Chapter 24 – Enjoy Limitlessly

Chapter 24 – Enjoy Limitlessly

The beginning is always reconnaissance. As soon as the Dimensional Rift opened, I sent in two waiting Observation Probes.

Chirp chirp chirp-

It’s different from a game where you could practice hundreds or thousands of times on the same map. Although the dimension is the same, the Rift’s location changes every time unless directly connected from the other side.

That means everything from the nearby terrain and water to the enemy’s location.

I had to consider and adapt to all of this from the very beginning.

Fortunately, thanks to my past self repeatedly diving in headfirst, I knew exactly what to do now.

“First, adjust the Rift’s location.”

The Rift’s location must be protected no matter what.

If we fail, the Monsters could use this Rift to invade us again.

But just as Humanity doesn’t know where Monsters appear, Monsters also don’t know the Rift’s location from the start.

“I’ll use this informational advantage.”

Just as Monsters build Nests in suitable places, I could also establish an Outpost on the opposite side to conquer that dimension.

Currently, the Rift was so inefficient that sending even two Observation Probes consumed a considerable amount of mana, but it would be different if I built an Outpost and gradually expanded the Rift’s size.

A path would open, allowing us to travel back and forth.

However, Monsters as strong as the Man would also be able to pass through.

In other words, it was a double-edged sword with increased risk. But to send Expeditions from our side and bring extracted resources back to the Main Base, Fire Manipulation was unavoidable.

“In other words… if I can just defend well, there’s no real downside.”

Just like the Man, the selection of the Outpost’s location was crucial.

After observing for a long time with the Observation Probe, searching for terrain easy to defend, I soon found a good spot.

“This looks good enough, doesn’t it?”

The highest mountain in the vicinity, offering a view of the surrounding area.

It was rugged terrain, making it easy to defend.

“If I build a Defensive Facility here, like the Man…”

It would be perfect.

“Indeed, if you’re a Korean, it’s a Mountain Fortress!”

Having made up my mind, I smiled and began pouring mana into the NestMana Stone once again.

Whoosh-

Then, the Mana Stone, which was the size of a watermelon, gradually began to shrink as if being sucked somewhere. It was moving to the opposite dimension to fix the Rift.

After dividing the Mana Stone equally between this dimension and the opposite dimension, the Rift became even more stable.

Although the Mana Stone was still small and consumed a lot of mana, this was a problem that time would solve.

This was because if I kept putting Mana Stones in, just like how the Nest Mana Stone was created, the Mana Stone would continue to grow, making the Rift bigger and more stable.

I started sending Worker Bugs into The Man Rift first.

“Beep-beep-beeeep~?!”

One by one, the Worker Bugs began crossing the Rift.

I invested a considerable amount of mana and sent a total of 40 of them.

‘Quietly. Gather the surrounding stones and build a Mountain Fortress.’

I looked down with the Observation Probe and designated an appropriate size along the original mountain ridge. As always, they immediately started working without a word of complaint.

‘Alright… Now.’

All I had to do was wait for them to work.

I instructed the Observation Probe to send an immediate alert if anything unusual happened. I also gathered all the Assault Cannons and a significant number of Magitech Armors and ordered them to guard the Rift.

Now… there was one last thing to do.

‘Like The Man… you guys work hard. I’m going to sleep.’

It had been a long day, not only marching to pick up Seongjae but also Summoning a Dungeon. It was best to recover my stamina first and enter the Dungeon in optimal condition.

‘Because tomorrow will be an even longer day.’

Of course, it was also a task that would be as valuable as The Man.

* * *

The next morning, after a good rest.

I explained the Dungeon to Sua, Deokchan, and Seongjae.

Then I declared, as if making an announcement.

“I plan to stay in The Man place for a while.”

“Oh, for how long?”

Sua had a flustered expression.

“At least until the situation on The Man side stabilizes.”

Seongjae pondered deeply, then came to a conclusion on his own.

“Hmm… Siwoo. I think it would be best for me to stay here and start building the Thermal Power Generator.”

“Yes. You do that. I’ll assign you some Worker Bugs too.”

Since that was the Man’s original purpose for coming, there was no reason to stop him.

Next after the Man was Deokchan.

“I’ll also work with Seongjae. It’s so commendable how eager he is to learn some skills.”

And then the two looked at each other with eyes full of affection.

It seemed like the Engineer Guys had some kind of connection with each other.

Now everyone looked at Su-a.

“Hmm… Uh, well, that’s the Man…”

Deokchan saw Su-a like that and said a word.

“Su-a. If it’s something you truly want to do, your father won’t stop you. Just don’t get hurt.”

Her wavering eyes became calm.

“Then I’ll go with you too.”

It seemed like the moment she made her decision.

“Good. Then I’ll tell you the main points.”

I separately called Su-a and explained what would happen as soon as we entered. Then I reminded her of what she needed to do and prepare.

She listened with a serious expression and nodded her head.

‘If she’s that disciplined… at least she won’t die.’

Her nervous expression was pleasing to see.

And finally… we stood before the Rift.

“Then, are you ready?”

“Yes…”

“Then I’ll enter first. Don’t forget that it will consume a significant amount of mana.”

I explained the final precautions to her.

Whoosh-

I gathered mana and approached the Rift.

Whoosh-

As I passed through the Rift, there was a sound like a waterfall.

***

Clean air.

“Hooah…”

I took a deep breath.

As the Apocalypse, the world’s Apocalypse, progressed, industry was slowly beginning to shut down, and the Earth’s air was clearing up.

Humanity was still in its final throes.

In particular, munitions factories were still running, and occasionally Tanks and Armored vehicles would pass by, causing pollution.

Compared to the Man, this was a world where not a single drop of oil had been properly burned. The air quality was different from Earth.

Behind me, as I enjoyed the refreshingly clear air, the sound of a waterfall began to resound once more.

Whoosh-

Sua had followed me through.

“Hoo-ha… Hoo-ha… Hooah…”

She was taking deep, gasping breaths.

Her face was pale, showing that she wasn’t used to expending this much mana at once.

“Sit down and rest for a bit. You’ll be fine soon.”

“Yes.”

However, the entry didn’t end with her.

Whoosh- Whoosh-

The sound began to repeat.

The Magitech Armors were entering too.

I immediately checked their condition.

“Good.”

There were no major issues.

“The Man, you guys take up tools too.”

It wasn’t just the Worker Bugs that could work.

After instructing them and taking a look around myself, the outline of the Castle was roughly taking shape.

There were also several trenches where they could immediately hide from long-range attacks in case of Fire Manipulation.

“You’ve worked hard. This is excellent.”

It was an unbelievable amount of work for only 40 of them to have done overnight. Of course, it wasn’t a complete Castle yet.

“Still, it will take a long time to complete the Castle.”

A Mountain Fortress was a construction that at least hundreds of laborers would build over several years. Even though the Worker Bugs worked tirelessly 24 hours a day without needing to rest, eat, or sleep.

No matter what, a Mountain Fortress couldn’t be built overnight.

But fortunately, the mountainous terrain, which forms the base of the Mountain Fortress, was so rugged that it served as a natural fortress.

‘Well… that’s not why I chose this place.’

I grinned.

Meanwhile, while I was checking the work progress, Sua seemed to have recovered some mana.

“Mr. Siwoo… What should I do now?”

“Ms. Sua. Did you bring the tarp, as I told you?”

“Yes.”

“Now, lay it in that hollowed-out spot over there, and start collecting Water like a Pond. Starting right now.”

“Oh, yes!”

I instructed her to create a small Pond.

For Sua, a Water Ability User, usable Water was like ammunition. In other words, it meant creating an ammunition reserve.

‘Then, should I start moving the Assault Cannon now?’

I rolled up my sleeves.

The medium-sized Assault Cannon still requires a significant amount of mana to pass through a small Rift. I slowly began to bring the Assault Cannons over, one by one.

Whoosh-

***

It was the next morning when all four Assault Cannons were summoned.

At night, we slept soundly in the two tents set up by the Worker Bugs, and for meals, we enjoyed the special taste of ramen eaten at the mountaintop.

“This… I feel like I’m camping.”

Sua had a bewildered expression.

Meanwhile, while the woman and I were enjoying such an unexpected camping trip, the Magitech Armor and Worker Bugs were all working hard.

After the Mountain Fortress’s defenses were somewhat established like that.

Around the afternoon of the second day, when the Pond started to grow larger.

I felt that the time was slowly approaching.

“Ms. Sua.”

“Yes?”

“I’m about to start the operation.”

“Oh, what kind of operation?”

“Just… a lot of monsters will come.”

Sua’s face turned pale.

“Uh… a lot of them?”

“Yes. Very many.”

I grinned at her.

***

Boom-! Boom-! Boom-! Boom-!

Lumps of light, illuminating the surroundings brightly, shot up into the sky.

Sua’s eyes widened.

“S-Siwoo? Were they always like that?!”

“Oh, is this your first time seeing them fire, Ms. Sua?”

Whether the Assault Cannons knew of Sua’s surprise or not, they began firing again.

Boom-! Boom-! Boom-! Boom-!

The impact point was a place with a high monster density nearby.

It was a spot I had found in advance with an observation probe.

‘Assault Cannon, to your position.’

The assault cannons, which had fired indirectly, now moved into position for direct fire. It was the mountaintop, overlooking a significant portion of the mountain fortress below, without any obstructed views.

And then…impact.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

A light that brightly illuminated the afternoon, which was slowly beginning to darken.

Sua looked at the man on top of the mountain fortress and was astonished.

“What kind of explosion… so huge…”

I drew her attention.

“We’ve poked a hornet’s nest. They’re coming now.”

“Screech!”

The rake wolves let out a monstrous shriek. Noticing the sudden attack, they began to head towards the place where the light had been fired.

Right towards this mountain fortress. But they would slip while climbing the rough mountain, and they had to struggle to get over the rampart, which was quite high.

And that meant…

Dududududududududu-

They were easy targets for my magitech armors.

But that wasn’t all.

Thump- Thump-thump-thump-thump-

There was also Sua, drawing water from the pond and calmly providing fire support to take down the rake wolves.

‘Her skills have definitely improved.’

She was firing more powerful water spears day by day.

However, unlike Earth, there were also large monsters here.

“Grumble. Grumble.”

A monster the size of an elephant, with two thick, long apricot-colored legs and several short tentacles. It was called a Stomper.

“S-Siwoo! Something huge is coming!”

It was only the size of an elephant, but it seemed to be a big shock to Sua, who had only seen similarly sized creatures until now.

“Don’t worry.”

I reassured the woman.

And when it appeared near Mountain Fortress…

“Fire.”

I immediately gave the command to fire.

Thwump-!

And a ball of light shot out with Direct Fire.

It hit the body part connecting the Stomper’s two legs. With just one shot, it immediately split the creature in half.

“Kueeeeeeeek!”

The creature screamed and died.

Sua’s expression became even more filled with shock.

“Siwoo’s ability… is there no limit to it?”

“I can’t make water.”

I grinned at her words.

“Focus on the situation. Stop the Rake Wolves from approaching.”

“Yes…”

Sua’s tone seemed somewhat deflated.

***

We were able to finish the battle before dinner.

Mana consumption required a corresponding amount of calories, so we decided to eat the Combat Rations that Sua and Deokchan, the father and daughter, had received from the National Army.

When I inserted the Pound Cake, which came as dessert, into the hot Combat Rations packaging, Sua seemed shocked once again.

“Oh, so that’s how you eat it?”

“Ah, you didn’t know?”

Thinking about it, Deokchan, who was from a generation before the New-Type Combat Rations came out, and Sua wouldn’t know about it.

‘It’s written on the package… but it’s easy to miss.’

I was exempt from Go Ara, but my former military colleagues, like Seongjae, had taught me these things.

While we ate, the Worker Bugs harvested the Mana Stones from the Monsters we had dealt with. In particular, unlike the low-grade Mana Stones we’d found so far, the Stompers’ Mana Stones were at least usable.

After filling our stomachs with Combat Rations, a smile naturally appeared on my face when I saw the Mana Stones piled up in front of the Rift.

“Whew, it’s really been a long time.”

The Mana Stones had significantly dwindled due to the maintenance costs of the Medium-Type machine, the Assault Cannon, and starting the Advanced Research, Composite Research.

I decided to absorb half of them into the Nest Mana Stone that stabilized the Rift and pour the remaining half into research.

“Ohhh… Finally, a Mana Stone rush!”

[Composite Research in progress… 56%]

[Composite Research in progress… 59%]

[Composite Research in progress… 62%]

[Composite Research in progress… 67%]

The research stage was visibly climbing.

Considering how long I had waited and endured, it felt like a breath of fresh air, relieving my frustration.

“Ah… hahahahahaha!”

Feeling good, I let out a hearty laugh, and Sua looked at me strangely, tilting her head.

“Why? Is there something good happening?”

My eyes sparkled as I looked at her.

“Ms. Sua.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry, but… I won’t let you sleep tonight.”

“Wha- what do you me-“

She couldn’t finish her sentence.

Thud-! Thud-! Thud-! Thud-!

This was because the sound of the Assault Cannon’s Artillery Barrage echoed.

“Kweeeeeek!”

“Kkweeeeeek!”

And the man…

With the man’s Artillery Barrage, the monsters once again began to be herded.

It was the moment when Su-a’s somewhat red face turned pale.