Chapter 35
"Ugh... phew..."
I opened my eyes with a pleasant stretch.
After finally clearing a dungeon with considerable effort for the first time in a while, I must have accumulated quite a bit of fatigue without realizing it.
I'd only meant to lay my head down for a moment, but I must have slept incredibly deeply—I even drooled in my sleep.
The sound of the external turrets firing outside the window had faded at some point, leaving the outside quiet.
"Hmm..."
I casually admired the marimo, then habitually picked up my smartphone and opened the Gallery.
I wanted to see how the world had been turning while I slept.
"I wonder what today's hot topic is..."
The Gallery's hot topics changed every day.
The grim, heavy atmosphere that had lingered for a while had eased somewhat, and safe zones had recently become fairly common; information had already spread widely, too.
Perhaps because of that, new topics from survivors who had gained a little breathing room were heating up the Gallery.
As credits began circulating around several safe zones and the Gallery's marketplace became more active, Skill Random Boxes became one of the hottest topics.
---
[Title: I Spent My Entire Fortune Opening a Skill Random Box, and What the Hell Is This?]
I gathered a ton of magic stones and items, barely scraped together enough credits, and opened one.
You can quickly trim a target's fingernails and toenails.
I'm not kidding, I got this;
[Comments]
ㅇㅇ : Don't lie.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : It's true.
Survivor12 : Open a nail salon.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : It only trims them quickly, so you can't make them look pretty.
ㄴ Survivor12 : LOL, what a garbage skill.
---
There were plenty of other posts too.
---
[Is this any good?]
[Never buy a Skill Random Box...]
[Did anyone get a combat skill?]
[I hate this world.]
---
"There are more strange skills than I expected."
If I had tried my luck with gacha without borrowing the Luck skill, I might have ended up sharing their fate.
More people had failed their gacha attempts than I could have imagined.
Of course, even amid all that, there were people proudly boasting about their gacha skills.
There were also informational posts.
---
[Title: Hey, Don't Just List Cigarettes on the Marketplace]
Those of you with lots of cigarettes, or who are trading them because you need food or credits, are fine, I guess, but if you need skills or Skill Enhancement Tickets, save them for now.
If you hold on to them, Constellations addicted to cigarettes will sometimes offer incredibly generous rewards while asking to buy some.
I was going to keep this to myself, but I don't have any cigarettes left to sell anyway, so I thought I'd share.
Everyone, save yours and try selling them to a Constellation. Yeah.
[Comments]
ㅇㅇ : The GOAT among human-made addictive substances...
ㅇㅇ : We can sell nicotine gum later too, LOL.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : Are you a genius?
---
"I didn't know that."
I scrolled through the posts on the Gallery and picked up another useful piece of information today.
"Ah, right..."
The monsters the turrets must have ground up while I was reading suddenly came to mind.
"Go outside and collect the magic stones and items for me."
As always, I asked the drones casually.
Vreeeeeng!
A high-pitched sound loud enough to pierce the train's thorough soundproofing.
It sounded like the noise of a supercar passing right beside me.
"What the...?"
I roughly shoved my smartphone into my pocket, walked over to the window, and looked outside.
The moment I looked outside, I saw it.
Vreeeeeng-!
A flying object that looked both familiar and unfamiliar was tearing around in front of the train at incredible speed, accompanied by a deafening roar.
It flew aerobatically among the remains of countless monsters shredded by the turrets, snatching up the magic stones and drop items scattered across the ground in an instant.
"No way..."
Judging by how it responded to my commands and moved, it was definitely one of my drones.
But there was no drone like that in my memory, so... it must have been my battle drone after completing its long, six-hour upgrade.
Its appearance had changed considerably from before.
It had grown to twice its former size, with a sleek, streamlined body that seemed designed to minimize air resistance.
Most of all, the weapon mounted on its underside had changed.
The silenced submachine gun was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a menacing rifle.
On closer inspection, there was also something that looked like a grenade launcher.
"You've changed a lot..."
Vreeeeeng- clack.
The battle drone, which had swept up every item outside in an instant, entered through the open door of Car 1.
"Whoa..."
It spun once through the air in front of me, proudly showing off its appearance.
Beside it, the recon drone stroked the battle drone, now twice its former size, with a pincer as if congratulating it.
"You're a completely different drone now."
Unable to contain my admiration, I checked the screen in the drone hangar.
According to the description, not only had its mobility and firepower been dramatically boosted, but it had also been fitted with additional high-strength armor plating.
That sturdy armor plating was probably the effect of my Artisan's Touch skill.
Thoroughly satisfied with the battle drone's transformation, I picked up the new weapon glowing red on the workbench in Car 2's workshop.
"I'm looking forward to this too."
It was a long spear made by combining the thorn the Lizardman boss had given me, one high-grade magic stone, and several mid-grade magic stones.
As I gripped the spear shaft, feeling cool radiance flow along it, I appraised it, and the results poured into my mind.
---
[Item: Dragon-Scale Spear]
- A spear formed from dragon scales kept by a Lizardman who wanted to become a dragon and a high-grade magic stone. It possesses extremely high piercing power.
- Increases the physical strength of the person holding the spear.
- Kinetic energy accumulates whenever the spear is swung or thrust. At any time, the wielder can twist the spear forcefully with both hands to make the energy explode from the tip.
- Lightweight.
---
"There are a lot of options..."
Since I had used difficult-to-obtain materials and applied Artisan's Touch to it as well, the weapon came with a great many options.
Seeing is believing, so I decided to try holding the spear myself.
The grip fit snugly in my hand, and its weight was lighter than I'd expected.
'...Was it because the mace was so heavy?'
The description did say it was lightweight, but even so, the difference in perceived weight was no joke.
I lightly thrust the spear through the air.
Whoosh-!
Every time the spear tip cut through the air, I felt a faint, humming vibration, and could clearly see the spearhead turning slightly redder.
That must be proof that kinetic energy was accumulating.
"Let's put it away for now."
I'd have a chance to test this weapon later.
For now, I carefully placed both the spear and mace on the display stand in the armory.
At the same time, a question stirred in my mind.
'Just how far does the effect of Artisan's Touch extend?'
I had seen it applied to weapons, traps, and even drones.
Would this skill apply to the train's facilities too?
"All right. Next, the turrets..."
Since they had been the biggest contributors last night, grinding up every monster and gathering magic stones, I decided to upgrade the turrets next.
Of course, I was a little worried about how much more vicious the already menacing train might look with upgraded turrets attached.
At this rate, the survivors might start being afraid of my train.
'Well... it's already too late.'
I tried to press the turret upgrade button, but it was gray and locked, so it wouldn't activate.
[A large amount of fuel and 500 Satisfaction are required to upgrade the external turrets.]
"Satisfaction? Ah..."
I smacked my forehead.
I had been told that Satisfaction was required to modify and unlock some of the train's facilities.
This seemed to be another upgrade that unlocked the same way.
I had earned some Satisfaction by bringing the siblings and their mother to Yeouido, but I was still a little short of what I needed to upgrade the turrets.
"Hmm... Should I take on some passengers for the first time in a while?"
I took out my smartphone and opened the Survivor Gallery.
I planned to look for rescue requests from survivors who wanted to move to a safe zone.
Since there were still plenty of such posts, I rapidly scrolled through the Gallery until my gaze landed on a post that looked particularly out of place among the countless trade listings.
Unlike the other posts, it was a Constellation's post written in thick, clear letters.
---
[Title: Rescue My Incredible Bartenders Immediately!]
Author: Hammer Warrior
This restaurant is the only place on the marketplace that makes the incredible liquor that satisfies my palate! Hurry there at once, rescue the bartenders safely from the monsters, and escort them to a safe zone!
Reward: 1 Skill Enhancement Ticket, 10 Mid-Grade Magic Stones
---
"A Constellation is personally asking us to rescue them..."
I let out a disbelieving laugh.
I knew there were occasionally some odd Constellations, but this was the first time I'd seen one put up such a huge reward to have survivors rescued directly.
In a way, it didn't seem to be for the survivors. Just... for the liquor.
Whoever those people were, they must have firmly won the Constellation's favor with a single type of liquor.
"The reward is pretty good."
My eyes remained fixed on the reward list at the bottom rather than the quest details.
Ten mid-grade magic stones were an incredible fortune in their own right, but the main reward was a Skill Enhancement Ticket.
The item that had raised Jiu's passive skill, Luck, by two full levels in one go.
Thanks to it, I'd pulled a great skill.
I'd already been thinking it would be nice if I could raise the train's level soon.
Of course, this post would look exactly the same to every Awakener browsing the Gallery, so I might run into Awakeners again, just like last time.
But...
"Honestly, I'm kind of curious..."
I muttered softly.
I wasn't particularly fond of alcohol, but I was curious what liquor enjoyed even by a Constellation tasted like.
I wanted the Skill Enhancement Ticket too, and my abilities were perfectly suited to a protection quest like this—
"It's worth competing for."
Without hesitation, I entered the name of the station nearest the restaurant into the cockpit's main panel.
Unfortunately, this location was a little ways from the tracks.
After moving to a nearby station, I would have to walk quite a while, so I needed to hurry.
Wuuung—!
The train, which had been resting for a while, began moving again.
Toward Sangdong Station.