Chapter 30
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Conquering the Heights
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I decided to escort Yuna to Shelter D. Since I was going to save her anyway, if she ended up dying on the way there, nothing could feel more futile.
When Yuna—who'd been great company—announced she was leaving, Zixuan gave her a protective barrier, looking a bit regretful. Yuna marveled at the shield enveloping her body, then bowed her head to Zixuan.
"You're like an angel sent from heaven, sis."
"Well, that's not entirely wrong."
Zixuan shrugged it off like a joke, but Yuna gazed at her with eyes full of reverence. No, that wasn't reverence—it looked more like worship.
She wouldn't go off to Shelter D and start a religion worshiping Zixuan, would she? It wasn't a joke; in the game, a cult that revered healers had actually appeared.
Called the "Church of Salvation"... excluding the part about them sucking up to healers in the most literal sense, they were a force that terrorized Team Apocalypse and other survivors alike—one that absolutely had to be eradicated.
Point is, survivors could form a religion worshiping a healer like Zixuan.
'Not a bad thing, huh?'
I had no intention of settling for just the munitions factory anyway. It might take time, but I planned to expand the shelter.
To encompass all of Shelter D—not just that, but the entire factory district—a massive shelter worthy of being the survivors' one and only city, a paradise.
There might be resistance from Shelter D's survivors in the process, but a religion that deified us, or rather Zixuan, could help reduce that.
Of course, that's a long way off. Thinking that, I pulled the trigger on a zombie charging toward me. Bang! The gunshot rang in my ears as the zombie flew backward.
The zombies clustered against the steel barrier all rushed at me in unison, but they met the same fate under a hail of bullets.
I stopped the motorcycle in front of the steel barrier. Survivors had their guns trained on me, eyes brimming with hostility. Even after seeing me yesterday, they were acting like this—did it mean they saw me as an enemy?
"You're the one who saved me!"
Only after Yuna shouted that did their faces relax, and they lowered their weapons. The barrier gate opened.
"Come inside for some tea... no, at least a cup of coffee..."
"No time for that right now."
I replied flatly and turned the motorcycle around. Better to keep my distance from Shelter D for the time being. At least until I built those "work-purpose" android robots.
After leaving Shelter D, I roamed the factory district and began serious farming.
The survivors had probably already taken a lot, but there was still plenty of materials inside. The lack of food or drinking water among them was the problem, though.
Food and water were in short supply... but it wasn't urgent yet, so it was fine.
After half a day of farming like that, I managed to gather everything for Sirius 2 except for one final piece.
'All that's left is...'
The wiring that would form the core of Sirius 2. Not ordinary wiring, but mithril wiring. I could hunt for mithril ore and make it myself, or farm it.
I chose the latter. No need to explain that pre-made wiring would outperform anything I crafted.
And of course, I knew exactly where to find mithril wiring: at the top of the transmission tower in this very factory district.
By the way, I have a fear of heights.
I'd gotten used to it somewhat in the game...
Would I be okay?
'...Like hell I am.'
After clearing the zombies near the transmission tower, I hesitated in front of the ladder before starting to climb, one rung at a time. At first, I went up steadily.
The trouble started when I reached the midpoint and glanced down carelessly. Staring at that dizzying view made my chest tighten, and my body froze solid.
Of course, the odds of me falling from here were zero. With Aegis's strength enhancement and metal transformation securing the ladder perfectly to my body as a precaution, there was no way.
But apparently, that had nothing to do with my acrophobia. After freezing for a while, I reached up. I had to go up, had to climb. If I couldn't handle this, how would I ever board a spaceship later?
I'd played mad scientist on a spaceship in this VR game, hadn't I? Forcing that mindset control, I climbed one rung at a time.
Shaking sweat from my head, I looked around. Not just the entire factory district, but Shelter A—the place I'd crossed from, or at least I estimated so—was visible at a glance.
It was a spectacular sight. I paused to take in the endless view. This apocalyptic world. In a way, it felt more familiar than "reality."
Every building down there was one I'd explored. I could draw detailed blueprints of each and every one.
That thought filled me with confidence. Hell, I'd carried newbies without breaking a sweat—what was this compared to that? If I just played at my veteran level from the game, I could clear this no problem.
But what happens after clearing it? Do I go back to reality? And if I do, then what?
Honestly, I had no idea. My real self isn't anything special. Sure, I'm a veteran, but so what? To others, I'm just a gaming addict wasting my life.
And not even on popular games—I'm a BJ streaming obscure ones with at most a few dozen viewers.
My parents' sighs, the world's judgment, and me locking myself in my room.
I'd have to quit gaming. Start exercising. The usual thoughts that hit me every time reality crashed down.
...Knowing full well that if I returned to reality, it'd all fizzle out after three days of resolve like always, I shook my head and resumed climbing the ladder.
My hands were slick with sweat, the increasing height terrified me, but I climbed steadily.
And finally, I reached the top. The wires plastered to the transmission tower's ceiling—I used metal decomposition to pry them loose.
「Acquired Mithril Wiring x36.」
More than enough to build Sirius 2 and have leftovers. I descended. Coming down, I didn't freeze once and made it swiftly.
The zombies that had been staring dumbly from below charged at me.
I used metal generation to create iron, then metal transformation to shape it into a sword, and swung at the zombies. Slash. They cleaved apart effortlessly.
Bladers might scoff, but thanks to Aegis, I could handle zombies like these with ease. After wiping them out, I headed back to the munitions factory.
Zixuan was asleep. I pulled the blanket over her pitifully curled-up form and added "bed" to my farming list.
Down in the first basement level workshop, I laid out the Sirius 2 blueprint and materials on the floor.
「Used Metal Transformation (Lv.5) to synthesize Blueprint: Sirius n x1, Solar Panels x3, Mithril Wiring x16, Aluminum Metal x8, creating Sirius 2.」
「Metal Transformation (Lv.5) experience greatly increased.」
The completed Sirius 2 was a panel gleaming with iridescent rainbow hues.
「Sirius 2」
Max Power Charge: 0/50,000 | Power Charge per Hour: 500
Durability: 150/150
Description: A solar panel supposedly modeled after the star Sirius by aliens. It boasts overwhelming power efficiency incomparable to ordinary solar panels.
All that was left was installation.
I carried Sirius 2 to the rooftop and connected the wires via metal transformation. Sirius 2 flashed brightly, then settled down.
When I reached the fourth floor, the lights blazed on. She'd said they kept them off constantly to save power... That's when a hologram appeared beside me.
An East Asian woman—Queen's hologram—spoke with an expressionless face. Wait, expressionless? Her lips seemed slightly upturned...
「Power source acquired. This is a sustainable power source for continuous Queen operation. Queen can now perform a wider range of tasks.」
"Can you control the sentry gun?"
「Possible if connected to Queen.」
The voice came from my laptop, of course. Makes sense with the Wi-Fi module. I recalled the level-up route in my head.
If I made multiple sentry guns and had Queen control them for farming... I could level up fast.
Of course, it'd require a ton of power and ammo... but I was in a munitions factory. Not just any munitions factory, but one equipped with Sirius 2.
Power was stable, and ammo piled up like mountains.
'Just need to make the sentry guns.'
Making sentry guns was easy. I already had parts from the one I'd built before, and the factory had enough components for several more.
'Storm-level leveling awaits.'
I decided to act on it immediately. I built a sentry gun with Wi-Fi module and mithril wiring. The finished sentry gun started swiveling on its own.
「Please issue command for Sentry Gun I.」
"Exterminate zombies."
「Executing command.」
I deployed Sentry Gun I on the rooftop. From up there, it could efficiently kill zombies and protect Sirius 2 from any surprise intrusions.
Rat-tat-tat.
「Job experience increased. (2-man party bonus +160%)」
It took down a zombie in under a minute. But man, it's loud. Hope it doesn't wake Zixuan...
"You're back? You should've woken me..."
Down on the first floor, Zixuan was rubbing her sleepy eyes.
"But what was that noise?"
"Installed a sentry gun."
"Oh, I see... Anyway, did Yuna get in okay?"
"Yeah, she's fine."
"Good."
She still looked half-asleep. Rat-tat-tat. That's when the sentry gun fired again.
"Pretty noisy, huh."
I agreed. I'd have to find a way to muffle the sentry gun's noise.
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