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Chapter 44 - Our Rookie King Has Changed (4)

-Klang! Klang! Klang!

What did Kang Shin-hyuk make the most of during his stay at Kieron? Of course, javelins.

-Klang! Klang! Klang!

He hadn’t made them for his use, but to supply a large number to Orde. They were mainly made of steel, but a few were also made with Brenite.

-Hissss.

The point is that, in a short period of time, the area that Kang Shin-hyuk had mastered was the production of the javelin. It was an easy matter for him to make a better javelin and put his heart into it.

“…Done.”

-You made a steel javelin (C-) with the spirit of falconry. Metallurgy skill has increased.

-The synchronization has been weakly accelerated. Current rate of 11.4%.

After a long time away from it, but really only two days, he was extremely excited to be holding onto a hammer again. In no time, he created a C-rank artifact, the highest rank he had accomplished with something made of steel. He wondered, briefly, if that were the best that steel could achieve.

[Hawk’s Steel Javelin]

[C-]

[Special ability: Hit, Penetration]

*Hit: It becomes easier to hit the target. Attack power has increased slightly.

*Penetration: Increases the probability of penetrating the target by overcoming the limitations of the material. Attack power has significantly increased.

“Can I see it?”

“Yes, here.” Kang Shin-hyuk, with a slight smile at the two special abilities, handed the javelin over to Lee Manwoo, who had been watching him work all the while. He looked it over seriously before sighing lightly and returning it to Shin-hyuk.

“How is it?”

“Frankly, I can’t believe it was made using steel. The second I think I know the extent of your abilities, you create something new the very next moment.”

“Is that a compliment? Thank you.”

“You’ve been training quite a bit during the weekend.” Lee Manwoo had noticed there had been significant changes in Kang Shin-hyuk, both in his technical skill and his mentality.

“Is it a woman?”

“What?!”

“That’s not it. Something similar happened, I think.”

“Don’t look into it.” After snorting at Shin-hyuk’s smiling face, Lee Manwoo continued.

“Do you have any plans to deal with magic metal? You’ll need it to go further in the field of metallurgy.” Kang Shin-hyuk’s eyes began to shine- he had been thinking of the same thing.

“Could I, please?”

“I can’t give you much. However, if you make good things out of it and achieve an excellent grade in the contest, the school will purchase more.”

“Thank you, sir.” Lee Manwoo remarked he always had a good response, then clicked his tongue. He took out his stick and began to manipulate it in his hands.

“When did you say the practice was?”

“Friday.”

“You have to be ready by tomorrow to make something useful for practice. It’s good that your hands are fast.”

“I don’t know the average time needed, so is it a lot faster?”

“No matter how much metallurgy assists in the work, it’ll vary from person to person. Some people will take three or four days to make a sword that’s nothing to brag about.” He finished playing with the stick and put it down, giving a final glance to the javelin before nodding.

“Next time, I’ll introduce you to someone.”

“Who?”

“It’s the guy who remained in the club until the end. I have to admit I kicked them out.” Shin-hyuk wondered why he would introduce him to someone he kicked out, and Lee Manwoo had a bitter smile on his face.

“The situation was pointless if he was left alone. His skill is real, though.”

“If you are alone, there’s no point…”

“He knows that you joined the club and wanted to talk to you. So far, I’ve stopped him…but maybe with a look at what you’ve created, it’ll convince him too. Maybe he’ll even try to collaborate with you.”

“Collaboration? Like an apprenticeship?”

“You really are like someone from another world who just picked up a hammer.” Shin-hyuk’s heart stopped for a moment, but the teacher continued unaware.

“It’s common practice to create artifacts as a joint effort. It’s odd to create them with just one person’s skill.”

“…Yeah?” Lee Manwoo put a hand to his head upon seeing Kang Shin-hyuk make a face like this was the first time he heard about it.

“The blacksmith shapes it, and the enchanter gives it an ability. When the two are in harmony, an artifact is born. That’s how the majority of artifacts have been produced.”

“An enchanter…that’s right.” Kang Shin-hyuk also knew of the existence of enchanters: wizards who temporarily or permanently imparted power into objects. Of course, he even knew that they made artifacts. However, he didn’t know they were involved in the creation of artifacts made by a blacksmith, since he, or rather Anvil, had been making them alone from the beginning.

“It’s not impossible to create an artifact with metallurgy alone, obviously. The more special the material, the higher the level of the skill, and the stronger mana the blacksmith has…all of that will increase the probability of an artifact being created. I can also create them by myself…but that’s not the norm. Most can barely make one even with the power of an enchanter.” Lee Manwoo smiled at Shin-hyuk as he contemplated how he should even begin to respond to that.

“Originally, I didn’t want to say it because I thought it might make your head too big. But that guy kept waiting for me…I knew that you weren’t the type to be swayed by a word or two, so I decided to let you know.”

“That’s…thank you.”

“Moreover, it would make a good experience for you to collaborate with an enchanter. Anyway, if you collaborate with him and make a good artifact, you can submit it to the contest.”

“Yes.” Lee Manwoo left the club room with those words. Kang Shin-hyuk only nodded and muttered to himself while blankly watching his back.

“He’s a good person.”

-He has a lot of thoughts on how to make your talents bloom. It seems like you’re a big shot in this world.

“Enchanter…enchanter…” He mumbled to himself and checked the time. It was only 6:30 PM, and the group training ended at 4:30, so he had created a C-rank artifact in less than two hours.

“Let’s make something with Brenite or that monster shell.”

-Good idea.

However, before he could start, his stomach rumbled loudly. The distance between the club room and his dorm was quite far, and Shin-hyuk cursed the size of the school as he considered how hungry he was. Anguishing over this, he suddenly recalled what Baek In-ha had told him before.

‘There’s a café on campus.’ The structure of Shinyoung was extremely complicated, given its size and the number of buildings it had, so he hadn’t known it existed for quite a while. In fact, there was a multipurpose building containing a bowling alley, gymnasium, and game room right next to the cafeteria he would eat lunch at, which also included the café and other amenities. The building’s name was Unyu, but he had never gone there as he was always too busy training after classes.

‘It’s closer than the dormitory, and now I don’t have to stick to the dorm food because I have money. It’s so good to have enough cash…’

-50HP bonus for a proud member!

To the administrator, this side of Shin-hyuk was rather cute. He ignored the message as best he could and marched onward to Unyu. He found it quickly; the café was on the first floor and had seating outside for people to eat.

“That’s Kang Shin-hyuk.”

“It’s really him…I haven’t seen him before here.”

The moment he entered the café, all eyes were focused on him. That probably would’ve never been the case before he became the Rookie King. But, whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, he was used to the gaze of others. He pressed on to make an order of a café mocha with an excess of whipped cream, a lemonade, two sausage pretzels, and several butter croissants before finding a suitable seat with a buzzer in hand.

‘There are so many people in here.’

-I told you once this is a fairly elite group, but I’m honestly a little disappointed.

‘People have to rest sometime.’ Shin-hyuk responded with a bitter smile at the stubborn words of the administrator. He hadn’t spent really any downtime lately, but that was just because he was bad at it.

‘I wonder if I’m like Anvil in that regard- if it’s my way of escape by only focusing on training.’ But no matter how durable a person was, proper rest was indispensable. Moreover, it was important to take time to establish acquaintances with those who would be active in the field in the future. That was the main reason he focused on gaining the status of Rookie King, after all. Now, thanks to that, he was given special treatment in this space where elites gathered.

-It’s ringing.

“Ah.” Kang Shin-hyuk approached the counter and accepted his tray. However, as he returned to his seat with the thought that this wouldn’t be enough food, the face of someone he recognized crossed his eyes.

‘The King of Two Crowns?’ It was the 2nd year- Eleanor R. Alger. The rather small lady was sitting alone at a café table, much like Shin-hyuk had been. She was eating a croissant, much the same as Shin-hyuk had ordered, and was cutely gnawing at it while holding it in both hands. She clearly didn’t intend to look cute, however, as a serious expression was plastered on her face.

‘She looks physically weak, but she’s the King of Two Crowns? That’s great.’

-Do you want to talk to her?

‘No, I hate the Wyvern Knights.’

-10HP bonus for this member!

‘Why?!’ He sat down, catching a glimpse of the cloak of the Wyvern Knights fluttering on her back. He thought he caught her glance at him as well, but thought it was his imagination.

“He should go ahead and say something.”

“What a bunch, but it’s funnier like that.”

“Don’t you think Alger should pay more attention?”

“Kang Shin-hyuk will be the next Crown of Knights.”

“Yeah, and honestly, Douglas Payne…”

“Shh. She’s moving.”

He tried to ignore the voices coming from all around him, focusing on clearing out his food and drinking his lemonade. Something moved across his field of vision, and as he looked up, the figure of Eleanor R. Alger stood before him.

“…”

“…”

It felt a bit sad to him that her eye level was not so different from his while he was seated, but she gave off the impression of being strong enough to not care about that. The moment he tried to say something to her, facing her purple eyes, she cut him off.

“…. you go.” She mumbled in clumsily spoken Korean and placed an American muffin on his tray. He suppressed the thought he had that she was British, and it wasn’t an English muffin.

“Uh, thank you…”

“Hm.” She nodded a little, then picked up her tray and left. Kang Shin-hyuk was taken aback that that was all she had to say and decided to check the muffin for a secret message before biting into it. No such thing existed, however.

“What just happened?”

“What kind of play was that…?”

The other patrons’ words were rude, but to Kang Shin-hyuk, it was an amazingly effective strategy. In his mind, as he ate, he felt his affinity with her rise. Almost resentfully.

-The administrator is very worried about your future.

‘I’m sorry, administrator…’

As a bonus to those events, he received a very unexpected message on his way back to the club room.

-Tsukuyo has purchased both products. You will receive a payout of 117,300 HP!

No personal message arrived from her, but Shin-hyuk wondered if she had begun to acknowledge him in her own way. She had paid more than twice the starting price posted by him, after all.

-Eunah’s whisper: I was trying to buy something made by Grandpa, but an odd person bid above me and took them both.

-I’ll make more if I get better.

-Eunah’s whisper: Wow! Something made by grandpa just for me? How much can I pay for it? 1 million? 2?

Kang Shin-hyuk, who was in a good mood, responded kindly to the message from Eunah that immediately arrived, but it only succeeded in igniting her will. As a result, the rivalry between Tsukuyo and Eunah flared up, and eventually, it would become a war that would engulf the entire Hero Universe.

Not that Kang Shin-hyuk had any idea of that.

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