Ding-

[DLC – Book of Job Change: Legendary Blacksmith has been used.]

[Job-Change Quest: Stoss’ Teachings has been acquired.]

Ha Gangwoo surveyed his surroundings from his lowered vantage point.

Whoosh-

A blazing-hot forge. Armor of every kind, swords, shields, bows — all of it.

The place he stood now felt like a smithy.

“What the hell?”

His tiny mouth puckered as he forced the words out.

A voice so high-pitched it sounded like he’d breathed in helium rang through the air.

Gangwoo couldn’t make sense of where he’d been dropped.

Hadn’t every single job-change quest up to now been about killing something?

But this place — it had nothing to do with combat.

So Gangwoo pulled up the quest log immediately.

Ding-

[Stoss’ Teachings][Job Change]

Rank: A

Description: You have entered Stoss’ Smithy. Earn Stoss’ recognition and learn his secret arts.

Reward: Class — Legendary Blacksmith

‘Earn his recognition?’

True to its crafting-class nature, the quest seemed to be about making something.

‘So that guy’s Stoss.’

Clang!

Gangwoo turned his gaze toward the source of the sound that had been ringing nonstop since he’d arrived.

A man was hammering something on an anvil with relentless focus.

Clang!!!

“First, let’s check my status.”

Gangwoo started by checking his own condition.

Ding-

[Equipment Window]

Weapon: Barzel’s Appetite+10

Weapon: Samyun’s Wrath

Helm:

Top:

Bottom:

Belt:

Shoes:

Necklace: Asrul’s Lust+10

Ring:

Ring: Lucifel’s Ring+10

Ring: Warp Ring

Bracelet:

Bracelet:

*I moved everything I’d equipped on Ru over here.*

He was confident he could handle most surprises, but one thing still nagged at him.

[Violet]

Grade: F

Type: Ruin Construct

Level: 76

HP: 4250/4250

MP: 91/91

Strength: 10(+443)

Agility: 10(+41)

Vitality: 10(+415)

Mana: 10(+81)

Sense: 10

Luck: 10

Unallocated: 525

The issue was stat distribution.

Gear carried his Strength and Vitality high enough, but he hadn’t allocated his Status points yet.

If a fight with an NPC ever came up, allocating stats would be absolutely necessary.

‘What should I do.’

Ha Gangwoo stroked his chin in thought, then reached a decision.

‘I’ll do it later.’

Judging by the Quest’s content and the surrounding atmosphere, a confrontation with Stoss didn’t seem likely.

In that case, it was best to invest his stats toward a crafting-focused build.

‘Let’s go.’

Having made his call, Gangwoo shuffled forward in Violet’s shrunken body, crawling step by step.

*Clang!*

As he approached the source of the sound, a man’s back came into view.

‘He’s short.’

Stoss’s appearance was not what he’d expected.

He stood about as tall as a middle schooler, with mottled, muscular forearms. He bore all the traits of a Dwarf.

Gangwoo slowly walked toward Stoss, who was hammering away with fierce focus.

Then — *Clang!* — Stoss, mid-swing, suddenly stopped and glared at Gangwoo.

“Who the hell’s disturbing my work!!!!”

He roared like a savage beast.

‘Was I supposed to prove myself?’

Gangwoo didn’t even blink at Stoss’s outburst.

Right now, the only thing that mattered was progressing his Job Change Quest.

“I want to learn your craft.”

“Hah… I don’t take apprentices. Get lost. Disturb me again, and you’ll be putting your life on the line.”

But the answer he got was absurd.

Stoss casually dismissed Gangwoo’s request, picked up his hammer, and — *Clang!* — started pounding the anvil again.

“What the hell…”

Gangwoo was baffled.

He’d fully expected a new mission to pop up the moment he asked.

That’s how most Quests had worked so far. But this time, it didn’t.

‘What am I supposed to do?’

Gangwoo looked around, searching for a hint.

An old wooden cabinet. A hearth roaring with flames. *Clang!* Stoss hammering away. No obvious clue anywhere.

And that’s when it clicked.

‘He wants me to learn by watching.’

If Gangwoo were a Player aiming to become a Blacksmith, this NPC before him would be the perfect teacher.

Just observing him at work was enough to gain knowledge.

So Gangwoo sharpened his senses to the max and watched Stoss’s every move.

*Clang!*

Stoss struck the red-hot iron.

*Clang!*

Into the intense fire, out, hammering — a continuous, rhythmic sequence.

*Clang!*

Before long, the lump of metal had taken a convincing shape.

Stoss’s hammering continued, and once the long blade had taken on an elegant form, he thrust the sword back into the flames.

He then plunged the glowing-hot blade straight into a liquid.

‘What’s he doing…’

Gangwoo couldn’t understand Stoss’s actions, but he etched every step into his mind.

He etched every detail into his memory—Stoss’s movements, his breathing, the force behind each hammer strike.

How many hours had passed like that?

“Hoooh…”

Stoss wiped the sweat from his brow as if signaling he was done, then picked up the sword.

The blade gleamed. The hilt was elegant. Just one look told you it was a fine sword.

Just as a satisfied smile tugged at Stoss’s lips—

Ding-

[Stoss’s 10,201st masterpiece has been born.]

A system window flickered into view before Stoss, and then an intense light suffused the sword in his hand.

“Hmm…”

But Stoss’s expression soured.

Whether the finished weapon didn’t meet his standards, he let out a deep sigh and—*Clang!*—tossed the sword into a corner.

Then, as if already set on forging the next one, he fidgeted with the ores laid out in the workshop, plucking at them idly.

Having watched Stoss’s entire forging process, Ha Gangwoo sank into thought.

‘What am I supposed to do here?’

The quest demanded he earn Stoss’s recognition.

Did that mean he had to craft something even better than the sword just discarded? Or was he supposed to just keep watching Stoss work like this?

Questions and doubts piled up—until, in that moment—

‘Let’s make one.’

Ha Gangwoo made up his mind.

Hadn’t he already etched Stoss’s entire process into his head? That made him curious.

If he simply followed Stoss’s method step by step—would an actual item come to life?

Ha Gangwoo glanced around immediately.

In a corner of Stoss’s workshop, there was an empty space, as if left deliberately for him to use.

A forge, an anvil, and a hammer sat in that spot.

This was to be the stage for this Hidden Quest.

Ha Gangwoo walked over to the spot. As he arrived, a system window appeared before his eyes.

Ding-

[Acquired: Lowest-Grade Blacksmith.]

[Lowest-Grade Blacksmith]

Grade: F

Type: Passive

MP Cost: 10~ (Increases based on the grade of the completed item.)

Effect

-Imbues crafted objects with an item’s light.

Ha Gangwoo read the skill’s effect, then curled the corner of his mouth.

“Interesting.”

*Thump-thump—*

A strange anticipation surged within him.

*Creak-*

Ha Gangwoo gripped the hammer resting on the worn anvil tightly, then immediately searched his memory.

‘Let’s start with the material.’

He mimicked Stoss’s very first move.

The first thing Stoss did when forging a weapon was choose the metal.

The material for the blade.

Ha Gangwoo strode toward the metals in Stoss’s workshop.

[Copper], [Iron], [Zinc], [Bronze]…

A staggering amount of metal lay before him.

Ha Gangwoo shot a glance at Stoss.

“Damn it…”

Stoss was busy melting down metal, utterly indifferent to Ha Gangwoo’s presence.

‘He won’t mind if I use some, right.’

Ha Gangwoo picked one of the metals and carried it back to his workstation.

[Iron]

Grade: F

Description: A metal with a silvery sheen. Tough but easy to work with—a good metal for a beginner Blacksmith.

The metal he’d picked was Iron.

Could he really forge a real item from this?

Ha Gangwoo clenched the freezing metal in his hand, hardening his expression.

‘Let’s do it.’

Whoosh-

Starting with feeding the iron into the forge, Gangwoo began to imitate Stoss. Clang!!!

***

How many hours had slipped by?

Ding-

[Violet’s 1st work has been born.]

At the same moment as the cheerful notification,

light shimmered over the dagger held in Ha Gangwoo’s small hands.

Ding-

[Flimsy Iron Dagger]

Grade: F

Craftsman: Violet

Durability: 6/6

Attack: 6

Vitality: +3

Description: An iron dagger. The Blacksmith’s lack of skill makes its attack and durability low.

“This is tough.”

Ha Gangwoo scowled, scratching his cheek.

It had looked so easy watching Stoss work.

Clang!

One swing of Stoss’s hammer had shaped the blade elegantly, and when he honed the edge—Shiiing—it sharpened to a razor’s bite, surpassing every other sword.

But now that he was actually doing it himself, he understood.

That effortless swing of Stoss’s hammer? It carried an ocean of effort and years of dedication.

“Interesting.”

Still, a smile spread across Ha Gangwoo’s lips. He was starting to enjoy item crafting.

The process of a mere scrap of iron taking shape, transforming into a proper weapon—

Wasn’t that creation from nothing, plain and simple?

“Let’s do one more.”

Gangwoo set the first dagger he’d made in a corner of the workshop—

Whoosh—Clang!!! He kept swinging the hammer.

***

Ding-

[Violet’s 5th work has been born.]

[Sturdy Iron Dagger]

Grade: F

Craftsman: Violet

Durability: 11/11

Attack: 11

Vitality: +5

Description: An iron dagger. The craftsmanship of a decently skilled Blacksmith stands out.

Ha Gangwoo looked at the dagger in his hand and the corners of his mouth lifted.

Honestly, comparing the first dagger to this one, the item stats weren’t that different.

Attack and Durability had only gone up by a miserable 5, and it was still just a plain item with no special effects.

But Ha Gangwoo was deeply satisfied with this one.

Leaving aside the compliment in the description, even the finished product looked different from the outside.

The first dagger he’d made had a crooked blade, and the quenching had been so poor there were cracks along the edge.

Not the fifth one he’d just finished, though.

Even at a glance, the blade and handle were clean and neat.

It looked convincing enough to set out in a marketplace stall without shame.

To have improved this much in just five attempts.

‘Could I even make an S-grade item?’

Interest kindling in the Blacksmith class, Ha Gangwoo shifted his gaze.

Clang! Clang!!!

Stoss was still hammering away.

“Amazing.”

Ha Gangwoo narrowed his eyes at Stoss.

Because now he could feel it clearly.

Each swing of Stoss’s hammer.

It wasn’t just to shape the metal.

With each single strike, the blade’s shape, its hardness, even the mana that would infuse into it.

He realized it all took effect from that one blow.

And so the way he looked at Stoss had already shifted.

‘I want to learn this.’

Greed took root.

He wanted to make that immense skill his own. And to do that, he needed a result worthy of Stoss’s recognition.

“Let me make one more.”

Ha Gangwoo burned with renewed fervor and swung his hammer with full passion. Kaang!

***

In the tidy room.

“Wow~! This is amazing.”

Mimic fiddled with the smartphone in her small hands.

She had even finished her shower by herself, and the room was filled with the scent of flowers.

And so, unaware of how many hours had passed, Mimic was lost in the smartphone’s world.

Growl-

But not even that focus could overcome hunger.

“I’m hungry…”

Mimic clutched her now-flat stomach and shuffled her feet.

“Master!!!”

She raised her small hand and called out to Ha Gangwoo, but no answer came.

A training hall, all white. Ha Gangwoo lay there, dead to the world.

“Master!”

Mimic shook him with her small hands, working hard.

“…”

But all that returned was silence.

“Hmm…”

Mimic touched her lips, thinking for a moment, then made a decision.

“Let’s go eat alone!”

Her strong sense of independence left no hesitation.

And so, leaving Ha Gangwoo lying on the cold floor behind her.

Squelch— Squelch—

She swung open the My Room door that led outside.

***

Ding—

[Violet’s 11th creation has been born.]

In that moment when Ha Gangwoo’s final hammer strike ended, light coiled around the item as always.

Ding—

[Lowest-Grade Blacksmith has been changed to Low-Grade Blacksmith.]

[Low-Grade Blacksmith]

Grade: E

Type: Passive

MP Cost: 15~ (Increases according to the grade of the completed item.)

Effect

-Imbues crafted items with the light of an Item.

The newly acquired skill had evolved.

[Mana-Imbued Iron Dagger]

Grade: F

Crafter: Violet

Durability: 11/11

Attack Power: 11

Vitality: +7

Description: A dagger made using iron. The skill of a capable blacksmith stands out.

Effect

-Strength +10

Ha Gangwoo looked at the item in his hand and couldn’t contain his excitement.

Thump— Thump—

‘An Artifact.’

He had heard that even the blacksmith at the smithy found it difficult to enchant a weapon with effects.

And yet—only eleven forgings to reach that level.

What would happen if he mastered Stoss’ Secret Art?

‘This ought to do it.’

Ha Gangwoo lifted the dagger that had become an Artifact and made his judgment.

An item like this—even Stoss would have to acknowledge it.

So Gangwoo took the dagger and walked toward Stoss.

Stoss, who had been resting, fixed his gaze on Gangwoo—then scowled.

“What, you want to die? I told you not to disturb me!”

He barked the words, but all along he’d been watching Gangwoo.

At first, there was no greener novice than this one.

Clumsy and crude, like he’d never held a hammer before.

But as time passed and forging continued, Stoss couldn’t help being astonished.

*…He’s copying me.*

He realized the boy before him was swinging his hammer more and more like Stoss himself.

Eleven items forged in total.

*What would happen if I actually taught him properly?*

Stoss grew intrigued by Gangwoo’s staggering talent.

But talent alone wasn’t enough.

From the way he selected materials to the composition of a weapon’s design—everything was lacking, and sorely so.

And so Stoss took the dagger Gangwoo offered, held it in his hand, and slowly began to speak.

“Not bad. You’ve got potential. Want to become my apprentice?”

“Yes.”

For the first time, Stoss showed Gangwoo favor.

“Alright. I’ll give you a trial. Pass it, and I’ll take you on.”

The moment Stoss finished speaking—

Ding-

[Stoss’ First Trial has arrived.]

A system window announcing the first challenge of the job-change quest lit up across his vision.