Level Up Machine 045: Power Leveling (3)
Manufacturing of 'Drone' successful.
Manufacture skill proficiency has greatly increased.
“Haa... damn it.”
“Did it work this time?”
Kim Gil-su asked Yeong-sik with a slightly weary expression.
Yeong-sik let out a deep sigh and nodded.
“Yes, it succeeded.”
He replied with a slightly twisted expression.
The money he'd received from Bae Han-seong this time was 1,000 gold—equivalent to a staggering 10 billion won back on Earth.
With that, Yeong-sik had bought a large quantity of iron ingots along with saronaite, a lower-grade mineral infused with mana that ranked below mithril.
He'd originally wanted mithril over saronaite, but the price per kilo had been so jaw-droppingly expensive that he'd quickly given up on it.
The reason he'd gone for saronaite—a mana-infused metal instead of plain iron ingots—was that it made extraction of metal cores, one of the key materials needed for drone manufacturing and the Enhancement skill, far more efficient.
As a mana-infused metal deserved, saronaite cost incomparably more than iron ingots, but Yeong-sik wasn't too worried.
Bae Han-seong's gold had given him that much leeway.
However, his plan to upgrade all his newly acquired weapons by one level after making the drone had gone completely up in smoke due to the manufacturing failures.
Yeong-sik's current Craft stat was 70—equivalent to nearly level 55 in raw terms—yet the drone manufacturing had still failed.
He hadn't anticipated failure at all and was thoroughly flustered.
He'd never failed a manufacture before, and of all things, the first failure came with the drone, which required an insane amount of materials.
Manufacturing failures consumed all materials, so Yeong-sik had no choice but to buy more saronaite.
He had plenty of other components like metal screws and parts, but metal cores—one of the core materials—were in short supply.
And then Yeong-sik failed the drone manufacturing twice more in a row.
With his remaining money and metal cores completely depleted, he stared blankly at the pile of basic metal materials scattered around.
What saved him from this unexpected setback was the black cube whose Structure Analysis had already completed, leaving it with no other use.
Extracting it yielded metal cores of the same grade.
With a tense expression, Yeong-sik made one final attempt using the metal cores extracted from the black cube.
The result: success.
The drone manufacturing had finally succeeded—on the third try, no less.
'No metal cores left for enhancements.'
Yeong-sik frowned as he checked his remaining materials.
The 1,000 gold from Han-seong had all vanished into buying extra saronaite.
“Ugh... guess I'll have to earn more money later to buy them.”
Yeong-sik muttered with a regretful look.
He hoped for another jackpot like the iron golem corpse last time, but the world didn't work that conveniently.
“Is this the drone?”
Seo A-ra poked at the drone Yeong-sik had made with her finger and asked.
Yeong-sik sighed and nodded.
“Yeah. That's the drone I was trying to make.”
“Hmm. A drone worth a whopping 10 billion won.”
A-ra stroked the head of the 30-centimeter drone as she spoke.
Having blown through Han-seong's massive fortune in a single day, Yeong-sik couldn't even respond to her words.
“Kehkeh. Money's something you can earn plenty more of in the future. No need to look so down about it.”
Gil-su said with his usual good-natured laugh.
Yeong-sik chuckled wryly and nodded at his words.
He was right—money was something he could make anytime.
“But doesn't this drone need a power outlet or something?”
A-ra pointed out the fatal flaw in Yeong-sik's mechanical creations.
In this world without electrical outlets, charging was impossible without using the outlet on his right arm.
“It's rechargeable for now, so one full charge gives at least five hours of use.”
Yeong-sik used Structure Analysis on the drone, imprinting its specs in his mind.
Full charge runtime: 5 hours. Max speed: 110 km/h. Payload capacity: up to 3 kg.
Yeong-sik plugged the charging cable into his right arm to charge the drone.
A familiar mechanical sound rang in his ear.
Connection to mechanical device detected.
Linking camera information from the device to visual feed.
“Hoo.”
Footage from the drone's camera appeared in Yeong-sik's right eye.
He touched his right eye in wonder.
The drone's data flowed directly into his mind.
'No need for a separate remote controller, huh?'
Drones normally came with dedicated remotes, but Yeong-sik, connected directly to it, didn't need one.
With the charging cable still attached, Yeong-sik activated the drone.
Vrrr...
At his will, the drone lifted slightly into the air.
He could control it far more precisely than with a remote.
“I never imagined I'd see a drone in this world.”
A-ra stared at the drone hovering at Yeong-sik's command, a hint of awe on her face.
She turned to him.
“So, what are you planning to use the drone for?”
“You'll find out when we get to the troll hunting grounds.”
“Hmm... somehow that makes me uneasy.”
A-ra said, eyeing Yeong-sik's sly smile.
Yeong-sik chuckled and stood up.
“Alright, time to head out.”
“Isn't it a bit late today?”
Making the drone had taken far longer than expected, pushing them well past lunchtime.
Yeong-sik shook his head slowly at Gil-su's words.
“It won't take much time.”
A thick smile spread across Yeong-sik's lips as he spoke.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After buying a few materials needed for his plan, Yeong-sik headed straight for the troll hunting grounds.
The troll grounds lay deeper in the mountains beyond the orc habitat.
It wasn't just trolls there—beast-type monsters like rakans and war bears, low-level orcs, and even high-level ogres lurked.
A few beginner summoner groups were visible in the orc area, but not a single one in the troll zone.
Trolls were level 40-50 monsters that roamed the forest in small packs of 1-2.
Each one was incredibly powerful, with blood so regenerative it served as material for recovery potions.
Just because trolls were level 40-50 didn't mean a summoner of that level could take one solo.
It took at least three level 40 summoners partying up to barely handle one.
Beyond gold drops, harvesting their blood fetched high prices, making them valuable prey—but summoners rarely hunted there.
The reason: occasional ogre spawns.
Monsters nearing level 70. Every one was elite, requiring six same-level summoners to barely hunt.
With such beasts more suited to the brutal Northern Borderline clashes, the troll grounds became one of the most avoided spots for summoners.
“Got me a bit tense, yeah.”
Gil-su muttered, gripping his Radiant Shield tighter.
He hadn't hunted since the abandoned mine, so some nerves were inevitable.
“Don't worry. Didn't we get good items too?”
Yeong-sik said, glancing at the shield in Gil-su's hand.
Gil-su scratched the back of his head bashfully.
“It's too good for the likes of me. Giving something like this so readily... Han-seong's got guts.”
Before parting from the guild, Yeong-sik's party had received rare items from Han-cheol-ho's warehouse.
Yeong-sik got the B-grade rare 'Wind Cloak', boosting agility and granting momentary invisibility.
A-ra received the B-grade rare 'Glacial Staff', adding ice damage and intelligence boosts to frost magic.
One A-grade and two B-grades—support unheard of for low-30s level summoners.
'With that item, Gil-su can punch above his level.'
Yeong-sik eyed Gil-su leading the way.
The biggest issue in his power-leveling plan was Gil-su.
Gil-su's level cap was 45—a tough spot for tasting true power-leveling.
No matter how much EXP at once, hitting the cap rendered it meaningless.
'Can't be helped.'
Yeong-sik knew how to raise his own cap, but that only applied to himself.
He couldn't raise others' caps.
All he could hope for was Gil-su surpassing himself through effort and reaching new heights.
With that in mind, Yeong-sik scoured the forest for an ideal spot.
After wandering, he found a canyon-like terrain.
'Perfect.'
Yeong-sik's eyes sparkled as he surveyed the surroundings.
He turned to Gil-su and A-ra.
“Alright, let me explain the plan I came up with.”
With that, he pulled deer hindquarter meat from his inventory—troll favorite, by all accounts.
“What kind of plan is it?”
A-ra asked impatiently; Yeong-sik had been so secretive.
Yeong-sik smirked and laid out his 'plan'.
“W-what?”
“Heh heh. Even I can't believe...”
A-ra and Gil-su stared in disbelief.
It wasn't much of a plan—more like a reckless suicide run.
“Even one troll needs three people. Herding a bunch? That's insane!”
A-ra asked Yeong-sik with a pale face.
He answered flatly.
“That's why I picked this canyon terrain. One AoE barrage can wipe them even in numbers.”
“Our only AoE right now is my magic. Even with the Glacial Staff, I can't deal lethal damage to a horde alone.”
A-ra said coldly.
His plan required one spell to critically wound multiple trolls.
Even with her hidden class and B-grade rare, a single spell couldn't fatally damage trolls—let alone AoE.
Trolls would just get more enraged and charge.
“AoE isn't just one.”
Yeong-sik tapped his left thigh.
Five mines dropped through pre-cut slits in his pants.
Palm-sized, they crawled on four legs like living things.
“W-what's this?”
A-ra gaped at the crawling mines.
“Mines with AoE capability.”
A-ra muttered at the familiar shape.
“Now it's not just Zerglings...”