WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Occult World’s Coveted Blacksmith ◈
Chapter 52: Does Our Nureongi Count Too?
──────
[HOT] Do Emperor's new product is out!!!
They say you can put spirit beasts in a key ring and carry them around??
└ ??
└ How is that even possible? What's the principle behind it?
└ It's Do Emperor. What more is there to ask? lol
└ No no no, wasn't there a huge fuss when he sealed a divine beast last time? Isn't this an application of that?
└ Even so, they can fit into something that tiny?
└ Can our Nureongi fit too? It's Grade 3.
└ What's Nureongi? lol
└ Our family's cow. Korean beef, by the way.
└ ??? You're putting a cow in that?? It must weigh at least 800 kilos??
└ Hm... Even if it's Do Emperor, this is a little hard to believe.
At first, everyone had their doubts.
Then, three days later.
The first winners received their items.
Reviews began appearing one after another.
[Review] This is crazy, it actually works;;;
I just got mine and tried putting Baekgu (Grade 3) in.
I pulled the chain to open the lid, poured in Spiritual Power, and it just slipped right in lolllll
It came out perfectly fine. What the hell is this? It's so convenient.
Also, the feel when you put them in is incredible.
It's so fascinating that I keep doing it lol
Baekgu, come here~
└ Holy shit, it was real?
└ This is fucking insane. A review with a wild boar just went up too.
└ How does that make any sense lol
└ Ah, fuck... Does that mean I bought that delivery truck for nothing so I could haul around our big bear? I've still got 48 months left on the installments, damn it.
[Verification] The cat key ring arrived lol
(KeyRing.jpg)
Damn, look at how pretty this cat is.
Look at that seductive pose.
Nabi, you're commuting with me from now on.
└ No lol, if it's just a cat, bring it with you normally.
└ That's not a cat, it's a leopard cat lol
└ But the detail on the real thing is insane. There's even numbering engraved on the bottom.
└ Holy shit, does that make it a limited edition?
As reviews gradually piled up, the bidding prices soared like mad.
[Daily] But... aren't spirit beast transport companies in serious trouble now?
└ For real, I don't think we'll need to call delivery trucks anymore.
└ Weren't those mostly affiliated with House Hae?
└ I heard the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Treasures has been dead lately too lol. Everyone's just looking at the auction tab.
└ lol Do Emperor just cut off another one of House Hae's revenue streams.
└ They have a ton of businesses besides that one anyway lol
└ True. They probably won't even bat an eye.
Around that time, strange scenes began unfolding all across the country.
* * *
An abandoned house somewhere in the provinces.
An earthbound spirit that had lingered there for years had been reported there.
The problem was the house's location.
It sat awkwardly across the boundary between two regions.
Right in front of the abandoned house, two sorcerers dispatched from offices on either side ran into each other.
"......"
"......"
"......This is under our jurisdiction."
"What are you talking about? Look at the map again. From here on, it's our territory."
"The front gate faces this side, doesn't it?"
"I heard the earthbound spirit is in the master bedroom. The master bedroom is on this side."
Neither had any intention of backing down.
Gulp.
Their commission fees were on the line.
A tense standoff followed.
Just as their hands slowly moved toward their waists, they spotted the things dangling there.
"......!"
"......!"
A pig-shaped key ring hung from one waist.
A puppy-shaped key ring hung from the other.
"......"
"You too?"
"You too?"
As if by mutual agreement, both grabbed the chains on their key rings.
Pop. Pop.
Fwoooosh!
[Squeeeal!]
[Grrrrrr!]
A black wild boar burst from the pig key ring.
A gray wolf burst from the puppy key ring.
Both appeared in a flash of light.
Scenes like that had become a common sight all over the country lately.
* * *
Not long after, someone discovered something incredible.
[Info] Guys, did you know? These sealing key rings have a crazy feature.
My little one got hurt while we were out on a job yesterday.
I put it in the key ring to take it home.
But when I took it out... its wound was gone;;
└ ??
└ Holy shit, that works?
└ I just tried it too, and it's real. The scratches healed completely.
└ ????
└ Wait. That changes things.
└ Damn. That's amazing.
That's right.
There was a reason not many sorcerers had familiars until now.
For one, spirit beasts themselves were expensive.
Then, if one of those expensive creatures got hurt on a job, the commission fee wouldn't even matter.
The cost of treatment, spiritual medicines and the like, was absurd.
If it was seriously injured, that could be the end of it.
You could call them luxuries no one could afford to maintain.
That was why people had hesitated to bring their familiars along on dangerous jobs.
...But.
They said injuries healed after putting them in and taking them back out of the key ring.
As stories like that continued to spread, the mood changed.
At first, only owners of creatures too large or flashy to bring around without drawing attention had been interested.
Now, any sorcerer whose livelihood depended on a familiar rushed in with their eyes blazing.
* * *
Around that time, at the foot of a mountain on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province.
『Okho Workshop』
It was a prestigious workshop that had focused solely on sealing implements for three generations.
It had enough history to have supplied goods to one of the Four Great Houses for generations.
In particular, the finest pieces made personally by the workshop master couldn't be bought with money alone.
The workshop master's pride was simply too great.
Even renowned sorcerers had to make reservations and wait months just to see the real thing.
That Okho Workshop had made a major decision and listed a treasured family heirloom on the auction tab.
An Eul-tier Sealing Gourd crafted by the previous workshop master over an entire lifetime.
The sale period was one year.
Putting a family treasure on display for all to see was a blow to the workshop's pride, and the workshop master felt unable to face the predecessors.
...But the effect was undeniable.
"Master! Another order came in! We've already received over thirty this month alone!"
"Ho ho. I understand, so stop making such a fuss."
...It was better than expected.
The workshop master pretended to be composed, but a satisfied smile played beneath their beard.
Ever since the gourd entered the rankings, orders for the regular line of sealing implements had been pouring in.
Truthfully, the workshop master had agonized over it for several sleepless nights at first.
But as the numbers steadily accumulated in the bank account, that guilt strangely melted away like snow.
'I apologize to my predecessors, but... this is quite the profitable business. Ho ho.'
Of course, the workshop master had not the slightest intention of selling it.
Everything had already been arranged in advance.
Near the end of the auction period, the family the workshop had supplied for generations would buy the gourd.
Then the item would quietly return to the workshop.
All they had to pay was Goblin Fire's commission.
Of course, after doing this once, the gourd would never be something they could put up for sale again.
'It was never something I intended to sell in the first place!'
Kahaha.
'...Even I have to admit, it's a brilliant idea.'
In high spirits, the workshop master called for their apprentice.
"Child. Bring up that ranking thing."
It had become their new little pleasure lately.
"Yes, sir. We were fourth yesterday, so maybe we'll be third today..."
Tap, tap.
"...Huh?"
"What's wrong? Have we already taken first place?"
"Our... item isn't there."
"What?"
"N-No, it is, but... we're eleventh."
"What?!"
The workshop master snatched the tablet away.
Rank 1. Portable Spirit Beast Sealing Key Ring (Rabbit)
Rank 2. Portable Spirit Beast Sealing Key Ring (Cat)
Rank 3. Portable Spirit Beast Sealing Key Ring (Horse)
.
.
.
"Key... rings?"
From first to tenth place.
Every spot was occupied by tiny key rings no bigger than a finger.
"What in the world is this?!"
With trembling hands, the workshop master tapped one of the listings.
[Portable Spirit Beast Sealing Key Ring]
"...A sealing implement?"
Unable to believe it, they clicked the sealing implement category rankings.
...It was the same there.
From top to bottom.
Rabbit, horse, chicken, and cat had neatly covered the entire page.
"Th-This is insane...!"
* * *
[lololol Current auction tab situation]
(Capture image)
Ranks 1 through 10 are all sealing key rings lolllll
└ lololol Is this right?
└ All those workshops that were trying to squat on the rankings for half a year or a year got pushed out lol
└ But this person only set the sale periods to three days each. Why aren't the rankings dropping?
└ They list several at a time, and whenever they sell, they list more.
└ Every single one causes a frenzy. How could they go down?
└ Real man trait) Doesn't use the auction listings as a billboard. Just keeps making them.
* * *
The scenes at job sites gradually began changing as well.
[Daily] It's so fucking funny when I go do Exorcism jobs these days lol
Before, everyone would show up loaded down with Talismans and Ritual Implements.
But now, as soon as they arrive, they pull out key rings from their waists first.
Woof woof, oink oink.
It's practically a zoo.
└ lolololol That's hilarious.
└ Our team brings all our familiars now. Even if they get hurt, we just need to refill their Spiritual Power.
└ The little one who used to loaf around at home goes to work now lol. Earn your keep.
└ It definitely feels reassuring. Our little one bit two Cursed spirits to death last time.
└ Damn... now this is the life.
Spirit beasts that had been carefully kept at home or in their main family estates began following their owners out into the field one by one.
* * *
"Mr. Do-hyeon! Look, look at this!"
Seo Ji-an hurried over with a tablet in hand.
"It's completely insane right now! The auction tab rankings are covered in your products!"
I put down my carving knife and looked at the screen.
...Oh.
Sure enough, from top to bottom.
Rabbit, cat, wild boar.
My little ones were lined up side by side.
"The reviews are so good."
Seo Ji-an swiped through the screen.
There were countless reviews saying that a spirit beast's injuries healed after it was placed in a sealing implement and taken back out.
In a way, it was only natural for an injured body to recover.
A Spiritual Body was ultimately shaped from Spiritual Power.
The whole principle behind these sealing implements was that a spirit beast discarded its old body and took on a new one.
As long as there was enough Spiritual Power, it would return in perfect condition.
Of course, this process wasn't a cure-all.
If a spirit beast was injured severely enough that its Spiritual Power was completely depleted, recovery would be impossible.
That wasn't all.
Congenital disabilities, old injuries, and deep wounds sometimes seemed to remain unchanged.
You could compare it to a crustacean molting.
Even if it shed an old shell and grew a new body, deeply etched scars wouldn't disappear completely.
It seemed there was nothing to be done about marks carved into the soul itself.
...To be honest, I didn't know the limits of that regeneration.
That was why I'd deliberately left it out of the product description.
'...Well, they'll figure out how to use them.'
"Still, the promotional effect is incredible."
Seo Ji-an grinned.
"Yu-ha helped us a lot this time."
Apparently, the listings had initially been buried beneath the flood of products and received no attention.
Then people saw Yu-ha wearing one at her waist and started wondering what it was.
When the question even came up during an interview, Yu-ha demonstrated how to use it on the spot.
...And that spread all over Goblin Fire.
'...As expected. Sponsoring her was the right call.'
That was the influence of a celebrity in the Occult World.
As I kept scrolling through the reactions, one post suddenly caught my eye.
[Daily] Hmm... isn't it a little disappointing that it only works up to Grade 3?
My bull is a Grade 2 spirit beast, so this is really inconvenient.
└ This is a post bragging that you own a Grade 2 spirit beast, right?
└ No, I'm seriously saying it's inconvenient??
└ Sure, sure. We're so jealous of your Grade 2 spirit beast~
└ What more do you want? At that price and size, this is already a miracle.
└ For real. Talk about first-world problems.
└ Still, Grade 2 is where they start getting really big, so it is a shame.
'...'
Well, it couldn't be helped.
The Sealing Gourd I'd made last time was made from a top-grade gourd variety.
That variety was incredibly difficult to obtain, and every material that went into it was top-grade.
It was fairly large, too.
These key rings, on the other hand, were smaller and made from much more economical materials to improve portability.
That was why Grade 3 was their limit.
'...But.'
Grin.
It wasn't like there was no way around it.
I slowly opened the drawer beneath the workbench.
Inside lay three key rings I'd carved in advance.
Three key rings, each a different color and shape.
It seemed ripe enough now.
'...Shall I put them up soon?'
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
