Chapter 35
Ugh... Haa...
I woke up, stretching pleasantly.
After clearing the dungeon after a long time and going through so much hardship, I seemed to have built up quite a bit of fatigue without even noticing.
I only meant to rest my head for a moment, but I must have slept so soundly that I even drooled.
The firing sounds from the external turrets that had been echoing outside the window had already faded, and it was quiet outside.
"Mmm..."
I took a quick look at Marimo, then habitually picked up my smartphone and logged into the Gallery.
I wanted to see how the world had been moving while I slept.
"What kind of new bait is there today..."
The Gallery's bait changed every day.
The harsh, heavy atmosphere that had lasted for a while had eased up, and with quite a few safe zones now and a lot of information already shared, perhaps because of that...
A new topic among survivors with a little more breathing room was heating up the Gallery.
As credits began circulating around some safe zones and the Gallery's marketplace became even more active, skill random boxes were one of the hottest topics right now.
---
[Title: I blew my entire fortune on a skill random box—what the hell is this?]
I scraped together magic stones and items like crazy and barely managed to save up enough credits to open it.
It can quickly trim the target's fingernails and toenails.
No joke, this actually came out;
[Comments]
ㅇㅇ : No way, liar.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : It's real.
Survivor12 : Open a nail salon.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : It only trims them quickly, so it can't make them pretty.
ㄴ Survivor12 : lol this skill is seriously trash.
---
There were plenty of other posts too.
---
[Is this good?]
[Never buy skill random boxes...]
[Did you get a combat skill?]
[I hate this world.]
"...There are a lot of weirder skills than I thought?"
If I'd tried gacha without borrowing a Luck skill, I might've ended up with the same fate.
There were far more people failing their gacha pulls than I'd expected.
Of course, there were also people proudly boasting about their gacha luck amid it all.
There were also information posts mixed in.
---
[Title: Hey, don't just list cigarettes on the marketplace]
If you have a lot of cigarettes, or you're trading them because you need food or credits, that's one thing. But if you need skills or skill enhancement tickets, save them for now.
If you keep them stockpiled, cigarette-addicted Constellations will sometimes ask for cigarettes and offer ridiculously generous rewards.
I was going to keep this to myself, but I don't have any cigarettes left to sell anyway, so I'm sharing it.
Everyone, stockpile them and try selling them to a Constellation, yeah.
[Comments]
ㅇㅇ : As expected, the GOAT of man-made addictions...
ㅇㅇ : Then later they can sell nicotine gum too lol.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : Are you a genius?
---
"This is info I didn't know."
Scrolling through the Gallery posts, I picked up some useful information again today.
"Ah, right..."
Suddenly, I remembered the monsters the turrets must have ground up while I was busy reading posts.
"Go out and collect the magic stones and loot for me."
As always, I casually asked the drones.
Vreeeeeng!
A high-pitched sound loud enough to pierce even the train's thorough soundproofing.
It was the kind of noise you'd hear when a supercar roared past beside you.
"What is that...?"
I shoved my smartphone into my pocket, walked to the window, and looked outside.
The moment I looked outside, I saw it.
Vreeeeeng-!
One flying object, somehow both familiar and unfamiliar after its transformation, was whipping around in front of the train at incredible speed with a deafening roar.
It darted through the wreckage of the countless monsters shredded by the turrets like an acrobat, snatching up the magic stones and dropped items on the ground in an instant.
"No way..."
Given that it was moving in response to my orders, it was definitely my drone.
But there was no drone like that in my memory... so it had to be my battle drone, having finished its long six-hour upgrade.
Its appearance had changed a lot from before.
It had doubled in size, and its body had become sleek and smooth, as if trying to minimize air resistance.
Most of all, the weapon mounted on its underside was different.
The silenced submachine gun was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a ferocious rifle.
If you looked closely, you could even make out a grenade-launcher-like part.
"It's changed a ton..."
Vreeeeeng- click.
The battle drone, having swept up all the items outside in an instant, came in through the open door of Car 1.
"Ooh..."
It spun around once in the air in front of me, proudly showing off its new appearance as if boasting.
Beside it, the recon drone also patted the enlarged battle drone with its pincers as if praising it.
"It's like a completely different drone."
I couldn't help but marvel as I checked the drone hangar screen.
Reading the description, it said that not only had its mobility and firepower been dramatically boosted, but it had also been fitted with high-strength armor plates.
That sturdy armor plate was probably one of the effects of Artisan's Touch.
Fully satisfied with the battle drone's transformation, I picked up the new weapon glowing red on the workbench in Car 2's workshop.
"This one looks promising too."
A long spear made by combining the spike the Lizardman boss had given me with one high-grade magic stone and several mid-grade magic stones.
When I appraised the spear shaft shimmering with a cool glow, the appraisal results poured in.
---
[Item: Dragon Scale Spear]
- A spear made by combining the dragon scale kept by a Lizardman who wanted to become a dragon with a high-grade magic stone. It has extremely high piercing power.
- Increases the strength of the person holding the spear.
- Each time the spear is swung or thrust, kinetic energy accumulates. When desired, you can twist the spear hard with both hands and release the energy in an explosion from the tip.
- Light.
---
"There's a lot on it..."
Using hard-to-find materials and applying Artisan's Touch to boot meant a single weapon could end up with a lot of options.
First things first, seeing it for myself would tell me more. I decided to take hold of the spear directly.
The grip fit my hand perfectly, and it was lighter than I expected.
"...Maybe the mace had just been that heavy?"
It did say it was light in the description, but even so, the difference in feel was no joke.
I lightly stabbed the spear into the air.
Swoosh-!
Every time the spear tip cut through the air, I could feel a faint humming vibration and clearly see the spearhead's color deepen slightly red.
That must be proof that kinetic energy was accumulating.
"Let's put it away for now."
This weapon would get its turn for testing someday too.
I carefully placed both the spear and the mace on the display stand in the armory.
At the same time, a single curiosity rose in my mind.
'How far does this Artisan's Touch effect really apply...?'
I'd seen it apply to weapons, traps, and even drones.
Could this skill also apply to my train's equipment?
"Alright. Next, the turrets..."
Since they had been the main force behind grinding up all the monsters and collecting the magic stones last night, I decided to upgrade the turrets next.
Of course, I was a little worried about just how much more vicious the already fearsome-looking train would become once upgraded turrets were attached.
At this rate, survivors might end up being afraid of my train.
'Well... it's already too late.'
When I tried to press the turret upgrade button, it was grayed out and locked.
[Upgrading the external turrets requires a large amount of fuel and 500 satisfaction.]
"Satisfaction? Ah..."
I slapped my forehead.
It said that to modify and unlock some of the train's equipment, satisfaction was required.
This turret upgrade looked like it opened the same way.
I had earned some satisfaction by taking the siblings and their mother to Yeouido, but it was still a little short of what I needed to upgrade the turrets.
"Hmm... maybe I'll take on some passengers for the first time in a while."
I took out my smartphone and logged into the Survivor Gallery.
I planned to look for rescue requests from survivors who wanted to move to a safe zone.
There were still plenty of such posts, so as I scrolled through the Gallery, my eyes caught on one post that stood out strangely among the countless trade posts.
It was a Constellation's post, written in bold, clear text unlike the others.
---
[Title: Rescue My Amazing Bartenders Right Now!]
Author: Hammer Warrior
This restaurant is the only place on the marketplace that brews amazing liquor that satisfies my palate! Hurry there at once, rescue the bartenders safely from the monsters, and move them to a safe zone!
Reward: 1 skill enhancement ticket, 10 mid-grade magic stones
---
"A Constellation is telling us to rescue them directly..."
I let out a disbelieving chuckle.
I knew there were odd Constellations sometimes, but this was the first time I'd seen one offer such a huge reward and try to rescue survivors directly.
In a way, it didn't seem like it was for the survivors at all. Just... for the booze.
Whoever it was, it seemed they'd won a Constellation's favor solidly with just liquor.
"That's a great reward."
My gaze stayed glued to the reward list at the bottom more than to the quest details themselves.
Ten mid-grade magic stones was already an enormous amount of currency, but the main reward was a skill enhancement ticket.
The item that had instantly raised Jiu's passive skill, Luck, by two levels.
Thanks to it, I'd rolled a good skill.
I was already thinking it would be nice if I could raise the train's level soon anyway.
Of course, this post would be visible to every Awakener browsing the Gallery, so I might run into other Awakeners again like last time.
But.
"Honestly, I'm kind of curious..."
I muttered softly.
I wasn't really the type to enjoy alcohol, but I was curious what kind of liquor a Constellation would enjoy.
I wanted the skill enhancement ticket too, and my abilities were also the best fit for an escort quest like this—
"Seems worth competing for."
Without hesitation, I entered the station name near that restaurant into the cockpit's main panel.
Unfortunately, this place was a little far from the tracks.
It looked like we'd have to move to the nearest station and then walk quite a bit, so we needed to get there as quickly as possible.
Vwoooom—!
The train, which had been resting for a while, began moving again.
Toward Sangdong Station.
notes":"Aligned the chapter title to match the established English base used for chapter 34. Fixed the accidental duplicated ending by keeping the final destination line only once. Also normalized Marimo as a name and preserved forum-style markers/slang."}``` ಗಮನ**I need correct JSON syntax in final.** The notes string contains an embedded comma/extra quote issue from final array end. Need ensure valid JSON, and finalLines length 156. I need make sure line 285+287 are separate strings. In final above I accidentally included a space before closing of Toward Sangdong Station and then notes injected without separating array end properly. Need fix in actual final answer. Ensure last array item is