Chapter 58 – Cheating in the Labyrinth

After the Busan Defense Battle ended. Using Minju’s ability, I returned to my room and lay on the bed, lost in thought for a moment.

“Let’s see…”

The Aerial Mothership is powerful. However, because it is so powerful, it is something that requires a lot. In other words, for the Aerial Mothership to be operated properly, several conditions had to be met.

First. A Medium-Class Production Facility was needed.

The Aerial Mothership has no inherent attack capabilities. In essence, it is nothing more than a giant cargo ship that carries Interceptors.

And those Interceptors are Medium-Class. Since I cannot manufacture and repair every single one of them by hand, I had to build a Medium-Class Production Facility.

‘I can just build that.’

Normally, there would be a drawback, such as needing to further increase the combat capabilities of the Interceptors—the core of the Aerial Mothership.

But now that the Photon Condensation Upgrade is complete, as long as I have the quantity, Interceptors should be sufficient to conduct air-to-ground combat.

‘Next is the Super-Large Production Facility…’

That was the problem.

For a Super-Large Production Facility, each facility must produce one part simultaneously. In other words, at least four facilities had to be arranged in a 2 x 2 formation and dedicated to the task.

‘Then I need a total of five production facilities.’

I briefly examined the recent harvest and gauged the speed at which my mana was recharging. I already had five mana facilities.

Since I needed to maintain the research facility and troops, two mana facilities were barely enough for a single small production facility.

However, the three newly summoned in Incheon were solely used to maintain the four newly added Submersible Patrol Craft.

In other words, I had the leeway to set up new production facilities.

But… mana expenditure wasn’t the only issue.

‘Then… the maintenance cost of the Aerial Mothership will be the problem.’

The Aerial Mothership is a super-large machine.

Accordingly, it consumes a staggering amount of mana. Although I added three mana facilities, considering the number of additional production facilities, it would clearly be overstretching to operate the Aerial Mothership.

‘That doesn’t mean there’s no way.’

That way was through Artifacts.

If I summoned it using an Artifact that had the inherent ability to collect mana as a medium, I could reduce the maintenance cost.

‘And if I use one with additional abilities…’

I could summon it to be far stronger than a standard Aerial Mothership.

Like a flagship, so to speak.

‘Then I should go find an Artifact first.’

I began to rack my brain.

* * *

First, I immediately set up the Medium-Class Production Facility. This was to decisively increase the number of Interceptors and Assault Cannons, and to assist in their maintenance.

As the Medium-Class Production Facility began churning out troops, the sight of the Assault Cannons—the core of my military power—increasing seemed to leave an impression, as everyone had something to say.

“It feels like the number of Assault Cannons has increased lately?”

“I agree.”

“No, seriously.”

“…I think so too.”

Since I was preparing the Aerial Mothership, the ones that had actually increased significantly in number were the Interceptors. However, not many people noticed.

Unlike the Assault Cannons that stayed beside them on the ground, Interceptors only flew in when needed. They probably just thought, ‘They arrived earlier than usual.’

Beyond increasing military strength, I also focused on strengthening internal affairs.

Choi Yongjin agreed to patrol the roads between the cities.

I also worked on the normalization of Incheon.

Furthermore, crops began to be produced in earnest from the dungeons. Most of the crops were potatoes and sweet potatoes, which were easy to cultivate and whose seeds were relatively easy to obtain.

However, with the addition of chickens and eggs, as well as protein supplements like edible Maned Deer or Sand Squid, there were no major issues.

In particular, as the monsters off the coast of Incheon were cleared out, coastal fishing had recently resumed. It seemed people had even started gathering clams and crabs from the tidal flats.

‘That’s a good thing.’

We were probably the only ones in the entire world who could eat real seafood. Overall, food was abundant; in an apocalypse, eating like this was practically like living as a king.

Thanks to this, many survivors were flocking in.

Even by a rough count, the population far exceeded that of when I had the grandiose title of the ‘Last City of Humanity’ in my previous life.

Moreover, since most of my faction consisted of Koreans, there were no communication problems. There were also virtually no factions. Of course, this was largely due to my immense influence.

Having finished the household chores to some extent…

I headed to the dungeon for the first time in a while.

“Seongjae. I have something to do for a bit.”

Seongjae came along.

* * *

“Wow… there are even more people now.”

Seongjae marveled at the crowded area around the dungeon entrance.

“Well, these days, many people commute to the dungeon for work.”

I answered calmly. On another note, commerce was very active around the dungeon entrance.

This was so that those coming out of the dungeon with by-products like edible monsters, agricultural produce, or mana stones could trade them immediately without needing to transport them far.

However, we had no need to encounter those people.

This was because there was a separate entrance for administrators and the Worker Bugs that emerged after mining Adamantite and Mithril.

Of course, the dungeon was my property. Furthermore, this was possible because I held a monopoly on all the mining development rights inside.

But… today was going to be a bit different.

The Artifact I was targeting was not in a Fixed Rift, like the first or second dungeons, but in a [Non-Fixed Rift].

“Let’s see…”

I checked my gear.

Unlike Fixed Rifts, once you exit a Non-Fixed Rift, you cannot enter it again. In other words, it is a type of [Instant Dungeon].

Therefore, I had to prepare everything I needed when entering. Even then, there was a limit to the number of people who could enter at once. For this dungeon containing the Artifact I wanted, the limit was only two people.

‘Well… that’s expected to change once we’re inside.’

I grinned, thinking of the resources weighing down my bag. In addition, various items such as combat rations, a few changes of clothes, and hygiene tools were packed in the hiking bag.

Meanwhile, I double-checked Seongjae’s gear.

“Seongjae, did you pack everything right?”

“Hey, no matter how much of a troublemaker I was, I still completed my military service.”

He seemed to take great pride in his military rucksack.

I smiled at his answer and—

“Then let’s head out.”

I pointed to the Nest Mana Stone.

“What should I do?”

“Just wait a moment.”

Leaving the curious Seongjae behind for a second, I placed my hand on the Nest Mana Stone and felt the interior. A Fixed Rift required a mana band to specify its pattern, but a Non-Fixed Rift did not.

Rather… I had to create that band myself.

Whoosh—

I concentrated and drew up my mana.

Carefully tuning that mana, I condensed it into a small mana band, as if kneading dough. Then, with even more caution, I began to create the pattern of the band.

“Ngh…”

It was not an easy task.

Unlike a Nest Mana Stone core which already has a band shape, with a Non-Fixed Rift, I had to manipulate the mana while maintaining the shape of the mana band.

To use a real-life analogy, it was the difference in difficulty between weaving a pattern with a physical rubber band versus creating a pattern with intangible cigarette smoke.

However, for me, who was forged by a vast quantity of mana and the experience of operating it, while it was difficult, it wasn’t an impossible problem.

“Good.”

The small pattern I had spent several minutes of intense concentration creating was finished.

After explaining to Seongjae how to use that pattern, I poured mana into the Nest Mana Stone once more—

Swoosh—

Along with a familiar sound like a waterfall, my body began to be sucked into the rift.

* * *

“Phew…”

I let out a sigh.

‘It consumed a considerable amount of mana.’

Generally, Non-Fixed Rifts were places one entered after consuming a lot of mana stones. As someone with overwhelming mana, I didn’t need to do that, but it was true that the expenditure was burdensome.

“Haaah. Haah. Haah!”

However, unlike me, Seongjae’s face had turned pale from the staggering amount of mana expenditure.

“Chew on this.”

I handed him a Medium-Class mana stone and carefully looked around.

It was a dark place with impressive brick walls.

‘I found the right place.’

At a glance, it looked similar to ruins.

The nickname for this place was the ‘Labyrinth.’

True to its nickname, the paths were woven like a spiderweb, making it a maze-like place. In the previous timeline, countless survivors wandered here, eventually exhausting all their supplies and dying.

That was because the paths were so intricately tangled.

And there were many traps that hindered progress.

Of course, the biggest problem was the monster residing here.

“I hope we can finish this without running into anything—”

Just as I muttered that to myself.

K-boom!

With a loud sonic boom, a brown tentacle flew toward my head.

Swoosh—

Incredible speed. I barely dodged it, and a massive gust of wind brushed past my ear.

“Tsk!”

Clicking my tongue, I looked for Seongjae first.

“W-what is this?!”

Seongjae was shouting in panic.

He seemed terrified of the tentacles flying from the other side of the dark corridor, and he was constantly scanning the hallway.

I snapped Seongjae back to his senses.

“Seongjae. The light, please.”

“O-oh!”

Fwoosh!

A bright fire blazed from his hand, illuminating the surroundings. Meanwhile, the brown tentacle began to move away, as if avoiding the fire.

Slither—

Seongjae naturally let out a sigh of relief.

“Siwoo.”

“What.”

“A Labyrinth Tentacle Monster… isn’t this a bit too manic?”

“What are you talking about now?”

“There’s just… a thing about that.”

Seongjae wore a somewhat sly smile.

… I decided to walk a bit further away from him for a while.

* * *

We walked aimlessly for a while.

“Where are we now…”

As if it truly were a maze, Seongjae frequently wore a confused expression. Since he had a great sense of direction and was struggling this much, it was obvious how much other survivors must have suffered.

Having reached a reasonably wide clearing, I slowly unpacked my bag. Seongjae seemed slightly anxious.

“Siwoo, where on earth are we supposed to go?”

“We just need to go to the center.”

“Which direction is the center?”

“I don’t know.”

I answered calmly. There is no map of the Labyrinth. Even if there were, there was no way I would have memorized the map of this complex maze.

However…

“Then what do we do? Are we actually going to die like this?”

“If you don’t know… you just have to find out.”

I grinned.

I took out well-compressed transparent PET plastic from my bag. After spreading them across the clearing, I called upon my mana and began the summoning.

‘Summon [Observation Probe].’

Tiririri—

Soon, dozens of Observation Probes began to scout the Labyrinth.

* * *

We set up a base camp in the clearing and watched the reconnaissance of the Observation Probes. I also summoned about four Worker Bugs to assist us, so there was no discomfort.

I also gave Seongjae authority over the Observation Probes, and we took turns drawing a map. He would occasionally be startled by the wriggling brown tentacles.

“Why aren’t those things attacking us?”

“It’s because fire is their weakness.”

I answered his question calmly.

After two full days passed…

We finally found the center of the Labyrinth.

It was also the place where the monster guarding this dungeon resided.

The direction was finally set.

Since we were now closer to the goal, Seongjae should have been happier… but his expression was dark. To be more precise, he was frowning while looking at the intricately tangled map.

“Hey, looking at the distance, I think this will take a full week.”

He was half-right. Because the Observation Probes flew quickly, they could reach the center, but humans were different.

Now that the destination was accurately identified, there was no need to wander, but walking through that complex Labyrinth would take a considerable amount of time.

But the reason he was only half-right was…

“No, half a day is enough.”

Because I had the Magitech Legion.

“Summon [Rough Terrain Pioneer].”

K-boom!

As for the road, I’ll just carve one.