For Family (2)
Im Du-ho looked around the inside of the Garage.
It was a space of barely thirty square meters. A worn light hung from the ceiling, and along the walls, metal shelves were packed tight with parts.
Hmm….
There’s no workbench.
That was when Isto asked him.
-Do you like it, Du-ho nim?
To Du-ho, a machine nerd, this place was more than just “likable.”
This was exactly the kind of snug little space where he had always wanted to spend his twilight years, tinkering with machines and living at his own pace.
“Feels like I’ve made my dream come true.”
-…Your dream is kind of stingy, though.
“Huh? What was that?”
Isto hurriedly shared new information.
-As your level goes up, the Garage will expand and gain more functions.
“I see.”
-Of course, you’ll have to handle my upgrade, Du-ho nim.
“…Me?”
-Of course! That’s how I’ll be able to break free from this tiny body!
Looking again, Du-ho realized Isto’s grumbling voice was coming from overhead.
He looked up.
Suspended from the steel wire in the ceiling was a shabby little robot. It was the same humanoid he had fought the Ratkin with in the Rift.
When Du-ho stared, Isto spoke up.
-This is the body I use. Would you mind lowering me with the remote?
Du-ho pressed the down button on the hoist remote mounted to the wall.
Whirrrrr─.
The humanoid on the ceiling… no, Isto, slowly descended.
Ahh!
-I feel alive again.
Isto’s LED eyes beneath the helmet curved in apparent satisfaction.
Thud!
Once on the floor, Isto stretched and then walked toward Du-ho.
But something was off.
“Wait. Walk over there again.”
-Huh?
“I said walk.”
When Isto took a few steps, Du-ho’s brow furrowed.
“I knew it. The right knee joint’s twisted.”
-Whoa! How did you know that?
Isto looked down at its own leg.
Du-ho said, “You must’ve messed it up fighting those monsters earlier. I’ll take a look.”
-You, Du-ho nim? This needs specialized knowledge….
“I worked on androids for six years.”
The moment Du-ho said that and looked toward the shelves stacked with parts—
Crackle!
As though augmented reality had switched on, part numbers and simple descriptions floated in the air.
Du-ho rubbed his eyes.
“What the… why can I see this?”
Ohhh!
-The Mechromancer’s skill, Part Detection, has activated, hamda!
At that, Du-ho looked at Isto’s knee.
A warning marker appeared over the joint.
Then a diagnosis tag blinked into existence: ‘No. KJ-047, servo joint malfunction’!
Du-ho wiped a hand over his face.
Wow….
This is basically free loot.
He found it fascinating and examined the parts on the shelves.
It was thrilling, almost like looking at a game inventory, as part numbers and descriptions hovered in midair and spilled into his sight.
But there was no part that fit Isto’s knee.
Huh.
“This is a bit of a problem.”
-No need to worry about it. Once the Garage is upgraded later, we’ll be able to solve it then.
“No, that won’t do.”
Du-ho inspected the Garage equipment.
Seeing that, Isto asked,
-What are you planning to do?
“I think I can make one based on the left knee part.”
-You mean make it yourself?
After another look around, Du-ho finally tugged at one corner of his mouth.
“If I went to the Bureau, they could’ve handled it for me… no, wait. That part on the shelf. The shape is a little different, but if I can reshape it, I think it’ll work.”
As Du-ho looked up, disappointed, Isto’s LED eyes blinked.
-If you want to reshape it, I recommend using the skill Metal Manipulation.
“Metal Manipulation?”
-Yes. Though you won’t be able to master it right away.
In other words—
“I’ll need practice?”
-That’s right. Simply bending or fusing it is possible, but mechanic parts are different. If the thickness, size, or workmanship is off by even 0.1 millimeters….
“It’s defective.”
-Whoa! You know that?
“Damn right. I spent six years in the Machine Upcycling department.”
Maybe because his Machine Knowledge and Crafting Power stats were so high, or maybe for another reason, once Du-ho widened his eyes, a blueprint of Isto’s left knee part unfurled in his mind.
It felt like a challenge, daring him to try making it himself.
It’s tempting me this hard. How could I not give it a shot?
Then a quest window appeared before him.
Du-ho took a step back and scanned the quest window.
A workbench as the reward?
“There’s even less reason to give up now.”
A smile slowly lifted the corners of Du-ho’s mouth.
-Wait!
Just as Du-ho was about to accept, he hesitated.
Then Isto warned him.
-There’s no indication of attempt count, but… you’ll probably only be able to try as many times as there are material parts on the shelf.
“Really?”
Du-ho walked over to the shelf and counted the parts.
“Four, huh.”
-Which means you only have four chances, hamda.
Du-ho tensed a little.
Four chances….
That’s a bit nerve-racking.
After taking a moment to steady his breathing, he picked up a scrap of metal lying in the corner of the shelf.
“Let’s practice first.”
-Oh! Wise choice. I’ll show you how to use the skill.
When Du-ho nodded, Isto began explaining.
-First, move your mana to the tips of your fingers. Then….
“Hold on. Move mana to my fingertips? I can’t feel that sort of thing.”
The moment he heard the word mana, Du-ho realized he had been rash.
There was no time limit on the quest.
And yet, had he been too hasty?
Just then, Isto held out a metal hand.
-If you can sense mana, you’ll pick it up quickly! Take my hand, please.
When Du-ho took Isto’s rough metal hand—
Wooooong….
Isto’s chest glowed faintly blue, and mana flowed into Du-ho’s fingertips like a fine electric current.
Seeing Du-ho flinch, Isto said,
-Close your eyes and feel the flow entering your fingertips right now. See where it moves… just follow it.
Du-ho shut his eyes as instructed.
And then, incredibly.
He could see a delicate thread of light moving through his body from his fingertips inward.
It was an unfamiliar, strangely exquisite sensation, like electricity coursing over an intricate circuit.
“A tiny light’s moving like a thread.”
-Oho! That’s right, hamda. Follow it as it is.
Drawn by Isto’s words, Du-ho focused, almost as though he were tracking that slender beam of light with his eyes.
Then—
This… it feels like it’s heading toward my heart.
That was when Isto spoke again.
-Now, move the mana stored in Du-ho nim’s chest along the mana I’ve sent you.
Du-ho frowned and reached carefully into the depths of his chest.
How much time passed?
Just when he began to wonder if this was even possible—
Fwoosh─
A small knot of mana gathered in his chest twitched and began to move.
Like a tiny ball of thread coming undone, the light followed the path Isto had laid out.
“I did it!”
-Well done. Keep pushing with that momentum!
From there, the flow had no more resistance.
It had only been difficult at first; once he caught the feeling, the path opened in an instant.
To be honest, if Isto hadn’t been there to guide him, it would have taken an ordinary awakened person a full year to figure this process out alone.
Of course, Du-ho didn’t know that.
He opened his eyes.
A tiny bead of light was gathered at the tip of his finger.
-Now, clearly imagine the shape you want in your mind, and then deform the metal.
“I have to picture it?”
-Yes. The clearer the image, and the more skilled your mana control, the more precise the transformation will be. But the more precise it gets, the more mana it consumes.
Du-ho gathered mana at his fingertip and touched the scrap of metal.
Let’s just bend it a little.
He tried to transform it without any image at all—
Eh? Eh-eh?!
“I-It does that?”
-Heh. You touched it without a clear image, after all.
The metal sagged and lost its shape like taffy.
How much time passed?
He kept concentrating and trying to reshape it.
When the metal slowly began bending into the form he wanted—
“My eyes feel dry, and I’m getting tired….”
Just as Isto had said, the clearer the image, the more fatigue crept in.
“…It’s harder than I thought.”
-Well done. If you keep practicing, you’ll improve, hamda.
Isto had intended to end practice here and urge Du-ho to try again tomorrow, but….
Du-ho walked to the shelf and picked up another part!
-You’re trying right away?
“I’ve got the feel for it now. And honestly, I just need to make a slight adjustment.”
With that, Du-ho made his first real attempt.
-Du-ho nim, it’s not going to be that easy….
[Precision requirement satisfied: 99.97%]
[Quest complete!]
-Ehh?! That worked?
Already stunned, the system popped up another status window.
[Excess achievement reward granted]
Reward:2% reduction in Metal Manipulation mana consumption
Isto’s LED eyes widened.
Ohhhh!
-Congratulations! I’ve never seen that before either!
Du-ho clenched his fist and sprang to his feet, striking a victorious pose.
Then, in the empty space beside him, a workbench materialized!
The machine nerd in Du-ho felt like his dopamine was about to burst out of his skull.
“Isto, get on the workbench. I’ll fix you.”
-Yes!
Du-ho picked up a tool and carefully began disassembling Isto’s leg.
Rattle… rattle….
Even each screw and bolt came loose with precision, and the faint sound of metal friction echoed softly through the workshop.
The more focused Du-ho became, the faster and more accurate his hands grew.
In the blink of an eye, one leg had been removed, and Isto’s LED eyes blinked in surprise.
He removed the damaged part and replaced it with the new one he had just tuned with Metal Manipulation.
As the bolts and contacts locked into place, the sharp clack unique to metal rang through the workshop.
And then….
By the time Isto’s leg was fully repaired—
“By the way, Isto, what’s your power source? How are you still moving even in a Rift?”
-Hmm. Look here, please.
Clank─.
Isto’s chest plate opened slightly, revealing the interior.
Du-ho forgot to breathe and stared blankly inside.
That was only natural, because inside there was some unfamiliar device turning slowly.
Within a transparent sphere, a blue circuit pulsed like living veins, faintly glowing as it flowed and shifted.
“…What is that?”
-A mana circuit, hamda. A technology unique to the Mechromancer. You’ll understand soon enough.
The instant he finished speaking, unfamiliar knowledge poured into Du-ho’s mind.
The circuit’s structure, the flow of mana, the connection points where it joined machinery….
Overwhelmed by the flood of information, Du-ho’s breathing grew ragged.
Ugh….
Vertigo surged through him.
The world before his eyes swayed dizzyingly, while the puzzle pieces in his mind still scattered apart, not yet aligned.
Du-ho steadied himself and spoke.
“It feels like I can almost grasp it… but then it slips away, like sand in my hands.”
-I’ve already transmitted the knowledge, but it seems your level is too low to understand it easily. Once you level up, you’ll be able to absorb it gradually.
In the midst of it all, Du-ho learned one thing about mana circuits.
“You run on magic stones?”
-One a day is enough, hamda. Of course, if there’s a lot to do, I’ll need more.
“Makes sense. You’re using more energy.”
Just as Du-ho was nodding in understanding—
Whirrrrr─.
Isto moved its leg around, then gave him a thumbs-up.
-Oh~ This is much better than my previous master!
“Previous master? Who was your previous master?”
When Du-ho asked, Isto’s body spasmed for an instant, and question marks appeared on the LED screen where its eyes should have been.
-My previous master? What do you mean?
“You just said it.”
-That’s strange. I don’t remember saying anything like that?
Du-ho stroked his chin and fell into thought for a moment.
Could it be….
“Maybe someone sealed your memories?”
-Who knows.
Something about it felt off, but….
Well.
It wasn’t something he needed to know right this second.
“Should we head out soon?”
-Yes!
* * *
Du-ho left the Garage and returned to his room.
What was interesting was that he had spent quite a while in the Garage, and yet when he came back—
It had only been a minute.
Flop—
He let himself fall onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling.
He had awakened as a hunter.
And somehow, by some twist of fate, he had gained the workshop he had always dreamed of.
Above all….
“I even got a strange partner.”
-I am extremely normal, hamda.
Turning his head, Du-ho saw Isto standing in humanoid form inside the room.
“If you stay there and my family sees you….”
-Then I’ll just say I was made by Du-ho nim.
“You’re smarter than I expected.”
-Heh. This much is nothing.
“But I don’t exactly have an alibi for hauling you in today.”
-Eek!
Isto’s LED eyes rippled like waves and then turned into two oversized teardrops.
“I’m kidding. Who’d walk in at bedtime?”
-Th-then…?
“I’m going to sleep, so rest easy.”
-Ohhh. Thank you, hamda!
A little later, Du-ho lay down on the bed and fell fast asleep.
And then….
Oh ho~ oh! Oh~.
Isto let out sounds of admiration while peering into an antique-looking laptop.
Its LED eyes were wide and unblinking, as though it didn’t want to miss a single thing on the screen.
In one hand, it held the magic stone extracted from the Ratkin’s body….
Crack, crunch.
Chewing it like a snack, it looked exactly like a gaming addict holed up in his room.