Chapter 7

The Secret of Repairing

1

- You have repaired the sickle.

Durability has decreased by 13.

You have gained 5 skill experience points.

‘Why have I never properly fixed anything before?’

When durability decreases, even if you repair it, you only get a little experience.

Yuhan looked at the necklace he was wearing with a resentful gaze, wondering if it really didn't bring him any luck.

Yuhan handed the shortened sickle to the other person.

The user, who had been striving to be a farmer, planting, gathering, and harvesting, looked at his shortened sickle with a sour expression.

However, there was nothing he could do. As a beginner farmer, he didn't have much money, and he couldn't blame himself for entrusting the repair to a blacksmith with a higher level and higher fees like Yuhan.

“Sigh!”

The farmer sighed deeply, picked up the sickle, and disappeared.

This had already happened three times today.

“Why is the repair success rate in this game so damn low?”

“Is it telling us to repair or not to repair?”

“To avoid breaking equipment, we have to pay a lot of money to find an NPC blacksmith. Isn't this too much?”

Users gathered in front of blacksmiths who had put up signs saying “I will repair” and vented their frustration.

This was because most of the blacksmith users in Balden Square had a repair success rate of less than 70%, and were beginners or mid-level players.

If the equipment is damaged or broken after being entrusted, anyone would get angry.

“So, there are people who don't even bother with repairs, right?”

“Ah, like ‘Yonlock King’ from the ‘Gauri’ guild? He always carries five swords, right?”

“He uses them until the durability is completely worn out and then just throws them away. That's why he only uses cheap swords.”

“No, he does have one really good sword made by the guild blacksmith.”

Yuhan had also heard about users who ignored recycling and used their equipment roughly.

However, they were only a small number of users who had a lot of money or were at a high level.

Many users were attached to their weapons and hoped they would survive intact with each repair.

Additionally, there was a “proficiency” value that increased with each use of the equipment. Equipment with higher proficiency had increased attack and defense power and was lighter, so most users tended to use one piece of equipment for a long time.

Of course, the evil DreamMax didn't leave it at that. The game company needed users to frequently buy equipment to make money.

Therefore, the repair success rate was even worse than the displayed probability. A 70% success rate didn't mean 7 out of 10 attempts would succeed, but rather 7 out of 10 attempts could fail.

Because of this, users often talked about needing higher luck or better repair success rates.

“Gah! Hey, you! What kind of mace is this? It's broken to pieces!”

“Keke! This, this is not intentional….”

Some blacksmiths even got into physical altercations over repair issues. Yuhan quietly put away his sign when he saw a blacksmith being thrown to the ground by the user next to him.

He didn't want to end up like that user, especially since his repair success rate was even worse.

In fact, a news article reported that a blacksmith user who broke a fairly expensive sword was beaten up by the sword's owner.

‘How can I repair things better?’

Yuhan, who didn't want to be insulted, used the money he earned from repairs to buy cheap daggers and deliberately break them to increase his repair skill proficiency.

After a few days, his repair skill reached level 8, and his repair success rate improved to 45%. However, the progress was extremely slow compared to the effort he put in.

‘Damn, I learned the secret of making things well…’

He realized that the quality of an item was determined by the shape of the lines on its surface.

If the lines were clear and evenly spaced, the quality was high; if the lines were uneven and blurry, the quality was low.

The cheap dagons Yuhan bought for practice had blurry and irregular patterns on their surfaces.

‘If the lines are like this… Wait, what’s this?’

Yuhan tilted his head as he examined a broken dagger.

He could see cracks radiating from the broken part, which were barely visible unless closely examined.

“Did it crack when it broke?”

After breaking and repairing the sword dozens of times, these cracks had formed.

Moreover, the poor quality of the sword must have contributed to this.

Since it was cheap, it probably didn't go through a proper forging process and was vulnerable to heat and strength. The metal structure was loose, and continuous impact likely caused cracks along the boundaries of the structure.

However, the cracks were not random. Most of them followed the lines on the surface.

Yuhan, who had been staring at the dagger, suddenly smiled.

“Yeah, I think I know how to do it now.”

He seemed to understand the principle and technique.

It was similar to learning a production skill.

However, just knowing it didn't mean he could do it. He could see it with his eyes and understand it with his mind, but his hands couldn't follow yet.

- You have repaired the dagger. It is in excellent condition, almost like new.

You have gained 80 skill experience points.

- You have repaired the dagger. Durability has been fully restored.

You have gained 65 skill experience points.

Consecutive repair successes.

Durability was not reduced at all.

Considering that a low-level blacksmith with a 45% repair success rate achieved this, it was truly remarkable.

“Of course! I was right!”

He seemed to understand the principle and technique.

It was similar to learning a production skill.

However, just knowing it didn't mean he could do it. He could see it with his eyes and understand it with his mind, but his hands couldn't follow yet.

- You have repaired the dagger.

Durability has decreased by 2.

You have gained 20 skill experience points.

“Damn, is this too much to ask?”

The dagger Yuhan had just repaired had many cracks, and the blade was almost completely worn out. It was in such bad condition that it should have been thrown away.

No matter how much he improved his ability to see the cracks, he couldn't perfectly repair it.

‘Hand skills… I need more skill, I guess.’

He thought he needed to increase his repair skill level.

At level 8, he could only repair D-grade wooden or iron equipment. To handle higher-grade equipment, he needed to increase his repair level.

“Great! From now on, I’ll focus on increasing my proficiency!”

In Arpedia Online, leveling up becomes much easier once you know the tricks. When hunting large prey, aim for the vital spots, and when growing your character, find shortcuts instead of following a set path.

Yuhan had just mastered the tricks for crafting and repairing.

3

Yuhan came out of his private training ground and returned to the square.

One side of the square was still noisy.

Negotiations, shouts, sighs, and sighs of relief continued between blacksmiths who wanted to repair and users who wanted repairs.

In contrast, Yuhan gained confidence in his repair skills. However, before putting up his sign, he wanted to confirm something.

“Sir, can you take a look at this?”

Yuhan found the blacksmith with the highest repair skill, “Windsmith,” and immediately handed him a dagger.

It was a cheap dagger that he had deliberately worn down to increase his repair skill.

“What? You want me to fix it? It would be better to buy a new one.”

Windsmith looked at him as if he was wondering why he wanted to fix such a thing.

“No, I don’t need it fixed. Just take a look.”

“What do you want me to look at? There’s nothing to see.”

“Look closely. Do you see anything strange?”

“What do you mean, what do you want me to look at?”

“I mean, the surface….”

Yuhan stopped, not wanting to reveal the micro-cracks.

If it was a fact unknown to other blacksmith users, he would be giving away a valuable trade secret.

“Anyway, how does it look like it broke?”

“How did it break? It just snapped in half.”

Windsmith handed him the dagger, looking annoyed, and turned his head. He didn’t seem to notice the fine cracks below the broken part.

Yuhan thought about it and asked other blacksmiths the same question.

“What do you mean, what do you want me to look at?”

“Is this a cheap-looking legendary weapon?”

“Sir, did you get scammed by a dragon NPC?”

The other blacksmiths didn’t seem to see any lines or cracks in a specific direction. They either didn’t pay attention to such things, or….

‘Is it only visible to me?’

It might be because most of the blacksmiths in Balden Square were low-level.

He could ask high-level blacksmiths later, but the important thing was that he could see something that most blacksmiths couldn’t.

Based on this insight, he had developed excellent repair skills despite the low success rate.

‘Okay, this is enough confirmation.’

After confirming, Yuhan put up a sign in a place where people could easily see it.

‘I will perfectly repair D-grade or lower equipment for 30 gold.’

When he wrote this, passing users stopped and looked back.

“What? Thirty gold?”

“You only repair D-grade or lower, so why is it so expensive?”

“More importantly… you said you’ll repair it perfectly.”

Compared to other blacksmiths in the square, who charged between 10 and 15 gold for repairs, this was expensive.

Moreover, it was clear that he was a beginner blacksmith.

“You must be asking for trouble.”

“Have you only been playing the game for a day or two?”

“Maybe he’s a high-level blacksmith we don’t know about?”

“Why would a high-level blacksmith hang around in Balden, a place for low-level players? Besides, he only repairs D-grade or lower. High-level players need to repair B-grade or higher to gain experience. He’s definitely not high-level.”

“He might be here to do a favor.”

“Still, from his appearance, he’s definitely not high-level.”

The users chattered about the overly confident newcomer.

If they knew that the person controlling the character had once made a significant mark in Arpedia Online’s history, what expressions would they have?

Yuhan sat on the ground in the square, waiting for customers. Even at this high price, there would definitely be a few curious people who would entrust their repairs to him. When he showed his true skills, people’s reactions would change dramatically.

Soon, the first customer appeared.

But the moment he saw the customer, Yuhan’s face twisted.

“Hey, can you really repair it perfectly?”

‘Why is this guy here?’

The customer asking for a repair was the same chunky guy he had met twice at the cram school. Since the game system doesn’t allow significant changes to appearance, he recognized him immediately.

The character’s name was ‘Last Mohican’.

“This is the ‘Orcish Axe’ I got from killing an orc warrior. Please repair it without any damage.”

The guy, who had a thug-like attitude in real life, was very polite in his request.

Of course, he might show his true colors if the repair was done