Chapter 115 : Chapter 115

Chapter 115 - Resolution (2)

“So... it’s around here.”

I stopped walking at the spot marked on the mana map according to the information I got from Leila.

Well, this guy was an extreme paranoid who always changed his location among several residences. So, even if I knew all the locations of his residences, it was a bit tricky to know where he was ‘right now’.

Even Leila, who passed on the information, added, ‘Even if you go this far, it might be a bit tricky to meet him...’

“Uh... There’s nothing here?”

Chang Meirin looked around and said in a bewildered voice.

It was understandable since the place looked like a barren plain.

A background that would be perfectly described as a wasteland.

“Meirin. My eyesight isn’t very good, but is there something like a cactus nearby?”

In fact, my poor eyesight was an excuse; more accurately, I was checking to see how far this person’s abilities had awakened.

The prelude to this person’s ‘awakening’ was the extreme sensitization of their five senses.

“Pardon? Uh...”

Hearing my words, Chang Meirin started to look around with a frown.

Then, as if she had found something, she let out a short exclamation.

“There really is! It looks like it’s straight ahead if we walk that way!”

“Then shall we go?”

“Yes! But since it’s in view, it doesn’t seem that far!”

We walked for half a day.

“...”

“...”

Well.

It seemed certain that Evangeline was training this person properly.

The sensitization of this person’s qi sense was a phenomenon that only occurred when she tried to find something herself. That was probably an unconscious act just now.

Leaving Chang Meirin, who couldn’t understand what was wrong with her own eyes, I used the iron rod I had prepared to accurately divide the ground near the cactus, drawing lines.

“Um, Kim Gyu-sik? What are you doing?”

“I’m looking for the entrance.”

Saying that, I created tiles in a grid-like pattern with the cactus as the starting point. A total of nine.

“Uh... this is...?”

Leaving the confused-looking Chang Meirin as she was, I walked across the tiles in order. In a way that drew a certain shape.

So, it was that.

That thing you input to unlock the screen when you first turn on your phone. The pattern.

“...She’s a person who hides in a somewhat cutesy way, huh?”

That's true.

However, the things that unfolded inside weren’t particularly so.

“No, but. Why do you know someone else’s password so casually...?”

The details don't matter, so I’ll pass.

“...”

And as soon as I traced the pattern, the floor began to rumble and crack open.

The way the secret base below revealed itself was a bit... how should I put it.

Cutesy.

It had the atmosphere of something you'd see in an old children’s animation.

“That’s really true. I’ve seen something similar. You know, isn’t this the kind of feeling you get from a hideout decorated by someone whose sensibilities are very childlike compared to their intelligence? Like in old animations.”

“...”

“...Why is that actually true?”

My point exactly.

***

Originally, the world of Conqueror was full of settings that would make you say such things if you dug deep enough.

But among them, the guy Chang Meirin and I had come to find was a particularly peculiar one.

Crawford. Known in the game as the ‘Mechanic’.

His name itself reeked of machine oil. And in a fantasy world where magic and spells flew around, a guy digging into this kind of thing was an eccentric, to put it mildly.

‘Well...’

Still, he wasn’t entirely useless; the technologies this guy was developing, holed up in this closet of a room, would be a good addition to the ‘body’ that Leila was currently completing at my request.

It would shine brightly in the Third Ordeal.

-...

-...!

Of course, to get that kind of output, I would have to break through the facility that was now revealing itself before my eyes.

A humming sound echoed from all over, and the lights turned on sequentially with a clicking sound.

Well now.

It was a reaction as if they had been waiting for me to come. Even though he must have fainted when he saw me solving the pattern from above.

As I mulled over such thoughts, a very flustered voice came down from the speaker on the ceiling.

[Ha..hahah...ha! We-welcome to my secret laboratory! Inva...]

“...He bit his tongue, didn’t he?”

“Yep. He bit it.”

[I didn’t bite it! O-ouch...]

Right.

I'll just pretend that’s the case.

I sighed and took out the Planet Eater’s heart from my pocket.

Although I had it sealed in a container that had undergone countless magical treatments by nagging Lee Si-yeong, the black energy writhing ominously inside it still looked unusual.

“You know what this is, right? You must have seen it once before.”

[...]

A camera attached to a cable came down from the ceiling and approached the container I was holding.

The camera, which had been circling and examining the container, jumped up as if it were alive, startled.

[I-I don't know! I haven’t touched anything like this since then! Get lost!]

“...Ah, um.”

You’re very bad at lying, aren't you? Chang Meirin’s eyes, which seemed to say that, wandered over to me for a moment.

“Well, the reason I came to find you is also related to ‘that time’.”

[What did you say?]

“I know you were blackmailed and had no choice but to create the curse. So I’m giving you a chance to atone.”

Considering this guy’s personality, he was a guy who didn't even have the guts to create a curse strong enough to ruin someone’s life.

But it was also certain that this guy was the one who created the curse currently on Han Si-yeon.

If you looked into the circumstances, it was highly likely that some guy, whom Seo Jin-seong had been grinding his teeth about while in hiding for 10 years, threatened to harm him if he didn’t make it.

“I’m going to resolve the curse on Han Si-yeon. I can’t do that without your help.”

[...]

Silence.

Then, silence.

The feeling of deep contemplation was painfully transmitted through the speaker.

However, I could guess the answer that would come out here.

Probably, for sure.

[...If I resolve that, I’ll become a complete enemy of the ‘client’! I don’t have the confidence to handle that!]

“I'm sure you don't.”

Yawning, I put the container back into my pocket.

“Well, I didn’t think you’d listen to me right away either.”

If there was a guy who was afraid because he couldn't stand up to someone’s coercion, the method of persuasion was simple.

You just had to prove that you were an even bigger threat.

[...Hi, hihi. Good! If you’re that confident, then go ahead and try!]

With those words, an unusual atmosphere began to rise within the facility.

The owner of this secret laboratory was definitely a recluse with poor social skills, but he displayed a level of expertise in his field befitting of his single-mindedness.

And the fields this guy had been digging into were ‘mechanization’ and ‘other-dimensional research’.

They seemed like two fields that would never match, but if you really thought about it, there was a rational reason.

“What is that?”

“He wants to build a giant robot.”

In that regard, his sensibilities matched Leila's quite well.

Probably, the giant Golem with the lion crest on its chest from before was also a product born from outsourcing to this guy.

“...Pardon?”

“You don’t know what a giant robot is? You know, the bipedal robot that’s huge...”

“No, I know what it is... but what does that have to do with other-dimensional research?”

That’s because it’s a dream that is simply impossible to realize with the technology and materials available here.

A trick like using a ‘Golem’ like Leila was not even an option for that guy.

There were perverts in the world who were not satisfied unless it had the brilliance that comes from a heavy full-metal body.

“Ah, aha... Is there that much value in it...?”

“[Of course there is!]”

“...”

Seeing my voice overlap with Crawford’s, Chang Meirin shut her mouth with a slightly deflated expression.

[Ha, haha! You, you’re quite a guy with rich sensibilities! But I won’t go easy on you for that!]

Immediately after those words, mechanized obstacles, traps, and even small humanoids began to pop out from all over.

Ah, right.

A familiar sequence.

Breaking through this base was always in the top 10 when users of Conqueror were asked to pick their favorite dungeon compositions.

From the design that reeked of B-grade robot movie sensibilities, to the facilities full of homages to sentai and kaiju shows.

It was full of things that allowed you to feel the rich fragrance of those days. Anyone who had ever liked such things would jump at them without a second thought.

And all of that was the result of Crawford racking his brains and pouring his own passion and taste into it.

The fact that this guy really, really loved such things was layered throughout this entire research facility.

If you dug deep into the reasons, there was also the sad setting that the ‘only happy times in this guy’s life’ were all related to that.

“...Kim Gyu-sik? Why do you have such a heartbroken expression?”

“No. I just feel a bit sorry.”

So, for the catastrophe that was about to happen, I would like to express my apologies to Crawford in advance.

[ Share (Stage 2) / Unclassifiable: Unclassifiable ]

[ Copies one of the skills held by a friendly target. The number of skills that can be copied increases with the level of trust with the target. ]

[ Synthesis: When used in combination with another Share skill, it can generate additional effects. The additional effect occurs randomly and has a 12-hour cooldown. ]

“...”

Right.

I also doubted my eyes when this first came out.

Synthesis. This was ‘something’ that didn’t even exist in the game system I knew. As if it weren't enough to be a bugged character with a bugged skill, it was now spitting out things I didn’t even know about.

So I experimented a few times.

And one of the most heinous combinations that came out as a result was this.

[ Synthesize the target ‘Chang Meirin’s’ Share skill ‘Source’ with another skill? Y/N ]

Of course, I synthesize it. The target for synthesis was Seo Hye-in’s ‘Netherworld's Grasp’, and its higher-tier target, ‘Beholder’.

“Meirin. Please charge me.”

“...I’m not a portable battery, you know.”

Chang Meirin grumbled, denying her own raison d'être, but she still obediently followed my instructions and passed her qi to me.

And, well.

This synthesis skill.

The effect was random, but.

[ Source-Beholder Synthesis Roll... ]

[ Skill: Lethal Gazer is produced.]

[ Eliminates all ‘power sources’ within line of sight. ]

Not even once.

Had it not been broken.

-!

-!!

-!!!

Every machine in my line of sight exploded like popcorn.

It said all moving ‘power sources’. That meant things like electricity dwelling in machines were no exception.

So, you see.

‘Beholder’, which was originally supposed to only erase mana, when combined with the Source skill, which greatly helps in handling ‘qi’.

It had transformed into something like an instant-death skill that could stop everything in sight.

“...”

Yep.

No matter how I thought about it, it was broken.

[...Uh.]

Crawford, who saw the tragic scene, swallowed his words for a moment.

[N-no... Nooo-! My, my research results-!]

Right. I was sorry too.

As a fellow robot enthusiast, I couldn’t help but feel guilty about this...

“...Shouldn’t you try feeling guilty about something else too?”

Meirin.

I feel like you’ve been getting harsher with me lately.

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