Eosolujun waved its mechanical hand in front of me.
The sight of it moving around using the caterpillar tracks attached beneath its arm was quite striking.
I watched it for a moment, then turned my gaze to the scanner.
On the scanner’s screen was a map depicting the building and the surrounding terrain.
The map was covered in an unidentified language that was neither Korean nor English, but strangely enough, I knew how to read it and what it meant.
“There’s an administrative facility in the central area… and an armory? I’ll have to check this place out quickly.”
As I analyzed the map my new friend, Eosolujun, had handed me, the chat window began scrolling upward at a terrifying speed.
It was so fast that even if I only read a few letters, they vanished from sight almost immediately.
So, I chose a method.
[Slow Mode has been applied to the current chat window.]
Once I slowed the chat down, I could finally begin to make out the messages little by little.
Even though I’d clearly restricted it to registered nicknames only, the reaction was still this intense. I honestly couldn’t tell what part they were so excited about.
And once I read the chat, that question was soon answered.
ㄴBone-Shaving Old Man: How,,is,,that,,possible? Surely,,engineering,,cannot,,directly,,use,,magic,,
ㄴTruth Scholar: That’s… contradictory. It feels like it’s deviated from the gods’ intent. A lifeless thing using mana that moves by will….
ㄴHealing Is Violence: Forget the machine for a second. How can you read the letters? Those are characters from an era where everything was lost.
Mm. Looking at it now, I could see why the chat had exploded with this much firepower.
Mana fundamentally required “will.”
If you thought about how absurd it was for machinery and will to be attached to each other, it was easy to understand.
A machine, which produced results according to input values, having will? That was close to a contradiction.
And being able to read the language was also a problem.
Being able to read letters from an era whose records had vanished almost completely? Of course they had no choice but to react strongly.
However, separate from Eosolujun using mana, I could explain how I was able to read the language.
Because I could see that will.
“I can feel will from the ancient characters. I mean, something like the flow of mana.”
ㄴQuickdraw Sword Saint: Can that be interpreted as feeling it?
ㄴTruth Scholar: Well, I did get a faint sense of something like that… but you’re saying it’s real?
ㄴAlcoholIsLife: No, even if we assume they imbued the letters with will like mana, perceiving it should be difficult, shouldn’t it?
“I just feel it, though?”
A few seconds after I finished speaking, the chat window filled with question marks and curses.
No, but what am I supposed to do when that’s the only way I can explain it?
I wasn’t some incredible orator, and I certainly wasn’t a scholar, so I could only explain it like this.
Even in the slowed chat window, messages were pouring in by the dozens, but I decided to ignore them.
After all, I had a more important goal right now.
—Map of Area N023.
A map of the city I was in.
Many of the buildings there were important enough to provide meaningful help for survival.
I moved my finger over the scanner’s screen and examined the map in detail.
Zoom in, zoom out. The size of the buildings changed in real time.
While checking the key areas one by one and making plans, I looked at the chat window.
The chat was now slow enough that I could easily read the text.
ㄴTruth Scholar: I still can’t read it, even though it’s showing on the scanner.
ㄴHealing Is Violence: What’s that building in the center? It’s so tall I can’t even comprehend it.
ㄴQuickdraw Sword Saint: At this scale, a single city might rival an entire empire.
The city was quite large to walk through.
The distance from one end to the other was about 4 km.
And the defensive and offensive facilities in this city far exceeded my expectations.
While looking at the central city, I came across a name I couldn’t understand, so I asked the gallery.
ㄴTruth Scholar: Multi-circle guided incendiary shell? …Does it happen to have a number written there too?
“Yes, it says 6.”
ㄴTruth Scholar: Six overlapping magic circles… With just one of those, you could send a decent-sized city back to the Stone Age.
So, in ancient times, every city had weapons equivalent to nuclear bombs?
…I couldn’t understand how an era like this had disappeared.
And this wasn’t even the only city.
There was another city nearby right away, and judging by the number 23 next to the map, it seemed there were at least 23 cities.
Cities this prosperous were now being called a vanished era.
“…What happened?”
That was something I couldn’t know right now.
Still, it seemed like something I should look into later.
If it was a threat that had destroyed such a massive era, there was a high chance it could affect me too.
Thinking that, I stood up.
“I’ll turn off the stream for a bit. I’ll turn it back on once I get into the submersible.”
With a swipe of my hand through the air, the broadcast window disappeared.
I stared for a moment at the firmly shut door, then raised my hand.
Creeeak.
The door opened with the sound of old hinges.
I looked around, but there were no Cyclopes.
Whirrr.
At the mechanical sound from behind me, I turned around and saw Eosolujun following me.
The sight of it rolling along on its caterpillar tracks was fairly impressive.
“…Are you coming with me?”
Whirrr. Whirrr.
At my question, it waved its mechanical arm up and down.
I didn’t know how it understood me, but Eosolujun followed after me.
As I walked while focusing on my surroundings, my submersible soon came into view.
Creeeak!
When I opened the hatch and entered, the noise from outside disappeared.
But it wasn’t completely quiet.
Whirrr.
“…What do you eat?”
At my question, Eosolujun moved its mechanical arm and pointed at an object.
When I turned my gaze there, I saw a green cube.
“Mana?”
Whirrr. Whirrr.
Eosolujun moved its mechanical arm as if to say yes.
It seemed Eosolujun probably used mana as its energy source.
I thought for a moment about how I should give it mana.
The machine I had, the scanner, charged when brought close to the fabrication machine, which made me think even harder.
‘Should I stick Eosolujun onto the fabrication machine? Or bring it to the mana cube…?’
Then I reached a conclusion.
“How do you want to charge?”
Ask it directly.
Eosolujun moved without the slightest hesitation.
The place it reached after rolling its caterpillar tracks along was…
Right in front of me.
Whirrr.
“…You want me to give you my hand?”
Eosolujun moved its mechanical arm near my hand.
When I brought my hand closer to match it—
Grab.
Eosolujun’s mechanical hand, split into four prongs, took hold of me.
It didn’t hurt. Instead, I felt the sensation of mana transferring away.
After a few minutes passed, Eosolujun seemed to be moving subtly faster.
Watching that, I felt strangely pleased too.
“Ah, right. The stream.”
While blankly watching Eosolujun, I suddenly remembered that I had decided to turn the broadcast back on.
I immediately started the broadcast, and viewers flooded in.
Of course, among them were registered nicknames.
The reason I had turned the stream back on inside the submersible was precisely because of those registered nicknames.
“I’m trying to decide on a goal for about the next month. So please tell me a feasible route.”
If this were a gallery on Earth, no one would leisurely tell me something like that.
But most of the registered nicknames here were time Bill G*tes.
And many of them prioritized entertainment.
ㄴQuickdraw Sword Saint: A month, huh. You could make it to the central city.
ㄴTruth Scholar: …The central city is absurd. You should aim for an area with plenty of food…
ㄴAlcoholIsLife: No! Anyone can see you have to go to the tavern!!
ㄴHealing Is Violence: None of you know anything. He should go to the hospital and get medical supplies.
Maybe because I’d explained the facilities on the broadcast while looking around the map—
ㄴTruth Scholar: No, the order should be food factory—weapon factory—hospital—central city….
ㄴHealing Is Violence: Hospital—food factory….
ㄴQuickdraw Sword Saint: Wouldn’t going straight to the central city be best?
ㄴKkukku: Are you crazy? The only person who could do that is someone as skilled as Uncle.
The registered nicknames were arguing with one another, each insisting that the plan they had made was better.
Why they were fighting so fiercely… I wasn’t sure.
‘Is it because they’ll get to see the ancient city they want first?’
As I looked at the chat window while thinking that, about three registered nicknames stood out to me.
Truth Scholar, who chatted the most.
Healing Is Violence, who was obsessed with the hospital.
Kkukku, who wanted me to see the dessert shop first.
‘Was there a dessert shop…?’
I had no idea when I’d shown that.
In any case, now that the candidates had been decided…
It was time to choose.
“I’ll pick one of the routes made by Truth Scholar, Healing Is Violence, and Kkukku.”
ㄴQuickdraw Sword Saint: Disciple, no matter how I look at it, going to the central district first is…
ㄴHealing Is Violence: Unless you want to get your disciple killed, please shut up.
ㄴKkukku: Looks like I’m going to win.
ㄴTruth Scholar: Please! You know I saved your life, right? Please pick me!
ㄴAlcoholIsLife: No, why is there no tavern? I’m not doing this.
All three routes provided by the registered nicknames were fairly reasonable.
Routes that entered the central district, where the Cyclopes were supposedly gathered, from the outskirts.
I was conflicted.
After all, this was a plan I’d be following for a month.
As I continued thinking like that—
Whirrr.
“…Aha.”
I saw Eosolujun.
I immediately took three pieces of jerky out of the drawer and placed them on the floor.
“Eosolujun, this one is the food factory, the hospital…”
For each piece of jerky, I stated the route the registered nicknames had suggested.
After finishing the final explanation, I asked Eosolujun.
“Which route do you want me to take?”
Whirrr.
Eosolujun moved its mechanical arm as if it were pondering.
Every time it went back and forth between the pieces of jerky, the chat window’s reaction changed from moment to moment.
Then—
Stop.
It halted in front of one piece of jerky.
ㄴTruth Scholar: Ah!!!! Hahahahahahaha.
ㄴHealing Is Violence: This is rigged. I know it.
ㄴKkukku: My dessert shop….
…I should refrain from letting Eosolujun choose for a while.