Chapter 03
The second tutorial quest appeared together with the Master Craftsman’s All-Purpose Hammer.
What the two were saying was simple.
“This is pure manual labor.”
And there was even a time limit.
The quest itself didn’t mention any time restriction, so at first glance it seemed relaxed.
But the hammer had a usage limit.
On top of that, it said the hammer’s performance depended on the user.
‘Yeah… the intention is pretty obvious.’
This was clearly meant to discipline the person who possessed the game.
Just like how new part-timers are told to clean the bathrooms first.
The only good thing was—
‘I’m actually good at this kind of hard work.’
I was Baek Hakyung, the woman who carried grill plates and stone pots all day at a barbecue restaurant during the year-end season.
I shrugged and lifted the hammer.
Despite how heavy it looked, it was surprisingly light.
The grip also felt incredibly good.
“Guess a real master really did make this.”
As I held the hammer quietly, Hugh spoke up nervously.
“Is… is there a problem?”
Hugh blinked anxiously as he asked. I looked at him for a moment, then gently patted his head.
“No problem at all, Hugh.”
“Then… was Hugh helpful?”
“Yeah. Very helpful.”
Hugh’s eyes widened, and he started hopping in place. He looked thrilled just hearing that he had helped.
Smiling lightly, I held out my hand.
“Hop onto my hand, Hugh. Let’s go use the hammer.”
“Gasp, really? Is it okay for Hugh to climb onto Master’s hand?”
“Of course!”
After hesitating for a moment, Hugh carefully climbed onto my hand, step by step.
Once I made sure he was settled properly, I stood up.
“Alright. Let’s see what this hammer can really do.”
I was confident in hammering.
I had even done part-time work building stage sets before, so I had picked up a useful skill.
‘Hammering isn’t just about brute force.’
You use your wrist, not your shoulder, and apply centrifugal force for a light tap.
I grinned and swung the hammer using the familiar motion ingrained in my body.
Tap.
The hammer struck the heavily cracked outer wall with a dull sound.
Then—
Flash!
A light far brighter than before exploded from the wall.
It was bright enough to cover the entire side of the building.
After a moment, the light slowly faded, revealing the wall beneath it.
“Whoa…”
This is amazing.
At a glance, the wall looked clean and solid.
There were still small scratches here and there, but the large cracks running across the wall were completely gone.
I had been a little worried since the performance depended on the user, but it seemed the base performance was already incredible.
“At this rate, it won’t take long.”
Maybe ten or twenty swings at most.
I had been worried I’d have to hammer all day, so this was a relief.
While I was mentally estimating the work, Hugh suddenly stood up on my hand.
“H-how did you do that? When Hugh tried, it wasn’t this good!”
“I’m just good at hammering.”
“But still!”
Hugh stared at the repaired wall in disbelief, muttering that even Grandma Basha couldn’t have done this and that the craftsman who made the hammer probably never expected it either.
I glanced at the stunned Hugh and started moving again.
Even with such good performance, fixing an entire two-story building would take time.
So I began tapping away at the building with the all-purpose hammer.
Without knowing the aftermath this would cause.
***
Around the same time, while a café somewhere was being fixed piece by piece—
In the very center of Noren, the capital of the Kingdom of Jenon, stood the Dael Temple, the only temple dedicated to the god Dael.
Despite its central location, the temple was quiet.
The reason was simple.
“…Please return to us.”
Five years ago, the god had left.
Parhan, the sole high priest of the Dael faith, stared at the cracked statue with lifeless eyes and whispered.
Just five years ago, the statue before him had shone with beautiful light.
That light was proof that the god was watching over the Kingdom of Jenon, and countless people had visited the temple to see it.
But—
“Was it that day…?”
Yes. The day sudden natural disasters struck Jenon.
It was the first time since the kingdom’s founding.
Earthquakes, tsunamis, and torrential rain.
For a land with normally gentle weather, it was nothing short of a catastrophe.
The disasters were severe enough to swallow an entire country, but strangely, the actual damage was not that great.
Because the statue of Dael had protected them.
“But…”
Parhan closed his eyes tightly, then opened them and looked at the deepest crack in the statue.
A crack so deep it looked like it might swallow the statue whole.
The statue, which should have protected Jenon with the god’s power, lost its light after that crack appeared.
No matter how skilled the sculptors or tool masters they summoned, they couldn’t fix it.
Instead, only more small cracks formed.
Rumors spread that the god had left, and people stopped coming to the temple.
So there was only one thing Parhan could do.
“That the god may once again watch over Jenon…”
Pray desperately for a miracle before the broken statue.
Five years had already passed like that.
For five years, he had prayed while watching the kingdom slowly fall apart.
Now, even hope had faded, leaving only despair.
And now—
Parhan stared at the statue for a moment, then weakly turned away, intending to continue guarding the empty temple alone.
Just as he took one step—
Flash!
A brilliant light burst out behind him.
Startled, Parhan immediately turned around.
Then he whispered in disbelief.
“…A m-miracle!”
Bright light was filling the deep crack in the statue.
And that light was more dazzling than any he had ever seen.
There was only one meaning.
“Oh, great god…”
The god who had left the Kingdom of Jenon was returning.
Parhan stared at the statue in shock, then suddenly realized something and turned quickly.
“N-now is not the time to stand still…”
‘An offering… yes, I must offer Rake.
A jewel that shines only for the god!’
Even as the temple’s finances worsened, he had saved ten Rake jewels for the day the god returned.
Parhan rushed toward the storage where the jewels were kept.
Because of that, he failed to notice that the light filling the statue’s crack faded for a brief moment.
***
Several hours later—
“Hmm, now this finally looks decent.”
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and smiled in satisfaction.
The miserable building from before was gone, replaced by a proper-looking structure.
There were still small scratches, and it clearly showed its age, but—
“Well, it was free. I can live with this much.”
With the right decorating, it could totally become an aesthetic café worthy of Instagram.
It was outside the busy capital, but it stood as a two-story building facing open reed fields.
It had a spacious yard, a nice terrace, and a roof accented with red bricks against white walls.
My favorite part was the arched windows with a small minibar attached.
It was small, but depending on how I used it, it could completely change the café’s atmosphere.
“Perfect.”
I used to pay rent for a semi-basement apartment, and now I was a building owner.
I stood proudly with my hands on my hips.
But only for a moment.
“That said… what about the inside?”
The biggest problem still remained: the café interior.
What’s the point of having a building if I can’t run a café and make money?
Taking a deep breath, I finally looked inside the building I had been avoiding.
Through the doors I had opened wide for ventilation, a terrible scene greeted me.
The coffee bar barely held its shape.
Tables, frames, chairs—everything else was completely destroyed.
Inside the bar area, the mini kitchen looked like a graveyard of shattered glassware.
“Please don’t tell me I have to fix all of this one by one with the hammer…”
That would be a bit too much.
I squinted my left eye and looked at the hammer in my hand.
“Well, let’s claim the reward first.”
I called up the system window again.
Quest Complete!
Would you like to receive the reward?
- 10 Diamonds
[Accept]
The system window lit up in front of my eyes with a loud, rainbow-colored glow.
