Chapter 19 – Dungeon Opening Plan

Chapter 19 – Dungeon Opening Plan

At the cafe I promised Minju, I left two Magitech Armors to escort The Man to one place, and about six Worker Bugs to handle supplies nearby.

It was a given that one Observation Probe would always be in the sky and one inside to accurately assess the situation.

The Worker Bugs were also going to continuously collect resources nearby in addition to supplying the Magitech Armor, so as long as they steadily collected money, it could be maintained without much loss.

When I returned to the Shopping Mall after properly retrieving the Mana Stone from the large Nest and The Man, Sua and Deokchan greeted me.

“Oh, Mr. Siwoo! It feels like ages!”

Sua’s left eye was bruised black.

And somehow, Deokchan was glaring at me with angry eyes.

‘Ugh… Could this be…?’

Sua’s eye must have been injured during training.

‘This is all for your daughter…’

I wanted to make excuses.

“Hey, you… I have something to tell you.”

“Father! You’re not going to talk about that, are you!”

“Sua, no matter what, your only daughter—”

“Mr. Siwoo, more importantly!”

Sua loudly cut off Deokchan’s words.

It seemed she wanted to change the subject.

“Is there no way to use my ability in combat?”

“Ah, about that.”

Something came to mind.

I took out my smartphone.

“Would you like to see this?”

What I showed her were scenes from popular media, such as movies and animations, where ability users used water-related skills.

Adding to that, I elaborated by explaining the methods water ability users used in my previous life, making it a quite plausible explanation.

“Wow… You’re saying I can do this?”

“Wouldn’t it be entirely possible?”

I shrugged as if I didn’t quite know.

“I’ll try it right now! Thank you, Mr. Siwoo!”

Sua went up to the rooftop, excited.

It seemed like he was going to experiment right away.

Perhaps Deokchan’s feelings had softened a bit after seeing her learn with such passion; he quietly approached and apologized.

“Sigh… My friend. I am sorry. I trust you. However… I hope you can understand that it’s not easy for me to see my only daughter get hurt.”

“Of course, Elder. I will try to be more restrained.”

Of course, it was restraint in word only.

She had to become even stronger in the future.

* * *

I went up to the 6th Floor of the Shopping Mall, quickly showered, and lay face down on my bed.

‘Wow… how many days has it been?’

They say leaving home is hard, and it really felt that way.

Meanwhile, the 6th Floor of the Shopping Mall looked much better than when I first arrived. The most noticeable thing was, without a doubt, the cleanliness.

The black dust that had accumulated over time was scraped off by the Worker Bugs, and the grime that wouldn’t come off even then was completely removed when Sua started water cleaning.

Thanks to this, the Shopping Mall boasted sparkling floors, like when it was first built, in a fleeting moment of its pristine condition.

‘At this rate, I’d believe it if stores were moving in tomorrow.’

Of course, it wasn’t stores that were going to move in, but people. And it looked much better for people to live in.

First, unlike the past where privacy was non-existent due to open spaces, now panels were erected, blocking them off.

While I was gone, Deokchan had found wallpaper and paint somewhere, and decorated it well to match the surrounding atmosphere.

It might not seem like much, but the atmosphere definitely felt more lively. However, the electricity still wasn’t on, which was a drawback, making it a bit dark.

‘I need to get proper electricity soon.’

Deokchan’s generator, which was at best used for charging power tools, clearly had its limits.

It was only possible to use essential lights and smartphones by going through the troublesome process of charging the numerous USB power banks accumulated from raiding the general store.

Of course, the Worker Bugs were doing all the tedious work. And in urgent situations, I could just have the Worker Bugs light up their bioluminescent fire manipulation.

But that also took labor and mana.

‘Mana Stones are starting to run low, so I need to reduce mana consumption.’

It wasn’t just that.

Summoning Medium-Class Machine Assault Cannons consumed a significant amount of maintenance costs and a massive amount of mana, which slowed down my recovery rate.

I really need to tighten my belt for a while…

With that thought, I once again reviewed the research results.

[Composite Research in progress… 36%]

Advanced Research was truly a mana stone-devouring monster. Especially now, with the low purity and mana content of mana stones, it was even more so.

Therefore…

The Nest Mana Stone I obtained this time was a considerable achievement.

Bring it over quickly.

Ding!!

At my command, a Worker Bug laboriously carried the Nest Mana Stone and displayed it in the center of my private room.

A massive Mana Stone, like the size of a watermelon or a basketball.

Now… how should I use this?

My lips twitched into a smile.

***

Should I finish the research first?

That was the first option that came to mind.

The [Composite] research I was currently conducting was one of the ‘essential researches’ that the research institution provided as a basic from the start.

It wasn’t just about strengthening a specific machine with Essence…

It was a technology that benefited all machines and was essential for creating higher-tier machines.

It would be good to finish it quickly…

I checked the mana quantity of the Nest Mana Stone.

As expected, since it’s the very early stage, there isn’t that much.

It was a bit disappointing.

Let’s consider other uses first…

Besides that, there were actually other options, such as building facilities. If only I wasn’t consuming so many mana stones for Composite Research right now.

Considering the maintenance cost of the summoning facility… it would probably be difficult.

The facility cannot be stopped during summoning. If it is not continuously fed mana stones, the facility’s summoning rift, which is stabilized by fire manipulation, will soon disappear.

In other words, all the investments made up to that point would be lost!

I must avoid that at all costs.

I was already short on mana stones, and now summoning a facility? There was no way I could endure it. Therefore, facility research had to be put on hold until I had a surplus of mana stones.

But fortunately… the nest mana stone was also a condition that could allow me to ‘have a surplus of mana stones’.

The answer is indeed [Counter-Invasion].

It was time to use the nest mana stone to connect a [Dungeon] for farming.

***

Okay, so where should I connect the dungeon?

I rotated the observation probes flying near the shopping mall and began searching for a suitable location.

Deokchan, who was working as a foreman, had recently been leading worker bugs to dismantle empty houses nearby. Thanks to that, suitable clearings were occasionally visible.

However, there were a few things to consider.

First of all, this seems too far.

First, it shouldn’t be too far. The dungeon was, so to speak, a workplace that could consistently produce Busan Water.

If the distance between such a workplace and my main base was too great, it meant that worker bugs would have to work several times harder to transport the Busan Water. For example, if the distance doubled, worker bugs would have to make twice as many round trips.

That wasn’t all. If there were cases where outsiders targeted my dungeon, defense would become proportionally more difficult.

In other words, closer is better.

However, this place doesn’t seem right…

However, I couldn’t just build it right in front of my shopping mall.

The dimension connected by the mana stone was fundamentally the home of monsters. In other words, management failure directly leads to a monster outbreak.

I plan to manage it well, so it probably won’t happen, but the mere possibility of it happening was a risk.

For example, if I carelessly connected a dungeon inside the shopping mall and made even a small mistake, I might have to abandon the main base.

And because that risk was so great… ultimately, as a human, there was a high possibility that I would deploy more troops than necessary.

It would be a needless waste.

“Well, a moderate amount is best.”

My eyebrows twitched as I was examining the Clearings.

“Oh. This spot looks pretty good, doesn’t it?”

About 1-2 km away from the Shopping Mall.

It was a sufficient distance to respond if anything happened.

The path connecting it to the Shopping Mall was also wide and well-cleared, making it seem good for an expansion Castle.

“Alright. I’ll choose here.”

I had thought enough; it was time to act.

* * *

The next morning.

I was on site with Deokchan. I was in the middle of asking him to build a small, empty warehouse building.

“Hmm… The ground seems good enough here.”

“How many Worker Bugs should I assign to you?”

“Well, the more of them, the better.”

Deokchan chuckled, “Haha.”

“The more there are, the faster it’ll be built. But are you really sure? I’m a Carpenter, not an architect.”

“Well, no matter what, you’ll do better than me.”

“Ahem… Well, I’ve built a lot of small warehouses.”

“That’s enough.”

I gave him a thumbs-up.

“Alright, I’ll do my best.”

Deokchan reluctantly nodded.

“Well… it doesn’t need to be that grand.”

The Dungeon was top secret. So, I needed a building to act as a screen, to keep it from being easily seen from outside.

What I was asking for was just a building of that size.

It didn’t need to be extremely sturdy or aesthetically pleasing. I, The Man, was satisfied as long as it was practical and had a spacious interior.

As I explained the conditions I wanted and specified the width and height of the Water of Construction, Deokchan immediately started moving around, conceptualizing.

Looks like there won’t be any major problems.

It probably wouldn’t take long.

If I just have a Dungeon, the restrictions on the Castle will be lifted.

The Mana Stone issue, which is currently causing a bottleneck, would also be resolved.

And artifacts with various effects…

Mithril Mines, etc.

I could also obtain things that you would only see in fantasy.

I will become even stronger.

I was dying to open the Dungeon quickly.

* * *

Having left the construction to Deokchan, I sent a short message to Minju as I headed home.

[Minju… Are you alright?]

[Oh! Mr. SSWOO… I’m so sorry. I had a slight fight with my sibling. I’ll resolve it quickly and contact you! Please stay safe!]

[Yes, I guess there’s nothing we can do. You too, Minju, be careful in the Deep Sea.]

‘Fought with her sibling… Is something wrong?’

I tilted my head for a moment. Since there were no special notifications from the Magitech Armor, I figured it probably wasn’t a big deal.

Meanwhile, as I was texting Minju and had my Smartphone out, I almost habitually went to Apoin.

It was to check if there was any new information.

‘It’s about time The Man fellow showed up… ‘

Just as I was scrolling through the bulletin board like that.

A post that had received an enormous number of recommendations caught my eye.

[Electricity keeps getting cut off, so I decided to make my own.txt]

[Do you guys know this, The Man? haha The fact that Korea’s coal power generation rate is about 40%? There’s a reason why electricity keeps getting cut off in the provinces these days. How can they bring in coal these days haha]

[So I tried to make electricity myself.]

[Materials: pressure cooker, steel pipe, welding machine (don’t ask why I have this), a suitable motor lying around the house. And water.]

The rest of the post was like this:

After drilling a hole in the pressure cooker lid and welding a steel pipe to it, he made a small ‘boiler’ that could boil water.

The content was about generating electricity by heating the boiler and using the resulting steam to rotate the blades connected to the motor. In a way, it was no different from a small thermal power generator.

The reaction was explosive.

[Ohh! He’s an ability user in a different sense! An ability user has appeared!]

[Wasn’t that the original meaning of ‘ability user’?]

[Authentic mom’s touch electricity lol]

[Can’t you use an electric rice cooker instead of a pressure cooker?]

[How would that even work?]

[If an electric rice cooker could do it, wouldn’t that be perpetual motion haha]

[…]

“I found him!”

This person was… the ‘information’ I was looking for. He was one of the companions from my previous life that I had been searching for.

I immediately sent him a private message.

[This is SSWOO, who recently posted. Would you like to join our survivor group? Protection from monsters is a given, and all essential necessities like food, clothing, and shelter are secured and abundant.]

[Ah haha, ‘the man’ Mr. SSWOO? That doesn’t sound bad… But what would I get if I join?]

I thought about what he would have wanted if he were the man from my previous life, and decided to give him an answer he would like as much as possible.

[The generator you made this time. I’ll let you build it on a much larger scale. I’ll provide all the materials, basic material processing, and labor.]

[Deal. Absolutely.]

A quick answer without a moment’s hesitation.

“Hahahaha.”

Laughter burst out naturally.

I was a little worried, but he was exactly the same man as in my previous life.

[What subway line should I take?]

The subway had stopped long ago. It seemed like a question intended to figure out how we planned to meet, accompanied by a joke.

‘Even in this life, she subtly gets to the core of things.’

It was also a characteristic of The Man.

I pondered for a moment how to answer.

[Tell me your location and I’ll pick you up.]

‘I’ll pick you up this time.’

He was my Past Life Comrade and the one who would solve our Electricity problem.

Going out to meet him for a bit was no trouble at all.

Because I plan to work him as hard as The Man on Water.

‘I’m counting on you again.’

A smile never left his face.