Artisan's Touch (3)

While the train raced toward its destination, I leaned back on the plush sofa and browsed the comment section of the quest I had accepted on my smartphone.

"As expected... there's a lot of interest..."

A quest directly issued by a Constellation.

The reward was good, and even the title was provocative, so it was only natural the views would explode.

Below the post, dozens of comments were already updating in real time, turning it into complete chaos.

---

[댓글]

Incheon21Male : Already completed it^^

ㄴ Hammer Warrior : Cut the crap.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ : What, a Constellation can leave comments too?

ㅇㅇ : Honestly, I think quests should be handled and cleared by region. People from other regions coming all the way here to clear a quest is seriously annoying, right?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ : Bullshit.

ㄴ NoTangerineFarming : Forget the nonsense and please come help Jeju, for fuck's sake...

ㅇㅇ : But something feels off. Isn't the reward a little too generous?

Dopamine : Whoever rescues them, if the rescue succeeds, write a review of the liquor the Constellation goes crazy over.

---

"Everyone's having way too much fun..."

There were guys trying to outmaneuver each other to claim the reward, guys warning that this might be a truly dangerous trade post, and even a guy who was only curious about what the booze tasted like.

Everyone was showing interest in this trade post in their own way.

It was around the time I had almost finished reading all the comments.

Kuuuuung-!

"Huh?"

With a tremendous crashing noise, the entire train shook violently.

Emergency brakes slammed on, and inertia pitched my upper body sharply forward.

I had been lying back on the sofa almost as if I were asleep, so I naturally rolled off it and collapsed with a thud.

"Ugh... what? What's going on—"

I hurriedly got to my feet and rushed up close to the front window of Car 1.

And the moment I checked the scenery outside, I drew in a sharp breath.

"What... on earth is this?"

I remembered the comment in the Gallery that had warned something felt off.

Yeah, I figured there would come a day when I'd run into something like this.

"The tracks—"

The tracks and the asphalt road stretching beside them had been overturned and gouged out.

It looked as if several bombs had gone off.

What on earth had happened around here?

In other areas, the worst I'd seen was abandoned cars on the road and the occasional fallen tree or streetlamp.

Here, it looked like an actual war had broken out.

"We were almost there..."

With the tracks damaged, there was no way for the train to move forward any longer.

I could try repairing the tracks one by one with the Repair skill, but—

That would take even longer than walking.

"Tsk..."

I clicked my tongue and frowned.

There was still some distance to the brewery restaurant, my destination, but it wasn't so far that I couldn't make it.

But I hesitated to get off the train and walk straight there.

"What on earth is there?"

This wasn't a trace monsters could have made.

At the very least, maybe it was left by a boss monster or by people?

I called the reconnaissance drone waiting behind me.

"Check the surroundings for monsters or people, and if you can, go all the way to the restaurant mentioned in this trade post too."

Buzzzzz-!

At my command, the reconnaissance drone gave a slight nod with its lens, then slipped out of the train without a sound and shot up into the sky.

I thought I might end up using the spear I had just made right away.

"Sigh, let's see the situation first."

I brought up the live video and audio the reconnaissance drone was sending from above on the cockpit monitor and calmly started assessing the situation.

The first thing that caught my eye on the screen was the monsters darting across the wasteland.

I found monsters faster than expected.

"Zombies...? No, why are they that fast?"

They were definitely zombies with rotten, decayed skin, but they weren't the slow-walking ones I'd seen before.

They were a pack of zombies, eyes gleaming, sprinting madly at track-and-field athlete speed.

"Huh?"

And then I saw a group of humans being chased by those monstrous runners.

"Fuck! We're all dead!!"

"How the hell are those muscle-torn bastards so fast!"

Their shrill, tearing screams echoed through the video feed.

When one man thrust both hands toward the zombie horde, a giant fireball the size of a human head shot out.

KWA-AANG-!

When the fireball hit the ground, a pillar of crimson flame shot up, blowing apart not only the pursuing zombies but even the exterior wall of the commercial building behind them.

"...Hmm, is that it...?"

Honestly, I had been puzzled when I first saw the zombies.

Running at full speed, they were certainly threatening, but they didn't look destructive enough to wreck tracks and overturn roads.

But seeing that fireball, I had a rough idea who the culprit was.

"...What, now this too?"

When I panned the screen a little farther over, another group of survivors came into view.

As the muscular man in front swung a car door as large as his own body with brute force, the zombies were split clean in half with a crunch, and deep, vivid scars were gouged into the asphalt with a loud crack.

Watching that fight, I let out a hollow laugh in realization.

"The culprits behind those wrecked tracks and ruined terrain..."

The Awakeners who had gathered for the reward had completely turned the terrain into a wreck while fighting the zombies.

The Awakeners I'd just seen were definitely different from the ones I'd encountered so far.

The Awakeners with combat skills I'd been looking for in some of those trade posts must be people like them.

"There are a lot of competitors."

I clicked my tongue and turned off the monitor.

If I just watched any longer, the reward would end up in another party's hands.

Just then, the reconnaissance drone found the restaurant.

It was closer than I expected.

So that must be why those two survivor groups were nearby.

"Recon drone, that's enough scouting the area. From now on, lead the way to the restaurant."

At my call, the reconnaissance drone hovering overhead dropped altitude in an instant and flew to the train door.

I gripped the newly made spear tightly and stepped out of the train.

On my left and right, the enlarged combat drone and sniper drone formed a reliable escort formation.

"Phew... I'm counting on you."

I muttered, looking back and forth between the spear in my hand and the drones floating in the air.

I got off the train and followed behind the reconnaissance drone.

Thud!

Boom!

"Ugh..."

Once I stepped outside, the noises that had been muted all hit my ears at once.

Thanks to another party unleashing skills to draw the monsters in, I was able to head toward the restaurant relatively easily.

While avoiding the places where zombies were, the reconnaissance drone guided us along the shortest route that could still get us to the restaurant.

Thanks to that, we crossed empty alleys and reached the front of the restaurant in the blink of an eye.

Unfortunately, we couldn't avoid all the zombies.

"Whoa, there are quite a few gathered here."

In front of the restaurant's main entrance, more than ten zombies were pounding on the shutter.

I clenched my grip, thinking I could finally test the performance of the spear I had just made.

But before I could adjust my grip and leap forward—

Wiiiing!

Tat-tat-tat-tat-!

The combat drone shot up fiercely behind me and mercilessly unleashed rifle fire.

The upgraded combat drone's firepower was beyond my imagination.

The zombies' heads burst like watermelons, one after another, instantly turning them into gray smoke.

"Oh..."

I awkwardly fidgeted with the hand holding the spear.

Being tense felt a little awkward now.

"...Ah, but one's still left."

I belatedly thrust the spear straight into the last zombie running toward me.

Swoosh!

"...Huh?"

There was absolutely no resistance at all.

The spear pierced through the thick zombie skull so smoothly and easily it was as if it were silken tofu.

It had said the piercing power was good, but this was beyond my imagination.

"...It has to be this good to make clearing a mid-level dungeon worthwhile."

I smiled, withdrew the spear, and carefully knocked on the restaurant's shutter.

"Excuse me. I came because I saw it on the Gallery. Please open the door."

"...What did he say?"

"Isn't that just zombie sounds?"

"No! I said I came because I saw it on the Gallery..."

"Really?! Open it quickly!"

Muffled voices exchanged from inside.

After a moment, I heard clattering sounds as things were cleared away, then the shutter went up and the tightly shut restaurant door cracked open.

When she peered through the gap and saw the drones holding guns, the haggard middle-aged woman sank down as if her legs had given out in relief and opened the door wide.

"Oh dear... the Constellation sent you to come help us. Thank you so much... thank you, young man."

With tears in her eyes, she hurried me inside the restaurant.

The inside was busy and cluttered like a house about to move.

This restaurant had originally been run by an ordinary family, and after the world ended, they somehow managed to survive by making food and alcohol from the leftover ingredients in the shop and posting them on the Gallery exchange.

Then, by chance, they caught the eye of a Constellation called Hammer Warrior, who even posted a trade request to save them personally.

There was a heated argument going on in the back kitchen.

"Dad! How are you supposed to carry all these heavy bottles? Your life comes first. I told you to throw these away right now and take only the light stuff!"

"Yeah, just pack whatever and get out. Look, they came just in time..."

The son and daughter, who looked about college age, shouted with backpacks on, but their father, wearing an apron, stubbornly held onto the box of precious glass bottles.

"Absolutely not! This booze is our family's lifeline. How can I leave it behind? Thanks to these, we've earned points on the exchange and survived!"

"We can make more!"

"Do you even know how long it takes to make this again?"

Is that the booze that made the Constellation offer a skill enhancement ticket as the reward?

How amazing does a drink have to be for a Constellation to go crazy over it?

As I looked at the bottles clutched in the arms of the bickering father and children with curious eyes, the mother who had guided me here clicked her tongue and shook her head beside me.

"...Don't get your hopes up. It's not some amazing liquor or anything."

"Huh? ...But the Constellation was looking for it desperately."

At my question, the mother pulled a face as if she were disgusted.

"It's a hard liquor with absurdly high alcohol content, and if you drink even a sip, the next day you'll get a hangover so terrible it'll feel like your head was split by an axe. My husband used to make it years ago, in a totally reckless attempt to revive a discontinued liquor..."

"...What?"

As if there was some story behind it, the mother muttered with her lips jutting out in a pout.

I stared blankly at the brown glass bottles the old man was clutching so dearly.