Hiding a Logistics Center in the Apocalypse - Episode 33
(New Technology (2))
“···Why is this even working?”
It was absurd, but what works, works.
The smooth texture against my fingertips.
Surreal as the sensation was, the Enhancement Stone in my hand was no different from the real thing.
And it didn’t end there.
Now, Camelot itself had become a farm for producing Enhancement Stones.
In the sense that it drained vitality, it was no different from the King of Knights, but watching the knights panting happily with their tongues out like puppies on a summer day hit by air conditioning, I was able to ease my guilt, if only a little.
Before long, I had two Enhancement Stones.
One [Endurance] Enhancement Stone obtained from capturing the Legion Commander, and now an [Electrocution] one as well.
Gazing at the two different Enhancement Stones, I fell into thought.
“Then··· where should I use them?”
First, there was the method of summoning additional knights.
Not only would they serve as immediate combat strength, but they could now also be used as the driving force for creating Enhancement Stones.
Even if I just added two more right now, I’d be able to produce Enhancement Stones at twice the current speed.
But···
“There’s some risk.”
This time, I’d gotten lucky and obtained an Enhancement Stone immediately upon activating Camelot, but there was no guarantee the next time would be the same.
Perhaps the King of Knights had already accumulated vitality, and this occasion had merely added an overflowing spoonful by chance.
Even now, after several hours had passed, there was no particular news from Camelot.
Moreover, the
For now, I decided to wait and see how often Camelot would spit out Enhancement Stones.
“Then the next use would be···”
Item enhancement.
Helicopters, vehicles, Hellfire missiles.
There were plenty of things I wanted to enhance, but···
“There’s something I really want to try enhancing this time.”
Trudge, trudge.
I headed toward the
Holding a freshly unboxed, piping-hot new product in my hand.
Arriving at the laboratory, I casually pulled out the black-bodied fellow.
Clack!
A rifle.
But not a K2.
It was a new model called the K2C1, supplied to frontline units alongside names like defense reform or whatever.
I’d brought it in through
“Honestly, I don’t know how much better it actually is···”
Since I’m going to enhance something anyway, wouldn’t it be better to enhance the new one?
It ought to be better than a regular K2 in at least some regard.
Truthfully, this wasn’t the first time I’d considered enhancing a rifle.
The problem was that I’d had to enhance not the rifle but the bullets, and it was hard to be confident whether the rifle body could withstand such enhanced ammunition.
But this time, the situation was different.
----
[Enhancement Stone (D)]
Attribute : None
Option : [Endurance]
----
Because an option to handle the shock had been added.
“The question is···”
Whether a rifle granted [Endurance] could withstand the power of enhanced bullets.
Fortunately, I had an easy way to verify exactly that.
Namely, a precise
Ding!
Pax displayed the explanation I’d requested.
---
[Cost: 1,000]
◈ Subspace Laboratory (2)
-You can check result information in advance based on enhancements or item combinations.
-You can conduct mock simulations for enhancements or item combinations.
---
A newly enhanced Laboratory ability.
With this ability, it was possible to test the effects in advance before using Enhancement Stones.
Through this
“Open it up.”
[Understood.]
[Received 1,000 Magic Stones.]
[Remaining Magic Stones: 3,643.]
On the surface, it looked no different from usual.
An empty space, and the ability to summon desired products as holograms was the same.
Instead···
---
※ This is mock information provided through simulation.
[5.56mm NATO Round +1]
Grade: [Rare]
Description: [Failed to load information. You may enter a description directly.]
Attribute: [Electricity]
Options: [Piercing], [Electrocution]
---
As such, I could view the expected information before applying the enhancement.
Immediately after checking the enhanced bullet’s information,
I summoned the remaining two products as additional holograms.
[K2C1 rifle, price not set.]
[Johnsonville Original Smoke Sausage, 360g, price is 9,710 won.]
Holograms of the three products floating in the air.
First, I loaded the enhanced [Electrocution] rounds into an ordinary rifle magazine.
And I plopped a savory sausage on top of the rifle’s rail.
All that remained was firing.
Except, it wasn’t real firing, but simulated firing.
Ta-ang!
With the shot,
Kwa-ang!
The rifle exploded entirely, and simultaneously, the sausage’s well-cooked flesh burst through its casing and scattered everywhere.
It was the expected result, but more terrifying than anticipated.
“If I’d used just the enhanced bullets, I’d have been sent straight to the afterlife.”
It was one thing for the rifle to explode, unable to withstand the bullet’s detonation, but even the sausage on top had cooked.
That meant the bullet’s [Electrocution] option had affected it.
If this had been real, it would have meant me, holding the rifle, getting electrocuted in turn.
Then···
“···How about this?”
---
※ This is mock information provided through simulation.
[K2C1 Standard Rifle +1]
Grade: [Rare]
Description: [Failed to load information. You may enter a description directly.]
Attribute: [None]
Option: [Endurance]
---
This time, the conditions were the same as well.
The only difference was that the rifle was granted [Endurance].
I loaded the [Electrocution] rounds and placed a fresh sausage on top.
I executed the firing immediately,
Ta-ang!
The result···
“Oh···?”
It was a success.
The bullet granted [Piercing] and [Electrocution] flew successfully, and while the rifle granted [Endurance] creaked slightly, it withstood the shock without major issues.
The sausage on top···
“Raw sausage itself···!”
It hadn’t cooked at all.
That meant [Endurance] blocked the [Electrocution] that would have flowed back to the shooter.
Of course, even so, [Endurance] was not absolute.
When firing in full auto, or even semi-auto if the number of shots increased, the rifle would inevitably explode and the sausage would be temptingly grilled.
The experiments continued.
No matter how much [Endurance] was granted, it was hard to be certain how long the rifle could hold out.
After several tests in the
“Three shots on full auto. Five on semi.”
That was the limit.
It was a disappointing number, but still fine.
“I’ll just pull out a new one each time anyway.”
After all, rifles were unlimited too.
Lured by the savory aroma, I was drawn to the staff cafeteria.
Dozens of dishes were lined up, and in the kitchen, Mother and Oh Ji-soo were tirelessly moving their hands over stainless steel bowls.
Green chamnamul swimming across the silver bowl.
A strand was pulled out along with Mother’s hand, and I quickly popped it into my mouth.
“Wow···”
An all too familiar taste.
But precisely because of that, a taste I couldn’t erase from memory.
Crunching sesame seeds, followed by the nutty fragrance of perilla oil and chamnamul flooding in.
Mother added,
“You can usually season it with garlic, but it’s quite good even without it this way. The vegetable’s aroma really comes alive.”
Beyond the taste that Mother understood.
Its breadth felt so vast as to be immeasurable.
Something that would someday disappear.
Even if every word were recorded without missing a single letter, the heritage of the past repeatedly faced inevitable trials by real-world application.
I was suddenly afraid.
So much so that I worried whether the world could continue to exist after it disappeared.
All I could do was flail desperately to delay it as much as possible.
Whether she knew my thoughts or not, Mother issued an order.
“It’s almost done, so go tell everyone to come eat.”
“Ah···”
Gathering the other grasshoppers loafing around outside.
It was the natural duty, the mission, of a grasshopper who’d lingered by the kitchen and snagged a bite.
Fluttering my wings, I set out to find the family members scattered throughout the subspace.
*Burp.*
Kim Sol rubbed her belly with a toad-like expression.
The table was already refreshingly empty.
Mother and Oh Ji-soo watched the scene with satisfaction.
Grandfather asked me,
“Jeong-gyeom, bring out a bottle of makgeolli. I need to have a drink with Mr. Ran.”
The fulfillment center’s ordering system seemed quite foreign to Grandfather.
“Do they even have makgeolli here? And what do skeletons know about drinking?”
“Huh? Can’t Mr. Ran hold his liquor?”
“No, that’s not what I···”
Just then, someone poked my side.
“Soju too··· red cap···”
I turned to see Father attempting to converse through ventriloquism, his gaze fixed in the distance.
But unfortunately, the journey of the two grasshoppers seeking alcohol met its end at the hands of the ant who’d diligently prepared the meal.
“You’re going to drink at a time like this?”
“···!”
He shot up!
Father immediately rose and began clearing the table.
Clearing the table and washing dishes was the natural duty and mission of the grasshoppers who had eaten their fill.
It couldn’t be helped for Father, but I intended to secretly bring makgeolli to Grandfather, who looked crestfallen.
It was then.
“Let’s take a picture!”
My big sister, who’d gone downstairs, suddenly appeared holding a palm-sized camera.
Commonly known as a Polaroid camera.
[Instax Mini Evo Instant Camera, price is 349,000 won.]
Behind her stood two skeleton knights scratching all over their bodies.
My big sister, Kim Ju-yeon, said,
“These two are having a hard time, so let’s wrap this up quickly!”
And so···
Click!
We took a picture.
The Kim family, Lee Yong-su’s family, my sister-in-law’s birth family, even the knights of Camelot.
Lest the high-performance AI feel left out, I even ordered a mascot doll of Pax and had it join us.
Zzzt···
The camera printed the photo on the spot.
“Kyaa! What is this?!”
The phantoms of Camelot filling the background turned the family photo into a spirit photograph, but there was no doubt that all members of the subspace household were captured in it.
And,
around the time we’d cleaned up after the meal and were raising a clamor while placing the photos side by side.
Ding!
A message window appeared before everyone’s eyes.
Regardless of whether they were Awakened or not.
An indescribable, chilling sensation set in.
The sender of the message···
was the Multidimensional Chamber of Commerce.
What they’d sent was a veritable ‘official document’ itself.
---
This is a notification from the Multidimensional Chamber of Commerce.
During the previous Free Exploration period, influx(內射) and outflux(外射) to the Earth dimension were conducted.
Your dimension created 13,117 new cases related to the blessing of influx, and through 17 instances of reverse growth inducement targeting free merchants, demonstrated to the Multidimension that your dimension possesses sufficient growth potential and profitability.
We express our respect for that labor.
---
Stiff text filled with incomprehensible terms and numbers.
The destruction that had vividly crashed down upon us was nothing more than a trivial matter to them, summarizable in a few lines of a document.
They were merely letting us board the plane, remarking that our desperate flailing had been quite impressive.
Of course, these bastards hadn’t contacted us just to praise us.
The message continued.
---
The Multidimensional Chamber of Commerce has meticulously evaluated the growth potential of the Earth dimension based on the achievements of the previous Free Exploration. The Earth dimension achieved an exceptionally high growth grade of [BB-] at the Free Exploration stage, and based on this, the secondary colonization business bidding in the Multidimension was also successfully completed.
According to the detailed opening strategy of the Multidimensional Chamber of Commerce, official
Detailed announcements regarding the
We look forward to your enthusiastic participation and support.
-Multidimensional Chamber of Commerce, Compensation Division
---
Having read the message, we turned to each other with grave expressions.
In other words···
“···They’re saying they’re going to push in properly this time.”
It was a declaration of war.
However, to them, all this destruction seemed like a game in the palm of their hands.
Seeing them speak of business bidding, competitive bidding, victory and rewards.
What mattered was that this damned ‘Competitive Bidding’ was a kind of match with ‘rules’ set. And that it would be held in various places across Earth.
Surely, the match they spoke of would take place here in Seoul as well.
“···What are you going to do?”
the family asked.
The destruction they had stopped once was rolling back in as an even higher wave.
Moreover, I was the greatest fighting force to stop their onslaught.
“Let’s go to Yongsan. I need to talk with the Joint Chiefs of Staff Headquarters.”
A global fight.
This was no longer a battle I could fight alone.