Owner of Twilight Intuition – Chapter 7

Chapter 7

‘Hmm, still, the recovery ability is pretty useful……’

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call her a walking potion. However, the problem was that this potion guzzled down half of the experience points and snatched away items as well.

For that reason, the conclusion was rejection.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not interested in hunting. I’m only doing this because of the quest.”

“I, Is that so?”

Yu-a lowered her head with a somewhat dejected expression at my rejection. Seeing her like that, I could feel my heart weakening, contrary to my cold-hearted (?) reason.

‘Ah…… No. Don’t be fooled. This is a game. Even if I treat her well here, I won’t gain anything.’

I’m certainly grateful that there’s a distinction between men and women, unlike in online games. But aside from that, what would I gain? Even if I were to hunt, I’d want to do it with a woman of similar skill level.

……Not that I’m particularly outstanding.

No, on the contrary, if I had exceptional skills, my thoughts might have been different. Who knows when I’d get to be with such a beautiful woman in my life.

‘But right now, I’m struggling to even protect myself, aren’t I? It won’t work.’

“Huh?”

Something caught my eye as I organized my thoughts and stood up.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, I think I found the quest objective.”

What I found was some ore mixed into the wall. The background was a bit dark, so it wasn’t clear, but the shimmering thing was definitely not a rock. Then it must be ore, right?

“Found it earlier than expected.”

I take out the pickaxe from the item window. Once I mine this, the quest is over!

“Skill Use. Ore Mining!”

[Cannot be used.]

“……Was this a passive skill too?”

It doesn’t matter. It’s actually better that it’s passive. Satisfied with myself, I swung the pickaxe.

Clang! Clang! Clang!-

“Rudin-nim. What are you doing?”

“Mining ore.”

“Then why are you mining the ore……”

“The quest is to bring back ore.”

After striking a few times, a satisfying message rang out.

[‘Iron Ore’ x4 acquired.]

[‘Iron Ore’ x1 acquired.]

[‘Iron Ore’ x2 acqui……]

Amazing. Even though I’ve obtained several pieces of ore, there’s not a single scratch on the wall. Perhaps I can keep obtaining it until this pickaxe breaks? I felt it was entirely possible, but unfortunately, after obtaining a few more pieces of ore, the ore mixed into the wall disappeared in an instant.

“Seems like there’s a limit.”

Of course, I had gathered enough to complete the quest. 17 pieces of iron ore. If I turn this into iron ingots, I’ll get about 3. However, it was also a woefully insufficient number to make a longsword.

“Let’s keep moving.”

“Yes.”

At the very least, I should mine until this pickaxe breaks, shouldn’t I?

I moved on to find the next iron ore, and Yu-a, whose initial goal was party hunting, nodded quietly and followed.

★⭐★⭐★⭐★

“Haa.”

As expected, there’s no reward for being nice.

In the end, I mined iron ore until the pickaxe broke and returned to the village. However, Yu-a didn’t come with me. She had left for somewhere, saying she wanted to hunt more.

It was partly my fault for saying I wasn’t interested in hunting, but……

Thanks to that, I arrived at the village alone and went to Deron to hand over the iron ore.

“Hmm, you finally brought it.”

Well, I could say I went through a lot of trouble to bring this iron ore, but Deron just received it nonchalantly.

Ugh, if it weren’t for the skill, I would’ve just……!

“Follow me. I’ll teach you how to smelt it into iron ingots.”

Anyway, I followed Deron and learned how to make iron ingots in a very simple way.

“First, you melt the iron ore, then remove the impurities, and you get iron ingots.”

It was so absurdly simple.

“……”

[NPC Request Completed.]

[Quest Experience 200 acquired!]

[F-Rank Skill ‘Iron Ingot Smelting’ acquired.]

[Stats increase due to skill acquisition.]

[Technique increases by 1.]

“How is it? Do you understand now?”

“Well…… I think I get it.”

To be honest, I don’t understand. Who could understand such abbreviated explanations? Even the message about the skill being registered is suspicious? However, since I learned the skill, I should be able to make it.

“Then try it yourself.”

“……Alright. Skill Use. Iron Ingot Smelting.”

[Specify the number of Iron Ore to use.]

“All 273.”

Originally, I had 278 pieces, but Deron used 5 of them for demonstration. Therefore, I had 273 pieces of iron ore left. Moreover, still not recovered from the shock, I put all the iron ore in at once.

[Ding!~ ‘Impure Iron Ingot’ x51 acquired.]

[Ding!~ F-Rank Skill ‘Iron Ingot Smelting’ level increased.]

[Stat Technique increases by 1.]

“……”

“Well done. You can make iron ingots like that from now on.”

Something’s different from what I expected.

‘What is ‘Impure Iron Ingot’?’

I learned the skill, but I couldn’t shake off the strangely unsettling feeling. Just in case, I took out the iron ingot from the item window and checked, and sure enough, my prediction was correct.

[Impure Iron Ingot] (Normal)

Description: An ordinary iron ingot with no special characteristics. However, due to improper removal of impurities during the smelting process, its value is lower than that of regular iron ingots.

*Material Value 3.

‘Making a weapon with this would be…… difficult.’

Just by looking at it, it’s of lower quality than the iron ingots Deron was selling. It’s a shame to throw away 51 of them, so I thought I could use them as sacrifices for skill level-up.

“Oh, right.”

I found the Kobolt Iron Clubs I had collected so far in the item window and took out all three. Since they’re clubs made of iron ore, wouldn’t they be turned into iron ingots?

With that thought, I spoke.

“Skill Use. Iron Ingot Smelting.”

[Specify the number of Iron Ore to use.]

“Hmm…… Kobolt Iron Club.”

[Ding!~ ‘Impure Iron Ingot’ x4 acquired.]

“4?”

I’m surprised it worked, but I got more iron ingots than expected. This made me think, albeit ridiculously, that I could collect iron ingots even without a pickaxe. With that thought, I turned the remaining iron clubs into iron ingots as well.

The total number of impure iron ingots I got was 11.

It seemed like one iron club could be exchanged for 3-4 iron ingots.

“By the way, Mr. Deron. Do you handle things like leather here?”

Now that I had dealt with the Kobolt Iron Clubs, I asked Deron with the intention of dealing with the remaining miscellaneous items. Since they were just taking up space in my inventory, it would be better to sell them.

“Hmm? Do you have any?”

“Yes.”

“Then show me.”

At Deron’s words, I showed him the miscellaneous items I had obtained so far: the Paralyzing Needles and Kobolt’s Hide. After examining them, Deron nodded and decided on the price.

“I’ll buy these Paralyzing Needles for 2 Copper each. And the hides for 5 Copper each.”

‘How much is that? I have 2 Paralyzing Needles and 6 hides, so……’

It was 34 Copper without even having to calculate. Is that all? But there’s no reason for Deron, an NPC, to lie, so I decided to just sell them.

“Thank you.”

[Ding!~ 34 Copper acquired.]

Trading is simple too. More importantly, is my fortune now 5 Silver 34 Copper? It’s not a large amount. Of course, it’s not a small amount either.

‘Now the only thing left is……’

Making a weapon?

One way or another, even if I go back to the mine, I needed to make a weapon. This time, I don’t have Yu-a, the healer. Besides, even if it wasn’t the mine, if I wanted to acquire items on my own, good equipment was essential.

Should I try dealing with the surplus impure iron ingots first?

Clang, clang, clang-

[Longsword completed.]

[Longsword] (Normal)

Description: An ordinary sword made from iron mixed with impurities. Despite being crafted with excellent technique, the unskilled blacksmith’s skill and the quality of the materials resulted in a subpar weapon.

<Additional Stats: Strength (1)>

<Stat Requirements: Strength (1)>

Attack Power: 9 Magic Attack Power: 0

Durability: 7/7

“Tsk.”

I expected it, but I didn’t think this kind of weapon would come out.

It’s worse than the Beginner’s Longsword sold at the blacksmith. Could I sell this for about 2 Silver? While thinking this, I dealt with the remaining surplus impure iron ingots and finally made the weapon I would use.

[Using Dwarven Weapon Crafting skill.]

‘Should I try using Intuition here as well?’

Come to think of it, this might be the chance. I decided that I needed to confirm it for sure this time, so I took a small breath and decided to use Intuition.

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

[Related stat Technique (8) is applied.]

[The number of hammer strikes is reduced. Final count: 52.]

It seems like the number of hammer strikes decreases depending on the Technique stat. What would happen if the Technique stat reached 60? Would it be completed automatically? Anyway, 52 hammer strikes wouldn’t take more than a few minutes, but this time it was different.

“Phew.”

Because I had to use Intuition.

My guess is that there’s probably a probability involved in crafting this weapon as well. If there’s a probability, then my Intuition should work too.

‘If Intuition works, then even the Tempered Longsword wouldn’t be a problem.’

By the way, this crafting system is surprisingly simple. You just place the iron ingot on the anvil and hammer it. Of course, the iron ingot wouldn’t fly off from the hammering, so I could use Intuition with peace of mind and hit the iron ingot at an angle.

Clang!

‘Is this wrong?’

I maintain composure amidst the chilling feeling of unease. It might be possible because I’ve experienced it before. Anyway, while maintaining Intuition like that and hammering, I recalled the memory of when I made the Tempered Longsword.

‘At that time, for sure……’

The anvil’s light turned yellow, right? That’s probably because it has a 5% chance of turning yellow. And within that 5% chance, there’s another 1% chance of getting the Crafting Level +3 effect.

The problem was how to find that probability.

‘No matter how much I think about it, it seems to be the position where I strike.’

Or is it random? With that thought, as I kept adjusting the hammer’s trajectory and striking, I suddenly felt a change.

‘Huh?’

Something’s changing. The feeling of unease disappeared as if washed away, and I even felt a sense of relief in my chest that felt like it had been blocked. At the same time, the hammer in my hand naturally fell downwards.

Whack!

‘I got it!’

The anvil’s light turned a pale yellow. As expected, the probability changes depending on the position where I strike. The problem was, as befitting a 5% chance, there were sections where it wouldn’t work no matter how much I adjusted the position. The current change in the anvil’s color also happened around the 30th strike.

But I didn’t mind at all.

Because Intuition works!

Having realized that fact, I used Intuition again to find the position to strike, and I swung the hammer again to find the 1%…… no, 1.1% chance.

Whack!

‘Oh?!’

Fortunately, after striking 10 more times and finding the position, the pale yellow light of the anvil turned into a brilliant golden light. Looking at the dazzling golden light, I hurriedly completed the remaining hammer strikes……

Fizzle

“Huh? What?”

While I was excitedly hammering, the golden light of the anvil suddenly turned back to blue. What happened? Tilting my head in confusion, I used Intuition again and hammered, and managed to turn it back to the pale yellow anvil.

‘Now there are about 5 strikes left.’

Clang- Clang- Fizzle-

“……”

[Hammering is complete. Do you want to complete it?]

Complete my foot.

Ignoring the message, I continued hammering. It’s been a while since I exceeded the final count of 52. I’m guessing it’s possible to strike up to 100 times as stated in the skill information.

Anyway, after barely restoring the golden light, I quickly stopped hammering and spoke.

“Complete.”

[Soul-Imbued Longsword completed.]

[Ding!~ C-Rank Skill ‘Dwarven Weapon Crafting’ level increased.]

[Stats Strength 2, Stamina 2, Technique 3 increase.]

“Wow, I didn’t know there would be such a trap.”

The golden light resetting, what a ridiculous situation.

Of course, aside from that, I was happy. Regardless of the completed weapon, I was happy about the fact that Intuition worked. Thanks to that, instead of a ‘Tempered Longsword,’ a ‘Soul-Imbued Longsword’ was completed.

‘But why did Intuition activate like that?’

For now, I realized that I could use Intuition. But it wasn’t the same sensation I usually felt. It’s like it was amplified, or something? It’s hard to explain in detail, but amplified seems to be the most accurate word.

Why was it amplified? Could there be something wrong?

After pondering about the clearly different Intuition here, I shook my head and checked the completed weapon first.

[Soul-Imbued Longsword] (Magic)

Description: A longsword made of pure iron. Perfectly crafted with exceptional skill, this weapon surpasses the limits of the craftsman and is imbued with his soul.

<Additional Stats: Strength (5), Stamina (2), Agility (2)>

<Stat Requirements: Strength (7), Agility (3)>

Attack Power: 30 Magic Attack Power: 0

Durability: 25/25

*Health Points increased by 50.

“At least the weapon is good.”

Surprisingly, the completed weapon was a magic item. Moreover, it has high attack power. Could this be sold for cash? I felt like it might be possible, but for now, it seemed more efficient to hunt with this weapon.

“Status Information Window.”

[Name: Rudin]

[Title: None]

[Level: 4]

[Fame: 0]

[Health Points: 310/310] (+50)

[Magic Points: 140/140]

[Stamina: 100.0%]

[Attack Power: 55] [Magic Attack Power: 4]

[Defense: 25] [Magic Defense: 10]

[Stats]

Strength: 25 (17+8) Intelligence: 4 Agility: 7 (4+3)

Stamina: 12 (9+3) Technique: 11

[Acquired Skills: 4/20]

[C-Rank Dwarven Weapon Crafting] (LV3)

[F-Rank Ore Mining] (LV3)

[F-Rank Strike with All Your Might] (LV2)

[F-Rank Iron Ingot Smelting] (LV2)

“Oh.”

The results were so good that my worries about Intuition disappeared. With these stats, I could kill those Mine Kobolds with just two swings. My current attack power is 55. The Kobold’s defense is about 15, so I can deal roughly 40 damage.

For reference, the Kobold’s health points are around 70.

“Oh, right, the crafting skill leveled up too.”

Is it because I made a good item? At first, I didn’t like this crafting skill, but after confirming the use of Intuition, I realized it was the perfect skill for me.

It felt like I could just make and sell weapons with this.

‘It’s not a bad idea, but……’

If I could continuously make weapons like this with Intuition, I could earn a considerable amount of money. However, remembering the abnormally activated Intuition, I decided to try hunting this time.

Before that.

‘I need to go to Deron.’

Translator’s Blog

Blog

• The Post-Webnovel Blues: When Your Brain Craves More Than Just a Happy Ending – Beat the Meat
• The Social Isolation Speech Impediment: How Being a Shut-In Can Make You Sound Like a Robot
• Loid Forger: The Ultimate Husbando?
• The “I’m So Deep in This Light Novel I’m Living It” Blues: When Your Waifu Gets NTR’d and You’re Not Even Mad (But Kind of Are)
• Cursed Hands: When Anime Fandom Goes Too Far