Blood Demon of the Past Life – Chapter 118

Chapter 118: Preparation （1）

Jeong Chan-woo’s thoughts came to a halt.

To enhance the item himself, directly.

If Kang San’s words were true, didn’t it mean he possessed the ability to enhance, just like Master Craftsman Yu Jeong-yeong?

He stammered without realizing it.

“N-No way! Is that possible?”

“It’s a bit of a complicated story, but the reason Master Craftsman Yu Jeong-yeong mentioned me as his sponsor is because I’m his business partner, sharing this technology. Of course, it’s a secret to others. I’m only helping you guys as a special favor, and I don’t want this story to leak out to anyone else.”

“Wow.”

“…Really, where does your limit lie, hyung?”

Yeon Woo-bin and Jo Han-byeol were amazed.

Unlike the two who simply accepted it, thinking ‘as expected of Kang San’, Jeong Chan-woo found this situation very disconcerting.

Suddenly,

The conversation he had with Jeong Hye-mi came to mind.

“Chan-woo. By any chance, can you share any information I should know while working with Kang San-nim? I promise it won’t cause any harm to Kang San-nim, and the fact that I got the information from you will be kept strictly confidential. You know, nuna truly desires Kang San-nim. This is all for presenting the necessary conditions to Kang San-nim, so it definitely won’t be a disadvantage to him either.”

It was an earnest request.

If Kang San’s secret was revealed to Jeong Hye-mi, Cheonsang would go crazy and pursue recruitment even more aggressively. Think about it. Kang San’s value had skyrocketed just from his relationship with Master Craftsman Yu Jeong-yeong. But if it turned out that he possessed the technology himself, it meant that the influence wasn’t indirect but stemmed from him directly. No matter how naive he might be, he couldn’t be unaware of its value.

He gulped.

He handed over the shield without realizing it.

“Whether you wait here or somewhere else, make yourself comfortable. I’ll contact you when the work is done.”

Kang San moved.

Watching him light the furnace, Jeong Chan-woo weighed his family and Kang San on a scale.

Should he help his family?

Or keep his trust with Kang San?

It was a simple question.

‘Nuna is nuna, and I am me.’

What’s the big deal about a sibling relationship?

Blood is thicker than water, so the relationship could be improved anytime, but he absolutely didn’t want to betray his relationship with Kang San.

Jeong Chan-woo muttered, looking at Kang San.

“Of course, it’s a secret. I’ll definitely keep it, hyung.”

✦✦✦✦✦✦

Whoosh.

Whooooosh.

The flames blazed up.

After melting the mana stones in the mold sufficiently, he poured them onto the shield and immediately began hammering rhythmically.

Clang.

Clang, clang━!

The deal with Yu Jeong-yeong.

Thanks to it, Kang San had obtained a financially inexhaustible spring, but that didn’t mean he intended to neglect the special skills he possessed. The ability to enhance items himself. It was a tremendous privilege. And the reason he had formed a relationship with Yu Jeong-yeong in the first place wasn’t simply to pursue financial gain, but to learn the technology from him.

In that sense, he met with Yu Jeong-yeong often.

Yu Jeong-yeong taught him everything he knew ━ how to handle steel, the speed and force with which to hammer.

Mastering a skill takes time.

But Kang San was different.

Clang━!

His muscles twitched.

Whenever he recalled Yu Jeong-yeong’s teachings, his past life memories were stimulated, revealing a familiar flow.

This much strength.

This much speed.

He had memories of experiencing this.

The guiding teachings and the past life experiences that could follow them gradually added momentum to Kang San’s skills.

Whooooosh.

His skin heated up.

He had already forgotten about the presence of those watching, and Kang San was completely immersed in the entity before his eyes. In fact, there was no need to reveal his skills to his dongsaengs. It was his own secret and there was no reason to share his privilege, but when he said he wanted to become as strong as possible in six months, his dongsaengs said they would follow without asking why. He was grateful. Even though it could be a dangerous act, they showed faith that they could jump into a pit of fire with Kang San.

It was trust.

They believed in each other.

That’s why he told them his secret, and even if it leaked out, it wouldn’t matter.

At that point, it would only be that level of relationship, and his secret would be more valuable when it was revealed.

But did his dongsaengs know?

Kang San hadn’t mentioned the main aspect of the technology, and his dongsaengs simply thought that he and Yu Jeong-yeong had a business partnership. In reality, it was completely different. Of course, Yu Jeong-yeong would be superior in crafting skills, but Kang San had an overwhelming advantage in handling mana, the source of enhancement. In other words, it meant that Kang San’s results would inevitably be better than those of Yu Jeong-yeong, whom people visited with bundles of cash.

He put his heart into it.

Since he was doing it for his dongsaengs, he wanted to create a satisfactory result.

Clang!

Clang, clang━!

Repetitive work.

Repetitive flow.

Kang San’s vision was filled with flames.

That’s when it happened.

Whoosh, whooooosh.

Within the flames,

Something began to appear beyond them.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

Dark clouds rolled in.

Under the sky that seemed ready to pour rain at any moment, the people squatting on the ground shed tears like rain.

“You bastards! Why are you taking my son away!”

“Oh, Jeong’s father!”

“Sob, sob.”

People wailed.

They had heard the news yesterday.

That everyone in the village had been massacred.

The fire-field farmers, who lived in the upper and lower villages, had rushed to this place upon hearing about the tragedy in the lower village. It was a truly devastating sight. People who had been laughing and talking just yesterday, young and old alike, were strewn across the ground with their limbs torn apart.

Some had survived by being outside.

Those who confirmed the deaths of their families later cried out, cursing the unknown murderer.

Not far away,

A man was watching the scene.

After observing it for a long time with emotionless eyes, he finally turned around as the rain began to pour.

“…You died because you were weak.”

Raindrops streamed down his face.

The man hurried his steps.

Returning to his dwelling, he threw off his soaked clothes and entered the workshop.

Then he recalled his memories.

The people trembling in fear, the people dying while resenting him, and the people cursing the heavens at the death of their families. The emotions were tangled complexly. The man melted away all the emotions that seemed ready to explode like an active volcano with a single hammer blow.

‘Imbue the sword with killing intent.’

Clang━!

Clang, clang━!

It was different from before.

The man, who had been somewhat restrained and moving towards his desired goal, now swung the hammer like a wild beast, as if the reins had been loosened.

His master had said.

That a sword is an expression of will.

If what he wanted to do from now on was the destruction of the Murim, he had to capture all the rising resentment within it. Each time he swung the hammer, the memories in his head evaporated. The memory of massacring a village, the memory of meeting a boy and helping him, and even the last memory that existed beyond that.

He melted them into the sword.

His emotions swelled as if they were about to explode, but his hammering was controlled and consistent.

He didn’t know how many days had passed.

When his face was covered with a thick beard, the man finally finished his work and looked at the sword.

Sizzle━

Smoke rose.

At the sharp energy that seemed to cut his flesh just by looking at it, he trudged out of the workshop.

His master was there.

After confirming the man’s sword, his master smiled broadly for the first time.

“The time has finally come.”

The man thought.

Finally, he

“From now on, I will teach you the essence of the Blood Demon Art.”

Was no longer human.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

『Past life memories are seeping into your body.』

『Intangible senses become a little clearer.』

Whoosh━

A strange sensation washed over him.

It was a very unfamiliar experience, the memories of his past life that he saw beyond the flames being imprinted on every single cell of his muscles.

Churn, churn.

His muscles throbbed.

Whenever Kang San swung the hammer as usual, the direction and strength of the swing changed due to the churning of his muscles. Kang San instinctively knew that it was a ‘past life memory’. His body instinctively sought out the familiar direction, and instead of resisting the sudden change, he yielded and entrusted his body to it.

Clang━!

Sparks flew.

Like in his past life where he was unharmed even when engulfed in flames, Kang San didn’t feel the burning flames to be hot.

『Fire Resistance skill has been created.』

A change had occurred.

He didn’t have time to pay attention to it.

Kang San couldn’t stop hammering due to the influx of memories, and every time he swung the hammer, he felt his past life experiences becoming clearer. His skills developed rapidly. Even if he received separate teachings from Yu Jeong-yeong, it would take time and effort to reach that level, but his body, which had been paved by the teachings, began to improve at once. The details were filled in the holes that had been wide open. Based on his past life experiences, Kang San created technical perfection in areas that even Yu Jeong-yeong had overlooked.

Like the saying in his past life,

This wasn’t just simple work.

It was work that involved empathizing and expressing a will that presented a clear goal.

As he repeatedly hammered Jeong Chan-woo’s shield, Kang San had a clear idea of what kind of will he wanted to instill in it.

‘I hope this shield protects Chan-woo.’

Goodwill.

It was different from his past life.

Instead of killing intent, he imbued it with the desire to help others.

That was the difference between his past life and Kang San.

He didn’t know what kind of past his past self had experienced, but in the end, it culminated in the ultimate goal of killing intent. Kang San was different. Kang San had also experienced an unfortunate past, and for some, it would have been sufficient justification for becoming twisted, but in this situation of working on the shield, he put in a positive heart instead of a negative one.

Clang━!

Clang, clang━!

He was completely absorbed.

Completely immersed.

But the dramatic change wasn’t something only Kang San experienced.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

The situation before his eyes.

Yeon Woo-bin had a blank look on his face.

It was intense.

At the sight of Kang San hammering the shield while engulfed in flames, there was nothing he could do but stare blankly.

‘Amazing.’

Kang San was a truly mysterious person.

When he first met him, he couldn’t quite imagine using magic while trusting Kang San, who was only an E-rank. But the more he experienced, the more new aspects he showed. One layer, he showed the reliability of protecting him. One layer, he showed the potential to be promoted to B-rank in an instant. And one layer, he was now demonstrating the skills of Master Craftsman Yu Jeong-yeong, who had caused a stir in the world, in front of everyone.

A person whose limits couldn’t be fathomed.

Was that why?

No matter how dangerous the situation might become, he felt like Kang San would surpass expectations and solve all the problems.

During his father’s test,

During the Rangers’ isolation incident,

Kang San was like that.

Even in situations where he should have crumbled, he broke through his limits.

In fact, his father had expressed considerable dissatisfaction with the issue of going to Japan.

The reason he had accepted it, even though Yeon Woo-bin was stubborn, was probably because his father also felt the same way as him.

That’s when it happened.

Yeon Woo-bin saw something.

There was a strange flow of mana in the intensely burning flames.

‘What is that?’

At first, it looked like small particles.

Something that bloomed every time Kang San’s hammer blow landed, scattered in all directions, then gathered again, swirling around Kang San. Then, when he hammered again, it scattered in all directions again as if a child was giggling. Yeon Woo-bin felt strangely familiar with it, even though it would be considered an unfamiliar experience for ordinary people. It was as if the movement of mana had ‘life’.

He opened his mind.

Accepting the unbelievable story, he looked at the movement of the particles as if they were a living creature.

Then,

『A special effect of Elemental Bless is activated.』

『The presence of the Salamander spirit has been detected.』

“…!?”

Yeon Woo-bin’s eyes widened at the sudden voice.