SERIES: Cursed and Regressed Blacksmith
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Chapter 17 - The Heavenly Martial Body
“If the God of Wagers personally looks after you, the greatest luck befalls you.”
That was the Blessing of the God of Wagers.
It was a pretty satisfying deal.
In truth, the Curse of Memory wasn't a curse to Choi Hyun, but since it was classified as one anyway, this was quite a profitable trade.
That's why its use was limited to three times, but still, that was something.
Using the Blessing of the God of Wagers would generate the best possible luck for any given situation.
“To put it simply, if I buy a lottery ticket, I'll win first prize. If I go to the racetrack, the horse I bet on will come in first.”
Of course, things would get complicated if you looked into the detailed causality, but Choi Hyun knew just how powerful the Blessing of the God of Wagers was, which was why he had requested it.
“So, I guess all I have to do now is wait for my order.”
While waiting, Choi Hyun repeatedly repaired junk and recovered his mana.
A short while later, a courier knocked on the warehouse door.
“Choi Hyun?”
“Yes, that's me.”
“Sign here, please.”
After showing his ID and signing, he finally received the item from Hunter Auction.
After opening the package, which was wrapped in luxurious paper, he found a small box inside, like a ring case.
When he opened it, there was a single pill inside, which was about the size of a marble.
[ Goeseondan (Eccentric Sage's Elixir) ]
- Type: Item
# A legendary elixir said to have been created by an immortal known as the Eccentric Sage.
# The Eccentric Sage believed that martial talent changed depending on one's constitution and spent his entire life researching constitutional improvement. The Goeseondan is the elixir born from that research.
# Upon consuming the Goeseondan, a random constitutional trait is granted depending on certain conditions. The effect occurs only once and this item cannot be used a second time.
The Goeseondan was the masterpiece of masterpieces created by the Chinese Alchemist Guild, an elixir that was crafted based on a recipe for a divine pill discovered in a high-level gate a few years ago.
And as the description stated, there was a truly diverse range of constitutions for martial arts. Over fifty types had been discovered so far, and the most outstanding among them was, by far, the “Heavenly Martial Body” possessed by Yang-hwi, the Martial God known as humanity's strongest player.
“After Yang-hwi, not a single player had appeared who obtained the Heavenly Martial Body trait.”
Yang-hwi had said he didn't know how he'd obtained the Heavenly Martial Body either. Not until humanity was on the brink of extinction.
Choi Hyun suddenly recalled a conversation he had with Yang-hwi about the Heavenly Martial Body.
“Actually, I know how I got the Heavenly Martial Body.”
“How did you get it?”
“There are several conditions. First, the player who takes the Goeseondan must be level 1, and all their stats must also be 1. On top of that, they need to have the Nameless Art trait and the Understanding of Martial Arts skill. But those are just the basics; the final condition is the most important one.”
“What is it?”
“You have to be lucky.”
“Huh?”
An unexpected condition.
The saying “seventy percent luck, thirty percent skill” didn't exist for nothing.
But this wasn't an entirely pleasant story.
“You know where I come from, right?”
“I know. You're from the Black Society.”
“To be precise, I'm from the Black Society's weapons factory. You have no idea how many Awakened the Black Society captured and experimented on there.”
Especially after the Goeseondan was discovered, the Black Society launched the “Martial God Project” to artificially create the strongest player, and Yang-hwi was one of the many victims who were practically kidnapped and taken there.
In other words, there were quite a few prodigies who, just like Yang-hwi, had been artificially trained to master the Nameless Art and Understanding of Martial Arts at level 1.
But despite that, seeing as Yang-hwi was the only one in player history to be granted the Heavenly Martial Body, it was clear that luck was truly an important factor just as he said.
“That's why I prepared the Blessing of the God of Wagers.”
Choi Hyun popped the Goeseondan, worth over 100 million, into his mouth.
[ You have used the Goeseondan. ]
Fwoosh!
At the same time, he used the Blessing of the God of Wagers.
[ The Blessing of the God of Wagers has been activated. ]
Swoooosh!
Both the actions were performed almost simultaneously.
Then, his body began to glow from the Goeseondan, and a gentle wind generated by the Blessing of the God of Wagers enveloped Choi Hyun.
[ Beginning Metamorphosis. ]
The effects of the Goeseondan began to spread.
The Goeseondan began to earnestly reconstruct the consumer's body to be fit for a martial sovereign, and as the reconstruction started, excruciating pain erupted from within his body.
Choi Hyun immediately sat down and began circulating the Nameless Heart Art of the Nameless Art.
[ Super Focus has been activated. ]
[ Nameless Heart Art has been activated. ]
He activated the two skills and endured the pain.
Yang-hwi had said that when he took the Goeseondan, the pain was so agonizing that he felt like dying.
But because the Black Society members were watching, he had forced himself into a cross-legged position, bit his lips until they bled, and stubbornly endured as tears streamed down his face.
It was the same for Choi Hyun.
It was agonizing.
It was painful.
But he couldn't just roll around pathetically from only this level of pain.
For the sake of the many comrades who had believed in him and sent him to the past, he endured tenaciously.
How much time had passed like that?
FWOOSH!
Choi Hyun's body began to shine with a golden light.
[ You have successfully absorbed the Goeseondan completely. ]
[ Metamorphosis complete. ]
[ You have overcome infinitesimal odds to obtain a heavenly martial body that all will envy. ]
[ Conditions have been met. ]
[ You have acquired the trait, “Heavenly Martial Body.” ]
[ All stats increase by 5. ]
[ You have achieved a great feat. The system gifts you 3 bonus stat points. ]
The notifications popped up one after another.
At the same time, Choi Hyun could finally breathe.
“I did it…!”
He had finally obtained it.
The Heavenly Martial Body, a heaven-sent constitution said to have been obtained by only one person in the history of players.
Choi Hyun checked his status window first.
[ Choi Hyun ]
- Lv: 1
- Class: Blacksmith
- Traits: <Demon's Eye> <Repair> <Curse of Memory> <Nameless Art> <Heavenly Martial Body>
- Strength: 6
- Stamina: 6
- Mana: 6
- Sense: 6
- Unallocated Stat Points: 14
Looking at the updated status window, Choi Hyun couldn't hide his smile.
It was practically an insane status window.
He was only level 1, but his total stats were a whopping 24.
Adding the bonus stats, the grand total was about 38.
Considering that one stat point was equivalent to one level, Choi Hyun was already as good as over a level 30 hunter.
Choi Hyun then checked the information for Heavenly Martial Body.
[ Heavenly Martial Body ]
- Type: Trait
# A constitution for the martial arts, bestowed by the heavens.
# Drastically increases understanding of all martial arts. Allows for the unrestricted learning of martial arts even if their natures differ. Grants an ultra-acceleration effect to experience gained for martial arts acquisition.
# Each time you level up, Strength, Stamina, Mana, and Sense stats increase by 1.
Choi Hyun smiled after reading the description.
The reason why the Martial God Yang-hwi was destined to become humanity's strongest player.
It was because while others received 1 bonus stat point for leveling up, Yang-hwi alone received an additional 4 bonus stat points.
“It's effectively the same as gaining 4 extra levels.”
So who could possibly defeat Yang-hwi with all this?
Yang-hwi was just that much of an unprecedented monster.
But despite that, there was a separate reason why Yang-hwi hadn't readily volunteered to be the Regressor.
Choi Hyun recalled the conversation he'd had with Yang-hwi.
“But why, despite being the strongest, do you have no intention of becoming the Regressor?”
“That's because I am a flawed person.”
“Flawed?”
“As you said, if we're only looking at individual martial prowess, it would be right for me to go. But this is a very big war. I may win battles, but I have no confidence that I can win the war.”
“By that logic, you just have to keep winning battles. Then you'll win the war.”
“That's just sophistry. You know full well that if other fronts collapse before that, we'll lose the war, right? And more importantly.”
“More importantly?”
“You said I could just use the Blessing of the God of Wagers to get the Heavenly Martial Body, but that's only possible because it's you. If I were to go back to before I obtained the Heavenly Martial Body, I can't guarantee that my past self would be able to get it again. So it's much better for you to go, since you're smarter and your conditions are more flexible.”
Yang-hwi was sincere.
That was why he had passed on the secret to the Heavenly Martial Body, which could be called his everything, and the Supreme Heaven Divine Art.
“Now, all preparations are complete.”
Now, all the basic preparations were truly finished.
All that was left was to level up his class-exclusive trait, Repair, which he had been putting off since his regression.
“Only then can I move on to the next stage.”
The goal was to reach the fifth stage of Repair skill, the 5-star level.
All that was needed for this process was time, effort, and broken items to raise the Repair trait's level.
Choi Hyun once again began to seriously repair the junk items.
[ Basic Repair has been activated. ]
[ Deft Hands has been activated. ]
[ Super Focus has been activated. ]
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang…
[ Repair complete. ]
[ You have succeeded in repairing. ]
After repairing a few junk items like that for a while.
[ Your fundamental skills are taking shape. ]
[ Your repair skill is becoming faster and more meticulous. ]
[ Conditions have been met. ]
[ You have acquired the skill, “Quick Repair.” ]
[ The trait begins to grow in earnest. ]
[ The skill, “Hammer of Repair”, has grown, and some of its information has changed. ]
[ You have acquired the stat, “Craftsmanship.” ]
Choi Hyun had finally succeeded in evolving his Repair skill to the next stage.
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