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Early TNG Vol. 22 Chapter 1 Part 1
🕑 Added 2025-02-05 14:25:32 +0000 UTCFull title: THE NEW GATE
Note: This part has not been TLCed yet, and might slightly differ from the public version. If you found any typos/mistakes, pls write them in the comment. Thanks.
Translator: Anon
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CHAPTER 1
Shin visited the commercial country of Kurikara with his party members to visit its hot springs, and there, they took part in the “Wrought Iron Battle Festival,” a blacksmithing and martial arts festival held once every four years.
However, behind the scenes of the lively festival, weapons contaminated with a curse were secretly being circulated, which led to numerous incidents of people in the town suddenly going berserk.
In addition, the weapons on display turned into monsters and attacked people. The town was thrown into chaos.
Although there were many casualties, Shin and his party defeat the mastermind behind the terrorist attack and succeed in settling the situation.
Although the lives lost could not be brought back, he would like to at least restore the weapons that were the result of the work that the people of this country have accumulated - with this thought in mind, Shin offered to repair the weapons that were destroyed in the incident.
Shin had once shown off a glimpse of his outstanding blacksmithing skills, but word had spread to the Black Faction, a group of technical experts who were followers of the legendary High Human, the Dark Blacksmith.
A few days later, Shin and the others were summoned to the royal castle of Kurikara, where, through the mediation of the “Cave King” Jayf, the head of the Dwarven Association, they were invited to the Black Faction's headquarters.
After everyone had been cleared out of the room, Shin and the others continued their conversation with Jayf and the other person present - Kluck, a blacksmith who belonged to the Black Faction.
“The person from whom Sir Shin learned blacksmithing... could it be the ‘Dark Blacksmith’ himself? That man, who is said to have disappeared somewhere, is still somewhere in this world? I can't help but think that.”
In response to Jayf's question, Shin pretended to be confused and muttered.
“My master, a High Human?”
It was Shin who brought up the subject of his blacksmithing master to conceal his true identity, but he himself was a High Human. Furthermore, it was Shin himself who was called the ‘Dark Blacksmith’. He couldn't nod, and he had no intention of revealing his true identity.
“If that were the case, it would have been amazing. Unfortunately, it's not. There's no doubt that he was a member of a higher race.”
Shin knew that he wasn't good at lying. Jayf had seen many people, so Shin wasn't confident that he could fool them with a complete lie.
So he decided to tell him. It was a lie in answer to Jayf's question, but the content itself was the truth, a story that only Shin could understand.
“He trained an apprentice as skilled as you are, and yet he’s not a High Human?”
“I can't go into detail because it would be troublesome if you were to identify his race, but he's definitely not human. He said that there are still more to come, and apparently in the olden days it was normal for a fully trained blacksmith to be able to make things of the Mythology level.”
Shin shrugged as he spoke, emphasizing the part about the past. And Jayf and the others got the point.
“...It was before the era of 'Dusk of Majesty.' At that time, it was said that one was only half-baked if one could create legendary-class weapons. If you know that era, then that statement is natural. I imagine they must have worked hard to hone their skills against opponents I can't even imagine.”
In Jayf's mind, he probably assumed Shin’s master was either High Elf, High Pixie, High Lord, or High Dragnil.
The image of dwarves as blacksmiths was common to many fantasy works, but in THE NEW GATE, High Dwarves were not a long-lived species.
In this world, it was the same for any race, but the high races lived longer.
However, dwarves were still a short-lived species. Even if they were a higher race, there were no High Dwarves that could live for more than 500 years.
The only exceptions were some High Beasts and individuals in special conditions.
“It seems like he often had exchanges of ideas, like discussing blacksmithing with the two of you. Apparently he also talked a lot with the 'Dark Blacksmith'. He just enjoyed doing blacksmithing, so even if he competed with other blacksmiths, I heard he didn't quarrel with each other.”
Shin spoke from a position of pure hearsay.
The person of the high race Shin was talking about was a real player during the game.
He actually taught him the tricks of blacksmithing, and to Shin, he was someone he could call a master, so he was not just talking nonsense.
“When I was struggling with which path to take, he told me to enjoy making things more. If I hadn't met my master, I might have been stuck in a lot of ways.”
When Shin was still immature, crafting weapons was a tedious task.
He wanted to quickly improve his status and challenge higher-ranking monsters, and he also wanted to challenge unknown stages. But for a Human whose basic stats weren't high, taking on a stage where unknown monsters and gimmicks awaited without the support of high-performance weapons was, in a sense, a gamble.
Seeing the other players take the lead, Shin felt frustrated at the time.
Slowly, his stats were improving. But it was taking too long. Feeling impatient, he was devoting himself to blacksmithing in a bit of a frenzy when he met the High Dwarf man.
It was when he didn't have a base yet and was working in a blacksmithing shop that could be rented for a certain amount of time. Since it was a rental, the blacksmithing shop wasn't divided into separate sections, so he could see how other players were doing things. If that hadn't happened, he wouldn't have met the man.
“Hey, you. Why are you swinging your hammer so boringly? It's a game after all. Have a little more fun.”
“What's wrong with you? The rental time for this place is limited. Leave it for later.”
Shin remembered that their first conversation had definitely gone something like this.
He could have responded more inoffensively, but even though it was him, he didn't know what he was thinking at the time.
The more he thought back, the more he realized how lacking he was back then. Some events in THE NEW GATE had a ranking system, but Shin wasn't aiming to win a high prize. All he remembered back then was playing with an emphasis on efficiency, as if he was being rushed by something.
“It seems like it's true. I'm really jealous of the idea of a High Human discussing blacksmithing. I'd like to meet him once, but judging from your attitude, you don't seem like the type of person who wants to stand out on the stage.”
“That's true. He's the type of person who just wants to make things that satisfy him.”
He was someone who openly declared that his hobby was making things that were different from normal equipment and were fun to make. The probability that what he made would be useful in battle or exploration was at best 20%.
Incidentally, it was this person who first discovered the magic powerblast function attached to Filma's Hollow Lacquer armor and added it to the equipment. He had fond memories of flying through the air with the magic powerblast attached to his boots, then failing to land and creating a human-shaped hole in the ground.
“Actually, I don't even know where he is right now.”
“Eh?”
“What?”
Kluck, who had been listening to Shin in silence up until then, also exclaimed in surprise at Shin's statement.
The player was not involved in the death game. He was probably alive somewhere in the real world. However, Shin didn't know where he was. Unless they meet offline, it's rare for players to meet each other in person.
“I may not be the one to say this, but are you sure? Things like this happen. Does he have bodyguards?”
Shin understood Jayf's concerns, but he was not in this world in the first place, so it was not a problem. If he were to actually find him, he would have to interfere with the real world.
“In that case, it's fine. Even the Chosen Ones can't lay hands on him. His equipment is naturally of Mythology class or higher, and he can even use Teleport.”
“Hmm, if that's the case, then escaping would be easy. If you say so, I have no choice but to believe you as the apprentice. Sorry for taking up your time.”
“No, I can't help but to be curious about people in the same field.”
For blacksmiths, the “Dark Blacksmith” was something they admire and worship. They probably thought they might be able to get closer to such a being.
It's precisely because Shin thought he would have been curious if he were in the opposite position that he didn't just say he didn't know.
“By the way, there's something I'd like to ask you two.”
“Go ahead. I already went into a bit of detail here. I'll answer if I can.”
“I don't mind.”
Jayf and Kluck nodded, so Shin continued asking questions.
“I'm sure I'll understand when I get there, but I wanted to ask a few questions about the Black Faction's base. I heard it's moving, but is it something like a High Human's flying castle?”
Shin had been curious ever since he'd heard from Jayf that their base was moving.
The Black Faction was using a guild house, but if it was a famous organization's base, it probably wouldn't be a small, mobile guild house.
Obviously, he'd find out when he got there, but since they were waiting until someone came to pick them up, it should be fine to ask about it here.
At first, when he heard that it was the Black Faction's base, he wondered if it was his own guild house.
However, the fact that it was moving confirmed that it was not at least the guild house that Shin was in charge of, “Demi Eden,” which was the guild house he was in charge of.
In the first place, Demi Eden was not large enough for a large organization to use as a base, and even former players shouldn't be able to use it according to the system.
It was unfortunate that there was still not a single clue, but it was better than being used by someone else.
