Chapter 21: Crafting the Veil of Blood

A message arrived from Park Kang-chul.

I’d turned him down quite bluntly, so I was worried he might try to intimidate me or worse.

To my surprise, his reply was remarkably calm.

But the moment I read the first line—

My heart started racing.

• I don’t need defense.

Guess he figured out my level, huh?

A low-level Blacksmith’s Cloak isn’t exactly known for high defense.

In other words, Park Kang-chul had guessed my level.

It made me a little uneasy, but there was nothing I could do about it.

Honestly, anyone looking at the items I’ve crafted so far could tell my level isn’t that high.

I shook my head to clear my nerves and read the next paragraph.

• Instead of defense, I want a Cloak tailored perfectly to my abilities.

“Giving up on defense, huh…”

As I read that line, I glanced down at the pajamas I still hadn’t changed out of.

An S-Grade item—Vulcanus’s Robe.

It sacrifices defense entirely, focusing solely on ‘style.’

Because of that, I felt as light as a feather when I woke up this morning.

That must be what Park Kang-chul was after.

• I’ll pay generously.
  
• S-Grade: 3 billion. SS-Grade: 5 billion. SSS-Grade: 10 billion.
  

…Ten billion.

A hundred billion, even.

I still wasn’t used to hearing amounts in the billions, and now he was casually tossing out a hundred billion.

I suppose for someone ranked third in the Hunter Ranking, a hundred billion is pocket change.

And this wasn’t even for a weapon or armor—just a sub-armor or accessory like a Cloak.

A Level 10 Cloak, for a hundred billion.

Of course, I’ve never crafted an SSS-Grade before, so aiming for a hundred billion was out of reach. Still, fifty billion for an SS-Grade Cloak was jaw-dropping.

“Hmm.”

What should I do?

I was torn.

Part of me worried about getting tangled up with someone as battle-obsessed as Park Kang-chul.

A Cloak, huh…

But the request itself was intriguing.

The fact that Park Kang-chul, the third-ranked Hunter, was humbling himself like this—didn’t that mean he recognized my skills?

I might be a shut-in, but being acknowledged still felt good.

Plus, I had Zone 2 of the Mine this time.

A Cloak seemed like the perfect way to use the materials I’d gathered there.

“Let’s give it a shot.”

With that, I accepted Park Kang-chul’s request.

I’d taken on the commission.

But now that I had—

“How am I supposed to make this…?”

Now that I was about to start, I was at a complete loss.

Up until now, I’d just thrown together whatever materials I had, hammered away, and listed the result on the Auction House.

But crafting a unique item for someone else? Suddenly, I couldn’t even bring myself to pick up my hammer.

Hesitating, I checked Park Kang-chul’s request again for any extra details.

But what I found wasn’t a list of desired abilities.

• Berserker
  
• Passive Skill, Blood Festival: The more blood—including your own—is present around you, the higher your attack power, attack speed, and critical rate.
  
• Main Skill, Blood Slash: A powerful strike proportional to lost HP.
  
• Main Skill, Rampage: HP drops by 1% per second, but attack power, attack speed, and critical rate skyrocket.
  

It was a description of Park Kang-chul’s class—Berserker.

Normally, that’s not information you’d share so openly.

Especially not for someone like Park Kang-chul, the third-ranked Hunter.

Production-class Hunters like Blacksmiths are secretive, but high-level Hunters are even more cautious about guarding their details.

That kind of information could be used to exploit their weaknesses.

Park Kang-chul would be no different.

Even scouring the internet would only turn up vague details about him—nothing as specific as this about his skills.

He’d just handed me his valuable information.

That only made it more intimidating.

What if he goes into Rampage if he doesn’t like the result?

Just thinking about it made me shake my head.

“Let’s check the materials first.”

Unfortunately, my material stock was running low.

I’d used up a lot crafting work clothes and pajamas yesterday.

The only decent material I had left was:

[Giant Vampire Bat’s Hide]

That was about it.

Since I’d used the Giant Vampire Bat’s Fang for the Ring of Red Blood, the Hide should also have a suitable effect for Park Kang-chul.

But the Hide alone wouldn’t cut it.

I wanted to use something similar, like Blood Stone, but—

“That’s an ore…”

What Park Kang-chul wanted was a Cloak.

You don’t make a Cloak out of ore.

With that thought, my eyes drifted to one of the few connections between my room and the outside world—the window screen.

And then it clicked.

“A window screen…”

A screen to keep out bugs.

But what caught my attention was the material.

A screen woven from wire.

Maybe I could use Blood Stone in a similar way?

My hesitation didn’t last long.

There was no way I’d figure it out just by worrying in my room.

[Activating Production Skill.]

[Please select the form of the item to be crafted.]

“Thread.”

[Set the detailed form of the thread.]

[Select the material for the thread.]

I chose Blood Stone as the material for the thread.

I’d used a fair amount of Blood Stone for the Ring of Red Blood, but I still had enough for a Cloak.

[Beginning production.]

Production started.

It was my first time making a material from another material, but the process wasn’t much different.

All I had to do was hammer at the target point.

Clang!

The more I hammered, the thinner the ore became.

I hammered the flattened ore again.

And again.

Each strike made the target point smaller and thinner.

If I swung the hammer as usual, I worried the ore might break, so I wiped sweat from my brow and hammered with care.

[Progress: 81%……]

The Blood Stone grew finer and finer.

It became so thin that its characteristic red glow nearly vanished.

[Production complete.]

[You have acquired Blood Thread.]

“Whoa, whoa, whoa—!”

I actually did it.

Just like you can make thread from iron ore, I’d made Blood Thread from Blood Stone.

I’d wondered if it was possible, and it turns out you can create materials from other materials.

“If this works, then…”

With this method, I could make thread from any kind of ore.

I could turn ore into fiber.

But I wasn’t planning to make the entire Cloak out of this.

No matter how I crafted it, Blood Thread was still an ore.

What I wanted was the blood property of Blood Thread, not its hardness.

Even if I used a lot of Blood Thread to slightly boost the defense, it wouldn’t satisfy Park Kang-chul.

I’d use Blood Thread only to impart the blood property.

That’s all.

“Maybe I should check the Auction House?”

Blood, wounds, thread—I searched with those keywords, and all sorts of materials came up.

Some were expensive and looked promising.

They were costly, but to make a quality item, you need quality materials.

I couldn’t hand Park Kang-chul something subpar, so I closed my eyes and bought one expensive material.

[Blood Ghost (Remnant)]

I didn’t know this monster, but I’d heard it was fairly high-level.

A ghost-type monster that manipulates blood, apparently?

If so, it should be perfect for the Cloak!

If I just wanted high-level monster materials, there were even better options, but whether I used high-level or low-level materials, the best I could make was a Level 10 item.

Well, now I can make up to Level 20 items.

Still, using Level 100 monster materials for a Level 20 item feels like a waste. It’s better to use materials that match the concept.

…And high-level monster materials are ridiculously expensive anyway.

For fiber, this should work.

I’d used up most of my fiber making work clothes and pajamas.

But there was one fiber I’d set aside because it didn’t suit those.

[Essence-Infused Fiber]

[Translucent Fiber]

These weren’t ordinary fibers.

They didn’t fit work clothes or pajamas, but they were rare.

I’d been saving them for later, but that “later” arrived sooner than expected.

“With the commission fee, it’s worth using.”

Even an S-Grade item would earn me 3 billion.

It’s worth using rare fibers.

As I thought about what kind of Cloak to make, I steadied my mind and picked up my hammer.

[Activating Production Skill.]

[Please select the form of the item to be crafted.]

Cloak

[Set the detailed form of the Cloak.]

A Cloak is typically a long, sleeveless outer garment that drapes over the shoulders and back.

There are many types, but the one I wanted to make was—

“A vampire Cloak should look like this.”

It was an item from a game I used to love, The Chaos: Dark Curse.

A legendary Cloak—Veil of Blood.

It was a must-have for a vampire build, so it was the first thing that came to mind when I got Park Kang-chul’s request.

“Do you think the game company will sue me for plagiarism?”

I searched “Veil of Blood” online, enlarged an image, and set the detailed form based on it.

Who would’ve thought I’d be making a game item in real life?

I never imagined my gaming knowledge would be so useful.

They say every experience comes in handy eventually, and this must be what they meant.

Honestly, games might be the best training for Hunters.

Or maybe not.

[Please select the material for the Cloak.]

For the materials, I used the ones I’d planned:

• Giant Vampire Bat’s Hide
• Blood Thread
• Blood Ghost (Remnant)
• Essence-Infused Fiber
• Translucent Fiber

Just enough for a single Cloak.

Now, the production message would appear, so I readied my hammer.

But then—

[Please designate the owner of the Cloak.]

[If you set an owner, it will become a bound item usable only by that person.]

[If you do not set an owner, production will proceed immediately.]

“…Huh?”

A message I’d never seen before appeared before my eyes.