Chapter 84

‘The wall seems far more solid than I thought.’

As he thought this, Jaeha pulled Durendal from his chest. Taking out Durendal, which possessed the effect of being indestructible, Jaeha gripped it firmly and began striking the temple wall with heavy blows.

THOOM!

THOOM!

A loud sound echoed through the temple’s interior, and after about ten minutes of continuously striking the wall, Jaeha put the sword back into his Inventory.

‘It didn’t even leave a mark, let alone break.’

When not even the slightest trace appeared, Jaeha realized the building was extremely sturdy.

“Salamander.”

<Yeah!>

“Can you melt this wall?”

<Hmm.>

Fwoosh, fwoosh.

At Jaeha’s words, Salamander flicked out fire like a snake darting its tongue while thinking, then shook its head and spoke.

<I don’t think I can.>

“Really?”

<Yeah.>

At that, Jaeha summoned the other spirits and asked them similar questions, and the other spirits gave answers similar to Salamander’s.

Seeing that all the spirits’ reactions were identical, Jaeha thought for a moment and then used Alchemy.

Using Alchemy, Jaeha rummaged through his Inventory, took out a pen, and began drawing a Transmutation Circle on the ground. Once the Transmutation Circle was complete, Jaeha immediately activated it.

The Transmutation Circle Jaeha had just created was one that used nearby materials to create something.

He was testing whether he could create objects using the temple, which appeared to be nearly indestructible.

Whirrr—

As he infused mana into the Transmutation Circle, it glowed, and as the circle portion disappeared, a single long spear was created.

And the part of the wall where the spear had come from was gouged out. Seeing that, Jaeha smiled.

Chapter 5

Returning home, Jaeha went straight up to his room. Once in his room, he lay down on the bed and quietly began to think.

‘The temple’s interior is much larger than what’s visible from the outside, and the material making up the temple is an unknown substance, but it’s practically indestructible. However, it can be damaged using skills. That’s about it.’

As he reviewed the information he’d gathered, Jaeha thought.

‘What skill should I get? The temple’s interior is completely empty except for the innermost part.’

There wasn’t much inside the temple. There was just a gate at the very back that allowed you to exit the Dungeon, and aside from that, there was nothing that could even be called a structure.

‘Maybe I should just tie some planks together and make a stall or something.’

There was no need to force a building framework. After all, the temple’s interior was safe. As he was quietly thinking, Sia approached Jaeha.

“What are you agonizing over?”

At Sia’s question, Jaeha thought for a moment before speaking.

“You know how I streamed yesterday. I was thinking about content, and I wanted to try building a structure inside a Dungeon.”

“Okay, so just do it. Ah…… wait, can you not build because it’s a Dungeon?”

“No, that’s not it. The temple itself can be damaged using skills. I went earlier, and I couldn’t damage it by breaking or melting it, but with Alchemy, it could be damaged. It seems like it’s possible to alter the Dungeon’s interior using that kind of skill.”

“Then you can just do it.”

“But when I actually try to, it’s a bit of a hassle. I was thinking of just buying some planks and making it with those.”

“Master. Isn’t the reason you want to do this to use it as content for your stream?”

“……That’s right.”

“Then who’s going to watch you build a building out of planks?”

“……That’s true.”

“But is the temple interior spacious?”

“About 1.5 times the size of our front yard? I think it’s around that much.”

“Then you could build a reasonably large building.”

“Right.”

“Build a building and make it into a shop or an inn or something. Well, if you go as far as plumbing and electrical systems, that’d be hard and annoying. Wouldn’t it be fine to just build the structure itself?”

“That’s true.”

Content was, in the end, no different from being done for show. If it weren’t for the stream, Jaeha might have built a shop with just the bare minimum to look the part and used it without much thought. But unfortunately, what Jaeha had to do now was stream.

In the end, he had to attract other people. Simply put, the goal was to pique other people’s interest.

“But would people even enjoy watching someone build a building?”

“In the end, people care about the basics—clothes, food, shelter. Interest in those never dies out. Saying ‘shelter’ sounds a bit vague, but isn’t construction ultimately about building the places people live in?”

“Hmm.”

“You don’t need to worry. Building a structure inside a dungeon is unprecedented anyway. It’s bound to become a hot topic, and at the very least, our rank will climb to a point where the penalty disappears.”

“Then that’s a relief. Well, we already said we’d do it anyway. And we’ve finished the research. Might as well go through with it. If it really doesn’t work out, we can just wrap it up quickly and move on to something else.”

With that, Jaeha nodded and looked at Sia.

“Sia.”

“Yes?”

“Do you want to be on the stream with me?”

“Me too?”

“Yeah. We need to get a building skill anyway. Of course, since it’s a skill, the building might just pop into existence in an instant. But we’re doing this as content. I’m going to find a skill where I build the structure myself.”

“Okay.”

“I could stream while building, but then there’s the expertise factor—that’d be a bit lacking. Besides, your face has already shown up a lot in the videos Seungho filmed and posted. If you and the spirits join in, it’ll draw attention. Seems like it’d work well. What do you think?”

“I’d like that. It gets boring just staying at home.”

“Good. Then make yourself some clothes to wear. Just don’t make anything too revealing.”

“Oho. Seems someone’s feeling a bit jealous, are we?”

“Shut it. Just handle it reasonably. Get ready.”

“Understood.”

Sia answered with a prim tone, then smiled and spoke to Jaeha.

“Can I buy some cosmetics and things?”

“Handle that on your own—now can you leave? I need to get the skill.”

“Yes.”

And with that, Sia left the room, and Jaeha began searching for videos in earnest to obtain the skill.

* * *

[Construction Art]

[Rank: Hero]

[The technique of constructing buildings]

[Mechanism: Total Ability × 300]

[Proficiency: 100%]

“Because of Metallurgy, I’ve got the hand for it, and since it’s not an attack skill, they gave me a generous proficiency.”

Thinking that, Jaeha checked how the skill was structured. As he activated the skill, a holographic window began to appear in front of him.

[1. 1–3 story building]

[2. 4–6 story building]

[3. 7–9 story building]

[4. High-rise building]

[5. Other]

“Hmm. So that’s how it works.”

Jaeha thought for a moment, then tapped the [1–3 story building] category at the top. The holographic window changed.

“Oh, so it becomes like this?”

Just like building structures in a game, the holographic window displayed a row of building photos. Jaeha looked them over and pressed one with a decent exterior, and like augmented reality, various elements appeared before his eyes.

‘So I just need to follow along with that.’

Realizing he only needed to follow the arrows and motions in front of him, Jaeha understood the skill’s mechanism.

Then he deactivated the skill. After thinking for a moment, Jaeha got up from his seat.

‘No matter how I look at it, I should try building one first.’

Just by looking, he could tell how the process worked.

But since Jaeha had no knowledge of construction, problems could arise during the stream. So Jaeha decided to build one structure in advance. With that thought, he got up and left the house.

On his way to buy materials, Jaeha searched up what was needed for construction.

‘Since it’s done with a skill, I probably won’t need any tools, right?’

Even if he did need them, he could make them himself or substitute with the skill, so it wasn’t much of a burden.

‘Construction materials aren’t just one or two things, but since it’s skill-based, it won’t take as much as real construction would.’

With that in mind, Jaeha used the skill and looked up the necessary materials.

‘Steel frames for the skeleton, cement, and interior materials. I don’t plan on decorating the inside anyway, so no need to worry about that. Just cement walls, some flooring, and wallpaper should do.’

With that settled, Jaeha felt at ease. Afterward, he went into a materials store and chatted about this and that.

After finishing the conversation, Jaeha purchased cement, steel frames for the skeleton, a small amount of interior materials, and various other items, organized them, and stored them in his Inventory. Then he got up from his seat.

‘Come to think of it, building a structure inside a dungeon—I probably don’t need special permission for that, right?’

Jaeha nodded to himself as he stepped out of the store.

‘I know the skill’s mechanics, but I still want to try using it directly and run some experiments by building something. But would I need permission for that?’

Lost in thought, Jaeha pulled out his cell phone and called Ji Cheolmin.

<What is it.>

“I called because I had a question.”

<What.>

“Have you ever done anything like construction?”

<Well, I’ve had construction done on my own land because I needed it.>

“Then what did you do about something like a building permit?”

<Of course, the organization I sponsor handled it.>

“Hmm.”

<Why. Planning to put up a building?>

“No, sir. I understand for now.”

After hanging up, Jaeha thought for a moment, then called Seungho.

<Hey. What’s up?>

“Are you home?”

<Yeah.>

“I need to ask you for a favor.”

<A favor?>

“Yeah.”

<What, hunting?>

“No, go to the Hunter Bureau and get some permission for me.”

<What kind of permission?>

“Construction.”

<What are you up to now?>

“I’m going to build.”

<……If you’re going to build a building, subcontract it to a construction company.>

“No. I’m going to make it with a skill. I don’t want any problems to come up.”

<……Fine. Got it.>

“Go with Sia.”

<With Sia?>

“Yeah. Sia knows everything about it.”

<……Alright, got it. What do I do when I get there?>

“Tell them I’m going to build a structure using my skill. Ask them to grant permission.”

<What if they say no?>

“Then…… I’ll just go into a dungeon and run experiments.”

<……Well, at least there’s no pressure on me. Got it. I’ll do that.>

After hanging up, Jaeha began scouting around to buy land.