Upgrade (1)
Just as Du-ho was about to begin upgrading Isto, he turned his head for a moment.
On the shelf of parts.
An old box engraved with a gear pattern caught his eye.
I only bound it to me back then... and now I’m finally going to use it.
.
.
.
The night before.
Before going to bed, Du-ho had remembered the Legacy of the Forgotten Technician, the reward he’d received from a quest.
In the end, he gave up on sleep and headed straight for the Garage.
Tap-tap-tap, tap—tap.
The sound of keyboard keys rattled through the dark like a cutting edge slicing it open.
“You’re at it all night again?”
At Du-ho’s words, Isto turned their head.
A faint sulk flickered across the LED eyes.
“You said I didn’t even know what a credit card was, Du-ho nim... so I’m studying society and stuff, hamda.”
“You really do come up with every excuse in the book.”
“But what’s up, imkka?”
Du-ho went to the shelf, took out the box engraved with the gear pattern, and set it on the workbench.
“That’s the quest reward box, isn’t it?”
“I forgot about it because I’ve had so much on my plate.”
Du-ho mumbled as he examined the box from every angle.
“I wanted to see what was inside before bed.”
Click.
When the lid opened, the box was packed with dazzling silver dust. It was finer than flour and shimmered softly in the air.
What am I even supposed to do with this...?
Just as disappointment began to settle in, Isto’s LED eyes flashed.
Oh~
“I didn’t expect to see this, hamda!”
“What is it?”
“Nanobots, imda. A very precious technological legacy!”
“These are nanobots?”
Du-ho peered into the box.
“They’re actually on the larger side for nanobots, hamda. Well, not that Du-ho nim would be able to see what they look like anyway.”
“So what can I do with them?”
“Seeing is believing! Please give them a touch yourself, imda.”
Du-ho tilted his head and lightly touched the silver dust.
Would you like to bind the nanobots?
Accept / Decline
When Du-ho accepted, the powder gave off a light and sank into his hand. The silver current spread up his arm and through his body.
“W-what is this?!”
Startled, Du-ho shook his hand out, and Isto said,
“It’s fine, hamda. They should’ve settled into your body by now.”
As if to prove Isto right, the system message appeared.
The nanobots have been bound.
Level up is possible through stat investment.
“Stat investment, too...?”
“That’s right, hamda. Right now they can only handle limited tasks, but as their level rises, they’ll be able to provide defense, offense, and even external robot control.”
Du-ho’s eyes sparkled.
“Then I can use them for precision work, too?”
“Of course, imda! Even gaps that tools or hands can’t reach won’t be a problem. Anyway, how far they grow depends entirely on Du-ho nim.”
.
.
.
After recounting what had happened the night before, Du-ho stared at the silver dust lingering over his arm.
Hoo...
He steadied his breathing and gathered his will.
Then—
From his fingertips, tiny silver grains began to flow out little by little.
But that was all.
Hm?
He focused harder, but it still only trembled and rippled.
“Isto, why isn’t this work—”
Before he could even finish the question, a system message popped up.
Level too low.
Isto, looking like they’d just remembered something important, hurried to speak.
“Du-ho nim, you need to use your stats to raise its level, hamda. I forgot to mention that. Ah, and you need to raise your Mana Circuit and Mana Affinity stats, too, imda.”
“Those, too?”
“Yep. Nanobots are sensitive to mana flow, hamda. If your stats are too weak, they won’t be able to use their full strength no matter how high their level goes. If Du-ho nim handles mana more powerfully, they’ll level up on their own.”
After hearing the explanation, Du-ho opened the main status window.
Du-ho looked over the stats again.
“Even I can tell Mana Circuit 15 is a bit much...”
Then he looked at the available stat points.
They really piled up.
It made sense, in a way. Since he’d awakened, he hadn’t paid much attention to his status window. The reason was simple: Isto handled everything, so there hadn’t been much need to worry about it.
“If you had just 90 more experience, you’d be level 50... that’s a real shame.”
“I’ll get there again, so don’t worry about it.”
But the thought that came to him next was this:
When I hit level 50... I’ll get another super-intelligence, won’t I?
Du-ho glanced sidelong at Isto.
What if...
He’d have to hear about world conquest twice over?
“Du-ho nim?”
He snapped out of it at Isto’s voice.
“I’ll start with the nanobots first.”
“Just press the nanobot level, hamda.”
Following Isto’s instructions, a new status window opened.
Gasp!
“...Fifty?”
He hesitated at the unexpectedly high number, and Isto offered advice.
“It’d be best to raise it to level 2 and spread some of the rest into Mana Circuit and Mana Affinity, hamda.”
“What about Machine Knowledge and Crafting Power?”
“Hmm, just a little more should be enough, hamda.”
Du-ho followed the advice and distributed the stats.
Seeing his available stats drop to zero, Du-ho made a gloomy face.
“Don’t worry, hamda! I’ll just work harder!”
“No, don’t overdo it.”
“Neh?”
“If we’re going to stay at it for the long haul, take it easy.”
“...Understood, hamda. Hehehe.”
Crack, crack!
Du-ho flexed the joints of his fingers.
Now then.
“I’m starting.”
With those words, he concentrated his mind.
Swish.
The silver dust flowing from his fingertips began to move in accordance with his will.
Clink, clack, clack—
Silver particles wrapped around Isto’s left arm, flowing over it as screws and bolts loosened with no resistance at all.
Unlike tools, the nanobots could slip into the tightest gaps and dismantle Isto’s arm smoothly without damaging the mechanism.
So this is possible.
Now he understood why Isto had praised them so highly.
Du-ho looked at the disassembled arm and activated Part Detection.
Crackle—
In an instant, Isto’s joint structure spread out clearly in his mind like a 3D blueprint.
It was the moment where all the hands-on experience he’d accumulated until now linked perfectly with his Mechromancer abilities.
What’s more, after investing stats just now, he was more skilled than before.
Ha... this is insane.
The nanobots and Part Detection combo is ridiculous.
Isto spoke while looking at Du-ho.
“You seem much more comfortable than before, hamda.”
“It’s not that I seem comfortable. I’m too comfortable.”
“If Du-ho nim likes it, then I’m happy too, imda. Hehe.”
When the disassembly was done, Du-ho pulled out a lump of amorphous alloy from his bag. It was the ax head of a King’s Ratkin he’d found on the first floor of the Abyss.
As he gathered mana at his fingertips, Metal Manipulation activated.
Tap—
The moment his fingers touched it, the metal of the ax head peeled away as easily as dough.
This makes no sense. Seriously... this is amazing!
Lost in bliss, Du-ho began shaping the new joint part according to the blueprint in his head.
At that moment—
[Visual effect description]
Effect:[Effect description]
Duration:[Duration]
It felt almost like he was being praised over and over again, and deep in his heart a ticklish warmth spread. Watching the result in front of him grow smoother and smoother was, quite frankly...
There’s nothing better than this.
Wooooong—
The amorphous alloy flowed like water, changing into the shape he wanted.
The work was far more precise and far faster than before.
At last!
As he was about to install the newly made joint into Isto’s arm, the nanobots became Du-ho’s third hand and helped with the assembly with razor precision.
Once he drew the nanobots back, Du-ho wore a satisfied expression.
“Thanks to the amorphous alloy, it can conduct mana, too. That means it should be able to put out even more force.”
In other words, powered up!
Whoooosh—!
When Isto swung their arm, the air split and a gust of pressure surged outward.
Ohhhh!
“I want to get into the Abyss right away, hamda!”
And one week later.
All of Isto’s joints had been replaced with amorphous alloy.
Maybe that was why.
Isto’s movements had become much smoother, and their speed was now noticeably faster than before.
* * *
Saturday afternoon.
Du-ho stood at the entrance to the commercial district in Yeouido Sector 2.
He fingered the Ratkin magic stone in his hand.
Shall we get started?
“Isto.”
“Neh?”
“Find me the places in Yeouido Sector 2 with the best reviews for magic stone sales.”
“Oh~ got it, hamda.”
While Isto gathered information inside the Garage using a laptop, Du-ho slowly looked around the commercial district.
And soon—
“Done, hamda. Adadadadada!”
With that, Isto sent the list into Du-ho’s mind.
Luckily, it was short enough not to give him a headache.
Du-ho thought over the list and started walking somewhere. Then he stopped in front of a magic stone shop.
This is the place with the best reviews, huh?
“Yep, that’s right, hamda. But how did you figure that out?”
I’m going to get the highest price I can here, then post the proof on the review board.
“Ehh??”
At Isto’s shrill cry, the corner of Du-ho’s mouth lifted.
If your list and the information you gave me are right, then this place becomes the benchmark and the other shops will have to compete on price.
Oh! Oh!
“Du-ho nim really is something else, imda!”
Du-ho took a deep breath and opened the shop door.
He pretended to look around the interior and hesitated.
A middle-aged man looked up from a holographic news broadcast.
“Looking for something?”
“I... I’m here to sell some magic stones.”
The owner looked Du-ho up and down, then let a clearly readable expression cross his face.
A sucker just walked in.
“What kind of magic stones?”
Carefully, Du-ho took out ten light-violet magic stones.
The owner recognized them immediately.
The hottest Ratkin stones on the market these days.
Outwardly he remained calm, but his mind was already racing.
The problem isn’t that the purchase price is 100,000 coins. It’s that there’s almost no supply on the market right now. Still, if he looks like a sucker, I should haggle him down.
A moment of silence passed.
The owner made a smooth offer.
“I’ll buy all ten at a cool 90,000 coins each. How’s that sound?”
Du-ho let out a small, disappointed sigh.
“That seems lower than market price...”
“Ah, you didn’t know? There’s a lot of stock on hand these days. The price went up, so everybody and their brother is hauling it in to sell.”
At the owner’s lie, Du-ho gathered up the magic stones and turned away.
“...Take care.”
And then...
Tap. Rattle-rattle.
He deliberately dropped one of the stones.
The owner’s eyes reflexively went to the floor, then widened.
Because it was a King’s Ratkin magic stone.
Huh—!
Why is that here!
The owner rushed over on reflex.
“Wait! That... that’s a King’s Ratkin stone, right?”
“Yes, but...”
Seeing Du-ho pretend to be flustered, the owner’s attitude changed in an instant.
“Hey, hey, young man. Why the rush? Sit down first and have a cup of coffee. Come on, let me treat you properly.”
The owner hurriedly brewed some instant coffee.
Not long ago, a King’s Ratkin magic stone had sold at auction for 10 million coins.
If he bought it and held it a little longer, the price would rise even more. There was no way he could let this opportunity slip.
“From the look of it, you brought all of them to sell. I was too brusque just now. We get a lot of people who just come to window-shop and leave, you know? Heh heh heh.”
The owner changed his tune and made a sweeter offer.
“I’ll buy them for 100,000 coins. As for the King’s Ratkin one... 10 million, of course...”
“I’ll pass. I only brought them out because I had an urgent reason.”
As Du-ho started to get up, the owner hurriedly added,
“Ah, don’t be like that... 110,000! I’m only offering you this because you’re special.”
Du-ho paused for a beat, then asked,
“Um... 120,000 would be too much, wouldn’t it?”
“Uh, uh?”
Just as the owner’s worries deepened, Du-ho spoke casually.
“Then I’ll head back first. And the King’s Ratkin one... I’ll think about it a little more and get back to you.”
Du-ho got up from his seat, walked to the display case, and picked up the owner’s business card.
After staring at it on purpose, he tucked it into his wallet.
At that, the owner brightened and held out his hand.
“Fine, 120,000! It’s a little embarrassing to say this myself, but just know our shop is the most generous one around. And the King’s Ratkin... I’ll buy it for 10.5 million, all right? Don’t think too hard about it.”
A little later.
An alert popped up on Du-ho’s smartwatch.
Not long after that, he uploaded the negotiated price with the shop owner, along with a photo giving a thumbs-up, to the review board.
Of course, he didn’t actually sell the King’s Ratkin magic stone.
He had only left the suggestion hanging that he might.
As soon as he left the shop, Isto marveled.
Oh~
“You could become an actor, hamda.”
After that, everything moved like clockwork.
Using the first shop’s price as the benchmark, he kept haggling exactly as planned, raising the price each time.
Over the course of half a day, he visited twenty shops.
And dealt with 300 Ratkin magic stones.
And then...
4.3 million coins sat in his account.
The biggest money Im Du-ho had ever touched in his life.