Chapter 20: Battle Blacksmith’s Triumph

“Seokju! Now!”

“Attribute Shackles!”

At Kang Juho’s shout, Kim Seokju immediately cast Attribute Shackles.

Light burst from his staff, binding the zombies.

Kang Juho, having gained some distance, restored his health while opening his character window.

Character Name: Kang Juho

Nation: Paraville Kingdom

Class: Blacksmith

Level: 49

EXP: 95%

Health: 11,250

Mana: 200

Satiety: 89%

Strength: 100 (+30)

Agility: 12

Stamina: 225 (+35)

Wisdom: 10

Just 5% more EXP, and he’d hit his goal of level 50.

That 5% could easily be gained by taking down the shackled zombies.

Once his health was fully restored, Kang Juho closed the character window and charged at the zombies.

[Level Up!]

The level-up message appeared as he defeated the eighth zombie.

“Yes!”

Finally, level 50.

Kang Juho cheered internally while swinging his hammer.

There were still zombies left to clear.

Smiling, he continued reducing their numbers.

After finishing off the last one, he signaled Kim Seokju for a break.

Kim Seokju approached at the signal.

“Good work.”

“Nah, you worked harder, hyung! Gonna change class now?”

“Yup, time to do it!”

Kang Juho answered and opened his quest window.

[Class Change Quest – Battle Blacksmith]

[You’ve reached level 30 through hunting alone, without crafting minerals or equipment.]

[You are qualified to become a Battle Blacksmith.]

[Prove your strength through relentless hunting!]

[Level: 50/50]

Quest Reward: Class Change – Battle Blacksmith

Failure Condition: Crafting minerals or equipment

Class Change Effect: Resets class skills

Seeing the activated “Complete” button for the Battle Blacksmith quest brought a satisfied smile to his face.

Kang Juho clicked it immediately.

A flurry of messages appeared:

[You have completed the class change quest ‘Battle Blacksmith.’]

[Blacksmith class skills have been reset.]

[You have changed class to Battle Blacksmith.]

[You have acquired the skill ‘Blacksmith’s Spirit.’]

[You can acquire skills through the skill window.]

[You have received the first special class change bonus.]

[You have acquired a Hero-Grade Random Box.]

“Bonus? Hero-Grade Random Box?”

Puzzled by the last message, Kang Juho opened his inventory and checked the new item.

Hero-Grade Random Box [Hero] [Non-Tradeable]

A box containing a Hero-grade item.

Opening it grants a random Hero-grade item.

Kang Juho was stunned.

As expected from the name, it was a Hero-grade item—rare in the game’s early stages, even if it was a material.

“If it’s equipment, that’d be huge.”

The box contained a Hero-grade item, which could be consumables, equipment, or materials.

If it was equipment, it’d be a massive win, depending on the options.

“What’s up, hyung? Something wrong?”

Kim Seokju asked, noticing Kang Juho’s expression.

“Well…” Kang Juho trailed off, sharing the item details.

“…!”

Kim Seokju’s eyes widened nearly double their usual size.

“That’s insane! Do you get that for switching to a special class?”

“No, only for the first person to do it. Guess I was the first.”

“Wow, you’re opening it now, right?”

“Yup, hold on.”

There was no point waiting—its value wouldn’t increase.

Kang Juho opened the box.

[You have opened the Hero-Grade Random Box.]

[You have acquired Hydra’s Tattoo.]

“…!”

The moment he opened it, a message appeared.

Checking the item, Kang Juho was floored.

“What’d you get?”

Kim Seokju asked, his voice brimming with curiosity.

“A tattoo!”

“A tattoo? Holy crap, that’s huge!”

Envy filled Kim Seokju’s expression.

Tattoos were rare, non-tradeable items obtainable only through NPC purchases, hunting drops, or quest rewards.

NPCs sold tattoos up to Special grade; anything higher, like Hero grade, was only available via drops or quests.

A Hero-grade tattoo was exceptionally rare.

Moreover, tattoos had no equip restrictions.

If a level 1 player somehow got a God-grade tattoo, they could equip it and gain disproportionate power.

That meant Kang Juho could equip the Hydra’s Tattoo immediately.

Kim Seokju’s envy was understandable.

“What are the options?”

“Hold on.”

Already planning to check, Kang Juho calmed his excitement and examined the details.

Hydra’s Tattoo [Hero] [Non-Tradeable]

Restriction: None

Durability: None

Physical Defense: 500

Magic Defense: 500

Base Stats: +50

Poison Resistance: +15%

Kang Juho was speechless, staring blankly at the options.

“Hyung?” Kim Seokju called.

“Huh? Oh, one sec.”

Snapping out of it, Kang Juho rechecked the options slowly.

The Hydra’s Tattoo was incredible, truly worthy of Hero grade.

It boosted physical and magic defense by 500 each—a shocking amount for his level, requiring multiple pieces of armor or accessories to match. And that wasn’t all.

It also increased all base stats—Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Wisdom—by 50. Even a +50 to one stat would be huge, but all four?

Wisdom was less relevant since it mainly affected mana, but Strength, Agility, and Stamina were critical.

A +50 was equivalent to 30 level-ups, as each level granted only 5 bonus stats.

Then there was the +15% poison resistance.

Kang Juho’s goal was to exceed 100% resistance in all types, and this brought him closer.

While only for poison, 15% was significant, especially in the Shabby Graveyard where he was hunting.

Every option—500 defense, +50 base stats, and 15% poison resistance—was indispensable.

“Hyung?” Kim Seokju called again.

“Oh, sorry. It’s just too good—I zoned out.”

Kang Juho shared the item details.

Like him, Kim Seokju stared at them in a daze.

Chuckling, Kang Juho equipped the tattoo and opened his character window.

Character Name: Kang Juho

Nation: Paraville Kingdom

Class: Battle Blacksmith

Level: 50

EXP: 4%

Health: 13,750

Mana: 1,200

Satiety: 67%

Strength: 150 (+80)

Agility: 62 (+50)

Stamina: 275 (+85)

Wisdom: 60 (+50)

Bonus Stats: 5

Everything—class, health, mana, stats—had transformed.

Smiling, Kang Juho invested his bonus stats in Stamina and checked his resistances.

Physical Resistance: 1%

Fire Resistance: 0%

Water Resistance: 0%

Wind Resistance: 0%

Electric Resistance: 0%

Poison Resistance: 26%

Light Resistance: 0%

Dark Resistance: 0%

Earth Resistance: 0%

Mental Resistance: 0%

His poison resistance, boosted by 10% from his helmet, 15% from the tattoo, and 1% from hunting, now sat at 26%.

“This means…”

Looking at his skyrocketing stats and resistance, Kang Juho thought, ‘I can hunt way longer now.’

He’d been resting every three minutes, but with his current stats, he could go much longer.

“That’s insane…” Kim Seokju muttered, envy dripping from his voice.

“What about the skills?”

“Oh, right, skills!”

At Kim Seokju’s question, Kang Juho exclaimed, having forgotten about skills due to the tattoo.

He closed the character window and opened the skill window.

A slew of skills appeared, though most were grayed out and locked.

“This is so convenient.”

As a regular Blacksmith, he’d had to learn skills from NPCs like Toben.

But as a Battle Blacksmith, he could acquire them directly through the skill window.

“But what’s different?”

Scanning the skills, Kang Juho tilted his head.

They seemed identical to the Blacksmith’s skills, with no apparent differences in effects.

“Maybe I need a higher level?”

At level 50, the available skills were limited.

He figured unique Battle Blacksmith skills might unlock at higher levels.

“They’re the same as the Blacksmith’s for now,” he told Kim Seokju, who was waiting.

“Hold on, let me check the skills.”

“Okay.”

Kang Juho selected the Hammer Mastery skill and clicked Acquire.

[Skill Quest ‘Hammer Mastery’ generated.]

“Not direct acquisition, but a quest,” Kang Juho noted, slightly disappointed, as he checked the quest.

Skill – Hammer Mastery

Complete the following condition:

[Gold: 600/20]

Quest Reward: Skill – Hammer Mastery

“Same as before?”

Learning Hammer Mastery as a Blacksmith required 20 gold, and this quest demanded the same.

He checked other skill quests—same conditions.

[Skill Quest ‘Hammer Mastery’ completed.]

[You have acquired the skill ‘Hammer Mastery.’]

Kang Juho clicked Complete and acquired Hammer Mastery.

“Done. Let’s go!”

It was the only skill he could learn for now.

Closing the skill window, he turned to Kim Seokju.

“Heading to Villeme to log out?”

“Yup, for some maintenance! You learning that skill soon?”

“Yeah, Multi-Chain!”

They chatted as they headed toward the entrance.

But upon nearing it, both stopped simultaneously, as if by agreement.

It wasn’t the zombies—there wasn’t a single one at the entrance.

“…?”

“…?”

The reason they stopped was the purple tombstone glowing at the entrance.