Chapter 46
As soon as the fog covering the area was completely cleared away, messages came pouring in like a waterfall, as if they’d been waiting for it.
[Many constellations applaud your swift and merciless purification!]
[The general who could take on a thousand men by himself feels nostalgic for your sloppy spear technique and sponsors 500 Credits.]
[The Guardian of the Forest expresses gratitude and sponsors 500 Credits for you.]
[Hammer Warrior sponsors 5 intermediate mana stones for you.]
"...Now they're even giving Credits outright."
Receiving Credits as sponsorship was extremely appreciated.
In effect, it was no different from money after the apocalypse started.
But before, it seemed like they mostly sponsored us with mana stones or loot, like Hammer Warrior did.
Maybe the constellations are using the exchange to check what people want before giving out Credits.
"...You can never have too many Credits."
I collected the Credits that fell from the sky.
I returned to the school safe zone with the Awakened I had rescued.
The survivors who saw the Awakened return safely welcomed us warmly.
"Wow! Looks like both of you made it back safely?"
"...But why are your faces like that? They're all puffed up..."
"Did you get stung by bees?"
"Come to think of it, I heard hornets buzzing—"
"That's the drones."
They slowly began chatting, savoring the reunion.
After chatting excitedly for a while, it seemed the survivors were starting to disagree a little.
"What do we do now? Should we abandon this place and move to another safe zone..."
"The fog is gone, so why would we need to?"
"But we can't really deal with monsters by ourselves..."
"Wasn't this fog weird? Other areas didn't have anything this dangerous..."
Eventually, their eyes turned to me.
It seemed they wanted to ask my opinion, since I’d probably seen the situation in various regions while moving around between them.
I firmly shook my head and opposed the idea of them staying put here.
"...Honestly, I think it’d be better to move to another safe zone."
At my words, everyone turned to listen.
First, I explained why the school wasn’t suitable as a safe zone.
"There are countless windows, the front gate, the back gate, and even side gates. If monsters swarm in, there are far too many entrances to defend, and far too few Awakened who can actually fight."
I pointed out the drawbacks I’d noticed after looking around this place.
Of course, there were advantages too.
There were so many desks and chairs that the barricades were sturdier and denser than I’d expected, and with all the windows and the open surroundings, visibility would have been decent if not for the fog.
But as I’d said before, there simply weren’t enough people who could fight.
...It was a trivial reason, but having them board my train would also raise satisfaction.
"Now that you mention it, that makes sense. The school really is too large."
"You must have seen a lot of safe zones already... Everyone, let’s pack our things first."
"Make sure you don’t leave anything behind."
At my words, the survivors decided without hesitation to pack up and head to my train.
As they moved, they reminisced while looking at the Central Road revealed by the receding fog.
"Ah, that’s the bar over there."
"The place that sold slushy beer..."
"That’s where those guys kept asking for my number..."
"Really?"
"...Isn’t that right?"
Listening in on their conversation as we walked, we soon arrived at the train.
Everyone jumped when they saw it.
Right, I’d predicted this reaction too.
"The inside is more ordinary than you’d think."
I had the hesitant people board the passenger car of Car 3 one by one.
As always, once they saw the interior, their wariness eased.
"Whoa... amazing."
"The water back here—"
"Ah, feel free to drink it."
Wearing a satisfied smile as I watched them brighten up, I opened the door to the cab in Car 1 and stepped inside.
The atmosphere inside the cab was heavy, unlike the passenger car.
"Huuuu..."
On the sofa in Car 1, Ha-seon sat with her hands clasped tightly, repeatedly taking deep breaths.
Her gaze was glued to the CCTV screen on the control panel, showing the interior of Car 3.
On the screen, dozens of Paju survivors were gathered, murmuring among themselves.
The big Awakened men wandering around the passenger car were also being transmitted clearly through the lens.
"H-Ha-seon? You look pale. Are you sick somewhere?"
As I approached, Ha-seon shrank her shoulders and shook her head.
"N-no. It’s just, seeing so many people all at once... and there are so many big men over there too..."
Social phobia and androphobia.
Even though she wasn’t facing them in person, just watching so many people—especially unfamiliar men—through the CCTV monitor seemed to be triggering her phobia.
"Hmm, anyway, everyone will get off in a few hours."
Once I sat down beside her and covered the CCTV screen showing Car 3, Ha-seon finally seemed to relax a little and took a deep breath.
"I’m really sorry. Even just seeing them through a screen makes it hard to breathe."
"Can’t be helped. Try taking deep breaths until you calm down."
After a little time passed, Ha-seon’s trembling shoulders finally settled.
Rather than that, she decided to focus on gallery management, opened the gallery, and tried to shift all her attention there.
'Now's my chance.'
Taking advantage of the opening, I naturally slipped out of Car 1 and headed to the passenger car in Car 3.
I was planning to ask the people who had been exhausted by the sudden evacuation whether anything was uncomfortable for them.
Well, the more satisfied the passengers were, the higher the satisfaction goes.
I went to listen to what they were saying while I was at it.
Screech—
"Everyone, is there anywhere uncomfortable?"
As soon as I opened the compartment door and appeared, the Paju survivors gathered in the passenger car all sprang to their feet at once.
"Ah! The conductor is here!"
"Wait, please take this!"
I thought it was just a simple greeting, but the man leading the group stepped forward and carefully pressed something heavy into both my hands.
"This is...?"
"It’s the Credits we’ve collected so far. It’s only 600 Credits... but there are some pretty good items mixed in too."
The man shouted proudly.
It was the Credits the survivors had pooled together in their own way.
"This is our way of repaying you for saving our lives and taking us all the way to a safe zone like this. Please, you have to accept it."
"Wow..."
I took the pouch and nodded, a little moved.
"I’ll gladly accept them. But where exactly is the safe zone you’re all planning to go to..."
At my question, the people glanced at one another and then spoke carefully.
In fact, there were many safe zones, but I had left it to them to decide which one they wanted to head to.
"Could you take us to the Yeouido safe zone?"
"Yeouido?"
"Yes. According to the information circulating in the gallery, Yeouido is so huge that stores and infrastructure from before the apocalypse are slowly starting to reappear one by one."
A female survivor sitting in the corner shyly added,
"Actually, among us, there are more people with lifestyle-related skills or beauty-related skills than Awakened with combat skills."
"We thought maybe there would be something we could do there..."
Only then did I understand.
In places like this, beauty skills or skills needed for daily life didn’t have much to do.
That was probably why they wanted to go to a safe zone like Yeouido, one that was gradually regaining its former appearance.
The closer people's lives were to pre-apocalypse life, the more those skills were valued and the more chances they had to earn Credits.
'Yeouido, huh... It’s about time I headed there too.'
I, too, needed to go to Yeouido soon.
Because I had accumulated Credits.
"Sounds good. Let’s go to Yeouido. However, we’ll make one stop in between. I need to swing by a vending machine for a moment..."
"Of course! Please do whatever’s most convenient for you!"
The survivors joked around and applauded.
As a kind of thank-you for the Credits they’d given me, I handed them some cold drinks, then headed to the workshop in Car 2.
Before entering Yeouido, it was time to shore up the foundation I’d been putting off.
Clank—
Inside Car 2 of the train.
I took the bowling-ball-sized sphere that the constellation Hammer Warrior had tossed me as compensation for protecting its liquor out of the storeroom and placed it on top of the armory.
It was time to see what the appraisal function, one of the armory’s features, could do.
"Let’s see."
[Core of a Golem]
- The core that powered a massive earth golem. It contains tremendous mana, but it is heavy.
- If a golem is made using this core, its performance will be enhanced.
"A golem, huh."
I stroked my chin and laid my hand on the thing called the golem core.
Hmm, contrary to the description saying it contained tremendous mana, I couldn’t feel anything from it at all.
The first use that came to mind for this core was a drone.
Of course, the description said it would be good to make a golem, but I couldn’t make a golem myself.
Since I’d just thought of making a bombing drone, I planned to use this golem core, which looked like an obviously precious material.
When I dealt with the lizardman dungeon last time, bombs had played an enormous role, so I naturally felt the need for a bombing drone.
"Let’s gather the materials first."
I stepped up to the newly added facility in Car 2, the dismantler.
I hauled out a pile of random equipment and monster byproducts that had been shoved into the corner of Car 2 and never used, and dumped them into the dismantler’s huge intake chute.
Whirrr—grind, grind, grind, grind!
With a loud mechanical roar, the dismantler began spinning at full force.
Most of the equipment and junk was broken down into metal and basic materials, and the quantities stacked up neatly in the adjacent storeroom, displayed as numbers on the screen in front of the storeroom.
"No need to go around picking up iron by hand anymore."
After confirming the steadily piling materials, I grinned and got down to serious crafting.
The iron obtained from dismantling, along with the intermediate and low-grade mana stones I’d gotten from sponsorships and hunting.
And on top of that, I placed the golem core.
The target: a bombing drone.
Naturally, the mana from my skill Artisan’s Touch was applied as well.
[Attempting to craft a bombing drone.]
[The golem core has a tremendous influence on the crafting result!]
"...Huh? ...This should be fine, right?"
I looked toward the drone hangar with unwarranted unease.