Chapter 37: The Last Sprint and the Blue Blood Secret

Why was the succession process suddenly halted?

“I thought you’d changed your mind,” Seoho said.

“Nah, I’m not interested,” Juho replied, shaking his head.

“Really?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got zero intention of taking over the company.”

If he had any interest in business, he would’ve fought back before the succession talks even began.

“So that’s why you called me for lunch?”

Juho now understood why Seoho had suggested a meal.

“Just killing two birds with one stone,” Seoho grinned.

“You’re really into Earth these days, huh?”

His tone was more relaxed now.

“Didn’t Nayeon say she was playing too?”

Juho frowned slightly.

“From that look, she already passed the test?”

“Not yet.”

Juho shook his head, then his eyes lit up.

“But she will soon.”

Knock knock.

A knock sounded on the door.

“Let’s eat,” Juho said, standing up.

***

Meanwhile…

“Why the face?”

“Something feels… off.”

Nayeon scratched her ear as she answered Sana’s question.

And then—

“GAAANDUAAAAA!!”

A monstrous shout echoed.

Gast charged in, with an uncountable horde of goblins chasing behind him.

Nayeon, unable to access the auction house, had purchased gold through external sites and commissioned skilled blacksmiths for high-quality gear.

The same applied to her party members.

While their items were only of “Special” tier—barely superior to NPC-forged equipment—they were enough.

To regular players, the wave of goblins would be terrifying.

But with properly matched equipment, Nayeon’s party could handle them just fine.

The battle began.

With wild swings of her greatsword, Nayeon cut down goblins en masse.

Each strike felled at least three.

“Fire Spear!”

“Dagger of Death!”

Spells and skills flew as the goblins were slaughtered.

Soon, the entire horde brought by Gast was wiped out.

“This went so well. Shouldn’t we move to a higher-level hunting ground?” Gast asked during their rest.

Mass mob-hunting gave incredible EXP per hour but was risky.

So, Nayeon’s party had been rounding up slightly lower-level monsters for safety.

Now, with their gear upgrades, maybe it was time to try same-level monsters?

“OHOHOH,” Temu replied.

Even slight differences mattered in mob hunting.

Temu still thought they weren’t quite ready.

“Nayeon, what do you think?” Sana asked.

Everyone looked to her—she made the final calls.

“Hmm…”

She paused, then made her decision.

“Let’s stick to this for now. We don’t have enough HP or mana left. Same-level mobs are too risky.”

If they could hunt continuously without resting, higher-level mobs would be an option.
But even now, they needed breaks.

Jumping tiers would be reckless.

“Also, we start training tomorrow. Two days.”

“What if we finish early? Heehee~” Jookgan giggled.

“Then do what you want—hunt, quest, whatever. Just don’t do anything that’ll hurt future hunting.”

Nayeon stood up.

“Everyone good? Then let’s get back to it.”

***

At the Training Center…

[Training Quest: ‘Stamina’ Completed.]

[Stamina +1]

Juho let out a sigh of relief.

That was the 49th training quest.

Only one remained.

He headed to the counter.

“I’m here to train,” he said, handing over 30 gold before the NPC could speak.

“Please head to the second floor.”

He paused for a moment.

“Running again… seriously?”

Out of the 49 quests so far, 24 had been running.

Now it was 25.

There were three quest types total, and running showed up in half of them.

[Training Quest ‘Stamina’ received.]

He checked the conditions.

<Training – Stamina>

• Run: 0 / 4000m
• Reward: Stamina +1

“Could be worse…”

Early on, 4km felt like a lot.

After 5km and even 6km runs, 4km now felt merciful.

Juho handed over the ID tag and began running.

‘What now?’

Seokju had 10 training sessions left.

It would take at least 3 hours.

Too long to just wait—but too short to make hunting efficient due to travel time.

He thought it over.

‘Let’s refine ores.’

Even as a combat-heavy blacksmith, refining and crafting was essential for the future.

It improved skill mastery, granted EXP, and earned money.

[Training Quest: ‘Stamina’ Completed.]

[Stamina +1]

Juho completed his final 4km run and exhaled deeply.

Character: Kang Juho

• Nation: Kingdom of Paraville
• Class: Battle Blacksmith
• Level: 110
• Vitality: 31,500
• Mana: 1,200
• Satiety: 85%
• Strength: 192(+120)
• Agaility: 63(+50)
• Stamina: 630 (+85)
• Wisdom: 60(+50)

Training had increased his stamina by 50—pushing him past 30k HP.

‘Should be good now.’

Next stop: Mordan Jungle, home of the 130–145 level Cannibal Gorillas.

Like Lizardmen, they hit hard but had low defense and HP.

With over 30k HP and Seokju’s buffs, he should manage just fine.

Or, thanks to the Hammer of Rage, maybe he wouldn’t even get hit.

He exited the training center and walked to the Crafting District, entering the nearest forge.

[You have entered Morokan’s Forge.]

He approached the NPC Morokan.

Gear purchases had to be done manually, but consumables and ores could be bought through the trade menu.

‘Would’ve been nice if equipment could be traded like that too…’

It was inefficient to check gear manually—if the system allowed trade-window inspection, it’d save so much time.

Hopefully, a patch would fix that someday.

Juho bought ores and moved to a corner.

He opened his character window and started refining.

‘Skill mastery’s going up fast.’

Having never refined before, his skill was Level 1.

It was increasing quickly.

‘Could hit Level 2 before Seokju finishes.’

He was right.

[Refining Skill leveled up to 2.]

[Fire Resistance increased.]

Even fire resistance had improved, likely from standing near the forge.

Then a whisper came in.

– Seokju: Hyung! I’m done!

– Juho: Get ready, meet at the south gate.

– Seokju: Yup! See you soon!

He opened his inventory and looked at the refined iron.

‘Crafting and selling would bring better profit…’

Selling it now would give a slight gain, but not much.

Keeping it would risk overburdening him due to weight.

He considered it.

‘Gorilla mobs don’t drop much loot, so weight shouldn’t be a problem.’

Then he changed his mind.

‘Nah. I’ll be too busy hunting—no time to refine. Better sell now.’

Juho sold the ores and refined iron to Morokan and exited the forge.

After buying food supplies, he headed to the south gate.

There, he saw Seokju waving at him.

Together, they headed southeast.

***

Elsewhere…

Poeras silently read the report, his expression grave.

‘This can’t be right…’

He had followed Romen’s orders to investigate the Evadore Mountains further.

The blue blood sample had just returned from magical analysis.

The results were shocking.