Chapter 22: The Making of an Artifact

“It’s surprising there’s someone even stranger than our guild master.”

Goo Min-ah replied dryly. The guild master’s expression instantly turned playful.

“Reaaally? Well, those guys also said I’m the weirdest one, so they’re not wrong! Ahahaha!”

After laughing for a good while, he muttered an apology to her.

“Sorry, but I doubt you’ll hear anything helpful about that.”

“……It’s fine. It can’t be helped.”

“Wouldn’t joining our guild be more fun than doing research? Not interested?”

“……Not yet.”

“Great! If you change your mind, tell me anytime! Anyway, are you two planning to go back into that room?”

He pointed his thumb toward the door behind him. The workshop that had once looked bright and impressive now resembled a place where time and sanity went to die. Both Seong Ji-woo and Goo Min-ah shook their heads at the same time.

Even while the three of them chatted idly for quite a while after that, the workshop door remained firmly shut. If not for the occasional rustling or mechanical noises coming from inside, Ji-woo might’ve thought Gam Ju-an had fainted—or worse.

Ju-an finally stumbled out, drenched in sweat, just before dinnertime. He looked almost like a zombie.

“Oh, there you are. I just finished the refinement. I’ll show you the crafting tomorrow….”

He mumbled something and collapsed onto the couch.

“He’s… okay, right?”

“Probably…?”

The guild master placed a hand under Ju-an’s nose. Thankfully, he was still breathing.

The next day, Goo Min-ah—tired of crafting already—went out on fieldwork with the guild master. Ji-woo was once again trapped inside the workshop with Gam Ju-an.

“Ji-woo, can you hold this?”

Unlike the previous day, Ju-an was surprisingly lively as he tinkered away. He even explained things step by step, apparently wanting to teach Ji-woo the basics of artifact crafting. Unfortunately, Ji-woo could only understand about half of it.

‘I should’ve studied a little beforehand…’

Still, he did his best—holding things when told, pressing when told, fetching things when asked. Ju-an connected a chain to the ability stone and continued explaining. Ji-woo had learned yesterday that Ju-an’s ability was Alchemy.

“What really matters is the grade of the ability stone and the ability inside it. In that sense, you’re better off than me, Ji-woo. You have abilities that actually work in combat.”

“That’s why I thought making weapons would be nice. If I can insert my ability into artifacts, I won’t have to fight myself.”

If he could put his skills into artifacts and sell them, he could earn money without risking his life. Less danger, same profit — a win-win-win.

“That’s true. When the creator and ability owner are the same person, the artifact’s power and duration increase.”

“Really?”

“Yes. But high-rank hunters have no reason to bother making things themselves… so artifacts these days are mostly auxiliary items. Honestly, if they were made better, they’d be used better.”

“Then if I make them…”

“They’d sell well, right?”

A clear ching! rang inside Ji-woo’s mind — the sound of money.

‘This… this is a blue ocean.’

Ju-an smiled faintly.

“You might even surpass me someday.”

“What? No! That’s impossible!”

To Ji-woo, who knew Ju-an’s future status, his humility only sounded absurd.

“Who knows. Anyway, the pendant is done.”

Ju-an lifted the pendant and let it sway. A small refined ability stone sat neatly in a simple necklace design.

“Now all that’s left is inserting the ability… Ji-woo, want to do it?”

Ji-woo’s eyes widened.

“M-me?”

“Yes. The pendant recognizes both our names as its creators. It’ll turn out great.”

“You can tell that?”

“One of my many unimpressive abilities.”

But Ji-woo felt undeserving — all he did was fetch tools and hold things.

“…No, it’s fine. You made it, Ju-an.”

“Don’t worry. I made this one specifically for you. I’ve already set aside the ones for sale.”

“Still…”

“Think of it as a keepsake. You’ll never use your own ability stone, but it’ll be meaningful to give it to someone precious.”

Told to choose an ability for the artifact, Ji-woo scanned through his system window.

‘Should I use Judgment of Light? Hunters like buffs…’

But then he remembered the incident in the last gate. The moment everything almost went horribly wrong—

‘The shield. It was the light shield.’

He changed his mind and chose the defensive skill.

“I’ll put in a shield. Can you set an activation condition?”

“Of course. Just tell me.”

Ji-woo immediately asked for it to activate in the most dangerous situation.

“When the wearer’s life is in danger.”

A blue light pulsed from Ju-an’s hand and was absorbed into the artifact.

“That’s a very specific condition. All done.”

Ji-woo accepted the pendant gratefully. Even though he barely contributed, holding the completed artifact felt rewarding.

When work ended, two familiar faces came to see Ji-woo.

“Ji-woo, hi!”

“Long time no see.”

It was Lee Hye-rin and Shin Yun-jae.

“What are you two doing here?”

They were waiting at the entrance just as he was leaving.

“We had fieldwork nearby, got off early, and rushed here. Honestly, you missed us, right?”

“No… not that much…”

“Sure you did. Come eat with us.”

“Uh—yeah…”

The three entered a nearby budae-jjigae place recommended by guild members. Hye-rin added every single extra topping possible, and something unidentifiable—half stew, half sticky mass—arrived at their table. It looked questionable but tasted amazing.

While inhaling ramen, Hye-rin asked:

“How’s the job?”

“A bit suffocating at times, but fun. Today I learned how to make artifacts.”

She froze mid-bite and stared at him.

“If you’re really gonna become a weapon maker, do me one favor.”

“What favor?”

“If I wear some kind of cannon-shaped tube on my arm, I think I can fire my ability like a cannon. Look—like this!”

She mimed shooting from her arm like a child playing robot.

“Hmm… yeah, that would work.”

Considering her ability’s raw power, she wouldn’t even need fuel. A bit of buffing and it’d launch hundreds of meters.

His answer made her eyes sparkle.

“Right?! I’ve wanted that since I was a kid! I even rolled up cardboard boxes once and almost burned the house down. Anyway, can you make me one?”

“…When I’m able to.”

“Yes! Thanks!”

She looked way too happy for something she hadn’t even received yet.

After a long while eating, Yun-jae finally spoke.

“Oh, right. About that gate from last time — the school contacted us.”

“Why? Is it fixed?”

“It wasn’t a big issue. Apparently, the gate always had a core. It was just dormant.”

“Cores don’t fall out of the sky, so that makes sense.”

“Yeah. Since no other gate has issues, that one must’ve been a special case. We were just unlucky.”

The word “unlucky” hit Ji-woo hard. They were unlucky because of him. But he couldn’t tell them he was a regressor, so he swallowed the guilt.

“Oh, and that last monster — the Stone Golem.”

“Huh… why?”

“We thought it targeted Yoo Hee-ro because he was the weakest, but turns out it targets the strongest intruder.”

Ji-woo froze mid-bite.

“What? Seriously?”

“Yeah. It was written in the report.”

Both Ji-woo and Yun-jae looked confused.

“Hee-ro is the strongest?”

But Hye-rin responded like they were being ridiculous.

“He’s S-rank, obviously. He can’t use his ability well, but S-rank is S-rank.”

“Oh… right.”

“That makes sense. Poor guy—he could’ve died.”

Yun-jae clicked his tongue. Ji-woo felt uneasy just remembering it.

“He’s gonna have a hard time from now on.”

“He can’t use his ability, gets targeted anyway… what did he do in his past life? Poor guy.”

Hee-ro acted like the gate incident didn’t bother him, which only made him look even more pitiful. If something similar happened again without Ji-woo around, the consequences could be fatal.

Maybe the artifact he made today should go to Yoo Hee-ro.

‘Should I message him now?’