Su-ho also furrowed his brow when he saw the notification.
“They furrowed their brows?”
Why?
The reason beca clear imdiately.
Su-ho recalled the system ssages that had appeared when the second trial began.
[ The Naless Blacksmiths doubt whether you are suited for the forge. ]
[ Endure in the blazing furnace for as long as possible to prove your worth in the forge. ]
As he reviewed the notifications, Su-ho understood why.
‘So it’s because I didn’t follow the proper thod.’
But so what?
What were they going to do about it?
There’s a reason the word “adaptability” exists.
Of course, he wasn’t trying to provoke the Naless Blacksmiths.
No need to.
Su-ho had his own assurance.
He recalled the quest he received upon entering this place.
[ The Naless Blacksmiths' Turf War ]
Grade: S
The Naless Blacksmiths do not welco your presence in their forge.
However, due to an absolute pact, they cannot completely ignore you.
If you want to claim what you desire from this place, pass the trials and be rewarded accordingly.
Especially that second line.
“Due to an absolute pact, they cannot completely ignore .”
The “absolute pact” referred to the command the system had issued to them.
So whether they liked it or not, as long as he played within the rules laid out by the system, he would be acknowledged, regardless of how he got there.
It was true.
[ The Naless Blacksmiths reluctantly nod. ]
Seeing the notification, Su-ho clenched his fist.
At the sa ti, the fourth hourglass began to turn.
‘Now I’ve passed the halfway point.’
Only two hourglasses left.
With three out of five down, whatever reward ca next would already be better than average.
But that didn’t an he was satisfied.
Just like how you don’t get full with a single spoonful of rice, putting down your spoon mid-al doesn’t an you’re satisfied either.
Then—
Thud!
“Neighhhhhh!”
The Fla Horse stomped the ground and cried out again.
Its once-yellow mane turned white, and its skin bleached to a snow-white coat.
A white horse now stood in its place.
The surrounding flas also turned white.
Naturally, the temperature spiked even more.
“Whew... It’s still bearable, at least.”
The worst situation was when the Magmanums were right up in his face.
But now that he’d severed the bridges, that shouldn’t happen again.
Or so he thought.
Until the Fla Horse pulled another trick.
Thud!
“Neighhhhhh!”
Another stomp.
And then—
Ruuummmmble!!
Iron beams began shooting out from the walls, like chains erupting from underground.
‘No way...’
And yes—it was exactly that.
The iron beams slamd into place, forming new tracks across the test area.
Su-ho frowned and raised his Blood Sword.
[ Steel Cutter activated. ]
But—
Clang!!
The blade bounced off.
Su-ho’s brow twitched.
Of course.
The Naless Blacksmiths weren’t going to make things easy.
Especially not for soone whose success they resented.
‘Even with Blessing active, if I still can’t cut it... that ans it’s off the table.’
Still, giving up didn’t an his frown went away.
New tracks ant the Magmanums could start climbing again.
Sure enough—
Bubble bubble!
Just # Nоvеlight # like speaking of the devil, white-evolved Magmanums began climbing onto the newly laid tracks.
‘Unbelievable.’
They weren’t even fully up yet, but the air had already grown suffocating.
Even with Fla Body granting 50% resistance, the increase in heat was reaching its limit.
‘Is this really the end?’
The white Magmanums gathered along the new tracks.
“Hrrrnnn...”
“Hrrrnnn...”
They were called Wailing Magmanums, but to Su-ho, their groans sounded more like mocking laughter.
There was still a long way to go before the fourth hourglass emptied, but Su-ho’s own life clock felt like it was about to run out.
‘There has to be... so way...!’
Frustration gnawed at him.
To get the best results, he had to clear at least four of the five hourglasses.
And he was already at his limit?
Then a mory from an earlier part of the trial resurfaced.
‘Wait...?’
Yes.
That.
Why hadn’t he thought of it before?
He imdiately activated the skill that ca to mind.
[ Eye of the Blacksmith activated. ]
With the skill, Su-ho’s eyes shifted to a blacksmith’s perspective, and the familiar lattice patterns from the scrap heap returned to view.
And when he saw it, he smiled without aning to.
‘Right. The answer is always closer than you think.’
The reason for his smile?
The newly placed iron tracks—those he couldn’t cut with his sword—were now showing clear weak points.
Unlike in the scrap heap trial, though, there weren’t many.
Just one.
Each track had only a single visible weak spot.
‘But hey, one is more than none.’
He gripped his weapon again.
Then glanced at it and thought—
‘But will this even work?’
Back at the scrap heap, he had used a hamr.
It was a requirent of the system—that only a hamr could be used.
But the weak spots he saw with the Blacksmith’s Eye were highlighted as squares.
Would hitting them with a blade work?
He couldn’t be sure.
So he changed tactics.
He reshaped his weapon into a hamr similar to the Unleashed Hamr.
[ Blood Weapon activated. ]
A crimson hamr materialized in his hand.
He decided to call it Blood Hamr.
Its design was based on the Unleashed Hamr.
The reason for using Blood Weapon over the Unleashed Hamr was simple—destructive power.
The Unleashed Hamr’s durability and damage hadn’t been fully tested yet, whereas the Blood Hamr was made from his own mana and would likely hit harder.
Fully prepared, Su-ho charged at the first iron track.
“Hrrrnnn...”
“Hrrrnnn...”
The Magmanums began to move with him.
But they still maintained that ideal distance—close enough to raise the temperature, not close enough to attack.
Su-ho reached the weak point and imdiately began striking.
Clang clang clang! Clang clang clang!
Urgency pushed his pace.
But no matter how hard he struck, there was no reaction.
“Hrrrnnn...”
“Hrrrnnn...”
Dripping sweat, hamr in hand, he kept pounding the weak spot while the Magmanums closed in, moaning louder.
It sounded like they were mocking him.
He endured.
He kept hamring.
Clang clang clang! Clang clang clang!
But nothing changed.
Unlike in the scrap heap, no signs of cracking or system notifications appeared.
“Argh!”
In frustration, he hurled the Blood Hamr away.
‘What’s wrong this ti?’
Was he lacking strength?
But he had Blessing active right now.
No way.
The issue had to be sothing else.
With his current stats and Blessing, he basically had the highest strength level on Earth.
So the problem couldn’t be strength.
The system never gives impossible trials.
‘And the entry requirent here was two orange stats minimum.’
But his strength was in the yellow tier.
Su-ho thought for a mont, then raised an eyebrow.
‘Wait a second...’
A possibility crossed his mind.
He pulled out another hamr from his inventory—not the Blood Hamr, but the Unleashed Hamr of the Great Blacksmith.
Thinking this might be his last shot, he struck the weak point with it.
Clang clang clang!
Three strikes.
And then—
[ Square Collection activated. ]
Clack!
Su-ho’s eyes widened.
The weak point broke off after just three hits, like magic.
At the sa ti, a system notification popped up.
It was confirmation that Square Collection had activated.
The very first ability unlocked from the Unleashed Hamr’s first seal.
Su-ho picked up the perfectly cut cube that had fallen off.
It had the color of reinforced steel and its surface was polished like a mirror, just like the ones he had seen during the scrap heap trial.
He checked the item info.
[ Reinforced Steel Fragnt of the Wailing Furnace ]
Grade: B
A steel fragnt collected from the reinforced structure of the Wailing Furnace.
Specially treated to withstand extre heat.
When used, grants “Fla Resistance 1%.”
‘...!’
Su-ho’s eyes widened even more.
Because of that option.
‘So this was the strategy...!’
Exactly.
One truth always held—gates were never impossible.
The system always provided a way to conquer them.
Finding that thod was up to the player.
And Su-ho had finally found the clue.
But there was sothing strange in the description.
‘It’s clearly a material item... But most material items don’t have such detailed option descriptions.’
He’d picked up countless materials before.
Dragon fangs, lion claws, pelts...
None of them had their effects spelled out so precisely.
But this one did.
Was it just coincidence?
No.
He had seen plenty of material items in his ti—none of them had descriptions like this.
So maybe it wasn’t a material item?
But then why include the phrase “when used”?
That’s when Su-ho rembered the Unleashed Hamr’s second ability.
With the first seal released, the “Square Collection” ability for extracting uniform parts from targets and the “Socket” function for embedding collected fragnts are activated.
The “Socket.”
Su-ho brought the steel fragnt to the hamr.
It trembled for a mont—and then a system prompt appeared.
[ Would you like to socket the “Reinforced Steel Fragnt of the Wailing Furnace” into Slot 1? ]
There was only one answer.
Of course.
The mont Su-ho accepted, the fragnt was sucked into the hamr like it was swallowed by a black hole.
[ “Reinforced Steel Fragnt of the Wailing Furnace” has been socketed into Slot 1. ]
[ Fla Resistance increased by 1%. ]
His fla resistance had gone up.
Only by 1%, but that brought his total to 51%.
‘There’s not a huge difference between 50% and 51%, but...’
What this discovery implied was enormous.
Because Su-ho knew of a way to raise that 1% even further.
He looked at the track from which he’d extracted the fragnt.
Thanks to the Eye of the Blacksmith, new weak points had appeared nearby.
A chain reaction.
Su-ho began hamring again.
Clang clang clang! Clack!
Clang clang clang! Clack!
[ Square Collection activated. ]
[ Square Collection activated. ]
The process went smoothly.
Just three hits per spot, and he had two more steel fragnts.
They had the sa effect— 1% fla resistance.
Without hesitation, Su-ho used his next skill.
[ Basic Synthesis activated. ]
A synthesis pot appeared in front of him.
Seeing it, Su-ho couldn’t help but smile.
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