“I wonder if he got there safely. The blueprints shouldn’t be too hard, right?”
The system answered Sinhyeok’s concern with silence.
“Hey. Say something.”
[You are repeating the same statement.]
[Any further answer is judged to be an unnecessary expenditure of energy.]
“Yeah, yeah. Aren’t you something.”
[Yes.]
It never denied it.
“Put Opsir here.”
Sinhyeok had entered the ship and was working in the server room.
[You should place one core as well.]
“Yeah, got it.”
He placed a core beside Opsir’s remains.
[I would appreciate it if you inserted the soul crystals throughout the server.]
“Okay.”
Since the materials were so large, Sinhyeok was walking around and working on the interior himself.
“Because it’s so big, I can’t just do it all at once with a snap.”
[It will become possible once your transmutation level and mental power stat increase. In addition, your mana must also grow.]
“Yeah, yeah. It’s all thanks to me being lacking.”
[Next is the power room.]
“Yeah.”
[In the power room, you must draw the magic circle I gave you. Please draw it carefully using crushed mithril, core, and resurrection grass.]
“I know.”
After arriving in the power room, Sinhyeok left the old engine, burned black, exactly as it was.
“Don’t touch this one?”
[Yes.]
Leaving the engine alone, Sinhyeok slowly began drawing the magic circle.
But even after thirty minutes, he had not drawn half of the magic circle Akashic had given him.
“Oof.”
Sinhyeok straightened his back and groaned.
[You have currently completed 3% of the total workload.]
“Ha! I know even without you telling me.”
Even to Sinhyeok’s eyes, the interior was still empty.
There was far more to fill in.
“Damn it, work me to the bone, why don’t you. Should I just make a golem that can replace this kind of work?”
[Finding a name, the greatest obstacle in golem production, is difficult. This inevitably requires the aid of one who sees fate.]
“Ugh, damn it. That’s the most annoying part. I can make a one-off easily enough, but ones that operate permanently are just…”
Irritation surged through Sinhyeok.
[If enough data accumulates in the Akashic Cabinet and it grows, it will be able to observe fate.]
The system proposed a solution.
“Oh! So you’re saying I should hurry up and raise your level too?”
[Correct.]
[For growth to the next stage, the Administrator’s growth is necessary.]
“Fine, got it. I’ll level up quickly too, so let’s finish this first.”
Sinhyeok plunged back into the world of manual labor.
“I swear! I’ll automate the whole process and someday build a factory that can make anything with just a flick of my finger and a single spoken command.”
[It will be possible soon.]
[Of course, only if your level rises sufficiently.]
“That damn level…!”
With a fed-up expression, Sinhyeok ignored Akashic pressuring him about levels.
“That bastard only says he’s a system. For all I know, there’s actually a living person behind the scenes sending these messages.”
[……….]
It was quiet.
Akashic, who always nitpicked every single thing he said, was quiet.
“Hey?”
[Yes.]
“Why’d you suddenly go quiet? You always answer everything.”
[It was not a question, so I did not answer.]
“Suspicious.”
Sinhyeok’s suspicion grew more and more.
This thing called Akashic was too capable. Far too suspicious.
‘But it’s so convenient! I can never let it go.’
He couldn’t let go of this slave of a thing that even handled transmutation for him.
“Let’s see.”
Before he knew it, Sinhyeok seemed to have finished roughly half the work.
“I still drew a lot.”
[You have completed 47% of the current workload.]
“Fine. I’ll hurry up and push through.”
Sinhyeok bent over again and began engraving the complex magic circle.
The power room was filled only with the sound of Sinhyeok applying the liquid made from core, mithril, and resurrection grass.
“Done. Truly done!”
After six hours had passed, Sinhyeok fully straightened his back.
Crack.
He stretched his upper body, his bones cracking pleasantly.
“Akashic, run the simulation.”
As Sinhyeok left the ship, he immediately gave the order.
[Golem model name: Opsir. Beginning simulation.]
[Estimated time until simulation completion: 15 hours, 23 minutes, 14 seconds.]
“That’s about right.”
* * *
After leaving the ship and catching his breath for a moment, Sinhyeok spotted Ichan.
In the distance, Ichan was dragging over a demon corpse.
“Hyung, this one’s still breathing.”
The demon he had dragged over was an incubus dyed black.
With a glossy face, it smiled awkwardly.
“W-would I really be of any use to you? It might be more satisfying to just kill me.”
“Hyung, this guy won’t die. He keeps running away into dreams.”
“……”
The incubus’s face darkened considerably.
“Damn it. This is why you have to choose your connections well.”
Muttering words filled with regret, the creature sprawled out on the ground.
“Kill me or spare me, do whatever you want. I’ve been abandoned anyway. What do you want me to tell you? Huh? Ask me anything.”
Sinhyeok chuckled and tapped the incubus’s head.
“You don’t have to do anything. Just stay still. Stay still.”
At his strangely sinister tone, chills suddenly ran down the incubus’s spine.
Sinhyeok dug through the ground and took out the remaining resurrection grass.
When he picked up the writhing branch, the incubus panicked.
“Wh-what is that! Get that away from me!”
“Heh heh, play with this one for a bit.”
Ichan and Sinhyeok pressed down hard on the incubus’s chest with their feet.
Then they forced open its mouth and shoved the resurrection grass inside.
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
The resurrection grass charged fiercely and spread through it in an instant.
“Mmph! Kugh! Wh-what is this!”
“Try playing with it for a while.”
[Melt.]
In an instant, the ground beneath the incubus caved in.
Then it sank right into the floor and was covered over as if nothing had happened.
The battery preparation was proceeding steadily too.
“Then the preparations are more or less done.”
Sinhyeok now calmly considered where to install the gate tractor.
‘Mm, not here. If I do it here, the main base could collapse if things go wrong.’
If that happened, something irreversible might occur.
‘I should look around nearby. I think I’ll have to install it on suitable terrain and tow them there.’
Grrrrrrr.
Whoooooosh.
Grrrrrrrrr.
At the loud noise, Sinhyeok’s gaze naturally turned.
A giant was lying down with a happy face, snoring.
“He sleeps well.”
Seeing the giant enjoying a happy, peaceful dream, Sinhyeok nodded.
He thought the giant would be perfect.
‘I want him to join us.’
Furthermore, he wanted to recruit the giant.
[There is a high probability that he will join you.]
“Why?”
[The giant race is also one of the races that coexist with the World Tree.]
[If you examine their ecology, their lives are sustained even without eating.]
“True. Seeing his reaction to eating potatoes, it felt like it had been a long time since he’d eaten anything.”
[They are identified as a species that sustains life with mana, like dragons. Such species inevitably live near areas with dense concentrations of mana.]
“Mm.”
[The mana concentration of the Ruin Realm is abnormal. It differs by region, and the places he visits are likely to have been terribly depleted of mana.]
“So he has nowhere else to go?”
[Affirmative. The probability is high.]
Akashic’s words made a certain amount of sense.
“Okay. Then let’s wake him up!”
He headed straight toward the giant.
The giant did not wake even as Sinhyeok approached.
‘He’s not actually hibernating, is he?’
Sinhyeok went close to the giant’s head and tapped his ear.
“Excuse me, could we talk for a moment?”
It was quiet.
The giant ignored Sinhyeok’s words and continued sleeping.
Knowing it was rude, Sinhyeok shouted into the giant’s ear.
“Please wake up!”
At Sinhyeok’s shout, the giant shuddered and sprang up.
“Uuugh.”
Digging in his ear with a finger, he spoke.
“Why? I was sleeping for the first time in a while.”
Sinhyeok found it curious that he said it was his first time sleeping in a while, but for now, he stated his business first.
“If it’s all right, could I ask you to guide us through the Ruin Realm? We need a place to lure the demons.”
At the mention of luring demons, the giant’s expression changed into a smile brimming with killing intent.
“I will show you right away. I know this place well.”
The giant leaped to his feet.
Together with the giant, Sinhyeok left the boundary and moved away from Pergana.
Then, with a swish, another figure approached Sinhyeok’s side.
The figure emerged from Sinhyeok’s shadow, scattering black lightning around him.
“Young Hero Captain. Where are you going?”
Seeing Namgung Jincheon appear again, Sinhyeok clicked his tongue.
“How did you know this time?”
“Haha. How else would I know? I know because we’re connected. And you need an escort. Your abilities are outstanding, but your own martial force is quite pitiful, isn’t it?”
Every word stabbed right into Sinhyeok’s heart.
“You really do hurt a man by striking him with the truth.”
“Hahaha. Get used to it. Giant friend, would it be all right if I came along?”
The giant smiled broadly.
“I am fine with it, friend.”
“The giant has agreed, so let us go together, Young Hero.”
The giant reached out his hand toward the two of them.
“Huh? No. We can just walk.”
“That is right, friend. We should simply walk.”
Ignoring them, the giant scooped the two into his hand.
“Too slow. This place is incredibly wide.”
In the end, they were captured again.
The two looked at each other and exchanged glances.
‘Let’s survive this…’
‘You must endure as well.’
As if he knew what they were thinking, the giant grinned at the two clinging tightly to his fingers.
“This time is fine.”
Woooong.
A round membrane of mana formed around the giant’s hand.
“Oh.”
Then, mysteriously, the vibration was greatly reduced.
“I ate my fill for the first time in a while and slept enough, so I can manage this much.”
The giant gazed at Sinhyeok and asked.
“Where do you want me to take you?”
“A place where just standing is difficult. Is there somewhere like hell?”
At Sinhyeok’s fairly demanding request, the giant thought for a moment.
“There are a few places. But they are very hot.”
“Good. We’ll be floating in the sky anyway.”
The giant grinned.
“Then I will guide you.”
Walking with great strides, the giant soon seemed to find his body light and jumped with all his strength.
Boooooom.
In an instant, they crossed over several worlds attached to the Ruin Realm.
“Wooooooah!”
“Hup!”
The two stuck to the giant’s hand were horrified by the scenery that receded from the ground in an instant.
‘M-madness…!’
To Sinhyeok, the giant’s physical capabilities were overwhelming.
Kwaaaaaang!! Kwaaaaaang!!
After making several vast jumps, the giant stopped walking.
“Here.”
Standing on the giant’s finger, Sinhyeok looked down below.
The entire land seethed with blazing lava.
A wyvern was flying low, only for its wings to catch fire and send it plummeting.
“Uh…”
“It is truly hot. Be careful.”
Sinhyeok looked at the giant standing barefoot in that place.
“You think it’s hot too?”
The giant answered calmly.
“Yes. Very hot.”
“Wow…”
It didn’t look hot so much as it looked like a place where one would burn to death.
[The giant race is famous for possessing immunity to various attributes and curses.]
“This place is confirmed!”
With a wicked smile, Sinhyeok immediately made his decision.
* * *
Sinhyeok promptly asked the giant to return them to Pergana.
“Thank you.”
Sinhyeok expressed his gratitude to him for showing them a suitable place.
“It is nothing. I can help as much as needed when it comes to catching those bastards.”
The giant’s killing intent boiled over.
Seeing the strong hostility he showed toward devils, Sinhyeok thought they could definitely work together.
“Um…”
The giant, who had been sitting on the ground and spacing out, looked at Sinhyeok.
“What is it, friend?”
“Do you perhaps have somewhere to go?”
At the question of whether he had somewhere to go, the giant’s expression turned anxious.
“Friend… please do not send me away.”
‘That’s a relief.’
Seeing the anxious and desperate expression brought on by Sinhyeok’s sudden words, he was certain the giant would join them.
“Of course not. I’d like to propose that you come with us.”
The giant nodded in relief.
“I would like that.”
“But it won’t be comfortable. You’ll always be fighting devils, and you may not be able to sleep peacefully like now.”
He pounded his chest fiercely, showing his confidence.
“That is our specialty. We can fight for our entire lives without rest. So do not worry.”
[This is true. Once they begin fighting, they do not need sleep or food.]
“Then you’re coming with us.”
Sinhyeok held out his hand toward him.
The giant, following Sinhyeok, held out his pinky finger.
“We are together. Until the day we kill every last devil.”
Tap.
The fingers of giant and human touched.
“I look forward to working with you.”
“Good, friend. Heehee.”
The giant smiled innocently.
* * *
[Time remaining until Opsir production is complete: 8 hours, 42 minutes, 14 seconds]
“Not much left.”
What he had to do in the meantime was upgrade the cannons the residents would handle.
And additionally, he needed vision.
There’s more to do than I thought.
“Akashic. Let’s make some drones. Ones the residents can control.”
[Opsir is currently in production, so you will have to work by hand.]
“Yeah. That’s what I was doing anyway, so it’s fine.”
[Concerns regarding quality and durability.]
“This thing, seriously.”
[I recommend that you simply wait. I can make them better.]
“Shut up. I’m making them.”