Chapter 118
Chapter 118: Movie Star
“Welcome! It’s the Knife Workshop!”
In a secluded street of the Open Market.
Due to the sparse foot traffic, it was a place where one could rent for a lower monthly price.
Blacksmith Nam Ho-yeol was busy greeting customers.
A male hero who entered the workshop pointed to a sword hanging on the wall and asked,
“What’s this made of?”
“That’s based on the shell of an Iron Turtle…”
“That armor design is really beautiful!”
“Haha, thank you for the compliment!”
Not long ago, visitors mainly came for weapon repairs.
Recently, however, the number of those purchasing finished equipment had gradually increased.
The sight of equipment that had been left in stock on the display rack and in the warehouse disappearing one by one filled Nam Ho-yeol with pride.
“I’ll buy this two-handed axe.”
“An excellent choice!”
The man holding the large two-handed axe paid with a card.
Nam Ho-yeol bent his back to bow as he departed.
“Come again!”
Once the man stepped outside, Nam Ho-yeol straightened up.
His gaze then turned to the display rack where the axe had just been sold.
The malignant stock that had undergone nothing but maintenance for two years since its completion had finally been sold.
“Ah! It feels like a decade’s worth of congestion has lifted.”
Nam Ho-yeol often felt bloated after eating flour-based foods.
But today, it felt like no matter what, he could digest well.
He felt completely relieved.
‘I should bring out other stuff too.’
He moved to the inside storeroom and pulled out a spear he had also been keeping, just like the axe, and displayed it on the empty rack.
Hoping that a buyer would show up for it too.
“…I’m glad things are looking up.”
Nam Ho-yeol stroked his chin with his hand.
With prices rising, the workshop’s rent increasing, and everything but the sales from the workshop going up,
Having goods sold like this now was truly a fortunate thing.
It wasn’t a vast fortune, but it was stabilizing enough to maintain the workshop while making ends meet.
Things had changed significantly from when he felt sorry for his wife after every failed attempt.
‘More than half of the customers came here after hearing rumors about Yoo Ji-han’s party.’
The turnaround in the workshop’s situation was all thanks to Yoo Ji-han’s party.
Recently, a significant proportion of customers belonged to Rank 4 and Rank 5 parties.
It was surprisingly common for visitors to search up and come after reading interviews with Yoo Ji-han’s party that passed the Hero Academy.
‘Isn’t this when people would say stocks went up dramatically?’
What started with gifting a sword to a two-member Rank 5 party counted as a fortunate initial investment.
In that sense, he felt thankful towards Yoo Ji-han’s party.
“I’ll have to treat them with some service next time they come.”
Just giving empty words of thanks didn’t suit Nam Ho-yeol’s temperament.
He felt like he needed to offer something tangible to the benefactors who had helped him.
‘Making gloves or shoes for them would be nice.’
Nam Ho-yeol was the type to willingly craft any equipment related to heroes.
Swords, axes, spears, bows, shields, shurikens, and various weapons.
From sturdy metal armor to various protective gear cut and sewn from leather or cloth.
While most individual blacksmiths outside of any guild tend to focus solely on a few types of equipment they excel at, he wasn’t one to shy away from things he couldn’t handle alone.
He was always ready to make anything for heroes heading into battle.
Knock knock.
While he was lost in thought, reminiscing about Yoo Ji-han’s party,
Someone knocked on the workshop door and entered.
“Is Mr. Nam here?”
“Oh? Hello, Mr. Kim!”
“Is it okay if I come in for a bit?”
“Of course!”
He was another blacksmith operating a workshop similar to Nam Ho-yeol’s in the area.
Known informally as Mr. Kim, he looked around at the empty display racks and said,
“Where’s that big sword that was hanging there? The heavy-looking one?”
“It was sold this morning.”
“Oh really? That was made a year ago, right? It seems like business is really good these days?”
“It seems to be just enough to get by.”
Nam Ho-yeol replied with a beaming smile.
His face showed that he had gained some leeway in life.
“Mr. Nam, share your secrets with me too.”
“Me? Secrets?”
Mr. Kim, with his hands behind his back, squinted his eyes a bit.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know! Seeing you doing well suddenly means you must have some special trick or something.”
“Honestly, I don’t really have any… If I had to pick one, it’d be investing in weapons for promising heroes.”
“Really? Then can you introduce me to those people?”
“What? That’s…”
Nam Ho-yeol hesitated, unable to respond right away.
Mr. Kim’s words meant he wanted apportionment of customers to him.
Even though they were similarly situated blacksmiths, asking for loyal customers who were the basis for his changes was a hard request to grant.
“That might be a bit difficult.”
“Is it just you who wants to profit?”
“Mr. Kim primarily makes swords and shields, right? Our production overlaps, so you wouldn’t gain much.”
“Come on, that’s too harsh between us.”
“Rather, it might be better to invest in other heroes…”
While Nam Ho-yeol was conversing with Mr. Kim, he soon left the store.
Uncomfortable expressions showed on his face as he walked down the alley.
‘Mr. Nam has been getting a bit too arrogant lately.’
Since the number of customers starting to grow in Nam Ho-yeol’s workshop, Mr. Kim felt envy toward him without even knowing it.
While he was struggling, someone right next to him was doing well…
Being a blacksmith of similar status, he felt a twinge of jealousy as well.
“Hey, Mr. Kim! What did Mr. Nam say?”
“That childish Yoo Ji-han guy, he said he’d never hand them over to me.”
Mr. Kim spoke to another blacksmith nearby.
The main topic of conversation revolved around Nam Ho-yeol.
“Aren’t we able to share a few customers among business partners?”
“To be honest, Mr. Nam’s shop location is pretty subpar. If heroes are going there, there’s definitely some hidden strategy at play.”
“He’s intending to earn some cash himself, huh?”
“Mr. Nam is really selfish.”
In the Open Market, which should sustain fair competition,
Bad rumors were beginning to spread about blacksmith Nam Ho-yeol.
*
“See you next time.”
“Good work.”
After finishing lunch with a friend, Yoo Ji-han stepped into the city of Seoul.
The streets at 2 PM were quieter and less populated than at 1 PM or 12 PM.
While reviewing his schedule for the next day on his mobile phone, he suddenly recalled yesterday’s events.
‘The presentation had a good evaluation too.’
At the presentation for the Gweirri hunt, Yoo Ji-han’s party received favorable feedback from instructor Jin Seok-woo.
During the presentation, they showcased video footage captured by drones, and it seemed the lively video containing information from the现场 was reflected in a high score.
It wasn’t the initial intent to film, but they had benefitted from it.
‘Getting a drone for filming for the guild wouldn’t be a bad idea.’
The drone they borrowed during the Gweirri hunt had been returned to movie director Ha Seong-tae.
Since video materials could be useful for things like this in the Hero Academy, Yoo Ji-han was considering purchasing a drone with guild funds.
Just then, while he was walking lost in thought,
“Excuse me!”
“…?!”
Yoo Ji-han stopped in his tracks at the sudden female voice.
Turning around, he saw someone about 2 meters away, looking at him with a long green robe draped over them.
It was someone whose face couldn’t be seen because of the large hood pulled over.
‘When did they get behind me?’
What surprised Yoo Ji-han was that the individual approached without making a sound.
How could he have let someone get that close without noticing?
He was worried he had been lost in thought.
“Hmmm.”
The person, presumed to be female, approached him while making a strange sound.
She then scanned him from top to bottom and said,
“You seem to have been through a lot lately?”
“…!”
Yoo Ji-han furrowed his brow for a moment.
Having been expelled from Kim Hyun-tae’s party and Keroes, not to mention facing mutations and dangerous situations after joining “Sweet Fun”…
Yoo Ji-han had faced a barrage of incidents during recent days.
And this woman’s remarks aligned perfectly with the concerns he had recently developed.
It wasn’t as if he bore a dark expression.
‘A wandering fortune-teller, perhaps.’
But he dismissed it as mere formalities.
“Are you interested in fortunes?”
“Not particularly.”
Normally, he would predict probabilities through sampling.
While it didn’t answer every condition, it had more assured effects than casually reading fortunes.
He might have been curious if he had set up a fortune-telling service himself, but he had never paid to hear someone else’s fortune.
“I work over there.”
The woman pointed to the first floor of a building.
[Cassandra’s Cave]
It was a sign with light purple writing.
‘Is that the store Yu-ri mentioned?’
It was a popular fortune-telling brand that began in Japan and has recently emerged as a topic among Korea’s younger generation.
It was operated by a guild established by a Japanese hero known for their Unique Skill that allows for foresight into the future.
Recognized well enough to have been mentioned at least once by Min Yu-ri, since it had crossed over from Japan to Korea, it must be doing quite well.
“They are having a special free event only until this evening. The fortune-telling is a short 15-minute session, why don’t you stop by for a moment?”
The woman offered to read his fortune for free and asked him to drop by the shop.
It was an unexpected proposal, and Yoo Ji-han silently gazed at the store.
He had seen such places often in dramas or novels, but he had never entered a fortune-teller’s in his life.
Moreover, this was a shop founded by a Rank 1 Hero.
It wouldn’t exactly be a lie to say he felt curious.
“If it’s just for a moment…”
Thus, he accepted the woman’s suggestion.
With a smile on her face, she led Yoo Ji-han to the fortune-telling shop.
As she pulled open the firmly closed door, a very dark interior greeted them despite it being a sunlit afternoon.
Purple and dark blue lights pulsed, creating a mysterious ambiance in the space.
It had a cave-like feel, true to the store’s name.
“Please step in here.”
The woman swung aside a purple curtain and guided Yoo Ji-han further inside.
In a narrow room where a soccer-ball-sized glass orb rested on a desk covered with a cloth,
She guided Yoo Ji-han to a chair and sat across from him with the glass orb in between.
She referred to herself as a fortune-teller and looked up at Yoo Ji-han with a slight tilt of her head.
“This free session will only cover this year’s fortune. Is that okay with you?”
“Yes.”
Considering she was offering to tell him for free, he held no complaints about whatever fortune she shared.
“Please wait a moment.”
The fortune-teller placed her palm over the glass orb.
Woom—
A white light began to emanate from the center of the orb.
As the fortune-teller wiggled her fingers, the light spiraled within the orb, forming a ring shape.
That orb was originally an artifact owned by the guild master of Destiny, known by the name Cassandra.
Here, in line with the concept of the fortune-telling shop, a replica of that artifact was created to showcase a visual effect.
‘That’s really well made.’
The orb vibrated according to the fortune-teller’s touch, changing colors completely at times.
It was almost indistinguishable from a real artifact.
“Hmmm…”
The fortune-teller often tilted her head while manipulating the glass orb.
After about two minutes, the light inside the orb eventually disappeared.
She withdrew her hand from the orb and spoke.
“I may have to apologize a little.”
“Excuse me?”
“Unfortunately, many crises and tests are waiting in your future.”
“…How many?”
“To the extent that it’s impossible to count. One day, you might realize this time was incredibly easy in comparison.”
“…”
“What a tumultuous fate…”
Hearing the earnest words of the fortune-teller, Yoo Ji-han felt an inexplicable chill wash over him.
It seemed that this fortune-telling shop wasn’t just a place to hear sweet nothings.
Or perhaps, since it was free, there was the possibility they might spare no honesty.
If money was spent, they might only share pleasant tidings.
“However, if you overcome the crises, ample rewards will follow.”
“Can’t one obtain rewards without crises?”
“Typically, that’s referred to as easy gains in professional terms.”
“…That’s true?”
“Sir! Life isn’t that easy.”
“…”
Yoo Ji-han received a lecture for throwing a question just in jest.
Yet, he couldn’t simply believe those words as they were.
With a slight worry, he used sampling on the fortune just given.
‘…What’s this about?’
He soon regretted using the skill.
<—Probability that everything the fortune-teller just said is true>
<98%>
*
As darkness fell over the night.
In Cassandra’s Cave in Seoul, a robed fortune-teller stepped outside.
The man in a suit who had been waiting by the door accepted the glass orb very carefully.
“How did the Koreans fare, Cassandra?”
“They were quite similar to the Japanese. After all, people live similarly everywhere.”
The fortune-teller’s true identity was Cassandra, a Rank 1 Hero from Japan.
She had secretly traveled to Korea for amusement, hiding her identity while performing fortune-telling for Koreans.
Her fondness for Korea and studying the language she had done benefited her in times like this.
“By the way…”
“Yes?”
“There was one customer today who had an exceptionally ‘interesting’ fate.”
“…!”
Interesting, as said in Japanese.
The man in the suit flinched in surprise at Cassandra’s words.
It was exceptionally rare for her to describe someone’s fate as interesting.
The last time she had said something was interesting was when she read Watanabe Yosuke’s fate, another Rank 1 Hero in Japan.
“It was a fate that was tough to grasp even with my abilities! Peeking into it felt almost frightful.”
“What kind of person was it…?”
“Perhaps a great figure might appear in Korea soon.”
Cassandra smiled as she looked at the artifact she entrusted to the man.
