Go Byeonggap stripped off his blood-and-grime-stained work clothes and pulled on the fresh set he’d brought along. He wiped his neck and face clean with wet wipes, leaving himself looking much tidier. After all, no car owner wants blood soaking into their passenger seat.

On the drive back to Seoul, his mind churned.

‘Definitely more draining than using a gun.’

He wasn’t bone-tired, but fatigue clung to his body. No matter how well-crafted, a blade was ultimately a weapon you paid for with your own flesh.

The wounds carved into him were thicker than before too. Without breathing circulation, he’d have gone through at least half a potion.

Fatigue and injury—on both counts, the sword fell short of the gun. So why stubbornly stick with a blade when a perfectly good firearm sat there unused?

No fool in his right mind would grab a sword instead of a gun that could kill monsters with just a finger’s twitch.

‘But… I have to overcome this too.’

But to break into the upper ranks, he’d eventually have to put down the gun. From modern firearms to bladed weapons. This utterly anachronistic regression had its reasons.

Put simply, guns don’t work in the upper world.

Well, even setting that aside, there was another reason Go Byeonggap had to pick up a sword: money. In the end, every conflict in the world comes down to that.

His monthly ammunition bill alone topped 1.5 million won. To some people that might be pocket change, but for Byeonggap, pinching every penny, it was a fortune.

Lost in thought, he arrived in Seoul. Without stopping by the Association, he headed straight home.

After tidying up his gear, he crossed over into Asvillam.

«My Lord. You have come.»

«Yeah, gob-gob, Gobungi.»

Gobungi greeted him the moment he stepped into Asvillam.

«Right. Anything unusual with the work?»

«No, sir. And the task you assigned… is finished.»

Gobungi pointed to one side. The horned wolf byproducts were stacked there, neatly sorted. Roughly ninety wolves’ worth—quite a haul.

«Oh. You arranged these well.»

Hides, horns, teeth, claws—all classified by type.

«I ordered them to do it… that way!»

«Yeah. You’re a real foreman. Great work.»

«Hehe…»

Gobungi’s grin stretched ear to ear at the praise. Byeonggap approached the stacked byproducts.

‘Hoh? They really did a clean job.’

He’d complimented the goblin just to boost morale, but the workmanship was genuinely good. Byeonggap picked up a horned wolf hide and smiled with satisfaction.

«Alright. Go on back to work.»

«Understood.»

After sending Gobungi off, Go Byeonggap opened the Ancient Shop.

[Crystals Held: 1,765]

The goblins had mined over four hundred crystals during the day. The pace was definitely different from when he’d only had thirty of them.

He flicked his fingers through the interface, searching for the item he wanted. The category he browsed was “Construction.”

‘Found it.’

[Low-Grade Alchemy Workshop]

– Price: 900 Crystals

– Description: An alchemical apparatus for crafting and reinforcing items. Suitable for low-grade alchemy.

Byeonggap paid 900 crystals and bought the Low-Grade Alchemy Workshop. Just like when he’d purchased the Crystal Intake, something intangible floated up in the air.

It looked a bit like a chestnut-roasting machine—a crude, square frame with two cylindrical pillars rising like smokestacks. The pillars were big and wide, meant for feeding materials inside.

Byeonggap installed the Low-Grade Alchemy Workshop in a suitable spot.

[Would you like to install the ‘Low-Grade Alchemy Workshop’ in this location?]

[Installation begins.]

[Estimated time: approximately 5 minutes.]

The Low-Grade Alchemy Workshop flickered from a phantom into solid form. Go Byeonggap waited with a steady heart for it to finish.

Five minutes passed in a blink.

‘Now, what should I make?’

He already knew how to use the workshop—the Ancient Alchemy Manual – Low-Grade lodged in his head had taught him.

Byeonggap decided to start simple, forging a shirt as a test. He tossed a horned wolf hide into the chimney, then planted both hands on the flat panel at the workshop’s front.

‘A T-shirt?’

He quieted his mind, shaping the image in his thoughts. Distractions would spike the failure rate, so he focused as hard as he could.

Byeonggap pictured a plain half-sleeve T-shirt and willed the alchemy to begin.

A soft glow bloomed from the panel under his hands. Gears churned, and the workshop hummed to life—a low, grinding rhythm.

Rumble-rumble-rumble… Psssshhhhh…

The alchemy finished fast. When the light on the panel died, Byeonggap yanked the handle on the workshop’s body.

He swung it open, hope riding high—only to find a neat-looking T-shirt? Hell no. Inside sat some sorry, rag-like piece of junk.

The product.

“What the hell!? Where’s my T-shirt?”

No need to guess. The forge had failed.

He picked up the result. No matter how charitable he tried to be, it was useless beyond being a rag.

“Must be a skill issue.”

Byeonggap rolled up his sleeves. He had plenty of materials anyway. His shift was over, so he decided to camp here and keep at it.

“Let’s see who cracks first: you or me.”

He dove straight into a second attempt.

* * *

By the time the horned wolf hides were running low, Byeonggap couldn’t take it anymore and flopped onto his back. His chest heaved as he gasped for air.

“Hah, hah… This is brutal.”

Alchemy drained stamina—a lot of it. He hadn’t noticed the strain at first, but all at once, his whole body had given out.

Even exhausted, a satisfied smile crept across his face. Still lying down, he held up a T-shirt.

A clean, well-made shirt. The only difference from store-bought ones was that it had no stitching. That made it even sturdier.

‘Maybe I should sell clothes with this thing?’

The thought crossed his mind. It wasn’t that far-fetched either. Right now, there were plenty of flaws, but with better alchemy skills, he could make and sell clothes and gear.

‘One day, I’ll forge Mom a mink coat.’

Byeonggap said a quick prayer that his mother would recover soon and pushed himself upright. Evening had crept in while he wasn’t looking, the world turning dim.

The goblins had finished their work and gathered around, watching him craft.

Go Byeonggap tossed a T-shirt onto the pile of successful creations as he spoke.

«Take these and wear them. There aren’t many, so share them among yourselves.»

«Whoa!»

The goblins scrambled frantically, each trying to claim one for themselves.

A smile spread across Go Byeonggap’s lips. He steadied his mind and body, then decided to attempt one last refinement.

‘I’ve built up enough proficiency now…’

He picked up the longsword he’d brought from home. The blade was badly chipped, barely usable anymore. He’d have to buy a new one or at least get it repaired.

‘Tch! Repair? What a waste of money.’

In truth, a hunter who skimps on equipment is a fool. They’d have no one to blame but themselves if they died in a subjugation.

But swords were outrageously expensive. A decent one cost millions of won, and some fetched prices in the hundreds of millions. Byeonggap couldn’t for the life of him understand why a blade cost more than a gun.

In that sense, alchemy was revolutionary. If what he envisioned came true, he might never need to invest money in gear again.

Go Byeonggap placed the longsword into one chimney of the furnace and a claw wolf’s tail—harvested earlier—into the other. Claw wolf tails were razor-sharp and actually used in weapon crafting.

‘This time it’s not crafting—it’s synthesis.’

He steeled himself and began the refinement. The refinement plate glowed, and the furnace rumbled to life.

Thud-thud-thud-thud… Pssshhhh…

The refinement ended quickly. Calming his trembling heart, he pulled the handle attached to the body.

Inside lay a single longsword, its edge perfectly honed.

Success.

“Ah! Thank God!”

He shouted in triumph and grabbed the result.

“Damn. This is the real deal, isn’t it?”

The junk that had been chipped and worthless was gone. Now only a longsword remained—one that made your blood run cold just looking at it.

It exceeded expectations. Just look at that gleaming edge.

Even he thought it was impressive.

As he admired the longsword’s grace, his gaze drifted to the goblins’ weapons. Crude, primitive tools of the worst kind.

‘I’ll have to make some for the goblins later. No—maybe I should teach them alchemy or other skills instead?’

It seemed like a good idea to teach the goblins various skills in the future.

If he picked a few to learn alchemy, they could even set up a workshop.

And why stop there? Teach them farming and livestock raising, and food supply would be no issue. Select the strong ones as combatants, and subjugations would become easier.

There were endless things he could do with the goblins.

«Giggle-giggle!»

«Gyah-hee!»

‘…’

Of course, it would take time. For now, he needed to increase their numbers first. At least three hundred—then crystal mining would speed up, and he could afford to spare some troops.

«I’m going. Rest.»

«Ah! My Lord! Leaving already?»

«Yeah. I gotta go see my mom.»

«Ahh! Farewell, My Lord!»

«Go on, then.»

The goblins bowed their heads in farewell.

And so another day passed.

* * *

“Strike gold!” shouted Byeonggap.

‘Wait. Is that the right saying?’

Go Byeonggap paused in thought, then shook it off. Who cared if it was gold or a motherlode? The meaning got across—that was what mattered.

«Urgh…?»

The goblins before him stared in bewilderment. Byeonggap slid his longsword into its sheath and grinned.

«What’s with the lukewarm reaction? Never seen a Lord before? Ah. You haven’t, have you? Tch. I’ll let it slide this once.»

«L-Lord?»

Go Byeonggap had just stepped foot into an E-rank rift in Gapyeong. The hidden world was guarded by a goblin cluster.

Since it was an E-rank rift, only normal goblins guarded the entrance. Byeonggap slung an arm around one of them and shouted.

«You lot! Don’t you want to go to Asvillam?»

«A-Asvillam!» exclaimed the goblins.

«We do! We want to go!»

The normal goblins buzzed with excitement. Byeonggap nodded, satisfied.

«Right, right. If you want to go, you go. Take me to your boss!»

As Byeonggap had predicted, the boss monster of the hidden world was a hob goblin.

The creature froze the moment it laid eyes on him.

«Gasp! Y-You’re…!»

«Hey, hey. Don’t panic. Think I’m gonna eat you or something?»

«A-Are you… really the Lord?»

«That’s right. One hundred percent authentic, genuine Lord here.»

After answering, Byeonggap swept his gaze over the assembled goblins and declared.

«I am your Lord! All of you, pledge your loyalty to me! Then I’ll take you to Asvillam!»

His booming voice echoed through the chamber. One second later.

«My Lord!» shouted the goblins in unison.

«My Lord!» echoed more.

«Hic! Hic!»

The goblins pressed their foreheads to the ground. Some even began to weep.

[Normal Goblin (51), Hob Goblin (1) have been annexed to Asvillam.]

‘Good.’

A look of satisfaction crossed Byeonggap’s face.

«Alright, let’s go! To Asvillam, the land of dreams and hope!»

Byeonggap opened the gate to Asvillam. The goblins gawked as if their eyes might pop out.

«Gobungi! Gobungi, get out here!»

Not long after Byeonggap called, Gobungi came running out, panting.

«My Lord! You called for me?»

«Yeah. New recruits are here. Take them and give ’em some training.»

«Understood! Everyone. Follow. Me!»

Gobungi took charge of the goblins with practiced ease.

Byeonggap stepped out of the rift empty-handed—less than fifteen minutes after he’d entered.

‘A little anticlimactic.’

Recruiting more goblins was a good thing, but somehow it felt like a wasted trip.

I’d wanted to test out the new longsword I’d made today, after all.

“It’d be a shame to let this go to waste.”

Go Byeonggap thought that as he picked up his phone. It was still early, so there were bound to be a few unattended rifts.

Logging onto the HunterNet app, Byeonggap tapped the ‘Real-Time Rift Status’ board to check the rift map. But his finger slipped and hit the ‘Subjugation Team Recruitment’ board right next to it instead.

A trivial mistake, barely worth calling an accident. But as Byeonggap peered at his phone, he froze.

One post had snagged his attention.

[A-rank rift near Gapyeong Station. Porter urgently needed! 3 million won per day!]

‘Th-three million won!?’