Chapter 10
Chapter 10: Factory
Going outside to do Stage 12, everything had completely changed from before.
First of all, I had laid out a basic zone layout.
The location where gates appeared was not fixed.
So the outermost ring had Combatants and Scouts, with Transports on standby behind them.
Gatherers were spread throughout, with Engineers and Mechanics deployed around the fortress in the middle.
It was still set up that way now, but something had changed to be more efficient.
"What's this?"
"It's a transfer array. You can get to that area instantly. And I also installed turrets, but I could only install a total of 4—one in each cardinal direction. Materials were short, so…"
"It's fine! It's fine. Don't look so down."
"Master is so kind!"
Fwomp.
"Wha—what are you doing?!"
"…You don't like it?"
"Come on, let's go get started."
I quickly made my escape and used the transfer array to swiftly cross the massive 3-tiered wall she had built.
"This is incredible…"
The structure she had suspended in the air between the first and second barriers.
To be precise, apparently due to insufficient materials, she said it was a temporary floating structure from which commands could be issued while circling.
She said it flew by attaching some kind of mechanism to the tops of the first and second barriers?
Although it could only move between these 2 barriers, this vast area could now be traversed.
"I'd like to try riding a mech later too."
"That's possible!"
"Really?"
"Yes! It's just that it costs an enormous amount of coins…ha ha…and more waves need to be cleared too."
That can't be helped.
In the end, time would take care of it.
For reference, the Goblin Chieftain yielded a whopping 5 coins.
Grand Warriors were 3 coins and Shamans 4 coins.
But I didn't know why warriors and archers were only 1 coin.
It was possible that warriors and archers were 1 coin, and ordinary goblins were under 1 coin but being counted as 1 coin.
"Advance Stage 12."
At those words, Stage 12 began immediately.
Stage 12, starting like that, had a whopping 2 Goblin Shamans.
And warriors, archers, and several Grand Warriors appeared as well.
Above all, more than 100 ordinary goblins appeared and multiple gates began opening, eventually requiring even the raptors to be deployed.
Boom!
Boom!
Naturally, the Chieftain and Shamans were the first to blow apart.
Combat that ended in just 10 minutes.
Fighting goblins whose numbers kept gradually increasing like that, the waves were finally cleared all the way to Stage 15.
The rewards earned by clearing Stages 11 through 15 were respectively 2 Random Trait Acquisition Tickets and 2 Trait Enhancement Tickets.
Trait-related things seemed to be the most commonly appearing rewards.
The remaining 1 was a coin bundle.
Opening the coin bundle, 10,000 coins were inside.
"Still, the coins that piled up from repeating were roughly 30,000…so for other people to get 10,000 coins, they'd have to clear at least Stage 30 or keep repeating."
Thinking about it that way, 10,000 coins was an enormous amount.
"Buying things is something only I can do, so I'll buy the materials now."
"Yay!"
After briefly repairing the walls, Stage 16 wave was started again.
When a wave ended, I would immediately run to the Crystal Orb and share the info.
Oh, I also mentioned that advancing waves was possible.
And since there didn't seem to be any particular need to hide it, I just said I'd be clearing Stage 16 soon.
[This is rough. Why is my Unique Trait like this?] Author: Pizza Crust Hater
I know there are people struggling and just dying without even a Unique Trait.
I know that out of every 10 posts left here, 8 are last words.
But seeing Mechanic charging forward like that, I feel a sense of disillusionment.
Honestly, if it were someone from a different country, I wouldn't even care since they're from a different country—but somehow it hurts even more precisely because they're a fellow Korean.
I'm a petty person, and I'm an ordinary guy who would congratulate an outgoing friend while secretly being jealous on the inside.
Here I am, fighting every day with blood flying, missing my family—and that person is out there being the main character charging forward.
My Unique Trait is simple.
Just a 400% boost to everything done with fists.
The traits that came out were fist-related too, which is nice, but I just finished Stage 7 and lost my left arm.
I'm not posting this asking if I can survive. I'm just shedding tears at the reality that my situation and that person's situation are just too different.
This was the top post.
Not something posted by Explosion Maniac or 777—just the lament of an ordinary person summoned here, common as anyone.
This post was gaining explosive popularity, and I had no particular thoughts.
What could be done?
This is reality.
It's not that I'm thinking to just accept it and live with it, nor that I feel any sense of superiority.
What was I supposed to do?
All I could think was that when I returned, I hoped this person would return too—and that I'd rather make them a mechanical hand.
"Start Stage 16."
Rumbleeeeeeeeee—
The gate began opening at those words.
"What is it? It's different from before."
The goblins starting to emerge from the gate were frightened.
Wondering what was going on, I kept watching, and there was a Goblin Shaman present, but no Chieftain coming out.
Instead.
"There you are. An orc."
An orc stepped out slowly, wielding a massive club.
Its body was enormous.
Roughly 2 meters tall—in games they were described as fat lumps of blubber, but this one was an outright muscle-packed, insane gym-freak pig.
It was the kind of thing that made you naturally think it could be a boxing champion right this instant, even without ever learning boxing.
5 orcs that looked incomparably stronger than even Goblin Grand Warriors.
The goblins, frightened by those orcs, began screaming madly and charging forward.
Sensing something off, I had briefly halted fire.
"Begin."
I sent an order to the snipers, and instead of a response, they let fire pour from their muzzles.
Smack!
"…Orcs really are different."
Their bodies didn't blow apart.
At least their heads blew—
The other goblins had their heads blown and their bodies left in bad shape too, but the orc's body was intact.
"If anything, that's good. Means I'll keep earning from them. And why are there so many goblins?"
The number of goblin warriors and Grand Warriors was low, but ordinary goblins were extremely numerous.
This kind of round was certainly easy for Ju-hwan, nicknamed Explosion Maniac.
If he just blasted explosions from his hands, they'd be dealt with instantly.
"…It's over."
With the orcs dealt with, disposing of the goblins that were running around in panic not knowing what to do was simple.
[Orcs appear at Stage 16.]
Like that, I briefly shared the fact that orcs appeared at Stage 16.
Afterward, the Random Trait Acquisition Ticket obtained as this round's reward.
I used it right away.
The traits obtained from it totaled 3.
And 2 Enhancement Tickets.
"Let me check the traits…"
[Name: Kim Hyeon-woo]
[Unique Trait: Mechanical Legion Commander]
[Trait: Throwing, Overload +4, Command, Fire Resistance, Natural Recovery, Spearmanship]
"The traits obtained this time are Fire Resistance and Natural Recovery…and Spearmanship."
[Fire Resistance][Possess resistance against fire.]
[Natural Recovery][Natural healing ability increases.]
[Spearmanship][Gain a boost for spear arts.]
"Hmm. Still the same blunt explanations. Does this mean I should be going with spears and javelins?"
According to Hwang Jin-hyeok, traits were connected to talent.
The boost was a boost, but the true value was in blossoming one's talent.
So if you already had natural talent to begin with, a trait would make you incredibly powerful.
And the evidence for that would be those who had survived until now without a Unique Trait.
"Checked that for now…this time let's start Stage 18."
At that, the gate opened and what appeared were more goblins than before along with 10 orcs to match.
A whopping double the number of orcs compared to before.
Trusting they could handle things on their own, I went inside the fortress to find construction in full swing.
Watching those Mechanical Legion units, I opened the coin shop.
Inside were guns, grenades, various cold weapons, and even artifacts in abundance.
Why was I looking here?
None other than crafting—the specialty and ability of Pitasha, appointed as Commander of the Engineers and Mechanics.
Sharing that ability with the units and being able to produce things like a factory.
"First, release it on deferred payment initially, and once the situation stabilizes to some degree…then receive upfront payment. Don't charge even if people die here. Or selling to the government would be fine too."
What would you say?
If you had 100 trillion won to your name, couldn't you donate at least 1 trillion?
That's what it was.
The thought of donating if you had too much money was something I'd thought often.
If the coins I had suddenly multiplied hundreds of times over, I genuinely had the intention to sponsor people.
"Then when I go back to the modern world, maybe I should sponsor someone…magic stones alone bring enormous money, and doing things like this too…hmm."
Of course, family safety would have to come first, but even so, I didn't think living entirely for myself was a good idea.
People might point fingers and call it foolish, but this wasn't pretending to be a good person—it was for my own peace of mind.
"This would work."
[Spear of Power]
[Fireball Scroll]
[Recovery Potion]
[Mana Potion]
[Sturdy Sword]
[Sturdy Shield]
[Leather Armor]
[Chain Armor]
…
..
.
The basic items were naturally included.
And the things I had tried myself and found good were added too.
First, a basic package of sorts was assembled.
"There were plenty of Combatants right now, so…just in case, I'll pull Mid-Grade at a ratio of Combatant 2, Scout 1, Gatherer 1, Engineer 3, Mechanic 3."
At that, numerous Mechanical Legion units were summoned before my eyes.
They immediately began moving in unison under Pitasha's command.
"The smell of corpses is too strong, so take care of that first. Then start the factory too. Let's run the factory for about a week and produce as much as possible."
"Yes, Master!"
I was sorry, but since things weren't properly settled yet, I was asking for some effort.
Still, since Pitasha could taste food, I kept buying what she wanted.
Whether her palate was similar to a modern person's, she really loved Lao stir-fry noodles.
Tteokbokki too, of course.
"Phew…start Stage 19."
Let's clear to Stage 20 first and then think.