Chapter 15: Flare, the Sword of Fire

The weapon used by the rank 1 player, the Meteor Sword.

(Its estimated value) Estimated to be worth tens of billions.

Even with money, you can’t find anything similar, so he’s in a slump….

“Can it be made?”

“Yeah!”

He says it can be made.

“Rani can make anything if she has the materials!”

Kya.

That’s reassuring.

“Wow, a sword!”

Okay.

Let’s start with the sword first.

“But later. We don’t have the materials right now.”
“Right…. Without materials, we can’t make anything….”

Rank 1, I Bojun.

Here, we have no materials, so we can’t make anything….

‘Wanna take on some Requests?’

Thinking it’s silly, I chuckle.

“The cost of materials alone would be at least several thousand, maybe billions, so there’s no way AwakenerNet would accept Requests.”

If it were me, I wouldn’t take them either.

Still, well.

‘Maybe some minor Requests will come in?’

For now, just a quick post on the free board.

[Accepting all types of crafting Requests without discrimination.]

Whoa.

New posts keep coming in even now.

It’s gonna be like this for a while….

“Can’t be helped.”

Since I posted it now.

If it gets buried, I’ll post another one tomorrow morning.

So.

Please read it a lot, potential customers.

You won’t regret entrusting it.

***

The next day, 7 AM.

“Ugh, what the hell is with these Requests on a weekend morning….”

Weekend’s supposed to be a day off.

Normally, I’d have just slept through.

But I even set an alarm on purpose and got up.

“Still, gotta post the promo…”

The one I posted yesterday?

It got 100% buried.

It got pushed down right after posting.

I was gonna post a new one quickly and then go back to sleep….

‘Huh?’

There’s a lot now?

Ding!

[Request received.]

[Request received.]

One, two, three….

‘How many is this?’

‘All crafting Requests too?’

“What?”

‘Didn’t get buried?’

Curious, I click the free board.

The post I wrote is….

Ah, here it is.

“Can you make gloves like the ones that were auctioned last time?”

“Came from Best post, really the Labor Manager lol. Aren’t you a combat class?”

“Can you craft weapons too?”

“Curious about how far you can handle materials. Want to Request materials from Tower Floor 32.”

“Wow…, why are there so many comments?”

Skimming through, most are questions.

Looking at the Requests piling up, they must have entrusted it properly.

“By the way….”

“There’s something called a Best post in the middle…. What’s that?”

Looked it up and found it.

[Best]

[Breaking News) Labor Manager posting on free board accepting crafting Requests lolololol]

Best posts get bumped up when recommended.

‘It’s even 5th on the list?’

‘How many people must have seen it.’

Whoever you are, thanks.

“With this, I can level up right away.”

First, let’s start accepting Requests.

Too many options….

Okay.

Better to let the crafter choose.

[Fixed Team Summon]

Rani (High-Grade)

“Boss! Hi!”

“Hi.”

Greet warmly.

Open the Request list immediately.

“Pick one from these, the one you most want to make.”

“Rani’s making it?! With these materials here?”

Her eyes sparkle.

“Of course.”

“Kya!”

Now she’s stamping her feet excitedly.

‘Her reaction is similar to when she had pork belly?’

‘Is it that good….’

“Huuuuh.”

Rani.

“Did you come shopping….”

The Request window is about to break.

“Take your time picking, nobody’s rushing you anyway.”
“Okay!”

Meanwhile, checking how the crafting Requests work….

There’s nothing special.

When you entrust a Request, you hand over the materials too.

Once it’s completed and sent back, the Request ends.

AwakenerNet is definitely convenient.

“Rani wants this one!”

Oh.

She chose one.

There were quite a few on the list…, what did she pick?

Looked at it.

[Crafting Request]

[Requested Item: Sword]

[Main Materials: 10 Lava Drake Fangs]

[Sub Materials: 3 Heart of the Firebird, 10 Mithril Ingots, 5 High-grade Mana Stones]

[Requester: Baek Hwarang]

Ouch.

What a scale….

‘Who on earth requested this?’

“Baek Hwarang?”

‘Isn’t he the guild master of Hwarang Guild?’

One of the top 5 guilds….

‘Don’t they have a crafting class in the guild?’

“Rani likes this!”

I guess so.

Just looking at the materials one by one, they seem expensive.

Well…..

I don’t know why the Request was made though.

“Okay, let’s do that one.”

“Yeah! Good!”

It’s here, so just do it.

First, accept the Request.

Then, give Rani the materials.

“Wow! Great materials! Rani will make it beautifully!”

Excitedly, she scurries off.

She gathers the materials and heads to a corner.

Then.

Thump, thud, thump, thud.

“Hehe!”

She keeps laughing, so excited.

Rani, but those materials are really expensive….

“Baek Hwarang sends materials from Floor 51 so freely.”

Main materials are from monsters on Floor 51.

‘Sub materials?’

Not easy either.

Even just Mithril Ingots and High-grade Mana Stones alone, ouch.

But….

Because they’re such high-level materials, I’m even more curious.

‘What kind of item will she make?’

“Ta-da!”

Kya, it’s done.

This time it took quite a while.

Well, the materials were top-tier.

“Here’s more!”

“Huh? Materials?”

“There’s some left!”

‘Materials left over?’

I thought they were sent exactly.

Tilting my head, I look.

“Almost half left over?”

“Yeah!”

Rani, you’re not… taking materials out….

“Hmmm…. If it can’t be made, it takes a lot of materials, but Rani makes it well so there’s no waste!”

Nope.

So Rani’s skill is good enough that half the materials were sufficient?

Kya…..

Then the performance?

Let’s take a look.

I picked up the sword and—

[You must name the item to complete crafting.]

Huh.

“Rani, you have to name the weapon.”

“Name? Hmmm….”

She thinks hard.

“Flare!”

“Huh? Flare? That’s the weapon name?”

‘Is that right…?’

Looking into her eyes, they’re sparkling.

She’s serious.

Well, whatever.

What’s in a name.

As long as the performance is good, that’s enough.

Decided on Flare.

Now let’s check the options.

[Flare]

[A masterpiece by a highly skilled artisan.]

[Adds continuous fire attribute damage.]

Automatically counterattacks with flames every time the enemy’s attack is blocked.

Enables special skill ‘Fire Burst’.

Increases fire attribute resistance.

“Wow, this is insane.”

See?

‘Who cares about the name!’

She made a weapon with so many stacked options!

Just reading this description….

“It’s really on par with the Meteor Sword I saw yesterday?”

“Yeah! Rani can make it, I told you!”

“Right….”

Wow.

‘This much should satisfy the customer, right?’

“Rani, good job.”

First, I hand her a sweet candy.

Then I send Flare out.

The materials?

No way to send them back.

Keep them safely in the inventory.

That’s it.

The reward?

30 High-grade Mana Stones?

“Wasn’t a High-grade Mana Stone worth 10 million won each….”

‘No way. They sent 300 million?’

‘Is it really okay to accept this?’

“No. The Meteor Sword goes for tens of billions each.”

“The sword Rani made! Even better!”

“Right. She made that kind of sword. This is nothing.”

But….

The scale really is next level.

“They probably weren’t even sure, but they sent those materials and the Request fee…. That’s something.”

‘Definitely a top 5 guild master?’

Baek Hwarang.

Gotta remember that name.

For now, let’s focus on the Labor Management Office!

[Request Complete!]

[Crafting Request Cleared!]

[Additional Reward]

[Request Points 2,000]

[What? 2,000?]

“Ah! I should have used the Double Request Points Scroll!”

If I’d used it, I’d almost be done collecting….

Too bad.

Still, I can level up….

Yeah.

[Mission Complete!]

[One Crafting Request Completed (1/1)]

[Reward]

[Unique Skill Experience]

[Request Points 5,000]

Jackpot.

‘With this, I can move out?’

And the rank goes up too!

[Unique Skill Rank Increased.]

[Worker Summon (Grade – Bronze) → Worker Summon (Grade – Silver)]

Now Silver!

Summon count increased.

Skill changed.

And?

[New Feature Unlocked: Worker Training Center Available]

A new feature, Worker Training Center.

What could that be?

Hunter’s Tower climbing.

For ordinary people, it’s just a story about others.

Doesn’t mean it’s uninteresting.

No way.

It’s not without reason that breaking records becomes a hot topic.

‘Especially the top-tier hunters?’

Every move they make is under scrutiny.

Meanwhile, news arrives.

Rank 1, I Bojun, in a slump.

Of course, it spread like wildfire.

[Anyone heard about I Bojun? lol]

[The rank 1’s weapon broke, and now he’s a leech?]

Starting from internet communities.

[Is the slump of rank 1 I Bojun true?]

[Why we haven’t heard about Tower top floor climbs recently]

Internet articles.

Even.

Discussion on the regular news broadcast.

“Next topic. The news about I Bojun, who was climbing the highest floor of Chaos Tower, is a hot issue.”

“Oh, I heard too. His weapon broke.”

“A sad story indeed.”

And when the first place stumbles?

Naturally, second place gets the spotlight.

‘What’s Baek Hwarang doing? Isn’t he second in Tower climbing?’

Scratching my head at home.

‘If I Bojun’s in a slump, Baek Hwarang should rise lololol’

I bet he absolutely can’t.

No way, he’s been stuck on floor 53 for half a year after clearing 52 lololololol

What? Neither first nor second matters lololololol

Can Baek Hwarang rise?

This topic heated up Korea.

Naturally, it reached Baek Hwarang’s ears quickly.

“Those bastards don’t know anything.”

“Just reporters and internet trolls, what can you do.”

Baek Hwarang, guild master of Hwarang Guild.

Currently 2nd in Korea for Tower climbing.

Right now?

Suddenly being roasted on the internet.

“Sigh….”

He’s angry….

Even more angry because he can’t really argue back.

He was stuck for half a year after clearing floor 52, after all.

“Sigh, if only I had a weapon like the Meteor Sword too….”

Ding!

[Requested item has arrived.]

“Oh?”

“Why are you like that?”

“The item I requested arrived?”

“Ah, that… the one you entrusted to the Labor Manager?”

“Yeah.”

I answer vaguely and log in to AwakenerNet.

Received the weapon….

‘Its name is Flare?’

“This bastard’s messing around with someone else’s weapon—.”

Ridiculous, but the options….

It’s insane?

What the heck….

“Why are you like that?”

“Huh? Why? Look at this. The sword’s name is Flare.”

“Wha— who would name a sword that…. wow…….”

He has the same reaction.

‘Right?’

‘Mouth wide open?’

Me too.

“Seriously, he made this right after receiving the Request?”

“Yeah…. Look, I wanted to entrust it.”

‘The guild members below?’

All opposed.

Said what do you trust to hand over those expensive materials.

‘What do you trust?’

I trusted the instinct that made me rank 2.

‘A gamble?’

So what.

It succeeded.

[Baek Hwarang won’t clear floor 53 lolololol I’ll fry my hands now]

I was in a good mood….

Then suddenly I see that?

Internet comments I was reading just moments ago.

Saying Baek Hwarang will never clear floor 53?

I’ll show them.

“Call the reporters. I’m going to clear floor 53 right now.”