Chapter 144: Master Blacksmith
Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Addis
Su Mo had barely finished asking his question when a message from Yu Zhen popped up on his terminal, containing a series of special keys.
The man working at the desk leaned over slightly and rubbed Su Mo’s head. “Here’s the private password. The materials are all in the warehouse; you can use whatever you need.”
Su Mo looked at him, their eyes meeting.
Yu Zhen paused for a moment, then leaned down and gave Su Mo’s forehead another gentle kiss.
Su Mo was able to touch his forehead this time and felt a bit warm. “I’m going to log in and play the game now.”
Yu Zhen nodded. “Sure, go ahead. I still have some work to finish up.”
With the owner’s permission, Su Mo logged into the UnchainedWanderer account. As soon as he entered, he noticed he had logged off near the forge’s Vicinity. Clearly, since their last separation, the array master hadn’t moved from that spot. Just as he was about to open the forge to check on Yu Zhen’s weapon progress, a group invitation popped up in front of him, sent by his teammate ScarletFruit.
Su Mo accepted the group invitation and then checked the materials on Yu Zhen’s account. When he opened the backpack, he discovered three neatly arranged rows of high-grade materials, enough to refine several times. Additionally, Yu Zhen hadn’t opened many of the material boxes from the Grand Debate of the Realm event. The backpack still held many four- and five-star boxes, and there were even two six-star boxes from the Zenith Expanse event. The weapon, besides the usual one upgraded to level 80, had another new weapon that was only at level 70, indicating that preparation for its upgrade hadn’t started yet.
“Brother Wanderer, why are you online now? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t be playing much this week?” ScarletFruit complained. “My brother also said we’d do daily tasks together tonight. He logged in just now and didn’t even acknowledge me, and then he logged out directly, not replying to any messages in the group.”
ClearWind added, “Is Brother Wanderer doing daily tasks? We don’t need to do dungeons today; running through the daily quests should be quick and won’t take up much time.”
Su Mo had been busy during the day and had originally planned to join them for daily tasks in the evening. However, after dinner, he went to Yu Zhen’s house and forgot about it.
Su Mo thought for a moment and said, “Wait a second, I’ll log into another account.”
The new headset had added many smart features, including a dual-account function that his old headset lacked. Previously, when he logged into his ReturnToSimplicity account, he had to go offline on his own account to log in. However, with the new headset, he could keep both accounts online simultaneously.
Dual-account functionality was a smart feature that required a certain level of mental energy. F-class players typically had lower mental energy levels, so this feature had been excluded from the original smart functions. However, Su Mo had a strong mental capacity, and many of the new features in the headset were added by Yu Zhen based on his condition, with dual-account functionality being one of them.
He temporarily logged out, experimented with the dual-account feature, and quickly brought up his summoner account. He then set up a smart following for the array master.
The other three members of the team seemed very familiar with this setup. By the time Su Mo had configured smart following, they were already waiting at the starting point for their quests. Dual-account functionality turned out to be not as difficult as he had imagined and was quite convenient. Su Mo completed the tasks while checking the materials on Yu Zhen’s account, noting that he needed to upgrade and merge materials. While formulas were important, having the materials was crucial for weapon crafting.
Fortunately, most of the materials Yu Zhen had were sufficient, and any missing materials from last time had been stocked up by ScarletFruit. Basic materials were not lacking, and there were several advanced ones available as well. The most challenging were the newly introduced enhancement materials. The enhancement materials for the array master differed slightly from those for the summoner; they required attack, status, duration, and control enhancement materials, with no significant speed requirements. Currently, there was only one enhancement material in the inventory, a status type, while attack, duration, and control materials were still needed. Su Mo glanced at the inventory and decided to open the materials chests stored in Yu Zhen’s pack.
-mo: Bro, can I open the chests in your inventory?
Soon after, Yu Zhen replied.
-Yu Zhen: Do whatever you need, if materials are still lacking, there are more chests in the warehouse.
The tasks required both fighting monsters and entering dungeons. The loop quests took about half an hour. Shortly after starting the task, the three team members in the party noticed something unusual. ScarletFruit looked at UnchainedWanderer, hesitating slightly. Brother Wanderer rarely spoke in the team, mostly leaving the chatting to ScarletFruit and ClearWind while sister ZenSlasher occasionally replied. When Brother Wanderer did speak, it was always to the point, like changing maps or NPCs.
Today, Brother Wanderer was also quiet, but ScarletFruit sensed something odd.
In the past, Brother Wanderer had always used array master for dual accounts when fighting monsters, but today he was surprisingly using a summoner.
ScarletFruit asked ClearWind, “Has Brother Wanderer recently started training as a summoner?”
ClearWind replied, “I don’t know. Brother Wanderer probably knows how to play summoner too. He used to dual account with faction wars.”
ZenSlasher said, “It’s not surprising if he knows how to play summoner. Brother Wanderer seems to know many professions; he played warrior very well last time when he got the panel.”
ScarletFruit was speechless. It was indeed true.
Su Mo was focused entirely on the materials and did not notice that the team’s discussion had shifted from gossip to another topic. He was looking at Yu Zhen’s equipment and materials and noticed that, apart from the equipment he commonly used, Yu Zhen’s inventory also contained a set of defensive array master gear. Seeing this, Su Mo suddenly realized that the weapon formula he had previously given Yu Zhen was somewhat one-sided. It should be adjusted further based on a more comprehensive approach. The formula needed to be revised, and the values had to be fine-tuned…
There was no need to stack defense excessively, but it was essential to allocate some points for movement speed.
After the loop task ended, Su Mo suddenly asked, “Fruit, do you still have the Lucky Set (four-piece) available?”
ScarletFruit was momentarily taken aback by the question, then quickly responded, “Brother Wanderer, do you need the Lucky Set too?”
Su Mo said, “Yes, just the four-piece Lucky Set. I need a set to match the 110 Lucky set for summoner. You should have some stock, right?”
“I need to check the warehouse,” ScarletFruit replied, “I should have some. Just a moment.” He promptly switched to an alternate account to check the warehouse.
ClearWind was also surprised and looked at ‘UnchainedWanderer’, “Brother Wanderer, why are you suddenly stacking Lucky Gear too?”
“To open treasure chests,” Su Mo said.
Opening treasure chests was definitely better with increased luck. Su Mo went to the warehouse again and was astonished by the sheer amount of items and materials stored there, including many material chests piled up by Yu Zhen. Since Su Mo had spent less time playing the game compared to Yu Zhen, the warehouse was filled with quest chests that Yu Zhen had accumulated but hadn’t used much.
ScarletFruit soon brought over the Lucky Gear, saying, “According to the 110 Lucky ratio that Big Brother uses… Brother Wanderer, how did you know that Big Brother stacks luck in this range?”
He became increasingly puzzled. It was fine to stack high luck values, but Big Brother’s method of stacking luck was quite unique. With a Myriad Palace Insight skill, after activating the buff, wearing three pieces would get around 110 luck. Others would need to wear more pieces to reach this value. For someone like him who focused on luck, higher luck wasn’t always better. He believed more in individual luck quirks; for instance, his brother’s 110 luck had a particularly high chance of yielding good items.
“Since when did Brother Wanderer start believing in metaphysics?!”
And on top of that, he followed Big Brother’s metaphysical approach?
Su Mo didn’t bother explaining and continued to sort through the materials in the warehouse, casually replying, “Oh, and by the way, bring over the array master materials I asked you to stockpile last time.”
ScarletFruit, “?”
Brother Wanderer had never asked him to prepare materials before…
“Big Brother!!” ScarletFruit exclaimed in shock, immediately drawing the attention of the other two team members.
ClearWind, “What???”
ZenSlasher, “?”
Su Mo said, “Don’t just stand there; get the materials and put them on my account.”
The familiar tone, spoken with UnchainedWanderer’s voice, had a unique charm to it.
UnchainedWanderer’s voice was normally deep and steady, but Momo’s way of speaking, occasionally casual, surprisingly had an alluring quality when paired with it. But that wasn’t the main point; the real issue was that Momo’s account had only just been discovered by them!
“I thought something seemed a bit off earlier. Brother Wanderer usually plays as array master when fighting monsters.”
“Big Brother, why are you on Brother Wanderer’s account? Do you know how many people have been frantically searching for you on your main account? Some even came to the livestream chat to find me.”
“Yesterday, you just went offline after getting that legendary weapon! The whole forum has been discussing your weapon’s stats. Many people are asking how to make it!”
“I just wanted to test it out, and I didn’t expect it to be so successful.” Su Mo traded the lucky gear with ScarletFruit. “There were too many messages from people. I’m a bit tired of looking at them, so I’ll reply when I have time.”
ClearWind said, “Could you two let us know before you switch accounts next time, or at least change your voice lines? It’s so confusing that I can barely recognize you both.”
“Last time I told Brother Wanderer, and Brother Wanderer’s voice lines haven’t changed,” ScarletFruit said. “You’re making it hard for us to avoid misunderstandings. Why are you suddenly online today? Didn’t you say you didn’t have authorization for Brother Wanderer’s account before?”
Su Mo continued sorting materials and simply replied, “I’m at his house; he just gave it to me.”
“Oh, I see…” ScarletFruit suddenly realized, “????? Wait, what do you mean, at his house!? Damn, you two met up in person?”
Su Mo came back to his senses, paused for a moment, and then continued, “We’ve known each other for a long time.”
ScarletFruit, “???”
ClearWind, “???”
Why did “we have known each other for a long time” sound so casual??
You met up in person!? Didn’t you have any reaction to that?
But that’s not the main point. When did you two meet up? Why just the two of you? There are so many people in the group, and you two secretly met up???
Wait, are the two of you alone together in a room right now!?
ScarletFruit and ClearWind’s minds were racing. They looked at the summoner standing in front of the forge, unsure where to start asking questions. ScarletFruit considered his words, cleared his throat, and was about to begin questioning.
Suddenly, the big boss asked, “Where are the materials?”
ScarletFruit’s questions were swallowed back. “I’ll go get them right away.”
In the quiet room, with the temperature set high, the man’s white shirt sleeves had already been rolled up.
He had a project file open on his electronic board, and a chat box was also open on the side, filled with various game screenshots sent to him by the youth next to him.
[Your warehouse materials are a bit much; I’ve updated the formula for you [document]]
[You continue working; check the messages later.]
[I’m opening materials now; I’m not sure if my luck interval is useful for you.]
[Here’s what I got…]
Even though these were text messages, he could vividly imagine the young summoner standing in front of him, carefully discussing details with him. It was exactly the same, right in front of him.
Yu Zhen leaned back slightly and turned his head to look at the youth next to him, who was wearing a head-mounted loader and had his eyes closed. For a moment, all his attention was focused on him, and he couldn’t continue looking at the file. He reached out and gently brushed the youth’s bangs, almost able to hear his breathing.
It was so nice; the person was right beside him.
He adjusted the blanket for the youth, sent a message to Lele, and then replied to the youth’s messages.
[Everything is fine; just confirm the materials.]
[If the materials are not enough, you can use the marksman account; there are more materials in the warehouse.]
[Thank you, boyfriend.]
“Do we have enough ingredients at home?” Yu Zhen suddenly asked.
The robot next to them approached and, with a wave of its hand, a light screen appeared in front of them. “Master, here is the list of ingredients.”
Yu Zhen placed the file on the table, carefully adjusted the youth leaning against him, and then got up to adjust the sofa’s incline. “Watch him; let me know if there are any problems.”
After speaking, he picked up the terminal and headed towards the kitchen.
The smart robot nodded, its gaze fixed on the youth in front of it. It quickly collected information, adding the youth to the master’s important visitor list, and swiftly read the master’s behavior and language data, determining that the youth was likely the master’s primary boyfriend.
In the game, Su Mo finished opening the material boxes. Out of the thirty or so boxes, only two enhancement materials were obtained, and he was missing the crucial attack-type material.
Previously, he might have had to wait for the next quest box to open, but not long ago, Su Mo had obtained a tradeable [Lunar Charm] from a six-star quest box, which could be traded for use with Yu Zhen’s weapon.
The three people in the team seemed to be discussing something animatedly. Su Mo, not paying much attention, was about to take off the lucky outfit when he suddenly noticed the forging information on it, which showed the forger’s emblem as LuckyScarletFruit. He remembered that in Celestial Horizon, forging signatures were actually titles given by crafting professions.
“ScarletFruit, does every weapon have a blacksmith’s name after it’s forged?” Su Mo asked.
ScarletFruit, still caught up in discussing how it was odd that the two of them were still at home at this time, and why only his big brother was online while Brother Wanderer was doing something, suddenly realized he’d been tagged and quickly responded, “Oh? You’re asking about the forging signature?”
“Yes,” Su Mo confirmed.
“It’s always been like this. It’s exclusive to the crafting profession, like blacksmiths. When you forge equipment for others, your forging signature will appear. Alchemists get their potion names or bottle signatures,” ScarletFruit explained.
Su Mo asked, “Can high-level weapons have this too?”
“Of course. Celestial Horizon has many tradeable equipment items, but there are also many that are not. When refining is needed, the crafting master is usually invited to forge. After reaching the title of Master Blacksmith, you can forge any weapon for others. I mentioned before that many bosses seek out Master Blacksmiths for weapons, right? Sometimes, just giving a formula isn’t enough because it requires full concentration and attention to detail. To be safe, most bosses use the forging invitation function. In the advanced features of the forging furnace, you can only invite a blacksmith with a Master Blacksmith title or higher to assist with refining and upgrading.”
“Crafting masters with high-level titles could use the invitation link to share the forging furnace with the big bosses. This way, they could use the non-tradeable materials from the boss’s inventory for forging, and the boss would be able to see the entire forging process, which made them feel more at ease,” ScarletFruit said with a grin. “Before the astrologer came out, blacksmiths were actually quite in demand. However, this invitation forging could only be done by Master Blacksmiths, and Master Blacksmiths are rare. They not only need extensive blacksmithing experience but also require quests or personal breakthroughs to forge high-level golden weapons. So, there aren’t many Master Blacksmiths in Celestial Horizon right now.”
ClearWind added, “Yeah, didn’t your brother also get a server-wide announcement when he forged a legendary weapon yesterday? He unlocked the Master Blacksmith title! That’s a title above Master level, which means the System gave your brother the title of the first person to open a sect for legendary weapons. This kind of honor is very special and can only be unlocked during innovative or breakthrough gameplay. You’re the first; the second person who comprehends the legendary weapon won’t get this Master Blacksmith title…”
ScarletFruit nodded, “Yes, and your brother is also an astrologer. Unlocking the Master Blacksmith title also means he now has two crafting professions. This is one of the more unique crafting-related quests!”
Su Mo realized, “Is that so?”
Others responded, “Yes!”
How could he be so indifferent to everything! It was such a newbie-level achievement, but to him, it seemed like such a trivial matter!
Su Mo switched to view the crafting professions on his summoner account and saw that, in addition to astrologer, there was now a blacksmith interface. However, he hadn’t forged any other weapons before, and the current forging interface, apart from the forging furnace, didn’t have any weapon recipes. Although he had obtained the Master Blacksmith title, he still needed to start from the basics to accumulate recipes for other weapons, just like any other blacksmith. The Master Blacksmith title had only unlocked the high-level blacksmithing permissions for him.
ScarletFruit asked, “Why are you asking about this, bro?”
ClearWind suddenly remembered, “I think Brother Wanderer also uses dual weapons…?”
The two of them quickly realized!
No way, could it be what they were thinking!?
Su Mo replied faintly, “Yes, to forge weapons for him.”
The other two exclaimed, “…! As expected!”
A bunch of people outside were desperately trying to find Momo to forge weapons at high prices, but he ignored them and didn’t even read the messages. Now he was using the array master account to forge weapons for someone else.
“Bro, which… will I have a chance in the future?” ClearWind asked shyly.
ScarletFruit also asked shyly, “Bro, I also have dual weapons. Do I have a chance?”
ZenSlasher, “…?”
“Oh, dual weapons, bring your own materials, and the forging fee is up to you.” Su Mo said nonchalantly, “We can talk about it when I have time.”
ClearWind responded, “Got it, no problem!”
ScarletFruit was about to agree when he suddenly realized.
Wait, why does Brother Wanderer not need to prepare materials or wait in line? Is this the legendary special treatment?
Su Mo opened the forging furnace and indeed found the option to invite for forging. He discovered that the friends list included several people who had the Master Blacksmith title, and Yu Zhen himself was a Master Blacksmith. He immediately invited summoner Momo with the array master account, then switched back to see the invitation pop up.
[Your friend UnchainedWanderer has invited you to participate in the forging of the weapon [Dream Pen]. Do you accept?]
Author’s note: Later,
ScarletFruit: Bro, why did you only give the formula…
mo: Can’t you forge with just the formula?
ClearWind: Save the kid, the kid can’t forge.
mo’s little-known intention: Just wanted to have my name on Brother Wanderer’s weapon.
