How a D-Class Alchemist Avoids Death

‘SS-Rank Blacksmith.’

What I need to find is the master blacksmith Woo Hanseong, shrouded in mystery.

An SS-Rank blacksmith who had to live in hiding due to betrayal from his relatives after his parents’ death, ultimately dying in a monster wave.

He never made a direct appearance in the novel, but was a character mentioned several times by a colleague who was a member of Taeju’s party.

[If only Woo Hanseong were alive, he could have created a sword capable of withstanding Taeju’s magical power.]

In the novel, Seo Taeju did wield the divine sword that Woo Hanseong was said to have made when he entered the cradle.

However, now, Shin Sooha is alive. There’s no reason for Seo Taeju to use Shin Sooha’s sword, and if the sword were to break during a fight, it would cause serious problems.

“While I’m at it, I should remake my weapon too.”

The gun I had magically assembled, just thinking about its shape and usage, varied in power depending on Ma Jeong-seok’s magic.

Right now, since the levels of the monsters are low, it would still work despite its low attack power, but it wouldn’t work all the way to the cradle.

“Ppi?”

“No, I’m going to sleep now.”

“Ppi Ppi.”

Hearing the urge to quickly get inside, I closed my diary and hid it back in the drawer.

So far, that Taeju brat hasn’t entered my room, but it’s dangerous to be off guard.

Didn’t they all (referring to Taeju’s enemies) get caught off guard in novels?

“That’s why there’s a saying to recheck even extinguished fires.”

Nodding my head, I flung myself into bed.

First things first, sleep was priority.

The brown reeds rustled like reeds in the cool wind. The scenery of Pyeongbuk-dong, located at the edge of Gyeonggi-do, was superb.

‘I didn’t know there were such scenic places like this.’

It was perfect for a break from the tedious urban forest, quiet and peaceful.

“The weather’s good, right?”

Time flies so fast; it was summer when I possessed this body, and now it’s already autumn. I never felt that time was quick when I was studying or on police duty, but ever since I possessed this body, time has been flying like an arrow.

“Ppi?”

“No, there’s no dungeon here. We’re not going to a dungeon.”

“Ppi ppi?”

“Yes. You can fly if you want.”

I prevented it from flying in other places in case it gets hunted, but this is a quiet rural village.

Moreover, it’s the height of the harvest season, so it seems there’s nobody who would bother to hunt this little sparrow.

‘In the countryside, they usually leave small birds alone.’

“Ppi ppi.”

Perhaps it had been quite a while since it had a chance to fly in the open sky, so Salt quickly flew away somewhere, mentioning that it would go out and return.

“I wonder if it’s going to find a mate?”

I know that Salt is an item that only looks like a sparrow, but you never know. It might court another sparrow because it looks like one.

“But is Salt male or female?”

I was so surprised when I got Salt that I forgot to ask about its gender.

It’s not separately listed in the information window, so I can’t tell.

“Since it was born from an item, is it asexual?”

While thinking about Salt’s gender, I reached the first fork in the road.

“Left from here.”

Since the character was only mentioned in the dialogue in the novel, I didn’t know where Woo Hanseong was either.

I have the clue of a rift, but there’s no guarantee that the rift mentioned in the novel was the one Woo Hanseong experienced. There were even more rifts that were dismissed with a ‘A rift has occurred.’

However, a maze always has an exit.

This morning, I went to the Information Guild and made a request about Woo Hanseong. I had expected it to take quite some time, but I wonder how many people were looking for him. The information guild member handed over the details on Woo Hanseong with a slightly annoyed expression.

The destination turned out to be Pyeongbuk-dong, Gyeonggi Province, in a very remote spot.

“Another abandoned place?”

It was an abandoned house. The roof was shoddily patched up to at least keep the rain out, and the walls were falling apart. The rust-eaten iron gate looked dubious to open anytime soon.

“Ppi?”

Salt, who had returned after freely flying around the sky, perched atop my head.

“Yeah. This is the place.”

Trust is fundamental to the information guild. I knew they wouldn’t sell false information, but…

‘Can anyone even live here?’

Unlike the crowded villages full of houses, there was nothing here except for mountains and a vast empty field. No matter how I looked at it, the house seemed abandoned, and I couldn’t imagine someone living here.

“Ppi Ppi?”

“No, this is the right place.”

I decided to knock on the door first. “Is anyone home?”

‘Don’t they hear me?’

I started to knock harder. “Is anyone there?!  Woo Hanseong-ssi?!”

After a few minutes of thumping on the door, my hand had turned red and I gave up knocking.

“Is this really an empty house? But the information guild said this was the latest info. Did he move out in the meantime?”

“Ppi?”

“Yeah, maybe he moved out—”

“Who’s there?”

Finally, a voice came from inside the house. I asked, tilting my head at the slightly youthful voice. “Hello. I’m looking for someone. Is Woo Hanseong-ssi, the blacksmith, here—”

“Go away.”

“What?”

What does he mean, go away? Is he saying Woo Hanseong isn’t here?

“Isn’t this the home of Woo Hanseong-ssi?”

“I have no intention of working as a blacksmith, so please leave.”

Wow. Could this voice belong to Woo Hanseong himself?

“Are you Woo Hanseong-si?”

“Even if you continue to look for me, I will not work as a blacksmith! Please leave!” Woo Hanseong’s voice was full of irritation, as if this was getting on his nerves.

It seems there were quite a lot of people looking for him, not just me. Well, there are only a few SS-ranked blacksmiths in the world, and many would want to ask something of him. I’m here to save him, but it’s not much different from a request.

‘Even so, isn’t this treatment a bit harsh for a first-time visitor?’

“I’m sorry, but I think there’s been a misunderstanding. It’s my first time here.”

But his attitude didn’t change, despite my attempt to clarify the misunderstanding.

“Whether it’s your first time or second, I won’t work as a blacksmith. I won’t accept any scout offers either.”

Wow, he’s firm. But if I was going to give up that easily, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place.

“Let’s just talk for a moment.”

“No. Please leave.”

I then heard the crunching sound of gravel that I hadn’t heard before. It seemed like there was a short gravel yard inside the iron gate.

“Ppi?”

“No. We’re not breaking in. Shush.”

The sound of footsteps I had been listening to stopped, and silence returned. That’s when I turned around.

“Ppi Ppi. Ppi Ppi?”

“No. Today was just for location confirmation, anyway.”

“Ppi ppi?”

“Yep. I never thought it would work on the first try.”

Woo Hanseong had put down the hammer called ‘soul’ due to a wound inflicted by a relative. He had become wary and hateful of people until the moment of his death. I didn’t expect someone with such a history to have come so far and to greet me warmly…

‘Well, if he had greeted me, I would have suspected that he was not Woo Hanseong, but an impostor.’

The problem did not seem to be easily solvable, but there was no choice. A thirsty person must seek a well.

“Ppi ppi?”

In the meantime, Salt seemed to be worried about my hardened expression and cautiously asked.

I lightly stroked his head and drew a small smile on my stiff face. “We have to come again.”

Liu Bei went to Zhuge Liang’s cottage three times to recruit him. Why can’t I do the same?

“I’ll have to come again until he shows up.”

Just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

Woo Hanseong moved cautiously towards the door, frowning at the loud noise coming from outside.

“Hey, Kim Salt. Didn’t I tell you not to touch my pad while I’m watching my drama?”

“Ppi ppi!”

The man who visited Woo Hanseong a week ago had been coming to his house every day since then. Some days he showed up in the morning, other days after lunch, loudly greeting him, as if leaving work at the same time, and disappeared.

“Ppi! Ppi!”

“Quiet, it’s the climax.”

At the mention of the climax, Woo Hanseong perked up his ears against the front door.

“We can’t be together.”

“Why!”

“We’re siblings. Plus, I have breast cancer.”

“But you’re a man!!”

“Don’t hold on to the prejudice that men can’t get breast cancer!”

‘Hmm. As expected, morning drama.’ Unaware of himself, Woo Hanseong, who was shaking his head at the drama dialogue coming from outside, came to his senses with a start.

“The morning drama lines here are weaker than I thought.”

At the man’s disappointed voice, Woo Hanseong tilted his head. ‘That’s weak? How could that be weak? Isn’t it already outrageous enough?’

Just then, there was a smack sound.

“A slap with bean paste. Ah, seeing bean paste reminds me of bean paste stew.”

“Ppi ppi.”

“You should stop eating. You know you’ve gotten fat from eating too much hemp seeds, right?”

‘Hemp seeds? Do birds eat hemp seeds?’

“Ppi. Ppi. Ppi ppi! Ppi!”

“Haven’t you looked in the mirror? You’ve gotten rounder.”

“Ppi.”

“What do you mean, preparing for winter? If you’re preparing for winter, you should grow fur, not gain weight.”

Hearing the giggling voice, Woo Hanseong cocked his head in confusion once more. It had always seemed strange to him, but the man and the bird were having a conversation with each other.

At first, he thought the man was just babbling nonsense in response to the bird’s chirping.

However,

“Ouch! Salt Kim. It hurts! I said it hurts!”

Hearing the man’s words when attacked like this, it wasn’t the case at all. Both the man and the bird were clearly communicating back and forth.

“Stop it. Anyway, your beak is too sharp.”

“Ppi.”

“Ouch! I said I got it! I got it!”

Hearing the man’s cries of pain, Woo Hanseong cautiously walked back to his house. Unlike when he was driving away his visitors, he made no sound stepping on the sand.

‘What on earth?’

It was common for someone to be rejected initially and then to return several times. However, they all simply knocked on the door like the first time and explained their sob stories to Woo Hanseong. No one ever came as if they were here to camp.

‘Did he really come to camp?’

Every day, the man who came over made him so curious about what he was doing outside that he stepped out for a moment in the early morning.

Then, Woo Hanseong was surprised. Because there was a huge tent next to the gate. Moreover, inside the tent were more household items neatly organized than he had in his own house.

Anyone would think it was a long-stay camping tent.

As he was about to go back to his room while thinking about the incomprehensible man, a familiar smell brushed past his nose.

‘This is, pork…belly?’

Unconsciously, his head turned.

“Salt, do you want to eat too?”

“Ppi.”

“What do you mean by diet? Eat the meat.”

“Ppi.”

“If you don’t want to eat, say so.”

Along with the sound of humming, the smell of grilling pork belly vibrated all around.

‘When did I last eat?’

Unless someone came knocking on his door, Woo Hanseong spent most of his day sleeping. Because he often missed meals due to sleep, at some point, he even stopped thinking about eating. Unlike ordinary people, a hunter, especially a high-level hunter, won’t die from not eating, so he didn’t bother to eat more.

However,

—Growl—

His stomach churned at the smell of pork belly, which he hadn’t smelled in a long time. Then, he smelled something other than pork belly.

‘Kimchi?!’

“Pork belly and kimchi are the best combo. Hehe. If only I had bean paste stew here, it would be perfect.”

The man gave him the answer.

Pork belly and kimchi.

Saliva pooled in his mouth, and the feeling of his stomach tightening made Woo Hanseong rush to the kitchen.

“Ah.”

However, there was nothing in the kitchen. He had been not eating for so long that he had not even realized there wasn’t any food, let alone ingredients.

“I’m hungry…” Woo Hansong’s face turned toward the door. “Should I ask for some?”

Hunger showed its effects faster than his hesitations.