was sick of it.

The countless designs I had developed using the techniques I had gathered while scouring that damn continent for ten years.

Every blueprint was still perfectly preserved in my head.

All I had to do was bring those designs into reality.

"The materials we stocked last time should be enough."

I rolled up my sleeves and sat back down before the furnace.

"W-Wait, Do-hyeon? Are you serious? An Eul-tier item isn't something you can make overnight..."

Whoosh!

The flames in the furnace surged.

Ji-an's words stopped there.

* * *

Clang. Clang. Clang.

Ji-an stood off in one corner, staring blankly at the scene.

It was strange.

Do-hyeon had not drawn a single blueprint.

Do-hyeon had not even measured anything with a ruler.

There was not a hint of hesitation in any motion as Do-hyeon heated, folded, and hammered the metal.

Even Do-hyeon's fingertips, engraving the Spell Formula said to be the most difficult part, never faltered.

Not once.

As if Do-hyeon had already made it dozens of times.

'...What is that?'

Ji-an swallowed dryly without realizing it.

She had been surprised when Do-hyeon made the kitchen knife last time.

That, too, had been far beyond anything ordinary.

But this was an Eul-tier Ritual Implement.

And Do-hyeon was forging something that incredible without the slightest difficulty?

Then.

Before even a few hours had passed.

Sizzle!

Do-hyeon completed the final quench and raised the tongs.

A blade emerged through the rising steam.

Across its surface, still hot from the forge, a dark crimson Spell Formula rippled like waves.

Do-hyeon fitted the handle carved beforehand onto it.

Light flowed from the small Spirit Stone embedded in the handle, spreading gently along the blade all the way to its tip.

And so, a dagger was completed.

Ji-an did not have the discerning eye to read the Spell Formula engraved on a Ritual Implement in detail.

Still, even she could tell at a glance.

This was on a completely different level from anything she had ever seen.

"...M-My God."

A dazed sound escaped Ji-an's lips.

"This... is really Eul-tier? Just like that...?"

"Yes."

Do-hyeon quietly set the dagger on the workbench.

With the same calm expression, as if it were nothing special.

"And I'm going to make two more Ritual Implements in a similar series. Right now."

"...What?"

Ji-an looked back and forth between the dagger on the workbench and Do-hyeon's face several times.

Had she misheard him?

Do-hyeon had clearly said, "I'm going to make two more Eul-tier Ritual Implements."

Not copies of this dagger, either, but entirely different kinds of Ritual Implements from the same line.

If there was only one Eul-tier Ritual Implement, people would find some way to make excuses.

They would say Do-hyeon had found a late master's surviving work somewhere and passed it off as an original creation.

There were more than enough ways to tear Do-hyeon down.

With one, they could claim it was a surviving work picked up somewhere.

With two, they could still argue that two works by the same late master had been found by sheer luck.

But if three different items, each with a completely different appearance, bore the same Spell Formula, there would be nothing left for them to say.

Then everyone would know.

A genius blacksmith who would change the Occult World had appeared.

"Let's put these on the market."

"..."

Ji-an opened and closed her mouth soundlessly for a long moment.

Then the corners of her trembling lips slowly lifted.

'Viral marketing, noise marketing...'

It all seemed ridiculous now.

Maybe those were things only people with middling ability needed to do.

In the face of something this genuinely extraordinary, there was no need for any of it.

Ji-an stared blankly at the artisan before her.

Then she suddenly snapped herself back to her senses.

'No, this is not the time to stand here admiring Do-hyeon.'

Her instincts as a broker began to stir.

'To get the right price for these... no, more than the right price...'

They needed a stage where they could make the biggest, loudest, most expensive splash possible.

There was only one answer.

"An auction house! Let's put them up at an auction house! All three at once!"

That was how it happened.

* * *

And then.

Things exploded.

At the very moment teaser articles were released across the Occult World, the three Eul-tier Ritual Implements Do-hyeon had forged appeared side by side at the largest auction house in the Occult World.

[Karmafire Dagger ― Eul-tier]

[Lightning Bow ― Eul-tier]

[Vast Sea Necklace ― Eul-tier]

A dagger, a bow, and a necklace.

Three Ritual Implements with different forms, appearances, and powers.

Yet the photographs released together revealed one shared feature.

Each had a Spirit Stone of a different color embedded somewhere in its body.

A Spirit Stone red as a glowing ember in the dagger's handle.

A vivid yellow Spirit Stone like lightning in the bow's grip.

And at the center of the necklace, a blue Spirit Stone, larger than the other two and round like the moon.

But people did not yet know.

What those three Spirit Stones meant.