“Hyung, are we outcasts?”
“Sir, if this is how it’s going to be, why did you even come to Hongik?”
Three men left behind in the unit.
Not even a duty officer on post. No personnel standing at the guardhouse either.
The unit was truly empty right now.
The minimum required duties were currently being covered by the Quartermaster.
“I don’t know either. I’d rather they just sent me to a Gate!”
Ichan looked at Sinhyeok, who was lazing around, and asked.
“Aren’t you going to make the Observer?”
Sinhyeok stared blankly at the sky and said.
“I’ll make the rest when I’m bored. He said it wasn’t urgent to begin with.”
‘Because he just said it to brush me off.’
The Quartermaster, who’d been on duty awhile, approached the three lying spread-eagled on the training ground and shouted.
“Hey, you three idlers!”
At the word “idlers,” the three sprang up.
“Yes! Idler One.”
“Idler Two.”
“Idler Three!”
The Quartermaster burst into laughter at the three who were perfectly in sync.
“Kuh-kuh. Hey! Get over here. Come do some work.”
At the word ‘work,’ the three dashed over.
“Yes! Please give us some work!”
“Try improving the Observer a bit. Add a tracking function.”
Sinhyeok made a tearful face.
“Isn’t there anything physical?”
“Nope. Your class is head-oriented, so why would you use your body?”
“My talent is quite physical, though.”
“Staff Sergeant Baek Arin next to you overwhelmingly dominates that.”
“But aren’t I second?”
“Probably not. Ichan’s level is insane these days.”
At those words, Hong Ichan raised his small forearm and showed off his cute little bicep.
“Hup! See that, Hyung?”
“Yeah, yeah. My level is rock bottom right now. So what?”
“Anyway, I’m asking you. The Battalion Commander says it’s urgent.”
“No, what is this even for?! Huh?!”
“Why ask. It’s obvious.”
Sinhyeok recalled the recent surge in Gate occurrences.
‘A consistent black mana atmosphere. And the especially strange distribution of new Gate locations.’
“Wait, isn’t that the kind of thing the National Intelligence Service or some intelligence agency should be doing?”
The Quartermaster shouted as he turned to leave.
“They’re on it!”
Sinhyeok thought of the production manual and conceptualized it in his head.
‘Since I’ve seen it once, it probably won’t be difficult. The ego is the problem.’
When crafting a golem, the greatest obstacle wasn’t the core.
‘Ego.’
The core of the golem nicknamed the Giant Soldier lay in its ego.
The more experiences it acquired and accumulated, the more it grew.
Depending on the materials used to form its ego, its identity and abilities were determined.
‘From whom should I obtain that.’
His gaze automatically turned to Ichan.
“Why? What now?”
“Put a few of your specters on standby for me! One that tracks well, and an assassin type!”
“Ah, Hyung! Don’t do that to my specters!”
Sinhyeok moved immediately.
The first place he headed was Aurumstone’s workshop.
“Is anyone here!”
A futile echo rang in the air.
“Isn’t he off somewhere drinking beer all melancholic-like again?”
He left the workshop to search.
Heading toward Sanneureu, he could see Aurumstone leaning against a golem and drinking beer as usual.
“Do you know how melancholic you look?”
Aurumstone sharply turned his head away.
“Leave me be. I’m taking in the final moments with my eyes, I tell you.”
He seemed quite serious about it.
“While eating chicken?”
Aurumstone furtively hid the chicken he’d dropped on the golem’s chest.
“Huh?! Anyway! What is it!”
“Can I use some of Master’s works from the warehouse? Half of them are mine anyway, aren’t they?”
“Do as you please. I can just make more.”
“Yes sir!”
Just as he was about to excitedly head out, Aurumstone casually asked.
“But what are you going to do?”
“I’m making a golem. Rechargeable type without a core. I’m trying to make an Observer with a tracking function.”
Aurumstone, his curiosity piqued, immediately jumped down from the golem.
“Let’s go together. How curious!”
“Oh, come on.”
Aurumstone, who followed right away, asked about the ‘Observer’.
“But what’s an Observer?”
“It’s what the Elder kicked aside yesterday.”
“Aah. That shoddy-looking thing?”
“Shoddy? It’s quite useful.”
“Anyway, you’re going to make a golem based on that? Hoho, I’m quite looking forward to this.”
Watching him cast away his sorrow, Sinhyeok was dumbfounded.
“Weren’t you depressed just a moment ago?”
“Curiosity wins. If you’re going to try making a golem, of course I have to join in.”
Sinhyeok and Aurumstone entered the workshop, took out the production manual, and went over the starting steps together.
“You must design the structure to closely resemble an actual living creature.”
Aurumstone read the first step recorded in the manual and nodded.
“Even looking at the golems our ancestors made, they did recreate things like dwarven organs in great detail.”
“Ah, then what should I model this one’s blueprint after?”
Sinhyeok was troubled.
For now, he took out the Observer he’d already made.
“Should I just give it a shot?”
“Hey, you’ll waste materials like that. You have to handle it carefully and put your heart into it to get a decent result.”
At the earnest dwarf’s advice, Sinhyeok couldn’t help but worry even more.
“If it’s living creatures, there is someone I know well—no, an elf.”
The two flinched simultaneously.
Both the one who spoke and the one listening got goosebumps in that instant.
“Th... let’s think about that a bit more. That’s the last resort.”
“Yes, that’s right. For now, that’s a bit….”
But Sinhyeok, with no proper solution, eventually sought out Elysia.
She read the production manual and worried together over the difficult problem Sinhyeok had brought.
“Tracking is a basic trait of all beasts, so it’s easy enough. But I can’t think of one that would suit this fellow.”
Sinhyeok added one more thing to her as she worried.
“Please consider recording and stealth functions together too….”
“Hmm, that makes it trickier.”
She gestured and walked toward the field.
“Shall we go together? I think we need to look around as we go.”
Sinhyeok followed her.
However, Aurumstone didn’t move.
With an awkward expression, he sent Sinhyeok off.
“I’m fine! You go look by yourself!”
“Ah, seriously.”
Sinhyeok glared at Aurumstone, who had betrayed him, and followed Elysia.
“But you seem to raise a lot of demonic beasts or monsters?”
“I raise quite a few. You’ll be very surprised when you see them~”
She boasted.
Passing the small World Tree growing in the center, she turned left.
A wide forest came into view.
“We’re here.”
“Hm?”
He expressed doubt at the sight of only a quiet forest.
“Where are the kids?”
She snapped her fingers, and the veil lifted.
Once the veil lifted, what was visible was an orchard of tens of thousands of trees bearing artificial cultivation membranes.
Squirm.
Squirm, squirm.
Witnessing the vast and bizarre incubation of monsters, Sinhyeok was at a loss for words.
Elysia calmly began passing by them one by one.
“Oh my, aren’t you coming?”
She urged the stiffened Sinhyeok with a smile.
“If you keep standing there, I can’t make a golem or whatever~”
Sinhyeok felt like he was watching a sci-fi horror monster movie.
His feet refused to move easily.
‘Isn’t this Alien?’
He moved cautiously.
Every time he passed the narrow cultivation membranes, something kept squirming.
“Urk!”
She smiled as if amused and teased him.
“Oh my, if you come so slowly, the kids might eat you?”
“N-no. Please don’t say such scary things.”
While carefully avoiding them as he walked, a real monster opened its eyes.
“Huh?”
“It’s real.”
Sinhyeok immediately ran.
He stuck tightly to her back.
“You should have said that sooner!”
“Hohoho.”
She simply smiled.
She walked for a while and showed him the monsters.
“I’ll recommend the rodent over there. That kid tracks amazingly well and hides its body very well too.”
Following her recommendation, he approached to take a look.
Holding the Observer in one hand, he compared it to the rodent monster.
“This kid remembers scents and chases to the end. If it’s on that planet, no matter how long it takes, it never gives up.”
“Oh? Really?”
“Yes, but once it starts chasing, it doesn’t return. That’s why they’re rare. They die just chasing like mad.”
“Ah. That’s a bit…”
It was a fool that only knew tracking.
“Then what about that one? It’s similar but returns well. Though it does arbitrarily disappear in the middle.”
“Hmm.”
At Sinhyeok’s cautious attitude, she showed him various spots in the monster-growing orchard.
“Staff Sergeant. Do you actually have something you want? We’ve been circling here for hours.”
Sinhyeok made a troubled expression.
“It’s just, how should I say it, the feeling isn’t right. I wish there was something that stuck to this fellow through wavelength and resonance.”
“Hmm, that’s hard to find that way. How many creatures have matching resonance with artifacts?”
She grumbled and looked toward the end of the orchard.
“Then, shall we go over there? It’s the sample room. There are more types than here. But their condition isn’t good.”
Following her recommendation, he obediently went to look.
Passing the end of the orchard, a different sight unfolded.
This place was also an orchard, but not whole.
How should I put it—it felt like they were just being kept haphazardly.
Many were decomposed, dismantled, or incomplete to begin with.
“Here there are only samples. Children who can’t be saved and are useless, but have even a little preservation value, are kept here.”
Sinhyeok looked around at the defective ones.
“I feel like there might be something.”
“Hmm, personally I hope not. Most of them are ones I don’t like.”
She walked around avoiding her surroundings with a disgusted expression.
‘I want to look closely.’
Feeling something, Sinhyeok closed his eyes tightly and cast Mapping.
[Mapping begins.]
He scanned densely.
He walked in the direction he felt something.
Then he stopped in front of a certain tree.
Inside the artificial cultivation membrane hanging large like a fruit was a giant eye.
A one-eyed monster, with several tentacles that also had eyes at their ends.
“Th… child, what’s its name?”
Elysia answered with a disgusted expression, staying far away.
“It’s probably a Beholder. It seems to have tracking ability and stealth ability too. I think?”
Sinhyeok focused on the feeling transmitted through wavelength and resonance rather than its appearance.
“From what I can see, this child’s resonance and wavelength seem to match fairly well. What do you think, Lady Elysia?”
When he turned around to ask, she was too far away.
She answered from about 300 meters away.
“No! Please look at another normal child! That one is too ugly!”
“No, no. It’s fine. I’ll go with this child.”
“Hmph!”
She snapped her fingers with a sulky face.
Then the Beholder in the cultivation membrane floated up.
“I don’t know why you put up with such things. Honestly.”
Sinhyeok, who was following behind, was dumbfounded.
‘Are they not all just monsters? Why judge by appearances.’
He couldn’t bring himself to say it.
Because he didn’t want to end up like that monster.
Coming out of the garden, they all observed and watched the Beholder together and sketched out the blueprints.
Elysia, Aurumstone, and Sinhyeok put their heads together, worrying over the characteristics of each part and how to realize them with metal and other materials before finally actualizing it.
“It’s hard.”
“Not easy.”
On the workbench was a fist-sized eye resembling the Beholder.
Only the tentacles were absent.
Omitted due to a certain elf’s strong insistence.
Completing the design, gathering materials, and finishing preparations to engrave the runes.
“Phew, let’s quickly check the last step.”
Excited, Aurumstone opened the last page.
“Hm? ‘Find a name befitting its fate’?”
“Huh? Do I just synthesize it?”
“That’s right. But there’s more. What’s this?”
Sinhyeok ignored it and started right away.
“I don’t know. I’ll just try!”
[Golem synthesis attempted.]
[Constructing the golem’s body.]
[The completed body is imbued with a Life Core.]
[The runes of Life, Truth, Concealment, Soul, Tracking, and Recording are engraved.]
[Absorbing the soul crystal for the ego.]
Sinhyeok closed his eyes, savoring the materials and runes, and combined them.
The two watched the synthesis process being kneaded at his fingertips with entranced expressions.
“So this is an Alchemist.”
“A Recreator.”
[Synthesis failed.]
Thud, thud.
All the materials landed intact on the workbench.
“Huh?”
The flustered Sinhyeok was dumbfounded at the failure.
“Why?”
“Tr-try again! You must have missed something! Did you use all the materials?! The Nether Spirit Herb! Did you put that in properly?!”
“I definitely put it all in!”
[Synthesis attempted.]
[Synthesizing golem.]
Thud, thud.
[Synthesis failed.]
Only then did Sinhyeok check the step on the last page again.
“‘Find a name befitting its fate’?”
“What the hell is this. I’m going crazy.”
“Is it a failure?”
All three wore expressions of not knowing why.
Creak.
Their eyes snapped toward the door simultaneously.
Someone entered while hanging on the door.
“Nyaang.”
A mystical cat was watching with bright, round eyes.
“Did you succeed, nyaang?”