Chapter 30 – Lord

Seongjae loves machinery.

This was a fact known to everyone, and naturally, Siwoo knew it too. However, there were things that even Siwoo did not know.

While Seongjae did love machinery and technology, he hadn’t been this obsessed with them in his original society.

But after losing his parents.

And on the day his younger brother was dragged away to some unknown place.

Left all alone, Seongjae… needed something to soothe his heart.

So he began to immerse himself.

In something he was good at, and something he found enjoyable.

Because if he didn’t, he felt as though he would truly go insane.

Still, whenever he did the things he loved, he could at least forget about his family and soothe his melancholy heart, if only a little.

Despite being capable of fighting well, that was also the reason why he hated fighting. Whenever he tried to fight, these thoughts would not leave Seongjae’s mind.

‘If only I had known how to fight back then.’

‘If only I had been better back then.’

‘Would my family still be alive?’

Thus, even though he had a talent for fighting, he did not. Having already lost what he needed to protect, he did not want to be reminded of his family.

But now was different.

‘Siwoo. Thank you so much.’

How could he put it into words?

Seongjae could clearly feel that Siwoo wanted to rely on him regarding technical and engineering matters.

Fortunately, this was a field he was truly proficient in.

‘I’ll have to work harder from now on.’

At the same time, he made another resolution.

‘And… maybe I should get some more training from Ms. Sua?’

He had gotten back the person he needed to protect.

Now, he had a reason to fight.

* * *

[Seongjae. Once you’ve confirmed, shall we proceed with the escort immediately?]

[Yeah. Thanks, Siwoo. Thank you so much.]

[Then do a good job.]

[Of course! Hey, do you want me to build you another power plant?]

[No, one is enough for now…]

Exchanging such idle jokes, I gave instructions to the Magitech Armor to bring Seongmin inside.

It was the best way to provide an escort.

And leaving behind Cheonsu’s limp corpse.

[Seongjae. Next phase of the operation.]

I sent a short text to Seongjae.

As Sua, Seongmin, and I—riding in the Magitech Armor—stepped outside the building.

Once the Worker Bugs had moved a certain amount of important supplies out of the building, fires began to break out at every entrance on the first floor, including the windows.

The blazing fires spewed toxic smoke into the interior. Of course, I wasn’t the type to let it end with just that.

‘Assault Cannon. Commence firing at designated coordinates.’

Boom—!

Boom—!

Artillery barrages struck the hotel in succession.

Now, there were expected to be no survivors.

* * *

Upon returning to the shopping mall, we assigned a room right next to Seongjae’s to his younger brother, Seongmin, and spent some time talking with the two of them.

“Seongmin. This is Siwoo. Say hello.”

“Hello? I look forward to working with you. Thank you.”

Looking awkward, Seongmin bowed like a robot.

I treated him as warmly as possible.

“Oh, right. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Ah, well, I guess they didn’t treat him too harshly since he’s just a kid. They said they only forced him to use his ability.”

“How old did you say he was?”

“I’m 15…”

“What, so you’re a second-year in middle school?”

“Yes… I’ll be a third-year soon…”

It seemed he was a late-born child.

Meanwhile, Deokchan and Sua also stepped forward to greet him.

“Ooh, so you’re Seongmin.”

“My name is Kang Sua. You can call me Sua Noona, okay?”

After exchanging greetings.

I explained the locations of electricity, water, and supplies, and briefly explained the rules. There were no exceptions just because he was young.

Meanwhile, I decided to take this opportunity to establish a contract with everyone.

We signed a simplified contract focusing only on the most important points, such as not betraying the group; if this contract were violated, a notification would be sent to everyone.

‘Well… I doubt anyone would betray us.’

Still, when I appealed to the necessity of it, everyone seemed to agree without much complaint. In particular, they were quickly convinced when I said it was an opportunity to raise the level of mutual trust.

I didn’t assign them any other tasks.

Since the young Seongmin didn’t seem to have adjusted to the situation yet and appeared quite shy, clinging to Seongjae for support.

‘Well… it’ll be fine to just leave him be for a while.’

Now that there’s a contract, there shouldn’t be any accidents.

* * *

Meanwhile, Deokchan, Sua, Seongjae, and I discussed the next goal. That was, of course, the fortification of the shopping mall.

This was because I was planning to summon the Mana Refining Facility soon.

“It would be good to wrap the outer walls in steel plates. We have so many steel plates left, what’s the point of just leaving them?”

“Hmm… I agree. Then it would be good to install pillars inside to reinforce the building.”

“Right, Ms. Sua. I’ll have the Worker Bugs dig a trench from here to there, so please fill it with water. We can use it as a moat, and in case of emergency, we can draw water from there to use for attacks.”

“Ah! Shall we?”

The final plan was as follows: build a concrete wall encircling the area like an outer castle, and dig a moat in front of it.

Seongjae suggested making a drawbridge with pulleys in front of it, and I accepted. Deokchan decided to wrap the shopping mall’s outer walls in steel plates and reinforce the interior with pillars.

Hearing the conclusion, Seongjae chuckled and made a joke.

“Should I start calling you Lord Seong Siwoo from now on?”

The plan was truly to make it no different from a castle.

Also, while we were at it, we decided to do some remodeling on the rooftop.

This was due to a new harvest; while the three of us were away, Deokchan had scavenged solar panels from somewhere.

We decided to install the solar panels on the roof and, while we were at it, set up a small greenhouse next to them to grow some crops.

“The Worker Bugs will help, so farming will be a piece of cake.”

Moreover, there was no need to worry about water thanks to Sua, and there was plenty of power for temperature control. Plus, since Deokchan was the one who had originally tended a garden, he would do it well.

And since the training ground was becoming cramped for Sua and Seongjae to use simultaneously, we decided to build a separate one outside.

Meanwhile, the mention of the greenhouse reminded me of something.

‘Come to think of it, winter is approaching.’

Time had passed, and it was time to prepare for winter.

The first winter was a stage where many people died.

Not only did they have to endure the harsh cold of the Korean Peninsula without proper heating, but lighting a fire because of the cold was practically an invitation for Marauders.

Furthermore, since the food problem would soon become a major issue, many people were expected to perish overall.

‘Hmm… I can’t let that happen.’

For the first time in a while, I decided to post on Apoin.

[Precog Friend Story 3]

[Heard that a monster called the Maned Deer will appear soon. It’s basically just a super strong deer, but it’s ferocious and has a mane like a lion.]

[But this is good news. Since it’s winter, many will worry about food, and they say Maned Deer are edible. Also, clothes made from their manes are supposedly very warm.]

[Also, a monster called a Stomper will appear; it’s the size of an elephant and doesn’t die easily. He says not to mess with them lol.]

To me, Stompers were a great source of Mana Stones, but Sua still wasn’t in a position to kill a Stomper properly.

I added information telling people not to fight Stompers for no reason.

However, it would be good if ordinary people could at least catch Maned Deer. If they could grow their combat abilities, secure food, and get warm clothes, it would be a triple win for humanity.

‘Everyone, please live a long time…’

That way, the monsters will suffer more.

* * *

I left the overall fortification plan to the three of them and, while the Mana Facility summoning was underway, I headed to the dungeon alone.

I added this to the others:

“Three days. I’ll be back in three days at the latest. By then, the Mana Facility summoning will be complete.”

Once the Mana Facility is summoned, a Defense Battle must be carried out. However, even amidst the busyness, there was something I absolutely wanted to do before that.

‘I need to go grab the Artifact quickly.’

The Artifact of my first dungeon was the [Broken Spear of Tenos].

It was an Artifact with a simple effect of increasing the wearer’s movement speed, but because of that, it had high versatility in many ways.

In particular, my ability allowed me to use such Artifacts as summoning sacrifices, in which case I could inherit the Artifact’s effects as well.

In other words, this meant I could create Special Entities this way too.

‘He said it was a valley further north than the Adamantite Mountain Range…’

Tracing my memories of my previous life, I sent out an Observation Probe and once again stepped onto the well-paved road toward the Adamantite Mountain Range.

Rumble—

Whoosh—

This road had now become almost like a highway, with Worker Bugs rolling around in inertial movement, transporting mined Adamantite.

Careful not to collide with them, I quietly led my forces toward the valley where the Artifact was located.

Currently with me were 2 Assault Cannons, 4 Mountain Breaker Soldiers, and 6 Magitech Armors; it felt much more relaxed than when I came with Sua last time.

Since I had consumed a lot of mana pushing myself in the last battle, my Maximum Mana had grown once, and the fact that the Worker Bugs’ Mana Stone mining volume had significantly increased also played a part.

Thanks to that, I could leave 4 Assault Cannons, 4 Mountain Breaker Soldiers, and 16 Magitech Armors at the main base for defense. Moreover, since Sua’s combat ability had become considerable, I believed she could handle things well even without me.

‘Now, once the Mana Facility is completed here…’

It was certain that my influence could grow much larger.

“Lulu~”

A pleasant hum escaped my lips.

Arriving smoothly at the Adamantite Mountain Range, I surveyed the neatly organized surroundings and thought.

‘I guess they’ve already picked up all the scrap metal that fell.’

Truly, those Worker Bugs were hardworking fellows.

[Worker Bug: Researching Self-Destruct… 57%]

‘I feel a bit guilty.’

Seeing the rising research rate made my heart ache a little, but summoning Worker Bugs cost mana and resources. I had no intention of using them as disposable explosives.

‘Let’s just keep this as insurance…’

The problem was that there weren’t many upgrades worth doing when mana and Mana Stones were lacking. Once the Mana Facility was completed, the upgrades I wanted to do were piled up like a mountain.

‘Now… then.’

I looked at the dark forest to the north of the Adamantite Mountain Range.

From here on, it was uncharted territory.

I placed the Magitech Armors and Mountain Breaker Soldiers in the front.

The Assault Cannons in the rear.

I stood in the center and began to walk forward.

“Lulu~”

And humming.

Tap tap tap tap—

Whoosh— Thump!

Boom! Boom!

As if keeping time with my humming, my forces advanced, adding accompaniment with their firepower projection. I just had to keep walking.

Then, Worker Bugs followed closely behind me, collecting Mana Stones, and once they had gathered enough, they transformed into spheres and quickly exited the battlefield.

Having entered a certain distance to the north, I used the Observation Probe to examine the terrain from the sky and searched for a plausible location.

Soon, something white was visible beneath a sheer cliff.

“Oh, is it there?”

Bringing the Observation Probe closer for a detailed look, a building with a dome-shaped roof made of white marble, contrasting with the green forest, was clearly visible.

“It must be inside there.”

If I just grabbed it and went home, I felt like I could return not in three days, but as early as tomorrow.

“Things are going well.”

It was then that I stepped inside the building.

Through a gap in the dome roof, sunlight was illuminating the very center of the building.

“Is it some kind of temple?”

It was when I looked at the center with an indifferent expression.

“Huh?”

In the middle of that light, a spear was planted perfectly in a straight line.

“Uh… why is this intact?”

For some reason, the spear was not yet broken.

[Tenos’s Spear]

[He who endures the trial shall rightfully claim this spear.]

And it came with a peculiar phrase.