A Basilisk's Disdain and the Father of Engineering

The moment Lee Se-yeon tried to approach Nantione, her intimacy rating plummeted. Recognizing the Basilisk's name, Se-yeon quickly backed away.

"Um... can I come closer?"

"Ki-it! Ki-it!"

"Why does she hate me so much?"

"Isn't it because you're a Necromancer?"

"Basilisks are evil-aligned monsters. There's no way she'd hate a Necromancer," Se-yeon spoke with a deeply aggrieved expression.

It was one thing to enter a normal village and hear, 'Get out of our village, you monster!' But hearing 'Get out of our village, you monster!' when entering a bandit camp was bound to make anyone feel incredibly wronged.

"Then is it because I tried to extract her venom? Does she hate having her venom harvested?" Tae-hyun asked Nantione.

The Basilisk vigorously shook her head.

"She says she doesn't mind that."

"...So she just hates me."

"Well, when you put it that way, yeah. Hmm. I got close to her by gifting her food. Why don't you try giving her a present?"

Tae-hyun's suggestion made sense. Se-yeon pulled out some of the evil-aligned items she had in her inventory and held them out to Nantione.

*Ptu!*

"Just because she was royalty of the Erangs Kingdom, she thinks she can...!"

"Control yourself. You can't kill her."

Se-yeon suppressed her rising rage. Since the creature was essentially Tae-hyun's pet, she couldn't attack it first. If not for Kim Tae-hyun, this Basilisk would have died today and been resurrected as a Bone Basilisk or a Death Basilisk.

"Ki-it."

Hiding behind Tae-hyun's back, the Basilisk sneered at Se-yeon. Meeting an NPC that could get under her skin so easily after such a long time made Se-yeon clench her fists tightly.

"Aaargh! It's the Mechanical Engineering Blacksmiths!!"

"...Other people might react like that, but you shouldn't be surprised to see us, Lord Tae-hyun."

"My bad. It's just force of habit."

Tae-hyun calmed himself down. He had only been startled because he ran into some very familiar faces on Sky Island.

"What are you guys even doing here...?"

"We came to help Daniel."

Daniel. He was a mechanical ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠engineering blacksmith who had once been referred to in the Valley by epithets like "that bastard." While Gabriel had encouraged him, saying, 'Explosives aren't the only path, so go forth and spread your wings,' the other blacksmiths under him hadn't been so forgiving.

...But sincerity always shines through. As Daniel consistently crafted engineering items, showed them to the Valley blacksmiths, and gave them as gifts, their relationship gradually began to mend.

"At one point, we hated Daniel so much we thought of him as a shameless Judas. Every time we made a bomb, we'd put a picture of his face inside it..."

"..."

Listening from behind, Daniel looked like he was on the verge of tears. I knew they hated me, but to that extent?! To speak of it in such vivid detail...!

"...But now, we understand that Daniel had his own path to walk."

"He said he was short-handed lately, so we came to help him out."

"Why is he short-handed? Don't tell me you guys are committing acts of terror on Sky Island too?"

"Hey! What do you take us for?!" The blacksmiths flared up in indignation.

"Sure, we might install bombs when we're bored and design blueprints on how to demolish buildings, but you know very well that we are good-natured people at heart!"

Standing nearby, Lee Da-bi covered her face with her palm. Hearing them say that made her feel second-hand embarrassment.

"...Y-yeah. You guys are incredibly good-natured. So, what are you actually doing?"

"We're crafting engineering mounts," Daniel spoke up instead, pointing his finger toward a sign.

The fact that he had to emphasize "Not a Bomb" was strangely heartbreaking.

How did ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he end up running into these mechanical engineering blacksmiths...

Seeing how hard he worked, Tae-hyun thought that if Daniel had just stuck to normal blacksmithing skills, he would have easily become a ranker, joined a good guild, and enjoyed Pandemonium Online while being treated with respect. No matter how he looked at it, the other blacksmiths were the real evil here.

Tae-hyun pretended not to hear and asked, "Engineering items don't usually sell well unless it's for a very specific situation, right?"

"That used to be the case, but business has been booming lately."

Players who initially had zero interest in engineering mounts or related items began to waver after Choi Sang-yun and Jeong Su-hyeok consistently pulled off impressive results.

...One by one, players began seeking out Daniel. In the process, other engineering items started selling as well.

Regardless, even though many engineering items had toy-like effects, quite a few of them were surprisingly practical. And above all, the engineering mounts were selling incredibly well.

"Why does everything have 'Mad' attached to its name?"

"That's just one of the characteristics of engineering items," Tae-hyun explained kindly. There were various prefixes attached to items. They ranged from excellent prefixes like Masterpiece... to highly hazardous ones like Unstable. The Mad prefix was a double-edged sword: it drastically increased speed, but at the cost of a much higher malfunction rate!

"But still, if they're that volatile, wouldn't people be hesitant to ride them? The loss from an explosion would be..."

"Our guild members ride them all the time."

"..."

The Power Warrior guild members were already riding them all over the place.

"I heard you're participating in the race this time, Lord Tae-hyun. It's a shame I couldn't craft one for you myself, but just the thought of you dominating the race on an engineering mount makes me so happy!"

"Uh... actually, I was planning on riding something else."

"...Huh?"

"Why are you so surprised? I have my pets."

Tae-hyun's famous dragon-type pets: Yong-yong and Heuk-heuk. They boasted a level of overwhelming power that made ordinary wyverns or drakes look like insects. Naturally, their sheer durability would give him a massive advantage in a race.

"Oh, heavens, no! You can't do that! How could someone like you abandon engineering, Lord Tae-hyun?! Engineering is synonymous with Kim Tae-hyun, and Kim Tae-hyun is synonymous with engineering! For the father of engineering to abandon his own craft?!"

"I'm not abandoning it. I'm just not using it for the race."

Daniel clung desperately to Tae-hyun's ankles. Taking that as a cue, the other mechanical engineering blacksmiths threw themselves forward and grabbed onto Tae-hyun's legs as well.

"Please use an engineering mount!!"

"Please use an engineering mount!!!"

"Let go of me. Clinging to me like this won't change anything. Do I look like the kind of guy who would sway just because you're acting clingy? I've been thoroughly desensitized by Cain."

"Urgh...!"

The mechanical engineering blacksmiths were frustrated, but they had no choice but to concede.

"...Oh, damn it."

Tae-hyun was utterly speechless. To think having a specific skill would trigger a quest like this. Of course, it wasn't directly caused by the mechanical engineering blacksmiths, but the timing was incredibly suspicious. Are you sure it's not because of these bastards?

For some reason, these mechanical engineering blacksmiths always bring bad luck.

They radiated an ominous aura, as if they were actively accumulating all the bad karma in the world!

"Fine. I'll ride one."

"...!!!"

"Thank you so much!!!"

"We knew we could count on you, Lord Tae-hyun! To think you'd care about us so much...!"

"I don't."

"But honestly, aren't engineering mounts a bit much for a race?"

"..."

"You of all people shouldn't be saying that...!"

When Tae-hyun spoke, Jeong Su-hyeok and Choi Sang-yun were left utterly speechless. If it were any other player, it might be fine, but how could the father of engineering himself say such a thing?

"Senior! Engineering mounts are actually great! Just look at our track record. Our number of victories has gone up significantly!"

"Well, obviously, because they're unstable. When the effect actually triggers properly, they're amazing, so of course you'd win some races. But they're still unstable."

"N-no... Stop badmouthing engineering mounts."

"He's right. Even if you are our senior, we cannot accept this."

Tae-hyun was slightly taken aback by their defensive attitude. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠What is this? He felt like he had experienced something very similar with the Mechanical Engineering Blacksmiths back in the Valley...

"But Tae-hyun, with your skills, can't you craft something way more stable?"

"I could, but looking at the Sky Island Race, it seems there are default traits assigned to you depending on your mount."

Tae-hyun had thoroughly researched the Sky Island Race before coming here. It was basically a chaotic, fast-paced race filled with countless variables. Depending on the mount, players were granted various traits upon entering the arena.

And the trait for engineering mounts was, no matter how he looked at it, Unstable! Of course, engineering mounts were naturally a bit clunky and volatile, but it shouldn't have been this extreme. Besides, Daniel's skill level was by no means low...

"That's why I was planning to play it safe and ride Yong-yong or Heuk-heuk."

"This is actually a blessing in disguise! Take this opportunity to surpass your limits, craft a brand-new mount, and etch your name forever in the history of engineering!"

"I agree with Su-hyeok. You've always been the guy who shatters existing limits and achieves the impossible. You can definitely do it this time too!"

"..."

Did I make a mistake sending these guys off on their own...?

Tae-hyun was starting to regret his past decisions. He had sent them away to raise their skills while doing their own quests, but they seemed to have been brainwashed by those weird mechanical engineering blacksmiths. Snap out of it, you guys!

Though, I suppose challenging myself this time isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Considering the rewards, breaking through a new limit was certainly a positive step. After all, even during his days as a blacksmith, Tae-hyun had always ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pushed his boundaries.

...The problem was that both of them currently had a slightly crazed look in their eyes! Tae-hyun had to keep his wits about him.

"Hmm. Surpassing limits... Planting bombs on other players' mounts beforehand... No, that's too difficult. Doing it to one or two people might work, but not everyone. Or maybe rigging the commercially available mounts with explosives... No, that seems tough too."

"...Lord Tae-hyun. Please, snap out of it!"

"Huh? Why?"