Chapter 79 – May Spring Come

I froze for a moment.

I had utilized my abilities extensively and pondered them deeply in my previous life… but this was a first, as I had never before restored more than 1/7th of the forgotten information.

‘What exactly are you?’

[I am the Assistant AI.]

Ironically…

It was a brief answer that provided no help at all.

I decided to refine my question.

‘Then what can you help me with?’

[I share general and detailed information regarding abilities to help the user utilize their abilities more smoothly.]

‘Oho…’

I nodded silently.

It occurred to me that this might be a great opportunity to confirm the things I had been curious about until now.

‘What is the Magitech Civilization?’

[Insufficient Essence to restore the corresponding information.]

‘So I need to collect more Essence…’

I felt a sense of urgency.

However, there were still many things I was curious about.

‘Whose Successor am I?’

[Insufficient Essence to restore the corresponding information.]

The Assistant AI failed to answer again.

It seemed the Essence I had secured was far too insufficient.

Thinking of the statue that looked like a person from the Submersible Patrol Craft, I decided to change the direction of my question slightly.

‘Was the Magitech Civilization established by humans?’

[Correct.]

A brief answer.

But it was a significant achievement.

If the other party were human and they had also fought against Monsters, they might be of great help to humanity on Earth.

‘What kind of humans are they, and where do they live?’

[Insufficient Essence to restore the corresponding information.]

But the assistant could not answer.

‘I guess questions about the Magitech Civilization aren’t possible yet…’

I decided to change the direction of my questions once more.

‘Then what on earth are Monsters?’

[Insufficient Essence to restore the corresponding information.]

‘How can I stop Monsters from invading Earth?’

[Insufficient Essence to restore the corresponding information.]

‘Why do Monsters invade Earth?’

[Insufficient Essence to restore the corresponding information.]

‘…How are Mutants or Villains created?’

[Insufficient Essence to restore the corresponding information.]

“Ah, damn it…”

Faced with the assistant’s continued inability to answer, I had to suppress the urge to swear.

I felt as if I were on the verge of uncovering all the secrets of the world, yet not a single one of my questions was being answered.

‘That damn Essence, Essence!’

I felt like I was going to explode from frustration.

“Then where the hell can I get that Essence?”

The moment I asked that question.

Whoosh—

A specific location was drawn in my mind.

“Huh?”

A Giant Nest in the middle of a forest. It was of an overwhelming size, unlike anything I had ever seen, including in my previous life.

Then, my perspective began to zoom out slowly from the nest, soon revealing rugged, endless snow-capped mountains. And soon, to the left, it showed a long lake of considerable size.

‘Where have I seen that lake…?’

I began to search my memories, but…

There was no need. As the perspective zoomed out further, it revealed the familiar round shape of the Earth, and the identity of the lake in the center became obvious.

“Lake Baikal.”

The very heart of the Siberian Front.

In the mountains next to Lake Baikal… there was a Giant Nest.

* * *

Unfortunately, I did not yet have the resources to send an Observation Ship or Observation Probe all the way to Russia. In the end, I had to choose another method.

“I heard this gentleman is a Master of Geography.”

Alongside Kim Mincheol from Bucheon, a man who looked somewhat clumsy stood beside him and greeted me.

“Ah, hello!”

He was a man I had found after extensive searching; it seemed he had been living as a manual laborer, moving between farmland developments in Bucheon and Incheon with a single shovel.

‘Well… in a world like this, it’s not easy to utilize one’s major.’

In truth, it would have been difficult to utilize a geography degree even before the Apocalypse. Right now, the demand for civil engineering labor was higher than anything else.

I greeted him quickly and began to ask questions.

“Do you happen to know anything about Lake Baikal?”

“Uh… I… I was working on a thesis related to that. The impact of the paper industry in and around Lake Baikal—”

“Then you’d know about these mountains too?”

I pulled out a wide map.

It was one that had been hanging in a nearby middle school, and I had also asked Seongjae to look for more detailed maps at the Seoul National University library.

Looking at the mountains, the man exclaimed with delight.

“Ah, the Yablonovy Mountains. They are sometimes treated as part of the Stanovoy Range.”

They were peculiar names.

But the names of the mountains weren’t actually that important.

“Do many people live around here?”

“There are almost no people.”

It seemed there was a reason why the area was dominated by Monsters.

With few people around and a rugged mountain range acting as a natural fortress… it must have been a paradise for the Monsters.

“Then what is the fastest way to get there?”

“Ah, there was a train route. The Baikal-Amur Mainline. It was often called the second Trans-Siberian Railway.”

It seemed… there was a way, somehow.

* * *

I had a brief discussion with Seongjae and Yongjin. When I shared the relevant information, they both looked quite surprised.

“So the goal is Lake Baikal…”

“Which means we have to dive straight into the Siberian Front.”

Unlike the solemn Yongjin…

Seongjae looked a bit excited.

“The Trans-Siberian Railway! To think the steam locomotive I built will cross Siberia!”

“I mean… is there really a need to go by steam train—?”

Just as Yongjin grumbled, Seongjae whipped his head around and snapped back.

“No, it must be a steam locomotive. We don’t know how damaged the rails are, so we can’t use high-speed rail anyway. Plus, I can solve the fuel problem!”

Though he wasn’t using informal speech yet, this was a first for Seongjae, who had always found Yongjin intimidating.

“Well… if Seongjae says so, I guess that’s how it is.”

Yongjin eventually waved the white flag to Seongjae.

“And it must be an Adamantite Steam Locomotive!”

Seongjae burned with even more ambition.

‘I should start preparations quickly.’

There were many other things to do immediately.

The Korean Peninsula was far from settled, let alone the unification of Seoul. Furthermore, far from pushing north, maintaining the status quo was the best I could hope for.

However, it was certain that I now had a long-term goal.

Instead of the vague idea of ‘pushing the Siberian Front,’ it was now focused on eliminating the Giant Nest in Siberia.

“Trans-Siberian Railway! Spain, here I come!”

…Apparently, Seongjae had a different goal in mind.

* * *

Meanwhile, I examined the newly unlocked machines.

“This one seems like a dud…”

Among them were many that were not designed for modern combat.

For example, there was a small machine that pounced and bit like a wolf. Those with low durability would likely end up dying screaming from friendly fire when firepower was projected from a distance.

However… there were definitely some machines that caught my eye.

“[Colossus-Exclusive Weapon]?”

I couldn’t help but be quite surprised. The Super-Large Class Colossi were the machines I had used until the very end in my previous life.

They were machines in a giant human form that boasted powerful attack and defense capabilities, but unfortunately, they had no weapons.

In my previous life, Seongjae seemed to find that point quite regrettable and had tried several times to craft weapons for them using Adamantite or Mithril.

‘Since they’re large, they should be able to utilize the principle of leverage better.’

That was his logic.

But that principle of leverage was actually the problem.

Unless Adamantite was made into something like a massive log, there were no weapons a Colossus with such immense strength could effectively use.

And rather than making such a log, it was far more efficient to use those materials to build other machines.

In the end, the Colossi were limited to fighting with their bare hands.

‘And yet they were still incredibly strong…’

But… it seemed things would be different this time.

Since it wasn’t for a Super-Large Class Colossus, the weapon was Medium-Class, but I couldn’t help but think it would be that much stronger.

‘After this defense battle… I should try producing some Colossi.’

I grinned.

Along with that, I looked over the new Super-Large Class machines that would make construction easier and the additional Shadow Essence Research…

I couldn’t stop smiling for a while.

* * *

While there had been significant progress in my future plans, such as the Siberian Front breakthrough and the Colossi, I couldn’t ignore the present.

The immediate present consisted of the defense battle and the Looters of Gangbuk.

I was in the midst of preparing for the defense battle. Thanks to Gwak Sangyong’s Faction integrating quickly, the available combat forces and territory had increased rapidly, making the workload heavier than expected.

First, the preparations for the defensive facilities, which originally covered only the southwest of Seoul, were extended to the territory Gwak Sangyong had occupied, and I decided to build four more Mana Facilities.

The plan to increase by 8 had expanded to an increase of 12. On the other hand, it meant that I had taken control of all of Seoul south of the Han River.

Consequently, the population entering Incheon was increasing explosively, and the economy felt as if it were entering a virtuous cycle.

Because of that… this defense battle was expected to be very different.

These days, such conversations were circulating in the markets of my faction.

“I heard there’s no draft this time?”

“They say only those who want to fight can do so…”

“Tsk, how many people do you think would risk their lives to fight…”

“What are you talking about! You still don’t realize how the world has changed!”

“Huh?”

“Look how much the price of Mana Stones has risen since the Artifact workshops appeared!”

“How much could it possibly be…”

“A single small Mana Stone goes for 4 Coins! And if you think about selling the materials… it’s practically like a wave of gold is coming in!”

“I-is that really true?”

“Of course! I’ve already signed up.”

“I-I’ll go too!”

The core of it was that there was no combat draft.

Previously, the atmosphere had been like a volunteer militia where everyone rose to fight for the survival of the group… but from this defense battle onward, it changed to voluntary combat participation.

Now, those within my faction who had no interest in combat had the option not to fight. In other words, the specialization of combatants was taking place.

Unlike in the modern era, they were establishing themselves as a kind of freelance combatant, which was possible because hunting Monsters was definitively profitable.

Since people working in production weren’t being mobilized, it was also much more advantageous from an economic perspective.

In particular, the value of Worker Bug Coins was skyrocketing ahead of the defense battle—

“Give me one more!”

Ding!

This was because Worker Bugs played an essential role in increasing the speed of Mana Stone collection.

The result of all these factors combining was truly surprising.

While preparing for a legendary defense battle on a completely different level than before… my faction was strangely overflowing with vitality.

Almost like a holiday or a festival.

As if they were looking forward to the defense battle.

‘This time will definitely be different…’

And the same went for me.

* * *

The fierce momentum of winter broke.

In the late winter, as the weather began to thaw little by little.

Boom—

Twelve Mana Facilities were constructed simultaneously—.

Whoosh—

The defense battle began.