Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Chapter 4: Eyelids (5)
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***
“Um... Roman?”
“Yes, Professor? Do you have a question?”
“Ah! You mean this? As for this thing, it’s a ‘Wooden Human Exoskeleton No. 3’ that I whipped up in my spare time for you, Professor, since the anesthetic makes it hard for you to move on your own! Here, with this, you’ll be able to get to your afternoon appointments all by yourself now!”
The Professor pressed a hand to his forehead as he stared at Roman, who had brought over a bizarre chunk of wood while ignoring the perfectly fine cart modified to hold the solution nearby.
That was right. This guy’s job was the ultra-unique class that existed only in the two across Worlds 1, 2, and 3: [Inventor].
GG offered infinite freedom, which allowed for all sorts of playstyles, and one of the most popular was
‘Lord-style play.’ Just like in those familiar territory management novels—receiving a noble title, acquiring a territory, recruiting vassals to grow the land, training troops to dominate a region, and eventually aiming for the emperor’s throne.
The Inventor was an SSS-rank internal affairs unit whose usefulness in Lord-style play was unmatched.
The Inventor’s value had been made crystal clear in the official clear seed for World 1. Take the case of ‘Nadial Renata,’ the Inventor unit from Levit Princess’s playthrough.
Hire her, station her in your territory, go off to fight a war somewhere far away, and
[Chief! A brilliant inspiration just struck me out of nowhere!]
Ding-!
Wheel developed in the primitive tribal stage. All tribe members’ movement speed +30%.
Come back from crushing a monster horde in the back hills, and
[Oh my god! This is truly... a revolution!]
Ding-!
Agricultural tools developed. Food production +15%. Tribe labor fatigue -10%.
Like that, the second you looked away, he’d churn out technological revolutions like some Doraemon knockoff.
By GG’s lore, players couldn’t invent or develop things that surpassed the world’s average tech level like this. Well, they could, but the game would explode the moment they did.
The culprit was one of the great demons leading the world’s doom: ‘Nomak, the Keeper of Technology and Inspiration.’ The devil of science, as he was commonly known.
This demon held preemptive rights over all scientific technology in the world and would absorb any unnaturally developed tech—i.e., player-driven advancements—and hand improved versions over to the enemy.
For example: Say the player grinds like mad to develop a steam engine. Three months later, the enemy side pops out some overpowered bipedal steam titan. Develop gunpowder? While you’re fiddling with matchlocks, they’re laying down fire nets with AKs.
This was how GG blocked players from introducing modern tech, making the Inventor class—who could naturally boost the world’s tech level without player meddling—invaluable.
Now, let’s trace the footsteps of our great—and utterly hopeless—Roman gacha man.
Recruiting him wasn’t hard. Shunned by his family and the magic tower where he studied math, he’d always craved someone who recognized his talent. Guarantee him sufficient R&D funds, and he’d join as a vassal or companion in no time.
The problem was that this promising young man had fallen deep into a very dubious field of study.
‘My lord! I’ve finally done it! Done it, I tell you!’
[Great Invention! - Mana Particle Charging Station: Facility that recharges spent mana stones for reuse. / R&D budget spent: 480,000 siling.]
‘Ah, what am I...?’
[Mana Concentration Resonance Particle Cannon: Massive mutation weapon of unclear principles. / 34% chance of explosion on use. 1.5% chance of massive explosion. / R&D budget spent: 9,847,500 siling.]
‘Isn’t this fascinating?’
[Floatstone: Can carry 4g per 1 m³. / R&D budget spent: 24,838,700 siling.]
You get the vibe, right? Unlike World 1’s ‘great pioneer Nadial,’ Roman had fallen into the heretical field of [Goblin Magic Engineering] and gone rotten. His personality favored flash over function, so most of his inventions were like that.
Get lucky, and he’d crank out insane gadgets for cheap. Get unlucky, and you’d pour in the cash only to get total crap.
‘Goldman Sucks blew up two solid runs because of Roman.’
That [Mana Concentration Resonance Particle Cannon] was especially infamous—Roman’s signature invention that he’d almost always bring if recruited. Its power could obliterate a castle wall in one shot, but if it exploded with that 34% chance, nearby garrison troops got massacred. And if it hit the 1.5% massive explosion?
Half the city vanished.
Goldman Sucks, the ranker famous for tycoon play. World 3, Round 7: Mercenary King Nedballis Gold.
Blown up with his city.
World 3, Round 11: Noble Alliance leader Ataman Gold. Returned from diplomacy talks to find his territory bankrupt and drowning in debt.
Roman had ordered every last scrap of starpiece metal available on the black market—no limits—and by the next day, with 983kg of it and the receipt in hand, he’d long since fled.
Goldman Sucks had bet on the Roman gacha and flushed 1.2 billion siling down the toilet—the cost of growing his character and territory. His roaring rage video became community legend alongside Roman’s notoriety.
Units like him were more for entertainment than serious guides... and yet here was this non-royal mage popping up out of nowhere.
‘I can guess, but... calling it coincidence doesn’t fit. Probably one of the paths the game laid out here.’
Roman Gacia Manson. Fourth son of the Manson family. He’d heard the magic noble house of Manson had tried all sorts of ways to straighten out their fourth son, who’d sunk into weird studies.
‘The hottest magical hotspot right now is Count Mandalius’s mutation lab here. With royal mages and sixth-circle high mages around, they figured he might snap out of it in a place like this—so they backed him into joining, even though he’s no royal mage.’
Of course, if they knew it was more slaughterhouse than lab, that’d be a different story. But from the mages’ talk, internal affairs hadn’t leaked out yet. Rumor had it Charlotte had visited twice, but Count Mandalius had stressed total bed rest during treatment and barred her from coming near.
‘Means the Count’s authority is stronger than expected. Charlotte’s no slacker either—she’s probably deployed to another front by now. Can’t count on outside help.’
Creak, creak, creeeak.
“Hm, Professor? Does the ‘Wooden Human Exoskeleton No. 3’ I made fit you well?”
“Oh, yeah, sure. It’s plenty useful for me. The way the built-in springs pop out and dig into my flesh on their own—this could suppress the infection without amputating limbs, huh? For anyone else, though... hmm... suicide device?”
“Ooh! An unexpected effect! Room for improvement there!”
‘That’s called a side effect, you idiot!’
Looks like he wasn’t doing the assigned magic research and was tinkering with crap like this here too.
‘Gotta swing by Roman’s room later if I get the chance. Bet he’s got piles of trash like this stashed away.’
And I’d wager one of them explodes regardless of intent. Useful for escaping.
Roman tried forcing the torture-device lookalike onto me somehow, gave up, loaded me onto the cart, and headed out.
“So, doing that thing again today? The mana test or whatever?”
“Hm, no. The test’s done. Surprisingly, you’ve got some aptitude for mana, Professor.”
[Mana Aptitude]. A trait I’d forgotten about. The only halfway decent one among mine, but I’d had no use for it till now.
Bump, squeak—
It was a room I’d never seen. The only things around were a wooden desk with candles lit on top and a chair. And in the center of the small room...
“A well?”
“Same structure, but not for drawing water.”
Unsettling. Mental Fragility was already ringing alarm bells like mad, shoving the barren room into my eyes. Why no bucket on that well? Why’s Roman suddenly stretching? Empty room? No parchment for recording research?
Roman parked the cart by the door, lifted me off, and started tying me with rope.
“Um... Roman? Mind explaining what’s going on?”
“Oh, no worries. It’s a good thing.”
Right... A good thing, tying up a wounded test subject in a sealed room. Only horrific images coming to mind.
“Mage Isaac said it’d be great if he could guide you onto the path of mana.”
“The path of mana? You mean becoming a mage?”
“Yeah. With your mana aptitude, it could advance research on infection factors’ effects on a mage’s body, mana resistance, and all sorts of directions.”
Hearing it... didn’t sound bad. No, great news actually. Chances to become a mage weren’t common, and from what I’d heard before, mana-infused bodies resisted infection factors easily.
But what’s that got to do with tying me up?
Squeeze!
Roman tied the ropes so tight I couldn’t twitch, then tried lifting me but strained, so he started dragging me slowly instead.
“Hup! The cart’s too big to bring inside, so bear with it a bit. I’ll get you in quick. Haha!”
“Get me... in? Where?”
“Where else? In there, obviously.”
If I wasn’t seeing wrong, Roman’s finger pointed to the well with rippling water.
“Magic is understanding. For someone like you, Professor, who knows nothing of the magical world, grasping its profound truths is near impossible, but understanding through skin-deep sensation? That you can do right now.”
Giving up on carrying, Roman dragged me—tied and sprawled on the stone floor—toward the well while explaining.
“Humans are born with the power to change the world with their will alone. Think ‘Rain, fall!’ and it really rains.
We can’t because countless human wills clash in this world. One thinks, ‘Money falling from the sky would be nice!’ but another thinks, ‘People should get rewards for their effort,’ so no miracle happens.”
“Hey, untie me first! Let’s talk after!”
“That’s how all human wills in this world form it. Everyone believes the sun rises in the east, so it does; fire is hot, so it is. Here’s the question! Amid the laws made from billions of wills, how does a mage work miracles?”
Drag, drag, drag—
Thud!
“Ugh... uuuugh...”
The Professor had been dragged right to the well’s edge. The cold stone structure loomed intimidatingly.
“The answer: Through ‘understanding,’ they gain a stronger will than them all. They understand one element more clearly than anyone, build an ego strong enough to crush others’ wills with that understanding, and the mighty will from that strong ego gifts the mage their own world.
Even if others think ‘fire is hot,’ the mage says, ‘Do you know fire like I do?’ overriding their wills and imposing their belief. Mana’s just the catalyst for manifestation. What matters is understanding, belief, and will! These three.”
Creeak—creak!
Explaining busily, Roman hooked one end of the Professor’s ropes to the pulley above the well.
“Th-then you’re throwing me in there? To understand water?!”
“Hahaha! You’re making the same face as most water magic tower initiates.”
“Water magic tower? So... this is a method they use in the tower?”
A flicker of hope. If it was from a proper magic tower, there’d be safety measures, right?
Roman looked at the distant-eyed Professor with a nostalgic expression.
“Reminds me of old times. My master said the fastest, most direct emotion touching the human soul is ‘fear.’”
“Wait, hold on! Just a sec! Roman! Mage! This ain’t it. Seriously not! What about my infection? I’ll be out of the solution soon, and the factors’ll go berserk again!”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. Once inside, you’ll naturally feel life-threatening danger, and research shows even without wounds, the factors stop corroding then. Lucky, huh? Can’t use anesthetic since you need to feel sensations.”
“Lucky my ass! Life-threatening danger?! How long do you leave me in there?!”
“Hahaha! Your rough talk’s just like a new initiate mage! Don’t worry! I learned this way too, y’know? Have faith. Now, gotta gag you a bit.”
Mmph! Mmmph!
“I keep saying, faith is key. Deep breaths!”
“...Siiiip— Hooo— Siiiip— Hooo—”
“Good! Steady your breath, fill your heart with anticipation for what you’ll see in those deep waters! Faith! Faith to defy the world’s common sense!”
‘Like some cult leader.’
The Professor thought that but emptied his mind anyway. Fine, a training method used for decades by a venerable school. A bit unorthodox, but no problem.
“Siiiip— Hooo— Siiiip— Hooo—”
“That’s it! No need to worry at all! This method’s super safe—survival rate nearly 70%!”
“Mmph?!!!”
‘W-what? 70%? Then the other 30%... what happened to them?!’
“Mmph! Grrglrrk!”
“Go on, have a good trip! Don’t wanna die? Have faith!”
“Gmmph! Mmph! Mmmphhh!!!!”
Splashhhh!
Sploooosh!
.
.
.
.
The Professor sighed, watching the surface recede in the icy well water. Should’ve listened to people. Hero unit or not, the bastard’s root was mage. Famous for fucking you over if tangled with.
The endless gripes about GG mage training started with the Lead Flow school’s infamous specialty: hydraulic mana shaping training, aka the ‘Drowning Body Training.’
***