The Heavenly Demon Can't Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 554

Ha Seong-tae didn’t usually pay much attention to walk-in customers.

Miracle was always busy. Hundreds of customers came every day.

Ha Seong-tae was about to greet the customer routinely, but he felt a strange sensation the moment he saw the sword.

Clack.

‘Now, look at this.’

The feeling of it settling comfortably in his grip was extraordinary.

Usually, swords didn’t feel as good as they looked, but this one felt like it was thoroughly designed with the user in mind.

In fact, one could tell just by looking at its appearance.

The sword, slightly shorter than a typical longsword, indicated the user’s preferred combat style, and it was clear that the sword’s creator had made it custom.

He angled the blade slightly under the light, and it shimmered smoothly across the surface.

‘Woah.’

An exclamation escaped his lips.

It was solid.

He hadn’t seen a sword of this quality recently; one could see the craftsman’s blood, sweat, and tears in its creation.

However, that didn’t mean it could be classified as a top-grade item.

While the sword’s craftsmanship was undoubtedly impressive, in these times, when monsters attacked, a sword was not just judged by how it looked or felt.

It was all about skill manifestation.

Only by how well it accepted mana could a weapon truly be recognized for its worth.

‘Maybe it’s just a well-made normal sword. What a shame. If you enhance skill manifestation through crafting skills, the weapon’s inherent quality is bound to suffer due to the reliance on skills. Of course, that doesn’t mean a high skill manifestation alone qualifies it as top-grade, but this level of perfection is highly likely to be a weapon made purely by hand, without any crafting skills involved.’

Based on his experience, Ha Seong-tae came to a conclusion in a fleeting moment.

With a composed expression, trying to hide his excitement, he checked the skill manifestation, and the moment he channeled mana from the mana stone, something shocking happened.

Whoosh.

“……?!”

The mana was instantly sucked in.

The sword glowed radiantly, its brilliant form signifying that it had perfectly accepted the mana.

His thoughts raced. He couldn’t understand what was happening.

As perfect as it was as a weapon, it should have shown flaws as a mana weapon, but in that fleeting moment, it had clearly deviated from the norm. From then on, he couldn’t handle it in a businesslike manner.

Examining the sword intently, he increased the amount of mana he was injecting this time.

Whoooosh.

Initially, he used F-grade mana.

Once it perfectly absorbed that, he gradually increased the mana to E-grade, D-grade, and C-grade.

Park Cheol-min’s weapon devoured the mana like a glutton, eventually gulping down mana equivalent to B-grade.

‘This is insane.’

It was certain.

This weapon was equivalent to B-grade.

Ordinary people might just think of it as a good weapon, but it was different from the perspective of a craftsman who directly made mana weapons.

It was perfect as a normal sword, but it also acted like a magic sword of B-grade. In fact, it was hard to believe that its ability to accept mana itself was B-grade; it was that remarkable.

He swallowed hard, his throat dry.

This was beyond his ability to handle.

He knew he had to call the master right away. Ha Seong-tae, without realizing it, looked at Park Cheol-min and cautiously asked.

“Excuse me, but this is an amazing sword. If you don’t mind me asking, where did you get it?”

He regretted it as soon as he said it.

There was no way he would readily reveal the creator of such a remarkable item.

But.

“It’s a supply item I received from the government. Is there a problem?”

“……This is a supply item?”

A supply item.

At that completely unexpected word, Ha Seong-tae’s thoughts came to a complete standstill.

Right now, Park Cheol-min couldn’t quite understand this situation.

During the recent war against the Great Catastrophe, every member of the direct unit who had received a sword from Roman Dmitry showed nothing but admiration.

The sword’s true worth was revealed on the battlefield. It wasn’t just that its skill manifestation was outstanding; no matter how many enemies they faced, the sword never broke or dulled.

Park Cheol-min, too, was completely captivated.

That’s how the war ended.

He had taken good care of the sword, so there were no apparent problems with its appearance, but he still visited the repair center just in case.

If there was a problem with the sword that he wasn’t aware of, and if he neglected it and the sword were to break, Park Cheol-min sincerely felt that his heart would shatter.

His life as a hunter meant this was the first time he had such a weapon.

As much as he cherished it, he left the repair centers in Incheon and specifically sought out Miracle in Seoul.

And now, he was faced with an absurd situation.

The master of Miracle, the greatest craftsman of the Great Korean Empire, had appeared at Ha Seong-tae’s call, looking at Park Cheol-min with a serious expression.

“Okay, listen carefully. The reason I came so quickly is because this weapon of yours… it’s incredible. There are many weapons in the world with high skill manifestation. I myself have experience crafting A-grade weapons, so I wouldn’t be so surprised just by its skill manifestation. The problem is the sword’s inherent quality. Are you familiar with ‘crafting skills,’ Park Cheol-min?”

Park Cheol-min shifted uncomfortably.

That’s usually the case. After the Great Cataclysm, many Awakened chose to become Hunters, but some Awakened, like us, are not fighters. Crafting skills are key to making mana weapons. Normal iron weapons take a long time in a hot furnace, but mana weapons are different. You need special crafting skills to put mana into them. The better your crafting skill, the better the mana weapon. Because of this, people have powerful weapons to fight monsters. But because they focused on mana, mana weapons are not as physically strong as normal swords.

This was a problem.

If they made a sword perfect as a sword, it couldn’t hold mana well. If they focused on mana, the sword itself became weaker.

That’s why famous weapon makers, called ‘named artisans,’ became important.

Their weapons showed very high skill levels, Grade A or higher, and the weapons themselves were also very strong.

But Park Cheol-min’s sword was different.

Usually, even the best swords from famous artisans were still seen as ‘mana weapons’ first. But Park Cheol-min’s sword, even if you ignored the mana part, was as good as swords made by old masters who spent their whole lives just making swords.

It was unbelievable.

How could such an amazing sword be just a common item?

The Master leaned forward, his voice full of wonder. “Park Cheol-min’s sword is perfectly balanced. Tell me honestly, where did you get this sword? No one in their right mind would give away a sword like this as a common item! Tell me the secret, or even just where it came from, and I will pay you well.”

The Master was sure Park Cheol-min was hiding something.

This sword was too good to be a common item. Every weapon maker would want it. It was a treasure.

Park Cheol-min felt his face flush with embarrassment.

His sword?

It really was just a common item.

Roman Dmitry had made thirty-one swords and given them to his unit members. They were good swords, yes, but clearly just common items.

Of course, everyone in the unit was happy to get them.

They knew the swords were good in battle, but they weren’t weapon makers. They didn’t know how truly special these swords were.

Park Cheol-min didn’t know what to say.

Park Cheol-min closed his mouth, feeling trapped.

The Master offered money, but telling him that Roman Dmitry made the sword… that was a problem. It was a secret he wasn’t sure he should share.

He hesitated, unsure what to do.

Maybe the Master saw Park Cheol-min’s worry.

The Master spoke again, his voice softer now. “I understand you might be worried. I won’t push you. If you don’t want to tell me, I will accept it. But please understand why I need to know. This sword… it could change everything. Right now, mana weapons are graded by their mana skills. But if we can also make the swords themselves perfect, the whole grading system will change. Honestly, the grades don’t even matter anymore. Even though your sword is only Grade B by today’s standards, it’s much more than that. Please, just tell me where it came from. How it was made could start a whole new age of weapon making.”

His voice was full of hope.

Park Cheol-min looked at the Master’s pleading eyes. He thought hard.

Finally, after a long silence, he said slowly, “…I can’t decide alone if I should tell you. Give me one day. I need to think about whether to tell you the truth I know. I will tell you tomorrow.”

“……This is the situation.”

It was Kim Jun-hyuk.

He had received the report from Park Cheol-min and told Roman Dmitry the story as it was.

Miracle’s request.

They were desperate.

They acted as if they would give up everything to know the sword’s origin.

This was unexpected for Kim Jun-hyuk.

He didn’t know much about crafting and only knew that Roman Dmitry had made an excellent sword.

He never imagined it would make a group like Miracle so anxious.

Roman Dmitry said.

“Kim Jun-hyuk,” Roman Dmitry began, looking out at the city, “when I learned about the Great Han Empire, I saw how hard its history has been. Small land, surrounded by sea and strong countries, few people, and not many resources. What do you think this small country needs to become a world power?”

Kim Jun-hyuk answered quickly, “A strong army. In these dangerous times, strength is everything.”

“Exactly,” Roman Dmitry nodded. “This country must become strong. But to be truly strong, we can’t just rely on others. The people of the Great Han Empire need to grow stronger themselves. That’s why we are teaching martial arts to the direct unit. The Great Han Empire will become powerful, starting with the direct unit, the Guardian Unit, and Baek Il. Soon, we will have an army stronger than anyone can imagine. But that’s not enough to rule the world. Even with a strong army, the Great Han Empire still needs resources from other countries. We can’t just rely on ourselves for everything.”

He paused, then turned back to Kim Jun-hyuk.

“We need to make our own special weapons. Weapons so powerful that the whole world will want them from us. Miracle’s reaction shows us that’s possible. If one sword I made can change how people think about mana weapons, then everyone who needs to fight monsters will want these new weapons. They will come here from across the sea and give us anything we ask for.”

Roman Dmitry’s eyes shone with a new idea.

He saw a new future for the Great Han Empire, not just based on fighting, but on something more…

There’s something missing in this world.

Hunters become stronger to fight monsters, but they can’t really explain how.

They use a simple method called the system to quickly build a new civilization, instead of working hard to create martial arts and learning from mistakes.

Crafting is the same.

Mana weapons are made with crafting skills, but people have forgotten the details in exchange for getting weapons to fight monsters.

The heat of the furnace, the way of hammering steel, and using your senses to see and feel directly, not just relying on skills.

Of course, you need to work hard to make good mana weapons, but it’s not quite the same as the efforts of the past.

He looked at the weapons he had made and felt sure of it.

Just like the martial arts taught to the direct unit and the Guardian Unit caused excitement, crafting technology could also start a revolution.

Here in the Great Han Empire.

Roman Dmitry dreamed of a new Dmitry.

If Dmitry was built on steelmaking technology, then he also had the technology in his head to make the Great Han Empire strong and successful.

The Great Han Empire will be at the center of technology development.

Roman Dmitry was planning a new future to strengthen the Great Han Empire, not just with military power.

Therefore, with a firm voice, Roman Dmitry said, “Tell Park Cheol-min to reveal that I made that sword.”