Overgeared

Chapter 55

I didn't leave the smithy for the entirety of last month. From the moment I connected to Satisfy to the time I logged out, I stayed at the smithy the whole time. In the meantime, I was able to establish some facts that I knew dimly or discovered new facts.

First, making the same items repeatedly wasn't effective in raising the skill experience. Every time I made a different item, the skill experience would rise at a good rate.

Secondly, the better the materials, the higher the possibility that the item would have a higher rating.

For example, when making two iron swords based on the same production method, the iron sword with the poor-quality metal had a close to 100% chance of being a normal rating, whereas the one made with the finest metal had a relatively high probability of receiving a rare rating.

Thirdly, even when I was making items with the same production method and materials, the ones that I spent longer on were the ones that were more likely to have a higher rating.

It was very fortunate that I managed to make a unique dagger in only three hours. I had to invest at least half an hour if I wanted to make an item higher than a rare rating. In other words, the number of items that could be produced in one day was very limited, so increasing my stats wasn't as easy of a feat as I thought it would be.

Fourthly, if I wanted to be a good blacksmith, I had to invest points in stamina, as well as in strength and in dexterity.

The equipment and minerals used in a smithy were mostly heavy, so I needed high strength to work efficiently. When making an item, I needed to have a lot of stamina if I didn't want to become exhausted.

So I really liked my high strength and stamina stat.

“Pant pant…aren't you still young? You can't be exhausted yet."

Unlike Khan who took a break every time an item was completed, I was able to produce items constantly without taking a break when I was connected to Satisfy.

In the past month, I created 73 items, meaning I produced an average of two or more items a day. 11 of the 73 items had a rare rating and 3 of the 73 had an epic rating. As a result, all of my stats increased by 34 points.

I currently had 11 types of stats: strength, stamina, agility, intelligence, dexterity, persistence, composure, indomitable, dignity, insight and courage. If 11 stats increased by 34 points each, this meant it was increased by 374 points, which was equivalent to gaining 37 levels.

But I was dissatisfied. Why? I made 73 items. I invested at least six hours every time I made an item. The materials were also as good as possible within my range.

However, I never made one unique rated item, let alone a legendary one. Wasn't this too much?

‘I only got three epic rated items… Crazy. Is this a legendary blacksmith? Ah, I'm so tired.'

Every time I made an item, I earnestly prayed for a unique rating. However, it was almost always a normal rating. Every time, I felt an incredible sense of disappointment and wanted to curse at the game.

The only comfort was that the level of my production skills increased.

[Legendary Blacksmith's Craftsmanship Skill] 

Lv. 2

Produce equipment items that you know how to make.

You can create the production methods for a new item with the 'Legendary Blacksmith's Creation' skill.

There is a certain probability of producing rare~ epic rated items.

There is a rare probability of creating unique rated items.

There is a very rare probability of creating legendary rated items.

All stats of a production item will increase by 12%.

* When rare rated items are produced, all stats will permanently rise by +2 and reputation throughout the continent will rise by +30.

* When epic rated items are produced, all stats will permanently rise by +4 and reputation throughout the continent will rise by +80.

* When unique rated items are produced, all stats will permanently rise by +12 and reputation throughout the continent will rise by +300.

* When legendary rated items are produced, all stats will permanently rise by +25 and reputation throughout the continent will rise by +1,000.

* Something special will occur with every five legendary items created.

[Legendary Blacksmith's Creation Skill]

You can create three equipment item production methods every time the skill level of the 'Legendary Blacksmith's Craftsmanship Skill' goes up.

Number of items that can be created at present: 5/6.

* When items are produced using this skill, the name of the creator is automatically placed on the item.

[Legendary Blacksmith's Breath] 

Lv. 2

When you are concentrating on making an item, the will of Pagma's Descendant will fill the production item.

All stats of a production item will increase by 7%.

There is a rare chance of giving special features to your production items. 

 In addition to the increase in my skill levels, there was something else that was gratifying. I had created dozens of items in Khan's smithy over the past month. Khan wanted to pass on as much knowledge to me as possible before he retired, so I was given one new production method every day.

This was an enormous harvest. The original method of acquiring production items was to perform specific quests, and the level of difficulty varied. Thus, it was very difficult to find item production methods. I was fortunate enough to acquire many production methods without the need for separate quests, thanks to being Khan's successor.

I pulled out a book from my inventory. The title was 'List of Items Production Methods.' The book described the details of the production methods I learned. The table of contents had expanded. Starting from my own 'Failure' to the Jaffa Arrows I learned in Bairan, to the dozens of works acquired from Khan…

It was exciting.

'When I was in Bairan Village, I had only four production methods, including the axe, pickaxe, Jaffa Arrow and Failure…'

When I looked at the production methods, Euphemina entered my mind.

'Why hasn't that woman come with the method to create the orb?'

Euphemina wanted me to make an orb for her. That's why it was highly likely that she would bring the best production method. Then I would be able to get my hands on a production method for free.

I was happy just imagining it. No, wait…

“If…if there is only one chance… what if Euphemina brings me the production method and materials, only for me to make a normal-rated orb?"

Would she take my life? Maybe Euphemina would keep me locked up somewhere until I managed to complete a unique rated orb.

"If it is her…" I recalled the psychotic smile on Euphemina's face as she burned the lord's bodyguards. "…What will she do to me?"

I no longer waited for Euphemina. Rather, I wished that she would never show up. I shook with terror. Then the door of the smithy opened.

"Hiik! E-Euphemina?!"

There was an old saying that a tiger would come when mentioned. It felt like Euphemina had been waiting for me to mention her. Fortunately, the people who arrived at the smithy wasn't Euphemina. At first glance, they looked like two incredibly high-level male users.

"Is this Khan's smithy?"

“I am Khan… why are you looking for me?"

They started questioning Khan. “You competed in the item production game with a traveller called Erina a month ago right?"

"That's right…"

“Is she really a blacksmith? Did you witness her making the item with your own eyes?"

“The question is strange. Is she a blacksmith? Of course she is a blacksmith. She was hired by the Mero Company to participate in the game and I have directly experienced her great blacksmith skills. No, who on earth are you? Why are you asking such strange questions?"

The men disregarded Khan's question and talked among themselves. Then they asked Khan again.

“Is the Mero Company the only organization involved in the item production game? Is there any chance of other organizations being involved?"

"Cough!"

Displeasure appeared on Khan's face. He had been friendly because they were young boys of a similar age to his son, but they ignored his questions and only cared about themselves. The men didn't care at all about Khan. Rather, they began to talk over Khan.

“Why aren't you answering? If you know anything, shouldn't you tell me? It is better if you don't waste our time."

It was like a threat.

How funny.

This was Khan's smithy. These people were guests. They weren't in the position to question Khan. Then what was with their attitude?

They were talking down to Khan, who was similar to their grandfathers. They were ignoring Khan because he was an NPC. In fact, this wasn't unusual among users. Certainly, NPCs weren't human. They were just part of the system program, artificial intelligences.

But I knew.  Despite being artificially made, Khan had his own memories and feelings. He could feel anger and hopelessness. He could cry when sad and laugh when happy.  He was someone I could count on. And sometimes he missed his dead son.

So I was angry at those who treated Khan casually. "Hey, you over there, what is with your attitude? What right do you have to threaten Khan? Eh?"

They looked me up and down and laughed as they saw my dirty clothes and old blacksmith hammer.

"Who is this? When did he get here?"

What? Why were they speaking impolitely when I wasn't an NPC?

"When did I get here? I am obviously an employee here. Why are you so arrogant when entering someone else's business? Huh? Is this your business?"

“Arrogant? Don't make me laugh. We just want cooperation."

"Is that the attitude of someone seeking cooperation?"

“Hah… should we have visited with orange juice?"

I really hated people like this. Looking at their equipment, they seemed to be rankers close to level 200. However, I couldn't help being honest when seeing their expressions.

His companion started mediation. “You shouldn't get so heated up against a beginner."

"Sigh, okay. I have to calm down. Damn, my nerves are irritated after Faker was attacked. Hey, beginner blacksmith, we are looking for the woman. We are in a hurry to find here so we were inadvertently rude to the NPC. It was a mistake.  I'm sorry. Is it okay now? So please move out of the way."

“You should apologize to Khan, not me."

"……"

They started ignoring me. They asked Khan once again.

"Khan, answer me. Do you know if Erina is associated with any organizations besides the Mero Company?"

Was he worried that I would get hurt? Khan hid me behind his back and replied. 

OG: 

Current schedule: 20 chapters a week.

Chapter 56

“I don't know. I only met here when we competed in the game, so how could I know so much about her?"

“Didn't you team up with your successor and participated in the fight? He also didn't notice anything about Erina?"

"Yes."

These guys couldn't even guess that I was Khan's successor. Maybe it was because I looked like a beginner, as no one would think that the successor of the prestigious blacksmith Khan would be a beginner.

"…Sheesh." Whether it was because they were irritated at not gaining anything, or because he was an NPC, the men left without saying goodbye to Khan.

I pulled out salt from my inventory and sprinkled it in front of the smithy.

"Phew, unlucky bastards. Don't come back again."

Khan scratched his head as he looked at me. “Shouldn't you be sprinkling coarse salt?"

"…Ah, is that so? Hum hum, let's go back to work."

As I turned back to the furnace, Khan opened his mouth and asked, “Are you going to work today without resting?"

“Of course."

“The more I look, the more I feel admiration. You already have excellent skills, but you aren't satisfied and you keep working hard…"

Excellent skills… If my skills were really excellent, I would've created a unique and legendary rated item among the 73 items that I made. But not only did a unique rating not emerge, I only made three epic rated items.

I was still lacking. I needed to raise my skill level further. I would make a lot of money and show my parents.

'I need to be quickly recognized by my parents…'

The fact that I had less time to play the game was a big problem.

Ttang! Ttang!

As I concentrated on making the items, Khan sat at the counter and sold the items I made to the customers. It was a very desirable system; other users would go green in envy if they saw this.

Why? There were three ways that ordinary users could sell items to other users:

Firstly – they could open up a street stall and sell them to users directly. 

Secondly – they could sell items at the auction site.

Thirdly, they could post the items to be sold on a cash transaction site.

In the first case, a lot of time could be wasted waiting for customers to come. In addition, bargaining with the customers was frequent and could be stressful. The second and third options saved time but there were high fees involved.

In other words, it meant that a normal user had to take time and money to sell the items. But I was different. Khan sold the items on my behalf, saving me time. He also didn't charge me a sales commission.

I just needed to make the items, while Khan sold them and gave the proceeds back to me. If I steadily made money by producing more than two items a day, I would surely become rich someday…

“…I'm still waiting! This is rotten. No, shit. Does this make sense? I am a legendary class so why can't I make a legendary item?"

On that day, the S.A. Group Headquater's operations team received an email.

Title: Look and you will see.

Contents: If you look at my information, you can see that I'm a legendary blacksmith. So why can't I make any legendary items? If I am a legendary blacksmith, isn't it normal for me to be able to make a legendary item? No, I didn't do anything else for a month and made 73 items, but there were no legendary items at all. Yes? I didn't create a single unique item and only made three epic items, so isn't this manipulation? Yes? You are probably manipulating this right? Huh? Right? Ah, look. This is really X. Do you want me to snap? Should I go there? Eh? The materials and production method are good, so isn't this manipulation, you  # 

The employee who checked the email thought it was absurd.

“What manipulation… First he should raise the level…"

Level 10 users and level 100 users. Assuming that both of them had the same dexterity stat and skill level, a level 100 user was more likely to produce a higher rated item than the level 10 user.

In other words, the higher the level of the maker, the better the item. This was common sense among users with production classes. However, this wasn't known by the user who obtained a legendary class.

The employees sighed as a group.

“It is painful to see that great class…"

Then someone said. “If the contents of the email aren't false, he really is an unlucky person. With the Legendary Blacksmith's Craftsmanship Skill, he only made 3 epic items out of 73? Unique and legendary items are unlikely because their probabilities are low, but there is a fixed probability of creating an epic item. Looking at this, doesn't he really seem cursed?"

All the employees were sympathetic.

"He really is a person with bad luck…"

“No wonder why he feels doubts about manipulation…"

"If it is really possible to intervene, I would like to increase his chances of making higher rated items."

From that day onwards, Grid became famous for his bad luck among the game operators.

***

 The 73 items I made were weapons and armor with a level 60 limit. The total sales amount was 1,590 gold, with a net profit of 1,079 gold. This was equivalent to exactly 1,294,800 won when converted to cash.

The game, which I played for 5~6 hours a day, earned me around 1.3 million won a month. If I quit going to the labor office, I would be able to make three times as much money. In addition, if I was fortunate enough to make a unique or legendary item, I could earn tens of millions of won.

However, my parents didn't agree, as they knew that the number of people who made money from the game was very low. Furthermore, I had been playing for over a year, and yet I still couldn't escape my debt.

That's right. In society and in my home, I was treated as someone with bad credit. My parents overlapped with the first and second financial institutions that rejected me.

'Should I sell the Ideal Dagger? No, no. It isn't time yet.'

I could sell the Ideal Dagger as a means of proving to my parents that I could make money through Satisfy. But I couldn't sell the Ideal Dagger. The reason for this was the terms of use for the Ideal Dagger.

In order to meet the Ideal Dagger's usage conditions, the passive skill called Advanced Dagger Mastery was needed. But at the moment, the top rankers of each class only had intermediate level skills.

If I put up the Ideal Dagger on the trading site in this situation, only the merchants thinking of future profits would flock to it. Therefore, the merchants were likely to bid at the cheapest price possible and it was likely that the dagger would be sold at an unsatisfactory price. I had to hold onto the Ideal Dagger for the moment.

It was four in the morning. I reached the end of my limit at the thought of going to the labor office.

“Do I have to live like this forever…"

Four in the morning was when most people would still be dreaming. But I had to work until 6 p.m. just for 90,000 won per day, while my body suffered. I could endure it if it was my only way of making money like before, but now it was different!

I was able to make more money from playing the game than doing labor work, so going to the labor office was just a waste of time!

“Shit…I want a unique or legendary item. Or if I make a lot of epic items, it will help persuade my parents that I am making a profit… Urgh, dammit. I feel angry as soon as I open my eyes. It can’t be helped. I should get some cold air. Huh? This…"

As I was exiting my front door to go on a walk around the neighborhood, I saw a flyer sticking out from the newspaper.

[September 10th! The long-awaited opening!

The best capsule room is open!

There are 150 top of the line capsules!

It is fully equipped with cafe facilities.

Delicious food cooked by a 5 star hotel chef.

A feast of beauties and handsome workers! 

* Please don't ask for the employee' telephone numbers.

On September 10th, for just one day! Any customers who sign up will receive a 30% discount on the capsule room fee for a lifetime!]

Heok… a lifetime discount on a capsule room? The capsule room was 6,000 won per hour. If it was a 30% discount…

"This is it!" I got a good idea.

"Okay!"

I headed back to my room. I changed into my work clothes and opened the door.

"Huh? Your work clothes? Are you going to work already? Isn't it only 4.10 a.m?" My puzzled mother asked and I vigorously nodded.

“That’s right! I am going work! Hahahahaha!"

“… Why are you so full of energy in the morning?"

"Puhahaha! Of course! I am young and overflowing with energy. Then Mother, Father! I will go to work early this time! Puhahahahat!"

“Youngwoo, are you sick or something…?"

“Yes… I am worried…"

I left the house while my parents felt worried. Today was September 10th! I looked for the newly opened capsule room. The colorful banners hung outside a building to announce the opening of the capsule room.

"This will be my job starting from today. Puhahahahat!"

Yes, I was going to quit the labor jobs today. Now I would play Satisfy from the moment I got up to when I fell asleep. I would spend the morning and afternoon in the capsule room. Then I would play at home at night.

“Now I can work harder to make items. Puhahahat!"

***

Recently, Khan's smithy was a great source of interest for users.

Among the items sold at Khan's smithy, there were level 60 equipment made by a craftsman with great talent and potential, but lacking in experience and reputation. His equipment had an almost 20% better performance than normal items. Even the normal rated items were comparable to rare rated equipment at the same level. 

The users called this the 'Unknown Craftsman Series' and it was very popular. The performance was good but the price was rather expensive. However, money wasn't a problem. They couldn't live without this equipment.

The users entered Khan's smithy on a daily basis.

"Did the unknown craftsman make any more items?"

"I will buy any items he made! I will pay however much you want, so please sell it to me!"

“Give me his name. I personally want to ask him to make me an item. Yes? Where can I meet him?"

The users wanted to have items made by the unknown craftsman, or they were curious about his identity.

But Khan never replied.

Grid always made a limited number of items due to time restrictions, and he didn't want others to know his identity.

Ttang! Ttang!

The crowd at the counter never imagined that the beginner user hammering at the furnace behind Khan would be the one they were looking for.

OG: 

Current schedule: 20 chapters a week.