Chapter 39
The 1 next to the message disappeared.
But no reply came right away.
After about a minute, the vibration finally came.
[It really was there.]
[Like you said, I turned everything I received over, and there was a tiny device glowing red stuck to the very bottom of the box.]
[I just put it in the toilet and flushed it...]
So it really was there.
What I'd overheard had been true.
Curious, I asked what exactly they had bought.
[It was just a box stuffed with groceries and rolls of toilet paper.]
[My groceries had started running low a few days ago, and a box was listed at a generous price under the nickname Yeouido, so I just bought it...]
[I never imagined something like this would happen...]
"Hmm..."
In a way, I was impressed.
I’d been wondering how they’d track down the hidden Signal.
[How on earth did you know that...?]
[Is someone tracking me?]
Signal's chat speed picked up.
Just from the text, I could tell they were panicking.
If I were in their shoes, I'd probably feel the same way.
In a world like this, with things already in this state, people were even trying to track them down with trackers.
"Hmm... maybe your location is already—"
The tracker that had been washed away by the water might, by some stroke of luck, drift off somewhere in the sewer and cause some confusion, but it was highly likely that the location had already been exposed.
Still, at least for now, I could relax.
According to them, Signal's location was a high-risk area that required cooperation from Awakened.
I lightly tapped the control panel with my fingers and made my decision.
"Right now... where are you?"
After thinking it over, I typed out a message and sent it.
This was the only way.
To protect Signal.
Because I had a train that could plow through any dangerous place and safely protect you.
The problem was—
'Would they trust me?'
Signal's reply came back without even a second's hesitation.
[An apartment near Ansan Jungang Station.]
I cautiously asked whether it was really okay to tell me that directly.
[It's because of the equipment you gave me before that I've managed to stay alive until now.]
At that answer, I raised the corners of my mouth slightly.
And then I immediately said I was coming to rescue them.
Signal objected.
The reason was that the area near where they were had become extremely dangerous recently.
According to Signal, massive bird-type monsters, each about twice the size of an adult man's torso, had nested in large numbers throughout the area around them.
Because they were so fast, and because the moment someone stepped even one foot outside a building, dozens would rush in together and attack people.
That left Signal and all the nearby survivors completely trapped inside the apartments and commercial buildings.
'Bird monsters, huh...'
Huge, fast birds would definitely be troublesome.
Most of the Awakened I'd seen in the gallery or in person, myself included, used melee weapons.
In the first place, items tended to come up as melee weapons, ranged weapons required a high level of skill, and arrows or bullets needed extra consumables as well.
As a result, it was difficult to deal with bird-type monsters that moved quickly through the air.
On top of that, modern buildings—high-rises and apartment complexes packed tightly together—were perfect terrain for those things to hide and ambush from.
"I've got a train and drones."
After reassuring Signal with a message to wait and not worry, I immediately took out the skill enhancement scroll I’d received as a quest reward.
There was no need to think about where to use this precious item.
There were plenty of excellent skills like Leap, Counterattack, and Craftsman’s Touch, but I decided to strengthen my main skill.
The scroll shattered into particles of light and seeped into me.
Soon, a translucent holographic selection window appeared in front of me.
[Please choose the train’s enhancement direction.]
[Transport Type]
[Combat Type]
[Crafting Type]
"Oh?"
Three types had appeared, almost as if telling me to choose one.
There were no detailed explanations for each, but the names alone were enough to roughly infer how the train would be enhanced.
'Transport Type would probably strengthen the passenger cars or cargo cars... Combat Type would... maybe add other weapons to the train’s exterior.'
Honestly, I couldn't really imagine the Crafting Type.
"Combat Type is tempting too... but for now I've got enough... and transport... I don't have any urgent need to ferry a lot of people right now."
I became interested in the Crafting Type.
I had Craftsman’s Touch.
When I made a spear and upgraded the drones, I realized that if I used it well, the upper limit of this ability could rise even higher.
After thinking it over, I touched the message window floating in the air.
[Crafting Type selected.]
[The internal facilities will be extensively remodeled and expanded.]
Blue light gently enveloped the entire train and swirled around it.
There were no major changes to the outer turrets or armor, but the change took place inside Car 2.
I walked toward Car 2, where the light was especially bright.
"...Oh?"
That was the exclamation that slipped out the moment I opened the door.
The armory and drone hangar had transformed into something sleek and tidy, like a lab from a sci-fi movie.
If it had felt a little like a factory before, now it looked as if it belonged in the future.
And on one side, two large machine devices that hadn't been there before had taken their places.
As I slowly approached, a message window appeared.
[Disassembler]
Insert items or odds and ends, and it breaks them down to extract materials.
[Material Storage Warehouse]
A special warehouse with expanded internal space. Materials and mana stones produced by the disassembler are automatically sorted and stored by type. During crafting, the materials here are linked to the workbench.
"Now I won't have to leave the mana stones the drones collected lying on the floor anymore."
It was a pretty good haul.
And it seemed like a lot of blueprints had also been added to the changed armory and drone hangar.
I returned to the control cab of Car 1 with a satisfied smile.
I entered the coordinates for Ansan Jungang Station on the control panel.
"Let's go."
The train started moving again.
I decided to check the blueprints in the meantime.
***
After passing Incheon and entering the area near Ansan Jungang Station, the scenery around us changed dramatically.
I hadn't been able to look outside while I was busy examining the changed armory and drone hangar, but when I finally thought we were almost there and looked out, an unfamiliar scene met my eyes.
"That is—"
I looked up at the sky.
I could tell the sky was unusually dark.
That black sky wasn't due to clouds.
"Caw!"
A huge flock of birds, with glossy feathers and bodies as large as adult men's, filled the sky.
Dozens, no, hundreds of birds were circling between the high-rise apartments and commercial buildings, watching over the area.
Naturally, the train was within their range.
The gaze of the monster birds circling overhead all turned toward us at once.
"Kyaaaak-!"
With a shriek that sent chills down my spine, several birds thrust their pointed beaks forward and began charging fiercely toward the train.
I looked at them calmly and said,
"Outer turrets."
Whirr—clack!
Rat-tat-tat!
The moment I spoke, the turrets mounted on the train spat fire.
"Kiek!"
The diving monsters never even touched the train before scattering feathers and crashing to the ground.
Even if they had, the train wouldn't have gotten a single scratch.
"...Still a lot of them."
The ones that charged weren't all of them.
In fact, most of them weren't charging at all, and were watching the strange train from their nests or from the tops of tall buildings.
Maybe because they'd sensed the difference in power from what they'd just seen, or maybe because the train was so huge, they didn't come any closer.
The train that had arrived at the station slowly came to a stop, and I checked the location Signal had told me.
An apartment ten minutes from the station.
I had already sent Signal a message saying I was almost there.
I gripped my spear and opened the door of Car 1.
When I opened it, the ones resting quietly inside the nest stretched their necks and started looking at me.
The atmosphere turned tense.
"Drones, I'm counting on you."
The drones obeyed and guarded my surroundings, and I decided to focus on movement rather than combat.
Dealing with flying enemies would be far better left to the drones than to me.
In that brief instant while I was ordering the drones, three birds that had caught my scent rushed in and blocked my way, raising their sharp claws.
"Hup—!"
I twisted my body lightly and slipped between them with Leap.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Pshak!
As soon as the combat drone fired exactly three shots at them, the feather-covered monsters' bodies exploded, leaving only feathers behind.
I kept running.
Was it because I didn't have the train's overwhelming size and appearance?
Even though the drones were already showing more than enough firepower, they still kept charging.
Still, thanks to Leap, I was able to reach the apartment entrance quickly.
The apartment entrance was already broken, for some reason.
Tap, tap.
"...I hate stairs."
I tried pressing the button repeatedly, but the elevator wasn't working.
I slowly climbed the dark stairwell and arrived at the apartment on the upper floor that Signal had told me about.
"Phew."
After catching my breath, I took the handle and knocked on the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Uh... Choo-choo..."
I had knocked, but it was awkward to actually say it, so my words trailed off at the end.
I felt like I should at least say my nickname, but now I was embarrassed that my nickname was Choo-choo.
I should've picked a name like Signal too.
Something like Train or Drone Master—
Clack, clatter.
From inside, I heard several locks being undone, and the firmly shut iron door creaked open cautiously.
"...You've come."
A calm, clearly feminine voice flowed from the crack in the door.
And the moment the door opened fully.
I could only loosen my grip on the spear, widen my eyes, and freeze there dumbly.
"Huh...?"
What greeted me was a woman with long, pure-white hair hanging down to her waist.
Her skin was so pale it almost looked white, and whether her face was small or her glasses were huge, half her face was hidden behind the glasses and her bangs.
She couldn't quite meet my eyes, looking nervous, but every now and then she gathered the courage to try to look at my face.
She was different from what I had imagined.
Since she'd used a fairly stiff tone in chat, I'd thought she might be more of a confident type, or maybe even a man.
"Um... are you by any chance Signal...?"
When I asked back in disbelief, the white-haired woman gave a faint smile and nodded.
"Yes. I... then maybe you're Choo-choo..."
"Ah... yes."
We confirmed each other's nicknames and smiled awkwardly.