novelraw Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Wangchuan: Male (Blacksmith) (Hunger 57/100)
Strength 8+1; Attack 3–3
Agility 8; Defense 1.6; Speed +8
Stamina 8+1; HP 90/90
Spirit 8: (Not Activated)
Life Skill “Hundredfold Steel Forging Technique”: Beginner Level; Next Stage: Minor Mastery 0/100
Current Location: Tian’nan Continent, Nanyu Kingdom, Sanhe Commandery, Huishui County, Blackstone Village
Wangchuan summoned his character status panel and discovered that a new suffix had appeared after his name.
The original villager identity had now become Blacksmith.
When he focused his gaze on Blacksmith, information feedback surfaced:Profession Attribute Bonus: +1 Strength, +1 Stamina.
It had actually increased his attributes by two points.
Wangchuan was thrilled.
He had studied this game for many days. He had not seen any traditional level system, nor had he been able to obtain any information beyond the village.
Yet now, because of the “Hundredfold Steel” task, he had obtained the life profession Blacksmith and gained two attribute points in one stroke.
With increased Strength, his Attack rose. Heavy, strength-based labor such as mining and hammering would become much easier.
With increased Stamina, his HP cap rose. He could endure longer than ordinary people.
Joy surged through Wangchuan’s chest.
As expected!
Staying in the blacksmith shop had been the right choice.
His weeks of hardship had not been in vain—every day, he had endured six hours of grinding for the “Hundredfold Steel” task.
Then Wangchuan looked further down.
A life skill had appeared beneath the attributes: “Hundredfold Steel Forging Technique,” Beginner Level.
The feedback stated:
“Can forge crude Hundredfold Steel ingots.”
Wangchuan immediately thought:
Did this mean that as long as he had the materials, he could forge Hundredfold Steel ingots on his own and sell them for money?
Blacksmith Sun beamed at him.
“Wangchuan, I’ve accepted so many apprentices, but only you had the patience and ability to inherit my craft and successfully complete the ‘Hundredfold Steel’ task.”
His voice was brimming with excitement.
“Haha… Starting today, you are my formal disciple.”
“Rest today. I need to plan carefully and decide whether we’ll forge Hundredfold spearheads for the village or Hundredfold sabers…”
Wangchuan smiled and accepted obediently.
“It’s all thanks to Master’s careful guidance.”
He was genuinely happy.
An increase of two attribute points meant he could mine faster in the future. His monthly bonuses might rise again.
This was a tangible benefit.
Before logging out, he deliberately counted his assets.
Because he had just passed the newcomer adaptation period and had not yet turned in income to the company, he currently had a total of 1,400 copper plates—he had already fully repaid Lin Dahai’s loan.
Even if all of that were exchanged into large copper coins, it would still be one hundred and forty coins. Bulky, heavy, and dangerously conspicuous.
“I need to deal with this money as soon as possible.”
“This game is so real, yet it doesn’t even have an item bar, a backpack, or anything. And it won’t even hand out a storage pouch. What a nuisance.”
That was Wangchuan’s complaint as he logged out.
After finally leaving the game, Wangchuan looked at the gym equipment in his apartment, already gathering dust after several days. On a sudden impulse, he decided to familiarize himself with it again, to prevent his core strength from slipping.
And then…
When he started doing pull-ups, he was deeply shaken.
Normally, he could do at most one hundred pull-ups in a row before heavy breathing set in, and he had to take a short break around one hundred and fifty.
But today, without realizing it, he easily pulled himself up one hundred and fifty times… and his body still felt cool, not overheated at all.
“What’s going on?”
Wangchuan stared in astonishment, looking at his hands, then at the bar.
Suspicion filled him.
He jumped up again and gripped the bar firmly.
He pulled up continuously—
Another one hundred-plus pull-ups, effortlessly.
“Three hundred!”
“How is that possible?”
“How did I suddenly break through?”
Wangchuan could not believe his own eyes. It felt like he was dreaming.
He knew very clearly that improving from one hundred and fifty to two hundred in one jump was already an enormous leap, yet he had just done three hundred in succession—
And he still felt like he could keep going.
Wangchuan touched his biceps and sank into deep thought.
After a moment, he moved to the vertical pole connected to floor and ceiling and smoothly performed a full set of “space walk” movements…
Then he dropped down and did three hundred push-ups.
Every single exercise he tried surpassed his previous limits, and by a wide margin.
Most notably, his bench press had increased from two hundred kilograms to two hundred and twenty.
It was as though, in an instant, some internal blockage had been completely opened.
“Good thing I wasn’t livestreaming, or my viewers would definitely think…”
“That I’m taking stimulants three meals a day.”
“But…”
“Why is this happening?”
“Could mining in 《Spirit realm》 also affect the real world, synchronizing and improving me?”
Wangchuan could not make sense of it. The only connection he could draw was that he had obtained the life profession Blacksmith, along with the +1 Strength and +1 Stamina effects.
Carrying that doubt into sleep.
The next day, Wangchuan greeted Lin Dahai and the others as if nothing had happened, then went mining…
Only, while mining, he could clearly feel that he had become different.
A body with nine points of Strength gave him a stronger, sturdier physique. The iron pickaxe felt lighter, and he only needed eighty percent of his usual force to smash loose iron ore.
The rate at which his Hunger dropped also slowed.
Work that had once been a heavy burden now felt simple and light.
Even when the convoy arrived to collect ore, a two-hundred-jin basket was something he could stand up with without needing help…
That day, he mined 1,200 jin of iron ore, earning 240 copper plates.
Lin Dahai and the others looked at him as if he were a monster.
Wangchuan shrugged and explained,
“Just good luck. More iron ore happened to drop today.”
Everyone looked enlightened, as if that was the only explanation that made sense.
Back in the village, Wangchuan received Blacksmith Sun’s new assignments.
As a formal disciple, he could now choose one of two tasks:
Task One:
Continue the “Hundredfold Steel” task, forging Hundredfold Steel ingots. Each successfully forged qualified ingot would earn 20 copper plates.
Task Two: Forge an ordinary saber. Reward: 100 copper coins.
Master Sun reminded him, “If you choose to forge an ordinary saber, I can share part of the blacksmith shop’s profits with you. I can also teach you all forging techniques.”
He then explained that forging a finished weapon required mastering everything from smelting and quenching pig iron, casting refined iron, controlling the bellows and furnace temperature, making molds, shaping the blade body, and operating independently through the entire process. It could take a month, or even longer.
After hearing that, Wangchuan chose the first option without hesitation.
What he needed right now was money—fast accumulation to raise his wages and bonuses, not learning weapon forging, becoming a true blacksmith, and triggering main storyline tasks.
The company would not allow that.
At the same time!
He inferred that continuing the Hundredfold Steel task would also advance his life skill “Hundredfold Steel Forging Technique.”
Once the foundation was solid, forging finished weapons would naturally become far more efficient.
It was like building a tower from the ground up. He was only a blacksmith apprentice who could forge ordinary iron tools. His master was a mature blacksmith who could forge Hundredfold weapons. But above that, there were surely higher-level craftsmen—perhaps even grandmaster blacksmiths—capable of forging legendary named weapons.
First, solidify the foundation.
Task Two could be taken anytime anyway.
“Ding! Accepted ‘Hundredfold Steel’ task.”