Chapter 54
I reread the mages' discussion and came to a conclusion.
First, following Refrigerator's suggestion, I divided my abilities into three categories.
Offense, defense, and utility.
I decided to select the most optimized mineral in each category and concentrate on eating it.
Tungsten and diamond for offense.
Orichalcon for defense.
And mithril for magic-related utility.
Orichalcon and mithril were fantasy's top-tier metals; just hearing their names made my heart race.
But since they were extremely rare even on the higher floors, it might be hard to eat enough of them.
Now that my goal was set, it was time to keep digging.
I showed Chohogi samples of the three minerals and ordered it to mine only these with full focus.
Chohogi adjusted its hard hat and nodded solemnly.
After that, the same process repeated a few more times.
Whenever the kobolds and my clones brought back minerals, I would just sit there, eat them, and digest them over and over.
My body gradually changed as it accepted each new mineral.
Slowly, one kind at a time.
New properties naturally seeping into the sand that made up my body.
At last, when I finished my final meal on the 23rd floor, I realized my body had undergone a permanent, fundamental change.
It felt like a different power and new possibilities were surging through my whole body.
Now it was time to test my new abilities.
***
I went down to the underground training ground.
The newly purchased sand tickled softly beneath my feet.
Among the minerals I had consumed over the past few days, the ones that had been perfectly digested and settled into my body were tungsten and diamond.
That was because I had managed to eat enough of them.
I instinctively realized that eating any more of the two would only upset the balance of my body and serve no purpose.
Compared to them, I still hadn't eaten enough orichalcon and mithril to make them complete.
Especially mithril; I had barely even seen it a few times because it was so rare.
I had about 80% orichalcon and 10% mithril.
Still, I wasn't too worried.
If I mined the rest on the 24th floor, or even higher, I could make them perfect.
“First, let me test the offensive one.”
The target of the experiment was my one and only defensive skill, Sand Barrier.
I erected a thick, sturdy sand barrier in front of me.
Next, I floated a familiar sand bullet above my palm.
A bullet made of pure sand, with not a single impurity.
This was my baseline.
I lightly fired the bullet at the barrier.
Kang-!
With a dull thud, the sand bullet struck the barrier and crumbled away helplessly.
Not even a scratch remained on the barrier.
Defense as expected.
“Good. Then this time….”
I formed another sand bullet on my palm.
But this time, I drew up the absorbed tungsten.
Honestly, I thought a diamond bullet would be much stronger than tungsten.
I mean, it's the hardest substance in the world, so wouldn't it be the strongest?
By the same logic, wouldn't using diamond for defense make it sturdier too?
But according to the brain of the mage gallery, Refrigerator, it seemed it wasn't that simple.
Refrigerator went on and on with incomprehensible talk—how penetration depends not just on hardness but on mass and density, how diamond's relatively low density makes it inefficient at transferring kinetic energy, how it's weak in strength and breaks easily, and some nonsense about brittleness, toughness, and who knows what else.
As a humanities major, I didn't want to read that explanation.
“Eh, as long as I know the result.”
I cleanly gave up on trying to understand the explanation and decided to just memorize the conclusion.
Anyway, it meant blades should be made of diamond and bullet-type weapons should be made of tungsten, right?
The sand on my palm changed into the weighty texture of metal.
I fired the bullet at the sand barrier once more.
Kaaang-!
A sharp metallic sound completely different from before.
The tungsten-sand bullet pierced through the wall like tofu.
Beyond the neatly bored hole, I could hear the bullet slamming into the training room wall.
“Nice.”
I checked the wall beyond the hole and nodded in satisfaction.
There was a clear mark on the reinforced wall, specially designed to withstand A-rank hunter training.
“I should try it on those drill monsters once.”
Now I was convinced that I could punch through their armor.
Next was a defense test.
I dismantled the sand barrier that had just been pierced.
This time, I raised a new barrier layered with orichalcon.
It would be nice if I could fill it entirely with orichalcon, but for now I had no choice but to settle for this.
“Orichalcon is too expensive to buy and eat... won't they hand it out as a Tower reward or something?”
Soon, the color of the sand barrier changed.
The barrier gleamed beautifully in the light.
“Anyway, ordinary bullets would probably just bounce off….”
I prepared my strongest attack skill.
My finishing move, the one that finished off the Floor 15 boss and split the corrupted world tree on Floor 20 cleanly in two.
I stretched my arm straight out in front of me.
The surrounding sand began to whirl and gather according to my will.
Before long, a huge stake compressed to an unimaginable density was formed.
But this wasn't the end.
I poured tungsten into the stake without sparing any.
This was my current maximum output.
I took a deep breath.
“Here comes God's Staff!”
With my shout, the tungsten stake was launched.
Kwaaaaang-!
A roar like the world itself was collapsing.
The whole house shook as if an earthquake had struck.
The training weapons hanging on the wall crashed to the floor with a loud clatter.
I could hear thuds from upstairs too.
It was probably the sound of the few pieces of furniture toppling over.
‘The computer should be fine…?’
Chohogi, watching from one corner, lost its balance and rolled around on the sand floor.
It managed to get back up, but the hard hat on its head had tilted, blocking its view.
I straightened its hat for it.
A little later, the thick cloud of sand dust settled.
There was a half-collapsed barrier there.
Even with only a little orichalcon mixed in, it still had this much defense?
From now on, no physical attack would dare injure me.
I smiled with satisfaction.
***
“Ugh, I guess I need to buy a new monitor….”
I was roughly cleaning up the house, which had been thrown into disorder by the shockwave, when it happened.
Bang, bang, bang!
Someone was pounding on the front door.
A knock like they were trying to smash the door in.
I frowned and checked the intercom screen.
On the screen was Jeong Manho, his face flushed as he huffed angrily.
Behind him, as always, stood a gleaming black sedan.
“No, why does this guy keep driving here when he's coming to the place next door?”
It's less than ten seconds away on foot.
When I still didn't open the door, lost in that pointless thought, Jeong Manho just grabbed the doorknob and started shaking it.
“Hey, is anyone there!”
I let out a deep sigh and headed for the door.
The moment I opened it, Jeong Manho shouted.
“What the hell was that shockwave just now?”
He unloaded only what he wanted to say, as if he had no intention of listening to my answer.
“The inlaid celadon vase in my room got smashed to pieces! Do you know how expensive that was?”
I asked back with the most innocent expression I could muster.
I think my acting is getting better and better.
“Huh? I don't know…. Wasn't that an earthquake just now?”
“Earthquake, my ass! That was a shockwave from your house! Bring your parents out here!”
What the hell….
I ended up making a face like I'd bitten into something disgusting.
This man didn't seem capable of having a conversation.
He took a big step forward, trying to barge into the house.
“My parents aren't here.”
“Move! I need to check for myself!”
The moment Jeong Manho tried to shove my shoulder roughly,
before his hand could touch my body, sand dust rose into the air.
The sand barrier activated automatically.
‘Huh?’
A situation I hadn't even anticipated.
Realizing I'd made a mistake, I immediately deactivated the automatic shield.
“…?”
Jeong Manho looked flustered.
He looked back and forth between his own hand and the empty space that had stopped it.
There was already nothing left in midair.
“What… was that just now?”
Still confused, Jeong Manho shoved me once more.
This time, the barrier did not activate.
His hand landed directly on my small shoulder.
I screamed and fell to the floor.
“Et-kong….”
But it was a little awkward.
The timing between his shove and my fall was off by half a beat.
‘No, why is this ajusshi so weak?’
His shove was much weaker than I'd expected.
It was so light it was hard to believe it came from an adult man.
It was almost enough to make the title of A-rank hunter meaningless.
As a result, I ended up a little late falling.
….?
Jeong Manho stared down at his own hand.
His eyes were filled with even greater confusion than before.
‘Ah, I'm screwed….’
I lay face-down on the floor, desperately racking my brain.
In the end, I decided to use my last resort.
I really didn't want to use it for the sake of my dignity, but there was no choice.
In an instant, I manipulated the sand and hastily forged a bracelet that looked as if I'd always been wearing it.
A bracelet with the middle broken off.
I moved on to the next plan.
The plan was called First to Cry Wins!
Huge teardrops quickly welled up in my eyes.
“Sob…. Sob….”
“W-what?”
“Waaaah!”
I burst into the most pitiful, miserable crying a child could possibly make.
Jeong Manho, distracted by my crying, jumped and looked at me.
I let the tears and snot stream down as I pointed at the shattered bracelet scattered on the floor and wailed.
“This…. sob…. the ajusshi…. broke it….!”
“Uh, huh? What? Bracelet?”
“This is a magic bracelet Mom bought me! That bad ajusshi shoved me and broke it all! Waaaah!”
“Hey! Stop crying! Damn it….”
“Waaahhhhh!”
I wailed with enough force to make him lose his wits.
I feel like my own mind is flying away too.
… I'm so embarrassed I could die.
I want to die. I want to die.
Still, it was effective.
Jeong Manho's face began to fill with even more panic.
Jeong Manho, glancing back and forth between the shattered fake magic bracelet and my tear-soaked face, looked completely lost.
I delivered the finishing blow.
“I'm telling Mom on you! I'll say the guy next door broke my magic bracelet!”
With that, I sprang up and slammed the door shut before he could react.
Then I ran back into the house with pounding footsteps.
‘I really am crazy, what am I even doing….’
My face was burning hot.
***
“…What?”
Jeong Manho stood dazed in front of the tightly closed door for a long while.
His mind was a complete mess.
The moment he'd accidentally shoved the child had been a nerve-racking one.
If he'd failed to control his strength and hurt the child, that would've been disastrous.
That was absolutely something that must not happen.
But the child hadn't fallen.
Instead, something with a strange feel had blocked his hand.
His head had gone fuzzy when the child suddenly started crying, and before he could question it further, the situation was over.
He was an A-rank hunter who had been through a lot.
He would soon arrive at a plausible conclusion.
“Magic bracelet, right?”
Right, a bracelet.
The very thing the child had cried so bitterly over.
“Could it be a single-use defensive item?”
Thinking that way explained everything.
Well, logically, you wouldn't always leave a child alone, would you?
They would have prepared at least some minimal protection.
“Then everything makes sense.”
Jeong Manho slapped his knee. Perfect logic.
But his worries weren't over yet.
“If they have an item like that, they must be pretty well off….”
If the kid really tattles on him to his parents, it'll be a headache.
No, even if he doesn't tattle, his parents will definitely find out.
There's no way anyone would fail to notice an expensive item was missing.
“…Maybe I should get a similar item before they come to complain?”
Jeong Manho suppressed his unease and got into the car.
***
“Finally gone.”
I muttered as I watched Jeong Manho's sedan pull away.
“This isn't going to work.”
I managed to get through today somehow.
Even though I had to sell off every last bit of my dignity.
But there would definitely be similar crises in the future.
I let out a deep sigh.
Honestly, I really didn't want to do this, but that ajusshi kept pestering me over every little thing, so I had no choice.
“Maybe I should go take some from the Daejeon Tower.”
Then I'll put up a big sign right in front of our front gate.
Notice: The owner of Daejeon lives here. Please be respectful. Something like that should do.
Then I wouldn't have to run into that neighbor anymore.