“What is it?” The man started to mutter under his breath. However, Ryoshu didn’t care at all and just smiled smugly.

The fat calico cat looked at him without any special reason, making him want to pet it more. But he managed to suppress his instinct to love animals and focused on the task at hand.

“My condition is simple… I just need some basic materials. You can take a look here.” Ryoshu took out a piece of paper from his bag, where he had already written down the items he needed to buy.

He had written it down to buy later, but since the opportunity had presented itself, he took advantage of the old man’s wallet.

“I don’t understand why you need all these strange, random things, and on top of that, they don’t even fit into any specific category,” Atsuta said, looking at him with a somewhat pitying gaze.

“You probably didn’t get a proper education, huh? But… since they’re pretty cheap, I can accept your condition,” he said, rubbing his chin as he calculated the total cost.

‘Does he really need to insult me before agreeing? But I must admit, the mindset of the rich is different. This pile must cost at least several hundred thousand RC, if not more. But considering how much he has, that’s probably nothing to him.’

It took him a while to search through the massive storage room. Ryoshu followed along to speed things up and also to take a look around.

The blacksmith stored part of the materials he had in a spatial storage ring and then handed it over to Ryoshu.

‘I’ll give you the rest next time we meet,’ he added.

The storage device could hold many things in a separate dimension. The more expensive the device, the larger the space. But these were so convenient and easy to use that there was no reason not to buy them.

“That’s one condition done. Anything else you need, kid?”

Despite his grumbling, Atsuta was a man of his word. Of course, Ryoshu wouldn’t hesitate to take advantage of that.

‘Still, I should probably have a mid-range weapon, right? But if I reveal my identity carelessly, he might kill me on the spot since I’m not exactly in a safe place.’

He looked around the dark, pitch-black basement. The escape route had been sealed off as soon as he stopped paying attention. It seemed that the old man was being extra cautious with him because he wasn’t exactly normal.

‘The only thing I can trust here is that fat cat… but it seems pretty busy with its nap.’ He looked over at the plump cat curled up in the corner of the room. Ryoshu had hoped to draw some mental strength from it, but it seemed like that was asking too much.

“I… I’d like to borrow a weapon from you, the short one with the Legendary Blacksmith class – Enomoto Atsuta.”

Enomoto Atsuta was one of the most important characters in the game if players wanted the highest-quality weapons.

He belonged to the Dwarf race, but his height was no different from that of a human, which remained a mystery. However, he used this height to live among humans without anyone suspecting his true identity. Of course, his name wasn’t real, but that would be revealed later.

In the game, Enomoto Atsuta was known to be stubborn and hot-tempered, so Ryoshu had assumed he was a fake when the old man apologized earlier.

‘Maybe it’s because I’m just a weak little kid? I’m not sure... Or maybe I have the potential to trigger a hidden quest?’

But hidden quests for this special blacksmith usually appeared later in the game, so that didn’t seem very likely.

Ryoshu had met him many times in the original game, but it usually happened later on, around the middle of the game.

‘It would usually be in the second or third year of the game. This is before even the early game stage?! Or… is that the reason? Because I haven’t experienced what happened before the game’s early stages?’

The blacksmith’s face turned pale, almost like he had seen a ghost. If Ryoshu were in his shoes, he’d probably be just as shocked to have someone reveal his secret identity that he’d hidden for decades.

“Who… who are you? Which family sent you here?!”

Enomoto Atsuta was a blacksmith who had been hiding for many years in the human world, so his true identity was nearly unknown until he revealed it halfway through the game.

‘Except for those who played through it once… because by then, everyone would know.’ Ryoshu thought back to the first time he met him in the game. When he introduced himself as a legendary blacksmith, it surprised Ryoshu.

Seeing that Ryoshu remained silent...

It had been too long, so the blacksmith felt something suspicious pushing him to hurry even more:

“Who are you!? Answer quickly!” - The blacksmith’s face turned pale, with beads of sweat from fear dotting his wrinkled forehead.

Ryoshu pushed aside his wandering thoughts and continued speaking as if the blacksmith didn’t exist here at all. And maybe that was exactly why his face had turned so pale.

“When I came down here, I felt that these weapons were crafted very meticulously and skillfully.”

Atsuta breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that at first, he thought Ryoshu was a member of some demonic delegation. But the blacksmith’s suspicion wasn’t completely dispelled yet, so now he carefully reached out for a nearby sword.

“But how could that alone make you sure that I’m a Legendary Blacksmith? That still seems too ridiculous.”

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

‘It’s true, it’s completely ridiculous. Any seasoned blacksmith can make weapons as exquisite as these. But what sets apart an ordinary blacksmith from a Legendary Blacksmith is the true nature of a blacksmith...’

“Because I can see the souls in each weapon. Each of them has its own emotions and voice. It reminds me of those mythical stories where weapons evolve alongside their masters.”

In the past, before Mana began invading Earth, Enomoto Atsuta had forged the famous Kusanagi sword and contributed greatly to the creation of the legendary Excalibur sword alongside other legendary blacksmiths. But all those stories were just legends to humans.

The person standing before him was one of the very few capable of forging weapons with souls—weapons that could evolve with their masters. These weapons had the potential to be bound to their masters.

But there was one thing Ryoshu lied about to him. He couldn’t actually see the souls hidden in the weapons here, simply because Ryoshu didn’t have a single trace of Mana in his body. That made it even harder to bond with gods and spirits, so seeing or communicating with them was impossible. But he fabricated this reason so the blacksmith wouldn’t kill him immediately.

‘A Legendary Blacksmith’s ability to wield weapons like a sword would definitely be on par with, or even surpass, a Holy Sword. I shouldn’t poke a hornet’s nest...’ Ryoshu tried to cover his throat, fearing there might be a stab wound there from some time ago that he wasn’t even aware of.

But Ryoshu kept his composure and continued with the act. He casually touched a sword randomly hanging on the wall, caressing it while deliberately avoiding eye contact with the blacksmith to act like he knew it all. The blacksmith seemed speechless.

‘Because one thing is certain—nothing is certain.’ Ryoshu recalled something his teacher once said in class. He hadn’t been impressed by that lesson except for that day.

It was an obvious statement, but it had helped him become a bit more cautious about everything around him. Ryoshu had become more alert and noticed many dirty, unfair aspects of life that he hadn’t seen before.

‘Back then, I was truly naive. And now, I’m still quite foolish...’

Ryoshu felt a bit bitter when he remembered how innocent he had been in the past.

“You’re completely right,” – The blacksmith’s words brought him back to the present.

‘Oh, right. I’m in a game. A hardcore game. That’s my reality right now.’

He took a deep breath, feeling it deeply in his lungs. That was a very real sensation. And this was the reality that Ryoshu had to accept. Everything in this world was a game, and he only had one life.

‘So, that means this is almost like time travel, right? But... the only difference is I can break the game and return to the real world... Or maybe not, since the kidnapper has full control... But if my little sister calls the police, I could be saved earlier, right?’

“Haha.”

That was when Ryoshu realized that the chances of him being saved from this “reality” were higher than he had thought.

‘I just need to survive until then.’

“Are you crazy, kid? What are you laughing about all of a sudden!?” – The blacksmith’s face was even paler than before, but this time it was because of the smile that escaped Ryoshu’s lips for a moment.

“Sorry, I just got excited because I met a Legendary Blacksmith...” – He smirked, looking quite proud of having successfully convinced the blacksmith.

Atsuta turned away and began looking for something else.

“That title doesn’t mean anything. Back to what we were talking about, I can only lend you a weapon. If I give it to you, it’ll ruin my business.”

‘That’s all I needed. I’ve achieved my goal,’ Ryoshu almost said aloud, almost ruining his plan again. But luckily, he held back just in time.

“That’s exactly what I wanted to say.”

The blacksmith sighed, as if he had realized he’d been fooled by a kid with boogers still on his nose.

“So, which weapon do you want?”

Ryoshu had thought a lot about the different weapons, but he hadn’t really chosen one before coming here. He had planned to decide after working with some Mana.

A sword is not a bad idea, since he knew many strong sword techniques in the game. However, he didn’t really want to engage in close combat, especially since he had no experience.

A staff is also a pretty good idea as well. Even though his Mana was currently zero, he would fix that soon, so it wouldn’t be an issue. However, becoming a mage could be a bit difficult for someone like Ryoshu who liked mobility. Casting spells took time and you had to stand still, so it was too restrictive for him.

A spear isn’t exactly his specialty either, so that was out of the equation.

Ryoshu walked around, examining each weapon. Some were familiar game items, but others were new to him.

Suddenly, he noticed a beautifully designed bow. The bow had a color like butterfly wings and many golden, swirling patterns on it.

‘A bow seems like a reasonable choice.’

Ryoshu took the bow from the wall. However, he couldn’t tell if it was good or bad, because he didn’t have a system to evaluate its stats.

“The Formless Bow,” – Atsuta grabbed the bow from his hand. “Your eyes aren’t bad.”

But Ryoshu was caught off guard and said, “Huh?”

“This is a weapon that my friend made a while ago. It’s a great weapon, but it’s without a master. I contributed a little to it,” – Atsuta picked it up with a self-satisfied smile on his old face.

“But he only made about half of it and said he got bored, so he stopped. Haha. Then he just threw it at me. That damn guy...”

Atsuta looked at it with a melancholy smile. Ryoshu’s heart tightened, as it seemed like he had realized the sad truth. The blacksmith handed the beautiful bow to Ryoshu with great care, gently.

‘Is this bow not in the game? Or am I going to be an archer now?’

After all, he didn’t have close combat experience, so fighting from a distance would be much more effective. He wouldn’t face too many risks either, as he could shoot from far away. And even if he missed or ran into trouble, he could just run away.

‘Besides, a bow could be quite flexible and mobile, so it also meets my second requirement. But learning how to handle and shoot arrows properly... That’s not an easy task either.’ – Ryoshu took the bow and tried to pose with it to see if it suited him.

“Have you decided yet?” the blacksmith asked.

Ryoshu remained silent, tightening his grip on the bow more than ever.

‘Alright, why overthink this? I’ve made up my mind! This time, I’ll be an archer.’

Ryoshu started walking towards the old man with the Formless Bow in hand. Suddenly, he tripped over something and fell to the floor.

“You should watch where you’re going, kid. You’ll ruin all my weapons now.”

“Yes, sorry...”

‘I should’ve been more careful. I’ve lost all my dignity now.’

While cursing his life, Ryoshu wondered, ‘But what the hell did I trip over?’

He grabbed the object he had tripped on.

‘This is a chain, right? Why is it here in this secret room?’ – He pulled it out from a pile of broken weapons in the room, but it was stuck tightly in place.

Ryoshu put more force into it to pull it free. Suddenly, he managed to pull it out easily. And at the same moment...

A sharp knife flew out of the pile of weapons and sped straight toward him.

It came so fast that he couldn’t react in time.

Everything seemed frozen at that moment.

Ryoshu seemed to see the knife about to take his life right before his eyes.

‘Am I really going to die like this?’ – Tears hadn’t even had time to fall.

“No!!”