Strike 113

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Hyun-soo was an underdog.

In a world where everyone turned their backs on the work of the blacksmith.

A loser whom even the government could not help for countless reasons.

But Hyun-soo gradually built something new with his own hands within the game Ares.

He first gained people around him one by one.

After that job, for him, who had no proper family and only Ji-hoon as a friend, new people came into his life.

They said they would protect him.

Next, he created artifacts that others couldn’t and sold them one by one.

The debt amounting to billions of won, as if it was nothing, vanished.

He cried with joy when he finally solved all the medical expenses.

Today, he realized, seeing about 1 billion won in his bank account, purely his own, from the reward money given by the Duke of Luckburg and various other sources.

He is a winner.

The treatment for the burn was also going smoothly.

What’s left for him now is only to move forward.

He decided to do what would make him happiest.

That happy task was the work of a real blacksmith.

Creating various weapons in Ares was enjoyable and fun.

But the more he did so, the more he thirsted for it.

It was a thirst to hold a hammer in reality as before.

He wanted to show the last remaining master in the real world, not in a virtual one.

Since that work was what made him happiest, he met with his primary doctor, Jin-seop, with a hopeful heart.

“As I said, if you continue forging with your right hand, I can’t guarantee what will happen to it.”

But it wasn’t so.

Yes, a mirage.

It felt like that.

He could hold it in a virtual world but not in the real one.

Of course, there is a treatment waiting for FDA approval in the US.

But that is an indefinite wait.

“I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do for you.”

Doctor Jin-seop has been seeing him for several years.

If he, who promised to do his best, said so, maybe it’s right not to hold a hammer for the time being.

With that indefinite story, he walked listlessly.

Suddenly, as if enchanted, he climbed on a bus and absentmindedly watched the landscape passing by.

Ziing

[Kim Hye-in: Hyun-soo, did you get the results?]

[Kang Hyuk-su: No need to see, it must have been good.]

[Lee Tae-ha: I will buy the first production of Hyun’s real blacksmith shop ^^]

[Lim Ji-min: Everything will turn out well for you!]

Looking at the people in the KakaoTalk group chat, Hyun-soo’s mind grew dim.

Without replying, he arrived at the place.

That place was almost a completed blacksmith shop and now a construction site connected to the residential house.

Chairman Lee Tae-sung gave a special order.

To build the blacksmith shop with the best materials and manpower, and to build a good house alongside it.

Hyun-soo couldn’t help but anticipate.

Seeing himself rekindling the furnace in the best-quality blacksmith shop.

But it turns into a mere mirage and disperses.

Then he grits his teeth.

‘I won’t give up.’

Thinking so, he grabbed a hammer that was properly placed on one side.

In fact, it was the first time he had held a hammer since that incident.

Hyun-soo was scared himself. He was anxious about grabbing the hammer, fearing it might worsen his condition.

Hyun-soo was about to firmly strike down on a piece of iron placed on the anvil and secured with tongs.

Hesitant-

Then, Hyun-soo stopped.

It was before he struck down, but he realized something for sure.

Perhaps the one who knows his body best is himself.

‘It’s different…’

The hammer he held when his hand was fine felt different now.

Back then, it didn’t feel so heavy.

But now, just holding it like this, he could feel the difference.

Of course, it wasn’t painful.

Literally, it was to the extent that it didn’t hinder his daily life.

He finally understood.

Just like Doctor Jin-seop said, if he strikes with this hammer now, his right hand would cross an irreversible river.

Kwoong-

Hyun-soo put the hammer down on the ground.

It wasn’t due to a lack of willpower or perseverance.

Hyun-soo finally realized.

He really shouldn’t work in the forge for the time being.

‘…I want to make so many things in reality too.’

Hyun-soo smiled bitterly.

And in one corner of the forge, there was a small space where one could rest from the blacksmith work.

He lay there for a long time. Then, without realizing it, he fell asleep.

Hyun-soo, sleeping, dreamt.

Dreams sometimes continue as one dream, change scenes while dreaming, and sometimes lead to entirely different contents.

In the dream, Hyun-soo was himself at the age of ten.

It was strange.

Sitting across the dining table from his father and himself.

His much younger father said,

‘Try eating soy sauce marinated crab with your left hand.’

‘Siing, it’s uncomfortable to use chopsticks with my left hand.’

‘Hehe, try it anyway.’

At that time, his father occasionally made him try using chopsticks with his left hand.

The scene changes.

The forge.

‘Father, my right arm is tingling, should I rest a bit?’

‘How about swinging with your left arm then?’

‘Eh? But it won’t be precise.’

‘The remaining work doesn’t need to be that precise anyway, does it?’

Such memories pass by.

And that bitter scene Hyun-soo saw in his dream passes by.

It was when Hyun-soo, returning from school, pretended not to notice his father gripping his trembling right arm while forging.

At that time, Hyun-soo had no choice but to ignore it.

He couldn’t acknowledge his father’s weakness.

Then, the dream led Hyun-soo back into darkness.

Several scenes flashed by again.

And the last scene.

His father, trembling, holding his own right arm, appeared again.

The father turned his head and smiled at Hyun-soo.

‘Hyun-soo.’

His father, smiling the brightest smile in the world.

Staring blankly at him…

Flash-

Hyun-soo woke up from the dream.

And as usual, after waking up from a dream with someone, he was engulfed in a sense of emptiness.

He looked at his left hand.

‘Could it be…?’

Hyun-soo was not ambidextrous.

However, Hyun-soo had used his left hand as well, just like in his dream.

Squeezing and releasing, Hyun-soo repeated the motion with his left hand.

And he couldn’t help but laugh.

His father had hoped that Hyun-soo would not follow the same path as himself.

‘If we hadn’t had the accident…’

His father might have taught him to use both hands.

Perhaps, his father had felt his right hand deteriorating over time.

So, in preparation for any situation, he might have laid the groundwork for Hyun-soo to become an ambidextrous blacksmith by also using his left hand.

‘Thank you.’

Hyun-soo stood up.

The furnace in the real-world forge was lit.

Watching the temperature of the furnace rise rapidly, Hyun-soo’s heart raced.

The first creation in years was about to blaze like a flame.

***

Jin-seop was amazed watching Hyun-soo.

An right-handed person using his left hand.

It was surely an awkward thing.

Just as a right-handed person would struggle to use chopsticks with their left hand.

But Hyun-soo was a bit different.

‘It doesn’t seem that uncomfortable for him.’

As if he had been making efforts to get slightly accustomed to using his left hand.

Jin-seop was excited.

‘This creation will show that possibility.’

There had been similar cases in reality.

A right-handed pitcher throwing with his left hand after injuring his right arm.

However, Jin-seop wasn’t entirely optimistic about this either.

‘When a right-handed player trains with his left hand, the speed can reach up to 90%.’

Yes, that was the problem.

That 10%.

To ordinary people, that 10% might seem insignificant.

But to those who have reached the top, it is a meaningful figure.

In reality, someone who could only throw at 90% was pushed from the glamour of the first league to the third.

Because that 10% difference was substantial in their league.

Therefore, the quality of this creation was crucial.

Hyun-soo noticed Jin-seop too.

Hyun-soo explained everything from the beginning.

‘Kang Hyun-tae had prepared for his son…’

Then, that percentage might climb a little higher.

Jin-seop didn’t turn away but continued to watch him.

It was a sight he had never seen before.

‘My patient, in this state.’

The space seemed as if he dominated it.

The young man, once downtrodden and insignificant.

In this place, he reigned like a king.

Click, clack-

Watching his ghost-like hand movements, Jin-seop was in awe.

Time passed, and dawn broke.

Since tomorrow was a day off, Jin-seop slowly absorbed the sight of the sword that would decide his future, gradually coming to completion.

He realized from those divine movements.

‘It wasn’t because blacksmiths disappeared that he wasn’t called a master.’

In this moment, Jin-seop was certain.

Hyun-tae and Hyun-soo.

These two were called the last remaining masters in the world simply because they were exceptional.

And Hyun-soo gave it his all.

The hammering was less precise than usual, and there were creaks from the awkward use of both right and left hands.

The hammer sometimes struck places it was not supposed to.

Finally tempering a sword that was not quite whole.

Sssss-

He tries to polish it.

Gradually, its form reveals itself.

What if he were in Ares now?

[You have crafted a shabby sword.]

[This is the worst artifact you have ever made.]

He would have been frustrated.

But the reality now was different.

Hyun-soo lifted the finished sword.

The blade was less smooth than usual, and the pattern was not intricate.

Every little detail.

Considering these, this was the worst creation Hyun-soo had ever made.

But here, it was different.

He had made it.

Yes, a sword of this quality was made with the left hand.

The most worthless, yet the most needed sword.

Jin-seop said,

“…Wasn’t this your first left-handed creation?”

“Yes.”

Jin-seop genuinely admired it.

“I think you can do it. Let’s train together to get used to using your left hand. If your first left-handed creation is this good, you might be able to regain your old condition.”

It was uncertain whether it would take a year or three, but Jin-seop saw the possibility.

At that moment, Hyun-soo felt a severe pain in his right hand.

“Krhh.”

“May I take a look?”

Blacksmithing ultimately requires the use of both hands.

The left hand hammers, and the right hand holds the tongs.

Assuming the impact received by the left hand while hammering is 100, the right hand receives about 30.

Hyun-soo trembled with anxiety again.

But this was a problem Jin-seop could solve.

“I think making a medical protective glove would work. As thin as possible and without hindering blacksmithing. With this level of impact, a 99% protective glove should suffice.”

Hearing this, Hyun-soo collapsed.

He was relieved that he could still make use of his right hand using a protective glove.

And then, Jin-seop realized something.

Hyun-soo hadn’t had a sip of water in a long time.

“I’ll go buy something to drink.”

Jin-seop hurriedly ran off.

His steps were lively.

Had he ever been this happy living as a doctor?

No.

Had he ever felt his heart pound like this when he said he would do his best?

This too, no.

Jin-seop would help his left hand become accustomed and protect his right hand from shock.

Another reason Jin-seop was happy was this.

If the FDA approval goes smoothly, Jin-seop might see a blacksmith freely using both hands.

Jin-seop, who soon bought a refreshing drink.

He opened the forge door and was at a loss for words.

Blacksmith Hyun-soo, who was certain to give his best just as he did.

He was sitting, hugging the shabby sword sheathed in its scabbard, sobbing.

“Sob, sob…”

He was crying, but Jin-seop felt it.

His happiness was greater than his own, right now.

The hammer he held again had changed his broken world.

Jin-seop placed the water at the door and slowly closed it.

A few seconds later.

“I can make it againaaaaa!”

His voice burst out in the forge.

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