Chapter 72: Star, The Shadow (3)

After Chang-Sun and Baek Gyeo-Ul exited the taxi, Gyeo-Ul tilted his head as he looked around the Tailored Shoe Alley in Seongsu-dong. He muttered, “This place is…”

Gyeo-Ul had also visited the same place to get his current spear, but he had only met blacksmiths who tried to rip him off. Thus, he was unsure whether there were any proper blacksmiths in the alley. However, Chang-Sun went deep inside the alley without an explanation. Worried about losing sight of Chang-Sun, Gyeo-Ul quickly followed him.

* * *

“What the hell? You want me to make you another weapon? Do you think I’m a magic wand you can just wave in the air to create weapons? Weapons can’t be forged that easily and quickly!” Choi Bu-Yong exclaimed, furious at Chang-Sun for making yet another absurd request after visiting for the first time in a long time.

「Lee Chang-Sun has deposited 100,000,000 won into your W Bank account.」

“It’s a deposit. I’ll pay you the same amount once you’re done,” Chang-Sun calmly offered.

“Still, it doesn’t work like…!” Bu-Yong yelled.

「Lee Chang-Sun has deposited 100,000,000 won into your W Bank account.」

“Are you still not going to do it?” Chang-Sun asked.

“…Fuck,” Bu-Yong cursed. He gave up, realizing how futile resistance was in the face of Chang-Sun’s shameless calm.

The crazy bastard was throwing money in the air again. Although he was supposed to be happy that he could practically bathe in money, he could not help but be annoyed that he would have to pull an all-nighter for several days once again.

‘What on earth…?’

Gyeo-Ul blinked blankly as he listened to Chang-Sun and Bu-Yong’s conversation.

Every part of their conversation sounded surreal. What had Bu-Yong’s smartphone just said? Chang-Sun had sent one hundred million won twice? Unable to believe his ears, Gyeo-Ul’s jaw dropped as he heard about an amount of money he could not even imagine having.

‘Who is this person?’?

Gyeo-Ul wondered.

When he first met Bu-Yong, he had thought the man did not look reliable, because he looked more like a tattooist than a blacksmith. Not only was his body covered with various tattoos, there were also many earrings on his ear. Gyeo-Ul tried not to stereotype people, but it was difficult to think that a person who looked like Bu-Yong could have the ‘mindset of a great artisan’. On top of that, Bu-Yong was blind, and he constantly held the leash of his seeing-eye dog, which only made Gyeo-Ul’s doubts grow stronger.

Regardless, it seemed Chang-Sun did not care, simply silencing Bu-Yong’s protests by showering him with money. Gyeo-Ul had once heard the word ‘flex’, and the current moment seemed to be a perfect example of that word.

‘I-It’s so cool,’?

Gyeo-Ul thought, setting the problem of whether or not he could trust Bu-Yong aside.

It had been Gyeo-Ul’s lifelong dream to be able to throw money around at least once, so once again, he was amazed by Chang-Sun. It was difficult to tell whether Chang-Sun was aware of Gyeo-Ul’s thoughts, however.

“Pheeew!” Bu-Yong heaved a long sigh and slowly raised his head. Tidying up his disheveled hair, he cursed in annoyance, “Fucking bastard.”

“I told you to call me CEO,” Chang-Sun replied, unfazed.

“Yeah, yeah, Mr. Fucking CEO, so what do you want me to make again?” Bu-Yong retorted before getting down to business.

“Spear,” Chang-Sun said.

“If you’re telling me to make another spear like your weird-ass spear, I’ll crack your skull first before I melt any iron,” Bu-Yong growled.

“You don’t have to make the same kind of spear again. An ordinary long spear will be enough,” Chang-Sun assured Bu-Yong.

“Weight and length?” Bu-Yong asked, implicitly agreeing to make Gyeo-Ul’s spear. Noticing his response, Chang-Sun looked at Gyeo-Ul.

Gyeo-Ul was still unsure whether he could trust Bu-Yong, but believed there had to be a reason for Chang-Sun to have brought him here. Thus, he readily answered, “A three-meter long spear will be enough for me, and as for the weight…”

“How am I supposed to know if you explain it like that? Do you not have anything I can refer to?” Bu-Yong interrupted crudely, thinking Gyeo-Ul would be the same as Chang-Sun. However, Gyeo-Ul pulled out his spear from his inventory and gave it to Bu-Yong without any complaint.

“Why is it so heavy…?!” Bu-Yong grumbled, frowning for a moment as he felt the heavy spear resting in his hands. Soon, however, his expression faded as he slowly examined the spear with his fingertips, trying to figure out the length, weight, and shape of the spearhead. As he could not see, he drew a perfect image of the spear in his mind by touch.

Bu-Yong looked so serious that Gyeo-Ul felt he had to change his initial assessment. It seemed almost as if Bu-Yong were the only person in the world. Gyeo-Ul held his breath, inadvertently thinking it would be bad to distract Bu-Yong from concentrating.

“Give me your hand,” Bu-Yong said, holding out his hand. Gyeo-Ul put his hand on top of Bu-Yong’s without realizing it. Just as he had done with Gyeo-Ul’s long spear, Bu-Yong inspected Gyeo-Ul’s right hand very thoroughly, then asked for his left hand afterward. When he was done with Gyeo-Ul’s hands, he measured Gyeo-Ul’s wrists, forearms, shoulders, and overall height.

“You’re a lefty, and you thrust your spear rather than swinging it—no, you thrust and spin to maximize your attacks’ damage by adding centrifugal and rotational force. Huh, you use a footwork technique, so you aren’t slow. You use this kind of heavy weapon, but you make sure you aren’t slow, huh?” Bu-Yong remarked.

“…!” Gyeo-Ul’s eyes reflexively widened as he listened to Bu-Yong muttering to himself.

It seemed that Bu-Yong had not only created the image of the spear and identified the owner, but also figured out the owner’s habits and fighting style in detail, deepening Gyeo-Ul’s surprise even further. Due to his lack of money, he had not met many blacksmiths, but no one had examined the person who was going to use the weapon fully like Bu-Yong.

‘They were too busy showing off,’?

Gyeo-Ul recalled.

Blacksmiths, craftsmen, Enchanters… Most of the so-called ‘master craftsmen’ or ‘artists’, those who were usually categorized as production workers, were always full of themselves. They were so antisocial and narcissistic that they simply ordered Players to get used to their creations, as they were ‘masterpieces’.

However, from Gyeo-Ul’s perspective, every one of them was just an asshole waiting for an innocent, naive, and rich simpleton to step into their shops. Although there were proper craftsmen in the White Tiger Clan, they were arrogant too; naturally, Gyeo-Ul had not expected Bu-Yong to be any different. In contrast, Bu-Yong seemed to know what the weapons he created were supposed to be like; a weapon that suited the owner was a real weapon.

‘Well, I guess that's why he could create Chang-Sun hyung’s weapons,’

Gyeo-Ul thought with a shrug.

He began to understand how Chang-Sun’s weapons—the Nameless Spear and the whip—had such complicated exteriors and structures, as well as such splendid abilities. He thought there was no way such a ‘master craftsman’ would create defective products.

When he was done analyzing Gyeo-Ul, Bu-Yong sat on his chair and reviewed all the information he had received, crossing his arms. Wilson, Bu-Yong’s seeing-eye dog, yawned for a while and fell asleep near Bu-Yong’s feet. Only after a long time did Bu-Yong turn to ‘look’ at Chang-Sun. Even though he was blind, he had accurately pinpointed Chang-Sun’s direction. He asked, “What kind of material do you want me to use?”

“It should be at least [Black Raven Iron] or Hundredfold Refined Steel-grade [Cold Iron],” Chang-Sun thought, stroking his chin.

“…What the fuck. Are you going to wage a war or something?” Bu-Yong asked, his jaw dropping.

“Something like that,” Chang-Sun said with a nod.

Bu-Yong shook his head in disbelief. [Black Raven Iron] and [Cold Iron] were both very difficult materials to obtain, but Chang-Sun wanted Bu-Yong to use them to create a very heavy weapon. If the word ‘crazy’ could not be used for such a moment, when would it be used?

“Fifteen days,” Bu-Yong said, telling Chang-Sun and Gyeo-Ul the amount of time he needed to make the spear.

“Ten days,” Chang-Sun said, shaking his head.

“Are you nuts? The shortest amount of time I need to order materials and make ingots is fifteen days. My arms will break if I pound ingots for a week non-stop!” Bu-Yong yelled at the top of his lungs.

“They won’t,” Chang-Sun said calmly.

“Fuck, you should at least give me fifteen days no matter what,” Bu-Yong grumbled, scratching his head in frustration.

“Deal,” Chang-Sun suddenly said with a nod.

“…Why couldn’t you just say yes from the start?” Bu-Yong grumbled, but he lightly stretched his hands. He had been getting bored from only making Chang-Sun’s weapons, so he would be less bored if he made weapons for other people too.

* * *

‘I’m going to… have my own weapon,’

Gyeo-Ul thought as he looked down at his hands, unable to calm the butterflies in his stomach.

He was incredibly happy to be able to hold a proper infantry weapon in his callus-covered hands. As a martial artist, he was bound to be happy to own a splendid weapon. However, Gyeo-Ul was more so glad to have a weapon forged by the blacksmith who had created Chang-Sun’s own. Following the footsteps of his idol brought him happiness.

“What are you thinking so hard about?” Chang-Sun asked, bringing Gyeo-Ul back to reality.

As Chang-Sun lowered the Nameless Spear, he stared at Gyeo-Ul. That was when Gyeo-Ul finally remembered where he was and held his breath.

‘Now isn’t the time to be distracted,’?

Gyeo-Ul thought nervously.

After they finished with their business in Seongsu-Dong, they traveled to the nearest Player practice range right away. Although a crowd of people who recognized Chang-Sun swarmed toward Chang-Sun and Gyeo-Ul, the practice range owner immediately gave them a room for VVIPs when Chang-Sun asked for it, so they could begin practicing in peace.

Unless they were living on the outskirts, Players living in big cities like Seoul usually lacked places to train. To aid those Players, the Council had set up gymnasiums that Players could use. However, Players sometimes used private practice ranges too, where they could practice in separate rooms. In those practice ranges, the rooms were decorated to resemble Dungeons using magic devices.

[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ watches the spar between two warriors with great interest.]

[The Celestial ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’ is ironing out the details of her reward for you.]

[The Celestial ‘Calamity Tiger’ briefly stops paying attention because non-bloody fights are no fun.]

Pabilsag and Minerva devoted their attention to the spar, but on the other hand, Heoju looked away.

‘Well, you’re in for a big surprise,’

Chang-Sun thought, smiling enigmatically at Heoju as he looked at Gyeo-Ul.

Gyeo-Ul shook his head nervously and replied, “I-It’s nothing. I’m just nervous…”

“Don’t be too nervous, or else you won’t be able to train properly,” Chang-Sun instructed.

“Okay, hyung!” Gyeo-Ul replied with a fervent nod.

“By the way, how well are you able to use your ghost energy?” Chang-Sun asked, changing the topic.

“Um, well…” Gyeo-Ul said hesitantly, unable to answer properly.

Chang-Sun chuckled quietly, asking, “I’m guessing you have a problem?”

“…Yes, that’s right,” Gyeo-Ul said. He lowered his head slightly, feeling ashamed.

In truth, Gyeo-Ul had failed to show significant progress after Chang-Sun undid his half-spirit curse. An immense amount of magic circulated in every part of his body, and that magic was different enough from the norm to be called ghost energy or divine energy. Unlike his half-spirit curse, the magic gave him a vast amount of life force.

However, the problem was that his progress ended there. The magic did not budge, let alone obey Gyeo-Ul’s will. He could only occasionally use it in times of need, but other than those moments, the magic only circulated through the paths in Gyeo-Ul’s body like a vast, arrogant river, practically driving him mad. He was able to feel the vigorous flow of energy, but he could not use it at all.

“Of course you would,” Chang-Sun said as if he had expected it.

Gyeo-Ul’s eyes widened in shock. He asked, “Do you… know why?”

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ tilts his head, wondering what you, the snake, are trying to do again.]

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Chang-Sun nodded, saying, “You should never try to use your magic like ordinary magic.”

“Please explain in detail,” Gyeo-Ul requested.

Chang-Sun continued, “A half-spirit refers to a person who was conceived while a shaman and a ghost had intercourse, right? They’re also called half-monsters, which suggests they also have monster energy or evil energy. However, the problem is that you’ve completely undone the half-spirit curse, so wouldn’t it be weirder for you to be able to control the energy?”

“Then, what should I do…?” Gyeo-Ul asked.

“You should use a different magic circulation method than the original one you used. Of course, you’ll have to change your every little habit, down to your breathing method,” Chang-Sun said, thinking of Xerxes throughout his explanation.

‘Right now, Gyeo-Ul has shadow energy… So, I should not only help him master the energy, but also help him manifest a Talent or Trait. In order to do so, there can be no better method than helping him be like his father,’?

Chang-Sun thought.

Chang-Sun had thought of the cultivation method Xerxes had explained to him at some point in the past, as a means to help Gyeo-Ul properly obtain the special skill [Shadow Secret Technique]. It would be impossible to obtain unless a person had a unique kind of energy known as shadow energy. If that were to happen, Gyeo-Ul would obtain the trait [Shadow Play]. Above all, Gyeo-Ul needed shadow, Xerxes’ foundation, in order to control his shadow energy.

“So,” Chang-Sun said, lightly gripping the Nameless Spear and pointing it at Gyeo-Ul. “You should become my shadow from now on.”