Why Didn't I Think of This?

“Wooooong.”

I was a little bored on the way here, but after playing word-chain with Chaerin unnie, we arrived before I knew it. It must have been farther than I expected, because I dozed off in the middle and woke up to find that we were already there.

This is the secret base of the Ohseong Group. The heart of advanced technology development, and Korea’s most sophisticated weapons testing and research facility!

“Princess, please come in.”

“Ah, okay.”

“Eve, you might get lost, so you have to stay close and follow unnie, okay?”

“Got it~”

From the outside, it just looked like a huge door had been planted right into the middle of a mountainside, with trees all around it and even moss on the door, making it hard to notice.

When Chaerin unnie used a skill and dragged the huge steel door panel open with a crunch, the door slowly began to open.

“Is it okay to open it like that?”

“Yeah. It’s fine. It was made to be opened like this in the first place.”

It didn’t need any special security just to open and close, so brute force alone was enough. The downside was that the sound of metal clashing was insanely loud, and the moment it opened everyone inside would know, so I guess that was fine.

“Eek..!!”

It was one of those scenes you only ever see in manga. A wide, long, dark-gray hallway lined with pipes running through the ceiling and walls, making it impossible to tell what on earth was flowing through them.

ㅡClack, clack....

Ophelia and Chaerin unnie’s high heels clicked softly, and then the moment we crossed a certain point, the lights came on all at once and something like a laser beam swept over us in a flash.

ㅡBeep-beep..!

“Daengdaengi, you’re nervous, aren’t you.”

ㅡBeep! Beep-beep!

“What are you talking about? You’re shaking like crazy right now?”

Daengdaengi on top of my head was trembling as if it had received a notification, and it was so cute that I scooped it into my arms and petted it. Why is this one so timid?

ㅡPsssshhhhh....

After walking a little farther, we reached an elevator built into the corridor wall. When the card hanging from Chaerin unnie’s neck beeped, the elevator doors opened and the way down to the basement was revealed.

Now I see why they just made the first entrance open with brute force. If you don’t take this elevator, all you can do is trudge through the halls.

“Unnie, then what do you make here?”

“Hmm... this and that? There are too many things to explain all at once. You’ll probably get it when you see it. Eve might be a little surprised if she looks?”

“Ooh.”

The place we reached by elevator was the 21st basement floor. Chaerin unnie said that from now on I wasn’t allowed to go telling other people what I saw here, because it would make Ophelia really troubled.

It sounds like getting me in here was really hard, since kids might accidentally tell secrets to other people. But I’m not a kid, so it’s fine...

“Princess, please make a golem using the materials laid out here.”

“Ahh, got it. I just have to make it and come back out, right?”

“After that, there will be a power-output comparison against the mechanical weapon developed by the Ohseong Group.”

“Whaaat..!”

They were giving me materials on the same level as the mechanical weapons made by the super-genius elite gathered at Ohseong Group, and I was going to make a golem with them. My heart was suddenly pounding.

ㅡPshhh.

After passing through the mechanical corridor and opening the door that slid open with a mechanical sound, we arrived in what was basically a control tower, with an enormous test field or something visible below through a cylindrical glass window.

You know, one of those spaces where the organizers of a survival game sit behind a glass window, drinking champagne and saying, ‘Oh, how interesting.’ There weren’t any sofas or chandeliers, but instead there were tons of complicated computers and monitors.

Below, there were mysterious thudding sounds, and people in white lab coats were busily discussing things.

“Oh, Chaerin-nyang. We’ve been waiting for you. And these people are... ”

“This is Ms. Ophelia and Eve-nyang. I told you about them before, right?”

“Ah, nice to meet you. So you’re the ones I only saw in video form before.”

There were a lot of people in white lab coats, and among them, the oldest-looking one—a gray-haired man who looked like he was already halfway to being a grandpa—came over to greet us.

“Hello!”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Heh heh, it’s an honor to meet you.”

Because of security policy, he couldn’t tell us his name, but most people called him ‘Teacher Ahn.’ They said he was basically the person in overall charge here.

They weren’t made with mana, but it seemed they were building mechanical weapons with enough power to work against monsters and somewhat replace hunters.

“But is that really possible?”

“Hmm, should I explain just a little bit for Eve-nyang?”

“Yep.”

Magic power is one of the most important things when dealing with monsters. According to Teacher Ahn’s explanation, a material imbued with mana differed from one without mana in something like the way an electron cloud does?

So when it comes to movement, mana-infused objects have priority over non-mana objects, and even if the non-mana side hits the mana side hard, the mana-infused side has the advantage in positional shifts, so the force doesn’t really get through.

Honestly, I didn’t really understand what he was saying, so I just went along with it.

“Simply put, the side with magic power is stronger.”

“Oh. I see.”

The Ohseong Group’s secret research team was aiming to use mana stones to imbue machines with no mana and make them fight like hunters. There are successful cases and research value worldwide, but the efficiency isn’t good enough, so they still aren’t being used properly in real combat.

“Shall we go down together? Let’s just give it a try right away.”

“Ah, but didn’t that friend from last time come too? I really want to see that friend once.”

“Huh?? Are you talking about Minyum?”

“Minyum? Is the sword-wielding friend’s name Minyum?”

“Yep.”

Teacher Ahn kept mulling over Minyum, Minyum, and then asked me, curious what the name meant.

“Minyum... what does that mean? Is it a name that calls for some kind of philosophical interpretation?”

“Well, uh. It was originally made from an aluminum can.”

“Ah, um. I see.”

* * * * *

“Wooooah....”

I wondered why I was hearing thudding sounds from below—it was a gorilla-sized machine and a golem about the same size, made by an ordinary golemist, locked in a strength contest.

We moved a little and came to a control-room-like place a bit closer to the lower area, and from here we could see below.

It was made so you could see it from above too, but I couldn’t because I’m short.

“Pause for a moment.”

When Teacher Ahn spoke through the earphone with a microphone, both the golem and the mechanical weapon froze in place.

“Teacher Ahn, Hunter Yoo Chaerin. Have you arrived?”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Let me introduce you. This is the maker of the golem we saw last time.”

“Ah... I see. Nice to meet you. I’m Baek Sua, an A-rank golemist.”

“Ah, I’m Eve!”

“I’m Ophelia. Nice to meet you.”

She had the classic stereotypical researcher look—shaggy, messy brown hair, glasses, and dark circles under her eyes. In truth, she was an A-rank golemist working hard for the output comparison.

When Sua unnie stretched out her hand to shake mine, a powerful maternal presence filled my whole field of view.

‘Huge. Awesome.’

And there was the ID-card lanyard hanging out front, looking like it was bawling its eyes out after being completely overshadowed by that maternal presence.

“Oh, you’re with Nova??”

“Yep. I’m with Nova.”

It had been about four months, I think? Nova had once announced at some kind of briefing that they’d recruited a hunter worth the equivalent of three A-rank hunters, and apparently this was that hunter. Surprisingly, she was also from the same alma mater as Chaerin unnie, from some ridiculously prestigious university full of geniuses.

‘Looks like she’d hate Dujjonku.’

If you brought up Dujjonku, she’d probably go on some pretentious, boring rant about excessive social media, corporate trickery, and the like.

“For now... I think it’d be better to show you what we do here first. It’s faster to see it.”

After Sua unnie exchanged a look with Teacher Ahn, Teacher Ahn gave the order through the microphone to restart the mechanical weapon. A response came from above through the mic, and Sua unnie also stretched out her hand toward the golem, releasing magic power.

“Begin combat.”

At the same time, Ohseong Group’s mechanical weapon and Sua unnie’s golem started moving. The two inanimate objects standing at opposite ends of the test field clattered toward each other, then went bang! as their fists collided.

“Wooooah....”

“Watching golems is fun, isn’t it?”

“Yep, it’s fun.”

Ohseong Group’s mechanical weapon had four tank treads branching out from the leg area, while Sua unnie’s moved on two feet. They kept punching each other, but on the machine’s side something like a magic barrier came out first to cancel the impact.

But Sua unnie’s golem moved much more smoothly, and it felt like it was fighting well by dodging what it could and taking the hits it had to take as lightly as possible.

On top of that, the mechanical weapon was using the magic power stored in mana stones like water, and spent mana stones kept popping out from its back with a pop-pop-pop, like shell casings ejecting.

“Raise the output.”

ㅡKreeeek..!!

In appearance too, the mechanical weapon was all sharp right angles and machine-like, while Sua unnie’s golem had lots of curves and a smooth finish. The orange lights spreading across its surface like tree roots gave it a cool futuristic feel too.

“Stop.”

“Please stop.”

They were both expensive enough to make you go ‘oof,’ so they weren’t going to keep fighting until one of them was smashed apart, but the result was clear enough. It looked like Sua unnie’s golem won. Still, it was a hard-fought win, so the mechanical weapon had definitely come this far.

“How was it?”

“Hmm.... It was cool! It felt like watching a movie.”

“Really?”

What I’m going to do now is show them this: if a golem made by an ordinary golemist and the mechanical weapon Ohseong Group is developing can fight like that after spending this much money, how strong would the one I make be??

“Are the materials ready?”

“Want to take a look at the list?”

“Oh, a list.”

Sua unnie handed me the tablet, and there was some weird alloy name made up of a jumble of English letters, and about the only thing I could clearly make out was something about mana stones and so on. When I handed it to Ophelia, she studied it carefully and adjusted the list, saying, ‘This one and this one aren’t really needed, so take them out.’

“At this rate... it’ll only be about 40 percent of the amount used to make that golem.”

“Oh, really?”

“Even so, it’s fine.”

“Heh heh, good.”

Once Ophelia took a few things out, the price dropped a lot. According to Sua unnie’s evaluation, a golem made with these materials would be amazing even if it just managed to put up a good fight against Sua unnie’s golem.

“Then let’s go down and make it right away.”

“I’ll do a little repair work in the meantime.”

“Yep.”

Sua unnie went off to repair her own golem, and Ophelia, Teacher Ahn, and I headed to where the materials were laid out to make the golem.

“Gasp, can I really use this much...?”

“It’s fine. It’s not my money, after all. Heh heh.”

“Wow, amazing.”

There was a huge pile of expensive metals and high-quality mana stones. At Ophelia’s request, a few materials were removed, and the only things added were two parts similar to fighter jet engines.

“Princess, please make it however your heart desires.”

“Phew... Yes! Got it!”

This was the first time I’d ever made a golem with this many materials. Daengdaengi was watching beside me with sparkling eyes too.

“Golem creation!!”

What I pictured in my mind was a cool, giant knight. Since Sua unnie’s golem also walked on two legs and had two arms like a person, I went for something similar.

ㅡFlash..!

“Ugh...”

The overwhelming pull of magic power made my vision go blank for a moment. Ophelia held me from the side so I didn’t fall, but this was the first time something like this had happened since my skill leveled up a lot, so I squeezed my eyes shut.

After I opened my eyes, the form of the golem that had been created was....

[ The fragments of the Fallen Kingdom have reached maximum completion. Attempting to synthesize a new form. {Time remaining : 79:59:58} ]

“Ah..?”