Chapter 33

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“Hello! I am Kim Jae-ha of the Taeyul Company!”

Han-bit, waiting at the appointed place, turned his gaze to the loud voice.

A human male was standing at attention and greeting him there.

“Hello. You seem to belong to a company.”

“That’s right! Thanks to you giving me this great opportunity, I’m able to visit you like this!”

– Hmm…

– Belongs to a company?

– Rashten and all, corporations are a problem.

– They haven’t done anything here yet. Lol.

– But haven’t we heard of Taeyul somewhere?

– Small and medium enterprise names are all alike.

– There’s a Taeyul Corporation too. Lol.

Perhaps because he revealed he belonged to a company first, the viewers’ reactions weren’t very good.

It was because the negative memories of Rashten were still fresh.

“Taeyul? I feel like I’ve heard of it somewhere too…”

Yeon-woo, who was working a little further away, mumbled like talking to himself.

He didn’t know how famous of a company it was, but it wasn’t very important right now.

“What do you want to learn? I think it would be better to do practical training rather than theory.”

“Anything is fine with me!”

“Anything?”

At the vague response, Han-bit pondered for a moment.

The things possible in the form of practical training right now were archery and swordsmanship.

Since most were wishing for the path to the hidden skills, swordsmanship would be best, right?

“Then let’s go with swordsmanship. Have you learned magic from Julio?”

“No, I skipped magic!”

“That’s good. Shall we head to a place suitable for practice then?”

“Yes!”

Together with Kim Jae-ha’s confident reply, the three moved along the road.

They quickly arrived at the destination.

“Hyung, isn’t this the general store? You said you were teaching swordsmanship?”

Yeon-woo, seeing the familiar place, stopped his feet and asked.

Because this was Atsbel’s store.

“That’s right.”

Nodding, Han-bit opened the door and went inside.

The owner of the store was in the middle of organizing the merchandise on the display shelf.

“Atsbel.”

“Huh?”

When he called her name, the blonde woman turned her head.

Discovering Han-bit, Atsbel wore a faint smile.

“Black Dragon? What brings you here?”

“Ria hasn’t come here yet, right?”

“Ria, why?”

Atsbel, not yet knowing the situation, asked back as if puzzled.

Han-bit shook his head and pointed outside the window, saying.

“Ria will come by later and tell you. More importantly, can I use the backyard for a bit?”

“The backyard?”

“I need a training ground, but I couldn’t find a proper place. Since it’s swordsmanship, I won’t make a mess.”

“The backyard will be cramped because of the boxes… Use it comfortably if it’s fine. Just be careful with the boxes.”

“Thanks.”

Receiving permission, Han-bit took Kim Jae-ha and went out to the backyard.

Because the place was truly packed with wooden boxes, the space to move freely was small.

“You’ve learned swordsmanship, right? Take out any sword.”

“Yes!”

Kim Jae-ha, filled with fighting spirit, took out a sword from his inventory.

It was an item of better quality than expected.

“What is your level?”

“It is 52!”

“That’s quite high?”

“Oh, not at all. It’s terribly low considering I’ve been playing since opening day, really.”

– He’s a starting player?

– But level 52?

– You’re forcefully playing the game.

– Forceful RP detected.

He waved his hands dismissively and shook his head.

It was definitely a low level to be called an early player.

“Starting now, it will be 1 hour. I’ve written the theory in the strategy post, so let’s run everything practically. Get into your stance.”

“Yes!”

Kim Jae-ha held the sword with both hands and took a stance.

However, something about his sloppy appearance felt even more awkward than other players.

“Is the sword not your main weapon?”

“Well… I use a hammer. I have a bit of a romance…”

He said, scratching his head.

He didn’t know what kind of romance it was, but swordsmanship training didn’t seem like it would be easy.

“It’s better to hold your stance like this.”

Approaching closely, Han-bit directly fixed Kim Jae-ha’s posture.

When that was finished, he widened the distance again.

“The reason I chose a narrow place is to restrict movement. Try moving delicately so as not to touch the surroundings.”

“Understood!”

“Then let’s begin.”

Tap-!

Lightly kicking off his feet, Han-bit approached in an instant.

At the perceived speed that was faster than what was seen on broadcast, Kim Jae-ha’s reaction was slow.

“Ugh!”

An attack rushing right to his eyes before he could properly move.

When he tried to swing the sword a beat late, the tip of Han-bit’s sword was already aimed at his neck.

“If it’s this, you died once. Balder’s stats scale to the player, so he’ll be faster than this. You have to read the movement in advance.”

“… Understood.”

Nodding, Kim Jae-ha grasped the sword again.

He had his own pride in the 2 years he spent immersed in RP.

Because of that, he couldn’t imagine himself being unable to do anything like this.

“Please do it again.”

“Yes. I’ll go with a downward slash to the right.”

Tap-!

Kim Jae-ha’s appearance turned noticeably more serious than before.

Han-bit, slightly controlling his attack speed, sneaked a glance inside the store.

‘She’s here now.’

Ria’s face seen beyond the transparent window.

She had come to tell the story to Atsbel, and was glancing at the training scene.

It wouldn’t feel special to others, but Han-bit anticipated this exact situation and chose the general store’s backyard as the location.

Because the stronger Ria’s interest and curiosity grew, the more completely differently this episode would flow.

“I will try doing it a bit faster.”

“… Yes!”

Han-bit feigned ignorance toward that gaze and continued the training again.

Focusing on the pouring attacks, Kim Jae-ha didn’t notice the secretly observing spectator.

***

“…”

50 minutes later.

Missing the sword from his hands, Kim Jae-ha blankly stared at his own hands.

Out of the hundreds of Black Dragon’s attacks, the number of times he properly blocked was 0.

There’s no other way to express it; it was truly 0 times.

Grind-

The initial goal he came for business had somewhat slipped to the back of his memory at some point.

He stopped checking the chat window a while ago.

Because it was obvious they were using the title of an early player to make fun of him.

“What is the matter?”

“… It is nothing.”

At Black Dragon’s question, Kim Jae-ha shook his head and lowered his posture.

Right before picking up the sword that fell on the floor, words suddenly popped out of his mouth.

“Would it be okay if I try using a hammer?”

“A hammer? Hmm.”

Black Dragon fell deep in thought for a moment.

However, as if it wasn’t a big problem, he nodded his head.

“It’s not a bad idea to experience using a familiar weapon for the remaining time. It’s okay to use it.”

“Thank you.”

Storing his sword in his inventory, Kim Jae-ha took out his main weapon.

A bronze-colored hammer with a long handle.

It was an item he poured his heart and soul into crafting himself.

“Would it be okay if we try Duel Mode?”

“Duel Mode?”

– Oh.

– Hammer Man is pissed. Lol.

– Salaryman’s fury.

– 50 minutes of doing nothing flips your stomach inside out.

– For real, let’s show you what an early player is.

RP basically imposes a penalty on PVP.

There are two ways to avoid that.

One is to allow the opponent’s preemptive strike.

The other was to hold a mutually-agreed PVP using Duel Mode.

“Sounds good. Let’s do a spar for the remaining time.”

“Thank you.”

Ding-

[Kim Jae-ha-nim has requested a Duel.]

[Will you accept? (Yes / No)]

A message arrived immediately.

When he pressed the ‘Yes’ button, the opponent’s nickname turned orange.

Getting into a stance, Han-bit spoke leisurely.

“You can come comfortably.”

“Then… I’ll intrude first!”

Tap-!

Kicking off his feet, Kim Jae-ha leaped upward.

Clenching his teeth, he forcefully swung down the hammer held with both hands.

Kwang-!

The hammer head slammed into the floor with a strong impact.

However, Black Dragon was already not in that spot.

Thud-!

“…!”

A sword thrust out from behind his own head swooped into his vision.

Widening his eyes, Kim Jae-ha swung the hammer again.

Whoosh-!

The trajectory drawing an arc toward the empty air hit nothing.

Somewhere along the line, Black Dragon had reappeared right in front of him.

“When facing a fast enemy with a hammer, it’s better to change how you hold it. If you have a secondary weapon, you can also use the hammer as bait.”

“I will prove myself with my method!”

Tap-!

Kim Jae-ha kicked off again.

A yellow light lingered on the hammer held in his hand.

Woong-!

At the same time a resonant sound was heard, the hammer was swung broadly.

And the moment Han-bit stepped backward.

Bang-!

The fierce attack plummetted down into that spot.

Rumble-!

The ground shook along with immense vibration.

The aftermath spread out strongly to the surroundings.

Craash-!

Kim Jae-ha’s attack destroyed the lined-up boxes and collapsed the space.

It was an active skill he pulled out as his trump card while continuously being pushed back.

Unfortunately, it failed to deal even a speck of damage to Han-bit.

“Hmm.”

Looking around the messy surroundings, Han-bit scratched his head.

And he voiced what he had been thinking all along.

“Perhaps you have low combat experience? Or maybe it doesn’t suit your aptitude…”

“No, anyone would be exactly the same against you!”

Hearing the pitiful voice, Kim Jae-ha raised his voice feeling wronged.

“I wasn’t trying to scold you, I was just saying it out of worry. It’s better to use your time efficiently. What about something other than combat?”

“From the start…”

Gripping his fists tightly, he let out a voice while trembling.

Unable to hear it well, Han-bit took a step closer.

Then, Kim Jae-ha snapped his head up and wailed.

“From the start, I’m a Blacksmith!”

“… Yes?”

– Huh?

– Ah.

– You were a blacksmith?

– You should have said so;

– Bet you suffered a lot. Lol.

At the shocking confession, the viewers were also flustered.

Blacksmith, one of the primary lifestyle classes.

It requires minimal hunting, but combat is completely a non-essential ability for them.

“You should have spoken earlier. I was pushing harder just considering you were an early player.”

“I also thought I would be fine… I was a complete frog in the well.”

The 2 years of playtime he seemingly wasted made him gloomy.

Right when he pondered if consolation was needed, an alarm sound rung in his ears.

Ding-

[Lore Explainer has supported 1,000 won.]

[Information) Taeyul Company was the enterprise that first found the ‘Dwarf’s Metallurgy’ skill route. Of course, they failed miraculously trying to get it.]

– Ah, right.

– That was Taeyul Company?

– I remember now that you say it.

– It’s a hidden skill so it was f*cking regrettable though.

– Yeah, they didn’t even come close right?

“Dwarf’s Metallurgy?”

Han-bit was also well aware of the name of the skill that came out.

He had seen it in the recommended skills, but he couldn’t acquire it right away.

“Ah, I remember too. It was before I started playing the game, but the community was quite noisy.”

Yeon-woo also mumbled, nodding his head.

“If it’s a route, they found the quest?”

“To be exact, it was a related achievement. Using that to find the hidden skill quest is a completely different matter. Even though competitors flocked together left and right, in the end, nobody could find it.”

“Really?”

He roughly understood even without knowing what the achievement was.

Recalling old memories, Han-bit looked at Kim Jae-ha.

“You were from the company looking for Dwarf’s Metallurgy?”

“… Yes, that is correct. Although it is a thing of the past.”

As if it wasn’t something to hide, he nodded his head.

His expression being quite gloomier made Han-bit grow interested.

“If you’re an employee, Kim Jae-ha-ssi must have been looking for it too at the time?”

“Ah, yes. Truthfully, I was the one who discovered it first…”

“First?”

It was a word he could not miss.

Dwarf’s Metallurgy, a highly valuable skill in many ways.

Because the condition of being ‘first’ plays a massive role in acquiring it.

“I’ll send you a friend request, so accept it.”

“Yes?”

“If you’re from a company, you probably came here to form a connection anyway. Or do you need more one-on-one training?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Kim Jae-ha shook his head firmly.

He looked so genuinely honest it drew out a chuckle.

Han-bit sent a friend request using his nickname.

Ding-

The name immediately added to his list.

Kim Jae-ha, seemingly unable to believe the situation, just had a blank expression.

‘Ria is gone.’

Ria’s appearance couldn’t be seen beyond the window.

Instead, the store owner stood there with a coldly smiling face.

“Ah.”

Looking at the ruined backyard, Han-bit sensed a crisis.

And pulling Kim Jae-ha who stood blankly, he returned inside the store.

“Sorry. This person will compensate for everything.”