Brony’s heart was still thumping wildly even after he logged back inside Athenae. He thought, ‘Hyaa... I didn’t even know. My god. Kang Minhyuk. That damn bastard’s father is Chairman Kang Minhoo.’

Then, another thought flashed in his mind, ‘Did I just provoke his child again?’

His father also made sure to add this as a reminder for him. He said, ‘You both are alumni of the same school so there might be a chance that you’ll meet again. But if that happens, try to avoid creating friction. Although, everyone knows that Ilhwa Group is a company that does not use their prestige and power to step down on others. At least, try to avoid any sort of trouble, just to be safe.’ 

Just like what Brony’s father had said, Ilhwa Group had never been surrounded by bad rumors and gossip. This was one of the reasons why the masses trusted them. Then, Brony thought, ‘When me and my friends had a conflict with Minhyuk, he also solved the problem on his own and did not flaunt the power of their company. I have to keep this in mind. I’m a tiger cub that has grown enough to be considered a tiger too.’ 

Brony nodded as he walked towards the inn where they agreed to meet with Kald. He did not bring along any of his guild members to this meeting. Then, he opened the door to Room 201, the room that he and Kald had agreed to meet at earlier. There, right inside the room was Kald, a person that he had only seen on TV. Brony said, “Hello. I’m Horden Guild’s Brony.” 

“I’m Kald,” He said coolly. This was the second in the Blacksmith Rankings! The person who had created an epic artifact!  From what Brony had heard, the epic artifact had sold for 400 million won on the auction site. Kald was also one of the executives of Ares Guild.

“Can I hear about your request right now?”

“Yes,” Kald agreed as he started to explain his request. He continued to say, “Just like you have guessed, this request needs utmost secrecy and full cooperation from you and your guild members. In fact, I think it’s better that they act without knowing who their client is.”

“Ah, yes,” Brony said. He had already told Elaine to keep mum about this.

“You need to move quietly. All you have to do is take over a mine called Bretley.” 

“You mean, the whole mine?”

“Yes. You know about the Bretley Mines, right?” 

“Yes, it was also known as the chocolate mine.” 

Kald nodded as he said, “Just three days. You have to take over the Bretley Mines in three days.”

“So, we only need to take over...”

Kald nodded. The mines had miners, but there were also troops and administrators sent from the kingdom that managed these miners. Fortunately, Bretley Mines was a mine for novice miners and blacksmiths, so the troops and players there were only low-leveled. Basically, taking over a field, a dungeon or an area worked like so…

“You want me to kill off all of the soldiers of the kingdom’s troops and monopolize the place. At that time, you will be going into the mine to find the item that you need?”

“That’s right.”

“May I ask what you’re looking for?”

“No.”

“...”

Kald did not hesitate to cut him off. Then, he said, “Your Horden guild need only do two things: first, take over the mines, cut off all the connections or communications with the kingdom. Second, get rid of the sudden influx of stronger monsters that will come out from inside the Bretley Mines.”

“Stronger monsters?”

Monsters usually appeared inside Bretley Mines. However, they were only at around Level 70 to Level 100. Usually, the troops sent by the kingdom would take care of the monsters in advance before the miners could go inside and mine for ores and minerals.

“Yes. That’s when everything will start. I will hide my presence as much as possible and go inside while your Horden Guild takes care of the monsters that will come out.” 

“And in the process...” Brony said. He already could tell what was going to happen.

“All the miners inside will die.”

***

Brony left the inn once their conversation was over. Kald was left alone inside the room. He carefully took out a black key from his pocket. This key was something that he received unexpectedly. He thought, ‘The chocolate mines. A rare artifact material exists inside those mines.’

The key was a key that would open a secret place inside the chocolate mines! The material hidden in that secret place was a level higher than the material used for making the Dragon Sword. However, Kald decided to use the hands of the Horden Guild for a reason. He thought, ‘If that damn bastard hiding in Barras Kingdom knew, I would definitely not be able to get my hands on it!’

According to Kald’s understanding of that person, the bastard would stand guard and control the mine if he knew of the existence of the material. If the mines were controlled, there would be no room for Kald to go inside. The plan that he had in mind was too reckless. Initially, Kald wanted to kill off Barras Kingdom’s troops and take over the mines for himself. However, if he did that, then Barrass Kingdom would come after him. 

If that was the case, it was better for the Horden Guild to do it so they would be the ones chased by the kingdom. After all, that was what their guild was best at. They did the dirty work for others and got chased for it!

‘There are only three people, including me, who can make an artifact out of the material inside that mine,’ Kald thought as he recalled these people. The first one was Casias. Casias was the number one in the Blacksmith Rankings, the person that ranked higher than himself. And the second one was the mysterious creator of the Dragon Sword. The number one blacksmith Casias was currently in Dwarven Territory, while the mysterious Dragon Sword creator had been missing for months. That was why Kald believed that this was the perfect time for him to act. 

‘There’s no time better than now! With that material alone, I can make an artifact that can go beyond the Dragon Sword and help me increase my reputation and fame! Keuhahahahaha!’

As long as he created an artifact that surpassed the Dragon Sword, he would be able to climb to the top of the Blacksmith Rankings! Kald smiled coldly at the thought.

***

Blacksmith Ruwan was a member of the Fifth Mining Team. He was currently looking down as he stood in front of the Fifth Mining Team’s Captain Leton. Leton sighed and said, “Sigh. The blacksmith that came yesterday is not coming again today.”

“He must have ran away.”

“Most likely. Every day, the foreigners continue to run away as soon as they come here.”

When he heard his words, Ruwan thought to himself, ‘If I hadn't received my hidden class job change quest, I would have run away too...’

Compared to manual labor in reality, working at the mines here was much more intense and labor-intensive.The worst part was that the inside of the mines was boiling hot and dust kept on flying around. The dust was so acrid that it was too painful to breathe or see. Even if someone told them that they would be able to quickly increase their Blacksmithing Proficiency by working in the mines, none of them would stay. They would definitely run away! However, Ruwan had been trying to hold out for a week because of his quest.

“What will those lazy bastards do in the future?!” Ruwan said, trying to increase his favor with Leton in hopes of getting better rewards. However, that thought was fading away by the day. He thought, ‘I can’t believe that this whole mining team is on the brink of disbanding... Sigh, how did I even think of coming here, I’m so unlucky!’

The Fifth Mining Team headed by Leton had the lowest yield of minerals and ores. Also, Leton had a conflict with the troops from Barras Kingdom, which caused the soldiers to pretend not to notice even though their mining team was receiving less support compared to others. One such example of their negligence was their tools. Their pickaxes were all rusty. Even their personnel were injured. However, despite the injuries, they still continued to work due to the shortage of manpower. As a result, the materials that they dug out were poor in quality.

However, even if that was the case, Ruwan still had to endure and hold out! This was his only chance to change his class from warrior to the hidden class ‘Steel Blacksmith’! Although Ruwan did not have any blacksmithing skills since he had not finished changing his class yet, he was still well-loved by the miners in this place due to his high endurance, stamina and power. The only thing that Ruwan needed to do was to dig out a special ore called mithril to complete his ‘Hidden Quest: Steel Blacksmith’. Then, he could kiss this damned place goodbye!

“Yooo, Leton. I heard that the personnel officer will be assigning a foreigner to your Fifth Mining Team!”

“Oh, is that true?” Leton asked, face brightening. Anyone was welcomed since their Fifth Mining Team was lacking hands! However, he still wondered what was going on since the officers did not give them new recruits lately.

However, Ruwan still said, “I’ll go and get him! 

“Oh, is that so? It’s good that you’re friendly, boy!” 

“It’s nothing,” Ruwan said, quickly rushing over to fetch the new recruit. He might look friendly right now but he would high tail it if he did not get anything from Leton the moment he received his hidden class! However, he needed to find a replacement, otherwise Leton would fry him. Then, Ruwan finally arrived in front of the personnel officer. He saw a player eating what seemed to be chocolate.

“This mine’s chocolate is really, really delicious... Wow. I’m so jealous of the miners. They could eat this everyday...!” 

“...”

Ruwan clicked his tongue and thought, ‘That chocolate will be your wage!’ 

Other quests would give gold as reward, but quests in this mine would only give chocolates as their wage. It was up to the player whether they would sell it or eat it. But then, Ruwan suddenly stopped in his tracks, he asked, “...Are, are you actually crying?” 

“It’s because it’s really, really delicious,” the man said, his face filled with tears.

‘What the hell, is this person for real?’ Ruwan thought. However Ruwan still led him to the Fifth Mining Team while trying to probe him for more details. He asked, “What’s your level and your job class?”

“I’m at Level 90, and my main class is a chef. Ah. I can do bandaging, farming and even use swords. Oh, I can do that too!” 

“What?” Ruwan asked cautiously after seeing the confident look on the man’s face.

“Eating 100 boxes of choco pie in one sitting!”

Grin.

Ruwan chuckled at his antics. It seemed like the man was truly a moron. But then, he thought, ‘Who does this f*cker think he is trying to kid? How can a player learn bandaging, farming, blacksmithing and even cooking?’ 

What the man said was completely beyond common sense. After all, there was a limit on learning production skills. Besides, his level was only at Level 90. Ruwan thought that this player was just bluffing. Even eating 100 boxes of chocopie in one sitting was also nonsense.

“So when did you learn your blacksmithing skills?” Ruwan asked. This was the most important question. He asked this to determine his talent and capabilities.

“Yesterday!”

‘I’m just glad that his spirit is blazing, I finally found my replacement,’ Ruwan thought, smiling bitterly. Then, he led him to where the miners were.

Once they arrived in front of the miners, the player named Minhyuk suddenly bowed towards the miners. He said, “Hello. I’m Minhyuk. Please take care of me!”

“Oho. Such a nice boy. I see,” Leton said with a smile

Meanwhile, Ruwan tilted his head in confusion. He asked, “Huh? Leton. Your knee…” 

Leton’s knees were bleeding through his torn cover-alls. Leton said, “Ah, this? I just fell down when I was dragging the cart over.”

“No, you’re the leader so why are you pulling the cart? I feel bad for you!” Ruwan said.  Of course, it was just a pretentious remark on his part.

Just then, the player named Minhyuk stepped forward and said, “Will you let me see the wound?”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

Leton and Ruwan looked at him with confusion plastered on their faces.

***

When Minhyuk heard the name ‘Leton’, he could intuitively tell that this was the person related to the ‘Chocolate Tree’ so he stepped forward only to see blood flowing down his knees! Minhyuk believed that this was the perfect chance for him to increase his bandaging skill and treat people’s injuries!

Leton looked at him in doubt as he asked, “B…boy. Are you a healer? No. Why would a healer come here?”

“Ah. I learned the bandaging skill.”

“Bandaging skill?”

“Yes,” Minhyuk said as he wiped Leton’s bleeding knees with some tissue, before taking out some bandages.

Ruwan, on the other hand, watched him work as he thought, ‘How much recovery would a Level 90 player with a bandaging skill even have? Tsk!’. Ruwan knew well how much recovery the bandaging skill had. It was just like bandaging in real life!

Then, Minhyuk cast the bandaging skill on the wound by saying, “Bandage!”

His hands moved gently and smoothly. He looked like he was someone who had wrapped hundreds and thousands of bandages. Ruwan’s eyes widened in disbelief when he saw him working on Leton’s wound. He thought, ‘Gasp? How can he wrap it so well?’

[The bandage has been wrapped perfectly.]

[The bleeding has been stopped.]

[You have received an additional 2% injury recovery.]

[The recovery time has become faster.]

“The… the bleeding... stopped right away...!”

Compared to the mannequin that did not bleed when he practiced his bandaging skill, an injured person would bleed. That was why Minhyuk was aware that it was essential to stop the bleeding first. If he achieved a perfect bandage, the bleeding would most likely stop. And if the bleeding stopped, then the injured would feel a lot better. Besides, thanks to the additional effect on his Novice Bandage skill, the injured would receive additional wound recovery rate, decreasing the recovery time. The bandaging skill did not have immediate effects after all. It was a skill that would help the injured gradually recover.

At the moment, Leton could feel that the numbing pain on his knees had disappeared together with the bleeding. He could even move his knees better after it got bandaged. He slowly moved his knees to check and said, “Oh! Thank you! I was worried that it would be a hassle for my work today.”

[You have received Leton’s favor.]

“Hehe. It was nothing much,” Minhyuk said. However, that was not the end. Minhyuk’s eyes turned sharp as he looked around and saw the state of Leton’s mining equipment. He exclaimed,  “No! Why are you mining with something like this? It looks like it’s about to break!”

“Sigh... What can I do if those damn bastards from the Barras Kingdom don't send us any support?”

Tools were very important. However, they were mining with pickaxes like that? It would already be a relief if the tools did not break while they were working. So, Minhyuk said, “Please give it to me. I’ll fix it for you.”

“Oho, is that so? When did you learn the art of blacksmithing, boy?”

“Yesterday!”

“....”

Leton’s expression was quite similar to Ruwan’s expression earlier when he heard Minhyuk’s words.