Chapter 42
The next morning.
After leaving Ansan and waking up, I sat in front of the control panel in Car No. 1's cockpit, deep in thought.
I'd put out all the immediate fires.
I'd shaken off the people from Yeouido pursuing us, and I'd safely brought Gallery Star along too.
Now that I'd transported enough survivors to meet the satisfaction requirement and unlock the external turret upgrade, it was time to proceed with the upgrade.
My expression as I stared at the panel was clouded with worry.
"Hmm..."
Perhaps because of Crafting Evolution, the newly unlocked modification options weren't the sort that simply raised the specs like before.
Most of them took the form of high-risk, high-return choices.
---
[Manual Turret]
- Removes the existing automatic turrets and converts them into one manual turret. The shell's destructive power and range increase by 300% compared to before, but the automatic function is lost, and the conductor can manually operate and fire it from the cockpit.
- Drop items from monsters killed by the manual turret are automatically stored in the designated train car. (Current designated car: Car No. 2 storeroom)
---
"A threefold increase in destructive power is great, but I'd be giving up automatic hunting..."
It was worth considering, but it was certainly worth choosing.
Automatic hunting ran well enough with just the drones and spikes, and I personally felt the turrets' range was a little disappointing.
I looked over the other skills as well.
---
[Lightweight Modification]
The train's maximum speed increases substantially, but the durability of its external armor decreases by 20%.
[Expanded Passenger Compartment]
The interior space of Car No. 3's passenger compartment increases, doubling the number of people it can transport, but the train's movement speed decreases by 15%.
---
There were many more modifications now that followed the pattern of gaining something while losing something else.
Even so, they still seemed worth choosing.
"I'll put it on hold for now."
Just as I scratched my head and was about to close the window,
I heard a rustling sound from beyond the curtains in Car No. 1, and Ha-seon cautiously walked out.
"Ah... good morning. I woke up really late, didn't I?"
Her white hair slightly disheveled, she greeted me with a bashful blush on her face.
She seemed to have gone to bed late after spending the night banning troublesome users and managing the marketplace.
"No, it's fine. Did you sleep well, Ha-seon?"
"Yes. I think it's been a really long time since I've slept this deeply and peacefully."
We exchanged morning greetings that were still cautious, slightly awkward, and overly formal.
After making do with a light breakfast, I turned the cockpit seat around and faced Ha-seon, who was sitting on the sofa.
She was holding a cup of the hot chocolate I'd set aside instead of selling.
After all, warm drinks and sugar helped put people at ease.
It was my own preparation for having a good conversation with her.
"Come to think of it, from now on it'll just be the two of us traveling together, so I think it'd be good to decide what we're going to do from here on out."
At my words, Ha-seon nodded while fidgeting with her cup.
"I... honestly don't have any major personal goals or ambitions. I'd like to keep the gallery running with my skill as I do now, and have lots of people share information and trade there, with the occasional pointless chat. So, if I had to name something I wanted to do from here on out... I'd like to help with your work while maintaining the gallery."
"Me?"
"Yes. Unlike me, you're directly helping people, after all."
She said that while managing the gallery, she'd read about all my exploits.
From moving survivors to safe zones to trading things such as water at low prices through the marketplace.
Her eyes turned toward me, filled with what looked like respect.
Embarrassed, I deliberately looked away and told her about the immediate goal I'd set for myself.
"For a while, I plan to keep upgrading this train... and move people to safe zones. And collect credits..."
"Credits?"
"Huh? Yes."
After hearing my answer, a strange light began to gleam in Ha-seon's eyes.
As if she'd made up her mind about something, she leaned slightly toward me and spoke.
"So-won. If your goal is to collect credits, I actually have a very good idea for you."
"A good idea?"
Ha-seon gave a faint smile and brought up once more the heavy, troublesome position she'd proposed to me through smartphone messages in the past.
"Would you become my vice manager?"
"If you mean vice manager... the blue one...?"
"Yes."
At my flustered reaction, Ha-seon replied calmly with a faint smile.
"I think the benefits you'd receive from becoming a vice manager would help you, So-won."
She began counting off those benefits one by one on her pale fingers.
"First of all, you'd gain the authority to permanently ban malicious accounts in the gallery in real time, just like I do."
That wasn't a tempting benefit at all.
Permanently banning someone meant having to read their circumstances or posts, after all.
I might even end up seeing with my own eyes the landmine-like posts I'd luckily avoided until now.
"A portion of the credits I earn through the marketplace and gallery would be automatically paid to you every day, So-won."
"Credits?"
"Yes. I'd like to give you all of them, but upgrading the gallery's functions costs quite a lot of credits..."
This benefit was tempting.
The more credits, the better.
"And thirdly, if you become a vice manager, we'll be able to accurately check each other's location at any time. Whether I'm on the train or you're in danger somewhere outside..."
Having gotten that far, Ha-seon added the most important final reason.
"Most importantly... for my Gallery skill to level up to the next stage, there's a condition that at least two managers, including me, must exist. There isn't anyone else in the world I'd trust with this authority besides you, So-won."
"Ah..."
I let out a short sigh and nodded.
Authority, credits, location sharing, and even the condition for the skill's evolution.
There was no way I could refuse.
On the other hand, with conditions like that, I'd have felt uneasy entrusting the position of vice manager to anyone else too.
"I suppose it can't be helped."
I put on a solemn expression and acted as though I were shouldering a heavy burden.
"This is all... for the development and peace of the gallery."
"So-won! Thank you so much!"
In truth, I thought it was fairly manageable, but Ha-seon was moved by what I'd said.
This ought to work out, right?
When she tapped a few keys on her laptop, something appeared next to my gallery nickname.
A blue vice-manager badge.
At the same time, the users who practically lived on the gallery immediately noticed the change.
The gallery caught fire over the news for a while.
---
[Title : Holy crap, Choo-Choo got a blue mod badge lololol]
[Comments]
ㅇㅇ : By day, I rescue people; by night, I'm a blue mod who slaughters trolls on the gallery?!
ㅇㅇ : Mm-hmm, right, so you've become an unpaid slave. Want to see the spicy side?
ㄴ Sweet : Isn't that person a woman?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : Bro.
Magical Girl : Fighting^^!
Survival King : I knew they were going to become a blue mod.
---
"Haa... the trolling's already started..."
I gave a bitter smile as I looked at the vivid blue badge icon attached next to my gallery ID, Choo-Choo.
Contrary to what everyone expected, thankfully it wasn't unpaid slave labor.
Settling deep into the sofa, I read through the posts flooding in by the second.
It wasn't exactly pleasant to see dozens of posts appear whenever I searched for my nickname.
"...What's this—"
My gaze locked onto one post among the countless chatter threads that gave off an unusually heavy and urgent atmosphere.
The title itself was calling me out by name.
---
[Title : Choo-Choo, please save us. The city has been swallowed by fog.]
The entirety of Paju Jungang-ro, where we're staying now, was suddenly completely enveloped in thick fog.
It's so white that we can't see even an inch ahead of us.
It's so dense we're not even sure whether to call it fog or a smoke screen.
But from inside that fog, we keep hearing screams as if someone is hurt and suffering.
Three Awakeners who couldn't stand it any longer and set out to save people entered the fog, but no one has returned even after a full day has passed.
Since you have a train and seem to be the only person who can follow the tracks through the fog, we're asking you as the representative of Paju Jungang-ro Safe Zone.
We'll give you anything you want, so please help us.
[Comments]
ㅇㅇ : Uh-oh, does our Thomas, now that he's a blue mod, really have the time to save people?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : Seriously, have you ever seen a blue mod save people? Blue mods are the ones who kill.
ㄴ Ginger Tea : No, this person is in trouble, so why are the comments reacting like this?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : How do we know they're really in trouble?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : What if it's a trap? We can't lose our blue mod...
Survivor : Could the fog be some kind of hallucinogen? People are hearing voices and seeing strange things...
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : Oh?
---
"Hmm..."
After reading the post, I thought for a moment.
Fog.
I had already purified a city filled with poisonous fog once before.
I suspected that some kind of monster might be spreading the fog this time too.
And if it was that sort of monster, I was confident I could handle it.
"Are you really sure you'll be all right? It's a place with a weather phenomenon so severe you can't see even an inch ahead, and even the Awakeners have gone missing..."
Her red eyes were filled with worry.
"Don't worry. Since it's a train, the fog won't affect its operation very much. And—"
If a monster was generating the fog, all I had to do was lure it in with the luring device and wipe it out.
My only concern was that the fog might be so thick that the drones wouldn't be able to operate properly.
'I can't rely on the drones alone.'
I decided to upgrade the turret.
I didn't need it to be automatic.
If the monster was drawn in by the lure, all I had to do was intercept it with the turret right in front of the train.
And while I was at it, there was something else I wanted to test.
Rumble-!
When I spent fuel to modify the turret, the entire train shuddered heavily.
"...The turret."
The machine-gun-shaped turrets that had been mounted on the train's roof all retracted inside at once, and the center of Car No. 1's roof split open with a loud crack.
From that gap, a single elongated steel barrel rose into view with an imposing air.
It had a vicious appearance, as though someone had placed the main gun of a battleship from a science-fiction movie directly on top of the train.
At the same time, a new tab appeared on the cockpit panel in front of me.
A tab for controlling the turret.
"S-So-won! The train is shaking so much...!"
Ha-seon, who had been sitting on the sofa, cried out in alarm.
...
Instead of properly answering Ha-seon, I simply waited, focusing in silence.
For another change that might occur.
And then—
Flash!
I smiled when a red light briefly enveloped the train.
It worked.
Master's Touch had been applied to the turret upgrade.
I lightly toyed with the new lever and curled up the corners of my mouth.
At the moment the red light enveloped the train, the turret-control screen changed.
The exact functions I'd wanted: zoom and infrared.