Chapter 32
"Ahem, ahem..."
As I cleared my throat and casually approached, the people who had been absorbed in the photo stepped back in surprise from around the train.
"Ah, sorry about that. It's my first time seeing something like this, so I just kind of..."
"Sorry for touching it..."
Everyone looked awkward, scratched the backs of their heads, and apologized.
In the awkward air, I could feel a strange tension as the soldiers and the people in plain clothes kept sizing each other up.
After a brief stare-down, the soldiers took a step toward me first.
"By any chance... have you decided to stay in the safe zone?"
The question was cautious.
Worried that they might be coveting my train and trying to force me to stay, I grew a little tense inside and answered firmly.
"No. I've decided not to stay."
But contrary to my expectations, the soldiers' faces showed relief instead of regret or disappointment.
"Ah, is that so?"
There was no sign at all that they were trying to hold me back by force.
"It must be dangerous outside. Are you really sure— ah."
After seeing the turrets and spikes mounted on the train, they gave an awkward cough.
I guessed they had decided there was no need to worry.
Then they got to the point.
"By any chance, are you familiar with the Gallery?"
"...Yes."
"If you have a separate nickname, we'd like to know it."
"My nickname?"
"We'd like to occasionally ask you directly for commissions through the Gallery."
It seemed like they just wanted to exchange contact information.
There was nothing wrong with that.
The moment they saw the train, they had practically already identified who I was,
and there was no reason to turn down requests if the compensation was fair.
After I told them my Gallery nickname, they quickly scribbled it down in a notebook.
Then they turned away, and I could hear them muttering to each other very quietly.
"See? I knew it. ...Honestly, it's a huge relief they aren't staying in our city."
"Exactly. If they side with the Awakeners..."
From their muttering, I could once again tell that there was a faction split in the Yeouido safe zone.
So that's why they aren't trying to hold me back even if I leave?
Because they don't want me siding with the Awakeners?
As the soldiers withdrew with satisfied expressions, the men in plain clothes who had been waiting behind them the whole time began approaching me.
Because of the soldiers' muttering earlier, they looked less like ordinary civilians and more like Awakeners.
"Hello. We're the Awakeners of the Yeouido safe zone."
"Hey, I told you to say Awakener Union."
"Ah..."
The man who stepped forward as their representative gave a light greeting and introduced them politely.
It seemed like there had been some mistake, but the two of them cleared their throats and brushed it off.
"To be frank, we hoped you would stay in the safe zone. Someone with a train like that would be a huge help if you stayed."
"Ah, I prefer to roam around freely outside."
At my firm refusal, the man looked disappointed, but he still didn't press it.
Instead, he lowered his voice as much as he could and, with a serious expression, got to the point.
"It's a shame, but I can't force you. Still, I should warn you about one thing. You'd be better off avoiding their requests or deals as much as possible."
"Huh? You mean the soldiers?"
The two of them glanced at the soldiers, then lowered their voices.
"We overheard it by chance, but since you know about the Gallery, do you also have a rough idea of the faction situation inside Yeouido?"
"Yes, a little."
After I nodded, the man gave a bitter smile and spoke.
"We don't have much to complain about when it comes to the soldiers. Those people are just following orders in the end. What we really have a problem with are the politicians, who are pulling every dirty trick in the book for power even though the world has turned into this mess."
Thick hostility seeped into his voice.
The man, who seemed to have quite a story behind him, began venting his grievances without even being asked.
"While we were outside expanding the safe zone, rescuing more people, and finding food, those guys were inside using the food and supplies we brought back to win over the civilians. They made people wary of us by saying Awakeners are dangerous. I'm telling you this because I don't want you getting tangled up in a deal or request and ending up in a bad situation."
The man, whose voice had risen a little, glanced at the soldiers and lowered it again.
He looked like he had a lot more to say, but seemed to rein himself in because of the situation.
"Still, they probably won't pay much attention to you right away. These days they're so obsessed with finding another Awakener..."
"Another Awakener? Who is that?"
"That... the Awakener who made and maintains the Gallery. ...They seemed to be looking for that person hard."
So they're digging into Signal's identity.
Even from where I stood, that person was definitely the most conspicuous Awakener.
I nodded as nonchalantly as I could.
"...Yes, thank you for the warning."
After a brief goodbye, I turned around and stepped onto the stairs at Car 1's entrance.
Even that simple little motion of boarding the train drew muffled exclamations of admiration from behind me.
"Hey, look, it's opening..."
"Oh..."
Sssshhhk—
As the door opened and was just about to close again, the battle drone waiting inside Car 2 peeked out, scanned the men outside, and slipped back inside.
Through the glass, I could clearly see the Awakeners outside gaping at the sight of that drone.
Vwoooong—
With a vibration running through it, the train began gliding off Singil Station's platform.
Looking down at the men receding with their mouths open through the window, I somehow felt a little smug.
'Somehow, this doesn't feel bad.'
Humming to myself, I left Seoul to do some serious farming.
My next destination was the dungeon near Soraepogu in Incheon, the Lizardman settlement.
It was one of the places where Soo-ah had once read out the internal information with her scouting skill.
Back when I had fought there with the drones, I'd had a little trouble with the Lizardmen using equipment and shields.
In the end, I had given up on clearing it—
But now I had a card to play.
The newly added trap and bomb crafting in the armory, along with the new skill I'd gained, Artisan's Touch, were the stars of the show.
If the scout and battle drones' firepower didn't work, I planned to fill the gap with crude traps and bombs.
I was planning to have the two drones set traps or throw bombs instead of attacking.
"...Since it's an intermediate dungeon, the drop items should be better too."
If I could get a lot of low-grade magic stones, I planned to upgrade the battle drones too.
The camera lenses that kept staring at the scout drone with envy were really starting to bother me.
I almost felt sorry for them.
I stood in front of the armory in Car 2.
Looking over the blueprints, I found that the trap and bomb materials were thankfully pretty flexible.
You could complete them by putting in five magic stones and five monster drop items, regardless of type.
Since they were consumable items meant to be used once and discarded, the material efficiency was excellent.
"Let's use up what I've got first."
I opened my inventory and fed in the lowest-grade magic stones and the poisonous herb I'd gathered earlier as trap materials.
Then I gathered up the monsters' sharp teeth and claws from earlier and crafted a bomb too.
"Begin crafting."
At the command, the mechanical arms in the armory started turning with a clatter.
And just as the poison-herb trap and the beast-bone bomb were completed and about to drop onto the workbench—
Flaaash-!
A red light burst out and wrapped around the freshly made trap and bomb.
"This is... that skill?"
Skill Artisan's Touch was activating on its own, enhancing the items.
That was one worry off my mind.
'So it applies properly even when it's made in the armory.'
When the red light faded, the finished products were revealed.
"Hmm..."
The trap had a vicious bear trap-like appearance, and the bomb was a round black one I'd seen somewhere in a comic or game before.
There wasn't even a fuse line that looked like it needed lighting.
I decided to appraise them one by one.
---
[Poison Trap]
- A trap coated with a deadly poison
*Additional option : It activates only when monsters approach.
[Bone Bomb]
- Explodes violently when thrown hard against the ground, spraying bone shards around.
*Additional option : On explosion, it maximizes the spray of fragments, increasing its lethality.
---
"Hard to know until I try using them..."
I carefully set down three Poison Traps and three Bone Bombs on the floor.
I thought I'd be able to make enough firepower with these.
"I've already come this far."
Before long, the train stopped near Soraepogu.
I wasn't going to start clearing it right away.
I had something to check beforehand, so I told the drones not to carry the traps and bombs and to just escort me for now.
"I'll be back."
After greeting Donggeuli, I stepped outside.
Tense, I gripped the mace tightly and slowly stepped into the dungeon again.
A swamp-type dungeon, with sticky humidity rushing up around me.
It was while I was carefully making my way between the puddles scattered everywhere and the moss-covered rocks that—
"Shaaak-!"
A Lizardman, at least a head taller than an adult man, pushed through the reeds and appeared.
Seeing it in person, it was bigger than it had looked in the video and quite imposing.
In one hand it held a crude but thick shield, and in the other a spear-like weapon made of sharp bone.
'Just one... lucky.'
No matter how effective the traps and bombs were, there was still one crucial prerequisite for clearing this dungeon.
'Can I fight this Lizardman and win?'
If that wasn't possible, the boss was out of the question.
Bosses were always much stronger than these guys.
I gripped the mace handle firmly with both hands.
"Grrr!"
Our eyes met.
The Lizardman that spotted me let out a grotesque cry and charged at me with its shield held forward.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The moment it closed the distance, the spear hidden behind the shield thrust out with a whoosh!
'Leap!'
The spear was faster than I'd expected, so instead of making a big leap with all my strength, I hopped lightly to the side.
Squelch!
'Dodged...!'
Lucky.
Because it was a swamp, my foot sank in, which actually let me land without toppling over.
As I narrowly let the spear tip pass by, the counterattack condition seemed to trigger, and blue light flashed as strength surged through the muscles in my whole body.
I used the recoil from my hips and swung the mace brutally at the Lizardman's shield.
"Hup!"
Whoosh— KWAANG!
A huge blast rang out, loud enough to make my head ring.
The Lizardman instinctively tried to raise its shield to defend, but it was useless.
"K, rrrk..."
The mace not only shattered the thick shield, but caved in the Lizardman's thick torso behind it as well.
It collapsed to the ground without even managing to let out a proper scream.
"...Doable."
There was a chance I could clear it.