“Would you be willing to leave this matter to me?”

Contrary to Sungshik’s confident words, the reactions from the blacksmiths were indifferent.

“Hey, customer. How many times have you even been here?”

“This isn’t some child's play.”

“This isn’t something to take lightly. Our livelihoods are on the line.”

One after another, negative responses poured out.

It was understandable. He looked young—barely past adulthood. He had a sword at his side, marking him as a superhuman, but he didn’t appear particularly strong.

“Looks like some rich family’s young master decided to become a superhuman.”

“Look at those soft hands. I doubt he’s even killed a goblin before.”

“I can’t sense any of that aura unique to superhumans. A 1-star at best… maybe just a regular person.”

That was their evaluation of Sungshik.

And truthfully, it made sense. Sungshik had always had delicate features, and after his complete transformation, his skin had become even smoother.

The same went for his hands. Though they had once borne calluses, they were now as soft as if they had never touched water.

His aura was no different. Having reached 7-star, he had naturally learned to suppress his presence. There was no way these non-combatant blacksmiths could perceive it.

“I’m not saying this without reason.”

Sungshik responded calmly despite their reactions.

“Then what’s your reasoning?”

The youngest-looking among them questioned him. Sungshik remained silent for a moment—he had no physical proof to present.

“It’s thanks to my trait. That’s how I know.”

“Hah… Seriously, anyone could say that. Do you have any way to prove it?”

If someone with a well-known reputation had said the same thing, they would have listened and believed. But to them, Sungshik was nothing more than a privileged young master, so their reactions were harsh.

In truth, they were already on edge, which made them even more irritable than usual. The lower-tier workshops were still running with the iron ore they had stockpiled, but those reserves were running dangerously low.

They were searching for alternative sources of iron ore, but if they couldn’t extract any more from their own mine, they would have to shut it down.

“Enough. It’s not like things can get any worse, right? I’d like to give this young man a chance.”

At that moment, Jin Yongchan, who had been silently observing, spoke up. He stared into Sungshik’s eyes. From those eyes, Jin Yongchan could tell—this young man was not lying.

His instincts, honed over years of experience, were telling him to trust Sungshik.

“If the elder says so, then… fine.”

The others reluctantly agreed. Jin Yongchan pressed further.

“And besides, take a look at the rare materials this guest brought. He’s no ordinary person, so let’s give him a chance.”

“Well… tch, alright.”

The man who had been arguing with Sungshik seemed ready to protest again but ultimately held his tongue. He had probably wanted to claim that Sungshik had either bought those materials or had them commissioned.

It wasn’t an unreasonable assumption. After all, the items Sungshik carried were typically managed at a guild level, yet here he was, carrying them alone.

“You made the right decision. You won’t be disappointed.”

Sungshik responded to Jin Yongchan with a confident smile.

“Haha, just don’t overdo it.”

Jin Yongchan’s words were met with nothing but a light chuckle from Sungshik.

On the outskirts of Paju, a van carrying Sungshik and the blacksmiths was heading toward the iron mine. In the end, some of the blacksmiths who had been skeptical of him decided to accompany him for the investigation.

“We can’t just leave everything in his hands. We’ll move together.”

“Besides, he probably doesn’t know the area well, so he’ll need a guide. And if there really is some kind of beast, it’s better for several of us to face it rather than just one.”

They insisted that they couldn’t entrust everything to an outsider and chose to come along.

Sungshik didn’t mind. Having someone to guide them to the mine would only make things easier.

“So, how did you obtain the ivory and leather?”

The only female blacksmith among them asked. She appeared to be in her early twenties, a graceful beauty. Sungshik had never seen her before his regression.

In fact, all the blacksmiths accompanying him were new faces. During the Gate Break, most of the blacksmiths had evacuated to the southern provinces under Jin Yongchan’s orders.

“I hunted them myself.”

“What…?”

One of the blacksmiths beside her looked at Sungshik with disbelief.

“You’re not even that strong…”

Someone muttered nearby. When Sungshik turned his head, the man quickly averted his gaze. While their reaction wasn’t entirely unreasonable, it was still irritating.

There were four blacksmiths accompanying him. Aside from one middle-aged man in his forties, the other three were all young men in their twenties.

The most troublesome among them—the one who had been picking at Sungshik since the start—was named Lee Jinwoong. At twenty-five, he had introduced himself with an attitude full of discontent, constantly grumbling at Sungshik.

‘Should I just knock him out?’

— To be shaken by something this trivial… you still lack discipline.

‘…Tch.’

It was true. He had lived too long to let something like this get under his skin.

‘Besides, they clearly have no faith in me at all.’

The only one who seemed remotely friendly was the female blacksmith, who had introduced herself as Park Jiyeon.

Had these blacksmiths been slightly more up-to-date with recent events, they might have guessed that the ‘Mammuthus Ivory’ Sungshik carried came from the second A-rank Gate that had appeared recently.

However, due to the ongoing mine crisis, they had been out of touch with the news. Though they were technically superhumans, they were still blacksmiths, which meant they received information about superhuman affairs much later than others.

The only publicly known fact about the A-rank Gate was that its boss was mammoth-shaped. No details about the loot had been revealed, so it was no wonder they didn’t connect the dots.

They had likely never even considered that Sungshik might have acquired it himself.

“But if it really is the work of a beast, can we actually take it down?”

Park Jiyeon asked, sounding worried. Lee Jinwoong was the one to respond.

“Jiyeon, don’t worry. I’m here, and among the superhumans escorting us, Kim Jaehil is with us too.”

That was right. It wasn’t just blacksmiths on this trip. Some of the superhumans assigned to protect the workshops had also joined them.

Although most of them were 4-star superhumans who had worked as mercenaries before being hired by the workshop, there were a few rare exceptions, such as the 5-star superhuman known as Kim Jaehil.

“If it’s Jaehil-hyung, that’s reassuring.”

At Lee Jinwoong’s words, another blacksmith, Kim Junghwan, responded. He, too, was a young blacksmith in his early twenties.

“I’ve never even seen Jaehil-hyung struggle in a fight.”

“That’s true. He’s someone who should be playing in the big leagues.”

“Maybe he’s even stronger than Kang Hanil?”

“Now that’s pushing it, man.”

As their conversation drifted further away, Sungshik listened and found it amusing. To him, they were like frogs at the bottom of a well. Blacksmiths were typically in the 1- to 3-star range, so to their eyes, a 5-star superhuman like Kim Jaehil must have seemed invincible.

But even if they had brought an entire truckload of superhumans like Kim Jaehil, they wouldn’t even reach Sungshik’s toes. With a slight chuckle, he leaned back in his seat.

They eventually arrived at the mine. At the entrance, there were various facilities for mining and transporting minerals, but everything had been abandoned and left idle.

“Why does it feel even more ominous than before?”

The workshop-owned mine in front of them felt as eerie as an abandoned site, as if it had already been shut down.

It was then that a blacksmith named Park Jaemin, who had been silent until now, spoke to Sungshik.

“This is our workshop’s mine. Do you think you can find the monster you mentioned?”

“Hmm.”

With his arms crossed, Sungshik expanded his Hyper-Sense to scan the mine. It was quite vast, and he could only sense up to the entrance.

However, he soon detected strange energy in various places along the mine walls. Walking up to the entrance, he placed his hand on the rock and narrowed his eyes.

“It looks like we’ll have to go deeper inside to find it.”

That was when someone spoke up.

“Until just recently, miners were coming in and out of this place every day to extract iron ore. No one ever saw a monster. Are you really sure about this?”

The speaker was one of the ten or so superhumans in their group. His displeasure was evident—he clearly thought this was a waste of time.

As someone who had worked shifts in the mine until recently, he knew better than anyone. No one had ever reported seeing a monster or any other creature as the iron ore supply began to dry up. If something had been in the mine, they would have discovered it long ago.

“Yeah, I’ve done shifts here too. Never saw a monster.”

“Right? If there was something like that, we would’ve found it already.”

“Damn, are we just wasting our time? I was supposed to have the day off today.”

Their reasoning made sense, and the others were beginning to agree.

“Since we’re already here, why don’t you trust me and check it out?”

Shrugging, Sungshik made the suggestion, but the mood remained tense.

“Alright, then. Lead the way.”

Perhaps sensing the tension, Park Jaemin immediately asked Sungshik to guide them.

From the start, this man had silently followed Sungshik’s words without objection.

‘Elder Jin sent the right person.’

Perhaps Jin Yongchan had anticipated this kind of situation and assigned him as a companion. Most of the younger blacksmiths and even the superhumans who had come as escorts were openly dissatisfied.

‘This really feels like being the boy who cried wolf.’

A quiet, exasperated chuckle escaped Sungshik’s lips. Honestly, he couldn’t blame himself for being annoyed.

He had taken on this job as both a way to repay his debt to Jin Yongchan and, if it really was Bulgasari, to gain something valuable from it. He had stepped forward out of both goodwill and personal interest.

Yet these people, who had no obligation to come along, had followed him just to test his patience.

‘Sigh, let’s stay calm.’

— Haha, this situation is getting entertaining.

As Sungshik began to simmer with irritation, Heaven-Splitter spoke in amusement.

— Isn’t this what they call "cancer-inducing" these days?

Where had he even learned that term? Sungshik was momentarily dumbfounded.

‘Where did you pick that up?’

— I watched while you were using that thing called the Internet.

‘Hah… Even my sword is picking up Internet slang now. The spread of online jargon is terrifying.’

Shaking his head, Sungshik stepped into the mine. Though it was only a brief conversation with Heaven-Splitter, it helped him regain his composure.

In the first place, Sungshik’s mind was far too stable for something like this to truly shake him. It was just a momentary irritation.

As he led the disgruntled group further inside, it finally happened.

“Ugh, seriously. Where the hell is this so-called monster?”

Eventually, one of the blacksmiths, Lee Jinwoong, lost his patience and snapped at Sungshik. They had been walking deeper into the mine without finding anything, and he couldn’t hold back anymore.

“We’re just about there.”

“What? Where is—”

Sungshik didn’t let him finish. He swung the Heaven-Splitting Divine Sword at the wall ahead.

Beyond that wall, the powerful energy he had been sensing became even clearer.

The formless energy released from the Heaven-Splitting Divine Sword tore through the wall. In an instant, a massive hole large enough for six grown men to pass through side by side appeared.

Yet there was no sound, no impact—just the eerie effect of the wall being erased, as if wiped away by an eraser.

Seeing this almost magical sight, Lee Jinwoong, who had been complaining moments ago, was left speechless.

“W-What the…?”

Without answering, Sungshik continued speaking.

“The monster I mentioned… is beyond this wall.”

With those words, Sungshik stepped into the hole he had created. The others, stunned, hurried to follow.

“What was that? Was it magic?”

“A swordsman using magic? No way. That was just a simple sword strike, wasn’t it?”

They all marveled at what Sungshik had done, but none of them truly understood what had happened.

What Sungshik had actually done was compress and condense the power of (Heaven-Splitting) Wind Scar before releasing it—but for them, such a technique was far too advanced to comprehend.

The only one who somewhat grasped it was Kim Jaehil. As a 5-star superhuman who had always taken pride in his strength, he had never before felt this kind of dread.

For the first time, his entire body felt cold. If that attack had been aimed at him, he knew with certainty—he would not have been able to block it.

“Captain, aren’t you coming?”

“…Ah.”

Snapped out of his daze by the voice beside him, Kim Jaehil let out a small exclamation.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

He quickly followed Sungshik, but his gaze remained fixed on him, as if he were witnessing something beyond comprehension.