Chapter 2: There An Old Man Inside Me – 2  

-Eunah: What does Eunah have to do to meet her grandpa?

-Anvil: If Eun-ah is a good girl, I will come and see you.

-Eunah: Really? You will meet me, Grandpa is way better than Mom and Dad! My mom and dad always bully me; they don’t let me play with dolls or let me see movies!

-Anvil: Oh my, looks like Grandpa will have to teach a lesson to those kids! Then we’re going to play with the dolls and watch movies together.

-Eunah: Really?

-Anvil: Yes, really.

-Eunah’s: I love you so much! I’m going to be a good kid every day, so you have to come to see me quickly!

There were countless memories in his head. All were memories of different times, but the place and people remained unchanged.

Kang Shin-Hyuk became a blacksmith who was all alone in the perished world. He was pounding the lump of metal without any rest. He was constantly quenching metal, exchanging messages with a child who didn’t know his face or voice.

-Welcome VIP [Anvil]. All your ID information has loaded, but the difference in ability is large so it will take a while to fully synchronize. The HP that you have earned is locked, and it will be unlocked as the synchronization rate increases.

-Though you are a VIP, the assimilation rate is too low, so it is not possible to properly utilize membership rights. Limited activation of the Login Bonus Feature. VIP benefits, 500HP as a login bonus of the day! Increase your assimilation rate to enhance your login bonus and unlock the My Room function!

How much time had passed since he had fainted after receiving the strange message from the Hero Universe? It was only after the sky was dotted with the peaceful shine of the distant stars, that Kang Shin-Hyuk managed to slowly regain consciousness.

He was in his room. Baek In Ha seemed to have carried him to his room. He thanked him in his mind.

“Hey, uh… why does my head hurt so much?”

His head was spinning from dizziness. He felt similar to the morning when he drank with the orphanage kids after the Shinyoung results were announced. He was currently in a situation where he didn’t even know himself and what he was living for.

However, there was a certain thing left in his head and that was the memory of a young girl named [Eunah].

No, there was one more thing. He was a blacksmith and had made a birthday present for her in the past.

“What former life… Is it like that?”

He himself couldn’t believe it but the memory felt too fresh and real for it to be a simple dream. That strange sense of unity was hard to accept in a different sense.

An old, shabby blacksmith who hid underground and quietly waited for his death in a world where there was no one left to lean on. And the miracle that came to him…

‘I can’t remember any more. The memories are too random and chaotic.’

He also seemed to have heard something similar to synchronization and VIP when he was unconscious. There was a need to check.

‘The Gaia System’s log function should work…’ he thought. But when he activated the log function, he became even paler.

– The Synchronization operation is in progress. Current sync rate 0.3%… 1301 days 17 hours 32 minutes, 55 seconds 18…

– Special abilities and Spirit Power are unlocked.

-Under the influence of Spirit Power, your existing Trait [The Serpent without its Pearl] has evolved into [Awakened Fledgling Dragon](A -)! All stats grow drastically!

“No, what is it talking about?”

The talk about VIP and Synchronization was probably related to this Hero Universe. Say he ignored those parts for now, what would he do in the future?

Trait evolution? Metallurgy? Moreover, special ability!? Wasn’t that only for the use of magic?!

“No. Calm down, calm down Kang Shin-Hyuk. This entire thing could be a trap. Maybe it’s a terrible nightmare or hallucination since I wanted mana so much. Let’s check calmly. Okay, calm down.”

Every person who awakens a trait encountered the Gaia system and gained the right to check his or her abilities.

Yes, that was the status window. He was able to see his objective abilities in real-time just as he could see the abilities of the characters in the game. So the moment he said ‘Status window’, a translucent window appeared in front of him.

[Kang Shin-Hyuk – E+ Rank → D- Rank] [1]

[Trait]

Awakened Fledgling Dragon (A- → A+) – Instead of dealing with mana, you can easily and quickly master all kinds of martial arts. It greatly amplifies the effect of self-mastered martial arts and enhances the performance of the weapons in hand.

[Physical Ability]

Strength – E+ → D

Agility – D → C-

Health – E → D-

[Special Ability]

Spirit Power – F (Unlocked)

[Skills]

Eighteen Techniques (A) → Fanged Dragon Dance (S-)

Metallurgy – F

“Haa…”

Kang Shin-Hyuk sighed helplessly as he looked at his status window. His state window couldn’t be false. His status has changed greatly since the morning training.

His stats that he had tried to recklessly grow had all grown significantly, and his previous rank of E+ had grown to D. Skipping The D- Rank entirely becoming a pure D Rank.

But compared to other changes in this arrangement, it was nothing worth being surprised about…

Originally, his trait, the Serpent without its Pearl, was that of A-Rank. However, it had become the Awakened Fledgling Dragon and became an A+ Rank, it grew by two stages at once.

Of course, the inability to deal with mana was still a major limitation, but he was now able to greatly amplify the effectiveness of his martial arts and enhance the performance of a weapon he held. If it was this much, then he could become a respectable superhuman even without any mana.

“Even the special ability is S-class now… I got a negative mark, but still, I have my foot in the S-grade class.”

There were remarkable changes to his talent of training with weapons and his Eighteen Techniques had changed to a higher rank Fanged Dragon Dance.

Evolving to a higher rank meant his proficiency would rise by one level, and he was still strong without much proficiency. An S-Rank was even more special. Since it was almost exclusive to Rankers or the Ranker Reserve force.

He almost couldn’t believe it, so he pinched his cheek and it hurt like hell. It was not a dream. He also felt that his strength and stamina had really grown.

‘But what’s even more amazing than that.’

[Special ability]

Spirit Power – F (Open)

It was a special ability. It was a special ability which he never heard about, called Spirit Power.

No, there had been one before. Spirit Power was what superhumans used to call mana. No special abilities other than mana had been known at that time. At least for the general superhumans, including him.

Mana was the power to strengthen all things and must only be used by the superhumans who faced monsters. Kang Shin-Hyuk was treated as trash because he had no magic. However, there was now another power in place of mana!

“I need to be calm… No, I can’t accept the situation just like that.”

There had to be only one or two surprises like this but since massive changes full of multiple surprises had suddenly arrived in his life, he just couldn’t calm down. His head felt like exploding.

But he found out that everything had happened because of something called the Hero Universe. What had been the prologue to all this? Yes, it was the black sword from the second-hand store…

“Ha ha.”

He glanced at his right hand holding the sword. He laughed at himself for holding it so tightly as if he never planned to let it go.

I only realized later on that he could barely release his hand from the sword and lay it down.

“Just what is this sword?…”

-This is the sword that you made in your past life.

At that moment, a message appeared in front of him. It wasn’t the stiff, emotionless message of the Gaia system but a message that radiated with familiar human warmth. Inside the fragmented memories in his head, Kang Shin-Hyuk managed to recall the source of the message.

“Administrator…?”

-That’s the answer! 10HP as a bonus to our dear member who has just remembered the Administrator!

“The bonuses are still as generous as ever… ah.”

His eyes snapped open as he swallowed back the words which he had unwittingly uttered. Words that he couldn’t make sense of. Then as if it had guessed his feelings, another message followed right after

-No need to be confused. It’s your memory. More exactly, it is the memory of your past life.

“That sort of thing… is real?”

-You’re going through it now.

“Maybe this sword forcibly instilled other people’s memories and experiences in me…”

-We were able to load memories of your previous life because the souls matched. The evidence is that even with a large amount of information injected in you, no rejection occurred at all. And more than anything.

-You may feel yourself. The fact that you are “Anvil”

“…”

Kang Shin-Hyuk sighed. Because deep inside, he was already nodding to the Administrator.

ID [Anvil]. A man who hid alone in a destroyed world and hammered on the iron till the moment he died.

Although there were only fragmented memories lefts, the Administrator’s words were not wrong. He had already accepted that Anvil was the same as him deep in his mind.

He was curious about it himself, but it felt so…right that Anvil was him, he didn’t even think about resisting the thought.

“Yes, I can.”

-As the synchronization progresses, the more you will assimilate with Anvil, the more you may feel confused.

Kang Shin-Hyuk listened and re-examined the message. There were 1,300 days left until the synchronization was completed.

The moment he saw it, his fear of the changes that would come in the future, and his desire to quickly reclaim what had been lost, soared up like a dragon. It was a strange feeling.

Kang Shin-Hyuk shook his head as if trying to shake off his doubts and changed the subject.

“Then, What’s Spirit Power?”

-That is the power that your past life dealt with. Of course, you can also deal with it since you’re the same soul. It was just that the process was sped up because you managed to reclaim your memories by connecting to the Hero Universe.

“What about my Trait and General rank?”

-The influence of the Spirit Power. It is the power to touch the origin of all things and evolve it. When you awakened your spirit power, the first thing it evolved was your origin.

“…Uh, that’s similar to mana.”

-Yes. Spirit Power is a force that is different from mana and belongs to the higher dimension. If mana is a force that acts from the outside to activate the inside, then Spirit Power is a force that activates the outside from the inside.

“Is it because of that that I can’t control mana?”

-That’s just a penalty of your Talent. Some people can deal with both mana and spirit power.

He thought that there was a special reason why he still couldn’t control mana after his awakening, but in the end, it was just his Talent. He was let down a bit.

But his joy was not completely gone.

Spirit Power. A higher form of energy similar to mana. What that meant was simple. It meant that Kang Shin-Hyuk was not a trash can now. He could grow, become stronger. Forge his own path,

“Spirit Power…”

Kang Shin-Hyuk clenched his fist, muttering the name of his new power. Then he faintly felt something.

He didn’t know how to control it yet, but he could clearly feel the energy inside him.

“Administrator-nim.”

Kang Shin-Hyuk, after clearing his mind, calmly asked the Administrator. There were so many things he wanted to ask, but there was one thing that was the most urgent right now.

“What should I do to properly grow and control my spirit power?”

-That’s something you have to find out yourself.

The Administrator replied immediately.

-Because you were a blacksmith spirit user.

As a result, the topic reverted back to his origins but compared to the first time, he was able to accept it with a calm mind.

“I got it.”

Kang Shin-Hyuk replied with a sigh.

He was determined to face himself in his previous life.

“Then let’s try to find out what this Metallurgy Skill is.”

Translator and Editor Notes:

[1] this means that his rank is D-Rank, not between E+ and D or anything like that ~Magifishcat.