Chapter 106
Our Dreamland needs jamming.
Because an intruder is trying to build a magic vault.
There's no guarantee Lorencia will come in right away.
But my judgment is that it's better to prepare in advance than not.
So I was thinking about making contact with the outside.
Magic Hero : Newbie-nim...
Newbie : Yep
Magic Hero : I went ahead and made a blueprint for now... would you take a look...?
Magic Hero : (photo)
Wow.
I seriously can't make heads or tails of any of this.
Magic Hero : R-right now, Newbie-nim, what you need in the end is jamming, right?
Magic Hero : So you want to build a cooperative relationship with a wizard outside, right?
Newbie : Yeah...
Newbie : For now, there's no guarantee Lorencia will invade this cycle,
Newbie : and if nothing happens after that, it would all be meaningless.
Newbie : Honestly, I do think it's inefficient.
Newbie : But compared to just sitting on my hands and waiting,
Newbie : doing it in advance is more reassuring, mentally...
Newbie : If I can't get hold of a jamming device that the guys outside use,
Newbie : then I can just bring a wizard in directly and have them make it by hand.
Newbie : Anyway, I felt this was the best option for me.
Magic Hero : In the end, though, wouldn't that mean you have to reveal your identity, Newbie...?
Newbie : Yeah... that's the part that's bothering me a bit.
If there are top-tier things, there are bound to be shit-tier things too.
There were just too many things to consider, starting from the initial contact.
So what should I do from here?
I was deep in thought.
Magic Hero : Nice work making the prototype...
Magic Hero : If you show them this, you won't have to...
Ah.
Magic Hero : Th-this is the blueprint for the jamming bomb I made...
Magic Hero : Think of it roughly like an EMP bomb...
!!!!!!!!
No way.
Magic Hero : Hehe...
Magic Hero : I think what you're thinking is probably right...
Magic Hero : If you copy this blueprint carefully
Magic Hero : and go to a wizard... "Please make me a magic tool like this."
Magic Hero : Say something like that roughly... and they should probably be able to make it.
Magic Hero : The materials are a bit hard to get... but I designed it so other wizards can make it as easily as possible, hehe.
Magic Hero : That way, you wouldn't have to reveal your identity...
Magic Hero : since you'd still have a means of jamming...
Magic Hero : A-anyway, that's how it is...
Is Mahiro a god?
I never dreamed I'd get such a gift.
To be honest,
if jamming devices or jamming bombs or things like that were being sold outside, I wouldn't have to go through all this trouble and the problem would be solved.
But that wasn't the case, so honestly I was feeling pretty lost.
This gave me the option of custom ordering.
No item?
Then just make one.
No blueprint either?
Then just make one.
It was a method made possible thanks to Mahiro.
With this, even if I changed locations, it wouldn't be a problem.
I could just make them in advance and store them in the dungeon.
There'd be no need for a wizard to stay on standby in real time.
I immediately took a photo of myself doing a grand bow and uploaded it to the gallery.
Skeleton Bones : Hahahahahahahahaha
Skeleton Bones : Is this bastard crazy or what, lol
WhaleWhaleYeah : Look at that form, lol
I'm the Only One Without Subordinates: If they gave you the countermeasure, a grand bow is the least you can do, lol
Kingjjang Evil Spirit : Newbie, this bastard is way too hyped, lol
Cowhead : For real lolololololol
Orange★ : Hahahahahahahahaha
Night Raven : Wow, I can even feel the emotion from the photo, lol
Ant Queen : If you're going to do a grand bow anyway, you might as well do it nice and naked, yeah...
Shibgan Love Dog : No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Shibgan Love Dog : No, Newbie's naked body is mine alone to see, yeah
Magic Hero : Hehe...
Magic Hero : I'm glad I could help...
Magic Hero : Honestly, I thought it might be better to just make a jamming device...
Magic Hero : But for ordinary wizards to make it, that structure is
Magic Hero : pretty difficult...
Magic Hero : And there’s also the risk of leaking the technology...
Magic Hero : and it'd be hard to get the materials outside too...
Magic Hero : Anyway, th-this was the best I could do...
Thank you.
Thank you so much. Dungeon Gallery GOAT.
I felt a lot more at ease.
Thanks to Restia, I obtained thirty 1 kg gold ingots.
Since I gave three gold bars as payment, let's make good use of the remaining twenty-seven.
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Tracing that complicated blueprint wasn't difficult.
If you lower the hologram's opacity and place it on top of paper,
it turns into something like tracing paper, with the upper image showing through onto the page.
So all I had to do was copy it as is.
Even an elementary schooler could do it without much trouble.
Newbie : How's my tracing?
Magic Hero : SSS-tier...
Actually, there was a second option too.
That was to capture a wizard among the intruders and then take the proper measures(?) to use jamming.
But this part has a lot of variables.
The moment I reveal myself to the intruder, a risk arises.
If Lorencia isn't just a complete idiot,
she'd have thought about this part too.
"But in Dreamland, the idea of 'installing a magic vault because there's no jamming' has a lot more counters than you'd expect?"
In the end, all I have to do is solve the jamming issue.
If this were a different dungeon, I don't know.
There are lots of options available, as long as I can go outside.
And it's not like Lorencia can control every intruder in Dreamland either.
Thinking about it now, it doesn't seem that threatening.
Is it an elaborate bluff?
Or is she scheming to drag me outside?
Aboralis knows what my face looks like, though. Hm.
"Surely Lorencia isn't just a pseudo-intellectual."
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I know the layout outside.
Thanks to Mallang and Restia, I've roughly learned it through shared vision too.
I thought about going outside myself.
But I figured that was risky.
Magic Hero : There is a rare disease that leaves you without mana...
Magic Hero : It's not that common, so if you get found out, it'll definitely stand out...
Magic Hero : But in the end, to identify someone as having no mana, you'd have to use detection magic anyway.
Magic Hero : No one in the city uses detection magic anyway, so I think you can probably relax...
Still, I'm worried.
They say you should tap the stone bridge before crossing it, after all.
For me, the outside is a minefield.
Given the situation and the fact that I only have one life, it's better to move carefully.
Ant Queen : Why not just kidnap a wizard from outside
Ant Queen : and make them do it by force? ㅎㅎ
Kingjjang Evil Spirit : Would Newbie even do that?
Golem King : Human hatred is peak;;
KongKong : lol...
Honestly, the best case would be if Restia brought a wizard here for me.
But if I get entangled with her any more than this, it could become troublesome.
Helping ends here, I guess.
Let's solve the rest on our own.
"Mm."
Good.
Let's try something like this, roughly.
As the Dreamland Dungeon Master, let's approach the problem like a strange anomaly and solve it.
"Mallang, get ready to move out."
"Eek."
Before that, I should search for someone useful.
I moved my pen briskly.
***
One of the cities near Frostthorn Mountain.
There is a wizard in the Barony of Roberta.
"……."
His name is Nordel.
He is 45 years old, and his rank as a wizard is Circle 2.
In the North Kingdom, that would be the level of a commoner.
In other words, he was a talentless wizard.
He had no notable achievements.
He was the kind of person you'd call a plain, ordinary nobody.
He's getting older,
and his skill isn't improving,
and no magic tower will take him in.
-How about regularly supplying water to farmers' fields? The pay isn't bad.
-Get lost. You think I became a wizard to do work like that?
He had pride, at least.
Aside from worthless study built on nothing but vanity, he did nothing else.
The kind of trash that just eats for free, as they say.
That was Nordel.
"Fuck."
He was drunk again in broad daylight today.
He wandered the streets holding the booze he bought by scraping together his meager money.
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"You think I'm easy prey too?"
"Y-yes...?"
Nordel has a hobby.
Rather than a hobby, it should be called a habit by now.
"Yeah. You're holding out your tin cup and staring at me like that because I'm an easy mark, aren't you? If it were a 3rd- or 4th-circle wizard, you'd be bowing your head and praying they'd hurry up and pass by. Ah, you filthy beggar, fuck, what a mood killer."
For him, this was the only way to fill the hole left by his inferiority complex and crushed self-esteem.
"Sorry."
"I'm only a Circle 2 wizard at this age, but I just haven't caught my flow yet. Damn it, if I'd had good conditions, I could've easily reached Circle 4. When I was young, I handled magic better than other people, my master said so..."
Nordel muttered.
He was glaring at the boy with drunken, dazed eyes.
The nameless beggar boy looked up at him with a frightened expression.
And then he set the bucket down and started clasping his hands together, begging.
"I wasn't trying to do that. I just need money..."
"You need money? If you need money, then you should work. You're still a kid and already so weak."
"My legs hurt, so I can't work..."
"Oh, so you're disabled?"
He often picked fights with people weaker than him.
Like someone who gets a kick out of stomping on ants as they pass by, only in this moment could he feel superior.
Nordel kicked the beggar boy's bucket.
And slapped the begging boy across the face.
Thud.
The boy falls over.
Look at that.
That's the difference between him and me.
I am by no means insignificant.
I'm a person who's above that lowly thing.
Nordel felt a thrill as he looked at the boy.
He repeated this stupid little routine every day.
Because it was his only enjoyment in life.
"From next time on, crawl on your own. Don't even lift your head, just lie flat and stay there, got it?"
"Y-yes."
After Nordel left, the beggar boy picked up the coins scattered on the ground one by one.
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And a tiny slime was watching that scene.
Squirm, squirm.
Squirm, squirm.
It cautiously trailed after Nordel.
Very quietly.
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Nordel returned home.
And lay down on the sofa to get some sleep.
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He opened his eyes.
Looking out the window, the sun had already set.
"Damn, my head..."
He habitually reached for the bottle on the table,
but what was inside was water.
He tipped the liquid into his mouth.
"Ugh."
He staggered to his feet.
And fumbled through his clothes for his wallet, but it was completely empty.
He'd sold off everything his parents left him as an inheritance.
And almost all of it was consumed by the cost of failed research, booze, and entertainment.
He was flat broke.
"I need to buy even cheap booze..."
There was truly no way back now.
He needed to do something, but he had no research results, and if he tried to take on a petty job, his pride wouldn't allow it, because he'd learned magic all this time just to do that sort of work.
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He rummaged through the house.
He hoped something worth selling might turn up, but there was nothing in particular.
"Fuck."
That was when it happened.
Nordel checked the mailbox and found a letter waiting there after a very long time.
"What."
He picked up the letter.
Who sent this? There shouldn't be anyone to send it.
The envelope was crude, to say the least, and not even sealed with wax.
The paper inside also looked shabby, as if it had been torn out of a diary page.
But.
The contents of the letter were extremely fresh and shocking.
It was too elaborate to be a child's prank,
and too absurd to be an adult's letter.
「Congratulations on being selected.」
「Aren't you tired of spending every day in a meaningless routine?」
「Don't you think you're living a life that never gets rewarded no matter how hard you try?」
「For people like that, we are offering a chance to change your life in the paradise of dreams and hope.」
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「If you solve this problem correctly, we'll give you a cash prize.」
He blinked.
The contents of the letter seemed as if they were true.
Inside the envelope was a very small piece of gold.