Chapter 9
"The drone performs better than I expected."
I thought as I lay sprawled on the sofa.
It wasn't just that the drone understood and followed my commands so easily; even as a reconnaissance drone, its combat ability looked respectable.
If an enemy approached when I went out scavenging outside the train, it seemed like it could even serve as a bodyguard.
I opened the drone panel and checked the crafting list.
"There's even a separate combat drone.
[Craftable: Combat Drone]
Required materials: low-grade mana stone or higher, plastic, metal
"Plastic and metal, huh.
I still had some rebar left over from the construction site, but I didn't have any plastic.
Plastic itself wasn't hard to get, so I wasn't worried.
The problem was the low-grade-or-higher mana stone.
If anything, the better the mana stone, the more the drone's performance would improve, and right now I only had the lowest-grade mana stones.
"Maybe I should go back to a dungeon...
There should have been quite a few dungeons I'd marked while roaming the Incheon tracks.
I zoomed in on the map and tapped one of the dungeons the drone had marked.
"Let's check it out.
I moved the train to the area near those coordinates.
What I arrived at was a waste-treatment plant with a massive incinerator chimney rising up.
As expected, a crack wreathed in purple aura was gaping open at the building entrance.
"Last time, I had no choice but to rush in blindly...
I leaned back comfortably in the cockpit.
I had a drone now.
And not just any drone, but the reconnaissance drone, the one that would be the biggest help in a situation like this.
"Do me a favor.
Viiiiing—!
At my command, the drone took off from the train roof.
Without hesitation, it slipped straight into the purple crack.
After a moment of static washed over the screen, a clear image began streaming.
"Oh, it's not cutting out?
I had thought the video it sent might cut out once it went deeper into the dungeon, but thankfully it was working normally.
The drone seemed fine too.
The dungeon interior spread out on the screen was eerie.
Broken conveyor belts were turning here and there, and the floor was piled high with unknown black grease and scrap metal.
"This dungeon looks a little different...
When I thought of dungeons, I pictured simple things like the moss-covered cave I'd been in before, or the vague game-like dungeons such as graveyards.
I realized even places like this could show up as dungeons.
As the drone lowered its altitude, I spotted a heap of scrap metal clattering as it moved.
A golem made of scrap and oil slowly rose to its feet.
"Looks tough...
They were slow, but they were huge, and the arms made of scrap piled together looked threatening.
But I could see a weakness too.
Something that glowed like a power source was exposed on their backs.
It was obviously a weak point.
"I'll have to go for the back.
Keeping that information in mind, I sent the drone deeper inside.
In a corner of the passage, where sparks were flashing, small mouse-like monsters were gathered.
Looking closely, the sparks were crackling out from the mice's bodies.
"Electric mice... I know those pretty well... if this were a game, it'd be Ground-type moves—
I made some pointless joke like that and figured it would be better to leave them to the drone.
I started taking notes.
I began writing down the monsters that appeared and the terrain.
"Perfect.
The drone finished scouting the dungeon's rough layout and even made it to the huge iron door that seemed to be the boss room, then leisurely returned to the entrance.
The iron door didn't seem like something the drone could handle.
Was it a structure that opened only after all the monsters inside were killed?
I got up and headed to the armory.
The opponents were sturdy golems and electric mice.
I'd have to wrap insulating tape around the handle of the toothed mace to prepare for electric attacks.
Just in case, I wrapped myself up especially tightly too.
"Phew...
I steeled myself, replayed the footage the drone had shown me, and got off the train.
***
Crack-! Pakang!
"Nice...!
The mace in my hand did its job.
The mace struck the scrap golem's knee joint dead on.
As the thing let out a rattling sound and lost its footing, I wasted no time getting behind it and smashing down on the red-glowing core.
Boom! Rrrumble—
Once the core exploded, the golem collapsed into a pile of scrap.
Because I had already scoped out the area with the drone, the fight was much easier.
"Soon, at around this point—
"Screeech!
The pack of mice lurking in the corner for an opening charged in, sparking electricity as they rushed.
But I didn't panic.
As expected, I regripped the mace wrapped in insulating tape and swung it like a baseball bat, sending the ones in front of me flying.
At the same time, I asked the drone for help.
"Hold off the mice!
Pow! Thwack!
The lasers intercepted the mice, and I handled the ones that got through.
"Good.
With the insulation prepared perfectly, even their electric attacks were only a sting.
Once I dealt with all the monsters, their remains vanished into smoke.
The drone naturally gathered the mana stones that had fallen to the floor and piled them to one side for later.
It felt like I had my own pet.
Charging through the dungeon with unstoppable momentum, I arrived at the huge iron door I'd seen in the video.
Rrrrumble—
Just by approaching, the rusted iron door screamed as it opened.
Inside was a special factory with a high ceiling.
Overhead, complex rails and crane mechanisms were tangled together like a spiderweb, making it hard to tell what kind of place it was.
"From here on out, I don't know what might come out, so...
I looked at the drone floating beside me.
I had gathered enough materials.
Now it was time for it to help in battle.
"Protect me.
The little guy dutifully twitched its propellers.
I took a deep breath and walked into the center.
But no matter how I looked around, I couldn't see a boss monster.
Instead, I heard an unpleasant mechanical noise from overhead.
It was clearly a larger, heavier sound than my drone's.
Kkigik— chiiik!
I raised my head and looked at the ceiling.
And I stopped breathing.
"...No, what is that?
What hung from the ceiling rail was less a monster than a gigantic industrial machine arm.
A rusted steel claw the size of a house was looking down at me, and at its center was a sinister red camera lens like an eyeball.
"It's a little high...
I looked helplessly at the mace in my hand.
My specialty is close combat.
But that thing was hanging at a height so far away that even my jump couldn't reach it.
'Would Leap even reach it?'
While I hesitated, the machine arm on the ceiling started moving with a vicious grinding sound.
The huge claw crushed a pile of scrap stacked beside it as easily as if it were paper.
Uuuung-
The machine arm gained rotational force with a whirring sound, then hurled the scrap it was holding at me.
"Crazy!
Pabababak-!
I trusted the ring and Leap and threw myself aside.
Then my body moved sideways in an instant, as if shot across the air.
The scrap smashed into the spot where I'd been standing, turning the floor into a mess.
'Leap's cooldown is 10 seconds... I have to use it carefully.'
If I used it for attack and couldn't dodge, it could turn into a catastrophic disaster.
Kikikik!
The thing let out a shriek, mixed with the grinding of machinery.
It didn't give me any time to breathe.
This time it grabbed the huge steel frame beside it. One hit from that and I'd be dead.
With no choice, I used Leap again the moment the timing was right and threw myself forward.
Boom!
'If just a tiny opening appears...'
At this rate, I had no choice but to keep dodging.
Then I heard a small propeller sound above my head.
Viiiiing—!
My little reconnaissance drone charged fiercely toward the machine arm on the ceiling.
Whoosh!
The boss, which had been about to lift a giant H-beam, swung its claw around as if to swat away an annoying fly.
"Ah...!
For a moment I thought the drone had been hit, and I let out a high-pitched cry without meaning to.
But the drone was nimble.
It dodged between the claws with ease and stopped right in front of the boss's red main camera lens, which served as its eye.
Flash! Flash!
The drone's underside laser flickered intensely.
It didn't deal decisive damage, but it seemed to have disrupted the thing enough.
Chiiiik!
Startled by the sudden visual attack, the machine arm staggered and twisted like it was convulsing.
Thunk!
It let go of the H-beam it had been holding, and in order to catch the drone darting around, it carelessly lowered its main body toward the floor.
"Now!
It was the timing I'd been waiting for.
I bent my knees and concentrated my strength into my legs.
Thanks to the Leap skill, tremendous force built up taut in my calf muscles.
Fwa-!
The moment I kicked off the floor, my body shot upward like a shell.
Leap carried me right up to the machine arm.
In midair, the red lens and my eyes met.
I gave an awkward smile and, with the mace drawn back over my shoulder, brought it crashing down with all my strength.
"Hup!
Kwaaang—!
The dull impact shook the incinerator plant.
The teeth embedded in the end of the bludgeon shattered the thing's eye-like camera and drove through the machine arm behind it as well.
It was a perfect strike, combining the ring's acceleration and Leap with the weapon's destructive power.
Pajijik!
Sparks burst like fireworks.
The giant machine arm lost all its strength, sagged, and crashed to the floor with a roar.
Thud-!
I also landed lightly and let out a rough breath.
"Phew... machinery really does listen when you hit it.
Whir—
After I said that absentmindedly, the drone, reading my mood, backed away from me.
"...Ah, sorry."
I apologized to the drone, and the two of us cheerfully gathered the spoils.