Chapter 36
I’m translating the chapter and formatting it into HTML now; I’ll keep the in-universe UI content in styled blocks and preserve the narrative flow.CHAPTER_TITLE: Sorting Things Out (3)
Just for fun, Du-ho had said, “Whose stuff should we look at first?”
Oh! Oh! OLLL!!!
Isto started bouncing in place at the edge of the tanker section’s shelves.
The little troublemaker jabbed an excited finger at a placard stuck to the corner of the shelf.
First purchase bonus: 10 points
When Du-ho saw the sign, he tilted his head.
...Huh?
He was the only customer in the place, and yet there was a special promotion message just like a real supermarket.
Well...
If the System’s giving things away, there’s no reason not to take it.
Du-ho headed toward the tanker section.
Then—
—?
Whirr─.
Across the way, Hoguai’s targeting scope snapped toward him.
He swept the shelves thoroughly, but...
Nothing.
Not even a promotion tag, let alone a special event message. Only the merciless regular price labels.
“W-why!”
Watching that, Isto drove the nail in deeper.
—The System knows too, y’know. Who’s moreeeeee important! Heehee.
A crescent smile appeared in the LED eyes.
By contrast, Hoguai trembled with suppressed fury.
As Du-ho browsed the parts in the tanker section, a pair of knuckles caught his eye.
Grade: Power +5
Price: 10P
If Isto equipped these, the impact output would go up.
But the instant he checked the price again...
Ten points...
That first-purchase bonus was ten points...
Du-ho’s eyes widened.
“This... is free?”
—That’s right! Free, imda!
LED fireworks burst in the air.
“How do I buy it?”
—Just go to the kiosk, imda!
.
.
.
In front of the kiosk.
Following Isto’s instructions, Du-ho typed knuckles into the search bar.
Before long, a window asking whether he wanted to purchase them appeared.
The payment method’s kind of unusual.
He hit confirm with a light heart.
Clink.
With the sound of coins, the points were deducted.
> Remaining points: 990
> First purchase bonus of 10 points has been credited
In the end, it was still 1,000 points.
“There, wear this.”
Oh! Oh! Oh!
Isto, now wearing the knuckles, spun around in circles.
While he was at it, Du-ho checked the stats with Part Detection.
Isto’s striking power had gone from 65 to 70.
Hmm...
Not bad.
Meanwhile, in the dealer section.
Hoguai had gone rigid after discovering a flyer tucked into the corner of the display rack.
—...How could this be.
The focus in his scope wavered.
If he bought now, he’d lose money on everything.
Truly.
Does the System hate me...?
Just as that suspicion surfaced, whirr─.
His scope caught a glimmer in the corner.
Blueprint Corner
Hoguai approached.
Neatly arranged blueprints rested on the shelf.
What caught his eye was—
Grade: Fire rate +37
Price: 800P
And beside it, a tiny shining sticker.
In other words, the actual purchase price was 400 points!
Light.
He could see heaven!
Kiiyaaaahh!
Hoguai clenched his fists as if he’d reclaimed a nation.
He rushed to Du-ho in a single stride.
—The System does not hate me.
“Hm?”
—Iron heads are inefficient, so they’re regular price!
When Du-ho tilted his head, Hoguai pointed at the Blueprint Corner sign.
—I’m half off!
“What are you talking about?”
As if shaking off all the humiliation he’d suffered so far, he grabbed Du-ho by the hand and pulled him over there.
Only after seeing the blueprint did Du-ho understand Hoguai’s rambling.
That guy really threw me off; he’s not usually this worked up.
But more importantly...
“I thought they only sold finished products, but they’ve got blueprints too?”
—That is correct.
Fire rate, huh...
Du-ho nodded.
“This is something we should buy.”
Hoguai brightened and chimed in.
—If one is a true Mechromancer, one should craft it oneself and even tune it...
—A waste of time, imda.
Isto, who had come over without anyone noticing, cut him off.
“What?”
—Look at this, imda.
What Isto held up was a blueprint for a tanker-exclusive part.
It was meant to boost durability by dispersing impact.
Du-ho narrowed his eyes at the price.
“300 points for +25 durability isn’t bad, is it?”
—Not really, imda.
Isto tugged Du-ho by the hand and dragged him to the tanker parts section.
—Looky here~~~!
Finished parts were already on display.
Buy it, and you could swap it in immediately.
But...
“Then of course it’d be expe— huh?”
The part Isto found was, in fact, on sale.
Half of the 660-point sale price would be...
330?
What the hell.
“...That’s almost the same price as the blueprint.”
—Exactly, imda. From a long-limbed efficiency nut’s perspective, this is the correct answer! Heehee~~
In the end, Hoguai exploded and drew out a steel arrow.
—Y-you bastard! Efficiency nut, you say!
—Oh~ You wanna go, imkka?
As the tension climbed, Du-ho waved them down.
“Hey, how about we just don’t buy either of them?”
—Ehh?!
—Hm?
At Du-ho’s words, the two of them fell quiet.
More than that...
“Let’s look at the monitoring equipment too.”
Just as the kiosk had told him at the start, Du-ho activated Part Detection.
Crackle!
As he thought of monitoring equipment, an arrow appeared in front of him.
This is seriously amazing.
He followed the arrow and looked up at the sign.
Monitoring Equipment
Various devices were displayed on the shelf.
Du-ho’s gaze settled on the lowest shelf.
Du-ho blinked.
If the video resolution was 240p...
—It’s 426×240 pixels, imda.
Isn’t that too small?
Honestly, he couldn’t even picture it.
Then he looked at the model right above it.
Seeing the price, Du-ho’s lips twisted.
It was only a slightly larger screen, and yet the points were vicious.
He looked back at the 240P monitoring device.
Then his eye caught the notice beside it.
After reading that, he checked the other monitoring devices around him...
“Only the 240p one gets a demo, huh.”
It felt suspiciously like a deliberate demo, as if the display itself were saying, This device is inconvenient!
Still, what could he do?
I am curious, though.
Du-ho took a demo sticker from a small box beside the shelf.
Mana Pointer Sticker
※Demo use available for 1 minute after attachment
He turned to Isto.
“Isto, stick this on yourself.”
—Yes, sir!
Isto slapped the sticker onto his chest.
When Du-ho activated the 240p device, the screen lit up.
Isto appeared inside it.
The already tiny body looked even smaller inside the screen.
Wow...
Still, a gasp slipped out.
And there wasn’t even a camera.
“How does it show that?”
Still, at this level, it would be much less frustrating when he was alone in the Garage.
When the demo time ended,
Du-ho’s gaze naturally drifted to the higher-end models.
The screen looked considerably wider.
He kept browsing and found—
—Looks like the final boss?
—That price is outrageous.
A line in the description caught Du-ho’s eye.
It didn’t cost him anything, anyway.
“Let’s try this one too.”
This time Hoguai applied the sticker.
Then—
Woom─.
With a majestic hum, a hologram rose in midair.
When Hoguai stepped back a few paces, even the surrounding environment unfolded in three dimensions.
Wow...
It even rendered the terrain around them perfectly.
“This is killer.”
Du-ho swallowed hard.
He’d have to buy it someday, no matter what!
So that was why they’d shown the demo.
When the brief demo ended, and he looked at the device again, it seemed to glow with an almost sacred light, maybe because of the price.
If I clear Abyss faster and keep going down, I’ll be able to gather more points...
Gah!
He immediately shook his head hard.
Ugh.
“Greed is making me think dangerous things.”
—...Honestly, it is a good device.
—That’s right, imda!
Du-ho reached for the 240P device.
—Du-ho-nim.
“Yeah?”
—Buy ours later and pick the 480p one, imda.
Hoguai nodded too.
—I agree. The 240p one is... too small.
“......”
Du-ho stared at the two of them.
They were so happy when the parts shop opened.
A faint smile spread across his lips.
“It’s fine. I’m buying this.”
—But still...
He boldly grabbed the 240p device.
“Go get the things we said we’d each buy and bring them to the kiosk.”
—M-Mechromancer!
—Du-ho-nim!
Moved, the two of them dashed back to their respective sections. Watching their backs, Du-ho thought:
Hunters, too, depended on gear the deeper they went into Abyss.
Those guys will probably need upgrades from this shop too.
“Good buy.”
A little later, the three of them had selected exactly what they needed, settled the payment, and returned to the Garage.
* * *
A few days later, at 3 a.m.
Du-ho, dressed in black training clothes, had his face hidden beneath a silver mask made of nanobots.
The moment he stepped through the Save Point, the back alleys of Yeouido Sector 3 opened before him.
“All right, let’s go.”
He adjusted the mask and slipped into the darkness.
Spot─.
Du-ho sprinted through the deserted street.
—Mechromancer-nim. Fifty meters ahead, fixed CCTV at the upper right. Rotation cycle is 15 seconds.
So this is how the 240P device gets used.
Hoguai’s voice, monitoring from the Garage, echoed in his head.
A few days earlier, while Du-ho had been working at Moru Workshop, Hoguai had mapped out the surveillance net and traffic flow for this whole area.
“Okay.”
As his level kept rising, the assassination techniques Isto had drilled into him began to shine.
Whirr. Spot.
The instant the CCTV turned its gaze, Du-ho slipped into the blind spot.
He twisted his body and slid into the next alley.
That was when he felt it.
Movement from the far end of the alley.
Several sets of footsteps.
Those are heavy steps.
Instinctively, he threw himself into the darkness between buildings and hid.
A moment later, three or four men passed through the alley.
The one leading them was a broad-shouldered man with sharp eyes.
Hmm?
...Isn’t that guy?
It was Han San-ho, the leader of the Han San Guild.
He stopped short.
“...?”
Han San-ho’s gaze sliced through the darkness.
“What is it?”
“No... I could’ve sworn there was someone there just now.”
Han San-ho frowned.
“Damn it, it’s gone...”
“Probably just a cat. Who’d be wandering around at this hour?”
“No, it was too sharp for a cat.”
He stared a little longer, then turned away at his subordinate’s urging.
“Let’s move. We still have to support the assault on the 66th floor tomorrow.”
“...Right.”
Once they were gone, Du-ho let out the breath he’d been holding.
Huu...
That startled me.
At the workshop, they hadn’t even been able to recognize his face, but they sensed his presence like a ghost.
—He’s higher rank than Du-ho-nim, so he probably noticed, imda.
“...Really?”
—Yes, sir.
Well, he’d just said they were going to the 66th floor, so he was definitely a strong one.
Du-ho rubbed his chest.
Be careful.
He moved again toward his destination.
Soon, he reached the Lost-and-Found Center.
He approached the tightly locked shutter.
Did they lock it up because it’s dawn?
Rustle.
The nanobots flowing from his fingertips slipped into the keyhole.
Click.
The lock opened.
After lifting the shutter, he used the nanobots to turn the internal camera’s gaze up toward the ceiling.
And then...
“Isto, do me a favor.”
—......
“Isto?”
—Iron head! Stop drawing that weird picture and get out here!
—Ehh?! You’re insulting my design now, imkka!!
“Design?”
Only then did Isto answer in a rush.
—I’m coming out, imda! Leave it to me!
He emerged from the Garage.
Even with burlap sacks dangling from both shoulders and both hands, he looked completely at ease.
Well.
He did carry a dragon once, so I guess that makes sense?
Thud, thunk...
Isto stacked ten burlap sacks in the center of the lost-and-found office.
—Done, imda!
“What were you doing?”
—Designing Du-ho-nim’s character, imda.
Du-ho tilted his head, deciding to ask about that later.
And then...
He looked at the piled sacks for a while.
He hadn’t touched the contents.
He knew exactly what they meant.
If this were my family...
The pain of waiting without even being able to find a body.
For the bereaved, even a single bloodstained keepsake like this would be precious.
Du-ho closed his eyes for a moment and prayed for their peace.
“...Let’s go back.”
He slipped back into the mist-wreathed heart of Yeouido.
* * *
At commuting hour in Yeouido.
Yaaawn...
A lost-and-found employee yawned as he raised the shutter.
Rattle─ thunk!
“Huh?”
The moment the shutter lifted, the pile of burlap sacks in the center came into view.
“What is this?!”
The employee frowned and walked over.
Old, rough burlap sacks.
“No, there’s CCTV here too, so what idiot dumped this illegally?”
Fuming, the employee yanked at one of the sacks.
Ugh.
“Why is this so heav— whoa!”
The sack slipped from his hand.
Rattle... clatter!
What had been inside spilled out.
“W-what!”
Old gear rolled across the floor.
It wasn’t trash.
His gaze locked onto the items scattered on the ground.
“Uh...?”
What he couldn’t make sense of were the bulletproof helmets and rusty K2 rifles mixed in among them.
Clink, clink...
With trembling hands, the employee picked something up.
Plastic awakened-registration cards, the kind no longer used since digitization.
He narrowed his eyes and looked at one of them.
NAME:Han Hyeon-jun
ID:780401-1××××××
REGISTERED:2001. 05. ××
EMERGENCY CONTACT:Han Hyeon-cheol (01×-×××-×××)
[Report findings / observations]
The employee’s eyes moved to the emergency contact.
“S-so I call this number? The name is...”
...Han Hyeon-cheol?
His eyes widened all at once.
“Could it be... Chairman Han Hyeon-cheol?”
The head of one of Yeouido’s five great hunter families.
That name, here?
No, no. It’s probably just someone with the same name.
The employee shook his head and looked back at the relics spread across the table.
Old bulletproof helmets, rusty K2 rifles, and dozens of plastic registration cards.
Most of them seemed to be items used in the early 2000s.
Swallowing dryly, he picked up the phone with trembling hands.
“Still... I should check.”
The relics someone had finally brought in were the lonely return of heroes whose names had already been lost.