Artisan's Touch (1)

"Krrrk!"

With a scream that pierced my eardrums, the boss rolled across the muddy ground.

I couldn't tell whether the poison was taking effect, but it had been writhing in pain for quite some time after throwing down its spear and shield.

This was my only chance.

Tap-tap-tap.

My body sprang off the ground and rushed straight to the boss's face in an instant.

I swung the mace roughly toward its hollow torso.

Sensing the danger, the boss belatedly raised one arm and took a defensive stance.

Under normal circumstances, its steel armor might have blocked the attack and prevented me from dealing any real damage.

But the armor covering its arm had already been destroyed by the sniper drone earlier.

Whoosh! Crack-

"Krrk!"

Thanks to that, the moment the mace connected, the bone in the boss's arm snapped with a loud crack.

One arm and one ankle had now suffered severe damage.

Even so, the dungeon's ruler did not crumble so easily.

Swallowing its pain, it rolled roughly across the muddy ground, grabbed the long spear it had dropped with its good hand, and struck at me.

Whoom-!

But the spear's trajectory, forced through with only one hand, was slower and clumsier than before.

I lightly ducked to evade the spear while attempting a second counterattack.

I swung my mace upward from below and struck the boss squarely in the chest.

Crunch-!

The steel armor plates layered thickest across its chest shattered and scattered in every direction.

"Krrk...!"

As its huge body staggered violently, I looked up at the sky and quickly retreated.

The recon drone, which had been waiting for its chance in the sky, opened its remaining mechanical arm as soon as I reached a safe distance and threw the last Bone Bomb at the boss.

KWAANG-!

The sharp, spinning bone shards tore mercilessly through the boss's unarmored upper body.

"Krrk..."

Thud!

The Lizardman boss finally dropped to its knees and slumped onto the swamp floor.

I adjusted my grip on the mace and slowly approached.

The steel equipment covering its body was now completely destroyed, with not even a recognizable shape remaining.

Its bare body was covered in scars from head to toe.

"..."

"..."

The boss, breathing heavily, raised its head and looked at me.

All the killing intent had vanished from its eyes.

Instead, it slowly nodded as if acknowledging me, then raised a hand and cautiously held something out to me.

I should have suspected it might be a trap, but for some reason, I felt I could trust it.

Remaining wary, I accepted the object it offered.

What touched my hand was an item shaped like a sharp thorn, radiating a brilliant light.

I lowered my gaze to identify the object, then looked straight ahead again.

"...Huh?"

The boss that had been kneeling before me had already turned into gray smoke and was dispersing into the air.

All that remained on the ground was the large magic stone it had left behind.

"The boss is giving me the item directly."

I pocketed the glowing thorn and let out a short, relieved sigh.

In any case, the dungeon raid had ended safely.

"I'll repair you."

I picked up the battle drone, which had fallen to the ground and was creaking, activated the Repair skill, and neatly fixed its dented outer shell.

Fortunately, it seemed to have been repaired successfully, because it immediately took flight again.

After gathering the magic stones and scattered drop items left behind by the dungeon, we left with light steps.

When I returned to the train, I immediately headed for the armory in Car 2.

The first things I took out were the glowing thorn and magic stone the Lizardman boss had left behind at the end.

"This time, not a blunt weapon..."

There had been only one reason I'd crafted a mace in the armory before.

Weapons like swords and spears seemed to require proficiency to wield, while blunt weapons looked like they would be the easiest to use, at least by comparison.

But things had changed.

"Fighting made me realize it."

The Weapon Proficiency skill worked quite well.

I felt like I could quickly adapt even to weapons that were difficult to handle.

Once I got used to it, I wanted to use a spear with its long reach as my weapon.

"...Because my arms are short."

As it happened, the long, sharp shape of the thorn I'd obtained as loot was also perfect for use as a spearhead.

I placed the thorn, magic stone, iron, and wood on the armory and began combining them.

Artisan's Touch activated immediately, filling Car 2 with a red glow.

"This time, the red light appeared right away..."

While the weapon was being crafted, I turned toward the battle drone, which was standing beside me and staring intently at me.

"You've been waiting, huh? Come over here."

The battle drone took up position in a corner of the hangar as if it had been waiting for me.

I poured in the magic stones I'd gathered from the dungeon along with the ones I'd been saving.

With a series of clicking mechanical sounds, the mechanical arms disassembled the battle drone's armor and began its upgrade.

[Battle drone upgrade beginning.]

[Time remaining until completion: 05 hours 59 minutes]

"This one is going to take quite a while."

Unlike with the recon drone, a separate message even appeared saying that it would take a full six hours.

I didn't know whether that was normal or caused by my skill.

Since a soft red light was glowing over it just as it had over the weapon, it seemed Artisan's Touch was being applied to the drone as well.

"Then, in the meantime..."

While the equipment and weapon upgrades were underway, I returned to the cockpit in Car 1 and operated the panel.

I activated the monster lure and the turrets.

"Since I'm using it, I might as well earn something."

Hearing the special waves emitted by the lure, the monsters hiding nearby began rushing toward the train.

"A lot are coming..."

I didn't know whether there were more monsters than before or this area simply had an especially high monster population, but they started running over as soon as I activated the lure.

Boom-boom-boom!

But before they could even scratch the train, the turrets shredded them, leaving magic stones scattered across the ground.

Regardless of the thunderous cannon fire outside, I was now used to the noise, so I wandered around inside the train while occasionally peeking out the windows.

"Donggeuli."

I gazed absently at the large aquarium.

The siblings who had guarded the aquarium were gone now, but the various crooked drawings with different expressions that the children had drawn in pen remained on the transparent glass walls.

Donggeuli, slowly rising and sinking inside the tank, happened to come to a perfect stop behind the drawing of the broad smile Soo-ah had drawn.

"Heh heh..."

I smiled.

Having a marimo that smiled at me like that made me feel as though the empty space left by the siblings was somewhat filled.

"...Am I crazy?"

I suddenly remembered what I'd heard in Yeouido earlier, so I turned on my smartphone and connected to the Gallery.

Then I quietly sent Signal a private message.

After I told Signal that several people were searching for them, a short reply came almost immediately.

[Thank you. I'll be careful.]

I also told Signal to contact me at any time if anything happened.

In this apocalyptic world, the Gallery was an important information network and marketplace.

I had to make sure Signal wasn't captured and that this useful site wasn't corrupted or made to disappear.

After finishing my conversation with Signal, I stood up and began operating the train's interior from the cockpit.

I folded away the bunk bed Soo-ah and Jiu had used and tidied up the small belongings they'd left scattered around.

"Was it always this spacious?"

With the children's warmth gone, the inside of the train felt much wider and quieter than I'd expected.

I moved the marimo's aquarium to Car 1.

Now I could see the marimo even when I lay down on my bed.

"For the time being, let's stay here together, Donggeuli."

Placing the aquarium near my bed made the emptiness feel a little less lonely.

With the steady sound of the turrets firing faintly outside as my lullaby, I slipped into a deep sleep.

***

"Are we really in the right area? I heard there's a huge dungeon around here."

"I checked the Gallery several times, didn't I? It's a dungeon entrance of a size I've never seen before—"

"Ah, damn... Do you really believe everything you read online?"

"Hey! We've survived this long thanks to the Gallery, so how can you say that?"

"Sheesh..."

Five people walked cautiously through the market in Soraepogu, carefully surveying their surroundings.

They were a team from the Yeouido Awakener Union, but they had come all the way to Incheon to farm food and items using a movement-related skill.

"There aren't any monsters...?"

"Hmm... You're right."

They were moving carefully to avoid attracting monsters, but even so, they had barely encountered any monsters at all.

Just as they began to wonder about it—

Boom-boom-boom! KWAANG!

"Oh, damn!"

"...What was that sound?"

"What? Speak up. I can't hear you."

"I said, what was that sound?!"

"Ah... Who knows?"

The noise was enough to make their ears ring, and everyone instinctively flattened themselves against the ground while raising their weapons.

"...Did the military finally deploy?"

"As if they would..."

"Is someone fighting?"

Everyone slowly walked toward the direction the noise had come from.

"W... what the hell is that...?"

A pitch-black train stood in the middle of the tracks.

Turrets on the train's roof and sides rotated nonstop and spewed fire, while monsters charged toward it as if it were their mortal enemy, though no one knew why.

Even so, the turrets' firepower turned the monsters into minced meat and blew them to pieces before they could even reach the train.

"...What is that?"

"What?"

"That! What is it, I mean!"

"Ah, that's a train..."

"Sheesh... Who doesn't know that...?"

The man who seemed to be the leader laughed when he heard the woman's sigh.

Of course, he couldn't properly answer what she meant by asking what it was, either.

'When I heard about it, I didn't think it would be that impressive...'

He had read posts about a train like that on the Gallery.

But seeing it actually operating left him speechless.

The train's mobility was impressive enough, but that firepower—

'...We absolutely can't make its owner our enemy...'

The man firmly vowed never to make the train's owner an enemy.