“Hey, Old Man! You still haven’t decided? Will you hand this building over to us? Won’t you be able to buy alcohol every day until you die if you do so?” 

The men who entered the smithy were rough-looking, and their physique was good. They reminded Grid of the employees from Mother's Heart Is Happy. They took a heavy-handed attitude as they handed a sheet of paper to the elderly blacksmith.

‘What’s this?’

It was a contract to sell this building and the land to the Mero Company.

Grid instinctively realized it. ‘If I analyze this based on my recent successes and troubles, it’s likely that I’ll get involved in a stupid quest as I stand here.’

That absolutely couldn’t be allowed to happen. The urgent thing right now was to earn money by making items.

‘There’s no time to waste on unwanted quests.’ Grid admired his brain’s quick thinking and moved to avoid this situation. Nevertheless, how many things ever went according to his will?

Grid only managed to move a few steps before he was caught by the gangsters.

"Hey, where did this newbie come from? You trying to sneak into our business like a rat?” They started to question Grid in an intimidating manner. "Did you come to steal the contents of our contract? You, are you a spy? Did the Skaner Company send you?”

Why did Grid get caught up in the contents of that piece of paper? This was really some useless curiosity. 

‘I should’ve just stayed in the rear and avoided looking at them.'

Grid shrugged as if to say ‘Me, a spy? What are you talking about? It isn’t like that, so don’t worry about me. I just want to go my own way.’ 

However, they continued to act tough.

Gulp.

‘Damn.’ 

Grid's saliva dried up and sweat beaded up on his forehead. He remembered his low-level days in Satisfy. 

Was it due to the fearful memories of being a bread shuttle, or being threatened by teenage gangster NPCs in the back alleys…? Or maybe it was because they resembled the employees from Mother's Heart Is Happy Financial Services... Anyway, Grid reflexively shrank back from the group; he couldn’t cope with this.

'I should behave.’

Violent NPCs didn’t fear the law. It was entirely possible for him to be severely injured or killed if he even so much as touched these guys. Of course, he could report the NPCs to the guards, but these guys' fists were closer than the law enforcers. It might be possible if Grid were stronger or quick enough to flee from this building. Nonetheless, that wasn’t the case, so it was better to avoid irritating them.

‘Judging by their appearance and atmosphere, they aren’t back-alley bullies. They don’t just smoke cigarettes and use bread shuttles.’

The Mero Company was the second largest business company in the Eternal Kingdom. They wouldn’t give jobs to losers. These assholes were all gangsters.

‘Based on their equipment, they’re at least level 35.’

Gangsters over level 35...! How many people had they hurt and frightened in order to level up? Grid couldn’t imagine all the sins that these people had committed. 

‘There are five of them... In contrast, I am only level 3. While my stats are superior compared to those of my level, they’re all still around level 20. Additionally, I am alone.’

To make matters worse, Grid was unarmed. He would only lose if he got into a fight with them. 

‘Yes, let’s act prudently and discard my pride.’

As soon as he organized his thoughts, Grid smiled as brightly as possible and explained, “I’m not here to spy on you. I am just a customer passing by. So you don’t have to be so vigilant. Heheh.”

He felt no shame in acting subservient to NPCs! 

The hand of the man grabbing Grid’s shoulder loosened slightly. “Customer? At this smithy?”

“Yes.”

“Hoh? A customer of this smithy...” The grip of the man’s hand on Grid’s shoulder strengthened again.

‘Ouch, it hurts.’ Grid frowned due to the pain. 

Curse words almost popped out of his mouth, but he remained patient. Instead of scolding the man, Grid tried his best to maintain his smile. Why? This was because he might get hit otherwise! There was an old saying that said you couldn’t spit when there was a smile on the other person’s face.

The gangsters eyed Grid with suspicion.

“The street operated by the Mero Company has a large number of weapons stores, so why would you come to a smithy like this? Isn’t this strange?”

“There might be many weapons stores, but this is the only smithy. I don’t want to buy a weapon; instead, I find a blacksmith for production-related work. Therefore, it was inevitable that I came here. Hehe, I had no idea this smithy was troubled since I am new to Winston.”

Grid could debut as a lead actor right away, and he would be the perfect candidate for the New Actor Award at the end of year ceremonies. His appearance and tone were subservient.

As Grid continued to smile, the suspicious gangster eventually released him.

“I somehow feel like hitting you, but you’re a blacksmith as well? Hmm, indeed. You’re so weak that you can’t be a spy... Okay, get out of here. Don’t think about coming here again.”

Did the gangster want to hit Grid? Did Grid look poor and weak? These scum thought they could make fun of Grid just because of how he looked? The fury in Grid’s heart boiled over. However, he had to be patient.

“Hehe, thank you for believing in me. I’ll be going now.” Grid was able to keep the smile until the last minute as he quickly headed out of the smithy.

Then the old blacksmith’s angry voice rang out behind Grid, “Yes... there’s nothing to be gained from dragging this dirty work out too long. It is better to avoid such things. I’m too tired now.”

As Grid paused for a moment, the old man blinked his bloodshot eyes. It was to stop his tears from falling down.

The old man said, “Give me that contract. I’ll sign it as you wish.”

“Eh? R-Really?”

“Ohh! Good thinking Old Man!”

“It took a long time, but you have finally made a wise decision.”

The gangsters cheered at the old man’s words. It was like a festival.

The one who seemed to be the leader handed the contract to the old man. “All you have to do is sign. Then you can take it easy.”

“......” The old man gazed at the contract and hesitated for a moment before reaching toward the contract with trembling hands. At that moment, tears fell from the old man’s eyes. “Ahh! This is the end of my seven-generation family business! I won’t be able to face my ancestors after I die!” 

The sight of the sad and depressed old man was unbearable.

Yet the gangsters mocked him instead of comforting him: “You abruptly stopped blacksmithing, so isn’t it natural for the customers to turn away? And Old Man, didn’t you have a child? Your only son died, so you turned to the bottles? You don’t have a successor, so once you die, your family line will naturally be cut off. You were defending something that had no value. Didn’t your debts just increase? Pathetic, truly pathetic.”

“You! Don’t mention my son with that vulgar mouth!”

“Why the hell are you so loud? Do you want to get beat up like last time?” The gangster named ‘Johnson’ threatened to hit the old man.

Grid became angry when he saw Johnson do this. ‘Isn’t the blacksmith an old man? Not only did he speak rudely to the old man, but he also threatened to beat him up...’

At that moment, a gangster called ‘Um’ spoke up, “Look, the contract should be completed today.”

Then the one called ‘Praga’ jumped in like an excited foal, “No, I’m mad. Didn’t we have to wait a few months for the old man to accept? Think about how much we suffered because of him!”

The gangster called ‘Neil’ continued, “I agree... Fuck, we couldn’t even properly handle an old man. We received less pay on the scheduled date because of this.”

Then the silent leader, Veil, smiled coldly and stated, “That’s right, you must compensate us for the damages we received.”

Veil slapped the old man’s cheek and said, “Hey Old Man, once you receive the money for selling this smithy, half of it will be used to pay off your debt, while the other half will be handed to us. Isn’t it obvious to compensate us for the damages you caused?”

“You dog bastards!” The old man, Khan, replied angrily to Veil.

“Hey, you don’t have a wife or son to feed, so why do you need such a large amount of money? You should help the poor young people like me.”

“......” 

Grid’s insides were boiling with anger. 

‘I don’t respect senior citizens much, but...’

When he used public transportation such as the bus or subway, he never yielded his seat to the elderly. He paid the same amount of money, so he also had the right to enjoy the seat! No matter how burdensome their gazes were, he never gave way.

‘But...’

Unlike these gangsters, he didn’t insult or tease the elderly. Grid was really angry.

‘Young pups treating the elderly like this... It’s terrible.’

So? Should Grid help the old man, despite his low level? NO~ NO~ He didn’t have a sense of justice. Why should he help others? He couldn’t think of any benefits. During his childhood, he was disgusted by superheroes instead of admiring them like everyone else.

‘Why are they getting hurt trying to save others? Are they crazy?’

He couldn’t understand the heroes who sacrificed themselves to defeat the villain. His younger self had cringed as he watched their unconditional sacrifice. So when the neighborhood kids played as heroes, he had acted as the villain. Once he became the villain, he enjoyed the pleasure he got from harassing his friends who played the role of heroes. He had the good sense to pretend to die at the end of the game, meaning the other children didn’t feel any resentment. 

‘When I think about it, I have been like this since childhood. Yes, from the beginning, I closed my eyes whenever I saw injustice.’

So Grid turned away from the old man who was being humiliated and about to lose the business that had been in his family for seven generations. Sure, some regrets remained.

‘The situation has become like this, so it is impossible to make items in this smithy. If I want to move villages, won’t I have to pay for that scamming expensive carriage again? Do I really have to move villages once more? No, there is no need to. I will just hunt and raise my level until the new owner of this smithy starts work.’

Wait...

‘Don’t I need equipment to hunt? This damn thing! I stored my sword and armor in the warehouse. My 50 silver!’ 

Grid’s stress levels weren’t a joke. His stomach hurt when he thought about all the money that was flying away.

‘Why was my life so twisted? Uhh... I’m getting a stomach ache. I should leave here as soon as possible.’

Yet strangely, his feet didn’t move.

‘That old man... Is this really okay?’

‘Ah! Really! Fuck!’

Maybe it was because Grid had witnessed the dirty work. No matter how much he dreamed about a life that was far from good, he still had the basic fundamentals of a human being. It weighed too heavily on his conscience to ignore the old man who was surrounded by gangsters.

‘No, why risk myself for someone else? Am I stupid?’

Grid was fully aware that he should turn a blind eye to this. So why was he hesitating?

‘When did I become so nosy? This behavior isn’t like me. I’ve always closed my eyes to injustice.’

Then at the moment he braced himself to leave the smithy...

[Your anger levels are at their peak after witnessing gangsters commit wrongdoings toward a blacksmith.]

[The quest ‘Blacksmith’s Rage’ has been created.]