Owner of Twilight Intuition – Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“Lastly?”

“Because you learned so well, Rudin-nim. And you can check the requests by saying ‘Request Information Window’. Also, requests can be broadly classified into two types: requests that arise in the game and player requests.”

“Player requests?”

“Those are requests given by players to other players. The downside is that you need a quest scroll. Also, although the penalties vary depending on the scroll, the advantage is that the player who gives the quest can decide the reward.”

“What happens if I give a quest and don’t provide the reward upon completion?”

“First of all, your fame will be reduced. There are also other negative consequences, so it’s best not to do it.”

I nod. They wouldn’t have created a quest system without thinking it through.

Clap, clap, clap━

“This concludes the basic operation tutorial!~ Congratulations.”

“Okay, thank you.”

“You’re welcome~ I’m also glad that you seem to have adapted quickly, Rudin-nim. Oh, and we provide a small amount of money and a random skill book to everyone who starts. You should receive yours too, Rudin-nim.”

“A random skill book?”

[Ding!~ You have acquired 10 Silver.]

[Ding!~ You have acquired a Random Skill Book.]

“A random skill book is, as the name suggests, a skill book that grants you a random skill. You can’t go out there without any skills, right?”

“That’s true.”

In this game where the presence or absence of skills is crucial, it would be difficult for anyone to start without any. So that’s why they give out a random skill book?

“Then it’s time for you to leave. Where would you like to go? A general description will suffice. For example, a place with a lot of people, or conversely, a secluded place where you won’t see anyone, like that.”

“Of course, I should go to a place with a lot of people.”

“Yes, I understand. Then I hope you find what you’re looking for on the Street Lit by Twilight.”

With Noah’s words, my vision was engulfed in light.

Flash!-

The world changes.

The pure white space where I was with Noah disappeared without a trace, and dozens of buildings appeared one after another.

[Ding!~ You have been moved to ‘Hispeon’, the capital of the Harpe Empire.]

I was transported to a town. No, the capital? Anyway, the moment I realized I had moved to a different place, the lively sounds of people reached my ears.

Murmur~ Murmur~

“……There are more people than I expected.”

People looking around with curious eyes. People shouting that they couldn’t believe this was a game. People just wandering around. Realizing that all of these were players, I couldn’t help but be amazed.

However, I couldn’t be amazed forever.

“I should start moving too.”

In previous games, the beginning was hunting through quests. How would it be in Twilight? Well, either way, standing around blankly was a waste of time.

“Oh, but before that, I should learn a skill.”

I took out the random skill book that Noah had given me from my item window. If I could get a useful skill here, it would be a good start.

“Okay then.”

[Would you like to open the skill book? Upon opening, a skill will be automatically acquired.]

“Oh?”

A message window appeared as soon as I held the skill book with both hands. It seems that a skill is acquired when the book is opened here.

‘I didn’t expect there to be an option.’

Realizing that, I grinned and closed my eyes without opening the book.

I close my eyes and check the sensation I feel in my chest.

‘The maximum rank is S-rank, so…… should I give it a try?’

Come on, S-rank!

In a way, this was the most crucial moment. If my intuition didn’t work, I might have to sell the VR capsule second-hand. So, this time, I desperately wished for my intuition to kick in, and as if to answer my wish, a feeling of unknown anxiety began to creep in.

But……

‘Huh? Huh? This is strange……’

“Ugh.”

Until now, my intuition was just a faint feeling of anxiety creeping up on me. But the sensation I was feeling now was on a different level. To put it simply, it was like the anxiety of falling into a bottomless abyss?

No, it was closer to dizziness than anxiety.

‘Is there something wrong with my intuition?’

An unfamiliar sensation I hadn’t felt in two years. A sensation that was difficult to even explain made this moment feel strange.

……I think I need to check it properly.

I couldn’t just let it go. When I took one hand off the random skill book, the message window asking if I wanted to open it disappeared. At the same time, the anxiety also disappeared without a trace, but I still didn’t relax and thought.

‘F-rank. I want F-rank. An F-rank skill will appear.’

[Would you like to open the skill book? Upon opening, a skill will be automatically acquired.]

‘This is crazy!’

Even though I thought of an F-rank skill, there was no change. The same anxiety as before seemed to dominate my body.

‘Should I just open it?’

An impulsive thought. But it was also a way to check if my intuition was working. I used my intuition based on the F-rank. So, if a skill other than F-rank appeared, it meant my intuition was working, and conversely, if an F-rank skill appeared, it meant my intuition was useless.

After pondering for a while, I soon nodded and opened the skill book.

[You have acquired the C-rank skill ‘Dwarven Weapon Crafting’.]

[Your stats will increase as you acquire the skill.]

[Strength increases by 2.]

[Ding!~ A new stat ‘Stamina’ has been created. Stamina is the physical strength that allows for activity. The higher your stamina, the longer you can move, and it also increases your health points.]

[Stamina increases by 2.]

[Ding!~ A new stat ‘Technique’ has been created. Technique is the ability to craft items with greater skill. The higher your technique, the higher the quality of the items you craft.]

[Technique increases by 3.]

“……C-rank?”

The reaction of my intuition was strange, so I wondered if an F-rank skill might not appear, but unexpectedly, a C-rank skill appeared. My prediction was off.

In a way, it was off in a good way, but……

‘The result is the same, isn’t it? But I don’t know why this is happening.’

It activates, but it activates strangely, how should I say it? I let out a long sigh in a situation where it was difficult to pinpoint what was wrong and checked the skill I had learned.

[Dwarven Weapon Crafting] (C-rank)

Description: A skill that allows the crafting of weapons based on various metals. It is a crafting technique possessed by dwarves, and the quantity of materials required is determined by the type of weapon being crafted.

<Increased Stats: Strength (2), Stamina (2), Technique (3)>

<Current Proficiency: LV1 (0.00%)>

“Sigh, if it was going to appear anyway, it should have been a combat skill.”

I’ve never tried production skills before.

I definitely earned 200 million won through online games. However, that was only through enhancements. Unlike the typical Dark Gamer, the way I earned money was by buying items, enhancing them, and then reselling them.

I was closer to a gambler than a Dark Gamer.

To add a further explanation, although I played almost all online games with enhancement systems, because I played so many games, I barely had any properly developed characters.

‘In the first place, the reason I dabbled in so many games was because of money.’

Well, it feels like the story went off on a tangent, but it doesn’t mean the skill I acquired now is bad. After all, even if the level goes up, the stat increase is minimal, isn’t it? Considering that, it would be a waste to throw away a crafting skill.

And……

“Is it because it’s a C-rank skill?”

Checking again, the stat increases were decent. A total of 7 stat points increased? Basic Swordsmanship only increased by 2, so the crafting skill I just acquired was definitely good.

“To use the skill I learned, I need to……”

I recall the commands I learned from Noah earlier.

“Skill Use. Dwarven Weapon Crafting.”

[Beep━ Unable to use.]

[You do not possess the appropriate items.]

“……”

Appropriate items? Does that mean I need to have a hammer or something?

Still, my gaming experience so far wasn’t for nothing, as I easily thought of a hammer and even guessed the place where I could buy it.

“I need to find a blacksmith.”

Even if it wasn’t a blacksmith, there wouldn’t be a problem. If necessary, I could ask the owner for hints. It was a game that boasted the title of virtual reality, so I didn’t think the NPCs would keep repeating the same lines.

As I was walking, I heard the shouts of a nearby player.

“Oh! E-rank skill! Fireball!”

“Ah, damn it! F-rank skill! What the hell is this!”

“Give me a magic skill too!”

“Shut up! I got a Passive Skill!”

Most of the players were making a fuss after opening the random skill book. Players who got decent skills immediately ran off to hunting grounds, while those who didn’t were cursing, so it was only natural that it was noisy.

“In that sense, I’m doing pretty well.”

I got a C-rank skill, so compared to them, I wasn’t doing badly. Although I opened it to check my ability, didn’t I get a high-ranking skill in the process?

My intuition was still ambiguous though.

‘Anyway, it would be faster to find someone who looks like an NPC and ask.’

The capital city called Hispeon was much larger than I had imagined. Moreover, since I didn’t know the location of the blacksmith, I couldn’t just wander around aimlessly, so I started looking for someone who looked like an NPC.

And it wasn’t difficult to find that NPC.

‘That person over there, I guess.’

Their attire was different. All the players who were currently logged in were wearing worn cloth clothes that symbolized beginners, while only that young man was dressed neatly.

Wasn’t that like saying ‘I’m an NPC~’?

I approached the young man.

“Hello. Do you happen to know where the blacksmith is?”

“The blacksmith? It’s not difficult. If you go straight down this road, you’ll see a hammer-shaped sign. That’s the blacksmith.”

“Yes, thank you.”

That was easy.

Having easily found the location of the blacksmith, I immediately headed there. If I could make a simple weapon at the blacksmith and use it to hunt……

“……Come to think of it, where do you learn skills?”

The game I’ve learned about so far was one where you get stronger as you learn skills. So, to hunt, acquiring skills was more important than anything else. I’d naturally find out as time went on, though.

‘Found it.’

In addition, I found the blacksmith and immediately went inside.

Murmur~ Murmur~

‘Huh? There are a lot of people here too.’

Well, it’s only natural, right?

They gave us 10 Silver to start with, but they didn’t give us any weapons, so people had no choice but to buy basic weapons to hunt.

“Ah! This weapon is good, but it costs 20 Silver!”

“Just buy the cheapest weapon. It only costs 4 Silver.”

“Crazy, is that even a weapon?”

4 Silver?

Listening to the players’ conversation, it seemed like weapons cost 4 Silver. It was an expensive price, but considering the 10 Silver they gave us at the start, it was almost half.

Anyway, I approached the man who looked like the blacksmith NPC amidst the players.

“Excuse me, I want to craft a weapon, what items do I need?”

“You want to craft a weapon? First, you’ll need a crafting hammer and an anvil. And if you have iron ingots, you should be able to craft basic weapons.”

‘Is that all?’

No fire for quenching or water for cooling the heated metal?

Come to think of it, it was possible because it was a game. If it was realistically applied like in reality, no one would craft anything. I convinced myself and decided to buy the necessary tools first.

“Then, how much are the hammer and anvil?”

“The hammer is 2 Silver. The anvil is 5 Silver. Additionally, iron ingots are 20 Copper each.”

“……”

Why is it so expensive? Grumbling inwardly, I calculated the cost of the hammer and anvil. And it goes without saying that I also bought iron ingots since I had to make weapons.

I used up all the remaining 3 Silver, though.

As a result, I had a total of 15 iron ingots.

15……

‘It’s a bit bittersweet, but should I try making it?’

I placed the anvil on the floor, held the hammer, and quietly said:

“Skill Use. Dwarven Weapon Crafting.”

[Using the C-rank skill ‘Dwarven Weapon Crafting’.]

[Please select the weapon you want to craft.]

‘Now it works. Let’s see……’

Dagger, Short Sword, Long Sword, Greatsword, Axe, Short Spear, Long Spear……

Looking through the list, there were over 10 craftable items. Does this mean I can make all of these? Anyway, I decided to try making a Long Sword, which could be considered the most common weapon.

“Long Sword.”

[Please place the materials to be used on the anvil.]

Following the voice, I placed the iron ingots I bought for 20 Copper each onto the anvil one by one. When I placed exactly 12 iron ingots, a faint blue light emanated from the anvil, and at the same time, another message and voice came.

[Materials have been placed. The number of hammer strikes is determined by the grade of the materials placed.]

[Related stat Technique (3) is applied.]

[The number of hammer strikes is reduced. Final number of strikes: 57.]

Translator’s Blog

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