Chapter 217
Chapter 217
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 217
Chapter Title: 50. Unexpectedness (2)
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Young-woo had this thought for the first time.
Just who was managing the Returnee's Room, and from where?
Sure, the arms manufacturer Toma was supplying laser cannons and such, but this still felt more like sponsored merchandise, didn't it?
'Taxes paid, and right after, new gear arrives. Makes me think it's directly managed by something like the space government.'
In any case, Young-woo dashed toward the bedroom with the television, his mind a mix of excitement and apprehension.
Tatatak!
There, the blank faces of CEO Kim Tae-jun's family, already staring at the screen, came into view first.
Whatever it was, they were witnessing some jaw-dropping scene on TV.
'What the hell is going on?'
His urgency mounting, Young-woo stepped into the bedroom. Seo-ok quickly pointed at the television screen with her finger.
"Look at that."
Young-woo turned his head to follow her gesture.
"......?"
Just like the others in the room, he could only widen his eyes.
"What the hell is that?"
This time, the Returnee's Room was piled high with massive stone chunks.
"Huh."
Young-woo approached the TV with an incredulous expression, and there on the huge screen, he saw the 'three friends' huddled together in front of their own large television.
They'd gotten a big-screen TV in the meantime, no doubt.
Probably thanks to the hefty contribution points from the laser barrages.
―You're here. Can you see it okay? That thing.
Soon, General Kim Young-heum looked toward the distant pile of stones with an excited expression.
"Yes. Clear as day. But what's that? Doesn't look like a weapon this time."
Young-woo's voice carried a hint of disappointment, but General Kim shook his head.
He held up a 'menu screen' toward the invisible floating camera in the air.
―See this? The item labeled 'Figurehead.'
Young-woo peered at the menu on screen, and sure enough, above the laser cannon entry was 'Figurehead.'
And above that, as before, was blank space—locked.
Even after confirming this, Young-woo still tilted his head.
"Yeah... Figurehead. Definitely unusual. But why?"
Figurehead (船首像).
Typically, it meant an ornamental figure mounted on a ship's prow.
But there was no sea in the Returnee's Room, not even a pond small enough to float a boat. And above all...
'It's called a figurehead, but maybe it's just decorative, like a statue in a park. The Returnee's Room is so empty, after all.'
Of course, as the next-tier product after the laser cannon, he figured it had to have some function.
But General Kim Young-heum thought differently.
―Take a look at this.
The general stepped away from the TV and ran toward the pile of stones. What had been a modest hill moments ago began swelling far larger than expected.
"Uh......?"
It wasn't just that the number of 'figurehead' parts summoned via the menu was more than anticipated.
―Now you see it properly? Why do you think this space exists?
The figurehead parts had poured down in a spot ridiculously far from the generator.
By eye, about 200 meters.
"Something's off about it, yeah."
Young-woo finally had to admit it.
The figurehead's position was indeed peculiar.
As if the space from the generator to the figurehead had been pre-secured.
And even...
―See where we first completed the laser cannon?
Swoosh.
General Kim pointed his finger beyond the edge of Young-woo's screen.
"Uh... It's off my screen right now, but I get the rough spot."
As Young-woo said this, General Kim strode purposefully back toward the laser cannon.
The image of the laser emitter, dozens of meters from the generator, began entering Young-woo's view.
―Know what that is?
General Kim's voice brimmed with even greater excitement.
Hearing this, Young-woo had a vague inkling but asked back, not fully convinced.
"...What do you think it is, General?"
General Kim stood tall in the vast open space between the figurehead and the laser emitter, then declared:
―My take? That's the stern gun mount for a battleship. Can't say yet if it's main or secondary battery.
"You're serious? We're building a battleship right now?"
Young-woo wasn't the only one stunned by the general's bold claim.
"A battleship......?"
"That's space for one?"
Seo-ok and Jeong-gu sat there, mouths agape as well.
Especially for Seo-ok, whose husband was trapped in the Returnee's Room—this sparked an otherworldly hope.
"I-If we're really building a battleship, doesn't that mean we could ride it out?"
The general, sensing his words had gone too far, quickly corrected himself.
―Ma'am, I truly believe that's the spot for a battleship. But whether we can ride it out of this space? No way to know.
It could simply be a battleship for barrage support, per the general's reasoning.
Of course, his eyes told a different story.
Who would want to be trapped here forever?
The reason he'd instantly thought 'battleship' upon seeing the gap between figurehead and laser cannon might stem from his own desperate wish to escape someday.
So Young-woo nodded.
"I hope you're right—that it's space for a battleship. If it moves and grants you all freedom, that'd be ideal."
Then.
"But to confirm if it's really battleship space, there's only one way."
Young-woo pointed at the figurehead parts on screen.
"Assemble those quick, and we can see the next item, right?"
In short: stop screwing around and get to work.
Seo-ok turned to General Kim.
"Any product manual this time?"
―There's blueprints... but no full manual like last time.
Whoosh.
General Kim opened a hologram book, revealing serial numbers for the countless figurehead components.
―Probably assemble in numerical order for completion. If it's truly just a figurehead, no separate functional modules.
In other words, they'd be piecing together a giant statue from the tip backward.
"Gonna take time this round."
Young-woo eyed the mountain of parts as he spoke. General Kim shrugged.
―Who knows. Not mechanical parts—just assembly. Once sorted, it'll go fast.
"Still, you can keep barraging, right? Dungeon soon."
Young-woo checked his watch as he said this.
Time: 10:21 PM.
A quick nap, then anomalous weather hits.
Time to punch through the metal dust into the dungeon.
General Kim raised one question.
―Barrage? Always welcome. But can you fire the laser cannon inside that dungeon? It's a whole different realm from Earth.
General Kim Young-heum was now a full-fledged 'spacefarer.'
Hadn't he been summoned to the dungeon last night and battled the Giant God Gameta?
His grasp of the post-Reset world was sharp enough for such doubts.
―Not sure if that cannon has authority there.
Authority.
Meaning authority to barrage non-Earth realms.
Dungeons weren't so much other planets as test arenas spawned with the Reset system, right?
"Who knows. No precedent, so we test it. But Dogo worked fine."
In his first dungeon, dragging that boat, Young-woo had gotten gear sponsorship from Dogo.
So the arms firm Toma should too.
'Should work. Though barrage is way more aggressive, so maybe limits.'
Tonight might reveal which had stronger authority: Dogo or Toma.
"Anyway, we'll check together later."
Young-woo informed his father and Seo-ok.
"I'm crashing in the side room for a bit. If I'm not up by 11, wake me."
Jeong-gu flinched and asked back.
"...Force you awake if you don't stir?"
"Yeah."
Young-woo figured no big deal waking him, but his father thought otherwise.
His lunatic son, Jeong Young-woo, wrestled dragons barehanded.
Imagine this guy, who crushed mid-tier beasts with fists, rousing from sleep at someone's touch.
"...Swing an arm in your sleep, and anyone in front snaps at the waist. Even the top swordsman. Better wake yourself."
Jeong-gu delivered the line dead serious. Young-woo started to laugh, thinking it a joke, then stiffened.
"Not wrong."
He handed his waist weapons to Goblin, then headed to the side room.
"Wake me from afar."
"Huh?"
"Tell him to blow a trumpet or chuck a sword."
"You mad bastard."
But Jeong-gu fiddled with his waist sword unconsciously.
And Young-woo too.
"Won't die if not full force. I'll block waking up."
"For real?"
"Yeah."
Not baseless.
Beyond his two slaves, Young-woo had another night watch.
Namely.
「One-Eyed Sentry」 - Mutated Cornea
【Stands watch while you sleep.】
The One-Eyed Sentry gathered missed messages during sleep and alerted to nearby presences worth noting.
Meaning, if his crazy dad really threw a sword, the sentry would detect and wake him.
"But aim for the neck and I die, you become Joseon Top Swordsman, got it?"
"......"
Leaving his horrified father, Young-woo buried himself in the side room bed.
"Ugh."
Softness that drew a groan.
Young-woo passed out instantly.
Seeing this, Jeong-gu...
"......!"
The moment his son's breathing evened, he drew a dagger from his bosom and hurled it.
Whiiiiiing!
At the sleeping Young-woo's forearm.
Then.
Shiiik!
Just before the blade touched skin, Young-woo's body twitched, batting the dagger aside in a blink.
Pyaeng!
"Damn, you really lost it?"
"Eh, still awake?"
"Couldn't sleep 'fraid of your bullshit."
But Young-woo's words were a lie.
A red eyeball mark—the One-Eyed Sentry activation—floated over his left eye.
"Don't piss me off. Wake me at 11."
Young-woo scowled, lay back down.
This time, he plunged into deep sleep.