The Return of the Legendary All-Master

———

Chapter 40

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to forge a great weapon myself.”

Vulcan looked at the Red Dragon Bone Bow with a proud face.

“Master’s words are true. He cared for the bow so much while refining it…”

His disciple Sen added.

“Treating weapons with care is the basics of a blacksmith. It seems that you still lack training, so clean the blacksmith shop for a week.”

“Huh…! Didn’t you say that I can go into the blacksmith shop and learn the skills now?!”

“Forget it, sweep the floor over there.”

“Master!”

Sen tried to protest with an unfair face, but he wisely started cleaning up at Vulcan’s terrifying face.

And Jeong-Hoon saw it.

Vulcan’s ears were slightly red.

Well, it must be the first time he’s ever touched a Unique-grade weapon with a dragon’s soul in it at the Idenharc blacksmith shop.

“Then I’ll be on my way.”

Jeong-Hoon took out 5 gold and put it on the table.

Vulcan’s eyes widened when he saw the gold coins.

“Hmm? Why this gold?”

“It’s a reward for successfully refining it.”

“That’s not it! The benefactor has retrieved the stolen equipment and armor from our blacksmith shop. I’m sorry that I can’t do more than this…”

Jeong-Hoon shook his head.

“That’s been settled by taking on the refining, and this is an additional tip because I’m very satisfied with the results.”

“Tip…?”

“Just think of it as a bonus.”

“Well, then I can’t just let it go. Please wait a moment.”

Vulcan went somewhere and then came out with a hood.

“What is this?”

Jeong-Hoon’s eyes widened slightly when he saw the hood.

===

[Artisan’s Hood]

-Type: Armor

-Grade: Epic

-Defense: 66

-Evasion Rate: 3.25 ~ 3.75%

-Physical Damage Reduction: 2%

-Magic Damage Reduction: 2%

-Remaining Durability: 100%

-Special Ability (1): When wearing a hood, skill damage reduction increases by 0.5%

-Special Ability (2): When wearing a hood, critical hit damage reduction increases by 0.5%

===

He never thought He’d get an Epic armor here.

“It’s the work of my life.”

“Why are you giving me such a masterpiece?”

“I think I have a pretty good intuition, even if I look like this. I’m giving it to you because I think you deserve to be the owner of my masterpiece, so please accept it.”

Vulcan’s eyes were full of goodwill as he looked at Jeong-Hoon.

When he was young, he started working in a blacksmith shop to care for his sick single mother.

Fortunately, he was talented and started hammering in less than a year.

After working for 20 years, the masterpiece he had created was the hood he handed to Jeong-Hoon.

Jeong-Hoon in front of him was a benefactor who helped resolve the crisis of the blacksmith shop.

He also entrusted him with a precious weapon that he would never be able to touch in his lifetime.

So he chose Jeong-Hoon as the owner of this masterpiece.

“…Then I will gratefully accept it.”

Jeong-Hoon, who was thinking for a while, finally received the hood.

***

It’s not over yet.

Jeong-Hoon entered the field and arrived at a bush where no signs of people could be felt.

The last finale to decorate the end of a long journey.

“Let’s start.”

A task that even Lee Hwa-Rang could not do.

In fact, it was something he didn’t even try because there was no need to go that far.

He could reach the Legendary grade just by evolving it through repeated refining with the Red Dragon Set effect.

But Jeong-Hoon had no intention of doing that.

The reason he went through one refinement was to use this soul stone fragment.

‘To go beyond Legendary in the future.’

Jeong-Hoon also found out later, but the soul in this Red Dragon Bone Bow was not that of an ordinary dragon.

It was of the Ancient Dragon Anima.

It was a weapon where Anima’s soul reigned supreme among dragons.

Lee Hwa-Rang belatedly tried to use the soul stone, but the soul had been partially awakened by repeated refining and strengthening.

But now, after returning, it’s not too late.

‘I hope it succeeds.’

Originally, he would have to leave it to a synthesizer to proceed, but since there was no synthesizer in Idenharc, he had to try it himself.

It was Jeong-Hoon’s first time actually trying it.

So he was a little nervous.

He slowly manipulates his mana and awakens the soul sleeping in the soul stone fragment.

The fragment was enveloped in white light as the soul awoke.

‘Put it in the core of the bow like this.’

It’s a bit of a primitive method, but there’s no other way.

When Jeong-Hoon induced it with the weapon, a white light group floated up and slowly seeped into the red core located in the center of the Red Dragon Bone Bow.

Then the nucleus turned red and began to vibrate slightly.

[The soul sleeping in the Red Dragon Bone Bow begins to rampage.]

‘Don’t eat it too fast, eat it slowly.’

Even though it was restored, it was a weapon made by forcibly giving a soul that was on the verge of extinction from the production stage.

It takes time and effort to perfectly revive such a soul.

Of course, it does not fail.

It’s because he’s combining it according to the recipe.

[The soul of the Red Dragon Bone Bow is gradually becoming stronger.]

[The soul sealed in the Red Dragon Bone Bow is completely awakened.]

As expected, the energy of the nucleus was gradually becoming stronger.

At the same time, the color of the bow began to turn black.

In the first place, the ancient dragon Anima was no ordinary red dragon, but a hybrid mixed with the blood of a black dragon.

Anima was known to have dealt with black flames.

He is now regaining his original power.

Soon, the Red Dragon Bone Bow was completely dyed black.

[‘Red Dragon Bone Bow’ is renamed to ‘Dragon Anima Bone Bow’.]

[The grade of ‘Dragon Anima Bone Bow’ increases from Unique -> Legendary.]

[Achievement achieved! Completed ‘Legendary Item First Acquisition’! 30,000 achievement points will be awarded.]

“Succeeded.”

It rose to Legendary in an instant without having to repeat refining and strengthening countless times.

Then the Dragon Anima Bone Bow, which he was holding in his hand until a while ago, turned into a black ball.

Jeong-Hoon fiddled with the palm-sized bead.

Then the shape of the bead changed and took the form of a lizard.

It even had eyes, a nose, and a mouth, and Jeong-Hoon met its eyes.

“Did you wake me up?”

It even talks.

It was naturally a cool voice.

“I guess so?”

===

[Dragon Anima Bone Bow]

-Type: Bow

-Grade: Legendary

-Attack Power: ? (Adjusted according to the wearer’s level)

-Critical Hit Rate: 5 ~ 10%

-Damage reduction according to level difference is reduced. (Legendary only)

-Remaining Durability: 100%

-Special Ability (1): Infinite magic arrows are created.

-Special Ability (2): When an arrow hits, a random debuff is applied with a low probability

-Special Ability (3): The power of the ancient dragon is applied. (Skill registration possible)

-Special Ability (4): Unlocked at level 120.

===

The stats are awesome.

And, like Legendary, a slot for registering skills has been created.

This skill is to bring one of the abilities that Anima dealt with during his lifetime and register it.

This is a very fraudulent ability.

“Thank you. Even though I became a weapon instead of a dragon, I will do my best to help you.”

“I look forward to working with you.”

Since the soul was awakened, a complete ego was enshrined in the weapon.

Anima, who had the shape of a lizard, returned to the shape of a bead and then took the shape of a bow.

‘Good. I got a bow with this.’

The bow that was Idenharc’s first goal.

It was the moment when he achieved his first goal.

* * *

Earth Korea Management Team.

Team leader Oh Jin-Soo stared at the monitor with his mouth wide open.

Same for the staff behind him.

“He actually restored it…”

No.

Can you simply call that restoration?

Oh Jin-Soo, who had been in Earth the longest among them, recognized it at a glance.

“The rank has increased… That’s impossible without inserting a Soul Stone.”

Soul Stones are incredibly rare items, one of the many in New World whose details remain shrouded in mystery.

It’s understood that if a weapon of Unique grade or higher is successfully imbued with a soul, undergoing Ego Awakening, its rank increases by one level.

And the weapon held by the user on the monitor, having successfully undergone Ego Awakening, has ascended to Legendary grade.

“Insane… That’s absolutely insane…”

Doubt transformed into certainty.

This wasn’t merely coincidence.

This user knew all of New World’s secrets.

Such an achievement couldn’t be explained otherwise.

“But how…?”

Upon joining Earth or Genesis, one couldn’t even touch New World.

Access was blocked from within the company.

Even a trace of having played New World meant automatic disqualification.

Everyone here had chosen employment with that restriction.

Naturally, a non-disclosure agreement prohibited the sharing of information, both publicly and privately.

Any breach would cause corresponding consequences.

Having witnessed seniors being crushed for violating the clause, he couldn’t dare to even consider it.

Therefore, this user was definitely not someone related to Earth or Genesis.

“This is a real jackpot, isn’t it?”

Just who was this user?

Honestly, curiosity arose, but more than that, his heart raced with a dopamine rush.

Since joining Earth Korea, this was the first time he’d seen such an interesting playstyle.

They had barely passed the starting village and reached Idenharc.

He was dying to see what other extraordinary feats this user would perform.

“Team Leader…”

His direct junior, Lee Ki-chul, approached and whispered.

“What is it?”

Oh Jin-soo, snapping out of his thoughts, tilted his head.

What was the issue that warranted a whisper?

“About our bet… We lost.”

“Ah.”

Right, they had made a bet.

The loser would buy coffee for a month.

The winning side consisted of four newcomers, while the rest, including Oh Jin-soo, were nine employees.

“What should we do?”

“What else can we do… I’ll buy it.”

He was the one who proposed the bet, and he was content with witnessing this rare spectacle.

Though his life motto was not to waste money unnecessarily, this time he was willing to splurge.

“Really?!”

All the employees, including Lee Ki-chul, were surprised.

This penny-pincher was going to buy coffee for a month?

“A man shouldn’t go back on his word.”

It was decided that Oh Jin-soo would buy coffee with his own money.

For an entire month.

* * *

Having successfully completed his first objective, Jeong-Hoon exited the capsule.

He needed a brief rest before proceeding with his next planned task.

“You here?”

“Yeah.”

Jeong-Hoon had planned to lounge around at home, but a call from Ha-jin led them to meet at a nearby snack bar.

“Dude! Thank you so much! The price of one-handed swords has gone up to 300 gold!”

Ha-jin’s grin stretched from ear to ear.

The price of one-handed swords, which had been around 50-55 gold, had jumped nearly sixfold in less than a week.

In New World, one gold was equivalent to 10,000 won in real currency.

In other words, an item worth 500,000-550,000 won had risen to 3,000,000 won.

“Really? Then sell them now.”

Jeong-Hoon offered advice while popping a piece of tteokbokki into his mouth.

“Huh? Didn’t you say they’d go over 1,500 gold?”

“They might later, but I personally disassembled one and it seems like the bubble will burst soon.”

As users attempted high-grade disassembly, one-handed swords would literally plummet in value.

Revealed as damaged fragments, their price would drop to 40-45 gold.

Having risen to 300 gold only to fall, the impact would be significant.

And that price would persist until a method to restore Soul Stone fragments became widespread.

“Hmm… Then should I sell?”

“Yes. Sell them now.”

Jeong-Hoon didn’t need Soul Stones for the time being.

Not only were they unattainable at his current level, but he had already used the Dragon’s Soul.

“Man, I think you’d make a killing if you did some hoarding.”

Hoarding.

Buying up goods in large quantities in anticipation of a price increase.

Then, when the price rises, selling them for a profit.

“No thanks. I don’t want to do that.”

Of course, Jeong-Hoon had no intention of doing so.

It was far wiser to spend time gaining experience and leveling up than earning money through hoarding.

There were plenty of ways to earn gold, and he didn’t want to use his future knowledge to disrupt ordinary players.

“Really? That’s a shame. I think you could make some serious cash.”

With his instincts, he could probably even join a named merchant guild.

It was a shame to see him waste his talent, but he respected his friend’s decision.

“Who knows? Maybe I’ll slip you some new info if you help me out.”

“…Where on earth do you get this information?”

“Well, if you have some time, do me a favor.”

“A favor?”

———