Lucky Repair Shop
The fastest memory semiconductor on Earth. Did that even make sense?
"The number showing up in Task Manager has to be wrong, right?"
Yeah. That had to be it.
Which was more likely—that the RAM stuck in my computer was the fastest memory chip in the world, or that my computer had simply thrown an error?
Under normal circumstances, the answer would have been obvious: error.
But.
"This is the one they fixed in the Nano World."
Just what the hell had those people done to it?
The Nano World itself already defied all logic.
"They made something impossible inside a place that was already impossible… so somehow it starts to make sense."
We couldn't fix it, but the nano people could?
Semiconductors were impossibly small—but to them, maybe not so small after all?
In the first place, when I'd told the tiny people to try fixing a tiny object, I had literally meant "try fixing it." I hadn't asked them to turn it into some mind-blowing super-semiconductor.
"Ahem. Fact-check first."
No getting excited yet.
You could judge RAM speed by the number floating in Task Manager, sure—but you could also verify it by throwing a job at it that actually needed raw speed.
Task Manager might glitch. But if I made it do things ordinary RAM simply could not, I'd know exactly how fast it really was.
Click. Click.
"Time to render a video."
I'd had some video editing work a little while back.
Rendering—taking the edits and baking every change into a finished video file—was the part that always ate time.
"Last time it took about thirty minutes… wonder how long it'll take now?"
This wasn't about trusting a number in Task Manager. This was about proving capability.
Click. Click.
The old project file was still sitting there.
"Okay. Let's render!"
I hit start.
Last time: thirty minutes.
This time?
"Huh?"
The progress bar shot upward like it had somewhere better to be.
"Whoa. That's actually fast."
Ding.
It finished in under a minute.
I double-checked the output file. Complete. Perfect.
"It's… real."
It was real.
An 800,000-won desktop, and the RAM sitting inside it had just finished a thirty-minute render in sixty seconds flat.
That kind of memory did not belong in a piece-of-junk tower like mine.
"Okay. Pull it out."
I shut the computer down at once and reached for the module.
"Hoo."
My hands were shaking for some reason.
RAM that had been transformed into something that defied reason.
What exactly had they done to it in the Nano World to make this possible?
Click.
I eased the stick free and laid it carefully on the workbench.
Then I picked up the smartphone that connected to the Nano World and woke the screen.
A few buttons sat waiting on the interface.
[Observe] [Call] [Donate]
I hit Call first.
Illys's face filled the screen.
"Illys?"
She looked startled for a second, then answered in a bright, delighted voice.
"Yes! Constellation!"
A sunny, beaming face filled the whole display.
"Uh… I got the item safely."
"We did our absolute best, but I'm still not sure whether it will meet your expectations."
"Actually, I'm calling about the semiconductor. This thing is… incredible."
"The semiconductor? Was that the name of the building?"
"Yeah. More precisely it's a memory semiconductor, but semiconductor is fine."
"I see. To be granted knowledge from the Constellation himself… thank you."
Illys launched into an excited explanation.
"Every craftsman in our territory was called in to repair it. First of all, there were countless jewel-like lumps everywhere."
"Is that so?"
"But a few of them were a little crooked, so we straightened everything into perfect alignment. And for the parts connected by metal lines, we focused mainly on the central lines and coated them with mithril."
"Mithril?"
"Well, when it comes to channels that mana flows through, nothing beats mithril as a material."
Mana flowing?
Were they calling electricity mana?
And jewel-like lumps—what exactly was she talking about?
"Those jewel lumps… you mean the hundreds of millions of them attached to the metal lines?"
"Yes. Exactly."
"So there are countless tiny jewel lumps, and the lines connect all of them together?"
"Yes!"
Apparently the "jewel lumps" Illys kept mentioning were the transistors and capacitors.
"Constellation. We inferred that those jewel lumps handle the control and storage of mana."
Control and storage of mana?
A capacitor was a device that held electricity.
Electricity present = 1. Absent = 0.
That was how signals were passed.
And a transistor was the switch that decided whether or not to send electricity into the capacitor.
Hearing Illys describe it, calling transistors and capacitors "control and storage" actually made a surprising amount of sense.
"Ah… yeah. You could think of it that way."
"As a mage, I believed I had seen countless magic circles. But looking upon the Constellation's magic item… I could feel the difference in level. Thank you truly for showing us such a thing."
Illys's eyes sparkled.
I was the one more amazed.
"Constellation. The item you sent us… it isn't a fixed magic item with a single spell inscribed upon it, is it? It's a magic circle that can keep rewriting its own sentences, isn't it?"
RAM was, of course, a device that constantly read, wrote, and shuffled information.
"Ah. Yeah, that's right."
Honey practically dripped from Illys's eyes.
"A magic circle that can rewrite its language at will… a magic circle of infinite change… and a device that creates such things. To be allowed to touch it and repair it was an honor."
The fact that they had just handed me the fastest memory semiconductor on Earth felt even more unreal.
"So how did the speed get this crazy?"
"It must be the alignment of the jewel lumps and the mithril. When mana flows, any crookedness will slow it down. So we straightened everything perfectly. And above all, no substance lets mana flow as cleanly as mithril. Hehe."
Illys wore the exact face of someone saying, We put a little extra care into this one.
But a substance that let mana flow better?
"If you make things with that mithril, mana moves faster?"
"Yes."
"Could you maybe make more of them?"
"Of course. We will give it everything we have."
"I'll send you a bunch of different ones for reference. No rush."
"Yes! We will work hard!"
"Before that, I should send the advance payment, right?"
I tapped at the smartphone.
"What you need most is food, yeah?"
"Yes. That's correct."
"I'll send bread."
"Th-thank you."
I tapped the Donate button on the UI, tore a small piece of cake from the cupcake I'd bought yesterday, and set it on the phone screen.
Transfer 0.001 g of bread?
[Yes] [No]
"Yes."
Transferring bread.
Warning: Rodriguez Territory may be buried under bread.
Reducing transfer ratio.
Transfer complete.
Next I pulled out a few more RAM sticks.
Transfer these items?
"Yes."
Warning: Rodriguez Territory may be destroyed by RAM.
Reducing transfer ratio.
Transfer complete.
"Illys?"
"Yes!"
"I sent bread and a few RAM sticks. Work on them however you like."
"Yes! We will give it our absolute best!"
"No—really, take it easy. Fix them or don't. It doesn't matter either way."
"Yes. Understood clearly. Fix them or don't. We will do exactly that. Hehe."
Was it just me?
Illys seemed happier when I told her it was fine if they couldn't fix them.
Well, of course. Being ordered to succeed would have been stressful.
I ended the call with Illys and looked again at the RAM on the workbench.
Three centimeters wide, thirteen centimeters long.
A perfectly ordinary 4 GB stick—black chips lined up at even intervals on a long green circuit board.
But in raw speed, it was the fastest semiconductor on the planet.
"What am I supposed to do with this?"
Suddenly I had a problem.
What now?
Sell it? Claim I made it myself?
No. I couldn't make something like this.
In the first place, semiconductors were the kind of product you simply could not manufacture without factory-scale specialized equipment.
I had asked Illys to try making more, but there was no guarantee anything would come of it.
And even if her side managed to produce another one, they probably couldn't stamp them out the way a real semiconductor plant could.
A patent?
"But I don't even know the principle."
To file a patent you had to explain how it worked.
I had no idea why this thing was so fast.
Mithril? What even was that?
They said it was crooked so they straightened it? How?
If I couldn't explain it, I couldn't patent it.
"Haa."
Times like this, maybe it was better to tap the wisdom of the crowd.
Click.
I posted a question on the Semiconductor Gallery.
A moment later, the first reply appeared.
"Wow."
The default mood was total disbelief.
Fair enough. Even I could barely believe it—why would they?
Someone even asked if I was raising aliens.
"Nano World might as well be aliens."
Every now and then these people cut straight to the truth with terrifying accuracy.
The replies kept coming.
"Ten billion?"
That casual "10 billion" buried in the replies hit with real weight.
Of course it was just some random person throwing out a number.
But these basement experts usually knew what they were talking about.
"Come to think of it… she said they coated it with mithril."
An unknown material we had never heard of.
I posted again on the Semiconductor Gallery.
Reading the comments, the picture gradually came into focus.
The single stick of RAM sitting on my workbench.
"So this semiconductor has parts of its lines coated in a superconductor (mithril), which is why it's insanely fast and generates zero heat… making it the fastest semiconductor on Earth."
I finally had a rough idea of its value.
So what was I supposed to do with it?
"In the end, I have to sell it."
Where? How?
Commission a lab?
I didn't even know the principle.
What if they claimed it was theirs and ran off with it?
Contact a conglomerate?
"Hmm…"
When you don't know, you ask.
I made a call.
"Hello? Is this the law firm? I'd like to commission the full process—from appraisal of a high-value asset all the way through auction.
What kind of asset, you ask?"
I looked at the RAM on the workbench.
"A memory semiconductor."
The next day.
Four people showed up at my workshop.
A lawyer, an insurance planner, a bank employee, and an auctioneer.
The lawyer walked in wearing a dark gray suit.
His eyes behind the thin glasses were sharp, and when he pulled out his document bag his hands moved with zero tremor and perfect precision.
He laid out contracts, power-of-attorney forms, and notarization templates in neat order on the desk without a word.
Beside him, the insurance planner wore a tight suit stamped with a luxury logo. The bank employee was dressed clean and sharp.
Behind the bank employee trailed two solidly built men like shadows.
They wore shirts with the bank logo and mysterious equipment belts, and what looked suspiciously like real firearms peeked from their hips.
At the very back stood the auctioneer, eyes gleaming as if the whole circus was the most interesting thing he'd seen all week.
The lawyer spoke first.
"So, you want to establish clear ownership of this single memory semiconductor, correct?"
"That's right."
"Then we'll have you notarize a declaration of ownership and an appraisal report. We can also handle the appraisal request to the university."
"Let's do that."
Next came the insurance planner.
"You want to insure this RAM, correct?"
"Yes."
"It's an unprecedented item, but we can classify it similarly to high-value art. We'll set the value at 20 billion won. Premium for two months of coverage is 10 million won."
Ten million for two months.
A stomach-dropping sum—but if I lost it, they would pay out 20 billion. At least I wouldn't have to worry about it vanishing.
"I'll take the policy."
Then the auctioneer.
"Once you receive the university appraisal and the lawyer's notarization, you can list it on our system. Auction commission is five percent."
I signed the mountain of paperwork and handed over the RAM.
Money spent in a single day: fifteen million won total.
For me, that was a pretty bold outlay.
I sat in my wheelchair.
If both my legs still worked, would I have carried the thing around myself?
With a few bodyguards for security, I could probably have done it cheaper than this.
But leaving the work to professionals was simply more convenient.
The next day.
Bzzzzzt.
I was in the workshop when the phone rang.
The screen showed the lawyer.
"Lawyer?"
"Yes, client. We've brought the RAM you sent us to Hankook University for appraisal. However…"
His voice hesitated, then dropped lower.
"The professor here is completely losing his mind."
Worried something had gone wrong with the RAM, I asked quickly,
"The insurance people went with you, right?"
"Yes. The atmosphere felt off, so we're currently holding the RAM ourselves. That said, the Hankook University professor wants to speak with you directly. What would you like to do? You're free to refuse."
I could hear a commotion on the other end of the line.
"Put him on."
"Understood."
A moment later, a frantic voice burst through.
"Hello! This is Professor Hong Chi-wook of the Hankook University Semiconductor Research Lab. Wow—how on earth did you make this? No, more importantly, where are you from? Osung? High Electronics? No… if it were them I'd know… Caltech? MIT? Nvidia? TSMC? AMD? Where? Just where are you?"
My affiliation?
Where else?
I answered calmly.
"Lucky Repair Shop."