WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Occult World’s Coveted Blacksmith ◈
Chapter 4: Entering the World of Sorcery
──────
The morning air was fairly chilly.
Even so, my steps felt lighter than ever.
‘I want to start making something for real soon.’
My hands itched.
After fixing Shrine Grandmother’s bell yesterday, I’d come to a clear realization.
My skills worked. Perfectly, at that.
Ten years.
Ten years spent in front of the forge in that damned game. No, [Kingdom of Fire] was a god-tier game now.
The instincts ingrained in me over those ten years.
The techniques I’d used to forge countless legendary-grade items with the system’s assistance.
If all of that worked exactly the same in reality...
‘How far can I go?’
In the game, I’d been a max-level blacksmith who hammered out legendary swords and carved dragon bones.
Real iron. Real metal.
How far would my skills take me here? Where was the limit?
I was going crazy because I wanted to test it as soon as possible.
‘I need to tell him properly today.’
Of course, I had enough sense to know how things worked.
Forges ran on an apprenticeship system.
For a part-timer who’d only been there a few days to suddenly demand a spot in front of the forge would be unbelievably arrogant.
Still.
He’d seen my skills with his own eyes.
That was why he’d hired me, and why he hadn’t scolded me after hearing the bell I’d worked on.
I was confident.
Give me anything, and I’d prove myself with the results.
If I told him that sincerely, I thought he’d give me a proper chance to hold a hammer too.
* * *
“Sir. I’m here for wor...”
I’d just cheerfully raised the shutter and was about to step inside when I stopped.
A voice was coming from deeper inside the workshop.
“Yes... Yes...”
“No, not at all.”
“Oh, you’re too kind. Yes, then I’ll see you again next time.”
His tone was unusually polite.
‘Hm? What’s going on?’
The voice I’d faintly heard through the phone definitely sounded like Shrine Grandmother from yesterday.
After ending the call, he set down his smartphone and let out a deep sigh.
“Sir, was that Shrine Grandmother just now? What did she say? Did she like the bell?”
When I asked, he simply stared at me without answering.
His gaze was different from usual.
It seemed strangely complicated and heavy.
“...”
“...Sir?”
“Do-hyeon. Come see me for a moment.”
He spoke briefly, then headed toward the storage area behind the forge, where the charcoal and firewood were piled.
‘Why is he acting like this? Did something happen?’
Could the bell have started sounding strange because I’d worked on it?
No, that couldn’t be it. I’d made sure the density was perfect.
When I entered the storage room, he stood with his arms crossed, staring straight through me.
“What are you?”
“...What? Why are you suddenly asking that?”
“Yeah. I know you must have your reasons.”
He nodded and muttered as though he’d reached a conclusion on his own.
“I don’t know why you came all the way to a backwater market like this, but you must have some story you can’t tell, or some reason for being here.”
‘What on earth did Shrine Grandmother say to him?’
I could only blink in confusion.
Then again, I probably did look strange.
A guy who claimed he’d never set foot in a forge before could somehow set the forge temperature perfectly, perfectly sharpen a knife that even a fifth-year apprentice couldn’t sharpen, and even repair a bell.
Still.
‘No. I just spent ten years playing games in my room...’
I couldn’t exactly tell him the truth.
He’d think I was insane.
As I stood there without saying a word, he nodded as though he understood everything.
“You don’t have to tell me. You already know this, but you have a special talent. No, even talent doesn’t cover it. You’re already a monster.”
“Sir...?”
“This isn’t where you belong. An old man like me has nothing to teach you, and this place isn’t big enough to hold your skill.”
Then he pulled a black business card from inside his jacket and handed it to me.
There was no logo, only a single phone number stamped in gold.
“Contact this number first. I’ve already said a few words to them.”
“What is this?”
He grinned.
“What else would it be? The big leagues.”
He gave my shoulder a light pat.
“Go play in a world that suits your caliber. Now get going. As of today, your part-time job is over.”
And so, thirty minutes after arriving at work, I was practically kicked out of the forge.
* * *
[A+ Café]
The heart of Gangnam.
Despite it being a weekday morning, the large franchise café with massive floor-to-ceiling windows was fairly crowded.
I sat in a corner seat, rattling the ice in my iced Americano as I stared at the black business card.
‘The big leagues, huh.’
What exactly did he mean by that?
Was it some special metals research institute affiliated with a major corporation?
Or the Cultural Heritage Administration?
He’d told me to call, so I’d made the call earlier.
[Ah, you must be Do-hyeon, the person Master Mu-hyeok mentioned! I’ll come right away. Where are you?]
The person who answered had an absurdly high voice and even more absurd energy.
Vroooom!
That was when a bright red sports car glided to a stop on the road in front of the café, its loud exhaust echoing through the street.
Every passerby turned to look.
Its upward-opening door, a so-called gullwing door, slowly rose, and someone stepped out.
‘Holy...’
A stunning beauty in a stylish designer suit, her long wavy hair swaying as she moved.
‘Is she some heiress or celebrity?’
Just as I was thinking that, she entered the café where I was sitting, wearing sunglasses.
She looked as though she’d stepped out of a fashion shoot.
Ding.
The café door opened, and she looked around the interior.
‘No way... It can’t be, right?’
She took out her smartphone from her bag and called someone.
Then.
Bzzz.
At that moment, my phone vibrated.
It was the number I’d spoken to earlier.
When I instinctively looked up, her eyes met mine.
Her face immediately brightened.
“...!”
Her eyes widened, and despite her high heels, she rushed toward my table at incredible speed.
Then, without warning, she said, “Nice to meet you!” as she bent deeply at the waist in a ninety-degree bow.
“My name is Seo Ji-an!”
I could feel the entire café turning to stare at us. Flustered, I waved my hands.
“Ah, yes. Please sit down first. Everyone’s looking...”
Once she sat down, she removed her sunglasses.
Her eyes sparkled.
She looked incredibly excited.
“I’ve heard so much about you! But...”
She paused and looked me up and down.
“You’re much younger than I expected, aren’t you? You really caught me off guard.”
“What? Ah, yes...”
“Oh, I should introduce myself properly. My name is Seo Ji-an. It’s truly an honor to meet someone like you in person, Do-hyeon.”
“...Ah, yes.”
“Naturally, someone of your standing will receive the best terms in the industry. Please tell me if there are any conditions you want. I’ll set the commission at the lowest rate in the industry, and I can arrange your work environment and supporting facilities exactly as you wish!”
“Wait. Just a second.”
I cut her off.
My head was starting to hurt.
“I haven’t received a proper explanation yet, so... what exactly do you mean by ‘this industry’?”
She stopped talking at once.
“Pardon?”
Seo Ji-an looked completely blank.
At first, she smiled as though she thought I was joking, but when I kept looking at her with complete seriousness, her smile gradually faded.
She glanced around.
Then she leaned closer, bringing her face near mine.
A soft, alluring perfume washed over me.
Her red lips moved as she whispered in a tiny voice.
“The Occult World.”
“...What?”
“The. Occult. World.”
My mind went blank.
Sorcery? The kind where people hammered nails into dolls to curse others, wrote red letters on yellow paper to make Talismans, and performed shamanic rites while dancing on blades?
“W-What are you...”
Seo Ji-an watched my flustered reaction. She seemed to think deeply for a moment, then smiled as though she’d figured something out.
“Hmm... Well, cases like yours aren’t uncommon in this line of work. I’ll explain everything from the beginning.”
“What? No, explain what...”
“Sometimes there are people like you, Do-hyeon, who’ve cut ties with the secular world since childhood and trained in the mountains, or lived in seclusion under a master while focusing only on honing their craft. They don’t know much about the outside world.”
I shut my mouth.
I had no idea what kind of story she was making up, but it seemed better than telling her I was just an ordinary former part-timer.
“I’ll explain the very basics first.”
What Seo Ji-an told me next was shocking.
In short, this was what she said.
There was a hidden world called the Occult World, one ordinary people knew nothing about.
Sorcerers, shamans, and exorcists who handled Spiritual Power operated there, dealing with strange incidents, vengeful spirits, and curses that ordinary physical force could not resolve.
What was more, these occult phenomena were rooted far deeper in the world than I’d imagined. Their influence reached every area of politics, the economy, and industry, including major corporations.
From selecting auspicious land for chaebol families to placing curses on rival companies and solving mysterious strings of accidents.
It was a market where billions, even tens of billions of won, changed hands.
“B-But how can ordinary people not know about any of this? And wait a second.”
I glanced around and lowered my voice.
“...Is it really okay to talk about this here?”
It was a huge franchise café with plenty of people coming and going, even on a weekday.
A group of university students at the next table were typing on their laptops.
Seo Ji-an laughed out loud at my concern, then rummaged inside her jacket.
Gulp.
I tensed, wondering if she was about to pull out a gun, but what she took out was a scrap of yellow paper.
A Talisman?
“It’s a Recognition-Obscuring Talisman.”
She placed the Talisman on the table with a tap.
“Anyone passing by probably can’t hear a word we’re saying. They won’t remember that we were sitting here, and they won’t remember our faces either.”
“Really?”
“This is a Spell Artifact I paid quite a lot for. The Occult Management Bureau controls this sort of thing strictly, so everyone pays attention to security. People usually avoid revealing their identities, which is why ordinary people don’t know.”
My head throbbed.
She was dumping out stories that sounded like something from a movie. I even started wondering if she was playing some kind of prank on me.
When I still looked unconvinced, Seo Ji-an took out a latest-model tablet from her bag.
“Hmm, you still don’t seem convinced. Let me show you something first.”
After tapping on the screen a few times, a website with a black background appeared.
She entered a password, completed a biometric scan, and tapped what appeared to be a category tab.
“Let’s see... Ah, here it is.”
Seo Ji-an clicked something, then turned the tablet toward me.
The interface looked like a used-goods marketplace.
[Urgent Sale. Handmade brass bell of the Myeongseong Family (Standard Grade Spell Artifact)]
- This is a Spell Artifact passed down as a family heirloom, but due to the nature of my latest job, it’s time to replace my Ritual Implement, so I’m putting it up for urgent sale.
- It should be able to drive away most Grade-4 minor spirits.
- Depending on the practitioner’s ability, it can even exorcise Grade-3 evil spirits.
- Photos attached.
I looked at the attached photos.
At a glance, it didn’t look much different from the brass bell belonging to Shrine Grandmother that I’d repaired before.
‘...That’s supposed to be a family heirloom?’
The inner-wall thickness wasn’t even.
Even from the outside, the overall craftsmanship didn’t look particularly good.
It looked like the sound would leak everywhere.
‘More importantly, what is all this supposed to mean...?’
Standard Grade. Spell Artifact.
Exorcising evil spirits.
None of it was believable.
This had to be some strange website...
As I silently judged it, my gaze moved lower down the screen.
[Price: 5,000,000 won]
[※ No bargaining. Don’t message just to test the waters. I’ll cover the delivery fee for a smooth transaction.]
“F-Five million won?”
The words slipped out before I knew it.
Seo Ji-an looked briefly confused by my reaction.
“Ahh.”
Then she nodded as though she understood.
“Of course, someone of your level probably wouldn’t be interested in prices like this.”
She let out a long sigh.
“Artisans capable of inscribing or repairing Spell Artifacts have practically disappeared these days. The major families monopolize and control them all, so if you aren’t affiliated with one of their families, you can’t even buy or sell one.”
Seo Ji-an’s eyes shone as she excitedly continued.
“Well, because of that, freelance sorcerers and small-to-medium guilds have no choice but to pay whatever they’re asked for, even for low-grade Spell Artifacts that look like they came from a junk shop. Maybe that’s good news for us?”
Seo Ji-an kept seriously explaining one thing after another, but I couldn’t hear anything else.
Five million won.
That worn-out bell alone was worth five million won?
“For us...?”
“Hahaha. I got ahead of myself! Anyway!”
Seo Ji-an suddenly leaned close to me, her eyes sparkling.
“If you leave it to me, Seo Ji-an, the most experienced broker in this business!”
She grabbed my hand.
“Whether it’s commissions to make Ritual Implements or auctions for the things you create, I’ll handle everything perfectly. Just leave it to me!”
Footnotes:
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